Part 1: How many Characters will be in the next Smash? An hypothesis.
Part 2: Potential Characters for the Next Smash Roster– Part 1. Covers Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Fire Emblem.
Part 3: Potential Characters for the Next Smash Roster– Part 2. Covers Donkey Kong, Metroid, Kirby, and Star Fox.
Part 4: Potential Characters for the Next Smash Roster– Part 3. Covers F-Zero, MOTHER, Kid Icarus, Retro, and New Wave characters
Part 5: Potential Characters for the Next Smash Roster– Part 4. Covers Mii Characters and 3rd Party Characters from Konami, Sega, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Other Third Parties, and Indie Characters.
Hello again, we have reached the end of the journey. And this part will be the most open to interpretation.
If you are new to this series of articles, I really recommend you to read this series from the beginning. It might be a long read, but I tried to make it fun.
Mii Fighters
Mii Fighters are part of the New Wave characters, but as I said in the first chapter of the series: I counted them just as “one character”. This is because in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U we got three different play styles, each one with custom specials. Their movesets are inspired by other playable characters. So, maybe in the next game we might get new fighters styles, and those will be under the same Mii Fighter spot, without changing the character selection screen.
Mii Fighter Characters that have been playable on the Smash series with their first appearance and proposed archetypes.
Mii Fighter Characters that might appear in the next game.
We don’t know if they will do it, or how many types of them could they add. But let’s explore some alternatives that could show up.
Mii Athlete: Being the avatars of Wii Sports, it was unexpected not see them already in the game. Their moveset could use tennis rackets, golf clubs, bowling balls, kicks, punches, judo throws and so on.
Mii Sorcerer: They could differentiate themselves from the gunners with: life drainer grabs, teleports, status effects and maybe summons. Not everything is projectiles and reflectors!
Mii Musician: We all know that Wii Music was a disaster, but this might be the chance to clean up their name. Their moveset could include rhythmical moves, offensive area of effect moves and some stat buffs that take inspiration in the bard abilities from some RPGs.
Which other kind of new Mii would you like to see? Tell us in the comments.
- Smash Ultimate Development Timeline - May 16, 2020
- Straight from the Source: Koji Igarashi on Castlevania in Smash, Bloodstained - October 16, 2018
- Sakurai Discusses Isabelle, Echoes, and Newcomers - September 26, 2018
I like how all of those indy characters are from the West, and the only Western character that isn’t an indy character is owned by Microsoft. #Scorpion
I write the list based on the DLC Poll popularity points, and yeah, it might seem balanced towards western developed games. Anyways, Quote is 100% Japanese.
Scorpion would be cool tho. or the Battletoads or Jago from Killer instinct. good call.
Daisuke Amaya created Cave Story…. so Quote is a Japanese indie character. Which, last time I checked, doesn’t make him Western.
Phew, that was a loooong article and I would like to give a heärtfelt thanks to you for setting up this big project and of course the SG team for publishing and what I imagine to be a lot of background work like editing.
This part specifically has a lot of characters, so major props for that, with my favorites being Sora (read: A feasible way to get Donald Duck in this game), Professor Layton and the idea of more Sonic character and none of the characters seem incredibly out of place.
I was positively surprised at the archetypes of the veterans, I can see you have a great understanding of Pac-Man by not making him a sniper.
Now of course comes the part where I disagree, nitpick and push my own agenda:
Basically, I think there’s a lot of potential in a second Pac-Man series character.
Ms. Pac-Man could take the fruits from her own game and its random aspect for a stage-control heavy version (With more lingering fruits instead of traditional projectiles) of Pac-Man.
Then there’s also the Ghost Gang, the most iconic villains of gaming and maybe even pop-culture.
The “Gang” part of the name could give them that unique edge and you can even implement the traditional behavior for extra fan-service.
The Ghost Gang could move in a variety of ways in their default position, like a block or as a neat shoutout to another killer app, a snake.
Their moveset can not only consist of taking various shapes as a team, but also splitting up and moving on their own, before closing in and trapping the opponent.
