Rate Their Chances Returns! Day 194: "Predicting the Direct"

[The Light Music Club]

Most Overrated: Ridley
Most Underrated: Micaiah

 

[andimidna]

Is the day over?
Well I think the fact that Waddle Dee is overrated to the point where it's obvious he needs rerated. I don't think he needs another vote.
I'm going to pick KING K ROOL.

Underrated is a little bit more difficult.
I came here to pick Ghirahim.
But I just realized, I think there's a 50/50 shot that if Chrom was playable, he'd be in an IC style duo with Lucina.
It makes the 2 more unique and adds a secondary lord that probably wouldn't get in over the first.
She is more popular in Japan than Chrom. That's where Nintendo is.
I think it should be rated equally to Chrom, who already is underrated. You guys have him rated as more likely to not happen.
I honestly think he deserves an 80%, he makes too much sense. And this mechanic is more suited to the game.
I would rate Chrom & Lucina at 81%, alone Chrom just doesn't really fit in with the new cast.
So the fact that Chrom & Lucina is at #50... It gets my vote.

 

[Groose]

By the way @ Groose great thread, I hope the new one will be as successful and fun like this one.

.n_n.

Don't thank me. Thank Super Smash Bros. Fan for bringing it here, and the other managers for allowing things to move forward. Also, we're not really changing anything; we're just consolidating all of our sections into a single, unified front page so people can see things more easily.

edit: NEVERMIND. THE RESULTS PAGE ISN'T IN ORDER, MY MISTAKE

It's in order, but the numbering is off. It will be fixed on Monday, as tallying no noms for a time gives me more room to breathe for once.

If Groose's(and I think Erimir said this too, but don't quote me on this) theory of characters being used as promotional tools then K. Rool is currently not capable of doing so. Far from it. In that case Dixie is a superior advertisement choice. K. Rool would obviously be superior in terms of ability to be unique.

Roy likewise does only have popularity going for him too, and is currently almost entirely useless for promotion. Also similar to K. Rool, and despite his Melee clone status, Roy is superior in terms of ability to be unique purely because his Sword of Seals has different properties to the Falchion.

My point is the two(Roy and K. Rool) are rather comparable, yet the scores between them are incredibly vast.
I have no doubt in my mind if it comes down to picking between Chrom or Roy, the former will be used because of promotion. Yet it boggles that exact same mind that the exact opposite criteria seems to be accepted as the obvious choice for DK with many thinking K. Rool will be obviously picked over Dixie Kong.

I don't get the Smashboards logic I guess.

I really should try to respond to this, but I don't have the time to dedicate to it tonight. We'll pick this up another time, ja?
MOST OVERRATED AND MOST UNDERRATED

*Note: Bandana Dee's fourth column should read "13.06%" instead of "33.06%." Typo.

So, let's take a look at this handy chart I whipped up for this occasion. It's quite clear from the fourth column that I feel that the scores we give to the majority of the characters are too high. Two characters stand out as being especially overrated in my eye: K. Rool and Dixie Kong. Whereas I see a Donkey Kong character as something that will probably happen (with some room for doubt), that's not exactly the impression the RTC scores are giving me. I personally see K. Rool as the more likely candidate of the two because he was one of the most requested characters when requests were being taken (unlike Dixie, who saw a spike in popularity after E3 2013). While I acknowledge that Dixie still has a pretty strong chance and should be considered a top-ten newcomer, I just don't think she deserves anywhere near the nearly-two-thirds margin she currently has. Dixie Kong is my most overrated character, with an honorable mention to King K. Rool; I just feel less confident than you guys about a DK newcomer, I suppose. 24.60% chance of getting four DK characters? Not really seeing it. Or my ignorance to statistics is coming into play, and there is some theorem that I haven't been taught that explains that I'm the one in the wrong here. I know my calculus, my trigonometry, my geometry, and my algebra, but I won't be taking a statistics course until the fall.

Underrated is a bit of a different story. I have to look at more than the Top Ten Characters to formulate that answer. Ghirahim won my most underrated award last time, and his score has remained the same since then. I could give it to him this time, but I will refrain from doing so because my opinion of him has fallen since the last "Most Underrated" day (he's down from a 25% to a 20% in my eyes). Ghirahim is an honorable mention for sure, however. I'd also like to toss Chibi Robo's name out into the blue; he deserves a 30% in my eyes, yet he's down at just below a 20%. The concept of Rhythm Heaven is also underrated; it should be at about 25% instead of at 14%. I could see it getting a character, but I just couldn't guess who it would be. Krystal must also be mentioned; I'd argue that her 16% should be somewhere in the 20% range. Ray is also someone I feel is a bit low, but not by too large of a margin. One thing: people keep saying Andy, but I disa

So, who do I feel is most underrated? Remember how I said that I would need to look outside of the Top Ten for my answer? I lied. Mii. I think we'll see them on Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure we'll see them playable regardless. I think they should be leagues in front of Shulk and K. Rool and even Ridley, as much as it pains me to say it. Mii is my most underrated character.

DAY OVER

RETURN OF GROOSE​

 

[Groose]

Big thanks to @Brawler610 for tallying things up today.
Most Overrated
The most overrated character with a whooping 17 votes is Bandana Dee. The second most overrated character is King K. Rool with 5 votes.
17x Bandana Dee
5x King K. Rool
4x Shulk
4x Ridley

Spoiler

2x Palutena
2x Robin
2x Dixie Kong
1x Duck Hunt Dog
1x Pac-Man
1x Chrom
1x Bowser Jr.
1x Roy

Most Underrated
There are a lot of diverse votes here. Kamek and Andy are tied with 4 votes.
4x Andy
4x Kamek
3x Chrom & Lucina
3x Mii

Spoiler

2x Cranky Kong
2x Micaiah
2x Tingle
2x Snake
2x Lucina
1x Rhythm Heaven
1x Tetra
1x Hades
1x Slime
1x Ghirahim
1x Paper Mario
1x Chrom
1x Toon Zelda/Tetra
1x Toad
1x Blaziken
1x Fawful
1x Tom Nook
1x Zoroark
1x Meowth
1x Black Shadow
1x Donbe & Hikari
1x Roy
1x Ganon
1x Matthew

I'm happy to announce that later this week, we'll be holding a special day where we rate Bandana Dee, Andy, and Kamek all in one go. This idea was suggested by @PaulKagebein , and I personally think it's a great one--surely these characters would be nominated anyway, so why bother having people waste their noms on them when we pretty much agree to get right to it?

Today we're going to be stepping away from RTC and looking at Smash speculation as a whole. We're all riding the hype train now, but has it driven any faster in the past than it is now? What was the one moment that hyped you up more than anything else for this game? Was it seeing Mega Man back in action? Was it seeing game footage for the first time? Or maybe it was something else, like seeing a new Pic of the Day or hearing about the removal of tripping? Please state (and preferably elaborate upon) the moment that hyped you more than any else.

Unfortunately, we must also consider the other side of things. This game has broken people's hearts. Remember the rage when Waluigi and Ashley bit the dust? Remember when the Chrom leak turned out to be just a convincing fake? Remember when you realized that the roster may be smaller than you were hoping for? Please state (and preferably elaborate upon) the moment that deflated your hype more than anything else.

 

[Deleted member]

Mii. I think we'll see them on Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure we'll see them playable regardless.

And this is one of the reasons why I am not on the hype train and I am keeping my expectations low...
Sakurai, for the love of god don't confirm Miis... Please confirm SHULK! ;-;

EDIT: Oh, we're starting a new day already? Okeydokey!
Most hyping and most deflating have been added to the Directory.

