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Series Representation in Super Smash Bros Wii-U/3DS

Robin is arguable - from the sounds of it, Robin was added because the more main character of Chrom was not as interesting as Robin. I mean, if we use the cover, the cover tells us that Lucina and Chrom are more important.

That said, generally it's most important to include the character that would make for the most interesting character, and I think Sakurai agrees.

Robin doesn't represent an entire series. Adding Sami is like adding Knuckles to rep the entire Sonic series or Bob the Cat to rep Animal Crossing.

Sakurai's never done it before, and I doubt he'd start anytime soon, since it doesn't make sense. He'd probably more likely make a unique moveset for Andy than port Snake's over to Sami.

We've only ever had one cut character converted entirely to a new one, and that's Young Link. But even still, Toon Link is... basically just Young Link in everything but his name, so we've never quite had as drastic of a shift as Snake to Sami would be.
 

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
Debatable. :v

How so?

icPsd1y.png
 

To me, the Shoulder Charge requires forward movement, it requires the ability to jump out of it. It's definitely not a tackle of any sort in Brawl, more of a "bash." Sure, it might be based on Wario's shoulder charge, which would be fine if it wasn't the only thing that ties Wario to his platforming games.
 
listen guys, if Kremlings are off the table because of Sakurai/Nintendo being awful, there's really only one other worthwhile DK addition

a4c93d22d21835a20629d635335526d349fc3a60_full.jpg


edit: GOD DAMNIT
 

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
To me, the Shoulder Charge requires forward movement, it requires the ability to jump out of it. It's definitely not a tackle of any sort in Brawl, more of a "bash." Sure, it might be based on Wario's shoulder charge, which would be fine if it wasn't the only thing that ties Wario to his platforming games.

Fair enough.

Donkey Kong needs one true representative.
tumblr_mhrkiyTebk1rrftcdo1_500.gif

One of worse addition to Kong Family ever. :)
 
TBH, I love Lanky Kong. I wish they'd add him to the next DKC game, no other Kong plays like him. Like, we have heavy Kongs, we have light Kongs like Diddy, we have blonde girl Kongs like Dixie and Tiny, but we don't have any weird Kongs.
 
Donkey Kong Country Returns's 3DS port on its own sold more than Kid Icarus Uprising did total. DK is far and away the most underrepped series in Smash currently.

The stage representation of the two games taken together is especially borked. Donkey Kong, Metroid, and Star Fox all have only one new stage across both versions but Fire Emblem and Kid Icarus get a different new one in each because...?

Star Fox 64 3D is completely skipped over for a stage, but OOT 3D gets one. Kid Icarus Uprising has two new stages across both versions but the most recent Kirby game to get a stage is still Kirby Super Star.
 
The biggest problem with Dixie is that she isn't a good character. Pretty much every other DK rep available has a more fun and memorable personality and design. She's not bad, but she's just sorta there.

I don't agree at all. She has about as much character as you can get from a 2D platformer character who doesn't talk. She's a '90s valley girl who chews bubblegum and plays guitar.

What things could she do with her ponytail that Diddy doesn't already use his tail for? Fly and that's it?

Twirl, her signature move, could be used in a variety of ways in the same way as Sonic's spin; particularly, it could be her running attack and her recovery move. She could grab opponents with it. And they could go crazy animating a variety of different ways for her to whack people with it. She could be a quick and light character who uses her ponytail for slow, heavy attacks.
 
Donkey Kong Country Returns's 3DS port on its own sold more than Kid Icarus Uprising did total. DK is far and away the most underrepped series in Smash currently.

The stage representation of the two games taken together is especially borked. Donkey Kong, Metroid, and Star Fox all have only one new stage across both versions but Fire Emblem and Kid Icarus get a different new one in each because...?

The popular theory for Fire Emblem is that Nintendo gives IS a lot of say in the content, and IS probably gave Sakurai a lot of stuff for them to use. KI is just a matter of Sakurai having access to the KI assets, so it was just much easier to make stages for the series.