Then on top of the team-aspect and the patterns of the original Pac-Man, the ghosts can bring more Arcade Mayhem by using gameplay aspects of Pac-Man that Pac himself doesn’t use yet (The respawn box, turning blue and the warping from one side of the screen to the other)
Thanks =), this has been a work of love, and it seems that it shows. It has a lot of flaws, but the responses of everyone here have been great.
for the Pacman family, yeah, Miss Pacman with emphasis in stage control, as their games are about that. Also, I like the idea of moving as tetriminos and having references to their gameplay mechanic sounds great =P you could make a Dream Smasher article about those ideas =)
One idea for a Mii Fighter class I had was a Mii Mech Pilot: A mii piloting a personal, clown car sized mech. It would be slower but would have more powerful close and long range attacks. Different outfits would change the look of the mech too, which would also allow for some interesting character costumes, like Eggman or Tron Bonne.
BUT thats just one idea I had, great job with the articles! These are some of my fav content on the site!
That sounds interesting. maybe he could be slower but can gain acceleration if he doesn’t stop. great idea =)
Thanks, as I said it at the beginning, I did this for fun, and I had a blast making it. So it’s heartwarming to read that you and other people like it beside all of its flaws =)
gimme blaze in smash 5 and i’m good to go
(i know this would probably not happen, but pls don’t kill my hopes :V)
We all have our “give me my unexpected favorite or I riot” =P
Mine is Bub from bubble bobble XD, I would kill to play as he.
You didn’t even mention the Tekken character that was actually considered.
Which one? Sorry if I missed it… Tekken has really cool characters, Heihachi and Yoshimitsu (as a Tekken/SoulCalibur character) came to my mind as somewhat viable alternatives
Heihachi was the on considered. But iirc the characters chosen in this list were based on our poll which means Heihachi probably did not do very well :/
Both Nightmare and Heihachi got 2.8 points each.
I didn’t knew that he was considered, so I pick Nightmare because they had a crossover before.
Anyways, thanks for the clarification.
2.1 points ***
I know this idea didn’t perform well in the SourceGaming Poll…but why wasn’t Steve from Minecraft brought up?
I think you answered your own question, the data for this article was primarily based on the poll. SlowDragon wrote a pretty great series of articles on Steve’s potential inclusion as a character in Smash, if you haven’t seen those then I highly recommend them. I also think that poll was held before Minecraft was released on the Wii U, so it’s a little more understandable why people wouldn’t have rated him quite as highly back then.
I thought of him, and I think he could be interesting, so I take responsibility too in not including him. One problem about him was that Notch, the creator of the game, hasn’t a good view of Nintendo, and even if he isn’t longer in control of the game (Now Microsoft owns the franchise), that kind of relationship could be detrimental to his chances.
But yeah, I miss the chance to mention him.
Thanks for the comments =)
I didn’t know that about Notch, huh. Then again, I seem to recall Hideki Kamiya having some less than eloquent things to say about the Smash community, and yet Bayonetta made it in. I guess things can change.
Yeah?… well, Hideki Kamiya has a really loud mouth sometimes XD… Luckily he can’t block me here =P
We know how this goes, let’s get it started.
I would like another option for Miis, and of the one’s you’ve listed, I think the sorcerer and the musician sound the most interesting. I’m just not sure about the musician though, since as I mentioned with the Chrous Kids, I don’t know how a rhythm-based moveset will work in a fighting game.
I used to think Bomberman would be interesting, but after playing him both in Super Smash Bros. Crusade and Super Smash Flash 2, I’m starting to have my doubts. I know they’re both fan-made games, but I just never got a feel for the character in either game. I would like Snake back, I just don’t know which Snake I’d like back. Simon is also a pretty good choice, he has the whip for ranged attacks and a lot of weapons and items he could use for specials. Bill Rizer seems a bit too unlikely, even if his weapon doesn’t shoot realistic projectiles.
Pretty much all of the Sega options are good ones. Considering Tails and Knuckles have Mii costumes and Shadow’s an assist trophy, it is possible we could see one more Sonic character. The Sonic twitter even joked once about Eggman being an S-Tier character who no one’s managed to unlock, so they know that Eggman is an interesting pick. I think Blaze and Silver could also make for unique fighters.
I’m not sure how I feel about Phoenix Wright. More specifically, I wouldn’t want him to play exactly as he does in UMvC3, I don’t think that type of playstyle will be very well suited for Smash. He might need some adjustments, but I guess it could be done. Amaterasu and Viewtiful Joe are both interesting options, I don’t see why you couldn’t do either.
