Smash Speculation: Ravio

Welp, Super Smash Bros for 3DS has been out for half a week in Japan now, and I’m sure that that’s half a week more than Japan needed to entirely unravel the game and learn all of its secrets. But I’m going to try to avoid spoilers as best I can, and truth be told, it’s still August as I’m writing this.

~ Ravio ~

smashravio

I know that I’ve already done two Zelda characters for this silly feature, but A Link Between Worlds is quite possibly the best Zelda game of them all, and I think it deserves more representation than a handful of trophies. So I present to you today: Ravio the item salesman.

Ravio is an inhabitant of the alternate world of Lorule. He shows up in Link’s house one day and requests to set up shop there while Link is on his big adventure. Link is then able to rent as many of the game’s tools as he can afford. For a steeper price, he can even purchase them permanently. Ravio plays a role during the ending of the game too, but I won’t spoil that as A Link Between World is still less than a year old.

Ravio would probably be a mostly hand-to-hand fighter, but he should also have access to the few tools that Link doesn’t use in Smash. The doesn’t leave a whole lot, and the bulk of them would be reserved for special attacks, natch. The one I didn’t place on a special, the Hammer, could be his forward smash attack. It’s basic enough that it could be used for more than that though, and I think it’d be fun if he used the hammer to knock away his enemies for his throws.

His up smash, on the other hand, would be swinging his big bag of rupees over his head. The rupee bag is a pretty important part of Ravio’s character, and it’s gotta be in there somewhere. Down smash could have Ravio’s little pet bird, Sheerow, fly in a loop around Ravios’s legs. I’d like to work Sheerow in there a little more, maybe for some standard attacks. It’d likely be a part of Ravio’s taunts as well.

As for specials, Link took all the usual tools, so all Ravio is left with is the magical rods. That’s alright by me, as they actually fit really well into a Smash moveset. Neutral special is the Ice Rod. Just like in ALBW, it’d create a block of ice in the air in front of Ravio which would then smash down. How fast it moves is up for debate, but I see it as a pretty damaging move, so it’d probably leave a pretty good window for getting out from under it.

Forward special is the Fire Rod, which creates a small pillar of flame that moves forward along the ground. I haven’t thought a lot about how the custom special moves would factor into my character suggestions, but the Fire Rod is easy. One alternate is the Nice Fire Rod, which shoots out the bigger pillar, which is slower and doesn’t travel as far. The other is the Classic Fire Rod, which just shoots a little fireball straight ahead. It’s faster than the pillars, but doesn’t do as much damage.

Up special is obviously the Tornado Rod. Seriously, this character profile just writes itself. This one makes a little tornado around Ravio which lifts him upwards. It does minimal damage to enemies, but will blow them away, which could be really handy if you and a foe are both trying to get back onto the stage.

The Sand Rod is the down special, and the only one that I had to think about at all. On the ground, it works similarly to the Fire Rod, in that it creates a pillar of sand in front of Ravio. The pillar will rise out of the ground, and become a solid part of the environment for a few seconds. It’ll hurt anyone it hits as it’s rising, and knock them straight upward. If used in the air, it does pretty much the same thing, but the pillar will rise directly below Ravio.

Ravio’s final smash is a tough one, because I’m out of obvious choices. I’m on the fence between two ideas though. The first is that he somehow combines the powers of all his magic rods. I’m not sure how it would work exactly, but I am sure it would be quite the spectacle. The second idea is summoning the Mother Maiamai to inhale his foes and shoot them right off the screen. Or maybe something involving the horde of baby maiamais. Who knows?

It’s not the most imaginative character out there, but I really like the idea of having a Zelda character who wields all of the magic rods. And Ravio fits into that role quite snugly, you know? I can see a reason why player might take issue with Ravio being included on the roster, but I think that he’d be great. As long as he’s not another Link clone.

Previous: Paper Mario

Next: Conclusion

The end of freedom (for 2014)

Well, that’s it. My last week of vacation for this year is over. It’s really depressing, knowing that I’ve got at least three and a half months left before I get any more time off. And even then, I won’t be taking any vacation time until March at the very earliest, so it’s more like six months. On the brighter side, since next month marks my five-year anniversary with my current employer, I will be awarded with a fourth week of paid vacation next year. Hooray! Life is wonderful!

So you’re probably thinking that I must have done something really special for my final week of vacation, what with it also having been my birthday and all. And you’d be so horribly wrong. Don’t you know me at all? I spent most of the time off playing video games and watching Netflix. It’s just what I do, as an introvert with no ambition or motivation whatsoever.

