And Then They Came Home: Why I Love Character Reveals and Why You Probably Do Too

[KokiriKory]

So far, almost all newcomers have been from new series. This makes me hopeful for other smaller series too.

Yeah it has me very excited for other possibilities.

Isaac, Mii's, Pacman, Takamaru. Brawl rounded out familiar franchises pretty darn good, let's stretch the Nintendo horizon.

 

[Aurora Jenny]

Hey @Fatman! Time to update!

 

[Fatmanonice]

The funky monkey gets an encore; Diddy Kong swings back in!

 

[Fatmanonice]

Three days until the first ever Smash Direct. Which veterans and newcomers has he reserved the honor for? Who will we be welcoming come Tuesday? Stay tuned.

 

[Arcadenik]

This is so exciting! We probably could get two newcomers at Smash Direct!

 

[Fatmanonice]

This is so exciting! We probably could get two newcomers at Smash Direct!

One of the things that I've really liked about the prerelease cycle of this game is that big news has been spread out much better. I remember back in the Brawl days when it was largely counting down the days to big conventions/trade shows and hoping that Nintendo would actually say something about Brawl at them (which they rarely did). Honestly, a Smash Direct is something that I've wanted ever since Nintendo started doing Nintendo Directs.

 

[Fatmanonice]

What a Direct! Am I right?

Surviving Sakurai's trolling and donning some new rocket boots, Zero Suit Samus steps in!
Replaced by a phantom? Not a ghost of a chance! Sheik sneaks in!
About damn time! Yoshi rolls in!
No trainer can tame him; Charizard burns the competition!
Swift like a coursing river but with the force of a great typhoon, Greninja suddenly appears!

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

That was beautiful man about character reveals I agree 100%

I can't wait for mewtwo returning (hopefully but still at 80 between 90 for sure)

 

[Fatmanonice]

A radiant dawn rises on a new day and, with it, a hero returns. Ike charges the battlefield!

 

[Pazzo.]

I love it how every time a reveal is shown, this comes up to the front page.

 

[aldelaro5]

I love it how every time a reveal is shown, this comes up to the front page.

I was JUST about to point this out thanks...

 

[EdgeTheLucas]

I just want to remark that that's a beautiful OP there, @ Fatmanonice

I'd feel the same way about Ness or Lucas returning. I love their games to death.

With E3 in less than a month I'm excited for more characters arriving at the terminal

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

Glad I saw this bumped. Character reveals are something that can really cheer your day. Even simple PoTDs can do that but to a lesser extent.
Oh man, I still remember. The morning I saw Sonic was announced for Brawl is one morning I' ll never forget. My teacher of my first class in college asked "Why that big grin on your face?" and I answered "Something awesome happened today" "Well, you are still getting an 8 on your project".
I sure love that Sakurai is doing PoTDs again for SSB4, and I will miss them again when they are over.

 

[Katy Parry]

This was so sweet. I'll edit later with a memory when I'm on my laptop.

 

[Rhus]

@ Fatmanonice I just read your OP, very well done and thanks for sharing.

I'm really glad that I'm not alone in treasuring experiences with Nintendo as valuable memories. Allow me to share which character is precious to me and why.

On the day of E3 last year, with the trailer of Smash 4 and the roll of character series representatives, my heart was racing. I love Mario, Zelda, Icarus, DK etc. But I just wanted to see one thing.

The trailer flashes to the scene in space with an Arwing, and that elegant Star Fox logo appears with Fox in the cockpit. Nerding everywhere, I get goosebumps and my body trembles, my man Fox is back, as is expected of one of the Nintendo All Stars.

The Star Fox series is very special to me; while this may sound childish, when I was quite a bit younger, my mother became very sick because of another's neglect, which I sort of indirectly related to Fox's history. While my mother is thankfully in reasonable health now, at the time it didn't look good.