Lloyd is probably the safest ppick you could go for from the Tales series, as far as my experience with it goes. Plus, he already has a Mii fighter costume. I would absolutely LOVE Klonoa as a character, I was a huge fan of his games. I think Nightmare is a bit too much though. He doesn’t really fit in with the other characters. Then again, neither did Link in Soul Calibur 2, and I loved playing him there, so I guess I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Square Enix has so many options that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I’m sure no one’s thinking of it ’cause of Cloud, but since FF8 is still my most favorite game of all time, I would be remiss not to mention Squall as an option. Since Cloud is in, I’m certain the chances are impossible since people’ll just see him as another angsty pretty-boy with an oversized weapon, but I think he could be separated playstyle-wise from Cloud. One thing notable about Squall in FF8 is that all his weapons have perfect accuracy, so while Cloud focuses on brutal hits with decent speed to back it up, Squall could be focused more around precise strikes, possibly making use of the trigger mechanic to buff the damage on certain attacks, and give him more magic-based attacks to make him unique. I’m just thinking out loud here, it’ll never happen anyway. Back to the article, I wouldn’t mind playing as a Black Mage, but I don’t really want to play as ‘Black Mage’. There are so many named Black Mages in the Final Fantasy series, why can’t we pick one of those instead of the generic one? Sora is a fantastic choice, he has so much potential and his artstyle already fits with Smash. He could be played as an aerial character with a lot of magic, or maybe he summons Donald and Goofy to back him up during battles. There are a lot of ways you could go about implementing his character. As much as I absolutely adore Bravely Default, I think the playable characters are a bit too fluid to work well in Smash. The whole game, they are constantly changing jobs, so no one in the game really has a set way of fighting. I guess it could be done, but there are so many ways it could be done that I’d feel wrong in picking any one option over others (for example, you mention Agnes using wind magic and a summon for her Final Smash, but my Agnes was a Vampire/Ninja for most of the game, occasionally switching to use Pirate or Monk skills). Bub? One word: YES. OH MY GOD YES, ALL OF MY YES. Also, I had no idea Taito was owned by Square Enix until now. I guess Square really does make all my favorite games! But seriously, I think Bub could make for a very unique fighter, using bubbles too trap enemies, possibly using the elemental bubbles for specials, or the giant bubbles from the DS game, or as you said, using items or skills from the Rainbow Island series. I also once had the idea that Bub and Bob could fight together as a sort of ice Climbers pair, since the main draw of their games is the co-op function. I really would love to see Bub in the game in any fashion, even as an assist trophy.
I’m surprised you think it might be difficult to implement Professor Layton when we all seem to just accept that Phoenix Wright is a good choice. If they could make a moveset for him, I guess the same could be done for Layton. Besides that, I don’t really have any firm opinions on any of the characters listed here besides that Ryu would make for a great ‘retro’ pick. They could probably draw inspiration for his more recent games (do they still make Ninja Gaiden games?), either could work.
I’m probably alone in this, but I absolutely do not want Shantae in Smash. I’m probably just still bitter after Risky’s Revenge left a bad taste in my mouth, but I don’t think she’s interesting enough to become a fighter. Quote? Huh, I have no idea what you’re talking about, who would even think of something like that? Haha, me? Nah, you’re crazy, let’s change the topic. As far as other indie characters go, Gunvolt might make for an interesting pick. He’d have to tag enemies with a projectile first, but afterwords he could unleash powerful electric attacks against them, though maybe having a character with an over-reliance on a single projectile move might make him too weak against characters with a reflector. Maybe if I was actually good enough to beat Azure Striker Gunvolt, I’d know more about his character to work him into Smash D: Besides that, nothing really comes to mind.
Thanks for the long answer =) I’m glad that you have read this whole article.
The rhythm mechanics might be hard to implement, but I imagine a way that some attacks could work like Marth Side be, when you start the attack, then, based on different inputs the attack will have different outcomes…
Yeah, Bomberman is really weird in those games, I think that they focused too much in the “Bomber” part.
Snake could be again an amalgamation of every one, like Link =P, he might look like he is from one game, but his moves come from different ones.
Simon could be great, but I even had a bad time looking for a image of him… that was weird, because he is really iconic.
Yeah, Bill would be hard to translate… he is more realistic now.