Smash Speculation: Paper Mario

I’m at my wit’s end here. I’ve already written up profiles for all of the characters that I am genuinely hoping to see in the newest Smash Bros. So let’s go in a slightly different direction this week and talk about a character who I’m not personally invested in, but other people seem pretty hopeful for.

~ Paper Mario ~

smashpm

Yeah. I don’t know, I guess it’s a good idea. Certainly better than Dr. Mario anyway. And I say that as a big fan of the Doctor. The thing about Paper Mario is that he’d be a totally unique character from regular Mario, as opposed to just being a clone with a different projectile attack.

I’m thinking that most of Paper Mario’s standard attacks would revolve around his hammer. It’s never quite so versatile, but it is more or less his main method of attacking throughout all of the Paper Mario games. Next to jumping, anyway. And it’s hard to make a decent moveset around simply jumping. I suppose he could have some punches too, but I like making the hammer the main focus of the character.

All of his special and smash attacks would enlist the help of some of Paper Mario’s partner characters from the first two games. Forward smash would be Bow’s fan smack. Up smash calls Sushie to do a tail slap above Mario. Down smash has Watt appearing and sending out a low jolt of electricity on both sides. This is actually all falling into place quite nicely.

Up special calls Parakarry, who lifts Mario upwards. Anybody that they crash into as they ascend will take damage. Alternately, Lakilester could show up instead, and allow Mario to ride in his cloud for a couple seconds. The cloud would be controllable, of course. Mario would still be vulnerable while in the could, but wouldn’t be able to use any attacks of his own.

Neutral special could have either Goombario or Goombella show up and use a headbutt attack. Straight ahead, medium-range, medium damage. There really isn’t anything “special” about this special move, and I’d honestly considered that it just be the forward smash, but it sort of feels like it should be a special, doesn’t it?

Forward special has Paper Mario kick one of several partners forward, either Kooper, Bombette, or Koops. Kooper would function just like a regular shell and slide forward until he goes off the stage, passing through anyone he hits. Bombette would bounce forward a little and explode on impact, or after a few seconds if she didn’t hit anything. Koops would be like Kooper, but bounce off of any foes he hits, making it possible for him to ricochet around the stage for a while. I don’t know if these partners would cycle in a defined order like Olimar’s Pikmin, or if they would be randomly selected. Maybe each one is a different custom selection?

Down special calls in Madame Flurrie to use her gale force attack, which basically just blows other fighters away. Equally as useless as standard Mario’s FLUDD, but at least this one doesn’t need to be charged up first. And custom moves could give you the option of icy breath, which could freeze other fighters, and possibly some sort of hail breath, which would cause damage as well as blow them away.

Adding onto the idea of calling in friends for support, Paper Mario’s final smash would summon in Paper Peach, Paper Bowser, and Paper Luigi to chase around your opponents and beat them up. The paper friends would hang around for maybe 30 seconds or so before vanishing, and they’d be invincible during that time. You could hit them, sure, but they wouldn’t actually take damage, so it’d be hard to KO them. Paper Peach is obviously the quickest and weakest, and attacks with her parasol. Paper Luigi is the average and attacks with jumps and fireballs. Paper Bowser is slow but hits hard, and attacks with claw swipes and fire breath.

I didn’t include anything from Paper Mario: Sticker Star in here because… well, I just didn’t like it all that much. And Paper Mario usually has a vast repertoire of special abilities in his games, but I figured that it’d be more interesting if he relied on his partners for his flashier moves. Makes him stand out a little more, I feel.

And that’s about all I have to say. I’m not really rooting for Paper Mario myself, but he could certainly be an interesting character, and there are plenty of other ways that the Smash developers could go with him besides what I’ve written down. It’d just be a darn shame if he ended up being a flat clone of Mario. I wouldn’t worry too much about that happening, though.

Previous: Shiftry

Next: Ravio

Talking about Sleigh Bells

I’m sure that I’ve mentioned before that for at least the last decade, I’ve been introduced to a lot of music through video games. Maybe that seems weird, but I don’t know any music nerds, so it’s not like I have anyone constantly chiding my tastes and telling me what I should be listening to. In fact, I think that I might be the biggest music nerd I know, on the basis of I’m the only person I know who even tried to write about music. And I’m kind of a dick when people listen to things I don’t like. That, I think, would be the better example.

Ever since the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, I’ve been picking out songs I like that are included on game soundtracks and following up to see what the bands are all about. A great many of my favourite bands were introduced to me through video games. Thrice, Paramore, The Vandals, Anamanaguchi, Dragonforce. The list goes on.