I'll definitely agree that he needs to try harder with Metroid, DK, and Star Fox (and Wario), though.
 

Sponge

Banned
Diddy kong with a ponytail prioritized over a unique character with a personality that represents an actual new game (uprising)

Please no.

Not this again. Dixie would definitely not be a complete Diddy clone. She has far more potential than that.

Meanwhile (despite him not taking much development time) we have Dark Pit, who is literally a clone in every sense of the word.
 

FSLink

Banned
Were those moves particularly interesting though? I mean I like the Jump Glide, but none of them screamed "this is a defining move for Palutena." I'd sooner ask Sakurai to make her customs less different and focus on making four really, really great moves.

Explosive Flame is decent, Jump Glide is great (I prefer Warp though), Lightweight and Super Speed define her and basically make her a probable high tier character. Celestial Fireworks is also not a bad move either due to the armor it has at the beginning of startup, but Lightweight's usually better.


Also while I do dislike some of the newer moves they added for Project M, Wario's shoulder bash was done fucking right.
 
I think by the end of the Smash series, this is what I'd like to see

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Rosalina & Luma, Bowser Jr., Paper Mario, Captain Toad, Daisy, Fawful
Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, King K. Rool, Donkey Kong Junior
Wario, Captain Syrup, 9-Volt, Ashley
Yoshi, Kamek
Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Mewtwo, Blaziken, Celebi, Greninja, Lucario, Meowth, Genesect, Braixen
Link, Zelda, Sheik, Ganondorf, Toon Link, Toon Zelda, Impa, Tingle, Ganon
Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Rick, Waddle Dee, Adeleine, Daroach
Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Ridley, Dark Samus
Villager, Isabelle, K.K. Slider
Marth, Ike, Roy, Lucina, Robin, Lyn, Dancer
Little Mac, Doc Louis, King Hippo, Glass Joe
Fox, Falco, Wolf, Krystal
Ness, Lucas, Kumatora
Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh
Pit, Palutena, Dark Pit, Viridi
Olimar, Brittany, Charlie
Shulk, XCX character
Wii Fit Trainer
Mega Man
Sonic
Pac-Man
Mii Fighters

As far as the series we have now, that is.
 

Moonlight

Banned
KI:U is over-represented and that's perfectly fine with me. I have confidence in Viridi and Hades making it into a future installment!
 

Mr. RPG

Member
I love Fire Emblem to death, but four characters is way too many. Especially two of them being from the same game.

Two was just right.
 
I love Fire Emblem to death, but four characters is way too many. Especially two of them being from the same game.

Two was just right.

Three is just right because three of them have good and unique movesets.

The fourth was less effort to make than normal characters.

As a player of Ike, Lucina, and Robin, I'd like to say

796.gif
 
I don't agree at all. She has about as much character as you can get from a 2D platformer character who doesn't talk. She's a '90s valley girl who chews bubblegum and plays guitar.



Twirl, her signature move, could be used in a variety of ways in the same way as Sonic's spin; particularly, it could be her running attack and her recovery move. She could grab opponents with it. And they could go crazy animating a variety of different ways for her to whack people with it. She could be a quick and light character who uses her ponytail for slow, heavy attacks.

Not this again. Dixie would definitely not be a complete Diddy clone. She has far more potential than that.

Meanwhile (despite him not taking much development time) we have Dark Pit, who is literally a clone in every sense of the word.

The problem with this argument is that Dixie is a near clone of Diddy in her own games. If you want to give her some crazy unique moveset that doesn't play like diddy's at all, then you'd have to deviate from the source material to get a moveset.

That works, sometimes, like in the case of bowser jr, but that also only worked because nobody gave a shit about Bowser Jr, really.
 