Eggman S-tier for the win =P, and yeah, Blaze and Silver could work too, Sonic characters have the same characteristics as the Mario characters as in they are different to each other.
yes, Mr. Right and Mr. Layton are a weird case, I believe that the MVC3 moveset for Wright shows one alternative, but yeah, I might not translate well for this game.
I believe that Lloyd just need a sequel game, and he will get in Smash, better if it is Nintendo exclusive (at least for some time).
I put Nightmare because of the crossover, He might look to weird for the game, but I really want to hit him with a pikmin XD
Squall yeah, but he share the same problem with Cloud, both representing more Sony than Nintendo, anyways, Maybe he could get in Play Station All Star Battle Royale with cheese 2 (I want to do something like this for that game… but my keyboard needs a rest XD)
Yeah, maybe the black mage is generic, but at the time of the poll no one was giving a dime for Cloud =P, so voting for a generic mascot was a safe choice. but Agnes could have some Black mage traits, because (besides being my waifu) she was portrayed more as a magical inclined character, but I understand that Bravely Default character are too fluid to settle…maybe with a Palutena like moveset, with different custom moves?…
Wohoo, someone else wants Bub, now we are 3… TT_TT… He, alone or with Bob, would be an amazing character or an assist trophy.
in my first draft I had the 3rd party sorted by Retro and new wave, but as they were A LOT, sorting them by owner was a better idea =P, but yeah, Ryu Hayabusa is one of those characters that fit well in the game, yeah there are some new Ninja Gaiden games, but he also could have some Dead or Alive moves… luckily not jiggle physics .
Shantae is polarizing too, and maybe her clothes are too RISKY… ¬¬… I believe that she has some interesting moves, but it’s ok to disagree.
I didn’t get the Quote joke =(
Yeah, Gunvolt, I like his playstyle, guns and electric shields could be great… I miss the chance to talk about him… my bad. (Yeah, the game was crazy hard XD)
Now that I think of it, giving Agnes customs that borrow moves from other jobs could work out pretty well. Plus, I do get that she’s more magically inclined, her stats do favor that. I guess it could be done somehow.
I’m glad to meet anyone who remembers Bubble Bobble, that had to be my favorite game as a kid. And I still play it today, thanks to the Virtual Console. Sakurai does like reviving retro characters, so we’ll just have to hope he has this game on his mind.
Alright, let me be fair on Shantae. I do agree that she has a lot of potential for a unique moveset, and I might even enjoy playing her if she was in. That being said, I was really underwhelmed by Risky’s Revenge (and don’t think I didn’t notice that pun :D), so I’m not particularly impressed by her games, despite what everyone else says about them. Besides, I don’t think her outfit is that much of a problem, considering Zero Suit Saumus’s alternate outfits and Bayonetta’s… EVERYTHING.
As for that joke I made about Quote… give it some time, we’ll see ;P
For example, I was thinking in the High-Jump ability from the Valkyrie, Teleport from the Time Mage or Aeroga from the White Mage as recovery customs… and with the “Default” move you can increase the Altitude of High Jump, the distance covered by teleport or the strength/multi-hits of the tornado like Aeroga
Yeah, I remember playing Puzzle Bobble a lot in the arcades of my town and Bubble Bobble in the virtual console (it will ever be in the NES mini). Bub has been in a LOT of games, and some of them are legendary to the level of other characters that are in the game.
I agree, her games aren’t to the level of the good Castlevania ones. hopefully her new one will be good (at least it looks good). yeah, the outfit thing was just for the joke =P she is a belly dance genie, so her look reflects that idea.
Ohhh… I get it now, good luck with that!
Lara Croft should have been considered as well for a Square Enix character, since Tomb Raider is now owned by SE.
Hello,
Yeah, but different to other characters she don’t have close ties to nintendo beside some ports. anyways, she is one of the icons of gaming, so I kind of regret not including her, but the article was long enough already =(
Thanks for bringing her up.
Okay we’ve finally go to the last article, so lets start commenting!
The Miis are really depending. They weren’t meant to be in Smash in the beginning since Sakurai believed it’ll occur online bullying by making a Mii of someone you hate the most, and let everybody online kill him for free as the Mii player doesn’t do anything while watching enjoyably and sadistic. But at least Nintendo was able to install a security system in Smash 4 to detect those ruthless scumbags and reject them out from the online for few hours to eternity.
