Post by RavenKingSage on Dec 5, 2013 23:09:45 GMT -8
I was going to wait for this until V3 became fully functional, but whateva. I feel that this can be a big enough discussion to warrant being separate from the general Smash thread. Basically, this is "If I Ran the Smash," that is, what the SSB character rosters would look like if Sakurai handed control over to you. You don't have to overthink this like I did (otherwise there'd be no discussion). And you don't have to just do character rosters, either - you can talk about gameplay features, mechanics, modes, and bosses you'd have implemented. (And I will cover those later.)
I have a few rules for my own (obviously, they don't have to apply to yours)...
- Keep the character count relatively small, at least in comparison to Sakurai's rosters. I prefer smaller rosters because the fighting styles are more unique, refined, and satisfying all-around. Quality > quantity~
- No character cuts between games.
- No transformation/swap characters. I'm sure I'm alone here, but I dislike these. I find them clunky, awkward, and unnecessary (especially the Pokémon Trainer).
SSB64
Melee
Brawl
SSBU/3DS
...took even longer than I thought it would, but there you go. Do you like my ideas better than what Sakurai has or are you happier with his stuff? If you ran Smash, what would its rosters look like? Discuss!
I have a few rules for my own (obviously, they don't have to apply to yours)...
- Keep the character count relatively small, at least in comparison to Sakurai's rosters. I prefer smaller rosters because the fighting styles are more unique, refined, and satisfying all-around. Quality > quantity~
- No character cuts between games.
- No transformation/swap characters. I'm sure I'm alone here, but I dislike these. I find them clunky, awkward, and unnecessary (especially the Pokémon Trainer).
SSB64
There's very little I'd change about this roster. It covered the basic franchises well enough and gave extra representation to the biggest ones. The only change I would make is Mewtwo in for Jigglypuff. I like Jigglypuff in Smash, but even I can admit that her addition never made sense. Mewtwo is much more iconic and popular, as it was at the time.
Melee
Additions of Peach, Bowser, Zelda (no Sheik), Ganondorf, Ridley, King Dedede, Diddy Kong, and Marth. Before branching out to represent lesser-known/historical Nintendo IPs, I would have focused on beefing up the big ones with their most iconic characters. I believe characters like Zelda and Ridley get more priority than ones like Pit and the Ice Climbers since this is a game of Nintendo's all-stars, and they're much more well-known characters. Total is 20.
That said, I probably would have also added a new franchise to the mix, hence the addition of Marth. He seems like the best choice for the time period since there were no other continuous Nintendo IPs that wouldn't be represented already at this stage. Plus, a JP-only character would be a nice surprise for the rest of the world. Sakurai would probably have had to give me the idea though. It's hard to measure how much creativity or knack for surprise I would have had were I in his position.
Also, note that only 8 newcomers were added as opposed to 13 (14 if you count Sheik) like there were in the actual Melee. I dislike clones, but the reason they existed to begin with was the lack of time to program 25 characters with unique movesets.
That said, I probably would have also added a new franchise to the mix, hence the addition of Marth. He seems like the best choice for the time period since there were no other continuous Nintendo IPs that wouldn't be represented already at this stage. Plus, a JP-only character would be a nice surprise for the rest of the world. Sakurai would probably have had to give me the idea though. It's hard to measure how much creativity or knack for surprise I would have had were I in his position.
Also, note that only 8 newcomers were added as opposed to 13 (14 if you count Sheik) like there were in the actual Melee. I dislike clones, but the reason they existed to begin with was the lack of time to program 25 characters with unique movesets.
Brawl
Additions of Wario, Eevee (I'll explain), Meta Knight, Wolf, Pit, Little Mac, Olimar, AC Villager, Snake, and Sonic. Since I got the players from the big franchises, now would be a good time to branch out since Nintendo pelted out quite a few IPs between Melee and Brawl. Total is 30.
I picked Wolf over Falco since Wolf has a bigger role in the SF games after Melee, and is inherently more unique moveset-wise.
Eevee, the one I'm sure is the reason you're raising eyebrows at me, is my third pick for a Pokémon character because the "no transformation" rule essentially throws out the starter trio since they're not feasible in any other way. So I decided to go with another iconic Pokémon convention, the Eeveelution. This is a stretch, but I think it would make sense for Eevee to use moves (standard and special) that come from all of its evolutions. That way it makes the fighter interesting and represents all of them without giving special treatment to one.
This point would be a good time to start picking up old Nintendo IPs to represent in Smash, so I picked Pit and Little Mac for the role since I think they would make the best playable fighters.
I picked Wolf over Falco since Wolf has a bigger role in the SF games after Melee, and is inherently more unique moveset-wise.
Eevee, the one I'm sure is the reason you're raising eyebrows at me, is my third pick for a Pokémon character because the "no transformation" rule essentially throws out the starter trio since they're not feasible in any other way. So I decided to go with another iconic Pokémon convention, the Eeveelution. This is a stretch, but I think it would make sense for Eevee to use moves (standard and special) that come from all of its evolutions. That way it makes the fighter interesting and represents all of them without giving special treatment to one.
This point would be a good time to start picking up old Nintendo IPs to represent in Smash, so I picked Pit and Little Mac for the role since I think they would make the best playable fighters.
SSBU/3DS
Additions of King K. Rool, Kraid, FE Tactician, Shulk, Wii Fit Trainer, and Megaman. There are few iconic characters or big IPs left out at this point, so this has the fewest additions and 36 total.
I think it makes more sense to add a new DK character now than it did in Brawl, since DKC experienced a rebirth after Brawl. K. Rool would be my choice over Dixie since he's more popular, important, and iconic.
Kraid is another famous Metroid boss that, strangely enough, hasn't been seen in a 3D Metroid game. He's basically here for being iconic, and it makes sense in my head to add a third Metroid character since A) the franchise is big enough for three reps and B) it needs promotion since we've heard nothing from it since Other M. And honestly, I find him easier to scale down than Ridley is.
Since we now have gender swap costumes for open-ended characters like the Villager, it makes sense to add the Fire Emblem Tactician. With Awakening's success, FE finally has prominence in Nintendo's pantheon, and the Tactician has more potential to be a running concept than any of the individual Lords. That, and he uses something other than a sword.
Wii Fit Trainer is an idea that Sakurai probably would've had to give me, but I might've thought of her as a fighter before even thinking up R.O.B. or Game & Watch. I think she's a much better representative of the casual side of Wii than Miis could ever hope to be.
I think it makes more sense to add a new DK character now than it did in Brawl, since DKC experienced a rebirth after Brawl. K. Rool would be my choice over Dixie since he's more popular, important, and iconic.
Kraid is another famous Metroid boss that, strangely enough, hasn't been seen in a 3D Metroid game. He's basically here for being iconic, and it makes sense in my head to add a third Metroid character since A) the franchise is big enough for three reps and B) it needs promotion since we've heard nothing from it since Other M. And honestly, I find him easier to scale down than Ridley is.
Since we now have gender swap costumes for open-ended characters like the Villager, it makes sense to add the Fire Emblem Tactician. With Awakening's success, FE finally has prominence in Nintendo's pantheon, and the Tactician has more potential to be a running concept than any of the individual Lords. That, and he uses something other than a sword.
Wii Fit Trainer is an idea that Sakurai probably would've had to give me, but I might've thought of her as a fighter before even thinking up R.O.B. or Game & Watch. I think she's a much better representative of the casual side of Wii than Miis could ever hope to be.
...took even longer than I thought it would, but there you go. Do you like my ideas better than what Sakurai has or are you happier with his stuff? If you ran Smash, what would its rosters look like? Discuss!