But today, let’s talk about Sleigh Bells. If you haven’t guessed yet, this post is not just an anecdote, but my monthly attempt to write some semi-coherent thoughts about music. This is where most people will stop reading.

Their debut album, Treats, is my most recent iTunes purchase, and a pretty good one at that. I often sit and listen to track previews for weeks or even months before purchasing an album from a new band, because I’m very indecisive by nature. But with Treats, I pretty much just shouted “Take my money!” at my phone as I mashed the Buy Album button.. It should be noted that I was at work when I bought this album.

SleighBells–Treats

Let’s start at the start. Sleigh Bells have a song featured in Lollipop Chainsaw called “Riot Rhythm” that I was totally into, but never bothered to look up. It wasn’t until I heard it again in Saints Row: The Third that I decided to look into this band a little deeper.

I won’t lie, Sleigh Bells, to most people, will simply sound like noise. It’s eclectic and eccentric and all over the place. But there’s also an order to it all, if you’re willing to actually listen and absorb what you’re hearing. I think “brilliant” might be overselling them a little, but they’re in that ballpark somewhere.

Sleigh Bells is the kind of band that you would never expect that I’d like.

The album is not perfect. In fact, it does a lot of the thing I generally dislike in music. Mindless repetition, for example. The lyrics of the song “A/B Machines” are simply “Got my A machines on the table/Got my B machines in the drawer” repeated for three and a half minutes. Yet it’s one of my favourite songs from Treats. The thing about Sleigh Bells is that you’ve simply got to accept the vocals as another instrument, not an actual voice trying to say something. A few songs have a little more depth to their lyrics, but it’s perfectly safe to consider Treats an instrumental album.

The middle of the album is a little weak, too. The first four songs and the last four song are wonderful and I could listen to them forever, but the three in the middle are sort of slow and bland. They’re not unlistenable or anything, but there’s definitely a lull in there. It lacks the energy and creativity of the rest of the album.

That’s it; I’ll keep it short. If you need more to work with before you try Sleigh Bells out for yourself, go listen to “Riot Rhythm,” “Infinity Guitars,” and “A/B Machines”  on YouTube. It’s worth ten minutes of your time, don’t you think?

Fourteen Stupid Ryan Facts

Ryan likes to do kung-fu kicks when nobody’s looking.

Ryan drinks between two and four cappuccinos every work day.

Ryan generally doesn’t drink coffee on weekends.

Ryan dreams about living a carefree life on the high seas.

Ryan’s greatest fear is ghosts. And recently, murderous robots.

Ryan suffers from trichotillomania, specifically in the mustache area.

Ryan dislikes hot weather.

Ryan hits the snooze button on his alarm up to seven times some mornings.

Ryan is not a fan of dress pants.

Ryan tries a little too hard to hold on to his past.

Ryan is not a bear.

Ryan does wish that he could do a better Winnie the Pooh voice, though.

Ryan sometimes wonders what ambition feels like.

Ryan is hungry.

Smash Speculation: Shiftry

The amount of Pokémon characters in Smash Bros rises by two in each incarnation. The first game had two, Melee had four, and Brawl (technically) had six. So far, only four are confirmed for Smash 4, and I’m assuming that Jigglypuff isn’t getting the boot, so there must be one more hiding just in the shadows…

~ Shiftry ~

smashshifrty

In Brawl, the Pokémon Trainer character was actually three different fighters that switched off: Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. They were of water-, grass-, and fire-types. Charizard is now a solo character, and Greninja has stepped up to the plate to represent water-type pokémon. That leaves an empty slot for a grass-type to fill.

Get it? Leaves?

Now, this is all just speculation (duh) based on trends in both series. And there are tons of grass-type pokémon to choose from. Grass is one of the most prolific pokémon types, in fact. So I picked one. There aren’t many grass-types that i’m overly fond of, and my favourite (Pumpkaboo) isn’t quite grassy enough to fit the spot.

Shiftry really isn’t either, but at least it has some visible leaves on it. Though Shiftry isn’t very popular. A quick bit of research shows that Shiftry is competitively viable, but there are plenty of better choices. Shiftry has only ever been on my team in a Pokémon game once, and even then I only raised it for one very specific fight, but I got to like the little guy.