Most Hyping
There are a ton of things that have hyped me. I'll list out the things that have:
Little Mac Reveal
This was an absolutely glorious trailer. Everything was done perfectly and it captured perfectly what Little Mac could do and what his series is about. After that reveal, it made me want to main Little Mac.

Spoiler

Sonic Reveal
We've had doubts for the Blue Blur. I mean, guest characters don't return... but Sonic proves that he really Can Do Anything by returning. I don't really play as Sonic in Brawl... but I am a Sonic fan and I wanted to see him return after playing Adventure 1, 2, Colors, the amazing Generations, and the infamous Sonic 06. Seeing him again wasn't as glorious as it was in Brawl, but it was still glorious.

Spoiler

Monado Pic
Not entirely Smash related, but when I saw the pic of the Monado, I screamed like a little kid! Oh my god! It made me so excited like you wouldn't believe! PLEASE LET US BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE MONADO ON TUESDAY, SAKURAI!!!

Spoiler

However... I must give one thing credit where credit is due. You can announce as many hypable newcomers as you like, but they won't make me as happy as this. Really, some of the biggest hype can come in small... unsuspected packages...
August Direct's Luigi Reveal
Yes. I chose the Luigi reveal. We all knew that he was going to come back... and yet, this has made me the most happy. If Shulk got revealed on Tuesday, I would probably illicit a bigger reaction, but I still be more hyped to see Luigi.
If Luigi wasn't confirmed, I wouldn't be as interested in Smash 4. I didn't want to wait until the release date just to see my favorite video game character of all-time in action; that was brutal for me during pre-Brawl. Seeing him this early... just made me really happy and seeing the changes he has been receiving now just make me incredibly happy! (Poltergust Final Smash and his Scuttle jump are oh-so amazing!) Even a reveal trailer with Little Mac, Shulk, and King K. Rool all in their glory wouldn't make me as happy to see Luigi get some screen time.
I seriously wouldn't buy this game if Luigi got cut.

Most Deflating
Two things immediately spring to mind.
Rosalina Reveal
I like surprises... but not something like this. I'm sorry, but I am still ticked with her reveal. She doesn't deserve to be in Smash at all. Bowser Jr. and Toad deserve to get that roster slot before she does. It ticks me off because:
1. I wanted Bowser Jr. Nuff said.
2. I hate her play style. As we go deeper into the competitive community, she will probably come a top tier character. It took long for Olimar to get there, but he eventually did and I think the same will happen for Rosalina.
3. Did I mention the fact that she got in over Bowser Jr. and Toad? I did? Well, I'm mentioning it again. They deserve to be in Smash more than she does.
I'm sorry, but I don't agree with this inclusion at all.
To be fair though... at least she didn't nearly kill off Shulk. Which leads me to my most deflating moment...
Your feels are not invincible! Monado, make a fake leak!
There was a fake leak of Shulk in Smash that really hyped me! :D ...And then it got debunked in a couple of minutes... I was terribly disappointed when I found out that was a fake.
Just... why? Why do these leakers have to toy with my emotions like that? ;-; I could care less about the Palutena leak! I just want a legitimate leak for Shulk!
It just... upset me... really upset me... especially when he is one of my most wanted newcomers and one of my favorite video game characters.

 

[Erimir]

Given some of the comments regarding some overrated character, I'm genuinely wondering now what people think should be the top five of chance.

You can think, for example, that Shulk is overrated without thinking the ranking of characters should be significantly different.

I think our top ten is mostly good. My top ten would probably be mostly the same except I'd might not include Takamaru or Waddle Dee and replace with maybe Isaac and Toon Zelda (in some form). But really, like you're suggesting, after you go down the list a little bit I find most of them quite unlikely. Our ranking of most of the characters is pretty good I think.

It's easy to forget that Mewtwo and Roy are things, and while they're veterans, they're likely to have revamped movesets if they get in (and will require Final Smashes). But they would still be potentially adding new slots for their series. So they should be taken into account when considering how likely newcomers are. We're currently predicting too large of a roster, so while our rankings might be right, generally our chance ratings should be lower.

 

[Starbound]

Story time with Peachy!

Most deflating: Little Mac's confirmation
There's a story behind this that I'm not going to share involving my relationship with my dad and the effects Punch-Out!! had on him, but know that it's the reason why I hate the thought of him being playable.

and on a happier note!

Most hyped: Rosalina's confirmation
I love Rosalina. I really do. Her connection with the stars and as a maternal figure connects with me on a personal level because it makes me think about my grandma. During the summers many years ago, we'd lay out on the grass at night and just watch the stars go by. They're by far my most favorite memories of my childhood because of the relationship we had.

I got Mario Galaxy a few weeks after it came out and was introduced to Rosalina. This maternal figure who's out there watching the stars elicited immediate memories of my nights with my grandma and I was in love with the character ever since. At this same, I was introduced to the Lumas, and later found out that Rosalina looks after all of the Lumas, and then I became totally hooked. So in a way, playing Rosalina and Luma in Smash Bros. is going to be like playing the personification of the relationship of me and my grandma, and I can't get any more excited.

brb getting a tissue

 

[Chandeelure]

And this is one of the reasons why I am not on the hype train and I am keeping my expectations low...
Sakurai, for the love of god don't confirm Miis... Please confirm SHULK! ;-;

You can create a Shulk Mii if you want

 

[Groose]

You can think, for example, that Shulk is overrated without thinking the ranking of characters should be significantly different.

I think our top ten is mostly good. My top ten would probably be mostly the same except I'd might not include Takamaru or Waddle Dee and replace with maybe Isaac and Toon Zelda (in some form). But really, like you're suggesting, after you go down the list a little bit I find most of them quite unlikely. Our ranking of most of the characters is pretty good I think.

It's easy to forget that Mewtwo and Roy are things, and while they're veterans, they're likely to have revamped movesets if they get in (and will require Final Smashes). But they would still be potentially adding new slots for their series. So they should be taken into account when considering how likely newcomers are. We're currently predicting too large of a roster, so while our rankings might be right, generally our chance ratings should be lower.

Amen. I agree that the characters are ranked roughly where the should be; however, I feel the ratings themselves are too high.

And this is one of the reasons why I am not on the hype train and I am keeping my expectations low...
Sakurai, for the love of god don't confirm Miis... Please confirm SHULK! ;-;

Yeah, I have my fingers crossed for Shulk too. Even so, Miis seem like the most logical choice because the would require the most explanation, and Sakurai will have plenty of time for that in contrast to a reveal in a normal Direct.

...however, I must disagree with you on one thing.

THERE IS NO STOPPING THIS TRAIN! ALL ABOARD!

 

[Arcanir]

Huh? Where did that 4th Ridley vote come from?

Eh, doesn't matter.

Most hyped moment: Mega Man, that was a really exciting reveal. I was already personally looking forward to the character, but the trailer was really good and the fans got really excited as well so it was fun to hang out and share with everyone in that.

Least hyped moment: The Sonic-Marth drought. The reason I point at this one over others is that it has two things about it: First, The Pokémon XY unreveal really killed a lot of hype for people as they were excited to know which of the Pokémon reps would return, particularly since at that point in time there was doubt for all of them, and we got nothing. It was understandable in retrospect as Sakurai couldn't do it, but it still didn't help curb the issue too much. Secondly, afterwards was a long drought where we got very little interesting news about the game as the only notable thing outside of moveset changes was the Male WFT. It was a really dull time for the fandom and looking back, it was a drag getting through it.

Also, @ Starbound , I'm sorry to hear that the reveal brought up some bad memories. I hope everything's alright.

 

[colder_than_ice]

My decision to stop lurking on video game forums for 5+ years and finally create my own account on Smashboards back in early 2013 is actually what got me the most hyped. Also the announcement trailer helped.