As an avid gamer, most of my spare time was spent playing Zelda/Mario games etc. My friend introduced me to Smash Bros Melee which I really enjoyed and picked up Ness for awhile, because I had lots of great memories with Earthbound when I was really young. One character intrigued me though; who the heck was Fox? My friend explained to me he was from the Star Fox series which I had yet to try, so I gave it a shot, both 64 and Adventures and loved the game. The characters were so rich with personality and I was particularly attached to Fox, one of the only Nintendo All-Stars to have a past that was explained, and not only that; he was robbed of both of his parents early in his life, yet still retained a stoic, intellectual composure in most instances (particularly in 64 and Assault). As a child, he was the only character of the numerous Nintendo games that I had played that I envied. He has the courage to fight for his world, and won't let his depressing past disillusion him into rash, vengeful actions. While Fox expresses anger towards his Father's (and mother's as shown in the manga) killer, Andross, he remains collected and controlled. His astute and authoritative personality gave me something that I aspired to: remain calm and make educated decisions, despite your anger towards unfortunate life events. In short; don't let your hate fuel your decisions, retain intellectual composure and instead take action to improve the situation, and do not let revenge be your sole motivation.

Because of my new found love of the Star Fox series and its cast (Particularly Fox) I get very excited when I see almost anything relating to Fox, even in pic of the day. Though of course I no longer find escapes in video games to quite that extent, I partially attribute my coping with my mother's illness (and the future events that could have followed, which undoubtedly flood your mind) when I was a child to Fox and his courage, a type of strength I didn't see in Link or any other heroes of Nintendo.

 

[Fatmanonice]

When I first created this thread, I intended to post a memory of each new character as they were revealed but that would have taken way too long, especially now that we already have 30 characters. With E3 roughly two weeks away, I've decided to revisit this idea but, instead of each character, I'm going to try to tackle each franchise. With Ike being shown off on Friday, I've decided to start off with Fire Emblem.

When I first saw Marth in Melee, I actually thought he was a Castlevania character for some weird reason and for a short time I couldn't figure out if Marth was a boy or a girl. I remember a lot of people complained about him and Roy at first because it felt like "Nintendo was scraping the bottom of the barrel for new characters" but by the end of 2002 there was a ton of demand for Fire Emblem to be released in other regions. Eventually those people got their wish and the first international FE was released in 2003 to a lot of acclaim. I was hesitant to get it though. I wasn't really into strategy games and it looked boring so it was a franchise that I avoided.

Fast forward a couple of years to the days of Brawl speculation and there was demand for Lyn and Ike everywhere. I didn't really get it because it was a franchise that I knew nothing about. Ike's reveal was probably one of the most memorable for Brawl for me though. It had been roughly 15 months after the first trailer and we had yet to see any new newcomers since then. E3 2007 was largely a huge disappointment for Smash fans because there wasn't hardly any new news despite many people expecting there to be a huge blowout of info. People were beginning to suspect that Wario, Pit, ZSS, and Metaknight were the only newcomers in the starting roster and some people believed it because Melee's only had five newcomers (Bowser, Peach, Ice Climbers, Zelda, and Sheik). People were expecting a few more veterans before the game came out but then, all of a sudden, we got Ike. Needless to say, people went nuts. People who cared nothing about Fire Emblem went nuts. It was a great time and it kicked off the string of newcomer reveals that lasted the next three months. Lyn was revealed as an AT about a month and half later and the most memorable thing about that was that there was a girl on Nsider who so devastated abut the news that she threatened to commit suicide for several days until she finally calmed down.

Fast forward to Brawl's release. I came to hate Ike very quickly. It seemed like everybody used him and online was stuffed with people who were completely god awful with him who did little more than spam smash attacks. To me, he was the ultimate noob character and I had little respect for most people who played as him. Fast forward about a year later to my first college summer away from home. Living in a college town where nearly a third of the population up and leaves when classes are not in session, summer jobs are hard to come by and I was unemployed until August. Needless to say, I had a lot of free time on my hands and that summer I dedicated my time to playing Nintendo franchises I had never touched before. I went to Game pawn shops all over the place and picked up a ton of games that I had simply overlooked in the past. One of those was Fire Emblem for the GBA and, after playing it, I was hooked on the franchise. I went out and bought Sacred Stones after beating FE probably three times back to back and did the same with it. Then I decided that I finally wanted to give Ike's first game, Path of Radiance, a shot but I had a hard time finding in pawn shops and it typically ran for more than a hundred bucks on eBay. Luckily, on of my old friends from high school had the game and he let me borrow it. Soon, my whole opinion of Ike changed.

