#just give me banjo kazooie sakurai

[thekoreanman]

Me waiting for Smash Ultimate

[futuresmashmemes]

In complete curiosity, can you tell me what your favorite Smash reveal trailer of all time was?

Like, actually, real shit, stuff that’s already happened in this timeline?

Nothing will ever top Smash 4’s reveal for me. I was really into Brawl as a kid, and after Brawl came out a lot of people spread the idea online that it would be the last smash game (hilarious in hindsight, I know). Me, being the dumb kid I was, took that at face value. I also wasn’t really into following leaks at the time. I was also 12, almost 13 when 4 was revealed, keep in mind. I just sort of accepted that smash was done.

I vividly remember when I first saw that reveal trailer. We were in the middle of bumfuck nowhere for my sister’s soccer game. I was sweaty, hungry, and my phone was running out of battery. I managed to convince my mom to let me stay in the car for the rest of the game, where I promptly began charging my phone and went onto YouTube to pull up some music to listen to (knowing me at the time, it probably would’ve been an Evanescence song). And there, at the top of my recommended feed, was that trailer.

It almost didn’t feel real. I was so convinced that Smash was over, I almost thought that the video would’ve been a fake. Some shitty mod or whatever. But I clicked on it anyways, because, y’know, Smash Bros! Boy am I glad I did. Instantly, I was enthralled by the idea of Smash on the go. I didn’t have a 3DS at the time, but I played on my DS like I was getting paid for every second the screen was on. Having a portable smash game was a dream come true! And when they got to the Wii U part of the trailer, I was drawn in by the visual upgrade compared to Brawl. I was a dumb kid who didn’t know anything about graphics watching this trailer in 480p on a shitty Windows phone, and even I could tell how much of a graphics upgrade it was compared to Brawl. I didn’t have a Wii U at the time either, but I was still excited.

The new characters announced were just the icing on the cake. I love Animal Crossing, but I never expected an Animal Crossing rep in smash because I read that Sakurai had previously said that Animal Crossing characters were unsuited for battle. So when that trailer opened up on a shot of the Villager opening the now iconic envelope, my hype levels instantly shot through the roof of the car. Really, I should consider myself lucky that I was watching this trailer in the middle of an empty parking lot in the middle of nowhere and not, say, on the bus ride home from school, because after that point, I was visibly freaking out throughout. I would’ve been perfectly satisfied with just Villager, but then the trailer continued. The videos online right now show these two as separate videos, but I definitely remember watching them as one big trailer.

NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHING!

Oh boy, who could it be? The gang looked up at a cliff to see a boy with distinct spiky hair.

“No. There’s no way it could be him. There’s just no way! I read online that he couldn’t get in, so it’s not him.”

Blip!

“OH MY GOD IT IS HIM HOLY SHIT IT’S MEGA MAN FUCKING MEGA MAN HOLY S H I T!”

It didn’t feel real. It felt like a dream. But I was loving every second of it. And even better, the next video in my recommended feed was the trailer for Wii Fit Trainer. What? Why? Who asked for this? I was dumbfounded, but all for it.

I think that those three characters made for the perfect holy trinity of character reveals. The anticipated first party/character Sakurai previously said no to, the third party, and the character that nobody saw coming. Smash 4’s initial reveal had it all. I probably rewatched that trailer for the rest of the soccer game. I texted all my friends about it, and they were all nearly as excited as I was. I would’ve told my mom and sister all about it when they got back in the car, but I wasn’t supposed to be using data at the time, so if they knew that I had used it to watch a silly reveal trailer over and over again, mom probably would’ve had a heart attack (this was before unlimited data was more standard). But you better believe that I exploded on about it as soon as I figured it was safe to.

Even after all these years (and all of the timelines I’ve looked into), no Smash trailer...no, more like no trailer period has ever gotten close to capturing the pure excitement that I felt when I first saw the Smash 4 trailer, and I doubt that there ever will be one. I’m a jaded adult now, and everything is more exciting through the rose-tinted glass of adolescence. The “Everyone is Here!” trailer for Ultimate came close, though. Smash 4’s development was also something of a turning point for me when I became more active in following the development of new games online. I think it was for a lot of people, I think that a lot of that can be attributed to Brawl’s success (and the Wii as a whole) at capturing a wider demographic of gamers compared to Melee and 64. Smash 4 feels almost laughable to go back and play now, but I can’t deny the impact it had on me.

As far as other individual reveal trailers go, here are my favorites:

Little Mac and Palutena-both for the same reason: THAT ART STYLE. Their trailers also convinced me to play their respective games. Uprising was one of my first 3DS games and Punch Out is the last game I remember renting from Blockbuster.

Greninja-As laughable as this sounds now, getting a new Pokémon rep was really hype for me back then. I was beginning to get into competitive, so seeing the ninja frog that had taken over the competitive scene at the time get into smash was cool, even if I was Team Fennekin. Confirmation that at least Charizard had survived the cut was also really cool.

Robin and Lucina-I didn’t know anything about Fire Emblem at the time, but Robin looked cool and I was digging the 3D anime artstyle from Awakening that the trailer was rendered in. Another trailer that convinced me to buy the game that they were from, and good god now I’m an insufferable Fire Emblem fan good lord I was so innocent back then. “Girl Marth” jokes were rampant amongst my friends. Also, CAPTAIN FALCON!!!

Lucas-Funny story, my sister absolutely despises video games with a burning, visceral passion now, but back when we played Brawl together, her mains were Lucas and Snake. You can imagine the pain and agony she felt when Smash 4 initially came out. Lucas’ DLC came out around my birthday, so her gift to me that year was a $10 eShop card. She just told me: “you know what to spend it on.”

Cloud-“Hey guys, you know what would’ve been awesome? In Brawl, if, like, they put in Cloud from Final Fantasy 7?”

Corrin-At this point I was a big Fire Emblem fan riding hot on the hype train for Fates, so I was very excited for Corrin. The dragon-inspired moveset also seemed really cool. Funny how times have changed, and when Byleth was added in I was very lukewarm compared to when my reaction to Corrin.

Inkling-Similar story to the Smash 4 reveal trailer, I was absolutely not expecting a Smash announcement that day and I saw the video was in my YouTube recommended feed while I was at my internship of all places. Unfortunately, none of the other people there were gamers (let alone Smash fans), so they couldn’t share in my hype.

Everyone is Here/Ridley-I can’t properly give this one the justice it deserves in a short amount of words and this post is already getting really long, so I’ll save this one for a later day if you guys are interested. To keep it short, let’s just say that I was very much a part of the Ridley gang and I was very happy to see him in.

Belmonts and K. Rool-I got up at 7 in the morning to watch that trailer and loved every second of it. Keep in mind that I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. The only thing that sort of spoiled it for me was that the Smash teams themselves leaked it the night before by releasing a track titled Bloody Tears/Monster Dance

Ken and Incineroar-Nothing against these two, but at the time I was crushed when I realized the Grinch leak was fake. Now I can look back on it and laugh at Little Mac getting yeeted through the billboard and Villager’s stance at the end of the trailer.

Sans Mii Costume-Pretty sure I’ve already mentioned this, but when I first saw that trailer I legit fell out of my chair laughing. I’m not even an Undertale fan, but seeing funny skeleton man on my screen just broke me. The fact that Toby went to Sakurai’s house and beat him in Smash made it even better.

Banjo-I’ve never actually played a Banjo Kazooie game before, but I’ve seen enough videos about them over the years that I almost feel like I have. They’re ingrained in my childhood due to that in a weird way. Plus, it felt so good to have a victory over the Steve fans. I felt the weight of that Jiggy that bounced on the floor.

And that’s about it! If you guys want to hear my thoughts on the Everyone is Here trailer, please let me know and I’ll do another post like this.

...Upon rereading this post for spelling errors, I realized that you probably were more asking about my favorite reveal trailers throughout multiple timelines. Oops. Let me know if that’s what you wanted and I’ll answer with my thoughts on my favorite future reveal trailers.

[deebormzone]

video games (bad)

Bad times in the world of video games lately. Here comes the essay.

Blizzard

Right when I was about to get into WoW again, Blizzard decided to announce how much they love human rights abuses, so I unsubbed and uninstalled all my Blizzard games.

Will there be any effect? No, but I was so sick of all the bad news in the world that it felt right to actually do something since the opportunity came up.

(DISCLAIMER: I will not put anyone down for buying or enjoying these games because it is not likely to do anything anyway.)

Pokemons

I was really looking forward to the first Pokemon game on home console. Keyword: was.

As Pokemon Sworshield drew closer to release, I couldn’t help but notice that they weren’t advertising any of the content in the game. This, of course, was because there was none. Sworsh is the shortest and easiest Poke game.

I was still tempted to get it, but after Blizzard, I was feeling especially anti-corporate. In the end, I voted with my wallet in hopes that GameFreak will actually try next time.

Will there be any effect? No. I skipped all the Pokemon games since X and Y because they kept getting worse. Since they got even worse after that, it’s probably time for me to give up on the series entirely.

(DISCLAIMER: I will never put anyone down for buying or enjoying these games. That would be trashy. I only have my own expectations to blame for the above rant.)

Smashbrother

The fighter pass has been really great. All the new characters are fun, and I even got my #1 pick, Banjo and Kazooie.

Of course, attention now turns to the last Fighter Pass character. Since they just added a bunch of Resident Evil spirits for no reason, it seems likely that Nintendo has done a recent deal with Capcom, and the next character will be one of theirs. They might even get revealed at The Game Awards(TM) as a callback to Joker’s showstopper.

If it is a Capcom friend, who will it be?

Monster Hunter: I’m not a fan, so this will probably happen. It’s fine, I’m sure Sakurai will make them fun to use.

Dante: My official prediction. Would fit the Game Awards, has a fun and flashy playstyle, and would be yet another hilarious dump on Playstation All-Stars. Working against him: Bayonetta is already an action combo based character, and her playstyle didn’t translate too well.

Phoenix Wright: The Dream Scenario. But would he be hype enough for the normies? I’d like to think so... everyone loves a character who fights by yelling.

If it’s not a Capcom character, there are a few other names floating around. I’ve heard Ryu Hayabusa (not interested), Lloyd (great if they can get Robin to do the voice), and Doomguy (great if done right, would fit the Game Awards).

But there’s a problem!

I love Smash speculation and announcements, but in the end, this amazing roster is held back by the simple fact that I have to actually play the game to use the characters!

The online is not great! The single player is just okay!

I can’t believe I’m pining for Subspace Emissary. God, that mode was so cool. Maybe I should just go play World of Light on hard. Banjo-Kazooie Beats Up Every Video Game Character.