I was disappointed by how inferior the official SSB4 website is to SSB Dojo. I loved the Dojo so much during the pre-brawl days that seeing the mediocre updates on the new site kind of killed a lot of hype for me.

 

[BKupa666]

Most Hyping Moment: Little Mac's Reveal
Not only was Mac was my third most wanted, he came at a time when I was fully expecting a reveal that would have deflated my hype almost flat: the godawful, crappy Kong Duo idea. Iwata started up the Direct with Mac's trailer, I thought, "Damn, let's get this garbage over with," then...it's not a jungle...it's a silhouette? Wait...is that music what I think it is? HOLY F***, PUNCH OUT!! ARCADE CABINET! FINALLY, LITTLE MAC! I then proceeded to scream and fawn over Mac for the rest of that trailer and evening. I rewatched that trailer multiple times throughout the night, I listened to Punch Out!! music most of the next few days, and I even wore the pink hoodie I had bought specifically for Mac's inevitable reveal during my campus run the next day. I hope I'll be able to relive that level of hype with at least one more newcomer this time around.

Honorable mention goes to the initial E3 Reveal. However, I, like much of the fanbase, was going into E3 expecting the reveal to be like Melee and Brawl's, with five newcomers shown off in cinematic fashion. I was underwhelmed by that trailer because of those expectations, and wasn't particularly enthralled by its characters beyond being happy for Mega Man's fans, but I went into Mac's Direct expecting horrible news and came out with one of my favorites confirmed. That takes the cake.

Most Deflating Moment: Wii Fit Trainer's Reveal
This is relatively small potatoes compared to what the people who thought Ashley had a chance will be writing, but it still qualifies. WFT was revealed to this panel of journalists not long after the initial E3 trailer, and people online first found out through journalists tweeting that the WFT was in the game. Underwhelming from the getgo, for starters. Naturally, people began bringing up the possibility of her being an AT or something, hoping this was true in some cases, but this was quickly disproven. Basically, this was disheartening to me in that, one, WFT is a ridiculously bland character who would never have gotten in if not for shock value, and two, proof that the fanbase will obsess over literally any newcomer as a gift from The Almighty Sakurai, infallible hard-working genius designer. I'd have preferred pretty much anyone else in her place. What's done is done, but hopefully she's cut from the eventual Smash Revamp whenever that rolls around in a decade or two.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Most Hyped Moment:

E3 2013

Just all of it.

We got three new trailers! Nine Veterans! And three newcomers! One of them being Mega Man!

We also got several new stages! Some of which I was really excited for, including the Boxing Ring. Skyloft, and Spirit Train.

It was a good day. And I was so hyped I couldn't sleep the night before!



Most Deflating Moment:

March not getting a character...

I know. I know....

Selfish me.

And yes, we got tons of good updates.

But still, was one vet too much to ask for?

 

[Smasher 101]

Most hyping? Well, Mega Man and Little Mac were both awesome reveals. I wanted both to become playable and I am definitely excited to play as both of them. However, my vote goes to Villager. Prior to his reveal, I didn't think Animal Crossing was too likely to get a character, whereas I thought Mega Man was likely and Mac was a shoe-in; I think the surprise of it made it more exciting. Additionally, I like Animal Crossing more than the other two, and out of the characters that are revealed thus far his moveset interests me the most.
EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to give an honorable mention to Lucario's return. He's one of my favorite Pokemon and was one of my favorite newcomers from Brawl, so I'm really happy he's back.

Most deflating? Well, Starfy's disconfirmation was a bit disappointing. He's the only character disconfirmed so far that I actually wanted. But I didn't think he had that much of a chance, and there are still plenty of others that I want even more, so I got over it pretty fast. I was also a bit disappointed with Rosalina's reveal. I honestly don't like her that much, and she pretty much killed the chances of Bowser Jr., who was at the time my third-most wanted. I also didn't think she should have gotten in over Toad. But I've warmed up to her over time. I am interested in playing as her and I'm still glad Mario got a fifth character at all.
So what does get my vote here? Wii Fit Trainer. I do like some surprises, but I believe it was Groose that said she seemed like too much of a surprise, and I agree. She's also the only newcomer who doesn't interest me at all and over time I've found myself becoming more disappointed with her. There are many other characters that I would rather have over her. Even Mii.

 

[Hippopotasauce]

Most Hyped: Right now. The Tuesday Direct is something I'm so inconceivably excited for that it's impossible to describe. I shot out of bed when I saw the Smash Bros Direct tab under the Isabelle assist picture on Friday. Shaky throughout the rest of the morning as well.

Most Deflating: Nothing related to development, but it pisses me off when people say that they've lost their excitement for the game for minuscule reasons, it's almost like it's contagious or something. Same effect happens when people say they hate any of the characters they've added or confirmed are returning. It's a weird psychological thing that I can't really describe well.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

Most Hyped: Toon Link's return.

One of the first games I ever played was the Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition on the Gamecube. It includes ports of the first Legend of Zelda, the Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask. It also provided a 20 minute demo of the Wind Waker.

I quickly came to love Wind Waker's style and gameplay upon playing this demo, and longed for the day I would get to play the full game. Eventually, I got a copy with my mom's help. I loved everything about Wind Waker from start to finish, the cartoony style, the plot, the gameplay, the characters, the enemies and everything.

Eventually I came across Super Smash Bros. Brawl at a DVD/VG store. Having enjoyed Melee thoroughly, the only thing it took to convince me to buy Brawl was seeing the poster advertisement for it right outside the store.

I wasn't on the Internet very much back then, so I was completely unaware of what characters there were to unlock. I was overjoyed upon unlocking Toon Link. Though there are other characters I really like and want in Smash for various reasons, I can safely say that Toon Link is one of the few characters in Smash that I feel truly connected to.

When the first trailer for SSB4 was shown, I thoroughly enjoyed it and became very hyped. The one thing I didn't like was that Toon Link was on the Train in the Spirit Tracks stage. I knew he wasn't disconfirmed, but I greatly feared for his chances, though I began to worry about him less and less overtime. I was overjoyed upon seeing his confirmation, which even coincided with Wind Waker HD's release.

Honorable mentions go to: All newcomer reveals (except for Wii Fit Trainer....)

haven't even played a Punch-Out!! game, but I knew enough about the series to really want Mac in. (sigh) Why are there so many awesome franchises that I haven't even tried playing before? Mega Man is pretty awesome too, and I was quite happy for his fans.

The Villager being in is also awesome, I was hyped when I saw the main character from one of my favorite video game franchises playable in Smash.

And though I wanted Bowser Jr. more, Rosalina's moveset looks amazing. I was also overjoyed to finally see a Super Mario Galaxy stage in Smash.

Lastly, I'm really, REALLY looking forward to this Direct.

Most Deflating: The lack of a Pokemon X/Y reveal.

I was near-certain we would get a Pokemon reveal, and I want ALL of the Pokemon characters in Brawl to return along with Mewtwo. I hyped myself up when I really should not have, but hype or not, I probably wouldn't have been nearly as upset if the pic was something other than Wii Fit Trainer (the only character currently in Smash that I do not like) sleeping on a plane with her booty facing towards the screen.

Honorable mentions to: The Wii Fit Trainer reveal (initially I was ticked off, but I don't hate her anymore) and the lack of a veteran reveal for March. Fortunately, the upcoming Direct should make up for the latter.

 

[Erimir]

Most hype moment

Well, I think you should be able to tell from the fact that I've had Mega Man as my avatar since E3... But it's when Mega Man was revealed. It was amazing. The moveset... it is so perfect. Mega Man 2 and 3 are some of the best games, and the heavy MM 2 & 3 influence is great. The music... amazing (and I'm still eagerly anticipating the musical selections on the new stage). He was my most wanted newcomer for Smash 4, since most of my favorite characters are already in.