I will say that, without a doubt, Ike is easily the most compelling character the FE franchise has ever produced and, arguably, one of the best characters Nintendo has ever created. I think his story is amazing and really inspiring overall. To those of you not familiar with it, Ike was the son of a famous vigilante named Greil who was the leader of a group called the Greil Mercenaries. They made a good living dealing with local crime until one day war broke out and it was decided that mercenaries were now illegal, leading the local kingdom to aggressively pursue them. They flee to find sanctuary in another kingdom but, in the process, Greil is killed trying to protect his clan by a man known as the Black Knight. Ike then is made leader of the Greil Mercenaries but things are off to a rocky start. He hardly knows what he's doing, huge mistakes are made, and some members outright leave. Throughout the rest of the game, he struggles through his "Famous Father" complex and learns his own strengths as a leader, which is mostly his people skills and sense of empathy. He goes from a kid who utterly lacks self confidence to the leader of a massive army that includes soldiers from just about every nationality in his world.

This is why Ike came to be one of the characters that I wanted to see return the most because I felt like his story spoke to me. I too have a wildly successful father who I question if I'll ever live up to and have spent my time in college trying to carve out my own niche, bit by bit. Like Ike, I have had a lot of set backs and I have come to find that one of my biggest strengths is being able to connect with other people. I think Ike represents a struggle that most of us go through which is why I feel he's such a likable character. He starts off as pathetic but turns into someone that, even as a fictional character, you respect. Since playing PoR, FE has become one of my favorite Nintendo franchises. As said, I find it funny how things turned out because I avoided it for nearly six years because I didn't think I'd like it and then one of the characters I liked least in Brawl eventually became not only one of my favorite Smash characters but one of my favorite video game characters.

 

[EdgeTheLucas]

Throughout the rest of the game, he struggles through his "Famous Father" complex and learns his own strengths as a leader, which is mostly his people skills and sense of empathy.

Which honestly makes his victory taunt "You'll get no sympathy from me" oddly out of character. I wonder why Sakurai had him say that.

 

[Lautsuu~]

When I first created this thread, I intended to post a memory of each new character as they were revealed but that would have taken way too long, especially now that we already have 30 characters. With E3 roughly two weeks away, I've decided to revisit this idea but, instead of each character, I'm going to try to tackle each franchise. With Ike being shown off on Friday, I've decided to start off with Fire Emblem.

When I first saw Marth in Melee, I actually thought he was a Castlevania character for some weird reason and for a short time I couldn't figure out if Marth was a boy or a girl. I remember a lot of people complained about him and Roy at first because it felt like "Nintendo was scraping the bottom of the barrel for new characters" but by the end of 2002 there was a ton of demand for Fire Emblem to be released in other regions. Eventually those people got their wish and the first international FE was released in 2003 to a lot of acclaim. I was hesitant to get it though. I wasn't really into strategy games and it looked boring so it was a franchise that I avoided.

Fast forward a couple of years to the days of Brawl speculation and there was demand for Lyn and Ike everywhere. I didn't really get it because it was a franchise that I knew nothing about. Ike's reveal was probably one of the most memorable for Brawl for me though. It had been roughly 15 months after the first trailer and we had yet to see any new newcomers since then. E3 2007 was largely a huge disappointment for Smash fans because there wasn't hardly any new news despite many people expecting there to be a huge blowout of info. People were beginning to suspect that Wario, Pit, ZSS, and Metaknight were the only newcomers in the starting roster and some people believed it because Melee's only had five newcomers (Bowser, Peach, Ice Climbers, Zelda, and Sheik). People were expecting a few more veterans before the game came out but then, all of a sudden, we got Ike. Needless to say, people went nuts. People who cared nothing about Fire Emblem went nuts. It was a great time and it kicked off the string of newcomer reveals that lasted the next three months. Lyn was revealed as an AT about a month and half later and the most memorable thing about that was that there was a girl on Nsider who so devastated abut the news that she threatened to commit suicide for several days until she finally calmed down.