Shiftry is a combination grass- and dark-type pokémon, and looks like a tengu. These traits would reflect in its moveset. It would probably be fairly quick, but i likely wouldn’t hit too hard, and wouldn’t have many moves that are good for launching. It would probably dart around a lot, and it looks like it should have a pretty good air game. Its leafy… arms? fans? would be its main weapons, but I can see it working in some kicks and maybe even a heatbutt.

That said, I don’t think that Shiftry is the kind of fighter that would have very interesting smash attacks. They’d probably just be stronger variations of its standard attacks. A big swipe with its arms for forward, a crouching spin with its arms outstretched for down, and maybe that heatbutt would be up. See, pretty standard stuff.

What would be fun is if its Early Bird ability was factored in, and it would only succumb to sleep attacks for half as long as any other fighter would. You could also conceivably use the Pickpocket ability, which would give Shiftry a chance of stealing an item that an opponent is holding when Shiftry attacks them. Its third potential ability, Chlorophyll, gives a speed boost in sunny weather, but that might be too situational to work into Smash.

It’s specials would be based on its moves from the Pokémon games, just like all the other pokémon fighters. Its neutral special would be the dark-type Payback. Yet another special that could be filed under counterattacks, Payback would leave Shiftry immobile for a second as it charges an attack. If it’s hit before attacking, Payback does double damage and launches the enemy. Otherwise it would just be a fairly standard hit. Payback can only be interrupted by throws.

Forward special is Feint Attack. Shiftry zips behind its opponent and attacks for moderate damage. This attack can’t be evaded with a dodge, but it can still be blocked. It’s really either this or some kind of grassy projectile like Seed Bomb or Razor Leaf. I was thinking maybe Solar Beam, with the caveat of it decreasing Shiftry’s attack power for a few seconds after being used, but I’m not sure I like that, or that it really fits the character.

I wanted to give Shiftry something really unique, so I suggest that its down special would be Grassy Terrain, which sprouts grass all over the ground in a certain area around Shiftry. When standing in said grass, Shiftry’s damage percentage slowly decreases and it gets an attack power boost. This might be too much of a boon though, and I’m not sure whether it could be balanced well. The healing rate would have to be pretty low, and only one Grassy Terrain could be laid down at a time. It’s not like a Shiftry player could just run around and turn the entire stage to grass. I don’t know how long the grass would persist, either. Maybe somewhere between five and ten seconds?

Lastly, Shiftry’s up special is Leaf Tornado. If used while standing, the tornado forms around Shiftry and then moves forward a few body lengths before dissipating. In the air though, it forms around Shiftry and lifts the pokémon upwards. Coming in contact with the tornado causes damage in either scenario, but it’ll catch anyone it hits if it’s moving horizontally and drag them along until it vanishes. Nothing really special here, but it’s functional and has different uses depending on the situation.

I thought long and hard about Shiftry’s final smash, and the obvious answer is Solar Beam. But I don’t want to use Solar Beam. Instead, I choose Leaf Storm. With this move, a large sphere of leaves whirl around Shiftry and increase its movement speed, and crashing into foes will cause damage. When you come in contact with another fighter, you can mash the attack button to grab them with the leaves and cause continuous damage, with the stipulation that you’re immobile while doing so.

I’m sure you’re still wondering why Smash needs a grass-type pokémon. Short answer: it doesn’t. But fire, water, and grass have an important relationship in the Pokémon series, and it would just be super weird for Smash Bros to only represent two of the three. Shiftry is my personal favourite for the spot, but only because Abomasnow and Pumpkaboo wouldn’t really fit into a hyperactive fighting game as well.

Previous: Dixie Kong

Next: Paper Mario

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2014

Hey so summertime is drawing to a close, not that that means anything for adults. I guess if you’re a teacher, it’s good times, but for the rest of us it just means that you’re covered in sweat after your commutes to and from work. Hooray.

I had another vacation week in August, so I put it to good use and cleared off a few half-finished games from my backlog. But then I started up a whole new series of games, so it’s all been moot. It’s not like I had anything else worth doing. I got my yard work done too, at least.

~ Now Playing~

Saints Row: The Third (PC) – I don’t know what to say about this yet. I’ve only completed the intro missions, and I’ve mostly been driving around the city at random, collecting stuff and doing assassination missions. I’ve done a few story missions, and unlocked a sweet penthouse base. Also an unlimited supply of fighter planes!? This is absolutely the most fun I’ve had with an open-world game of this style. But somehow it’s missing fast travel. Lame. I hate having to hoof it all the way back to base when my aircraft inevitably explodes.