Other

So what AM I playing?

Darkest Dungeon: I love this game but never beat it. This time, though, I’ve got it for sure! I’m so close!

Grim Dawn: Because I had to play Diablo. Again, I never beat it, at least not the expansions. I built a character themed around “a gun that shoots lightning.” Going well.

Stardew Valley: Started up again recently. I was tempted to do a Darkest Farm theme playthrough using the monster farm, but went with the forest farm instead. I never beat this one either, but does it actually have a winstate? My main goals this time are to relax and build up the community center.

In closing, happy thanksgiving everybody. I am thankful for the indoors, the letter Z, and probably some other things too. Here’s the bad song I am listening to.

[paragon-yoshi]

Byleth-Players, we need to talk!

I really, really, REALLY don't like, how some of you are constantly mocking and provoking those, who disliked Byleth's inclusion. Not just the extremists who took it too far, but also those who were reasonable and had legitimate reasons to dislike it. Sometimes it feels like players who play Byleth, only do so to spite and mock the dislikers. As if disagreeing with all of it, makes them sub-human. I'm not defending those, who took things too far. People who called for Sakurai's head or his dismissal or any scummy shit like that. That's stupid and people who get extreme like that, need to be put into their place, no matter where they come from. But don't drag those into it, that aren't like this and dislike for legitimate reasons. If you like Byleth and are excited to have him in Smash, that's great. But please understand that someone who doesn't give a shit about Fire Emblem (like me) will probably not like Byleth. I have my reasons to dislike Byleth: - He just didn't have the impact/legacy all the other FP-fighters had Joker was from a critically acclaimed RPG. And Dragon Quest Hero, Banjo-Kazooie and Terry Bogard are all characters with history and whose games have a massive legacy. Compared to them, Byleth doesn't feel very important. - Byleth feels like a brand deal A character that was included to promote a game, rather than produce happy costumers. Just like Corrin in Smash 4. - Fire Emblem overrepresentation Of course, this is the classic low-hanging fruit. But I still think there is merit in that. Why did this series, which already had massive representation, need another character? Fire Emblem has the 3rd highest amount of characters in the game and received so much more love than other series represented in the game. The only ones above Fire Emblem are Mario and Pokemon. But those I can actually understand. Pokemon is the highest-grossing franchise of all time and Mario is Nintendo's flagship series. Fire Emblem on the other hand, is not nearly as big as Legend of Zelda, Metroid, etc. And yet it received so much more love and accurate representation, than a lot of the series above it in relevance. Why is that? I will give Byleth something though: Him and Corrin are much more unique characters, than most of the other Fire Emblem characters. And when the next Smash game comes around, I hope they will keep Corrin and Byleth, but cut most of the other Fire Emblem characters. IMO, I think the only essential characters are Marth (the one who started it all) and Robin, Corrin and Byleth, for their unique movesets. But that's just me. Either way, Byleth has become somewhat is a symbol of spite and anti-criticism to me. So answer me this, honestly: Do you play Byleth because you genuinely like that character? Or do you use him as a symbol to mock those who dislike his inclusion?

[hjazysol]

Odd question/ hot take: If one of the Smashers were to go off on anyone, who would you say would be the least likely and most surprising to do it?

Let's see.

_____________

Banjo walked over to a table with the other heroes.

Banjo: Hey guys how you doing saved the world lately?---

Ridley: INCOMPETENT HEROES!!!

They all turn to face Ridley.

Ridley: Stay outta my way! Or I'll kill you! Bastards. (Walks away)

Mario: ... ...What was that?

Link: Annoying.

Banjo: Hmm...

-Later at the dinner table-

Ridley: HEROES!

They all got startled by the sudden shouting.

Ridley: ARE YOU EATING!?

Kazooie: No we're clearly hitch hiking.

Ridley: Stop eating or you'll regret it!

Banjo: (Blinks his eyes a bit sick of Ridley's voice)

Ridley: GAH! Banjo. Did you just blink your eyelids?

Banjo: -_-

Ridley: You're gonna pay for that.

Kazooie: Hey lay off him! He's an innocent boy!

Ridley: Banjo! I hate you now! I hope you die.

Daisy: (Rolls up her sleeves to throw hands gets held back by Luigi)

Ridley: You don't belong in Smash.

Link: What a dick.

Ridley: I'm better than you. I'm the be--

Banjo: Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!

Everyone stares at Banjo surprised.

Ridley: Urk?

Banjo: ALL YOU DO IS BITCH! (Flips entire 80 seat length table)

Everyone: O_O

King Dedede: Oh shit...

Banjo: AND CRY AND COMPLAIN LIKE! I swear to Sakurai. One of these days. One of these days. I'M GOING TO FUCK YOU UP!

Kazooie: ... ...I am shooketh.

Banjo: LIKE I AM GOING TO BEAT! YOUR ASS!

Ridley scared for his life: Uuuurk!

Banjo: Like you are better than me. You're better than me & your stronger than me congratulations-- NOBODY GIVES A FUCK!!!

Geno, recording it all: I ain't missing this.

Ridley: O_O

Banjo: I'M OUT HERE GRINDING! TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE IN NEED! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR BULLSHIT!!!

Link: <80

Ridley: (Backs up with his hands up as Banjo gets up and walks away)

Banjo: OOOH! Samus should've folded your ass! Oooh! (Leaves the room)

Samus: 030

Joker: Well... ...I didn't...Expect that at all.

Kazooie: I've been enlightened is all I know.

[destiny-smasher]

Always Gotta Don’t Stop (speculating about Smash)

So with Byleth incoming in just a few days, we also got other noteworth announcements that got me pretty excited about the possibilities for what could come to Smash Bros. Ultimate over the next two years. I felt like having some fun and came up with multiple lists using this template by Matthew Lovenzka, and I tried to find a balance between various factors -- perceived popularity (not just with Western Smash fans but that’s part of it), moveset potential (they CAN make a moveset out of anything but Sakurai specifically focuses lately on bringing new mechanics), and also a twist of marketing (since that IS part of it, as Byleth demonstrates).

Long post is LONG, I’m goin’ ham.

First up, just some general predictions for Fighters Pass Volume 2:

Now, I don’t believe we will get Sora AND Geno, but it DOES feel likely we will get another Square character, and those two feel like the most popular picks with people from Square. I could Nintendo trying to get Sora in first and foremost, but if legal complications (or Square just being fussy) got in the way, they might compromise on Geno. I feel like with how big Activision/Blizzard is, they’d want a character in, and if Nintendo likewise WANTED to parley with that, and go for another western-themed pick, Bandicoot makes the most sense. Crash didn’t get into Playstation All-Stars but everyone still inherently associates Crash with the Playstation One, so it’d be a great pick and feel similar to Banjo-Kazooie in a lot of ways. I could see moveset being a little standard but they could probably come up with some fun elements. Given how much emphasis the Crash franchise has put on Coco more recently (made her fully playable in the Crash Trilogy, given her lots of attention in CTR Nitro-Fueled), it would feel in-character and also just be neat if she was added as an alt costume. Capcom: I feel like we’re all expecting a new Capcom rep, and that by no means entails we will get a new Capcom rep, buuut it feels pretty likely. Capcom is on good terms with Nintendo, Ultimate already has plenty of content from them, they even pitched in plenty of new music tracks to Ultimate. The real question is, who would Nintendo want from Capcom, and who would Capcom give their approval on? I would’ve thought Resident Evil a couple months ago, but since we just got RE spirits added, I’m starting to think that if a new Capcom rep got chosen, it must’ve been from somewhere else. (Maybe RE was considered first and they did spirits and all that but then it got cancelled or switched, I dunno). There’s plenty of possibilities, including multiple desired characters who have already been in Marvel vs Capcom. Personally, my money is on a Monster Hunter rep just because the game is so huge in Japan, and recently finally broke through to worldwide popularity. Next, a Bandai/Namco rep. Given that the company works on the series, it’s actually strange to me that B/N costumes from Smash 4 were removed, and we have yet to get anyone new added in. Pac-Man is still the only Bandai-Namco fighter in the game. As for who they’d add, most of the obvious picks might feel redundant (Tekken? Soul Calibur?) but if they went with something like Dark Souls, they could incorporate a stamina managing mechanic, as well as that grim-dark aesthetic (I feel like ONE of these six newcomers will be from a grim-dark game.

A year ago, you wanna know who EVERYONE was expecting to get into Smash? When it was revealed that NINTENDO was deciding the DLC, not Sakurai? Wanna know who everyone expected? ��The new Fire Emblem protag.’ Which is...exactly what we got. I would say that at this point, we can’t really expect anyone or anything from Smash, but the exception to that rule is to expect a first party, corporate overlords pick. Could be a Gen 8 rep, could be Travis Touchdown to promo NMH3, could be a new Zelda rep to promo BotW2, I dunno, could be a new Splatoon character to promo that series (and whatever is coming next from it) but I feel it in my bones that one of these six will be first party, from a more recent game, basically to just be Nintendo flexing their own brands.

But something we learned over the past year is that they are actively trying to add more franchises and characters via Mii Costumes. So here’s some theories as to what we might get from 1st/3rd party Mii costumes in the couple years to come. It feels like we’ll prolly get more Nintendo themed Mii costumes, and tbh I just feel like with more Pokemon DLC coming, they will want to push that here. Especially if we get a new Pokemon fighter/stage, it would feel natural for them to throw in a trainer-oriented costume.

If we get a new Square rep, which feels likely because Square is just THAT big, then I would suspect we’d get one or two more Square costumes, but I’d expect them to be underwhelming. So, like, bring back the Chocobo hat. Bare minimum, that’s been Square’s creed when it comes to Smash.

While Resident Evil feels like it didn’t make the cut, I could totally see them adding in one or two RE themed costumes as kind of a peace offering for the franchise. Leon/Claire would make sense with the RE2 remake being such a hit, and Leon’s history with Nintendo hardware.

TBH it feels kind of criminal that Chun-Li isn’t in the game in some way outside of a spirit and a music track. At least give that lady a costume, for Din’s sake.

2B is also technically Square, but her creator has been very open about being interested in just...selling her likeness all around. I feel like 2B could be a fighter, of course, like she already is in Soul Calibur 6, but I also feel like if Nintendo was going to aim for a Square character, they’d have their sights set on bigger fish. She would please plenty by appearing as a costume, at least.

OK, so, I have played a Minecraft or two over the years. Hell, I played it WAY back before it was even officially finished/released. I can definitely see the appeal of Minecraft coming to Smash, though more as a stage than as a fighter. I could easily see a Minecraft SOMETHING making its way in, and it is very possible to show up as a fighter, but a Mii Fighter skin feels more likely imo.

