Smash Speculation

Talking Smash Bros: 2018 Edition

Super Smash Bros for Switch was just announced last week, but it’s never too early for Smash Speculation! (I’m so happy to get to use that post category again.)

Actually, I’m even a little late to this particular topic. The biggest debate on the internet right now is whether the new Super Smash Bros game for Switch will be a new game or a port of the 3DS/Wii U games with some new bells and whistles. Me, I’m firmly on the side of this game being Smash 5. It’s a new game, it has to be. Or, it doesn’t have to be, but give me some time to explain my way of thinking.

Firstly, and I feel like this is the most salient point: Nintendo did not specify that this is a port. In my opinion, if they’re going to be porting over the WiiU version, they would make that clear. It’s okay not to say anything specific if it’s a new game, but you would definitely want to make note of when you’re re-releasing something for a new machine. That’s the kind of thing you need to tell people up front. I get that the hype around Smash is maybe even more important than Smash itself, but people are going to be pissed if you only reveal that it’s a port once the hype has already gotten out of control. Be honest and rip that band-aid off ASAP.

Following that, we also need to take a look at the game’s title. It would have been called “Super Smash Bros for Switch” or something like that if it were a port of the WiiU game. But rather, it’s just “Super Smash Bros (working title)” and nobody ever uses (working title) for ports. It’s never happened in the history of mankind. (Working title) only happens when a game in development doesn’t have a final name yet, and ports already have a name built in. You just paste a DX or Complete Edition or some other meaningless qualifier on the end. There’s no way they wouldn’t have already decided on what that qualifier would be if that was what was happening.

Look at the logos, too. And you know, they are pretty similar. Yes, they use the same typeface, but every Smash since Melee has had a very similar typeface. What makes them all unique is how it’s stylized. The Switch logo is very plain. Sleek, simple. This is unheard of. There is always a border effect, with a coloured gradient inside the letters. Maybe this is a placeholder logo? Well, that’s possible, but it wouldn’t make sense for a port when they have a perfectly good logo already. Nintendo doesn’t appreciably change their games’ logos for ports. From Wind Waker HD to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, they retain the original logo and tack on the qualifier. Besides the completely different design style, the Smash Switch logo has one completely unique feature: the “Smash Cross” is cut through the lettering itself. That’s never happened in a Smash logo before. Someone added that in on purpose. Someone put that there to make it unique. Someone put thought into designing this version of the logo. Sure, it’s simple, but that’s sort of the whole design philosophy behind the Switch in general. Minimalist design all over the place.

It’s worth noting that despite having many different features, the Smash 3DS and Smash Wii U logos are the exact same, with the only difference being the colour scheme. It stands to reason that if the same game were being retooled for Switch, they would stick with that trend.

Probably the biggest question I had after seeing the teaser is this: Will Masahiro Sakurai be involved in this project? Considering how burned out he was said to be after Smash WiiU/3DS, I was skeptical that he’d be on board if it were a port of those games. But he has confirmed that he is the lead on this project. It doesn’t really mean anything either way, but I feel like having him at the helm is a good sign of a new installment. He also confirmed that his next project was decided and underway once all the DLC for Smash WiiU/3DS was out, so this has been in the works since at least February 2016. That’s a lot of time to dedicate to a port.

The only bigger reveal than Super Smash Bros actually coming to Switch (it was always just a matter of when) is that the Inklings from Splatoon would be joining the roster. Yeah, they could be added in as some extra incentive to buy the Wii U version again on Switch (they were also the added characters for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). I don’t think it’s as simple as that, though. Link has been shown to be appearing in his Breath of the Wild incarnation, which is potentially huge. BotW strayed so far from the regular Zelda formula that Link’s traditional move set would make no sense for BotW Link. He wouldn’t need to be rebuilt from the ground up, but there would need to be some radical changes. And at that point, why not just make him a wholly new character? That then, begs the question of how “classic” Link fits in. Will there be three Links now? Will Toon Link be cut to prevent an over-saturation of Links? There is so much mystery surrounding what seems to be a simple costume change!

