By ROCKSOAP - Most Wanted: Waluigi, Ridley, Palutena, Little Mac, Krystal, Shadow, and Sora!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.
CHARACTERS THAT TOP A LOT OF “MOST WANTED” LISTS
In Smash History, there are always tons of people,
each wanting their favorite characters in the game for this or that reason. I’d
like to shift focus for just a moment, and take the time to discuss a lot of
characters who top a lot of lists for the game, and why I think they will or
won’t get in. Keep in mind, taking all my cuts from the previous section into
account, the game’s roster now stands at 28, down from the 39 Brawl had.
Waluigi (Mario Series)
Can…can I just ask something? Who the fuck cares about
Waluigi? He’s dumb, he’s stupid, he has no motives, no backstory, and the Big N
hasn’t even tried to give him a game of his own, because even they know
that’s a bad idea. In fact, it feels like they only keep him around to fill up
the occasional Kart seat or Party place.
THE FINAL VERDICT: No, just…no. Waluigi has a spot as an assist trophy
in Brawl, and that’s where he needs to stay.
Ridley (Metroid Series)
Can…can I ask one more question? WHO WOULDN’T WANT
TO PLAY AS A DRAGON?! Out of all of
Nintendo’s main franchises, Metroid is easily the least represented. I
mean, they don’t even make Star Fox games anymore, and they have THREE
representatives. I want you to just take a second and really look at
Ridley. You good? You done?
THE FINAL VERDICT: Uh, hell yes. Not only does Metroid
need another representative, but Ridley would be a perfect heavy character to
replace fucking Dedede with, and the game could always use more villains.
Lady Palutena (Kid Icarus Series)
Now, I’ll admit, I’ve yet to play Kid Icarus:
Uprising (eh, gasp!), so I have no idea what Palutena is capable of
that could actually be translated into Smash Bros. but, as I’ve said, I’m down
for more female characters. Plus, from what I’ve seen and heard, she seems like
she’d be fairly unique.
THE FINAL VERDICT: While I know very little about her, I’ll go with a
yes. I think Kid Icarus is enjoying a rekindling in popularity, and
another representative couldn’t hurt the franchise.
Little Mac (Punch-Out!! Series)
It is seriously insulting that I even have to talk
about Little Mac’s prospects in getting in. I honestly don’t think there’s a
character more suited to the fighter (he’s a fucking boxer, if you
didn’t notice…). Now, way back in ’09, Punch-Out!! was remade for the Wii.
Now, I don’t know how well it did sales-wise, but I know it averaged about an
8.5 to a 9 in terms of critical reception.
THE FINAL VERDICT: Yes! Little Mac is the underdog you always want to
root for, and literally breathes SWAG. Besides, anyone who can knock out
Mike Tyson deserves to have a chance to fight Donkey Kong…oh wait.
Krystal (Star Fox Series)
Okay, besides being a Furry’s wet dream, I’m not
actually against Krystal replacing Wolf as the Star Fox
representative. She does have quite a bit of uniqueness to her, and as I’ve
said… yeah, you get it, the female characters thing. However, notice I’ve
pictured her with a STAFF.
THE FINAL VERDICT: So here’s the rub: Yes to Krystal with a
staff; No to Krystal with a fucking gun. The only way she would play
differently from Fox and Falco is if you give her the damn staff, which I would
be down with. If she does somehow make it in, I don’t want to see her near anything
even resembling a gun.
Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Series)
Sigh… I mean no disrespect Sonic fans. I like Sonic
too, but you fanboys need to get off your goddamn high horse. What would Shadow
possibly bring to the game that Sonic does not? They would have the exact
same move-set. Shadow would just be slower.
“But, but, Shadow has…uses guns sometimes!” Shut up.
If they wouldn’t give Solid fucking Snake a real gun, what makes you think
they’ll give them to Shadow the Hedgehog? “But, but, he has Chaos Control and
stuff!” Shut up. I mean, does anyone even know what Chaos Control actually is?
THE FINAL VERDICT: As I’ve addressed, it would be impossible to make
Shadow different enough to include. He’s a nice assist trophy — let’s just
leave it at that.
Sora (Kingdom Hearts Series)
To my surprise, Sora has also been topping a few
lists. Okay, full disclosure: I’m gonna go fanboy for just a few minutes.
Nintendo has already nodded their head toward Konami, SEGA, and now Capcom.
Really, there’s only one more big gaming company over in Japan to do a favor: Square
Enix. Some argue that Sora can’t be in because of the amount of games on Sony
systems, but to that I refute: Out of the seven games in the franchise
thus far, a whopping four of them have been on Nintendo systems.
THE FINAL VERDICT: (Still in fanboy mode, here.) I think Sora would be
an excellent edition to the game. I mean, there are countless things they could
do for his move-set, and it’s scary how well he fits into the game just from a
design standpoint. I’m gonna go with a resounding yes. (Kill fanboy mode.)
Well, I think that’ll do it for me. Here, I’d like to
point out that we’ve cut the roster down to just 33 characters. And this is
only assuming my own cuts and additions make the final cuts and
additions over at the Developer Table.
RockSoap is only a guest poster. If you'd like to read more of what he has to say, Ludwig can't direct you anywhere since he doesn't even know the guy. But he should be reading comments to his own articles, so let your voices be heard! This is the last article in this series.
To read the previous article, Part 4, this link will take you directly there.
For an analysis of RockSoap's analysis, click here.
To read the previous article, Part 4, this link will take you directly there.
For an analysis of RockSoap's analysis, click here.
I've actually never seen Sora on a list before, Geno is always the Square rep I see. I kinda think Crono would be the best though since Chrono Trigger was exclusively on Nintendo consoles, like the classic Megaman games, and it could totally pave the way for a 3DS remake.
ReplyDeleteI'm on record on Miiverse saying that if a Square rep has to be in, I'd prefer Crono.
Delete...(And dat Chrono Trigger music potential.)
Well, Chrono Trigger got remade on the PS. ...And there was Chrono Cross.
Oh yeah I repressed those. To be honest I don't really think a Square rep needs to be in at all, it just seems a bit weird to me -- they wouldn't want to advertise Kingdom Hearts 3, and Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest don't really have iconic characters. Plus, uh, I like Chrono Trigger more than all of those series.
DeleteActually maybe they could do a Crystal Chronicles rep, their gimmick could be you fight with a GCN-GBA cable.
I don't think one needs to be in either. Hence "has to be".
DeleteDragon Quest and especially Final Fantasy have iconic characters (Slime...), but FF's aren't on Nintendo consoles.
...Kekfa?