I was hoping for a Magician type Mii Fighter, since there are other magician fighters like Zelda and Robin, and maybe Ness and Mewtwo although psychic is way too different from magic. It’s odd why they didn’t add in that type. However, having a sports type and a musician type is quite interesting. Sports type can mainly use boxing as regular attacks, a tennis racket/baseball bat/golf club for side smashes, bowling for down special, archery for regular special, etc. While musician type can use a tact as regular attacks, electric guitar to blast shockwaves as down special, cymbal as side smash, drum slam for down smash, etc. Anything can be possible, if Sakurai is willing to add more types for the Miis.
But the Mii’s inclusion is really depending. There are some people who aren’t a fan of Mii Fighters, which some of them didn’t add any Miis into Smash 4. Even the Miis weren’t even eligible to online battle since customization wasn’t allowed in there, which was meaningless. Mii’s inclusion can be the player’s personal choice, but at this moment, their inclusion is really depending.
I think Sakurai considers the Mii Fighters as sort of ‘bonus characters’, so he’s probably not too worried about how they’re viewed competitively. Considering all the effort put into Mii Fighter costumes, I’d say its safe to assume they’ll return in some fashion.
Hello Again
Yeah, Miis are really depending, maybe they are so “low tier” to discourage their use in on-line/competitive modes.
maybe if they get a “Standard” mii for every type…
I hope to get at least one new kind of them for the next game.
For Sega’s side…I disagree they’d bring anymore Sonic characters, it doesn’t seem to be fair to other third parties! I know they’re really popular as their poll went well, but it would be meaningless bringing Sonic characters only while there are tons of other possible Sega characters out there. That’s not how it works.
But I could agree with NiGHTS’ inclusion. It is another popular Sonic Team character alongside with Sonic, and made many cameos through every Sonic games. It even got back in action on Wii as a reboot, and even the ratings weren’t that good for certain reasons, it was still a remarkable return for everybody’s favorite dream character (I won’t say “boy” since it’s genderless). I think it’ll be interesting if it uses the Persona Masks as its final smash.
If Sega would allow to bring three characters for their company, then I would accept Sonic and NiGHTS in the Sega roster. I don’t know about Bayonetta since she may have a possibility to be removed, but it really depends. But if they’d plan to add in a third candidate other than Bayonetta, then I’d bring Puyo Puyo’s Arle in Smash. She’s in the same level as Lip. Her game went worldwide but heavily arranged in a different storyline as Sega replaced to Dr. Eggman (Robotnik) and Nintendo replaced to Kirby. The game may not be popular in the West, its still popular in Japan as best puzzle game. This game was even released for both Sega and Nintendo, and was born in the same year as Sonic. Although the game was made by Compile, it later bought by Sega and became part of Sonic Team. She even have many magic attacks like Fire and Ice Storm, which can work perfectly in Smash. Sonic, NiGHTS, and Arle can represent themselves as the Sonic Team Trios.
I was thinking in that, for me the best option is to have “just one per franchise”, as “Megaman and Ryu” is better than “Megaman and Protoman” or “Ryu and Chun-li” to represent their company.
But people really voted for their Sonic favs. =P
For me the best options are Sonic, Bayonetta (if one count her as a sega character, her ownership is a mess), NiGHTS and Arle…I didn’t knew about Arle, her game looks similar to Lip’s. But yeah, I get that she could be another interesting choice.
For Capcom’s side…Monster Hunter series are a popular hunting game mainly on the Nintendo hardware, but rather than choosing the avatar hunter, I’d rather choose Feline instead since they’re the main mascot of the series. It’d be interesting if they used every hunter’s weapon as part of their attacks, while they can summon a deadly giant monster as its final smash.
Ace Attorney has been in the Nintendo handhelds for a long time since the GBA era, and even they brought their sixth sequel to 3DS. Thanks to Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 and Project X Zone 2, I think his movesets would work perfectly in Smash as him being the comical fighter, while he can bring one opponent to court and finish them off with the iconic “OBJECTION!!!” as final smash. I’d rather use his silhouette icon as his Smash icon.
Amaterasu is another interesting choice as her games has been in the Nintendo hardware twice, and being the four-legged animal fighter other than the rejected Ivysaur. Her brush technique can be an interesting specials, while she can probably change her weapon if possible. I think her final form should be her final smash. Also, I’d rather choose her title name 大神 (okami) as her Smash icon.