While the addition of the Inklings and Link’s new look don’t offer a lot of insight into Smash Switch’s uniqueness, it’s the other character reveals that say a lot more about this being a new game. Or rather, the lack thereof. All we know for sure are the Inklings, Mario, and Link. There was a silhouette of roughly a dozen other characters shown, but it’s hard to place exactly which guys are in or not. It’s easy enough to pick out well-defined shapes like Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Kirby, but there are plenty that are much more difficult to identify.

But the “who’s in/who’s out?” question is secondary to the fact that they are playing this game again in the first case. A massive part of the Smash Hype Cycle is where a dozen or so guys are revealed along with the game, and then more are slowly revealed as the release date draws closer. So here’s my question: why go through this process for a port? Again, I know that the hype cycle is very important to Smash, but it seems silly to do it for a roster that is already defined. I could see some third-party characters losing their spots, but I really don’t expect that the roster would change in any meaningful way for a port. Yeah, we’ll get Inklings and Ice Climbers will return and maybe one or two new guys (calling it: Spring Man and Rabbid Peach), but there’s no reason to drip-feed all of the returning fighters if it’s just going to be a port.

Obviously, all of this is just speculation, and I’m sure there are already many more smartly-written dissertations on why Smash Switch is a port. But it’s fun to theorize, and I really do believe we’re looking at a new game. It’s also important to distinguish just how different a new game and a port will likely be (read: less different than you may think), but that’s an essay for… let’s say next weekend. Yeah, there are going to be a lot of Smash Speculation posts throughout the rest of the year. Let’s all get on board that hype train!

Thinks and Thoks – Nintendo Direct (March 8/18)

Remember last time I did a write-up of a Nintendo Direct, and I wasn’t really interested in most of what they showed off? Well, there was another one yesterday afternoon and it was a whopper. This time, I found myself profoundly interested in nearly all of the titles shown. That said, let’s take a more detailed dive into the presentation.

The first slew of games are all for 3DS, pretty much confirming my theory that Nintendo intends to keep riding the 3DS train until the end of time.

Wario Ware Gold – Yeah, I’m very interested in this. I haven’t played a Wario Ware game for what seems like forever, and they’re always super fun. But I don’t think I’m actually going to buy it. Since my budget is a lot tighter these days, the fact that I already own all the Wario Ware games I need is reason enough to take a pass on this “greatest hits” version.

Continue reading Thinks and Thoks – Nintendo Direct (March 8/18)

Smash Speculation: It’s over!

Hey so Super Smash Bros for 3DS has been out for a while (in Japan), and the whole of the roster is known to all. Even to me. Even though I tried to resist. Sometimes people just aren’t very good with their spoilertags. And by that, I mean they don’t realize that spoilertags exist for a reason. Whatever. It’s not a big deal.

I had originally planned to do a final entry in the Smash Speculation series this week, but I just don’t feel like bothering. For one, I’m just tired of doing these samey write-ups. That’s the big one. Sure, they allow me to be a little creative and indulge my fantasies, but each one reads the same and they aren’t fun anymore now that I know that there isn’t the slightest glimmer of hope of them coming true.

And that leads into the second reason I’m done early: not a single one of my predictions came true. Yes, there are a ton of new fighters in this edition of Smash, and most of them are wonderful and look like they’ll be a lot of fun to play, but it’s a little discouraging to be so far off-base. There are a couple questionable newcomers though, and I think that even my dumbest suggestions would be better than a clone of an already kinda lousy character.

OH WELL. I’m still incredibly excited to play the full game, and the demo has certainly made the wait easier. It’s also a much more effective outlet for my hype than these silly write-ups. Only nine more days to go…

For those interested, I was considering Shantae as today’s character. I know she isn’t a Nintendo character, but she’s mostly made her home on Nintendo systems. She would certainly be a more fun (albeit less iconic) third-party character than Sonic. I was playing as him in Brawl the other day, and man, Sonic is just no good.

