All-Star mode Concept

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Lately I've been trying to think up how All-Star mode could be improved after seeing how repetitive the one in Smash 3DS / Wii U was. I do have the following thoughts in mind...

Playthrough
Opponents fought in each playthrough will always appear in a random order, much like with Melee's All-Star mode. If the roster consists of 70 fighters (excluding the Mii Fighters), there would be 7 rounds total, with the player having to defeat 10 fighters per round. However, only two opponents would appear at the same time.

The stage that's used in a round is determined by who the first opponent is. For an example, if the first opponent is Mario, then the chosen stage will be from the Super Mario Bros. series. However, certain large stages will never be used.

The final round's stage will always be in its Omega form format.

Unlike with previous All-Star mode incarnations, instead of recording the player's best score, the player's top time for the chosen difficulty will be recorded instead. If the player gets defeated at any point, then the number of KO'd fighters will be recorded instead.

It's game over if the player gets KO'd, requiring him/her to have to restart from the very beginning.

Custom special moves are permitted in All-Star mode, but all equipment will be disabled. Also, items are turned off in this game mode.

Rest Area
At the end of each round, the player gets taken to the rest area. The player will get to see the next 10 opponents, and gain access to three Heart Containers, with each one fully healing the player.

If a Heart Container gets used, it will not respawn when the player returns to the rest area, so it's vital to decide when it's time to heal your fighter or not.

If two players are playing, then two more Heart Containers will be added to the rest area.

If the player completes All-Star mode without using any Heart Containers, then a Heart Container icon will be displayed next to the best time.

Difficulty Levels
The player can choose between three difficulty levels, which are Easy, Normal, and Hard. The difficulty affects how tough the CPUs will be, and it also affects the knockback resistance that the player and the CPUs will have.

CPU Levels

Stage | Easy | Normal | Hard
1 | 1 | 3 | 5
2 | 1 | 3 | 5
3 | 1 | 3 | 5
4 | 2 | 4 | 6
5 | 2 | 4 | 6
6 | 2 | 4 | 6
7 | 3 | 5 | 7

Although the CPU's difficulty level can go up to 9, it will never go higher than 7 in All-Star mode.

Damage Multipliers
In All-Star mode, the player's direct attacks will deal 1.5x their normal damage, while the CPU players' direct attacks will deal 0.6666667x their normal damage. Indirect attacks will still deal their normal damage amounts. Stage hazards also deal their normal damage amounts. Stale moves are ignored in All-Star mode.

Knockback Resistance
The chosen difficulty will affect the knockback taken multiplier that the player and CPUs will receive. For each round, the knockback taken multiplier for the CPU players will decrease slightly, making it slightly harder to KO them quickly.

Easy

Stage | Knockback Taken (player) | Knockback Taken (CPU)
1 | 0.8x | 1.0x
2 | 0.8x | 0.9833334x
3 | 0.8x | 0.9666667x
4 | 0.8x | 0.95x
5 | 0.8x | 0.9333334x
6 | 0.8x | 0.9166667x
7 | 0.8x | 0.9x

Normal

Stage | Knockback Taken (player) | Knockback Taken (CPU)
1 | 0.9x | 0.9x
2 | 0.9x | 0.8833334x
3 | 0.9x | 0.8666667x
4 | 0.9x | 0.85x
5 | 0.9x | 0.8333334x
6 | 0.9x | 0.8166667x
7 | 0.9x | 0.8x

Hard

Stage | Knockback Taken (player) | Knockback Taken (CPU)
1 | 1.0x | 0.8x
2 | 1.0x | 0.7833334x
3 | 1.0x | 0.7666667x
4 | 1.0x | 0.75x
5 | 1.0x | 0.7333334x
6 | 1.0x | 0.7166667x
7 | 1.0x | 0.7x

Final Notes
How do these ideas look to you? Feel free to reply, but be sure to keep all conversations civil.

 

[3D Dillon]

I've been thinking...
it's possible to do one in order of sets of fighters that made their debut in a certain console like NES or GAMEBOY.
Or if we have a proper roster for this: put them in order of video game generations.

 

[Masonomace]

The OP is a good start. What I like about it:

• that you have a set amount of rounds with x amount of fighters based on the total of 70
• That only two fighters stay out at all times
• That the stage played on is determined by the first opponent in the order
• That the achievement is proven based on time rather than score
• That upon completing the mode without the use of a food item, a display of a particular icon can be seen by the time
• That with the damage multipliers, the opposing Fighters will not deal full damage via 1x

What I don't like about it simply because I don't like all star in smash 4 right now:

• The rest area has always allowed three heart containers. However, it seems that the roster just grows in numbers. At this point, the point of All Star is going head-to-head with every fighter in the roster yeah? Even if the battle system is geared towards surviving for a long time, having to fight that many fighters in one mode with only three heart containers is blasphemy. I would at least add 5 heart containers for this mode, and if a second player joined, then the heart count could be 8. This way, both players could agree on for 4 each or split depending on each persons pace.
• Since the beginning of All Star in past games, it's always been heart containers. But, recent smash titles have included Maxim tomatoes. Yet I still believe that it can go further than that. Perhaps it can be a risk reward system where you can choose between one heart, a tomato, or a party ball with some food. but if you were to go rounds without eating anything, then your food surplus Rises as in, more food in the party ball or two hearts dropped instead of 1. Make it diverse is my point.
• I don't dislike the difficulty Spectrum, but the spike within difficulty need more challenge when you raise the difficulty. Especially with content you unlock for game modes like all star. Say if one beats hard mode, then under certain conditions met you would unlock something harder like very hard or intense. As well as the resources you have within the rest area becoming greater the higher the difficulty in case it was felt absolutely needed.
• despite that single player game modes do not feel balanced since they aren't, I still wouldn't favor the mechanic of my character dealing more damage and knock-back as well as the opponent suffering less knock-back and less damage. I would prefer that my hits are as vanilla to the meta as can be. This way, a player can get used to the characters gameplay and how their hits operate.

BONUS: I've appreciated that Co-op All Star is a thing, but the fact that your achievement of winning All Star with two separate characters was not recognized because you only unlocked 1 alternate trophy with Player 1 is blasphemy. If Co-op All Star is to be done right, the achievement completed by both players with their characters should be recognized by unlocking both respective trophies or the replacement reward. This is especially crucial if this game possesses a roster of over 60 characters. Cuz good luck having fun unlocking all those trophies with somebody else but only getting one reward for two characters. Basically, my point is to reward the player based on solo difficulty and also properly rewarding two players based on Duo difficulty.

That's about all I have for now, let me know what you think. Because I still like the idea of All Star, but it's just become harder to like throughout the years throughout the different iterations of Smash