The only things that might be able to dethrone him are Ridley and K. Rool. If Sakurai reveals both of them on Tuesday and they're as well-executed as Mega Man... well...

Most deflating moment

Hmmm... I haven't been that disappointed with anything yet. I have been disappointed with PotD updates, especially when they were late.

None of the ATs have been among my most wanted, although I wouldn't have minded Waluigi. I was a little upset that we got Little Mac instead of a DK character, since I think that hurts DK's chances for a newcomer.

So I guess Sakurai's comments about the roster size or something are the most deflating.

Now, if Miis are revealed, that might be it. Because there's only one or two ways they can be done that won't just make me think they took a slot from a much more interesting choice.

Well on the day I checked, there were no fights.
Just a lot of 70%s and 5%s.
People didn't agree, but I didn't see a single person get mad or attack somebody's score.
Maybe I picked the only time there wasn't anything bad. But I think some of you may be remembering the day in a bit of an extreme twist.
Seriously, a highly-needed re-rate will not be a bad.

You know I'm perfectly willing to question and argue , but I hope I haven't been seen as too rude.

I would say that I would still rather wait til we get some information relevant to Bandana Dee's chances (and not pseudo-relevant stuff like somehow arguing that Little Mac and Rosalina help Bandana Dee's chances) before we open that can of worms again (the latest rating was the one with the most arguing). But you know, we're going to get a bunch of info on Tuesday, and we're not rating anyone til then, and I'm hoping it'll be enough to impact many potential characters!

Hopefully we'll be getting lots of hints and such, even if we don't get more than one character revealed...

 

[Starcutter]

Most Hyped: all newcomers. It's something new to smash, and I love everything equal so far.

Most deflating: there was a moment where I thought that pacman leak was legit.

I hate the very basis of that idea, I was actually kinda depressed for a bit.

 

[andimidna]

Wow. This day is so much easier for me!!!

Most hyped: BY FAR, ROSALINA AND LUMA REVEAL!!!

My #2 most wanted newcomer. And my #2 favorite videogame character of all time in general.
I adore Rosalina and her moveset was perfect, mysterious, and unique. Just like she is.
Since Midna probably won't make it, this will always be my most hyped moment.
I will remember the day DECEMBER 18, 2013 for the rest of my life! I swear!
She will be my main!!!!! Plus I love being right!!!!!

Least hyped: Toon Link's return...

My least liked newcomer from Brawl, I was so sure he wasn't returning because of the ST stage and being a clone that required Link to be **** to be there. Ever since Link got a faster clone his been unplayable in my eyes. He was the only character I played as in SSB64.
He wasn't that different in Melee, I just preferred Sheik.
But in Brawl. Awful.
The day Toon Link was revealed, I had broken my finger an hour before I saw it...
...
Ugh... that day I'll also never forget...
I even refused to put him on my roster until November...
I'd prefer Dr. Mario and Pichu to return. Toon Link is my least favorite character ever to be in Smash Bros. And I despise the fact he'll probably be in every Smash Bros in the future from now on...
I'd want Toon Link to be cut more than I want 90% of the characters in my signature to be playable. Plus i hate being wrong.

 

[Pacack]

Most hyping...I actually can't say. None of the reveals so far have been really hyping for me. They've been cool, but not amazing.

Most deflating: Rosalina and Luma
I like the character fine enough, but no one can take my playable Toad away from me and not earn my scorn. Toad should have gotten in Smash way before Rosalina was even considered.

 

[Blaziken]

Most hyped: The game's reveal at E3. After the painful wait for the trailer, it felt so good to see the game for the first time.
Most deflated: Starfy being an AT. While I didn't hugely support Starfy, I was hoping he could be a character. Seeing him as an AT made me upset, and it was on Christmas, to make it worse.

 

[Cheezey Bites]

I'm implying that we shouldn't get the generic enemy design before the main character design, but I couldn't think of an example.

Most Hyped: Wii Fit Trainer reveal

It's probably a combination of the trailer earlier that day and the reveal to be honest. Megaman and Villager where my number 1 and 2 respectively before the smash 4 trailer... yes, that means pushing Slime into 3rd place! So of course the initial trailer was extremely hyping, and had my spirits high, and then the Wii Fit Trainer trailer happened and a laughed and bravo-ed and loved it. If it was just a random direct I may not have been so happy about it, but as a surprise, a character that didn't make my consideration, and one that looked really fun and totally deserved the spot, it actually hyped me more as it showed me Sakurai could still surprise and excite me.

Megaman and Villager (I called him Animal Crosser, but same difference) were both ideas I'd already had, stuff that had been floating around in my head for a while now, and while their reveals where wonderful news and their trailers where fantastic, they where already there, WFT wasn't, and she was awesome...


The two I can imagine beating her hype would be Slime, because of how unique he'd be, how much I've been campaigning for him for a while now, and how much it would mean for Dragon Quest and Square Enix... and Banjo because how much it means for Rare/Nintendo and because he's even more unexpected than Wii Fit Trainer (I guess the ideas there, but shuffled under the rug to an extent, even if it's trying to get out).


The Palutena Leak gets honorable mentions as the intense discussion boosted it to way more exciting than just the character itself would warrant (even though I do want her).



Most deflating: Yellow Characters
OR: J-Stars Victory Vs.

Stafi was my number 1 pre-brawl, and though he dropped considerably it was still disappointing seeing him deconfirmed, on Christmas day no less...

The other major deflation came with the competition, and buzz flying around games I wanted for PS3. Puyo Puyo Tetris, Atelier Escha and Logy, and most importantly J-Stars Victory Vs. The game looked awesome... and kinda is, though it has it's flaws (mostly inconvenience)... but the build up and chaacter reveals where coming thick and fast, with great videos and that voice-over dude. They really stole my hype for smash and for a while I was more excited for it than Smash 4... Smash has clawed me back since J-Stars' release, but it was a tough battle in the build up.


Honorable Mention to that atrocious Rosalina trailer, but at least her moveset looked interesting.


If it has to be directly smash related go for Yellow Characters, but if it can be anything the J-Stars had the bigger and longer term effect

 

[woopyfrood]

Most Hype: Nothing as of yet, wait until the upcoming Direct or even E3.

Least Hype: Wii Fit Trainer, bar none. The WFT reveal was enraging at worst and at best so unimpressive it was as if no character was revealed at all. The latter response is especially appropriate as WFT is an un-character, intentionally designed to be an utterly blank slate for the player to follow and impose themselves onto. Unlike other blank slates that appear in Nintendo games, WFT does not bear the luxuries of customization (outside of a swapped gender), stylization (outside of her mannequin-like skin), a world to inhabit, or even a proper name. In Smash Brother's colorful and varied lineup of Nintendo icons, WFT stands as an appallingly bland addition. I suspect support for the Wii Fit Trainer mostly comes from contrarianism.

 

[Glaciacott]

Most hyped:

I enjoyed the first trailer, but as soon as it ended, while 2014 floated on the screen, I kept thinking "wait for it ... wait for it ... " The past several days I had been listening to the Mega Man 2 intro track, and I knew it had to be Mega Man. And then, cue the alarm sound and then the silhouette. When the helmet came on with that familiar sound I lost my ****. The trailer was perfection, from the music to the moveset ... and at a time when everyone thought Mega Man was completely abandoned and thrown aside by circumstance.
I wound up watching that thing pretty much every day of the summer. I replayed Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 and saw speed runs. I cannot express how psyched that reveal made me. It only got overshadowed eventually due to passage of time and the distraction of the infamous Pyrosphere confirmation comment.