Viewtiful Joe had his experience having his own Smash version fighting game, as also being in his first crossover game Tatsunoko VS Capcom which was an Nintendo exclusive game. It could be interesting for his entry as he can control space to make fighters slow as his final smash. Sexy Silvia can be his alternate gender palette if possible.
However, as I do sense Mega Man and Ryu would return to Smash as being the iconic Capcom mascots, I could add in one more character if Smash would allow three characters per company. And I’d choose Arthur as Capcom’s third candidate. He has been in the Nintendo hardware quite a while, and he’s a lot famous on the Nintendo side as well. The reason I’ve chose Arthur for this roster is that both him, Mega Man, and Ryu have a strong connection to each other. That’s right, they were actually the cross trios from Mega Man Universe, which is already cancelled after Inafune left the company. It’ll be interesting if Capcom brought these trio to Smash, giving them a legendary reference that never granted before cancellation.
Felines are a interesting option too. But I respected the options of the polls =P. they could be really fun to use, but I see them also as a crazy awesome final smash.
about the icons, for Ace attorney I use the “shine” that appears in the logo, but it also could be a stylized version of the attorney badge.
for Okami.. yeah, I use an ENSO symbol, that is a “O” looking circle of ink that means circle, it resemble the ink painting that one can do in the game… but yeah, it could be her name or the red sun from the logo.
Joe was a crossover mascot for Capcom, sadly his series is now dormant… =(
A trio for capcom is the best option, but their third character will have a really hard time… they have a lot of characters that could work perfectly… and I’m sure that a lot of people will be piss off XD
For Bandai Namco’s side…I do think Pac-Man will return if Bandai Namco will support the Smash production again.
I could accept the Tales series to join Smash, but it may be difficult since those series are more noticeable on the Sony side. But I know that wouldn’t be the case anymore thanks to our sword busting buddy Cloud, so I could agree bringing Lloyd to Smash, as his game is the only Tales game released in the Nintendo hardware. I really don’t know about Tales series that much, but having a duo katana fighter can be an interesting choice.
Klonoa has been requested by many fans since Brawl, and I do love to see him in Smash. It does make sense to bring him in Smash as they brought 3 of his titles to Nintendo, but since haven’t heard of any new games after his Wii game’s release, I think Klonoa have became partially a forgotten character. But since we’ve got other forgotten fighters such as the Duck Hunt Duo back in game in Smash 4, I think that wouldn’t matter anymore. It really depends though.
Nightmare can be another interesting thing as he joins Smash to gain revenge against Link, but I think his inclusion may be impossible instead. Heihachi was disqualified because his movements were too difficult for Smash, and since Soul Calibur does have a similar movements except for using weapons mainly, I think Nightmare will fall into the same fate as Heihachi’s. I can imagine bringing a Mii costume of his instead, but this really depends too.
However, I do think Sakurai is focusing Bandai Namco on a classic side, which explains why Pac-man was chosen in his classic form than his modern style. If that’s the case, I think we’ll be focusing on classic Namco characters instead, which adding Dig Dug’s Taizo as the secondary candidate, since Dig Dug was another popular action arcade game too. Another candidate that I chose isn’t in this list, but Valkyrie from Valkyrie no Densetsu series. Although her game wasn’t released in the West, she is still recognizable thanks to many of her crossover appearances such as Project X Zone. Her movesets does work perfectly in Smash, as she can use her Big spell to “accidentally” crush her opponents as her final smash. With Pac-Man, Taizo, and Valkyrie together, they can represent the classic Namco arcade characters.
I hope Pacman don’t go away… but it’s a dream and this roster is full of miracles. no one knows what might happen next time.
Sadly the Tales, Klonoa, SoulCalibur and Tekken series have more games on the Sony side… but also was Cloud, so it’s hard to predict =P
I believe that Nightmare could use the wings of Night Terror as a recovery option (and as a Strong as hell final smash), but Heihachi could easily become a fast short range choker character, like Little Mac but with some auto combo moves like Marth Side B
Valkyrie needs to come back in a proper game, her games were fun in mame format (like an Arcade Zelda), one friend of mine had an “Mame-arcade machine”… it was awesome =o
For Square Enix’s side…I would disagree for Kingdom Heart’s inclusion, because their license also belongs to Disney, which they are more strict than Square Enix when it come with copyrights. Although I would like to see Sora in Smash, I guess that would be impossible as long Disney is there in charge.
