The Special Flag

[Sarki Soliloquy]

Through new information given in the press kit pics, a plethora of new and returning items have been revealed. One of the most conspicuous of these is the Special Flag, an iconic power-up featured in many Namco arcade games. It even makes cameos in more recent games, leading up to Super Smash Brothers for Wii U/3DS being its latest appearance.

The following entry from the Namco Wiki summarizes what the Special Flag recaps its appearances.

The Special Flag (スペシャルフラッグ), sometimes called "S-Flag", is an item present in several Namco games that first appeared in Rally-X. In some games, it gives extra points, while in others, it is a collectible item.

List of games that feature the Special Flag

• Rally-X
• Dig Dug II (Nes Version)
• Toypop
• Pac-land (As Pacman)
• Star Fox: Assault
• Tales of Vesperia
• Tales of the Abyss
• Tekken 6
• Xevious
• Go Vacation!
• New Rally-X
• Galaga 3
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2'
• Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and WiiU

Well, this nifty item has quite the portfolio going for it. Apparently, what it's known to do is give extra points or is just a collectable. What else could this be used for? I'm thinking this could be a third summoning item along the set of PokéBalls and Assist Trophies. It would spawn characters from various Namco arcade games and other retro properties. Just look at Fox being abducted by the alien ships from Galaga:

Who else may appear when the Special Flag is used? Why not the racing cars from Rally-X trying to hit opponents from various directions horizontally and diagonally? Perhaps we'll see a pixelated, sliced-pie Pac-Man & Ghosts chase each other around the stage only to have Pac-Man use a Power Pellet and reverse the chase back to them? There's so much nostalgic iconography to unearth here it totally makes up for not having a Namco rep!

 

[DaDavid]

That's... definitely what it looks like it is based on Charizard's pose. Nice catch.

Can't believe they didn't draw attention to that.

 

[PWN3]

Nice find! This'd certainly make for a pretty cool new item... Man, you said it yourself: there's a lot to draw from if this were the case!

...Put Pac-Man in the game this way, and I'd be perfectly okay with it.

 

[OctiVick]

Well looking at the Galaga ships, or the item itself, it might be safe to assume all of the summons from this will be the pixelated arcade style.
We might be able to expect:
Galaga
DigDug
Mappy
Pac-Man (or Ms.Pac-Man depending if Pac is playable or not)

I do think the item is interesting and is a great nod to namco ^^

 

[AquaDork1]

This makes sense because it would mirror the addition of the master ball.
PokeBall -- Master Ball
Assist Trophy -- Special Flag

 

[Superyoshiom]

It should spawn Lloyd Irving.

 

[Fastblade5035]

I would rather have Pac-Man appear as an 8-bit badass who eats people and floats around in all his former glory than have him playable.

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

I can imagine him or Ms. Pac-Man working like in SSF2, where whatever direction you move, so will the Pac! Gonna need to dodge them Ghosts.

 

[Tornado_Man]

Well I think this makes it likely that in one way or another, we can expect a Pac-Man appearance. And Ghosts.

 

[Radical Bones]

Whoa, I totally did not consider this! It completely makes sense though, nice work. It's still really weird to have these items appear though...

 

[8-peacock-8]

Here are my guesses for the Special Flag summons.

1. Galaga ships
2. Ghosts
3. Dig Dug
4. Heihachi Mishima
5. Ms Pac-Man (Assuming Pac-Man ends up being playable)
6. Lloyd Irving
7. Rally X car
8. Mappy
9. Xevious ship
10. Jin Kazama
11. Bravoman

 

[Yoichi Hiruma]

Where were these pictures?

 

[Spazzy_D]

Here are my guesses for the Special Flag summons.

1. Galaga ships
2. Ghosts
3. Dig Dug
4. Heihachi Mishima
5. Ms Pac-Man (Assuming Pac-Man ends up being playable)
6. Lloyd Irving
7. Rally X car
8. Mappy
9. Xevious ship
10. Jin Kazama

If Snake makes it in and Raiden is indeed an assist, AND we get Heihachi as a "namco assist," I will find that extremely hilarious. PSABR second stringers.

 

[Radical Bones]

Here are my guesses for the Special Flag summons.

1. Galaga ships
2. Ghosts
3. Dig Dug
4. Heihachi Mishima
5. Ms Pac-Man (Assuming Pac-Man ends up being playable)
6. Lloyd Irving
7. Rally X car
8. Mappy
9. Xevious ship
10. Jin Kazama

If Pac-Man is playable, I'd love to see him cross dress into an alt Ms Pac-Man costume.

Lloyd Irving would be awesome... but some some reason I can see it only summoning old-school arcade sprites.

 

[8-peacock-8]

If Pac-Man is playable, I'd love to see him cross dress into an alt Ms Pac-Man costume.

Lloyd Irving would be awesome... but some some reason I can see it only summoning old-school arcade sprites.

You're probably right on that. Which reminds me, i should add Bravoman to that list.

Where were these pictures?

Press release images for the game.

http://nintendoeverything.com/super-smash-bros-for-wii-u-tons-of-screenshots/?nggpage=6

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

Any Tekken or Tales characters would feel awkward with the style of the Special Flag. It's still possible with what we've seen from Assist Trophies, but the 8-bit pixelated theme applying to summons represents a consistent era of Namco.

For summon ideas, what about some Xevious ships, Mappy, Wonder Momo, Burning Force, and Gilgamesh from Tower of Druaga?

 

[9Volt]

Yeah this smash has so many item.... :D

 

[Xermo]

Klonoa, obviously

 

[8-peacock-8]

Any Tekken or Tales characters would feel awkward with the style of the Special Flag. It's still possible with what we've seen from Assist Trophies, but the 8-bit pixelated theme applying to summons represents a consistent era of Namco.