Fast forward to Brawl's release. I came to hate Ike very quickly. It seemed like everybody used him and online was stuffed with people who were completely god awful with him who did little more than spam smash attacks. To me, he was the ultimate noob character and I had little respect for most people who played as him. Fast forward about a year later to my first college summer away from home. Living in a college town where nearly a third of the population up and leaves when classes are not in session, summer jobs are hard to come by and I was unemployed until August. Needless to say, I had a lot of free time on my hands and that summer I dedicated my time to playing Nintendo franchises I had never touched before. I went to Game pawn shops all over the place and picked up a ton of games that I had simply overlooked in the past. One of those was Fire Emblem for the GBA and, after playing it, I was hooked on the franchise. I went out and bought Sacred Stones after beating FE probably three times back to back and did the same with it. Then I decided that I finally wanted to give Ike's first game, Path of Radiance, a shot but I had a hard time finding in pawn shops and it typically ran for more than a hundred bucks on eBay. Luckily, on of my old friends from high school had the game and he let me borrow it. Soon, my whole opinion of Ike changed.

I will say that, without a doubt, Ike is easily the most compelling character the FE franchise has ever produced and, arguably, one of the best characters Nintendo has ever created. I think his story is amazing and really inspiring overall. To those of you not familiar with it, Ike was the son of a famous vigilante named Greil who was the leader of a group called the Greil Mercenaries. They made a good living dealing with local crime until one day war broke out and it was decided that mercenaries were now illegal, leading the local kingdom to aggressively pursue them. They flee to find sanctuary in another kingdom but, in the process, Greil is killed trying to protect his clan by a man known as the Black Knight. Ike then is made leader of the Greil Mercenaries but things are off to a rocky start. He hardly knows what he's doing, huge mistakes are made, and some members outright leave. Throughout the rest of the game, he struggles through his "Famous Father" complex and learns his own strengths as a leader, which is mostly his people skills and sense of empathy. He goes from a kid who utterly lacks self confidence to the leader of a massive army that includes soldiers from just about every nationality in his world.

This is why Ike came to be one of the characters that I wanted to see return the most because I felt like his story spoke to me. I too have a wildly successful father who I question if I'll ever live up to and have spent my time in college trying to carve out my own niche, bit by bit. Like Ike, I have had a lot of set backs and I have come to find that one of my biggest strengths is being able to connect with other people. I think Ike represents a struggle that most of us go through which is why I feel he's such a likable character. He starts off as pathetic but turns into someone that, even as a fictional character, you respect. Since playing PoR, FE has become one of my favorite Nintendo franchises. As said, I find it funny how things turned out because I avoided it for nearly six years because I didn't think I'd like it and then one of the characters I liked least in Brawl eventually became not only one of my favorite Smash characters but one of my favorite video game characters.

*sniff*

That was so goddamn beautiful.

 

[RelaxAlax]

Like Ike,

 

[---]

When I first created this thread, I intended to post a memory of each new character as they were revealed but that would have taken way too long, especially now that we already have 30 characters. With E3 roughly two weeks away, I've decided to revisit this idea but, instead of each character, I'm going to try to tackle each franchise. With Ike being shown off on Friday, I've decided to start off with Fire Emblem.

When I first saw Marth in Melee, I actually thought he was a Castlevania character for some weird reason and for a short time I couldn't figure out if Marth was a boy or a girl. I remember a lot of people complained about him and Roy at first because it felt like "Nintendo was scraping the bottom of the barrel for new characters" but by the end of 2002 there was a ton of demand for Fire Emblem to be released in other regions. Eventually those people got their wish and the first international FE was released in 2003 to a lot of acclaim. I was hesitant to get it though. I wasn't really into strategy games and it looked boring so it was a franchise that I avoided.

Fast forward a couple of years to the days of Brawl speculation and there was demand for Lyn and Ike everywhere. I didn't really get it because it was a franchise that I knew nothing about. Ike's reveal was probably one of the most memorable for Brawl for me though. It had been roughly 15 months after the first trailer and we had yet to see any new newcomers since then. E3 2007 was largely a huge disappointment for Smash fans because there wasn't hardly any new news despite many people expecting there to be a huge blowout of info. People were beginning to suspect that Wario, Pit, ZSS, and Metaknight were the only newcomers in the starting roster and some people believed it because Melee's only had five newcomers (Bowser, Peach, Ice Climbers, Zelda, and Sheik). People were expecting a few more veterans before the game came out but then, all of a sudden, we got Ike. Needless to say, people went nuts. People who cared nothing about Fire Emblem went nuts. It was a great time and it kicked off the string of newcomer reveals that lasted the next three months. Lyn was revealed as an AT about a month and half later and the most memorable thing about that was that there was a girl on Nsider who so devastated abut the news that she threatened to commit suicide for several days until she finally calmed down.