Honorable mentions: Palutena leak causing me to fear/hope every day for Palutena news; Hardly taying up until the middle of the night on Friday, my birthday, to discover that beautiful Smash Bros. Direct banner on the website.

Least hyped:
Hearing about Sakurai's shoulder condition. It makes me feel awful because I know he's messing up his health for the sake of delivering this game as soon as possible in 2014, and I know if there was a delay pretty much everyone would be universally upset. But at the same time, he totally deserves the time to rest. This is the bit of news that always makes me feel somber about the prospects of Smash since it means either personal danger to its creator or an inevitable delay ... or both.

honorable mentions: Learning the Nintendo 2013 E3 presentation would be over direct, meaning we'd have no chance at hearing an enthused crowd's reaction to the inevitable Smash reveal trailer.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Most hyping AND most deflating moment: Yeah, these two categories crawl back to the very same moment.

The date is August 20th 2013 and the clock hits 10:00 while I'm in school, just the time for the pic of the day, and coincidentally it's also during my break. I go to the Smash Bros. website, and the pic of the day is up. What I can spot from the thumbnail is a new stage with dark colors and lava, so the first thing I think of is that we finally got Bowser's Castle. I click the image, and **** you Sakurai, what am I supposed to do with this? It's the Pyrosphere from Metroid Other M. Initially I was super hyped, thinking this really helps Ridley's chances a ton. That's when (I think it was) Swampasaur comes and post the quote Sakurai delivered with the image, and I just about completely lose it. To me, it sounded like a Ridley reveal was coming up, so naturally I was getting really ****ing excited. That was until someone brought up the possibility of him being a stage hazard, and then all hell broke loose. I spent the rest of my entire day sitting in the Ridley thread, trying to fend off a bunch of people stating that he's deconfirmed, as we all try to overanalyze Sakurai's quote letter for letter, space for space.

It started out incredibly motivating and promising, turned into a huge demotivating mess, and when I went to bed I simply felt confused. At the moment I think it's in favor of Ridley though, and the stage looks really awesome too, but at the time of confirmation it was just one hell of a ride.

 

[Depressed Gengar]

Hyped: Rosalina.
I'm not too sure what it is. Maybe I supported and didn't know it? Maybe it was the gimmick? I dunno, but she got me HYPED.
Honorable Mention: Lucario's Return
Deflated: Villager.
Now, it's not that I hate him. Here's the issue: He pretty much shot down the retro I really wanted. I indeed wanted Balloon Fighter playable. I wish he had Gulliver's UFO or something else...
Honorable Mention: Customization

 

[bellboy64]

Most hyped:
This is kinda silly but my heart skipped a beat and I made a hell of a noise (it was like gasping for air- "OHHH-HHHH!") when the Super Smash Bros. Direct suddenly appeared.
I'm been strangely melancholy over Smash this time. I guess the Dojo took it out of me or maybe I've just became a bit more patient at age 25. But that made me jump because I earnestly was not expecting it. Just hope we get some juicy stuff at it!

Most Deflating:
Oh-ho-ho! I can't think of a better thing than this.

Rosalina & Luma's reveal

Let me elaborate. A bit of backstory if you will. I don't hate Rosalina-- I just find her really really overrated. To the point where I'm not exactly annoyed but just extremely baffled. I just woke up one morning and suddenly everyone couldn't shut up her and that's fine. Good for you all. But why? A "just there" side character in one major Mario game and even less in the sequel? I've ate more involving sandwiches.

Spoiler

The fact that some consider her a better "Princess"/character than Peach also is just beyond insane to me too.

I'm going to stop before it blows into a rant because I can keep going. But should explain it a bit. I watching the Direct with a cocked eyebrow and when I saw the title card flash up I was just like... "Really? This soon?"
I mean I KNEW she was going to be in eventually. There was no way it wasn't happening.The fandom doesn't seem to have nearly as big a (insert-euphemism-of-choice) as Nintendo seems to so it was inevitable.

I was excited for the Direct and completely deflated by the end. Not angry. Not upset. Just became kinda empty inside. The excitement just evaporated, ebbed out of me.

 

[Cheezey Bites]

I suspect support for the Wii Fit Trainer mostly comes from contrarianism.

Or, ya know, people having different opinions?

 

[YoshiandToad]

I really should try to respond to this, but I don't have the time to dedicate to it tonight. We'll pick this up another time, ja?

Feel free to PM me at any point Groose if you don't want the convo to randomly appear and derail(unless we're rating K. Rool/Dixie/Cranky or Roy/Chrom/Lucina/Robin so it's vaguely on topic).

Most Hyping!!!

In third place: Luigi getting his Poltergust.
No really.
This signalled to me that veterans may yet get changes they obviously deserve. It had been hinted at before with Bowser, Pit and Peach(sorta) but Luigi's Poltergust is at this point one of his most defining traits and represents the moment where he finally got a big solo break(Mario is Missing doesn't really count). Since then Luigi has been appearing with Poltergust shout outs in a lot of the spinoff games; Mario Power Tennis, Mario Kart DS, Nintendoland even gave him a game based around it!

So it always came off weird to me that rather than celebrate Luigi's Mansion by including his most famous item within his moveset, especially when Mario got the FLUDD which was far less important to his character, Luigi instead only got the unique ability to fart himself sideways.

Good job, Sakurai! Maybe there is hope for Ganondorf yet!

In second place: E3 trailer and reveal
This one's obvious, but these were the first glorious moments we'd see of Smash 4. Villager appeared and my jaw dropped. He seemed like such an obvious choice but I'd doomed him to the pile of nevergonnahappen due to Sakurai's comments.
Megaman appeared next, and I'll admit I mistook his identity at first as Isaac from Golden Sun(no helmet on ya see). I didn't really grow up with Megaman, nor know anything about him, aside from he'd make a lot of people happy. I was happy for them.
Wii Fit Trainer turned up next and I just basically laughed hard at her inclusion. It seemed like quite the funny joke. I rolled my eyes and shook my head "Oh Sakurai". Sadly these days I'm rolling my eyes at Wii Fit Trainer, shaking my head and saying "Oh Sakurai" for completely different reasons. The joke's humour has worn off, but at the time I was delighted.

In first place: Little Mac reveal
Finally a character I could get a little hyped about arrived. A fast hitting, powerful monster of a character that appeared whilst also confirming that the Boxing Ring stage we'd seen was indeed his home stage. The Trailer had Doc explain a few of Mac's mechanics; like how he's useless at aerial combat, and that he can build up his power meter to blast through, but the most hype moment for me within that? Watching Mac leap over Megaman's projectile and knock his skull in.
Not because I dislike Megaman, but because the action seemed so fluid and it cleared my fears of him being extremely weak against long distance characters.

---------------------------------------------

Hype killers.

3rd Place: No Yoshi reveal. Still.
At this point I've all but given up on seeing a Newcomer I care about. Diddy had been revealed for the US/EU release of DK: Tropical Freeze and so I, and many others, were hopeful we'd finally get to see the last of the SSB64 starter crew appear(and my main) in Yoshi upon Yoshi's New Island's US/EU release. NOPE. Have a pic of Wii Fit Trainer and Villager instead in a bland looking stage just standing about barely showing the stage.

2nd Place: No X/Y reveal.
One of the biggest Nintendo IPs arrives, has four vets to reveal and a returning veteran in Mewtwo to go through...and we get a picture of Wii Fit Trainer's backside. Everyone at the time was trying to guess which Pokemon vet would be revealed, we all came together in the Official Character Discussion Thread to place bets and get teams, and then nothing. Okay...? Apparently due to Gamefreak's meddling, but here we are 6 months later and all we've had is ONE of those vets revealed in Lucario.