For summon ideas, what about some Xevious ships, Mappy, Wonder Momo, Burning Force, and Gilgamesh from Tower of Druaga?

I completely forgot about some of those. lol

 

[greenluigiman2]

At this point, I think it's safe to assume that Pac-Man is a playable character. 3rd party representation without a character doesn't make sense,

 

[FreeFallUp]

At this point, I think it's safe to assume that Pac-Man is a playable character. 3rd party representation without a character doesn't make sense,

Or not. It's entirely possible that Bandai Namco could use some other character from a "Bandai" franchise or another "Namco" franchise. Or they may even be happy with no character rep. I dunno what to think.

In any event, in regards to the main topic and original poster, nice find! Can't believe the thought of the special flags being used in that manner never occurred to me!

 

[CosmicKirby]

It should spawn Lloyd Irving.

It'd totally work, the Special Flag makes an appearance in the Tales series too.

 

[ryuu seika]

Any Tekken or Tales characters would feel awkward with the style of the Special Flag. It's still possible with what we've seen from Assist Trophies, but the 8-bit pixelated theme applying to summons represents a consistent era of Namco.

Tales of the World: Nakariki Dungeon 3 has many Tales characters in a pixel heavy style.

It'd totally work, the Special Flag makes an appearance in the Tales series too.

It appears in almost every game, not just the two listed. For example, Symphonia uses it for a Wonder Chef location.

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

I also think we may see..
Wonder Momo
Mr Driller
Rick from Splatter House
Valkrie
Ridge Racer Car
Car from Pole Position
The Prince
Nightmare

 

[CrossoverMan]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH ****TTTTTTT!!! NAMCO EXCLUSIVE ASSIST TROPHIES? YES PLEASE SAKURAI!

 

[8-peacock-8]

RALLY X CAR! We all know it will probably summon this.

 

[CrossoverMan]

Mappy was literally the first game I ever played. Ah, memories.

 

[Frostwraith]

As far as I know, after doing a little research on this flag, it appears to be a recurring item in many Bandai Namco games. Considering Charizard is holding it like an Assist Trophy, it will likely be a spawning item of sorts. Like many are speculating here, it may very well summon several different Bandai Namco characters.

An interesting (and unexpected) item and nod to the fact Bandai Namco is developing the game.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

If Namco gets an item when neither Sega, Konami, or Capcom have seen one, I think this does wonders for Pac's chances.

 

[Violenceman]

 

[8-peacock-8]

Bravoman would be great.

Seriously.

 

[ryuu seika]

Love how there's a pink haired girl superhero in the background called "I am a Man".

 

[KimmotMan]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48280274@N02/13729698954/in/set-7215764367809236

Charizard seems to be holding this mysterious item as if it were an Assist Trophy.

I have a feeling this Special Flag from Namco's Rally X will be an Assist Trophy Item that only summons Namco Characters like the Galaga Aliens.

The Item in it's series more of an extra point bonus and appears in other Namco games as well.

What do you think?

 

[DaDavid]

I think this has been brought up in a few topics, as in, it already has at least one out there.

But, I think it's likely and pretty damn cool.

 

[DaDavid]

If Namco gets an item when neither Sega, Konami, or Capcom have seen one, I think this does wonders for Pac's chances.

Or the opposite, and the fact that there's a summoning item purely for Namco "characters" is meant to make up ( so to speak) for the lack of playable representation on Namco's side?

Could be a thing.

 

[greenluigiman2]

Or the opposite, and the fact that there's a summoning item purely for Namco "characters" is meant to make up ( so to speak) for the lack of playable representation on Namco's side?

Could be a thing.

That... doesn't make any sense.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Yea I figured this is what summoned the galaga guys because of charizard picture of him holding the s flag

Ok pac-man is one but its a roulette wheel playable or this (but more likely playable due to the megaman mario sonic and pac-man all being playable in 1 thing)

 

[DaDavid]

That... doesn't make any sense.

I don't see why not.

Namco/Sakurai wants their stamp to be on the game, but no character stands out in his mind as being unique or important or whatever "enough" to be playable, so they come up with a cool item that allows them to put all kinds of nostalgia from their creations into the games.

Makes as much sense to me as thinking that an item would say anything about a character's chances.

 

[greenluigiman2]

Namco/Sakurai wants their stamp to be on the game, but no character stands out in his mind as being unique or important or whatever "enough" to be playable, so they come up with a cool item that allows them to put all kinds of nostalgia from their creations into the games.

There is no precedence for that kind of thing. Every third party company that's ever had content in a Smash Bros. game has had a character. Besides, even before these Namco items were revealed Pac-Man's chances were already high for a number of reasons.

Makes as much sense to me as thinking that an item would say anything about a character's chances.

3RD PARTY item.

 

[DaDavid]

There is no precedence for that kind of thing. Every third party company that's ever had content in a Smash Bros. game has had a character. Besides, even before these Namco items were revealed Pac-Man's chances were already high for a number of reasons.


3RD PARTY item.

What people need to realize is that when a 3rd party character gets in, it isn't as rep for the company. It's to rep that character, and by extension via AT's, Stickers, Trophies, etc, that particular character's universe. Sonic is not a Sega rep, he is the Sonic rep. Snake was not a Konami rep, he is the Metal Gear rep, Mega Man is not the Capcom rep, he is the Mega Man rep.

So of course "every third party company that's ever had content in a Smash Bros. game has had a character" because the only reason any of that content is even in that game is because of the character. For Namco content, this wouldn't necessarily be the case. Namco content would presumably be in there because of their involvement with the game, not because Sakurai went out of his way to get special permission or to accommodate a request of a particular character.

It's apples and oranges.