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 ~

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

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 ~

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

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 ~

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

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 ~

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

Smash Speculation: Shovel Knight

Smash 4 already has three third-party characters. I fully understand that it’s almost impossible that another one will show up at this point, but I’ve got to let my inner fanboy out, if even for just a little while…

~ Shovel Knight ~

If you ignore the whole third-party business, Shovel Knight isn’t a totally impossible dream. His game was originally developed with Nintendo systems in mind (and also PC, but whatever), and it has done quite well for itself on the Wii U and 3DS. I’ve even heard from a handful of people that they think Shovel Knight has the best implementation of StreetPass in any game to date. So that’s something.

Anyway, Shovel Knight is a nearly perfect video game, and its titular character is a unique and versatile fighter. He’s got a bevy of special attacks, and his main weapon is a shovel! It works mostly like a sword, but make no mistake, there’s plenty of actual shoveling to go along with the monster-slaying. As a video game character, he would fit in perfectly with the Smash Bros crowd. I just don’t know if he’d fit a 3D render well. Maybe he’d just show up as a flat character like Mr. Game & Watch.

His basic attacks would obviously be shovel-based. In most video games, when you whack an enemy, the enemy bounces back a little. However, in Shovel Knight, when you whack an enemy, Shovel Knight bounces back a little. It takes a long time to get used to, and while it would be a weird quirk in Smash, I’m not sure I’d want to incorporate it. It would simply make it impossible for Shovel Knight to combo. It’d all come down to single hits, which is not an overly effective play style. He’d absolutely keep his ability to pogo off of enemies, as that’s just a lot of fun to do on it’s own, regardless of its effectiveness in battle (it would be effective in battle though).

Needless to say, his basic down attack would be to simply dig. The action itself would cause little damage, but bits of dirt and other debris would fly up as they’re unearthed to hit a little harder. I think it would be neat if this move also occasionally unearthed items.

Shovel Knight gains a total of eleven different “relics” over the course of his adventure. I’ve found a way to incorporate all of them into his moveset, even though the final few took a little more elbow grease than I’d have liked. In this way, he’ll be kinda similar to how Snake was in Brawl, where he fights with a bevy of gadgets that maybe make him a little bit harder to learn than your average fighter. His first trick, the Mobile Gear, would be his dashing attack. It’s a little gear that SK stands on as it wheels forward, damaging any foes that it crashes into. SK could still swing his shovel too, to hit enemies that jump up out of the Mobile Gear’s path. It wouldn’t stop until it hits a wall, and it does a little hop off of edges, just like in the source material.

Side smash is the Dust Knuckles, a large set of gauntlets that propel Shovel Knight slightly forward as he punches, and can be chained endlessly as long as there is something to hit in front of him. You’d pass through an enemy after two punches though, to keep it from being able to stunlock guys to death. Up smash is the Throwing Anchor, which works just like a Castlevania axe. Travels in a high arc. There isn’t much to it. Down smash is the War Horn, which knocks away all enemies in a short radius. It wouldn’t cause very much damage, instead being mostly a crowd control ability.

Neutral special is Flare Wand. It shoots a fireball straight forward. There is literally nothing else that I can add to this.

Up special is the Phase Locket. It gives Shovel Knight about two seconds of invincibility. He is immobile for about half a second when he uses it. There has to be some sort of control on it though, as it could be really cheap. Maybe SK wouldn’t be able to hit anyone or pick up any items while phased? Perhaps it just needs to charge before being used again. Or maybe we turn it into yet another counterattack move. But I really don’t want to resort to that unless there’s absolutely no other way to properly balance it. Or is it balanced enough by not providing any sort of recovery? Can the world accept another character without a triple jump?