Fast forward to Brawl's release. I came to hate Ike very quickly. It seemed like everybody used him and online was stuffed with people who were completely god awful with him who did little more than spam smash attacks. To me, he was the ultimate noob character and I had little respect for most people who played as him. Fast forward about a year later to my first college summer away from home. Living in a college town where nearly a third of the population up and leaves when classes are not in session, summer jobs are hard to come by and I was unemployed until August. Needless to say, I had a lot of free time on my hands and that summer I dedicated my time to playing Nintendo franchises I had never touched before. I went to Game pawn shops all over the place and picked up a ton of games that I had simply overlooked in the past. One of those was Fire Emblem for the GBA and, after playing it, I was hooked on the franchise. I went out and bought Sacred Stones after beating FE probably three times back to back and did the same with it. Then I decided that I finally wanted to give Ike's first game, Path of Radiance, a shot but I had a hard time finding in pawn shops and it typically ran for more than a hundred bucks on eBay. Luckily, on of my old friends from high school had the game and he let me borrow it. Soon, my whole opinion of Ike changed.

I will say that, without a doubt, Ike is easily the most compelling character the FE franchise has ever produced and, arguably, one of the best characters Nintendo has ever created. I think his story is amazing and really inspiring overall. To those of you not familiar with it, Ike was the son of a famous vigilante named Greil who was the leader of a group called the Greil Mercenaries. They made a good living dealing with local crime until one day war broke out and it was decided that mercenaries were now illegal, leading the local kingdom to aggressively pursue them. They flee to find sanctuary in another kingdom but, in the process, Greil is killed trying to protect his clan by a man known as the Black Knight. Ike then is made leader of the Greil Mercenaries but things are off to a rocky start. He hardly knows what he's doing, huge mistakes are made, and some members outright leave. Throughout the rest of the game, he struggles through his "Famous Father" complex and learns his own strengths as a leader, which is mostly his people skills and sense of empathy. He goes from a kid who utterly lacks self confidence to the leader of a massive army that includes soldiers from just about every nationality in his world.

This is why Ike came to be one of the characters that I wanted to see return the most because I felt like his story spoke to me. I too have a wildly successful father who I question if I'll ever live up to and have spent my time in college trying to carve out my own niche, bit by bit. Like Ike, I have had a lot of set backs and I have come to find that one of my biggest strengths is being able to connect with other people. I think Ike represents a struggle that most of us go through which is why I feel he's such a likable character. He starts off as pathetic but turns into someone that, even as a fictional character, you respect. Since playing PoR, FE has become one of my favorite Nintendo franchises. As said, I find it funny how things turned out because I avoided it for nearly six years because I didn't think I'd like it and then one of the characters I liked least in Brawl eventually became not only one of my favorite Smash characters but one of my favorite video game characters.

Am kinda embarrassed to be saying this, but honesty one of the primary reasons I just can't get into Awakening was Path of Radiance as a whole and Smash.

Granted I like the sheer amount of depth that FE13 has and I'd never not recommend someone play it, but everything else I felt that past FE games had done a lot better; as well as the direction towards more fan service turned me away from a once respectable anime styled game, which are rare to begin with. To see it suddenly be getting the reviews, sales, and praise that other games in the series never got, was just plain upsetting to me as a diehard fan who owns every game bar FE6; not that I don't want to see the series do well.

Smash in particular was a sore spot for me with everyone suddenly changing boats from having Roy and Ike back to having Chrom. Though the biggest offense for me was how people compared Chrom to Ike, while there is some truth based on concept designs, both are radically different from one another. Seeing people, even some Ike mains, say just give his moveset to Chrom was a major sore spot. I think objectively (sorry) Ike is the better character of the two in every way, and to see people treat him as someone forgettable both in and out of his series flat out hurt.