So something else that hasn’t officially become a pattern yet but has definitely set up an anticipation is indie games getting their dues with ‘premium’ Mii costumes. So here’s my picks for those. I think three of these are actually still quite possible to be fighters, if IF IF Nintendo is willing to truly throw an indie a bone. But it feels more plausible that that bone would be much smaller, and we’d get popular indie reps in the form of these premium skins with music tracks. I feel like I don’t even need to really explain most of these, but VA11 HALLA is here more because I personally like it a lot, it’s a popular enough visual novel internationally, and it has a banging OST. But tbh if I could decide on a Stardew Valley skin that would’ve gone there instead, just because of how prominent the game is. You could likewise replace Cave Story with Stardew, except I feel like Cave Story was THE indie game that kind of kickstarted this whole ‘indie revolution.’ Tricky part there is the complicated and unfortunate nature of the series’ ownership (essentially taken away from its creator).

The other four, though, I could easily see them as fighters with their own unique gimmicks/mechanics and stages with cool music and aesthetics. The only other indie game/character I could envision more than them is coming up. I feel like if this indie trend continues, one of these is bound to show up.

So Sakurai made a weirdly big deal about the concept of ‘echo fighters’ only to like...add three and call it a day? There’s so much more you could get out of the concept, and as many have discussed, doing an ‘Echo Fighter pass’ (or just piecemeal adding in Echo Fighters) over the course of the next two years would make extra bank, please lots of folks, and not actually take up more resources. The trick is they’d all have to be first party characters from already establishes franchises in Smash, otherwise I just don’t see them happening. To be a proper echo fighter, they would need to be slightly different than another fighter, but different in some way. This usually entails at least one special move being totally different, but it also often entails changing the characters’ properties in some way. To be clear: Tetra - Toon Link, Medusa - Palutena, Octoling - Inkling, Gooigi - Luigi, Impa- Sheik, Dixie - Diddy.

Personally, I think Impa would make the most sense of these to be her own fighter, and she has many forms she could take (pictured above is the Hyrule Warriors version), which tbh could just mean an entirely original, new adaptation, like they’ve already done with Sheik and, arguably, Zelda. But she could totally get away with being a Sheik echo, as well. You can probably imagine differences on your own, but if we were to get more echo fighters added, these are some of the more popular and perhaps plausible picks that might possibly please the higher proportion of people.

So I don’t think any of these feel specifically likely outside of a Monster Hunter rep, and even then, I feel like Byleth essentially got the ‘gimmick’ you’d give to a Hunter fighter (like they got in MvCI), so you could swap the Hunter for a Palico or even a Monster or something, I dunno. I want someone from Monster Hunter, and I want a Monster Hunter stage/music. But I do feel like at this point, anyone feels possible for Smash, so these are picks I would personally DIE OVER, like I did with Mega Man, Lucina, Banjo-Kazooie, and Joker before them. Ones that I personally have great affection for and would main regardless of play style, but which also feel prominent enough and appropriate enough where you imagine them in Smash, imagine many people knowing who they are, etc etc.

ARMS was such a lovingly made game that just didn’t have mechanics deep enough to hold people’s attention in the long run. Which is a shame, because the characters, the world, the aesthetic, it’s all so well done and I adore it. I do feel like we’re bound to get at least one more Ninty rep (probably two or even three depending on how much Nintendo wants to dabble with third parties this go-around), and I feel like ARMS is a franchise worth inspiring interest in. The game did well, it just didn’t do SPLATOON well, and I don’t want Nintendo to abandon it. Give us the four most prominent characters from the game as different skins, use colors to reference the ones who are shaped differently from them, give them a unique mechanic with their arms and the swapping-fists element.

I do think we may very well get an Activision/Blizzard rep, and while I ain’t happy with that company right now, I do think they’re one of the biggest western companies who’s not in the game (Bethesda being another one, who I am also not happy with atm but who has much less defined characters). Tracer would tick many boxes in terms of what I want from a newcomer in Smash. She has lots of personality, she’s a woman (a thing sorely lacking in new Smash characters lately), she has what could be a VERY unique gimmick, and she would help advertise Overwatch 2 and other Blizzard games that have been coming to Switch. Make it so she doesn’t have a Final Smash but has an Ultimate that charges over time (and the Smash Ball just insta-fills it), but make it not as powerful AS a normal Final Smash. Give her Blinks and a Rewind but no traditional recovery, so you have a real intriguing balance between managing her cooldowns to either maximize offense at great risk, or grant very safe recovery but then lack ways to overcome neutral. Tracer’s kit could encapsulate just about everything interesting about competetive Smash gameplay. The only real downside is that Overwatch doesn’t have much in the way of music -- so incorporate other Blizzard stuff to make up the difference. Overwatch already crosses other Blizzard content into it, anyway.

Undertale may have gotten a nod in Smash already, and arguably in the form of one of the most desired characters/tracks added, but I also think the game is big enough of a deal that a full-on fighter/stage as the first indie properly added would feel...I dunno, fulfilling. Appropriate. Not to mention the moveset potential. Whereas Sans is already repped well enough tbh (even the nature of him being a costume FITS his too-lazy-to-actually-show-up-in-person mood), a concept for the actual player character of Undertale has way more potential imo. Not to mention that Sakurai/Nintendo seem much more keen on adding the primary/player character to rep a game before anyone else. Frisk could be played in a dual style: either a hyper defensive passive style that relies on turning the opponent’s strength against them, OR a hyper aggressive rush-down style that is fast and fierce but easily punishable if you make mistakes. The key to creating a truly fitting Undertale rep for Smash would be finding that balance of player choice between peace and violence and working it directly into the character’s kit. HOW you would implement it would be tricky -- ideally, you’d want to reward players for actually committing to ‘Frisk’ style or ‘Chara’ style, and punish them for middling between the two. Not only this, but an Undertale stage would bring with it one of the decade’s most beloved gaming OSTs, and you could probably get people in the gaming world who’d be JUMPING to arrange those tracks for Smash. The stage itself could take many forms but I think one that plays with the various characters and their attack styles would maximize the creativity of the team. If I had to pick one single character/stage to get added to Smash, I’d vouch for this one, probably, and I’d make it either the first of this pass, or the last; it’d have the biggest impact on either end but would be a big deal regardless.

Kat from Gravity Rush is, arguably THE least likely out of everyone here to show up in Smash, mainly because she is a Sony character. Unlike Joker or Crash, she isn’t a third party character who is associated with Sony, she is a Sony-owned character, to my knowledge. But out of every first party Sony character, she makes the most sense to me as a Smash character. She’s cute, cartoony, she has a primary gimmick that a PLATFORMING fighter could take full advantage of (imagine managing a gravity charge to go sideways or underneath the stage for kills, BUT dooming yourself if you mess up), and she would be a real “oh whoa wtf” moment in terms of bringing Sony into the fold. Main problem is, if Sony was to let of their characters in, it would probably be someone else, just because it seems they’ve lost sight of value in this series, unfortunately. Though, tbh, I’d be pretty damn down for Aloy, as well, I just think the stage/moveset wouldn’t be nearly as exciting or new.

Lastly, I want more Splatoon. We all want more Splatoon. I don’t know if the series has gone into hibernation until the next Nintendo hardware, or if a spinoff is coming sooner than we think, or what. But Nintendo knows how big Splatoon is. And the series FEELS big enough over the past decade to warrant more representation. I feel like we’re getting a new Ninty rep or two, anyway, and I’d much rather it be Splatoon than more Pokemon or Fire Emblem or JRPG etc. (nothing against those things, we just HAVE plenty of them). The pop idols of Splatoon have won the hearts of many, and you could definitely come up with a new moveset for them in many ways. It could be a tag-team moveset where the player swaps between them (maybe even on time intervals like a musical performance), it could be music-themed instead of ink-themed, it could be Ice Climbers -esque, I dunno, there’s a lot of possibilities. A Splatfest themed stage with multiple variations could keep things tied to the actual gameplay of Splatoon, as well (or they could do a Salmon Run based one, that mode is INSANE). It would drive up appeal in the brand even further, it would capitalize on the fanservice angle, it would highlight just how much the series has accomplished these past ten years -- for fuck’s sake, there are PHYSICAL CONCERTS YOU CAN GO TO to watch these characters perform. Who the hell else in Nintendo history can you say that for? And these characters are still pretty recent! That speaks a lot. If I had to rally for any first party add, it would be this, honestly. And yet, we already have Splatoon, but I think the brand is fresh enough and fun enough to warrant a whole new fighter.

So that’s my hopes, some predictions, and some shots in the dark.

The past year has been a WILD ride. The next two years will hopefully follow suit.

[animefighter1717]

My honest thoughts on Byleth+an analysis of Fire emblem in Smash and community reception

Hello tumblr, it’s me animefighter with a new original post. I know it’s late but I though I’d give an objective look at the inclusion of the new DLC Byleth from fire emblem 3 houses. As many of you guys know, this character hasn’t gotten the warmest welcome; especially compared to the other DLC characters, (Even Hero and Piranha Plant got warmer welcomes) I’ll even admit that I was let down by their reveal and I’m a fan for the fire emblem series.  I can’t speak for other people but for me, I wasn’t necessarily “MAD” about Byleth more disappointed and burnt out from the amount of FE reps. Maybe it’s a similar case for other people, they’re not angry nor do they hate the FE series they’re just burnt out and are expressing it in the wrong way in the heat of the moment. At least that’s how I feel. I personally would have been less disappointed if they were released either around the same time as Piranha Plant or started the second Fighter pass. 

Some positive things I can say is that the female alt, just like with Robin and Corrin is pretty cute. and their moveset is interesting and refreshing compared to half the FE reps playing nearly identical to one another. I like the variety for weapons they use for their moves and they look like they’re going to be a long range but slow powerhouse character probably on the mid-heavy side in terms of weight. The low mobility is going to be an issue for me though. Also, a lot of their moves look like they’re going to be very easily telegraphed and punishable if whiffed. I might be able to talk about them more when they come out next week and I lab with them for a bit; but I digress. 

Now let’s take a look down the rabbit hole of history of FE characters in Smash  over the years and the reception that these characters and the franchise got from this community.