Side special is the Propeller Dagger. This is SK’s recovery move, but it only works horizontally. Shovel Knight thrusts forward with dagger in hand, flying a good distance forward and impaling any foes on the way. It’s another fairly straightforward attack that I don’t feel needs to be elaborated on.

Down special uses the Alchemy Coin. I’m not entirely sure on how I want to play this one. In the original game, the coin rolls along the floor and turns any monsters it touches into money. It could just do the rolling part here and cause damage, since I doubt we’re going to be turning fighters into cash. I suppose it could have a chance of knocking items out of anyone it hits? We’ll have to workshop it.

Shovel Knights taunts are also important! His up taunt will produce a Troupple Chalice, and when full, it will provide one of three effects: small damage recovery, brief invincibility, or temporarily make items gravitate towards SK. The chalice can only be used once! Unless you use down taunt near a ledge, which will use the Fishing Rod. Using it on solid ground will only make it hit the ground and do nothing, but it would cause one or two percent damage to anyone it hits. If used on a ledge and the hook goes off the bottom of the screen, a troupple will be fished up and fill your chalice. The effect that you gain would be random. I think that’s kind of a neat way to go about it.

Lastly, Shovel Knight’s final smash would use the Chaos Spheres. In it, he would lift off the ground a little bit, and then start chucking Chaos Spheres in all directions (the player can control this), which bounce off of any solid objects (including other players) they hit and cause a reasonable amount of damage. Even when the attack is over, the spheres would persist until they’ve all bounced off the screen. You might think that calling in Shield Knight or the Black Knight might make for a better final smash, but I really wanted to use up that last relic, and I like the idea of them being assist trophies instead.

OKAY! That was an exhaustive rundown of just how Shovel Knight would work in Smash. Not so differently than he works in his own game, as it turns out! I know that this one is absolute fantasy, but I really am digging the idea of having Shovel Knight as a playable Smash character. A boy can dream…

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Smash Speculation: Toon Ganondorf

We’ve seen a handful of alternate version characters that I’d like to see, and while I hesitate to suggest an outright character replacement, I have a very good reasoning behind making such a suggestion:

~ Toon Ganondorf ~

Here’s the thing: Ganondorf, in his current Smash incarnation, is boring as all heck. He’s the slowest guy on the roster, and he’s an outright copy of Captain Falcon. Also, Ganondorf just isn’t overly interesting to begin with. Not the beefy, realistic Ganondorf anyway. He’s so one-dimensional that it offends even me. Toon Ganondorf though? Now we’re talking.

The thing that makes Toon Ganondorf appealing to me is the way that he was portrayed in The Wind Waker. He was the same Ganondorf as in one or more of the previous games, and he was old and weary. He’d been beaten and sealed away at least once, and maybe had even turned into a pig monster for a brief moment in time. He was sick and tired of getting bested by the Hero of Whatever, and he knew what he had to do to finally seize victory.

Of course, that didn’t quite work out, but his backstory and demeanor in Wind Waker certainly make him the deepest and most interesting incarnation of Ganondorf. So let’s put that guy in. Give him a fresh set of moves, give him a slick new look, and make him a character worth playing as. I guess you’d have to give him a little more speed too. Ganondorf as-is is just too slow to bother with.

Obviously, this guy is going to be the real deal. No more Captain Falcon moves. TG will come boasting his dual blades as well as a few magical attacks. There are already a lot of sword users on the Smash lineup, but TG will be unique as the only one who wields two at once. He’ll have to put one away to pick up items and grab people, but that’s not really an issue. I think that all of his normal attacks would utilize the swords, and that his specials would be where his magic powers come into play. He doesn’t use much in the way of magic in Wind Waker, so it’s fitting that he relies mostly on physical strength here.