With both his, and to a lesser extent, Lucario's, confirmation the last real big worry I had for this game's roster has lifted. Granted there are still characters I want to see return and would be bummed if they didn't return, but Ike was the one that I would have thrown a fanboy fit over. Overall though, Ike's return has lifted one of the many dark clouds over speculation for this game and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Lautsuu~]

Am kinda embarrassed to be saying this, but honesty one of the primary reasons I just can't get into Awakening was Path of Radiance as a whole and Smash.

Granted I like the sheer amount of depth that FE13 has and I'd never not recommend someone play it, but everything else I felt that past FE games had done a lot better; as well as the direction towards more fan service turned me away from a once respectable anime styled game, which are rare to begin with. To see it suddenly be getting the reviews, sales, and praise that other games in the series never got, was just plain upsetting to me as a diehard fan who owns every game bar FE6; not that I don't want to see the series do well.

Smash in particular was a sore spot for me with everyone suddenly changing boats from having Roy and Ike back to having Chrom. Though the biggest offense for me was how people compared Chrom to Ike, while there is some truth based on concept designs, both are radically different from one another. Seeing people, even some Ike mains, say just give his moveset to Chrom was a major sore spot. I think objectively (sorry) Ike is the better character of the two in every way, and to see people treat him as someone forgettable both in and out of his series flat out hurt.

With both his, and to a lesser extent, Lucario's, confirmation the last real big worry I had for this game's roster has lifted. Granted there are still characters I want to see return and would be bummed if they didn't return, but Ike was the one that I would have thrown a fanboy fit over. Overall though, Ike's return has lifted one of the many dark clouds over speculation for this game and I couldn't be happier.

As a FE fan who enjoyed Awakening, I for some reason...don't want Chrom to be in Sm4sh. I would much rather have Roy and Ike, the latter in which returned, and Robin.
I agree with your points in comparing Chrom and Ike.

 

[SomewhatMystia]

As a FE fan who enjoyed Awakening, I for some reason...don't want Chrom to be in Sm4sh. I would much rather have Roy and Ike, the latter in which returned, and Robin.
I agree with your points in comparing Chrom and Ike.

As someone who's never played FE:A, I want Robin just because he/she seems more unique than yet another swordsman. Unless they gave Chrom one of the other weapons he can use (which would be weird, since nothing's as iconic for him as that neat looking sword), I don't see him being different enough from Ike/Marth to be worth it.

 

[Lautsuu~]

As someone who's never played FE:A, I want Robin just because he/she seems more unique than yet another swordsman. Unless they gave Chrom one of the other weapons he can use (which would be weird, since nothing's as iconic for him as that neat looking sword), I don't see him being different enough from Ike/Marth to be worth it.

Exactly. Plus, if Robin does get in, it could work out like WFT and Villager, where you can choose either gender.

 

[D-idara]

Am kinda embarrassed to be saying this, but honesty one of the primary reasons I just can't get into Awakening was Path of Radiance as a whole and Smash.

Granted I like the sheer amount of depth that FE13 has and I'd never not recommend someone play it, but everything else I felt that past FE games had done a lot better; as well as the direction towards more fan service turned me away from a once respectable anime styled game, which are rare to begin with. To see it suddenly be getting the reviews, sales, and praise that other games in the series never got, was just plain upsetting to me as a diehard fan who owns every game bar FE6; not that I don't want to see the series do well.

Smash in particular was a sore spot for me with everyone suddenly changing boats from having Roy and Ike back to having Chrom. Though the biggest offense for me was how people compared Chrom to Ike, while there is some truth based on concept designs, both are radically different from one another. Seeing people, even some Ike mains, say just give his moveset to Chrom was a major sore spot. I think objectively (sorry) Ike is the better character of the two in every way, and to see people treat him as someone forgettable both in and out of his series flat out hurt.

With both his, and to a lesser extent, Lucario's, confirmation the last real big worry I had for this game's roster has lifted. Granted there are still characters I want to see return and would be bummed if they didn't return, but Ike was the one that I would have thrown a fanboy fit over. Overall though, Ike's return has lifted one of the many dark clouds over speculation for this game and I couldn't be happier.