Circa 2001/2002 Melee launches and fans rush to buy it and try to unlock all the characters. we get more Nintendo all stars from past and present (at the time) including old school reps like Ice climbers and Mr. Game and watch. Among the other unlockable characters we were introduced to Marth from the OG fire emblem and Roy from Binding Blade. At that point, the series was not known outside of japan at all or at least had a small niche fanbase but as far as I knew, the community more than welcomed these two with Open arms and they were widely used by many players world wide and sparked some interest in this lesser known series. ( Believe it or not, FE was not always one of Nintendo’s major players in america) But regardless, Marth and Roy were very well received in the game and the idea of more sword fighters in Smash was encouraged. (The fact that Marth in particular was  a competitively viable character also helped)

Fast forward to Brawl’s release 7 years after Melee’s and Marth Returned to the fray with a new FE rep, Ike from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Roy, was unfortunately scrapped from Brawl leaving many smash fans, myself included feeling bummed out. Ike played vastly differently from Marth sporting a slower but harder hitting play style and a recovery that meant glory or death if you used it.  Also, being the first of the characters to speak English and have the most quotable taunts and win quotes won Ike his share of fans and again, swodies in smash was something that people actually wanted more of believe it or not. People also wanted more FE reps. I know, it sounds crazy nowadays, right? But that was the case. There was also a system of belief that if one character was added another would be cut. Such was the theory buzzing around during Smash 4′s development.

Now let’s look at the years 2013 and 2014 when smash 4 was announced and FE awakening was out and doing pretty well. Marth was confirmed to return and so was IKe and people were happy. next, later, FE awakening’s Robin and Lucina were comfirmed instead of the games progatonist, Chrom. This I believe is where the division of how many reps and who from this series should be in smash began to start. Many were elated about Robin’s inclusion and playstyle as well as having a female alt, Lucina’s inclusion was a divisive one at best. Some were happy about having another rep and a girl on the roster, but others were put off about her being a clone of Marth just with no tipper hitbox. nonetheless, the 2manyswords argument wasn’t wasn’t that rampant yet and people were still happy with the franchises inclusion in smash for the time being.  Still Chrom not being included hurt many FE fans and Roy being given the ax a second time was an even bigger blow that contributed to the division in both fandoms. That seemed to be alleviated when  Roy returned as DLC. the 2 many swords argument was happening but it wasn’t as bad and was more of a running gag at the time. As far as how many FE characters in smash was, 5 was a good number for the lot of the community. Things took a dive however when Corrin was announced as dlc. That’s when I feel the burnout started.  Corrin’s inclusion solidified 6 FE characters in smash and added fuel to he flame war on sword characters.

Then Ultimate was announced. Everyone is here! everyone is happy!  Right? well, yes for a little while. the clone problem was somewhat fixed with echo fighters meaning Lucina was now an echo of Marth somewhat sharing a roster spot with him. (THough the competitive side of the fanbase will say otherwise) Chrom is finally included as an echo or Roy and his reception was at most lukewarm. No real hate just an “oh, ok.” feeling. The amount of sword fighters in smash was an even bigger issue now especially since the majority of them were in deed form Fire Emblem. Dlc is one again announced and we got Joker, Hero from DQ Banjo and Kazooie, Terry Bogard and here we are today with the latest addition, Byleth aka the real fallout of the franchise in smash.

It’s true that some fans are indeed against FE as a whole and it’s saturation in the roster;with 8 reps, FE is now the 3rd most represented Franchise in smash just behind Mario with 9 (11 if you include Yoshi and Wario, 11.5 if you include DK) and Pokemon having 10 if you include the Pokemon trainers pokemon as 3 seperate characters. it’s even more of a concern when factoring nintendos other known franchises such as Kirby, Metroid Star FOx and even zelda to a degree havent gotten any new fighters from those series or other games not being given a celebration of gaming treatment like golden sun or F-zero, an arguably dead franchise at this point. and while I pesonally agree with the people who say that FE is saturating the roster, I will never justify or defend anyone who harasses Sakurai on twitter or says that he should be fired or that god forbid something bad should happen to him just because they’re feeling some type of way about a character. at the end of the day, Nintendo and the dev team made the choices they made and you’re free to be salty just don’t be an asshole. Hate them or love them, Byleth is here.

[fostersffff]

I’ve seen so many people speculating that the new renders in Smash Ultimate for all the Banjo-Kazooie characters are some kind of hint that a new Banjo-Kazooie game is in development, because WHY in the WORLD would they make new renders of side characters just for Smash, and it’s giving me a severe case of déjà vu.

“WHY in the WORLD would they make new renders of ALL THESE MEGA MAN characters just for Smash!?” I thought to myself in 2014. And the answer, quite simply, is because Sakurai is a lunatic who wants to give the utmost love and respect to every series he given permission to use. The Mega Man trophies were so for nothing that they decided to shove Proto Man and Bass into Mega Man’s Final Smash in Ultimate and make assist trophies out of Dr. Wily and Zero, and that still leaves Dr. Light, Roll, Eddie, and the Beat model they made for custom moves in the dust!

Could a new Banjo-Kazooie game be in development? It’s totally possible, and if Microsoft was smart they would be preparing it as a launch title for Project Scarlett. Are the Smash Ultimate renders a clear indication of that? Fuck no!

[jane-friend]

THE “WHAT YOUR SMASH MAIN SAYS ABOUT YOU” POST BUT I’M EXTREMELY SALTY

Mario: You’re either extremely try-hard, sweaty, think the cape is fun, or any combination of those three points.

DK: Dong Jokes

Link: You’re not nearly as bad as Toon Link or Young Link mains but only if you’re not in the Dark Link colors. If you are in Dark Link colors then fuck you.

Samus: We know you chose Battlefield over Final Destination because the platforms make it more difficult to get to you as you spam projectiles. Fuck you.

Dark Samus: Dark Fuck You.

Yoshi: Honestly? Y’all are okay. I have no idea how to beat you guys and the fact your double-jump has super armor pisses me off, but I respect you nonetheless.

Kirby: Inhaling enemies off the stage will never not be funny.

Fox: I would say “fuck you” but honestly I just learned that Fox doesn’t even do that much damage, and now I feel kinda bad? You do all that work for almost no payoff? Are you guys okay?

Pikachu: Cute but also fuck you.

Luigi: Same camp as Yoshi. I respect you guys a lot even though I can never beat you.

Ness: Spamming PK Fire will not work forever.

Captain Falcon: Sometimes you’re the only fair fights around in Quick Play, and that’s a shame.

Jigglypuff: Your hit boxes last longer than you do in a fight.

Peach: The same “impossible to beat but respectable”, but now in pink.

Daisy: The same as Peach but now with 200% more sass.

Bowser: Spamming your ground pound will not work forever.

Ice Climbers: I’m so sorry. Ice Climbers got nerfed to hell and back. You deserve better.

Sheik: Same as Fox. Seriously, you have all this skill but you do no damage whatsoever, and then get taken out at 40%.

Zelda: Spamming your specials will not work forever. Also fuck you.

Dr. Mario: Oof

Pichu: YOU BETTER FUCKING THANK SAKURAI EVERY DAY FOR MAKING PICHU NOT ONLY VIABLE, BUT TOP TIER AS WELL. But ultimately also fuck you.

Falco: I’ve actually never even seen a Falco in my entire time playing the game? But probably fuck you.

Marth: Also puts up some of the only fair fights to be found. Also spamming side-b won’t work forever.

Lucina: Almost the same as Marth but the better choice now because of Marth’s god-awful new voice.

Young Link: FUCK YOU

Ganondorf: Spamming side-b won’t work forever.

Mewtwo: Fuck you.

Roy: Fuck you but only because you’re related to Chrom.

Chrom: Fuck you/Spamming side-b won’t work forever.

Mr. Game&Watch: Spamming your Judge move WILL work forever and you should keep trying to get a 9 because it will always be funny, to you and to the person receiving it.

Meta Knight: You’re probably 11-years old.

Pit: Fuck you

Dark Pit: Dark Fuck you.

Zero Suit Samus: Fuck you.

Wario: Giving the motorcycle a cool down was the best thing Sakurai ever did because it was like putting a chastity belt on Wario. The world is a safer place.

Snake: Honestly? Most Snakes play like complete scumbags so fuck you.

Ike: Fuck you.

Pokemon Trainer: Squirtle and Ivysaur are SO GOOD and you kick ass with them but then you switch to Charizard thinking Flare Blitzing will fix all your problems but you give yourself a bigger hit box and end up dying. Why?

Diddy Kong: Fuck you.

Lucas: Spamming PK Fire won’t work forever.

Sonic: Same as Fox and Sheik but, like, somewhat less deserving of pity.

King Dedede: Fuck you and fuck that stupid annoying hammer with its big fucking lingering hit boxes AND fuck your Gordos.

Olimar: Fuck you, also you’re the teason we won’t get a Pikmin 4.

Lucario: Charging your Aura Sphere won’t work forever.

R.O.B: Gotta love that Funky Robot Man

Toon Link: Super Fuck You

Wolf: Fuck you

Villager: Why on earth would you use Villager when Isabelle is in the game.

Mega Man: Spamming your Forward Smash won’t work forever.

Wii Fit Trainer: You have a fetish for pupilless eyes and Sakurai giving Wii Fit Trainer pupils was the worst day of your life.

Rosalina: I’ve only seen, like, three of you? However fuck you.

Little Mac: Give up.

Greninja: Same camp as Fox and Sheik, however you deserve the least pity so far.

Palutena: You only chose Battlefield over Final Destination because those fucking platforms give you an advantage.

Pac-Man: You like your fighters round also you’re probably bad at the game.

Robin: You like being gimped by your own abilities.

Shulk: Speed and Jump mode get a fuck you, everything else is fine.

Bowser Jr: Your Mecha-Koopas won’t work forever.

Duck-Hunt: You’re still so thoroughly convinced that Banjo-Kazooie will make it into smash just because of that one color palette for Duck Hunt that kinda looks like them.

Ryu: You kinda just... kill out of nowhere, but then get killed out of nowhere? Very sparratic fights.

Ken: Fuck you but only because you chose Ken over Ryu, making you “that guy”.

Cloud: Fuck you but also you can’t keep believing Cloud is just as good as he was in SSB4. Give it up.

Corrin: Fuck you

Bayonetta: Same as Cloud

Inkling: The moment Inkling looked at that burning smash logo in the trailer was the most ecstasy and happiness you’ve ever felt but also fuck you.

Ridley: Spamming side-b won’t work forever.

Simon: Spamming, well, everything won’t work forever and also fuck you.

Richter: Fuck you. And yet, even though they’re identical, you’re somehow a better person for choosing Richter over Simon.

King K. Rool: Fuck you/Spamming neutral-b won’t work forever/you have a thing for big bellied scalies.

Isabelle: Who cares if she spams her forward air and the fishing pole??? Isabelle has earned her right to spam and I support her. You, on the other hand? Fuck you.