Other characters may have a possibility, but among all characters from this list besides Cloud, I could agree more on the inclusion of Dragon Quest. This series has been the most famous RPG game in Japan alongside with Final Fantasy, and even Pokemon and Yo-kai Watch. But rather choosing a hero from Dragon Quest X, which may still possible as they can advertise their NX version, I’d rather choose Erdrick (or Loto in Japan) as an iconic series hero.
I don’t know if they’ll add in the third candidate to this roster alongside with Cloud and possible Dragon Quest character. However, I think it’ll make sense if they added Geno in here as he’s partially Square Enix character too, which may make a perfect roster for this side.
And Bub…wait, what? He was a Square Enix character? I thought he was from Taito?
He is a Taito character but Square Enix owns Taito, so…
Trust me, I only learned recently too.
If we get Sora in Smash… maybe we could get a Nintendo cinematic universe with Disney quality control? (Dreams are free)… yeah, getting him would be even harder that get Cloud…
Yeah, if we got an Square character (Cloud) we may get an Enix one from Dragon Quest.. and yeah, maybe the new protagonist it’s a good option…
As Spiral said, Square-Enix own Taito… and now we have some Puzzle Bobble games for Android/iOS (they are 1000% better than other Square Enix cash grabs and some other clone “Sagas”)
For other third parties…Koei Tecmo has a great relationship with Nintendo so far. They made many crossover games for Nintendo many times such as bringing Takamaru to Samurai Warriors 3, making a crossover of Pokemon and Nobunaga’s Ambition, and even Hyrule Warriors. With such relationship, I wouldn’t think Koei Tecmo would refuse such offer to join Smash. Ryu Hayabusa should be the best candidate for this roster as being the main mascot of the company, and having a moveset that works perfectly for Smash. Fatal Frame’s Miku can be another interesting choice as her games are mostly released for the Nintendo consoles, which I think she’s now part of the Nintendo family. She may not be fightable due to simply killing ghosts by snapping pictures, but since we’ve got those other non-fightable characters like the Villager on the side, I think that wouldn’t matter anymore. Besides, Capcom already have a character who can attack opponents by simply snapping pictures, so I think they wouldn’t mind Miku doing the same thing. (lol) Finally for their third candidate, although Kasumi from Dead or Alive may not have a chance because of her game’s overly adult rated contents, I think its best to choose Lana or Linkle for this roster as Hyrule Warriors also belongs to this company too.
Level-5 is another company that has a good relationship with Nintendo, and they mostly release their games for the Nintendo handhelds. Professor Layton can possibly join as being the most popular and requested character, while Yo-kai Watch’s Jibanyan may possibly join in as being the company mascot. I don’t know about their third candidate, which I wouldn’t mind having only two for this roster, but I guess they might add someone from Inazuma Eleven too if possible.
I don’t know about Rayman though. He may be popular in the West, but sadly not in Japan. I do remember when that fake Rayman leak was a whole thing as it spread all over the internet news. Many fans in the West were overly excited, but I do remember many players in Japan (including Miiverse) were terribly disappointed as referring “who the hell is that guy!?” complaints. Although I knew it was fake (while somebody who did it wasn’t even apologetic to such incident which was extremely upsetting), I really disagree for his inclusion. Sure his games are released worldwide, but not strong as expected. I could say the similar thing to other games too, but certain can be denial as they have possibilities too, which I’ll explain who that’ll be later.
Harvest Moon protagonists are another interesting choice. Their games are still popular, even their new game that’s been released not too long ago were a great success. Although they may look like the Villager, they can differentiate with them by using farming tools and possibly the usage of farm animals. Maybe they can also summon the sprites and the goddess for a glorifying finish as their final smash.
I really don’t have much to say about Banjo and Kazooie because I hardly know them since I’m not a Rare game fan, but eventually I think they might have a chance to join Smash as Rare are being acceptable for their offering.
Koei Tecmo got the short end of the stick this time, and it’s weird. I mean, Ryu Hayabusa is one iconic character and the “mascot” of their company, and with the large amount of cooperative developments and crossovers one could think that he was a obvious choice…
Kasumi… umm… maybe as a third choice after Miku.
Jibanyan and Endou Mamoru, the Goalkeeper from inazuma, could be options. specially Jibanyan, now that he is really famous thanks to the success of his game and his anime.