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2014

Year of N64 – August – Bomberman 64

Bomberman 64 took me the entire month to finish, despite the fact that the game clock only reads about two hours of playtime. I can’t explain this phenomenon in any other way than a simple “I had no desire to play it.”

Where did that lack of interest come from? It could be because I had filled my plate well over its edges in August, and simply was so busy with other, more relevant video games that I couldn’t be bothered to make time for Bomberman. Or it could just have something to do with Bomberman 64 not being all that fun. Spoiler: It’s both of those reasons.

I used to love Bomberman. Like, you have no idea. I bought Bomberman Generations for a whopping $100 when it first came out (though I can’t tell you why it was so ridiculously overpriced). I couldn’t help it, I was a stupid teenager at the time. As time moves on though, I find myself less and less enchanted with the franchise. Playing the classic multiplayer mode is still probably the most fun you can have with video games, but single-player Bomberman doesn’t really interest me at all any more.

So it really doesn’t help that Bomberman 64 is fairly lackluster. First of all, it’s a short game. A really, really short game. There are five worlds, and each world is made up of four stages. Two of those stages are action/puzzle levels, where you explore, blow stuff up, and make your way to the exit. The other two stages are a duel with an evil bomber-person, and the world boss. so really you’re only looking at ten stages total. Well, twelve, but more on that later.

The action stages are fairly fun. For the most part, they put you in a big open level, and then leave you to your business of finding the exit. They all have some sort of puzzle element, like chasing down an enemy who has stolen the exit (???) or closing a series of dams so that you can traverse previously waterlogged areas. Not all of them are very inspired though. One level simply has three levers right next to the exit that you have to trigger by throwing bombs at them.

Throwing bombs is a big deal though, and ends up being one of the major gimmicks of Bomberman 64’s gameplay. In the 2D games, Bomberman needs a special item to pick up and throw bombs, but here it’s an innate ability. Not only can you pick up and toss bombs, but you can also pump them up to make big bombs, which are necessary in pretty much every stage, as they can destroy things that normal bombs can’t (usually scenery). You’ve also got to be good at throwing bombs to injure most of the bosses, but it’s a little more annoying there. See, you don’t just press a button after laying a bomb to pick it up. You need to step away, turn around, and then pick it up. Bomberman can be a little finnicky about this. If you get too close, he’ll just kick it, and if you’re on uneven ground, there’s a very good chance that he just won’t do anything. In a regular stage, it’s not a dealbreaker, but during hectic boss fights, it can be a real pain in the patoot.

Bomber duels are still the most annoying part of the game though. Imagine if you will, a one-on-one Bomberman game against an AI player in a wide open arena. They’re faster than you, and they can use a special projectile attack in addition to their bombs. It’s not a good time. Fortunately, the evil bombers in this one are a little stupider than in later games. On more than one occasion I witnessed an enemy bomber try to walk through a bomb, and simply keep rubbing up against it until it blew up. The actual bosses are somewhat less difficult, as they’re big monsters with defined attack patterns, and at least one is susceptible to a one-hit kill. That or the game glitched in my favour. That’s not to say that they’re easy, but they’re less frustrating than the bombers.

The game pads itself out a little by offering a small selection of collectibles for you to find. First are the costume pieces, which I’ll talk about in a bit. Then there are the Gold Cards. There are five of these in each stage. They show up in later Bomberman games as well (as “Lightning Cards”), and have been a source of many a headache for me. Some of them are just tucked away in corners, one is a reward for beating a stage under a certain time. I assume that some are earned by completing a special requirement and possibly for killing so many foes in a stage, but I mostly just ignored them so I can’t say that for sure The problem with that is that the real final world unlocks after you earn all 100 Gold Cards. I decided that it wasn’t really worth the time or effort.

The multiplayer in Bomberman 64 is exactly what you’d expect, and I don’t feel that I have to really say anything about it. Who isn’t familiar with multiplayer Bomberman? The one note that I need to make is that the costume parts that you collect in the single-player mode and use to dress up your Bomberman are only usable in multiplayer. It’s kind of silly that you can’t use your custom Bomberman in the story mode, but what can you do?

It’s important to note that Bomberman 64 was the very first 3D Bomberman, so that goes a way in explaining why the game is rough around the edges. The later games did get better, so the issues with Bomberman 64 are definitely more growing pains than anything else. And it’s not like there’s even anything explicity wrong with the game; it just doesn’t do anything overly interesting with that extra dimension. f you’ve got to play a Nintendo 64 Bomberman, play Bomberman 64: The Second Attack. It’s a little more meaty, and has a cooperative story mode. I probably should have played that instead, now that I think about it…

Smash Speculation: Dixie Kong

Super Smash Bros has two Kong characters. The problem is that Donkey Kong is a crappy fighter and Diddy Kong… well I just plain hate Diddy. Always have, always will. It’s time to bring a respectable monkey into the fray.