Incineroar: Fuck me.

[wolfgabe]

Nintendo E3 2019 Thoughts  Part 1The Direct

ce Okay so with yesterday behind us I felt I might as well offer my own opinions on the main event of the day the Nintendo Direct.

To start off I like how rapid fire a lot of Nintendo’s Directs have become. While it’s not as flashy as a full blown conference it pretty much cuts out most of the padding and helps make things arguably more focused. I wasn’t expecting them to cram so much in within 40 minutes and I admit I thought at times they would do a Smash Ultimate and spend a bunch of time on one title which of course never happened now then onto the games themselves

Dragon Quest Hero or should I say Dragon Quest Gang for Smash. Pretty much something most of us expected. Personally I have nothing against Erdrick and Pals and it was inevtiable really that we got Dragon Quest representation in Smash considering how in Japan DQ is pretty much on the same level as Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Minecraft here in the States. As easy as it is to complain about more anime sword boys when you look at it DQ was pretty much one of our only options for an additional SE rep considering how stingy SE is with Final Fantasy as well as the fact that Sora is pretty much a massive legal minefield for obvious reasons. I kinda find it clever really that rather than just represent 1 game they instead use the Hero as a means to represent the entire Dragon Quest series as whole.

Following that up fittingly is another trailer for Dragon Quest 11

Doug Bowser makes his E3/Direct debut and already the memes are out in full force

H̶o̶t̶e̶l̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶i̶o̶ ̶2̶/Luigis Mansion 3 is looking great. Seriously I just love how clean everything looks. It’s almost like the Luigis Mansion Dark Moon Artwork come to life/ Too bad we didn’t an actual release date but really for a game like this I would be surprised if they don’t go for  an October release.

A Dark Crystal Game That was unexpected

Link’s Awakening now with Dungeon Maker. Seriously I can’t help but keep imagining a Zelda spinoff that’s basically a Zelda themed Dungeon Keeper

Trials of Mana and Collection of Mana Not exactly my cup of tea but it’s cool seeing The Mana Collection available on Switch right away

Witcher III for Switch. Another rumor that  turned out true. Bring on all the oerformance jokes and PC master race trolls. Panic Button doesn’t appear to be handling this one but I can’t help but wonder what sorcery they used to get this game running on Switch

Fire Emblem Three Houses Not really big on FE myself. I get why some people are complaining they basically spoiled the big twist but I figure that Nintendo may have did it on purpose to show fans that it’s not just Harry Potter with a Fire Emblem Skin

More Resident Evil love for Switch which is nice although I can’t help but wonder why they chose a port of RE6 over the remake of RE2

No More Heroes III another bit of a surprise. I admit for a second I thought I was looking at some new Power Rangers mech game. Great to see after Travis Strikes Again

That new Contra game looks eggghhhh but its cool we are getting the Contra collection too

Daemon x Machina. I actually did get some enjoyment out of the demo and what I saw with the mech customization looks interesting but I seriously hope they fixed the framerate in the final release.

Panzer Dragoon Another one that came out of nowhere. Switch has been seeing quite the amount of Sega love. Now if only we could get a Sega Ages port of Daytona USA

Pokemon Sword and Shield get a brief shoutout. Figured they wouldn’t spend too much time on it considering how it just got a direct last week. And like that the R34 crowd has already abandoned Sonia for Nessa go figure.

Astral Chain got a new trailer. Pretty interesting game and no doubt it will probably have an insanely over the top final boss as with fine Platinum tradition

Empire of Sin pretty interesting management/strategy game looks like it might be worth a shot when it comes out.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Not a big Marvel person but personally I think its a bit funny really that UA3 has better models than the SE Avengers game.

Cadence of Hyrule Finally have a release date and its right at the end of E3 which is cool

Mario and Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Figured they would give a shoutout to this game.  Eggman looks surprisingly hot in shorts.  Why is nobody talking about the majesty of Barefoot Wario?

Animal Crossing New Horizons Finally the game pretty much everybody was waiting for. So it would appear Animal Crossing has now transformed into Minecraft. Jokes aside I can’t help but love the idea that you are pretty much now building the town yourself and populating the island from scratch. Okay actual path creation tools and the ability to place furniture outside this is too much. It’s kind of a bummer the game won’t be out till next March but its understandable really considering how packed Switches release schedule looks for the rest of 2019.  Also Tom Nook being a greedy little shit as usual and where is Isabelle please don’t tell me Nintendo you forgot our precious doggo girl.

The obligatory switch game/port sizzle reel. Nice recap of things to come. Another MS game confirmed with Super Lucky’s Tale. Also the Spyro Reignited Trilogy has finally been confirmed for Switch and PC which is great.  Alien Isolation? didn’t expect to see that game get ported. Still no release date for A Hat in Time Switch though

Now for what is arguably the two biggest bombshells to come out of this presentation

First off, Banjo Kazooie in Smash. I cannot freaking believe it a character where the Grinch Leak actually ended up turning out to be right!!! I admit even I had my doubts that we would actually see this come to fruition since I never thought MS would be that chill about letting Banjo show up in a game hosted by one of their own competitors. Of course competitor may not be the right word here considering how surprisingly chummy MS and Nintendo have gotten with each other as of late. I can’t help but find a sense of inner happiness and satisfaction when my own theories and hunches end up being proven correct. I just knew there had to be a reason why Blast Corps and Jet Force Gemini spirits were found in the game files for Smash Ultimate never mind the fact that MS in their E3 schedule clearly suggested we should watch Nintendo’s own E3 presentation. I admit when I first saw that Jiggy bounce by I kinda started to lose my collective shit. The whole reveal was just so brilliant from the way they basically parodied their own trailer to how happy the DK crew was to see Banjo again. Its almost like Sakurai and Nintendo were reading everyone’s mind. I am really liking Banjo’s Smash design and how they basically went for more updated version of his classic look rather than just settle for the Nuts and Bolts design. A perfect way really to drive home the point that Banjo has pretty much come home. And I cannot believe it they actually got Grant Kirkhope himself on board to compose new music for Smash. I admit I am loving that Spiral Mountain remix and you can even make out bits and pieces from other Banjo levels too. I can’t wait to hear what else there is with Banjo. While I am mainly a Nintendo person I would just like to give thanks to Phil Spencer for helping make so many Nintendo and Smash fans wildest dreams finally come true. Now perhaps see if you get the original Banjo games as well as maybe a Nintendofied version of Rare Replay perhaps on Switch

And finally capping off the direct was the reveal that an actual follow up to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is now in development. When we will see this title in full I am not sure but the brief teaser looks like they are hinting that Ganondorf himself could be back from the grave. Now I am hearing how the devs say they were inspired by Red Dead Redemption 2 does that mean more detailed horse mechanics?

All in all I would rate Nintendo’s E3 Direct an 8/out of 10. A few points were docked from the Animal Crossing delay but there was still a lot of games that I am interested in due out in the near future as well as some wonderful surprises to boot. I would personally say Nintendo was probably the best part of E3 this year and they made me a very happy gamer

[puyo-pop-fever]

I have never been more disappointed in the reactions to the Smash news within the Xenoblade Community and Smash community than I am today.

Jesus fuck guys some of you need to stop being so spiteful about who got in, who didn’t, who others want to get in etc. Just... Holy fuck guys. So what if someone wanted Rex in? So what if someone wanted Elma in? So what if someone wanted Issac in or Shadow in? Or Banjo and Kazooie? Or wanted the Grinch Leaks to be real? And so what if the characters didn’t get in yet? We have confirmed DLC for fuck’s sake and we’ve been begging for a story mode for years and finally got one. This is a lot to hope for in Smash’s future.

Let’s stop being spiteful fuckers and insulting folks who want [ insert character name here ] in over [ insert character name here ] or how [ blank character got in over another ] or how a character didn’t get in. Can we just be fucking thankful for what we’re getting? Like the jokes about rioting if [ character ] didn’t get in were funny or “magical circle to get [ character ] in before the leak, but now I’m just seeing really heavy amounts of salt.

We don’t want to be like one of the really toxic communities do we or continue to be toxic?

Let’s stop being spiteful and nasty and appreciate what we are getting and just be hopeful for more new stuff. They didn’t remove any characters from before in this game like they could’ve.

We’re probably why Sakurai wanted to stop doing smash. ( If that is actually true ).

Those of you being really cool, memeing about the story mode, etc. You’re fine. Fuck we need more positive stuff. Things can get better and you guys are what give me hope honestly.

[xb-squaredx]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Speculation

With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate right around the corner, it’s natural to look towards the future, rather than just be satisfied with what we already have. With that in mind, since I already completely botched ALL of my choices for potential newcomers in the base game, so let’s try it again with the DLC characters we’ll be getting! Surely I’ll get at least ONE right!

So, to preface this, I do have to acknowledge a bit of a wrench in the works when it comes to speculation: the Piranha Plant. A part of me feels like making a Piranha Plant playable is a message to us: nothing is off the table. That we should expect the unexpected. That Sakurai is a beast that cannot be tamed and does whatever he wants! However…it’s also possible this is just a flex of Sakurai’s creative muscle, and just something he wanted to do. With the news that Nintendo chose the DLC characters for Ultimate, I’m assuming this was Sakurai’s one chance to rock the boat and we’ll likely get some more “safe” or “expected” choices for DLC. That said, with SO many potential characters apparently off the table as either Assist Trophies or Spirits, there is this general question of “Just WHO could they possibly add now?” Well, I have some ideas…

Smash Bros. and Fire Emblem have a strange relationship, and we’ve had characters added to the former to promote the latter before, so for me one of the few no-brainer picks is a character from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, slated for 2019. As of now, we really don’t know all that much about the game, and while there seem to be three main protagonists, I think it’d be a toss-up as to which one we’d get. But with Fire Emblem being treated as a major franchise for Nintendo now, it just makes sense. Fans might get upset, but maybe if we’re lucky they won’t use a sword!

I think in general most choices are going to be geared towards promoting UPCOMING games, but at the same time, the Xenoblade Chronicles series might see another rep. Why? Well, because Sakurai clearly likes the games, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sold well and he’s already placed a TON of Spirits and Mii Costumes from that game in Ultimate already. Now sure, Rex getting a costume seems like it’s a nail in the coffin, but I look at it more as Sakurai whetting fan’s appetites for the eventual DLC addition. Now, if it’d be Pyra instead, or having Rex and Pyra as a weird duo character, I’m not sure, but I’d honestly be kinda surprised if they don’t get in as DLC. The Torna: The Golden Country DLC campaign is also fresh in people’s minds, so I’d still say there’s a good chance. That said…

I’m still holding onto some hope that Elma could make it in as a rep for Xenoblade Chronicles X as a bit of a curve-ball. There are rumors that X could see a port to Switch and putting Elma into Smash is totally possible as a way to give that port some good press. Now, Monolith Soft itself hasn’t exactly spoken like a port is a sure-thing, and really it’s probably better to go with the more relevant reps with Rex and Pyra, but I can dream!