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
I think by the end of the Smash series, this is what I'd like to see

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Rosalina & Luma, Bowser Jr., Paper Mario, Captain Toad, Daisy, Fawful
Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, King K. Rool, Donkey Kong Junior
Wario, Captain Syrup, 9-Volt, Ashley
Yoshi, Kamek
Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Mewtwo, Blaziken, Celebi, Greninja, Lucario, Meowth, Genesect, Braixen
Link, Zelda, Sheik, Ganondorf, Toon Link, Toon Zelda, Impa, Tingle, Ganon
Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Rick, Waddle Dee, Adeleine, Daroach
Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Ridley, Dark Samus
Villager, Isabelle, K.K. Slider
Marth, Ike, Roy, Lucina, Robin, Lyn, Dancer
Little Mac, Doc Louis, King Hippo, Glass Joe
Fox, Falco, Wolf, Krystal
Ness, Lucas, Kumatora
Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh
Pit, Palutena, Dark Pit, Viridi
Olimar, Brittany, Charlie
Shulk, XCX character
Wii Fit Trainer
Mega Man
Sonic
Pac-Man
Mii Fighters

As far as the series we have now, that is.

Erm, Are you getting rid of other characters like R.O.B and Duck Hunt?
 

Draxal

Member
I love Fire Emblem to death, but four characters is way too many. Especially two of them being from the same game.

Two was just right.

Fire Emblem is up to its 14 game now with if (15 if you include Fire Emblem/SMT).


I think by the end of the Smash series, this is what I'd like to see

Marth, Ike, Roy, Lucina, Robin, Lyn, Dancer


As far as the series we have now, that is.

Sigurd is a much important lord than Roy/Lyn/Dancer.
 

Zubz

Banned
Yes, he did in Brawl.

That cut made no sense, and frankly, kind of bugged me; it was all of the Wario Land representation I could think of in Brawl, outside of the victory theme being a segment of a Shake It! song. And this game added nothing in return but that same song as a regular stage track.

As much as I love Kid Icarus and want to defend it, I feel it got way too much representation relatively, and, to a lesser extent, there might've been too much Mario as well. Donkey Kong, Wario, Yoshi, Star Fox, F-Zero, and Mother barely felt like they were even there, and I expected more from Sonic. 3rd Party or not, he was a returning series, but even though he was confirmed to be rushed-in for Brawl, he feels even less represented here; literally none of the Sonic music in either game is a new remix. And, of course, I feel like Metroid and Zelda deserved another character each this time around. Here's hoping for Ridley and Impa for DLC, if not Smash 5.

If we're counting all series, however, the near-lack of the Advance Wars, Golden Sun, and Rhythm Heaven series actually surprised me, even though it shouldn't've.
 
Real talk, I think the game would be improved with the removal of Dark Pit as a separate character. Gameplay wise he adds nothing that couldn't be accomplished with an Alph-like costume switch and custom moves. At least Lucina's change, as lame as it is, fundamentally changes how she's played. Dark Pit is Pit with angry eyes.

Removing him would also shorten the already bloated All-Star mode by one character, remove a character from the "beat X with everything" challenges making them slightly more tolerable, and would make it so that the Random button doesn't essentially have a twice as high chance to make you play as Pit as any other character. Sounds like a win to me.

Screw that guy.
 
Erm, Are you getting rid of other characters like R.O.B and Duck Hunt?

lol, I forgot about all retro characters.

R.O.B.
Duck Hunt
Mr. Game & Watch
Ice Climbers, Polar Bear

Fire Emblem is up to its 14 game now with if (15 if you include Fire Emblem/SMT).




Sigurd is a much important lord than Roy/Lyn/Dancer.

Roy - Popular character for Smash fans
Lyn - First character a lot of people experienced in the Fire Emblem series
Dancer - Not only as a representative of the upcoming Fire Emblem, but also as a kind of Fire Emblem character that would play unlike any FE character in Smash so far.