The fake Rayman leak changed the game, but I still believe that he has the chance to get in the game in the future, after all, he is one of the few occidental video game Icons that could work in Smash.
Harvest Moon / Story of seasons’ Pete/Claire would be perfect for the game, but the weird thing that happen between Natsume and Marvelous might be a critical problem =(
I want to write a dream Smasher for Banjo in the future…or doing a video about him and Kazooie. I hope I can…
Finally to the end page!
For the Indies’ side…this is really depending whether they’re possible to join Smash or not. Indies may be popular in the West, but not really in Japan. I may be wrong, so entirely and honestly, I really don’t know. 😛 But! One thing I can accept their entry is two characters. I was disagreeing one character before, but now I can accept it, and that’s Shantae and Shovel Knight.
Shantae was the first Indie game that successfully released to Japan, mainly as both software package and downloadable. Thanks to that, many Japanese players are familiar with her (with so many reasons which I’m NOT gonna explain), and many are seem to be enjoying according to the Japanese Miiverse. I don’t know if the new sequel will be released in Japan later, but I believe her inclusion is acceptable. However, I really don’t know if they’ll bring back the transformation system since that’ll damage the hardware, but may she can use that power temporarily as specials, such as changing into a monkey to straightly attack, and changing into a crab to shoot bubbles for defense. Shovel Knight also FINALLY released in Japan along with his amiibo, so his side is also acceptable at this moment. Both games have become successful and slightly popular in Japan, so I think Sakurai will finally allow them to be in Smash.
…And that’s all for my comments so far. Whew! Now that was the long ride! First thing first…I really wanna apologize for separating my comments for certain pages, at it may have filled the whole comment section of my lousy ones. And sorry for posting it in such a slow pace; I’ve became really busy now these days due to work and even at home, which forces me to go to sleep as my own time became short. However, I really enjoyed discussing speculations about this great article, which I do think you really made a great job on it. At this moment, I really don’t know how many more characters would join in for the next Smash; but in my opinion, maybe we’ll get up to 70 to 75 characters total. It may sound too many, but I wouldn’t think it’ll reach up to 100, since Smash isn’t MUGEN which people need to understand. However, if the Smash NX rumor is meant to be true and simply being a port, then I think they’ll just add in 5 more characters, and maybe the additional DLC fighters. Furthermore, anything can be possible. Sakurai was able to break every limits and boundaries to make Smash the greatest crossover games ever, and being the celebration of video games. Smash is meant to be full of surprises, and I do think Sakurai will keep us excited on who’ll join the next Smash.
Once again, I really enjoyed reading this article! Thank you for sharing us such great article Rafael!
PS: Also sorry I didn’t post the comment on the Konami side. I’ve tried to but the system rejected it since I probably wrote an “illegally” negative word inside.
IMO Shantae and Shovel knight have the benefit of novelty, also their games are good enough and as characters they are “iconic” enough (not some bland dudes with guns…or swords =P). but also I would love to see Quote, as the indiest of the indies =P, in other hand, Yooka and Layle, their new trailer came up today, and it looks amazing… I hope that the WiiU version sell like hotcakes.
Don’t worry about the pace of commenting, writing this article took almost 2 months in english and almost 10 months in Spanish for my YouTube channel.
Yeah, I believe that Smash would stop at 75 characters max. more than that would be impossible to balance, even more if everyone of them has a “different playstyle”. Also, if we get a SSB NX that is an upgrade to the current one, I would be happy, this roster is the best one to date, and losing iconic characters like Cloud, Ryu, Megaman and PacMan would be a shame. But with Sakurai we might never know, and for me, that’s what make this series so glorious.
Ehh! thanks for commenting with such dedication, it was a pleasure to have the chance to talk about this topic with nice people that give arguments to their opinions and accept that not everyone wants the same.
Don’t worry about Konami, I understand that we can’t say “#youknowwhat” =P
I really enjoyed this series. One character that isn’t anything to sneeze at is Steve from Minecraft. I know it sounds cringy but that game is ridiculously popular. And since it came to the Wii U and has exclusive Mario content, Steve is viable and could have a unique move set!
Out of my own desires, characters that I PERSONALLY want (regardless of chances) are Hades, Paper Mario, K. Rool, Shovel Knight, Amaterasu, Viewtiful Joe, and Sora. I should actually make Dream Smasher articles for some of these characters…