As far as promotional characters go, I feel that Nintendo might be looking to pimp their mobile games, and we just got Dragalia Lost not too long ago. The first original IP on mobile (albeit in conjunction with CyGames), it seems like a real missed opportunity to not use Ultimate to promote the game. Granted, there COULD be Spirits or something instead, but a playable character isn’t off the table at all. I also hear rumors that a Granblue Fantasy character might be in the cards, which is also done by CyGames, but rather than go with a franchise that…well…isn’t well known outside of Japan and lacks ties to Nintendo, why not go with their new mobile IP? A mobile IP that’s been making more than either Super Mario Run or Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Just something to think about.

So that’s three spots, roughly, all from Nintendo. But I think it’s fair to expect at least one more third party rep. I wouldn’t expect more than two honestly, and that’s even pushing it I think. But with third party, the sky is the limit with possible inclusions. Pick a company, any company and there’s totally at least one possible choice from each; Square Enix, Bethesda, Ubisoft, even Microsoft! So who can we expect? Doom Slayer? Banjo and Kazooie? A Slime from Dragon Quest? Honestly, the more I think of it…I’m not really sure who I could trim it down to.

You could argue that Doom Slayer being put in would be a great way to promote Doom Eternal I guess, and I guess Bethesda has been in talks with Nintendo regarding Smash…but would that really fit? Would that be something Nintendo would have chosen? Hard to say. The same goes for characters from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series; they don’t strike me as franchises Nintendo feels all that bothered to help promote. We’ve seen that Square Enix is pretty hard to work with; such as limiting Cloud’s Midgar stage to two songs and rumors that he was the hardest character to get back. I kinda feel like Nintendo wouldn’t want to keep playing with them. They have tons of possible choices to go with if Nintendo IS willing to play ball with them, but I’m not super confident in any one choice. Dragon Quest is arguably their biggest franchise, so that would make total sense to put in someone from those games…but there’s always a possibility they’d go with something else. Maybe Geno fans would get thrown a bone…but I’m not holding my breath. Regarding Ubisoft, I wouldn’t say that Rayman is out of the question, really, and he seems like the most likely pick. Maybe that random trophy he got in Smash 4 can be topped with a playable appearance. But then there’s the curious case of Banjo and Kazooie. While once Nintendo characters and allegedly considered for inclusion in at least one of the games, they’re owned by Microsoft now, and it’s pretty unlikely that a direct competitor with Nintendo would be willing to lend a character out.  Microsoft is on better terms with Nintendo than one would expect, nowadays though. With Minecraft on Nintendo platforms (with Super Mario skins, on top of Banjo skins), Microsoft’s Phil Spenser stating multiple times that he’d love to see the pair in Smash and the fact that he’s likely a pretty big fan request…it IS possible. But we come back again to the question of if this is on Nintendo’s radar. While there are plenty of thirty-somethings that would love Banjo and Kazooie to make it in, I’d argue someone like Steve from Minecraft is a far more logical choice, even if he isn’t my ideal pick.  

Honestly, I think one of the more likely candidates is Tekken’s Heihachi. Arguably the face of the fighting games series, he had a Mii costume in Smash 4 and despite Namco co-developing this game, so far only Pac-Man is repping from them, so why not add another? Seems odd that Capcom, Sega and Konami get two reps (or more with echoes) while Namco still has one. So really, if I have to pick two that seem most likely…I’d go with Rayman and Heihachi. Not my ideal picks if I’m being honest, but they make the most sense.

Overall, I think that’s it. I’m prepared to be mostly wrong here, but it sure is fun to speculate! It’d be actually kind of cool to be completely wrong here and get five total surprises. Regardless of who we get, we already have SO much and I’m sure to love anyone they add anyway. I have faith in Sakurai and his team, and with just about a week to go until Ultimate launches, we’ll have plenty to occupy our free time before any of these characters get confirmed anyway I’m sure.

Until next time,

-B

[game-boy-pocket]

Hey, the climate of Super Smash Bros. Speculation has kind of changed after the last Smash direct, and it’s made me dare to become hopeful for the impossible again, so I think it’s time for another one of My Nintendo Wishes.

Here are my Pie in the Sky Newcomers in Super Smash Bros, Ultimate ( None of which I actually expect to get in except maybe Geno )

So, two characters from my most wanted list made it in. And for that i’m super happy. But I tried to keep my list sort of realistic at that point... ( Even though one of the characters on that list is on this one too... )

Banjo Tooie is my all time favorite N64 game, with Diddy Kong Racing and The original Banjo Kazooie probably placing in the top 5 somewhere. And those two have been built for Smash since day 1. I won’t comment on their chances since they’re probably in the top 5 most discussed potential newcomers right now. But... I’ve basically excepted there will never be a Banjo Threeie, and even if there was, it won’t be on a Nintendo console. And it would probably be bad... But I want to give those two fallen gods of the N64 one more send off by someone who would treat them right with the characters they belong next to.

Geno...  despite Super Mario RPG having a very special place in my heart, and being one of my most re-played SNES games, I never actually wanted him in Smash in the past. But now that he’s looking like the most likely character in this bunch, I think I’m coming around. Especially after watching a certain youtube video that made me realize that Geno stood for a lot more than just a cool looking tidbit of nostalgia. He brings me back to when Mario got it’s first ever fleshed out story, and how I longed to have more like it... Well, we’re in an age where even in the Mario RPGs, story’s going the way of the dinosaur. So I could use a little Geno.

Poor Mike Jones probably has the least support of any character on this list. He’s from a wonderful NES game that I experienced for the first time when it launched on the NES Classic Edition... Still need to get to that sequel. But, his chances are slim because not only is his series barely remembered by anyone, but it was American Only... Which is unfortunately very damning, despite him being a first party character. But I still support him.  At the very least it’d be nice to get some Star Tropics Music.

Robotnik... I’ve already accepted that Shadow is going to be an “Echo of Sonic, and the Eggman will only make an appearance as a Boss character at best and a trophy at worst. But I can dream of the doc in a more compact version of his SA2B Egg Walker being playable.

Captain Toad’s chances aren’t all that bad. He’s in the background of New Donk City, sure, but then Toon Link also drives the spirit trains.  Every time this is brought up, people joke about Alfonzo, but is it really a bad point?  At this point though the biggest thing against him seems to be that Toad is already a part of Peach’s Movset so Sakurai might see adding Captain Toad as unnecessary.

Last but not least, Pig Ganon.  “But he’s already a part of Ganondorf’s Final Smash” ...Take a look at the Zelda characters in the roster, notice how they’re all from different games. And notice how there’s now three Links.  Another Ganon wouldn’t hurt. They could go with the Bowser Sized Ganon from A Link Between Worlds, or even dig out some Zelda 1 concept art. But the way I see it, this is the last chance for a true representation of Ganon to appear in Smash... As nice as it is that Ganondorf finally uses his sword in Smash Attacks... He’s still a Captain Falcon Clone. 

[razzleryan]

Top 10 Most Wanted Newcomers and Echo Fighters

NiI’d like to start this post by saying this is all my own personal opinion. I respect all feedback, be it positive or negative, so feel free to message me anytime! Fair warning, there’s a lot of characters I’m not familiar with, so please go easy on me!  I’ll present my #10 echo fighter and then my #10 newcomer until we reach number one, each with a paragraph describing why I want them. Let’s start with...

ECHO #10 - KEN (Street Fighter) (Echo of RYU)

I haven’t played a lot of Street Fighter, but I do know that Ken is a fan favorite of the series. I can’t see any third party characters getting a unique rep (RIP Chun-Li) so the best thing would be a Ryu echo fighter. The only person who I feel deserves that role is Ken. As stated before, I’m a novice to Street Fighter so I can’t name any differences between the two, but Smash Bros. would be a fantastic way for me to see these differences.

NEWCOMER #10 - RAYMAN (Rayman)

Remember when Artsy Omni made that fake leak of Rayman in SM4SH? I was one of the many people who thought it looked too real to be fake. Nearly everything about the leak looked real, and the fact that there was a Rayman trophy in the game only lead me to believe it further. With his detached limbs, I could see Rayman having one of the longer grabs in the game, with his hands and legs flying far from his body to deal some damage. 

ECHO #9 - FUNKY KONG (Donkey Kong Country) (Echo of DONKEY KONG)

I’ve been playing a lot of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and with the Switch port adding a fifth playable character in the form of Funky Kong (only in Funky Mode), he’s gaining a new following that he hasn’t had before. Rather than rolling in his dash attack like Donkey Kong, Funky could ride his Surfboard. If not a dash attack, it could work similar to Wario’s bike where it will disappear for a bit if it’s destroyed. His recovery could involve him surfing upwards, too!

NEWCOMER #9 - REX AND PYRA (Xenoblade Chronicles)

I haven’t gotten around to beating Xenoblade Chronciles 2 yet, but I really like the dynamic between these two. I don’t have much to say about them, they’d probably function semi-similar to Shulk but not close enough to be an echo fighter. Rather than giving Rex alternate costumes, each costume could be a different sword rather than Pyra.

ECHO #8 - IMPA (The Legend of Zelda) (Echo of SHEIK)

Using her Hyrule Warriors appearance, obviously. She’d play as a fast moving just low damaging attacker like Sheik, but I could see her dash attack and other moves using her sword like she does in Hyrule Warriors. 

NEWCOMER #8 - SPRINGMAN (ARMS)

So I’ve heard that Sakurai is primarily drawing from the Smash Ballot back in SM4SH, which means we may not being seeing any ARMS characters in the base roster. The game may have been underwhelming, but Nintendo rarely releases new major IPs, so bringing in a character from ARMS may help with sales. As Springman is the primary posterboy, he would fit best into the roster. Similar to Rayman, he’d have long range due to his spring-like arms.

ECHO #7 - NINTEN (Earthbound) (Echo of NESS)

I know absolutely nothing about this character because the only Earthbound/Mother game I’ve played was Mother 3, but I’d love to see another representative of the series. Seeing as Ness and Lucas were the protagonists of Earthbound 2 and Mother 3, I see no reason to not include the protagonist of the first game in the series.