~ Dixie Kong ~

smashdixie

For the record, I would also accept Salsa, the monkey from Mother 3. But that’s another post entirely.

Dixie is one of the many, many third-string members of the Kong family. Even though she’s had two starring roles and played back-up at least three times, you really don’t see or hear very much about her. It’s really too bad, because as far as gameplay goes, she’s probably the most useful Kong that there ever was or ever will be. That ponytail twirl is a force to be reckoned with.

After Donkey Kong Country 3, where she got to be the main hero, Dixie was stripped of her relevance and only really appeared in spin-off games. She barely even got a mention in Donkey Kong 64, where she was replaced by her younger sister, Tiny Kong. Only recently did Dixie return to the limelight when she was included as one of the support characters in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Even then, her appearance was overshadowed by the megaton announcement of Cranky Kong also being a support character in the same game.

So let’s give Dixie the respect she deserves! I can’t imagine for the life of me what her regular attacks would be, because I just focus on the show-stealers: the smashes and the specials. I think that she’d probably move and attack fairly similarly to Diddy, even going to far as to have most of her standard attacks copied over directly from Diddy. That’s quite alright though, as Diddy doesn’t have a terrible set of basic attacks.

Her one defining trait in that regard, naturally, would be the ponytail. She would put it to its best use in the air, where with would allow her to spin indefinitely to slow her descent. It’s not an attack, but it would be excellent for recovery. Her dashing attack would also use it, recreating her main attack method in the DKC games. She’d more than likely use the ponytail for her throws as well. God knows how that works. Is there… is there another limb inside her ponytail?

So how about them smashes? I really like the idea of Dixie throwing a barrel as her forward smash. No reason it can’t be a medium-range attack. Where did the barrel come from? It doesn’t matter. Smash characters pull props out of nowhere all the time. Down smash would be a ponytail sweep in front and then in back. Up smash is harder, but I think it would be funny if she swiped upwards with the guitar that she plays after clearing a stage in DKC2.

Dixie’s up special should have her pull out Squawks the parrot and hang onto his talons as he flies her upward. Just like Snake’s cypher. Only difference here is that you could have Squawks spit out coconuts by hitting the attack button until he reaches his apex and Dixie lets go. Coming in contact with Squawks himself might cause a little damage too.

Neutral special would have Dixie steal Tiny Kong’s feather bow from DK64. Again, it’s a similarity to Diddy, but his peanut popguns have a slowish rate of fire, while the feather bow would shoot faster but cause less damage. Actually, when you think about it that way, it’s more like Fox’s blaster than anything.

Side special makes Dixie hop on Rambi the rhinoceros and charge forward, though you can steer him left and right. Rambi will smack anyone in his way with his horn, which does moderate damage and has a high knockback rate. If someone attacks Rambi, Dixie will be knocked off and Rambi will run into the void. If not hit, Dixie will automatically dismount after a few seconds and Rambi will run off. Think a living version of Wario’s bike.

It took a while to come up with Dixie’s down special, but eventually I decided on having her pull out a TNT barrel, which can then be thrown for big damage. It’s a little like Link’s bombs, but much heavier and slower, since it’ll hit a lot harder. You could also conceivably put the barrel down instead, where it will explode on its own after a few seconds. Perhaps the odd time when you put down the barrel, instead of exploding, a Kaboom will emerge and run at the nearest player.

For the final smash, Dixie calls in her little cousin Kiddy Kong, who throws a massive tantrum. Anyone caught in the “scream field” will be stunned, and Kiddy’s pounding on the floor will cause quake damage to anyone nearby. Not the most damaging or deadly final smash, but it will annoy the crap out of any other players, and I feel like that’s more than enough to make it worthwhile. Of course, feel free to spitball some other ideas if you don’t like it.

I maybe didn’t build Dixie as impressively as I could have, but I think that with a skillset at least somewhat resembling the one I’ve outlined, she could be a real contender. It’d be nice to finally have a competent Kong in the game. Plus, Dixie was supposed to be in Brawl, but got scrapped at some point (she still has fighter data on the disc), so there’s probably a good chance that she will actually show up in Smash 4. I’ve got money on her being a slightly modified Diddy clone.

Previous: Shovel Knight

Next: Shiftry