TheTuninator
Smash Champion
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
- Messages
- 2,315
Banner template, wrench, and general design inspiration courtesy of N3ON.
“Why does Advance Wars need a rep? It was just some Game Boy game, right?”
Many Smash fans may recognize Advance Wars from its assist trophy in Brawl, which featured a large number of infantry and tank sprites from the GBA games pouring out onto the stage and opening fire on the fighters. The assist trophy was a nice nod, but the Wars franchise rates more representation than that. Advance Wars is over a decade old and as a sub-series can claim four games to its name, all of which proved popular, especially among Western gamers. Taken as an umbrella, the larger Wars franchise boasts a dozen titles released over the past 25 years, all on Nintendo consoles. Despite the size and age of the franchise, its popularity, and the impressive cast of characters boasted by Advance Wars, the series has yet to see true representation in Smash Bros in the form of a playable character. This is an egregious oversight which should be corrected.
“Okay, so Advance Wars deserves a rep. But which character?”
Andy is perhaps the most recognizable character to those who have not played the games, as he took the leading role in Advance Wars 1 and was a prominent character in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. However, there are several other characters who are just as important within the series as Andy, and just about as recognizable. Sami and Max share top billing with Andy on the cover of both Advance Wars 1 and Advance Wars 2. In the first the trio can be seen riding on the same tank, and in the second they stand together as the COs of Black Hole loom menacingly in the background. Every member of the Orange Star trio figures equally in the AW1 and AW2 intros, while no other CO receives equivalent screentime.
Andy plays a larger role in the plot of AW1; the game centers around his (mis)adventures as he seeks to get to the bottom of recent conflict in Wars World. In AW2, however, Andy is no more important to the plot than Sami or Max; all three COs get an equal share of mandatory missions both in Orange Star and as allies in the other nations’ missions. In AWDS, Andy does not appear in the game’s campaign at all, replaced by the oh-so-hip Jake; by contrast, Max and Sami both play a significant role, with Max in particular a major character for most of the game. As we can see, while Andy is still the likeliest Advance Wars rep, it is quite possible to justify Sami or Max representing Advance Wars instead of Andy.
“Alright, Sami could reasonably appear, but why is she a better inclusion than Andy or Max?”
Andy has one big problem. He is really annoying. I say this as somebody who likes him, too. You remember Pit? Remember HIYAYAYAYAYAAAAAA? Andy, as a younger teenage boy with a personality that tends toward irritating obliviousness, is at very high risk to be every bit as annoying as Brawl Pit, if not more.
This picture says it all, really.
Andy would certainly be a fun character to play in Smash regardless of how annoying he is, but why take a more annoying character when less annoying ones are available?
“Well then, why not Max? Max is a cool dude."
Max will pretty inevitably be a big, heavy, slow physical bruiser type relying on a fist-based moveset: just look at his official art! Anything else wouldn't be true to the character, in terms of both design and personality.
Smash already has a few of these "bruiser" characters, most notably DK. Max could be made unique nonetheless, but Sami has an advantage in terms of uniqueness. Plus, big, heavy, slow characters are often pretty crappy in actual gameplay.
Sami is the most visually unique of the three when compared to the rest of the Smash roster, as well as lending herself more easily to a "soldier" moveset than Andy or Max by virtue of always appearing with some kind of weapon. She very likely will be far less annoying than Andy could be. Given all this, I find her to be the best possible AW rep out of the 3 plausible ones.
Potential counter-arguments and rebuttals:
“Advance Wars has been dead for years. It’s no longer relevant!”
Advance Wars has not seen a new release in 5 years, it's true. Nonetheless, the series remains relatively popular and is very fondly regarded by many gamers. The series is one of Nintendo’s finest for handhelds. Advance Wars 1 holds a Metacritic score of a remarkable 92/100 and was rated the 26th best game on any Nintendo system by Nintendo Power. Advance Wars may have been in stasis for some years, but the series is still significant and has many loyal fans. Recent rumors of a new AW game brought many fans still eager for a return to the series out of the woodwork. Should these rumors be true, an AW rep becomes significantly more likely, as a Smash rep to accompany a new game in the series would aid greatly in efforts to revive Advance Wars.
“We’d get Will instead! Days of Ruin was the most recent game.”
Days of Ruin did poorly enough that it did not release in Japan at all, and received mixed reception from fans in general due to drastic changes in gameplay and especially art style. The game’s lack of visibility among Japanese fans, the primary target audience for Smash, as well as mixed feelings from the AW fanbase, significantly less popularity, and character designs which clash with SSB4’s aesthetic combine to make a DoR rep incredibly unlikely.
“X character from the series has a better chance!”
Only Andy has a better chance of inclusion than Sami. Barring Max, who breaks even, every other CO from AW1 and AW2 is not a protagonist, and therefore will not be included over the series’ main characters as long as the series lacks at least one rep. Jake and Rachel are protagonists in AWDS, but as newcomers with only one appearance to the trio's three their odds of inclusion are significantly lower, particularly as AW1 & AW2 are more "core" games for the series. Hawke would be a potential inclusion if the series went to two characters, but that won’t happen. Nell is also very important within the story, but as the tutorial character and advisor, not a protagonist.