NEWCOMER #7 - DECIDUEYE (Pokémon)

I’m going to be quaint. I don’t want Incineroar to be our Gen. 7 rep. It may be easier to implement than an owl with a bow and arrow, but we already have Greninja to represent a water starter and we have/had Charizard to represent a fire starter, so I would much rather have our first grass starter in the form of the unique Decidueye. He’d have a fantastic recovery due to his being an owl, but his kit would be primarily ranged based. You could take a lot of his movement from his Pokkén Tournament incarnation.

ECHO #6 - ISABELLE (Animal Crossing) (Echo of VILLAGER)

Isabelle’s assist trophy has not (at the time of making this) been reconfirmed, so I believe there’s a strong possibility that she’ll make it as our second Animal Crossing representative. She’s quickly become one of the most popular characters of the series and with her very expressive faces, I’m sure Sakurai can make her into one of the cutest characters we have.

NEWCOMER #6 - FAWFUL (Super Mario)

Nintendo seems to have forgotten about the Mario & Luigi franchise, which saddens me because they were my favorite games. Fawful is an important character in Superstar Saga, Partners in Time, and Bowser’s Inside Story, even being the main antagonist in the third. He could be a very unique fighter, using his head-jetpack-thing for his recovery and his final smash could be the Dark Star Core.

ECHO #5 - VIRIDI or MEDUSA (Kid Icarus) (Echo of PALUTENA)

Viridi is a fan favorite who could echo Palutena, but rather than using general light magic, Viridi could focus on more nature-based magic. Another echo of Palutena could be Medusa. I’m not quite sure what a moveset for her would be like, but more villains is a must.

NEWCOMER #5 - SKULL KID (The Legend of Zelda)

Apparently there’s a lot of people who believe Skull Kid is confirmed already? I don’t know if I’d go that far, though I admit the proof is very believable. I don’t know what a potential moveset for Skull Kid could be, and his final smash probably wouldn’t be the Moon, as it’s an assist trophy now. But who knows, maybe it’s possible?

ECHO #4 - SHADOW (Sonic the Hedgehog) (Echo of SONIC)

Shadow just makes sense to me. We know third party characters are open to echo fighters, and Chrom showed us that “echo” doesn’t mean “exact copy”. Shadow could echo Sonic but keep his unique dark and edgy attitude. He could be a stronger but slower Sonic who skates on his shoes and uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds for his attacks, with Chaos Control and other emerald-based powers. No guns though.

NEWCOMER #4 - PAPER MARIO (Super Mario)

With five games to take from, the Paper Mario RPG series is a classic and loveable series to Nintendo fans. While the recent games have failed to live up to what The Thousand-Year Door built, the series still has a strong following. He could use jump based moves and his hammer would be an integral part of his moveset. Various partners from the series, like Goombella, could also be part of his moveset.

ECHO #3 - OCTOLING (Splatoon) (Echo of INKLING)

Now that we know that not all Octoling are evil, this may be their chance to make it into the lime light as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. The major problem I see with the Octoling is how to differentiate between their ink and the Inkling’s ink. Plus I just really want an Octoling amiibo.

NEWCOMER #3 - MONSTER HUNTER (Monster Hunter)

I have never played any Monster Hunter games and to be honest they just aren’t my cup of tea, but since Rathalos is in the game as both a boss and an assist trophy, I’d be kind of upset if we didn’t get a hunter as a character.

ECHO #2 - DIXIE KONG (Donkey Kong Country) (Echo of DIDDY KONG)

Another fan favorite character that I’m honestly surprised hasn’t made it yet. Her hair could whip forward like Shantae’s does in the Shantae games, and it could also be used as her recovery, working the same as Donkey Kong’s, low height but long distance. 

NEWCOMER #2 - GENO (Super Mario)

I haven’t played Super Mario RPG personally, but I’ve seen my friend play a bit of it and I know how popular Geno is. With his appearance as a Mii Costume in SM4SH, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that Sakurai put him in. It seems like all those who got Mii Costumes have made it in as playable characters (except Ashley, RIP).

HONORABLE MENTIONS  Amaterasu, Banjo-Kazooie, Chibi-Robo, Chorus Kids, Dillon, Elma, Isaac, Leon Kennedy, Lloyd Irving, Marx, Quote, Tetra, and Wonder-Red

ECHO #1 - DARK BOWSER or MIDBUS (Super Mario) (Echo of BOWSER)

Psst, hey. Fun fact. This is actually my most wanted character in the entire list. Even more than my #1 Newcomer. Dark Bowser is the final boss of Bowser’s storyline in Bowser’s Inside Story, happening the same time as the Mario Bros. fight the Dark Star Core. He’s bigger than Bowser and a lot tougher. He breaths blue/purple fire among other powers, and I plan on making a whole separate post dedicated to why I want this character in Smash Bros. For now, I’ll just leave you all with Dark Bowser’s battle music.

NEWCOMER #1 - BANDANA DEE (Kirby)

Bandana (Waddle) Dee has become a stable character of the Kirby franchise, usually being a boss character or a playable character, his popularity rivals that of King Dedede and Meta Knight. He could throw his spear as a neutral attack, and spin it around for his recovery like he does in Star Allies. If you want to see what this looks like in action, I suggest checking out some gameplay of him in Super Smash Flash 2 (Please ignore Goku, he’s never getting in).

[breegullbeakreviews]

My hopes and dreams may have been dashed by the Jim Carrey who stole Christmas and a Tony the Tiger’s luchador cousin, but we still have DLC to look forward to. Here are my out there and not so out there ideas on who should join the roster in the Smash Pass.

Rules: No echos. The announcement claimed these types of new fighters won’t be a part of the pass. This doesn’t mean a new fighter may not come bundled with an echo of themselves, but these types of fighters won’t be a part of this list.

Also no Assist trophies. As much as I want Spring man and Ribbon girl to punch in I don’t see them replacing or removing an existing assist trophy to add a character in.

Fighter: Banjo & Kazooie

I am still holding onto the dream. The duo of bear and bird are tied to the Nintendo 64 despite no longer being owned by the big N. Phil Spencer is down to get Banjo in the game so the only real question is if Sakurai thinks they are worth adding. As far as Nintendo wanting them, it would only be if some deal was worked out for the N64 classic. I’d assume both announcements would be near one another.

I’ve gone over their endless potential for moves before and that hasn’t changed. Grant Kirkhope killed it on the soundtrack for these games so there are plenty of tracks to choose from. The only real question is what the stage will be. Smash is usually inspired by stages more often than it copies a direct area, so in that regard I think Spiral Mountain would probably make the most sense. I think the Rusty Bucket has a lot of potential as well, but if the idea is to go for something iconic I think you have to go Spiral Mountain.

Fighter: Doom Slayer

Not giving up on this one either. Odds probably aren’t great though. Doom is a very western franchise and not one super linked to Nintendo, and let’s not even get into the violence and religious aspects. The one thing it has going for it is that it is a very important franchise to the history of gaming and Bethesda seems to be on good terms with Nintendo. Doom Eternal is coming to the Nintendo Switch so it could be a cool marketing move to drop this fighter in to build up hype.

Just because he wouldn’t be a Snake echo anymore doesn’t mean he doesn’t have potential. The Doom Marine has plenty of weapons to pull from in his past games and it wouldn’t be too hard to pull some from the upcoming Doom Eternal. I also don’t think it’d be much of a stretch to give the Doom Marine an echo fighter in the form of B.J. Blazkowicz. He is equally important to the history of first person shooters. Doom Marine would certainly get the stage though as Nazi Germany isn’t something I see getting shown off in Smash. A space station on Mars with maybe a transition to hell seems perfect for a stage.

Fighter: Lara Croft

Odds are if we get another Square Enix representative it would be Geno, but Lara Croft is another major gaming icon, just again more western focused. She has appeared on Nintendo consoles so the only issue is coming up with her moves, and I don’t have many ideas for this. Her combat style is very weapons heavy, but she doesn’t have much that would work for close range at least from my experience with the franchise. Like Doom Slayer, I only see Nintendo green lighting this if we are getting some Tomb Raider title on the platform before February 2020.

Stage wise Lara Croft has tons of crazy set pieces to draw from. I assume the stage would be a tomb of some kind with plenty of hazards and maybe even a guest appearance by the iconic T-rex. Lara has plenty of costumes to pull from. If one major thing keeps Lara out it’ll be her moves.

Fighter: Geno

People want Geno. I am not one of those people. I have never played Super Mario RPG, and unless it comes to Nintendo Switch I probably never will. I really have nothing else to say except that I think he is rather likely to be in the game as DLC. Geno could be tied into a remaster or rerelease of the game on Switch, but it is possible Nintendo will just bring him in because fans want him.

Fighter: Shantae

Being a spirt does not preclude one from being a fighter. Despite having yet to review it, I was a backer of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero despite having zero history with the franchise. Shantae has history with Nintendo. Debuting on the Gameboy Color Shantae is a mix of traditional platforming and some metroidvania mechanics. Now I’m sure plenty of people would be pissed if she got in over Shovel Knight, but I think she has a lot more to offer.

For one thing we don’t have another fighter who uses their hair. That alone will give her some interesting standard attacks. She also has a plethora of magic and transformations that could make for an interesting set of special and smash attacks. As far as a stage goes I think the central town would be the best representation of the series as a whole. Maybe have part of the stage feature a dock so that Risky Boots can dock.

The music in the latest game is fantastic. You could bring everything over unchanged and it’d fit in. Every track has a beat that makes you want to get up and dance while still getting across the mood. Overall I don’t think Shantae’s chances are great. Mostly because she is an indie character and she’d be pretty obscure for Nintendo to pick for one of five DLC fighters. Let’s just say I’m not holding my breath on this one.

Fighter: Dixie (& Kiddy?) Kong

Another much more likely fighter with a ponytail. I have not played a Donkey Kong game featuring Dixie. I also don’t like the Donkey Kong Country games, though I do like DK64. That all being said I understand people want Dixie in. She is one of two playable characters in DKC2 which is regarded as the best of the trilogy.

Now why did I say Dixie and Kiddy? Well I think there is potential to make Dixie unique by having her nephew help out in some way. One thing that neither DK nor Diddy get across is the weird health system of the old games. If a Kong is hit you switch to the other one who was running alongside. I think using that relationship between the two could make Dixie really stand out. That being said I could also see her coming in on her own. Potential have it be a Zelda/Sheik style swap.

Now I also think there is echo potential with Tiny and Chunky, though I think it’d be more likely to have s singular Dixie have Tiny as an echo than getting all four. Dixie’s single ponytail versus Tiny’s two could change the range and speed. People talk about Tiny as Dixie’s replacement so I don’t think it’s a stretch. I have no idea what sort of announcement this could tie into. Maybe another DKC game or a DK64 remaster.