The smash attacks might differ a little too. You could go with the swords and make them generic big hit moves, but why not draw a little from his own physical strength. He gives Link a brutal beatdown with just his fists just before the final fight in Wind Waker, so make his forward smash a triple punch combo with a little forward momentum. Kinda like Link’s forward smash, but with three hits instead of two. Up smash is an uppercut or something, I guess. There isn’t a specific precedent to draw from, so we’ll just slot a generic move in there. Down smash should be a low forward kick, which TG uses in Wind Waker to knock Link on his butt if he’s blocking too much. Down smashes usually hit on both sides of a character, but this one can be one-way. It fits, trust me.

Down special is the easiest, it would be the somewhat overused counterattack; let’s call it Parry. To date, nine characters have some variation of a counterattack as one of their special moves. But it fits here! Parrying is an advanced technique in Wind Waker, and it’s the only game in the series that uses it. Not to mention that you must parry Ganondorf to strike the final blow against him in that game, so it’s also a bit of an ironic inclusion. Plus, TG is a swordfighter, so it only makes sense. I don’t know that it really needs any special attributes to make it stand out from the other counterattacks, but for fun, let’s just say that it works even against attacks that are normally unblockable.

Up special, I don’t know. We could give Toon Ganondorf his own version of the spin attack, which could have a wider attack range thank Link’s, but it would have slightly less power and maybe wouldn’t be as good for recovery. Maybe it moves better horizontally than vertically? On the other hand, perhaps he could have an upward sword thrust move more akin to Mario’s super jump punch. Coat the swords in magical flame or bolts and call it a day. Since there are variable special moves, you could even choose between giving the attack a fire, electric, or ice element.

Side special is a magic blast. Make it like Ganon’s, I guess. I really doubt that both of these characters would make it into the game, so I’ll let them share a special move. If you didn’t read the last entry, for whatever reason, basically it’s a magic ball that can be reflected back and forth, increasing in power each time it’s knocked back. You know, the tennis ball magic that’s in so many Zelda games. It works just fine with Toon Ganondorf, as his phantoms use it in Wind Waker.

For the neutral special, I want to use those phantoms again. Zelda has actually taken this attack for herself in Smash 4, where she summons a phantom to rush forward and attack. But Zelda summons an armored phantom from the DS games. TG would summon the ghostly phantom from Wind Waker (natch), which would function essentially the same. Since TG’s phantom floats though, you could direct it upward (and downward if using it in midair), rather than having it move on a strictly horizontal path.

Toon Ganondorf’s final smash was easy to think up. He summons the Helmaroc King (the huge bird from Wind Waker) and it swoops across the stage a few times. If it manages to grab any of the other combatants, it’ll immediately chuck them off the screen. Instant KO final smashes aren’t necessarily the greatest, but I like this one. It works with the character and it’s not a sure thing, so it’s fair enough.

So yeah, there you go. Ganondorf completely rebuilt with his very own moveset for a new generation of Smash. As much as I’d like to see Pig Ganon show up as a fighter, I think that giving Ganondorf an overhaul is the much more plausible situation. Even if he doesn’t get the Toon treatment, I’ll be happy if he’s able to move out of that clone ghetto and get some more fitting attacks. It’s not very becoming of the baddest guy on the roster.

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Smash Speculation: Ganon

Smash Bros is a fighting game that pits many of Nintendo’s beloved heroes against each other in brutal combat. But why is it all about heroes? To date, there is one villain character confirmed for the new games. Two if you consider Dedede a villain (he’s not). Three if you assume that Ganondorf will be making a return. What I’m saying here is: Smash needs more bad guys!

~ GANON ~

Who better than the original villain of the Zelda series, the evil wizard Ganon? Nintendo has sort of brushed this piggly form off to the side to give his human form, Ganondorf, the spotlight. I don’t like this trend. While they’re essentially the same baddie, I find Ganon to be the more interesting and threatening version. Ganondorf is just a regular old power-hungry sociopath. When Ganondorf claimed the Triforce for himself, it reflected his evil nature and twisted his physical form into the blue pig version that you see above.