EDIT: I don't think Dark Pit should be cut... but I'd be fine if he was replaced. Alph could have been a more interesting clone, much more so than Dark Pit, TBH. Give him Rock Pikmin instead of Purple Pikmin, make him a bit lighter, give him the appropriate ship for his Final Smash (isn't it a bit weird for Olimar and Alph to pilot the same ship, Sakurai?)
 
I'm rather disappointed by the lack of Shin Megami Tensei representation in Smash 4, especially when it's been an IP on Nintendo platforms than some of the other IPs represented.

Especially after Nintendo positioned SMT4 to be THE killer-app for the 3DS.
 

Mr. RPG

Member
Lucina took like zero effort to make, though

What a perfect analogy, too. Smash 4 looks like just an expansion to Brawl, while Melee was a huge innovator. Most of the new characters are just clones anyway.

Can we stop adding new clones and give everyone their own unique playing style and moves?

This more being better mentality needs to stop. The game still has obvious balancing issues and adding even more characters does not help. 52 characters is way too many in my opinion.

I still like Smash 4 by the way.
 

Astral Dog

Member
Donkey Kong's representation is hilariously bad. Donkey Kong Country Returns outsold the entire Kid Icarus franchise combined, yet it only got one new stage, no new characters, no assist trophies, and no new items.

Also, the 3DS version is much worse than the Wii U version in this regard. Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Wario, and Metroid have no new stages, and Metroid has only two songs reused from Melee.
It needs Trixie, but otherwise i don't see much of a problem, pure popularity should not be the only case of representation on Smash, and even KI probably outsold Tropical Freeze.

Although yeah Dark Pit is unnecessary, along with Lucina.
 
As I've said before, I really don't like how some people's wishlists constantly fall back on Triforce Holders for Zelda reps.

Other series have characters that only appear in one game of their franchises, why does Zelda need so many versions of the same 3 characters?
 
Real talk, I think the game would be improved with the removal of Dark Pit as a separate character. Gameplay wise he adds nothing that couldn't be accomplished with an Alph-like costume switch and custom moves. At least Lucina's change, as lame as it is, fundamentally changes how she's played. Dark Pit is Pit with angry eyes.

Removing him would also shorten the already bloated All-Star mode by one character, remove a character from the "beat X with everything" challenges making them slightly more tolerable, and would make it so that the Random button doesn't essentially have a twice as high chance to make you play as Pit as any other character. Sounds like a win to me.

Screw that guy.

He at least has a unique final smash and a few moves work differently. Lucina is literally just vagina marth with less damage.
 
What a perfect analogy, too. Smash 4 looks like just an expansion to Brawl, while Melee was a huge innovator. Most of the new characters are just clones anyway.

Can we stop adding new clones and give everyone their own unique playing style and moves?

This more being better mentality needs to stop. The game still has obvious balancing issues and adding even more characters does not help. 52 characters is way too many in my opinion.

I still like Smash 4 by the way.

So instead of making people mad who irrationally hate clones, Sakurai makes people mad who hate FE getting overrepped? Making Lucina different would make the game more unbalanced, so I don't see how these two points can work together.

As I've said before, I really don't like how some people's wishlists constantly fall back on Triforce Holders for Zelda reps.

Other series have characters that only appear in one game of their franchises, why does Zelda need so many versions of the same 3 characters?

Mostly because there are multiple Links and multiple Zeldas. Ganon makes perfect sense since 1. Ganondorf is a clone, and 2. Ganon is like, half of the character.
 

Richie

Member
Real talk, I think the game would be improved with the removal of Dark Pit as a separate character. Gameplay wise he adds nothing that couldn't be accomplished with an Alph-like costume switch and custom moves. At least Lucina's change, as lame as it is, fundamentally changes how she's played. Dark Pit is Pit with angry eyes.

Removing him would also shorten the already bloated All-Star mode by one character, remove a character from the "beat X with everything" challenges making them slightly more tolerable, and would make it so that the Random button doesn't essentially have a twice as high chance to make you play as Pit as any other character. Sounds like a win to me.