1st Place: Rosalina and Luma.
This is always going to be the biggest disappointment to me. We had a long drought with no newcomer being revealed, and this is the character they reveal to us.

For the record I have no issue with Rosalina getting in, but considering how important the Mario slot is, considering how BIG the franchise is and considering how utterly unimportant Rosalina actually is to the series(she was replaced by Lubba in Galaxy's sequel ffs), this one left me feeling winded. Bonus dehype for the Toad being shot by an arrow pic that went up earlier the day, way to make me hate Rosalina even harder Sakurai.

Opinions, but I count this as Sakurai's fourth big roster mistake after picking Jigglypuff over Meowth in Smash 64, Making Ganondorf a Falcon clone in Melee and cutting Mewtwo in Brawl. That's one per game thus far. Not bad. Picking Rosalina over the more iconic Toad or the more popular Jr. just...urgh. After no reveals for so long too, this just sucked.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Most Hyped: Rosalina's playable confirmation is probably the most unexpected surprise after the Wii Fit Trainer. I had hopes for her, and it seemed that Sakurai was secretly spying on my thoughts.

Most Deflating: Pyrosphere is probably the least hyped stage, due to the amount of chaos that it has been causing for the Ridley supporters. If Sakurai left out one key quote, people probably wouldn't be so concerned about Ridley's playable chances.

 

[Sid-cada]

Most hype-inducing Moment

Reveal of Mega Man - Man, that was just plain awesome. I remember having to take a walk just to remove the excessive energy. I mean, sometimes I still go over the trailer in my head. The near perfect execution made me just plain exited for a character I never played a game in.


Most hype-deflating moment

The 3D World "celebration" Pic of the Day - The same one that killed all Toad's fan's hopes and dreams. Yeah, the realization hit like a brick wall, and it was especially sad because I just started to consider myself a supporter at the time.

 

[OcarinaOfDoom]

Hype Inducing Moment: Mega Man. He's Mega Man. Nuff said
Deflated: Rosalina: Disappointing as a Jr fan, a choice that really doesn't make sense over Toad, Jr, or even Waluigi. And then we have the potential balance issues that will probably arise... not a fan whatsoever.

 

[TumblrFamous]

Most Hype: Rosalina and Luma!
Let me say that I did expect Bowser Jr. more. I thought he had it in the bag, and I loved his character, Sunshine was my first game. I never really thought of Rosalina as a likely choice. However, she's my favorite Mario character EVER. I loved her character and pretty much everything about her.

When the Direct was going on, I was in school, so I couldn't watch it. So, at break, I took out my phone and got on the site. My phone wasn't loading, so the only thing on the screen was the "Introduction" banners. And it said "The introduction for a new challenger team, Rosalina & Luma, is now available." And my heart started racing, it was incredible. I couldn't watch the trailer, so I had to wait until I got home. But the fact my favorite Mario character came so unexpected to me in the middle of school was something I'll never forget.

Most Deflating: Character Droughts
The months of October and November were rather disheartening, as many people had high hopes for them. Sure we got Sonic and Marth really early in the month, but people expected more, and it let us own. And yes, March was just as painful, but at least we got a lot. But still, everyone knows that character reveals are the best thing for this site.

 

[ChikoLad]

Most Hyped Moment
Rosalina & Luma Launch Into Battle!: I want to give a bit of backstory with this, because it is important for understanding why this character excited me so much (and still does, I really hope I get an in-depth look at her on Tuesday). This is gonna be a long one, so I'll spoiler it.

Spoiler

Before Super Mario Galaxy, I really didn't care all that much about Mario. I owned Super Mario 64 DS and really loved it, but any other Mario game I sampled, besides Super Mario World and Mario Kart DS (which I don't count as it's a different genre than the main series, and even that wasn't as fun as Crash Team Racing to me), was extremely "meh" to me.

Then, when I first saw Super Mario Galaxy, I was very intrigued. It look so different and surreal, and just looked like fun. I kept my eye on it, but didn't consider buying it for a while.

Then I remember, when the game released, I read a review, and said review had Rosalina's render for the game placed there, decoratively. I never saw her before, and so I figured she was a new character, which was odd, because everything else I had seen about the game up to that point looked very typical of a Mario game in terms of story and characters.

She gave me an extremely different vibe than pretty much every other main character in the Mario universe. While every other character screamed of cheesy whimsy, Rosalina had the most...normal expression on her face. She had such a beautiful face, and of course was rendered in a cartoony art style, yet somehow, she looked so real to me.

That was the final push I needed to buy the game. Of course, my interest was primarily in the gameplay and that's what I was excited about, and I didn't even think of Rosalina until she first showed up in the game. But when she did, everything about her was just filled me with a sense of awe and wonder. And I absolutely loved her voice.

Then comes the story book. When I first discovered it, I didn't have a clue what it was gonna be. I started reading it, and found it charming and cute. I actually checked back for new chapters as I progressed through the game, as I really wanted to know what happened next. Then all of the tragic stuff and deep implications started happening, and I thought to myself... "...I thought I was playing a Mario game. The main games don't have much of a story...let alone one with such a strong impact".

The game's ending took on a new meaning to me as a result, and the story helped me really connect with Rosalina. Not only does Rosalina represent the maternal love I wish I could have had in my life (my mother is alive and I still live with her, but I did much of my growing up without anybody's help, and I just have always felt distant from my parents, and rightly so), I really connected with the feelings of loss and "alone despite having people all around you" themes of the story, among other things, and everything was presented in with such loving care. As a result, the 120 Star ending of the game really touched me. Your "reward" for beating most other Mario games is watching Peach give Mario a soulless kiss that means nothing to me, as a player. I literally have no reason to care about saving Peach in these games, especially since she hardly feels like much of a personality much of the time, and is instead just some cute blondie. However, that 120 Star ending, where Rosalina personally thanks YOU, the player, from the bottom of her heart, and promises to watch over you, is still one of the best rewards I've received for completing the game. It's so personal, and is galaxies better than seeing Mario get a smooch and maybe a cake. I also found Rosalina joining your Starship as the 100% completion bonus of Galaxy 2 to be legitimately rewarding too, and liked seeing the character happy. I honestly consider Rosalina to be the true main character of Galaxy 1, and I never understood why people see her as minor. The "MARIO GOTTA RESCUE THE-A PRINEEEESS!!" plot feels so irrelevant in this game, compared to Rosalina and her backstory, which actually, you know, DEVELOPS over the course of the game, while the "Mario must save Peach" plot is literally just that for the entire game. When I was stopping Bowser, I wasn't doing it for Peach - I was doing it to help Rosalina protect the universe. She deserved my help way more.

For the past few years, Rosalina has been my "unrequited love" video game character, as I never had anyone to talk about the character with. To the point where I almost completely forgot about her. She has always been on my Smash wishlist too, and I always felt she could be way more than a Peach clone, and I never understood why people thought that was all she could possibly be (if that was all people could honestly see as her potential, they were incredibly ignorant and didn't know a thing about the character. I mean this gal single handedly took out Bowser's air fleet like it was nothing). Then she was revealed as playable in 3D World, and my love for the character was back. Then her Smash reveal came, and my heart nearly stopped.

My hype for Smash in general was somewhat dampened due to a particular event (more on that later), but Rosalina fully restored it. Her moveset is the most unique in the series, she looks more beautiful than ever, she moves with such grace...god, I've been completely in love with her in an almost literal sense since that Smash reveal!

These days, actually...Rosalina reminds me of someone I parted ways with. I got into a serious situation with that person as they did something terrible to me, but I deeply loved that person. Rosalina reminds me of that person though, both in appearance, and in sharing that person's better qualities. Just another little thing that adds to how significant she is to me.