Ganon carries a massive trident, but he’s always been more keen on ranged combat. His original incarnation fought by teleporting around the room (while also being invisible) and chucking fireballs at Link. When he got his trident in A Link to the Past, he still only fought by throwing it and warping around his chamber. When that proved to be an unsuccessful tactic, he ditched the trident and went back to magical attacks. This isn’t to say that Ganon wouldn’t use the weapon for close-range combat. No, he’s got to have some physical skills to stay in the game, but I think that his slow speed and preference for magic attacks would make him weaker in the physical department.

So what about smashes? Forward smash is the easy one: Ganon throws his trident out slightly in front of him (think Falco’s reflector in Brawl) and it spins around for a second. Down smash could be a low trident swipe at both sides, or maybe Ganon plunges the trident into the ground and it creates a small lightning field on the ground around him. Up smash is the one where I’m stuck. I like the idea of having Ganon send out a flaming keese though.

Neutral special is the most interesting one here. Ganon fires off a ball of magic straight ahead, though potentially it can be curved like Link’s arrows or Zelda’s fireball. The magic ball can be reflected by a sword or similar attack. Ganon can then strike the returning ball to reflect it again, and this cycle will repeat until it flies away or hits someone. Each reflect would increase the magic ball’s power, and it would have an electrical effect upon hitting a target. This attack is taken from A Link to the Past, where it is Agahnim’s signature move, and the only way to defeat him. Agahnim, if you weren’t aware, is Ganon’s Light World alter ego.

Ganon’s side special would also be pried from Agahnim’s repertoire: a simple lightning bolt. Or maybe multiple bolts fanning out at a shallow angle. I can’t think of any especially interesting mechanics for this move, maybe it could cause a small amount of damage through shields, but not be able to break them? Anyway, it’s not a super long-distance attack, only going maybe three or four body lengths away from Ganon, but it’ll get the job done.

Down special is a difficult one to peg, but at first, I like an earthquake move. Say it’s based on the Quake Medallion for A Link to the Past. Ganon thrusts his trident into the ground (again) and creates a quake effect in a decent radius around him. Obviously it doesn’t affect fighters in the air, and if Ganon himself is airborne, he’ll throw the trident straight down and create the same effect, only the weapon itself would now be able to cause damage if it hits someone. If you don’t like that, maybe he gets a warping move where he vanishes, shows up a few lengths away, and then attacks in the opposite direction. Or maybe he warps directly behind the nearest fighter to attack.

Up special I had to think about for a while, but I like the idea of drawing a little from Ganon’s appearance in Four Swords Adventures, and giving him a tornado attack. In that game, he does manipulate Vaati the wind mage, so why not have a wind-based attack. He also uses a jump move while twirling his trident above his head, so just mash that all up together and you’ve got a special attack. Basically what I’m thinking here is Ganon conjures up a tornado around him and then floats up through it with the twirling trident. The tornado will suck up any fighters who get too close, and if they get hit by the trident, they’ll go flying away.

Ganon’s final smash is, as usual, where I’m getting stuck. We could just go with the obvious callback, where Ganon becomes invisible and teleports around the stage launching fireballs at the other fighters. We could go a little more creative and have him summon up a bunch of monsters to attack. We could have him do a line-of-sight attack like Zelda and Link, invoking his Triforce of Power to stun an opponent while he lobs magic attacks at them, and finishes with a big hit (perhaps he throws the trident at them and a bolt of lightning strikes it?).

I definitely need to workshop this one a little more before it’s a good idea, but I think there’s a solid base there. I honestly believe in my heart that Ganon has a good chance of joining the roster. For the longest time he was the second-most iconic villain in Nintendo’s stable, supplanted only by his less interesting human form. All the kids are clamoring for Ridley, but there’s another Nintendo monster that I’d much rather see.

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