Fighter: Gen 3, 5, or 8 Pokémon

I expect this would be a gen 8 Pokémon over a gen 3 or 5 one if only because outside gen 1 additions new fighters have been from the latest generation. Melee added Mewtwo and Pichu. Brawl added Pokémon trainer and Lucario. 4 added Greninja and Ultimate is adding Incenaroar. Who knows what Pokémon it’ll be, but I’m for a grass type.

If we do roll back to gen 3 I’d hope for Sceptile or Grovyle. We need a fully evolved Grass starter in the battle. As far as gen 5 goes Emolga would be a third electric type but it’d be interesting to have in there with its flight and thunder. Outside that maybe Krookodile. I’d also not be opposed to a new Pokémon Trainer as long as the Fire starter isn’t the third stage. Ideally it’d be Tepig, Dewott, Serpirior or any combination if the Hoenn starters without Blaziken.

If the stage is gen 8 I don’t know where it’d be obviously. As for gen 3 the Sky Pillar could work, but I would not be opposed to a plethora of locals. Fortree city, and Mt. Chimney come to mind. I think Shoal cave could be interesting using the games internal clock to change the stage with the tide. Gen 5 I’m not picky. Mostly because I hated gen 5 and forget almost everything about it.

Fighter: Fire Emblem: Three Houses character

I actively do not want this, but knowing Sakurai it’s possible that we will see another anime sword boy or girl. With Nintendo selecting odds are lowered, but it is still a possibility.

Fighter: Tetris Block

Yes I watch GameXplain. I think this might be a bit far outside the box for Nintendo to pick, but if a Gameboy Classic is in the works this is some easy cross promotion with the system’s killer app. Music is obvious. Having the stage be a game of Tetris seems to be obvious. If the Tetris block is a fighter the stage would need a different art style than the character. Don’t ask me how it’d fight. Only Sakurai truly knows.

Fighter: Steve & Alex (Minecraft)

Most people know Steve’s name, but less know Alex. This is again Microsoft owned, and outside getting representation from the second bestselling game of all time, I don’t know what would compel Nintendo to select them as fighters. Stage wise the possibilities are endless. In a world of blocks and biomes it is hard to pick just one. I could see a stage divided into multiple areas like Delfino Plaza. I could also see a destructible stage that rebuilds like Luigi’s Mansion, though maybe not always the same way.

Move wise the two have a lot of tools, potions, and blocks to pull from. If a Creeper doesn’t show up here or as a stage hazard, than it needs to be an assist trophy. Music may be an issue. The music doesn’t seem like it’d transition well to battle music.

Fighter: Tails

I have never owned a Sonic game. I am not a Sonic fan. That being said with Shadow out of the picture I think Tails could be a great addition. From what I know of the character he seems to be more about verticality than speed. He also has gadgets that could make up his final smash.

As for a new stage maybe pull something from Mania or Forces. I assume most of the music is already going to be in the game so that might be an issue.

[eggoreviews]

Most Likely Smash Bros. Ultimate Characters

Considering that last time, I basically just listed impossible characters, I thought I’d step out of my massive hype shoes and look at what’s genuinely a bit  more realistic. We already know from Sakurai that there won’t be many more characters, if any, but a leak from a fairly reliable source has said that we may get around a half a dozen more newcomers before release. So this is my listed final prediction of most likely base and DLC characters and echo fighters, with some background info and hopefully less bias. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This list is wrong. It’s wrong in advance. But you never know, might be right.

BASE GAME:

1. Simon Belmont (Castlevania)

Admittedly, I’m jumping on the Vergeben train for this one, but he’s been right about everything before, right?

For those who don’t know, this Vergeben dude predicted that the Ice Climbers and Snake would be returning, as well as the whole of the SSB4 roster. He also said that Ridley from Metroid and Simon Belmont would be joining the roster as newcomers. So far, he has predicted everything correctly, except Belmont, who assumedly hasn’t been announced yet (okay, he also mentioned something about Minecraft, but we’ll ignore that for now). There’s also the fact that Konami and Nintendo must be pretty friendly right now, considering Snake’s return. Castlevania, while a little outdated now, is still a relatively well-known title and could act as this Smash game’s retro newcomer.

So yeah, could be totally wrong on this, but honestly we’ve got no fuckin idea what Sakurai will do, so speculation is all we’ve got.

2. Rayman

I’m probably showcasing a little bit of that bias that I said wouldn’t be in this list, but surprise, breaking my own rules again. Ignoring the fact that he was my number 1 pick for my most wanted newcomers, but I’ve got a genuine bit of evidence for this pick. First off, Rayman, along with side characters from the series Globox and Barbara, all had a trophy presence in SSB4 for Wii U, despite the fact that there’s been no other Rayman content in the series to date. This suggests to me that Rayman has at least been considered in the past and, considering the nature of his games, he basically has a premade moveset. Just add a final smash and some specials and this character almost makes itself. However, a lot of people have been citing Mario x Rabbids as a reason that one of the Rabbids will be put in instead of Rayman. But I think that, considering the roster for this game was apparently finalised in late 2016 according to a recent interview with Sakurai, back when Mario x Rabbids was only rumoured, it seems likely that a Ubisoft rep is most likely to be Rayman, especially with the characters long history and popularity. Not saying the Rabbids are impossible, but at most, I reckon they’ll be an assist trophy. Also, Rayman got remastered for Switch. So I guess that’s another thing.

3. King K. Rool (Donkey Kong series)

Honestly, I reckon this is the most likely on this list. Donkey Kong is one of the most iconic franchises in Smash Bros, but to date it only has two reps, the second being added in Brawl. The fact that it’s been a while since a new rep, there aren’t many reps at all and that this character is very, very heavily requested all screams to be that King K. Rool is an almost certain pick for a new character. This would also tick the ‘villain’ and ‘heavyweight’ boxes that Smash seems to have less of at the minute, as well as giving one of Smash’s biggest first party franchises another big rep. There are other characters from DK that could’ve been here, but we’ll get there later.

4. Dark Samus (Samus echo fighter, Metroid series)

Under usual circumstances, I’d say it’s fairly unlikely for a franchise to get two reps in one new game, but there’s a fair amount of evidence to suggest that Dark Samus is going to become her own echo fighter this time around. As a general thing, I think that considering the fact that echo fighters are a brand new feature for this game, it seems unlikely that we’ll literally only get the three we’ve been shown. So cue Dark Samus, with her iconic costume shown as removed from Samus’ selection screen as well as a currently missing assist trophy, the way seems to have been cleared for Dark Samus to be announced. It’s kind of funny to me that if this happens, we will have four Metroid reps and three of them will be Samus.

5. Shadow (Sonic echo fighter, Sonic series)

Okay, so my reasoning for this pick is pretty much the same as the last; Shadow’s assist trophy was also missing from the E3 reveal and gameplay and seems to have been replaced with Knuckles. Seems a little odd to do this, as it’s not as if Knuckles was a highly requested assist really, so that suggests to me they’ve got plans for Shadow as his own character. There have been arguments that Shadow could be his own character with his own moveset potential, which I guess is true, but then again he’s a hedgehog who goes fast like Sonic does. Plus, it makes sense for them to advertise and use the new echo feature as much as possible to hype up the game. So here’s Shadow. Ta dah.

6. Geno (Super Mario RPG)

Here’s my sixth and final pick for base game additions. If I’m fully honest, I know fuckin nothing about the Mario RPG series because I never played it. All I know is that literally everyone is requesting this wooden boi. What makes this more likely for me as a base addition is also the fact that we know Sakurai has wanted him in the past so now seems like a pretty apt time for that to happen. Also, you know, he had a Mii Gunner costume in SSB4 so that’s a thing. Not gonna pretend I know anything about Geno, but at this point he’s among the most likely.

DLC:

1. Crash Bandicoot

Right here is probably one of the most requested Smash characters of all time, but I’m gonna put it out there and call it that we probably, definitely won’t see Crash appear in the base game. Reason being that, as I said, the roster was finalised back in 2016 and back then, as far as I’m aware, Activision and Nintendo didn’t quite have the same close(ish) relationship they have now. The Crash N Sane Trilogy wasn’t confirmed for Switch or any other platform than the PS4 until earlier this year, so if we’re seeing this guy, he’ll be DLC. And somehow I think we will.

2. Spring Man (ARMS)

ARMS is a pretty popular first party game that came to the switch last year. Spring Man and his massive arms would be very easy to translate to a Smash game. Plus, using arms as weapons would make for a pretty unique character. I reckon that the only reason Spring Man won’t be in the base game is purely because this game didn’t release until 2017, so I’d expect to see this guy or maybe Ribbon Girl pop up as DLC somewhere along the line. Whichever one doesn’t end up playable will likely be an assist trophy or something.

3. Funky Kong & Dixie Kong (Echo fighter double pack, Donkey Kong series)

A lot of people are arguing whether or not one of these characters will appear, but I personally think they both will. I don’t think they’ll be in the base game purely because there’s already a couple of echo fighters, as well as another DK rep in my likely base game list, but it makes a lot of sense to me that they’ll be available to buy together as like a DK bundle, with Funky echoing Donkey Kong and Dixie echoing Diddy Kong. This seems even more likely considering the new Funky Kong mode in the DK country Switch remaster and also that Dixie has been a pretty highly requested character for a while as it is. I get that a lot of people are saying that Dixie should have her own moveset because she has hair or whatever, but I don’t think it matters too much, she basically has the same appearance as Diddy. I guess Cranky Kong is another possibility for a DK rep, but I don’t see it considering the other potential reps. 

4. Banjo & Kazooie

Right now, Banjo Kazooie is under Microsoft, but a recent tweet from the VP of Xbox Phil Spencer saying that he’d love to see Banjo & Kazooie in Smash kind of says to me that this could very well happen. But like, obviously, if the guy has only just said that Banjo & Kazooie would be cool in Smash. So yeah, if anything, DLC.

5. *Gen 8 Pokemon*

Okay, so I know nothing about Pokemon. Like at all. I’ve never even played a game. All I know is that a lot of people talk about Decidueye being included, but that kinda seems unlikely to me because that one is Gen 7 and a lot of the hype is around these new Pokemon games. So it makes a lot of sense to me that they’ll include a brand new starter Pokemon as a later DLC addition, considering that I think Gen 8 is coming in 2019? It’s something like that.

So there you have it. Here’s my wrong ass list. If I get any of these right, I will be very proud of myself. Guess we’ll find out in December.

Go live ur best life.