Screw that guy.

He really is the cloniest character there's ever been in the franchise. Wasn't there a Smashboards analysis that showed only three or four of his moves differ from Pit? It's not even that they look the same, the majority of his moves do the exact same feedback and damage as Pit's. Not even Melee was that bad.

That said, I don't mind him. Your other point about the stages' representation speaks much more to me. I really, REALLY hope they're planning DLC where I can get the 3DS exclusive stuff for Wii U (and viceversa, for those who want it). Sakurai emphasized the Wii U would get mostly console-based stages. Lo and behold, several of the 3DS exclusive ones ARE based off console games.
 
Whose belief?

Just roll with it

I'm rather disappointed by the lack of Shin Megami Tensei representation in Smash 4, especially when it's been an IP on Nintendo platforms than some of the other IPs represented.

Especially after Nintendo positioned SMT4 to be THE killer-app for the 3DS.

SMT's only had two games on Nintendo, which isn't really anything compared to the amount of titles on the PS2. Just seems rather unlikely to be in Smash.

Edit: Oops I fucked up.
 
Just roll with it



SMT's only had two games on Nintendo, which isn't really anything compared to the amount of titles on the PS2. Just seems rather unlikely to be in Smash.

Cmon nah. You've got SMT X FE, SMTIV, Soul Hackers, Strange Journey, Devil Survivor, Devil Survivor 2 (+ remakes), the GBA, the GBC, and the SNES games.
 

Draxal

Member
Roy - Popular character for Smash fans
Lyn - First character a lot of people experienced in the Fire Emblem series
Dancer - Not only as a representative of the upcoming Fire Emblem, but also as a kind of Fire Emblem character that would play unlike any FE character in Smash so far.

Sigurd is still a bigger char than all of those, and if you want to consider a series staple, Anna makes so much sense here.
 

Moonlight

Banned
What a perfect analogy, too. Smash 4 looks like just an expansion to Brawl, while Melee was a huge innovator. Most of the new characters are just clones anyway.

Can we stop adding new clones and give everyone their own unique playing style and moves?

This more being better mentality needs to stop. The game still has obvious balancing issues and adding even more characters does not help. 52 characters is way too many in my opinion.

I still like Smash 4 by the way.
uh

what

New characters:

- Palutena
- Robin
- Rosalina
- Greninja
- Duck Hunt
- Megaman
- Pac Man
- Bowser Jr
- Shulk
- Villager
- Wii Fit Trainer
- Little Mac
- Mii
- Lucina
- Dark Pit
- Lucina
- Doctor Mario


Clones bolded. Math has never been my strong suit, but that doesn't look like 'most'. Rosalina, Robin, Duck Hunt, Shulk, Megaman, and Pac Man all represent incredibly 'different' play-styles and characters to the standard Smash paradigm, so your statement makes like... no sense, on multiple levels.

Sigurd is still a bigger char than all of those, and if you want to consider a series staple, Anna makes so much sense here.
Hell yeah.

I'm as big a Lyn mark as any, but it's time to let go.
 
Mostly because there are multiple Links and multiple Zeldas. Ganon makes perfect sense since 1. Ganondorf is a clone, and 2. Ganon is like, half of the character.
The technical story aspect that one Link and Zelda are different from the other doesn't mean they won't still have the same abilities and style.

Whereas you could actually create someone who plays originally if you added Midna/Ghirahim/Skull Kid/Vaati.
 
Sigurd is still a bigger char than all of those, and if you want to consider a series staple, Anna makes so much sense here.

But again, they don't match the justifications for the three I listed. Sigurd may be big, sure, but Americans have never heard of him. Anna may be recurring, but this fact relates more to the Japanese audience than anyone else. Lyn is clearly a very popular choice from the American side of things, and is not unrecognizable to the Japanese audience. Same with Roy, and the Dancer - assuming she has a significant role in New FE - has recentism on her side plus a unique moveset.
 