“Advance Wars COs don’t actually fight in their games like Fire Emblem characters do; they command! How can they have a moveset?”
Advance Wars characters are actually some of the most fitting inclusions in Smash, as every member of the cast is a professional soldier who fights for a living. Sure, they don’t take to the battlefield directly in gameplay, but nearly every CO looks quite battle-ready in their art, and dialogue throughout the campaigns indicates that the COs are fighting on the front lines.
Gameplay elements such as unit call-ins or silo missile strikes can easily be worked into special moves, and a physical fighting moveset fits any AW character very well, so the normals are not a problem. Out of the main three, Sami looks like more of a fighter than Andy, but not Max.
“Advance Wars doesn’t fit the tone of Smash; it’s too violent! And doesn’t Sami have a gun?”
Advance Wars is about war, yes, but a very cartoony and caricatured portrayal of war. All of the AW COs wear very bright colors, making them a perfect fit for the atmosphere of SSB4. Sami’s rifle can easily be swapped for a rocket launcher; in fact, the AW start screen and AW2 game box take this exact approach by giving Sami a bazooka. If Solid Snake can be made to fit within the Smash atmosphere, adapting an Advance Wars character is a piece of cake.
Potential Moveset (WIP and extremely rough – serves only as an illustration of the potential for interesting movesets with AW characters):
Jab: Sami elbows the opponent. If it connects, she follows up with a knee hit, and if that connects a punch.
Ftilt: Sami kicks in front of her.
Utilt:
Dtilt:
Fsmash: Sami swings her rocket launcher through the air in a heavy blow.
Dsmash: Sami drops and swings her legs around.
Usmash: Sami tosses a grenade which immediately explodes in the air directly above her head.
Neutral B: Sami fires a rocket ahead in a straight line.
Side-B (on ground): An APC appears. Sami grabs onto the back and rides as the APC charges forward in a straight line. Any characters hit by the APC will be buried.
Side-B (in air): Sami grabs on to a T-Copter instead of an APC, which flies straight forward and knocks back impacted characters.
Down-B: A silo missile template (a giant crosshair, for the unfamiliar) appears on screen. Sami may move the template with the analog stick and press “A” to fire. Immediately after firing, a silo missile drops from the top of the screen at good speed and explodes in the designated AoE for moderate damage and knockback. Sami cannot move while aiming the template.
Up-B: Sami rises through the air on a captured building as per the classic capturing animation, damaging any opponent she or the building impacts.
Nair:
Fair:
Bair:
Dair:
Uair:
Up Throw: Sami hurls her opponent into the air with both arms.
Forward Throw: Sami kicks her opponent away from her.
Back Throw: Sami spins around and hurls her opponent backwards with both hands.
Down-Throw: Sami throws her opponent on the ground and jumps on him with both feet several times, as per the classic AW capturing animation (perhaps with appropriate sound effects?)
Final Smash:
After Sami presses B, gameplay freezes and two words immediately fly in and crash together in the center of the screen, covering everything: SUPER POWER
The screen flashes white,
Sami's Commandos Corps
[COLLAPSE="Supporter List"]
Chauzu
Spinosaurus
Aduross
jaytalks
Falkoopa
JediSuperSonic
Maffewt
Z1GMA
SSBCandidates
God Robert's Cousin
ShichibukaiJimbe
ChronoBound
AlRex
Sabrewulf238
R.O.B.
Takehiko
Erotic&Heretic
Zulyar
Superyoshiom
CroonerMike
Hong
Kickback
Snakeyes
8-peacock-8
MandoBardanJusik
Plain Yogurt
JaidynReiman
Thereallucario
Princess Toady
smashkirby
Kremling Klansmen
[/COLLAPSE]
Potential Stage: Black Hole Fortress
[COLLAPSE="Potential Stage"]
The platform floats above a scene of pandemonium. Jutting upward in the background is an imposing black fortress, bristling with minicannons, death rays, and lasers. Groups of Black Hole and Allied Nation units run, drive, and fly around exchanging fire in the background.
At regular intervals, much like the Arwing strafing runs on Corneria, a CO power will be selected and affect the stage as the battle against Black Hole bleeds over into the players' fight. The background of the stage will briefly transform into the traditional Advance Wars flame-backed power name screen when a hazard activates. These COs and powers may be as follows:
Rachel - Covering Fire: Three silo missiles are targeted at points on the stage and fire, exploding for damage and knockback.
Olaf - Blizzard: Thick snow falls on the stage, reducing players' running speeds significantly.
Sensei - Airborne Assault: T-Copters drop off an infantry squad, which runs around shooting the players. If items are on, the T-Copters will drop "supplies".
Eagle - Lightning Strike: A squadron of bombers carpet-bombs a segment of the stage.
Sturm - Meteor Strike: A large meteor impacts a point on the stage for massive damage and knockback in a sizable AoE. Players will be warned of the impact point before impact occurs. [/collapse]
Potential Music (more to come)
[COLLAPSE="Andy's Anthem"]
[COLLAPSE="Sami's Theme"]
[COLLAPSE="Advance Wars 2 Ending Theme"]
[COLLAPSE="Kindle's Theme"]
[COLLAPSE="Penny's Theme"]
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Still, the bazooka is a fine fallback.