Rosalina is my favourite female character in anything ever, and has a lot of personal significance to me. Besides Luigi, I feel no other character in the main Mario games has any form of reliability, and doesn't feel real to me. Unlike Luigi, though, her relatable factor has never (officially) been the butt of a joke, which goes to show how the creators realise that they created a truly precious character. The story of how Rosalina's storybook actually made into the game is also incredibly touching to me. Rosalina's existence as it is today and my encountering the character is truly fate in the truest sense of the word, and that makes her such a special character to me.

Also, Rosalina's storybook is one of the closest moments I have had to crying over my emotional response to something in a video game.

Honourable Mentions
-E3 trailer
-Mega Man reveal
-Wii Fit Trainer reveal (because it was so damn funny and unexpected)
-Sonic reveal
-The plethora of interviews that surfaced after the game was announced

Most Deflating Moment
No Story Mode: This outright killed my hype for a time.
I know so many competitive elitists will scream "blasphemy" upon reading this, but look, Smash Bros is not all about the competition as much as you may like to believe that.

The main thing about this was Sakurai's reasoning...it was just so...stupid. And totally unlike him. I wouldn't mind the decision as much if he just had given a reason that made more sense, especially considering his condition. But he's not doing it because of internet spoilers that came with the Japanese release of Brawl? I'm sorry, but if every developer took that mindset, many a game would not even exist. Not to mention that the problem is easily rectified by doing an international release (which was done for Pokémon X & Y). This reasoning just came across as incredibly childish to me.

To me, the Subspace Emissary, along with the addition of things like third-party characters and Stage Builder in Brawl, really emphasised how Smash, as a series, is always growing, in EVERY aspect. Brawl was so many things to me - An awesome adventure game, an awesome arcade game, an awesome party game, an awesome competitive game (less so now, but at the time, before I played Melee), a game that encouraged creativity. Fighting game franchise are known for getting bigger and better with each installment, and Brawl took that to the extreme, and was an amazing game for it.

Hearing the news that this game is getting no story just made me worry that this game was going to end up smaller than Brawl in both versions and was going to solely rely on online play to be a "step up". Not only that, but it made me worry that we were not going to get something that would build on SSE, such as a four-player co-op adventure mode that supports online, and featured actual Nintendo locations, something I really wanted.

While we know we are getting an Adventure Mode, I'm still worried it will be lackluster like Melee's tedious romp, and so far, we don't know if it will be on the Wii U version at all. Since Sakurai said that he intended to make something to expand on Melee's Adventure Mode from the very beginning of Brawl's development, I was hoping he would try to expand on SSE for this game. I suppose time will tell if he has done that in at least the gameplay and level design front, and whether or not it will be lengthy (which will make this whole point moot).

 

[The Light Music Club]

Most Hyping:
E3 Trailer- Seriously got me way to excited for this game, but to bad we haven't seen game play since then. Oh well. Villager was a nice surprise, by far my favorite newcomer.

Honorable Mention:

Palutena Stage + Leak- When I saw the statue of her, I got really excited, especially since the leak makes her look playable. She's my number 2 most wanted. It's a mention mainly because her being in is not official.

Most Deflating:

Ashley is an AT- Was way to excited to see her on the site, only to scroll down and Dedede is still the newest update. I almost threw my laptop across the room I was so mad. She was my number 3 most wanted character.

Honorable Mention:

Reveal of Little Mac + Return of Toon Link- I honestly didn't want Little Mac even though I do enjoy playing Punch Out. I still remember repeatedly saying "no no no no no no no!" The second the trailer started. For Toon Link I was hoping he would be cut 1. Because I always liked Young Link more and 2. Because he's a suckey clone.

 

[Megadoomer]

Most Hyping:

Mega Man's reveal.

While getting Sonic back was another big moment (it was great to see that third party characters weren't just a one-time thing like some people thought), and I really wanted to see Little Mac in the game, neither one of those compared to the reveal of Mega Man in my eyes.

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Mega Man fan by any stretch of the imagination. While I played the two Xtreme games and Mega Man Battle Network on the handheld systems, I only really got into the series when I found the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for $15. The games were challenging, but eventually, I managed to beat Mega Man 1 and 3 (still need to beat the others, but I'll get around to it), and I really enjoyed playing them - the early difficulties just made the games that much more satisfying to beat.

Honestly, with how Capcom has treated their supposed mascot in recent years (excluding him from two versions of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, cancelling Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe, the poorly-timed joke that was his appearance in Street Fighter x Tekken), it's great to see him getting so much respect in Smash Bros. While this wasn't as big of a moment for me as Sonic being announced for Smash Bros. Brawl, it's still the biggest moment so far for this game.

Most Deflating:

Waluigi confirmed as an assist trophy.

There hasn't been much that's disappointed me about this game, aside from long stretches where the screenshots don't contain anything useful. While the Wii Fit Trainer's inclusion confused me, and it still seems random, the video that was included helped improve my opinion of her (and hopefully the videos for future confusing newcomers will do the same). Wasn't a huge fan of Toon Link's confirmation either, since he seems to be the only outright clone in Brawl's roster, but I can see the appeal that the character has, and his confirmation is hopefully an indication that they won't be cutting anyone from Brawl.

My biggest disappointment was when Waluigi was confirmed to be an assist trophy. While I never had high hopes that he'd be made playable, I thought that any potential moveset that he could have would be hilarious and random, given that his special moves in the games that he appears in rarely have any connection to each other. (swimming through the air, creating massive thorny vines, throwing Bob-ombs, growing Dr. Octopus-style metal arms...) The way that the Miiverse post was worded didn't really help - while it might have been something that was lost in translation, Sakurai never seemingly insulted fans of other characters who were turned into assist trophies.

If Kojima's quote from Twitch actually means that Snake won't be returning, it would be that, but the quote basically amounted to "I'm not working on that game; ask Nintendo", which could mean anything.

 

[Opossum]

Most hyped moment? : The Little Mac Reveal. He was my most wanted character for the game, and MAN did his trailer deliver. I must have watched it 30 times that day alone. Doc Louis. The musical build-up, crescendo-ing to a musical climax, and Doc Louis saying, "It's your time, Mac. Show'em whatcha got, baby." And then the remixed jogging theme. I swear, I died several times during that trailer due to the immense hype.

Most hype-killing moment?: It was Christmas Day. All was going well. Got myself a new alarm clock and some money, as well as one of those drinking bird things you see on office desks. I was happy. I greeted all the family. Everyone was having a grand time. And then..."Yellow characters." Yes, Starfy's Assist Trophy reveal killed the most hype for me. He was the only deconfirmation that I really wanted as a character.

 

[AustarusIV]

Most hype inducing moment

Little Mac's reveal.
Little Mac was the first newcomer revealed that I actually wanted. The Villager was alright, but before SSB4 I had already agreed with Sakurai that Animal Crossing was "too peaceful of a series to warrant a fighter". I didn't mind Rosalina either, but if I was making the SSB4 roster I wouldn't have considered adding another Mario rep in. The Wii Fit Trainer was hilarious for about two months, but then it stopped being funny when I realized that my most wanted character was possibly in danger (I'll get to that later). I never grew up with Mega Man, so I was indifferent to his inclusion in Smash.

But Little Mac? Oh man, he was always a character that I liked so much, that I wondered why the hell wasn't he in Super Smash Bros. yet. But during Brawl's speculation, I had read that the rosters for each game were derived from the Japanese community's interests, not the Western fanbase. This really sunk my hype for characters like Little Mac and Ridley, and were finally put to grave when Little Mac's AT and Ridley's boss status were revealed. At that point, I felt like giving up for these two characters ever appearing in Smash.