Ryce

Member
I'm rather disappointed by the lack of Shin Megami Tensei representation in Smash 4, especially when it's been an IP on Nintendo platforms than some of the other IPs represented.

Especially after Nintendo positioned SMT4 to be THE killer-app for the 3DS.
There are dozens of third-party IPs that are more popular and successful than Shin Megami Tensei. I don't know why you're so surprised.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
- I can understand why Metroid doesn't have much in the name of playable characters. If Spainkiller is to be believed, they did legit try to add Ridley but he ended up being too big for the game. You could scrape the bottom of the barrel with the Hunters, but they aren't exactly iconic. In short, I understand why Metroid only has 2 variants of Samus, but that still doesn't excuse the music & lack of a Prime 3 stage.
- Again, assuming Spainkiller is on the money, we almost got Dixie Kong & that kinda breaks my heart. She could be DLC, sure, but we don't know right now. Though a little more variety in the music wouldn't hurt anyone.
- I'd say Zelda is fine. None of the other Zelda characters really stand out (as for Impa, Skyward Sword is the only mainline Zelda game where she played a major role that was memorable). And I'm not sure where Sakurai stands on third party interpretations on first-party franchises (Hyrule Warriors basically). Hopefully Link, Zelda, & Ganondorf are in the next Zelda game so they can use new designs in Smash U (& Sheik at least has a design in the vault).
- As far as representation for Mario, Kid Icarus, & Fire Emblem go, I don't hold the clones against them since they were last-minute additions. Though Mario did go a little overboard even if you exclude the Doc (granted, it's Nintendo's biggest franchise, but still). Kid Icarus' overrepresentation on the other hand is mainly with enemies & items more than anything else.
- I'm pretty sure we're never getting Waluigi as long as Sakurai is at the helm, but at least Ashley would have been nice (though she could get promoted in the next game).
- I've already stated my stance on Rhythm Heaven. I'm sad that we got screwed out of a character (likely the Chorus Kids) & a stage, but there is hope for DLC.
- As much as I love The Wonderful 101, they aren't popular enough to warrant a character (& it pains me dearly to say this). I'm thankful for the music, though. A stage would have been nice, but that would have been pushing it a bit.
- As long as Sonic is in Smash, Bayonetta will never be playable. Both are Sega IPs & guess which is the more iconic one. Again, I say this as a fan of the franchise.
- Star Fox is mostly fine sans the lack of Wolf, a problem easily rectified as DLC.
- Earthbound/Mother's lack of Lucas & a unique Wii U stage does sting, but at least there's a unique 3DS stage (both can be fixed via DLC).
- F-Zero is on the same boat as Earthbound as far as stages go.
 
Atlus is working really closely with Nintendo on SMT, so I can understand the surprise.

Also, let's not forget that SMT is one of the very few third-party series to grace the Virtual Boy. To put it into perspective, the only other third-party video game series were Bomberman and Space Invaders.
 
I don't know which part of the DK repping bugs me more.
Still just two characters, still no Assist Trophy, still jungle stages galore and more DK Island Swing remixes than anyone could conceivably need in place of a more varied selection.
At least the standard trophies are nice I guess.

Could be worse mind you, Wario is the one that arguably gets really screwed here, even the people I play with just see him as another Mario character more than anything else, the Wario Land series being snubbed just ain't right and even the Ware side of things could be handled a bit better.

In general Smash 4 balances things like absolute arse, let us not forget the 3DS stage selection any time soon.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Atlus is working really closely with Nintendo on SMT, so I can understand the surprise.

Also, let's not forget that SMT is one of the very few third-party series to grace the Virtual Boy. To put it into perspective, the only other third-party video game series were Bomberman and Space Invaders.
And they're currently working on SMTxFE. Then again, as much as I love the SMT (& by extension, Persona) series, I wouldn't consider SMT as iconic. Hell, one of its spin-offs (Persona) is more popular than the mainline series.
 
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