I think Awakening struck the perfect balance between fanservice and respectableness, the dating sim part was awesome and you can't deny it :v

 

[Aninymouse]

@ Fatmanonice I just read your OP, very well done and thanks for sharing.

I'm really glad that I'm not alone in treasuring experiences with Nintendo as valuable memories. Allow me to share which character is precious to me and why.

On the day of E3 last year, with the trailer of Smash 4 and the roll of character series representatives, my heart was racing. I love Mario, Zelda, Icarus, DK etc. But I just wanted to see one thing.

The trailer flashes to the scene in space with an Arwing, and that elegant Star Fox logo appears with Fox in the cockpit. Nerding everywhere, I get goosebumps and my body trembles, my man Fox is back, as is expected of one of the Nintendo All Stars.

The Star Fox series is very special to me; while this may sound childish, when I was quite a bit younger, my mother became very sick because of another's neglect, which I sort of indirectly related to Fox's history. While my mother is thankfully in reasonable health now, at the time it didn't look good.

As an avid gamer, most of my spare time was spent playing Zelda/Mario games etc. My friend introduced me to Smash Bros Melee which I really enjoyed and picked up Ness for awhile, because I had lots of great memories with Earthbound when I was really young. One character intrigued me though; who the heck was Fox? My friend explained to me he was from the Star Fox series which I had yet to try, so I gave it a shot, both 64 and Adventures and loved the game. The characters were so rich with personality and I was particularly attached to Fox, one of the only Nintendo All-Stars to have a past that was explained, and not only that; he was robbed of both of his parents early in his life, yet still retained a stoic, intellectual composure in most instances (particularly in 64 and Assault). As a child, he was the only character of the numerous Nintendo games that I had played that I envied. He has the courage to fight for his world, and won't let his depressing past disillusion him into rash, vengeful actions. While Fox expresses anger towards his Father's (and mother's as shown in the manga) killer, Andross, he remains collected and controlled. His astute and authoritative personality gave me something that I aspired to: remain calm and make educated decisions, despite your anger towards unfortunate life events. In short; don't let your hate fuel your decisions, retain intellectual composure and instead take action to improve the situation, and do not let revenge be your sole motivation.

Because of my new found love of the Star Fox series and its cast (Particularly Fox) I get very excited when I see almost anything relating to Fox, even in pic of the day. Though of course I no longer find escapes in video games to quite that extent, I partially attribute my coping with my mother's illness (and the future events that could have followed, which undoubtedly flood your mind) when I was a child to Fox and his courage, a type of strength I didn't see in Link or any other heroes of Nintendo.

I'd just like to point out that the character qualities you espouse in Fox McCloud are the same moral qualities Ike has in the Fire Emblem games. It's a big reason for me liking Ike so much. Your post helped me like Fox more, too, and I appreciate that.

 

[Rhus]

I'd just like to point out that the character qualities you espouse in Fox McCloud are the same moral qualities Ike has in the Fire Emblem games. It's a big reason for me liking Ike so much. Your post helped me like Fox more, too, and I appreciate that.

I agree. I have played both portions of Path of Radiance and completed Radiant Dawn and most certainly share your view on Ike. Shockingly, him and Fox have fairly similar personalities, so similar in fact that if I had played PoR or RD first, I may have written that post about Ike instead.

Ike and Fox McCloud both share a strong sense of empathy and compassion for those close to them, and their childhood friends. In Ike's case, he's protective of Soren, Mist and others (though I can't remember if Soren is a childhood friend of his or not) and shows consistent compassion for those in need, but does not have a lust to kill the Black Knight, despite his feelings towards him. Ike is shown to have excellent decision making to preserve his army and also pursue what will stop the onslaught faster, rather than simply going to take out Zelgius immediately in Radiant Dawn.

Similarly, Fox shows empathy and respect for his wingmates (especially during Peppy's sacrifice during Assault) and will do anything to assist them. But he also expresses the authoritative discipline that Ike has, also seen in the ending of Assault, where instead of sobbing over the losses experienced in the Aparoid Invasion (General Pepper, Peppy Hare, ROB and Star Wolf) he immediately orders his team to move onward, in order to save the Lylat System from being corrupted by the Aparoids. Keeping in mind that Peppy is Fox's remaining link to his Father. While Star Fox games have more of a cheesy dialogue and direction than the Fire Emblem games, the elements are there.

