With each passing day, the next installment in Nintendo’s flagship, colorful, fan-service plagued fighting game franchise approaches. Of course, I’m talking about none other than Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. Nintendo likes to save this hard ball until it’s really needed, only releasing one game in the series per home console, starting with the Nintendo 64. Smash 4 marks the first time the franchise will have a game on a portable system.
And as with any new Smash Brothers game, all the hype is not centered around how the gameplay will be different, or what new stages or items we’ll see, or even how the game will utilize the Wii U’s GamePad (if it will at all). Instead, the hype is focused solely on the CHARACTERS. Returning characters, newcomers, and possible third party combatants. All the fans are busy compiling their dream roster for the game; whether you’ve noticed or not, you’ve thought about it at least once.
Ike
Fucking Ike. Why Sakurai decided to include this lunk
to begin with is beyond me. He’s not nearly as iconic as Marth or Roy (let’s
all have a moment of silence, please) and his games weren’t nearly as
successful. His design is boring, and he’s completely overpowered for his size.
THE FINAL VERDICT: Can you guess? No way. Marth is a surefire win, but
Ike is most definitely not coming back. Chrom (from the recently wildly
successful Fire Emblem: Awakening on 3DS) or Lyn (from Fire Emblem
on the GBA, who also made an appearance as an assist trophy in Brawl, AND
who is also another female) would be a much better choice to back Marth up. See
ya, Ike. Go fight for your friends some goddamn elsewhere.
Ness/Lucas
I’ve decided to lump the two children together. As
I’ve said, we have precious roster space, and I feel like we can only
afford one of these two. Points to Ness: He’s way cooler than Lucas, he’s got a
girlfriend, and he has badass ESP. Points to Lucas: Mother 3 is superior
to Earthbound, he’s had a fucked up life but has kept his chin up, and
he has equally as badass ESP.
THE FINAL VERDICT: There can be only one! As much as I love Lucas, who I
feel is vastly better than Ness in the game, Ness is a part of the Original
Twelve, and if it was up to Nintendo and Sakurai, which it totally is, Ness is
the clear choice because of his wider fan base.
Mr. Game and Watch
Game and Watch is a literal walking classic. Part of
Nintendo’s early success can be attributed to his handhelds. His move set is
awesome, and there’s something to say about his simple, yet smooth design.
THE FINAL VERDICT: However, I’m going to go with a no. I mean,
he’s cool and all with a dose of nostalgia for the older audience, and he
pretty much put Nintendo on the map in terms of handhelds. But if you ask me,
if a new character’s inclusion was critical, I wouldn’t mind seeing Game and
Watch as a trophy.
Solid Snake
The man who single-handedly launched the third party
craze for the franchise, Solid Snake. Word is, Hideo Kojima simply asked for
Snake to be included, and Sakurai was like, “Eh. Fuck it.” So, BOOM.
Solid Fucking Snake, baby. He’s totally rad, let’s be honest here. He’s cool, manly,
uses EXPLOSIVES, and is one of the best characters in the game.
THE FINAL VERDICT: But this time around, things are slightly different.
There’s a couple new Metal Gear Solid games coming out in the near
future, and Snake appearing on a Nintendo console and in a Nintendo game would
be pretty much free advertising. Unless Nintendo and Konami can come to
some kind of deal, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Snake back for round two.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Ridiculously hyped for Brawl, tons of rumors
about Sonic being in the game filtered though the Internet every day. Finally,
to soften the blow of a delay for Brawl, Sakurai revealed the speedster.
And man, is he fast! He blows everyone away, literally. Sonic’s another one of
those characters with nothing but swag, and he certainly brings some attitude
to the game.
THE FINAL VERDICT: Nintendo and SEGA are on extremely good terms
right now, so I feel it’s highly likely Sonic will make a comeback, especially
since Nintendo and Sega are currently in an agreement where Sega will release
Sonic games exclusively on Nintendo systems. He was well-received, well-liked,
balanced. I don’t think anyone will object to his return.
There is one more article left in the series tackling characters that haven't been in a Smash Bros. game before but are heavily requested. RockSoap will be giving his thoughts on that. If you'd like to contact him, Ludwig has no idea how to.
If you got here without reading Part 3, then here's a link to fix that.
For Part 5, the final article in RockSoap's series, click here!
For an analysis of RockSoap's analysis, click here.
If you got here without reading Part 3, then here's a link to fix that.
For Part 5, the final article in RockSoap's series, click here!
For an analysis of RockSoap's analysis, click here.
Several things:
ReplyDelete1. Ike is great.
2. Path of Radiance was more popular than FE6.
3. When Snake was in Brawl it was already free advertising for MGS4, which was never on a Nintendo system.
4. I despise Sonic. And his moveset is so terrible.