This is a translation of Pichu’s character page from News Flash! Smash Bros. Dojo, Melee’s version of the Smash Bros. Dojo. Thanks to PushDustIn and Soma for their help with the translation.
In Smash, there’s this thing called “clone characters”. [1]
The 14 basic and 5 hidden characters make up the foundation, and on the character selection screen’s edges there are the character’s variations that appear next to the characters’ slots.
During development, we thought it wouldn’t be possible to make more than about 16 characters however hard we tried.
Having said that, the customers would want to have even more…
There, we prepared characters that shared Special Moves and motions (movement) with some of the other characters in order to save programming and motion creation time, but while looking and feeling different.
This is just like Luigi to Mario in the previous game.
Actually, even making the character models to secure their slot is not easy, and I know that it would make me, the person who adjusts character parameters the most (like attack power and jumps), busier than it would anyone else.
That said, if the options are “do” or “don’t”, then I thought it was definitely better to “do”, so I put them in the game.
(That’s because even if these are cut, there will be no characters added)
Based on Pikachu, we prepared Pichu.
When you actually play [the game] and observe, you will find Pichu and Pikachu to be very different.
In this Smash, the honour of being the weakest is bestowed to Pichu.
Compared to Jigglypuff, who was technically the weakest character last time but was quite potent in the right hands, Pichu has the physical weakness of shocking itself and taking damage when performing attacks that involve electricity.
Its weight is the lightest among all characters too, and overall its attacks are not powerful, either.
To put it the other way, if you can win with this character, you’ll look really cool.
If you see some brave warrior using this character in high level tournament matches, please applaud for them.
Unlock criteria:
Clear Event 37: Legendary Pokémon.
Alternatively, play 200 multiplayer matches.
You probably have noticed it already, but you can unlock all characters by just racking up the number of matches played.
It’s simple, so we made it a little tiring, [2] but we’ve made it so that people who don’t play anything but versus matches can unlock all of the characters just fine.
(These images were taken during development)
Translator’s notes:
[1] A more proper translation for clone characters would be “model swap characters”. The term “clone” was never officially used in Smash. [2] The original text used, “しんどくしています”, took me quite a while to translate. Turns out that it comes from “しんどい“, which in Kansai dialect means “tired”.
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Pichu for Smash 4!
…what? I actually used Pichu more than Pikachu in Melee. 😐
You are a brace warrior. I applaud you.
This yellow piece of bottom tier trash won’t be in Smash 4 and definitely doesn’t deserve it. Reconsider who you want for DLC.
And I guess you weren’t intent on winning when you played Melee then.
Not everyone plays Smash competitively.
Hey, I like Pichu :<
He (or she?) wasn't my 2nd Main to "disrespect" my oppenents, he was just fun to use. I just like Pichu more than Pikachu, so I would love if he makes a comeback to Smash4.
To tell the truth, I had the most fun making a header for Pichu but pssssshhht, don't tell anyone…
Pichu with Rage mechanics would already be a lot better than he is in Melee. Besides that, the character can be changed to be more viable as a character while still preserving his self-damaging characteristics.
Hell, you could keep his Melee moves, but give him Lucario’s Aura and he’d fit in just fine.
Dude it’s a kid’s party game. Get over yourself.
Well well well, someone’s a bit full of himself.
I salute you for being the bravest and honorable Pichu fighter.
Pichu was made to be deliberately bad…and yet somehow, Kirby ended up worse.
(On a side note, I can’t seem to get it so I can change my avatar. Whenever I try to log in through WordPress, it sends me to a blank page.)
So is there any actual chance of Pichu becoming DLC?
I personally hope so… I like underdogs…
I wouldn’t count on it too much, but you never know. Wolf (and possibly Snake if Konami stops being… Konami) is the only veteran I see returning still. Young Link was spiritually succeeded by Toon Link, Ice Climbers and Pokemon Trainer are not technically feasible, and Pichu may be seen as too weak / too similar to Pikachu / just a weak version of Pikachu.
If Pichu DOES return, I’d imagine it’d be to bring back as many veterans as possible (which I support) or because of its gimmick as an underdog character.
It’s funny because Jigglypuff and Pichu are not the weakest characters in Smash 64 and Melee.
Sakurai doesn’t know the first thing about balancing, so I’m not surprised.
Its a shame that Pichu didn’t get to appear in SSB4. Maybe next time.