That is until E3 2013. While a lot of people were speculating on the reveal of Little Mac, I was still a little skeptical on his inclusion because he was practically obscure in Japan. To me, this was the same series that very nearly saw a Japanese-only release for the N64, introduced two characters from a franchise that saw no release in the West and were still included worldwide because the localizers liked playing as them, and showboated a game from an existing franchise that was infamously and ironically never released outside of Japan (Mother 3). "Why would Sakurai make Little Mac into a playable character, when that would risk alienating the Japanese fanbase?" I cynically asked myself.

But Little Mac was confirmed, and I ate crow. Lavishly. I couldn't find any reason to complain about Little Mac, because everything about him is just perfect! Not to mention it bears great news for other characters who are extremely popular in the West. His reveal made me so happy that it makes me seriously consider getting the game for 3DS, but not Wii U because another character is going to have to convince me for that. Which brings me to my least hype inducing moment

Least hype inducing moment

The Pyrosphere's reveal.

On August 20, I woke up from bed to see the latest pic of the day, and I got the reveal of a new Metroid stage. I thought to myself, "Well, this looks pretty cool, because Metroid has finally had its stage revealed". I never played Other M, so at that moment I didn't know about the context of the actual area. It was when I went onto a Smash forum that they clarified that it was set in the area where Samus had her big breakdown from facing Ridley, and I thought "They based a stage on the most controversial scene in the game? That's actually kind of funny, in a darkly humorous way". I didn't know what it meant for Ridley because I was pessimistic on the idea of Western-oriented characters actually making it in, but when the Miiverse post cryptically said that "An enemy from Samus's past may appear at any second...", I just threw my chair down and said "Is that freaking it? I know you don't care about the desires of the West, but this is such a ****ing joke."

I feared from that quote that Metroid, my favorite Nintendo franchise and one of its most iconic, was doomed to having only one character because the little island country that created it wasn't as interested in it as the rest of the world. Everything from the E3 reveal at 2013 to that point on until August 2013 looked like a nice treat, but it wasn't enough to make me consider buying it. But this, this was like adding in charred remains of your only infant child to a purchase that you were considering at the moment, but felt indifferent to it. It also left me in a depression that caused my grades to go down during the Fall Semester, because I couldn't help but rage against Nintendo for making such an asinine decision.

Fortunately for me, I realized at some point that the Pyrosphere was more likely his home stage. It was thanks to the Ridley support thread that I began to see the stage not as a damnation for my most wanted character, but a blessing in disguise. With the reveal of Rosalina after the Mario Galaxy stage was confirmed, as well as the inevitable confirmation of Palutena with her Kid Icarus Wii U stage, my hopes for Ridley grew exponentially. But I'll never forget the weeks that went by since "Pyrosphere-gate", and how they affected my mind during the first few weeks of school.

 

[Smady]

The most hype moment for me was the Little Mac reveal trailer. That was completely out of the blue, at the start of the direct and the blatant highlight. It was practically the highlight of the entire month's worth of video game news, and is a large part of why I started posting on Smashboards again. It showed that Sakurai was listening to fan feedback - which is extremely important after Rosalina threw a wrench in the works. I wasn't sure if there was any discernible pattern to what Sakurai does after Waluigi hit the can, but I was wrong.

What a hype reveal. It starts off using that comic book styled Punch-Out!! segment, immediately I knew it was Little Mac. I was just ecstatic, I've wanted a Punch Out!! rep ever since I played the 2009 game. It then jumps to Little Mac dishing it out to the other characters and wow, that playstyle is fast, technical and takes full advantage of his boxing prowess. It's almost as if Namco is channeling Steve Fox from Tekken, it's a sight to behold. The trailer was funny (that Samus bit was hilarious) and it showed off a character I really wanted.

That Doc Louis voice over, the chocolate bit at the end and the great pacing you expect from the trailers, I must have watched that reveal about five times over to see all the nooks and crannies of Little Mac's moveset.

I don't have too many deflating moments to be honest, although there are a couple. Firstly, Wii Fit Trainer's reveal had me in denial for a while before it was confirmed she was a playable character. I hoped that she'd be an assist trophy and honestly, though I can see why she was added, I don't think it was worth a space on the roster. The one thing that let me mostly get over it was that it's a simple addition that wouldn't take much time. However, that is largely because the character is boring. Sure, Wii Fit is a series that has sold well, but almost no one who plays it will care about a character in Smash Bros. My opinion of her started at rock bottom, then raised slightly, but after seeing other negative opinions of her in this thread, I have to agree she's a really lame newcomer.

The only bigger moment of disappointment - frankly, there are only two - is obviously Waluigi's confirmation as an assist trophy. I run the Waluigi support thread, I've wanted Waluigi in Smash Bros for years, it was disappointing to have my hopes dashed. I accepted it pretty quickly and I half expected it, I had told myself that after Rosalina, Waluigi had a chance as the outsider next to Toad or Bowser Jr., but no, that was a pipe dream. One of the worst parts was that it was the biggest character to be confirmed as non-playable. Neither this nor WFT's confirmation hurt the hype all that much, but were definitely big letdowns.

 

[False Sense]

Most Hyping Moments: Reveals of Mega Man, Rosalina, and Little Mac

Well, for me, the biggest hype inducers have to be the character reveals. Simply no competition there. And I found that the biggest reveals were those of Mega Man, Rosalina, and Little Mac.

I don't think Mega Man or Little Mac need much explaining. They were some of the most desired characters for Smash, and seeing them finally make their debut, and seeing everyone's joyous reactions, was amazing. Even if I myself don't care for the characters in the slightest, seeing such excellent choices added to the roster was fantastic.

Rosalina, on the other hand, is kind of the opposite situation. While Little Mac and Mega Man were characters everyone wanted that I didn't really care about, Rosalina was a character not alot of people thought would make it in, but I loved. I found Rosalina to be a highlight of Super Mario Galaxy, and I was happy to see that she began to become more recurring within the Mario universe. However, I never really thought she had much of a chance for Smash, and as a result I didn't support her. Though at that time, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Mario series and didn't keep myself up to date with the latest information. Because of that, I was oblivious to Rosalina's playable role in Super Mario 3D World until after her reveal, which I think was a boost to her chances in retrospect. As for Rosalina actually being in Smash, I think it makes enough sense to work. She's somewhat of a newer character, but she was very important in her very good debut game (I would argue that the game would not have been as great without her), quickly became another recurring character in the Mario spin-offs and all that, and gained a playable role along with the big names of Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad in Super Mario 3D World. And when I saw how she played in Smash, I became really excited. Her tricky magic play style is exactly the kind of style I like, and one of the things I'm looking forward to most in the next Smash is being able to try out Rosalina and figure out how that Luma works. Overall, Rosalina was a big hype builder for me. Enough to get me to join Smashboards to try and speculate the rest of the roster.

Honorable mention goes to Lucario's reveal. Lucario was my favorite character in Brawl, and unlike most people I saw no reason for him to be cut. I was delighted to see that Sakurai apparently felt the same way. And, no, Lucario does not decrease Mewtwo's chances...

Most Deflating Moment: Um...

Ok, I'll be honest here, I don't think I've had that big hype killing moment that most people have had. I've been pretty satisfied with the characters so far (yes, even Wii Fit Trainer), none of the de-confirmations were anything I cared about or thought was likely, and I'm fine with them removing things like the story mode. SSE was cool, I thought, but if they want to take that out to put more development time into perfecting new characters and fleshing out the multiplayer mode, I'm fine with it. I guess the closest thing to a hype killer was the reveal of the Pyrosphere, when it looked like Ridley was a stage hazard, but at this point that seems less and less likely. So yeah, I haven't really had a legitimately big hype killer yet.

I do know a couple of things that would be, though...