Ike, like Fox, will not hesitate to take revenge on the Black Knight once he gets his chance in Radiant Dawn, but he doesn't endanger his team to take revenge, he does it alone. Fox McCloud has the help of Falco, Slippy and Peppy to get into the depths of Venom to Andross, but Fox fights him alone, likely for his own closure and to avoid his wingmates getting killed by Andross. I think this adds a sort of depth and "real" part of their characters; they still feel they need to take revenge, but are capable of controlling it. It makes them both more believable characters. It's also worth noting that Ike and Fox are some of the only Nintendo protagonists to remain humble, but are extremely confident in their capabilities, but are never shown to be overwhelmingly arrogant and/or egotistical (Samus might apply here, but I haven't really played the Metroid games).

And I'm happy I could make your view on Fox a little more positive. Not many people that play him actually enjoy his character the way I do, and usually play him simply because he's top tier in Melee and arguably one of the best characters (tier wise) across all three games. I have always liked Ike after playing his games, and he's the reason I love Fire Emblem the way I do now.

 

[GodOfSocks]

To be honest, I get more hyped for veterans than newcomers, because I hate cuts more than anything, because every character is someone's main.

Spoiler

Its probably because my mains are Toon Link and Marth. Because of that, I know what its like to have people complaining about Toon Link's inclusion, or wanting Lucina to replace Marth.
Anyways...
When I was just a little sock, about twelve years ago, My dad got the family a GameCube for a birthday or Christmas or something. With that wondrous console came Double Dash (which is scratched to sh*t now ), Pac-Man World 2, Mario Sunshine, and Wind Waker.
My third oldest brother and my dad would play wind waker all the time. I had a file as well, but being around four, I wasn't very good. I was, however, amazed with how good they where. Anyways, that game found a special little place in my heart.
About two years later, my fourth oldest brother introduced me to Smash bros Melee, where I met Marth. I had no Idea who he was, but he had blue hair and he was cool. In fact, I spent recess in first grade hiding behind trees and thinking I was cool because I liked Marth and Marth was cool. ANYWAYS. At one point I asked my brother who else had to be unlocked in melee, and he told me that we had unlocked everybody except for young link and Mr Game and Watch. When I heard young link, I got excited, thinking it was the one from Wind Waker. Turned out it wasn't, and I was a bit bummed, but whatever.
Fast forward to Brawl coming out, Toon Link and Marth are in, I was pretty happy, and happily brawled for the next eight years.
Anyways, neither my brother nor my dad ever beat wind waker, so last summer I decided I would. When I finally impaled Ganon in the face it felt so good that i just flopped back onto the couch.
Soon I found out that it would be coming to the Wii U in glorious HD, and so I had to have it.
Anyways, I had started to become aware of the Toon Link hate that the internet seems to be quite abundant with, and I had started to become worried about his return.
I think I cried when he was revealed.
When Marth was revealed, I got out of my room and fell down the stairs giggling
I'm an odd person

 

[allison]

I was also a GC player when I was younger. Of the Nintendo games I had, only one remains unbeaten: Mario Sunshine.

Is it a good game? Yes. Is it hard as hell? Also yes.

 

[SomewhatMystia]

I think the big reason I love seeing reveals is because that means that SOMEONE is going to be able to play as their favorite character.

On the flipside of things, it also bums me out to see someone who had a chance (like Ashley or Dillon) getting deconfirmed for the exact same reason. At least assist trophies aren't too bad, but I feel bad for people who were hoping for Tiki or (in my case) Wonder Red, only to not even get an assist out of it.

 

[Oz37]

This thread gets me. If you have an empathetic bone in your body, then you can't help but feel for characters that you spend time with and watch grow through their experiences. And with SSB, it feels like a continually expanding family. When a new iteration comes around, I'm always filled with gleeful anticipation to discover who returns and who joins in for the first time. Even for the characters that I don't personally prefer, it's nice to see them still. I'll come back later and expound on some of my more heartfelt reunions/welcomings at a later date.

 

[Moldy Clay]

This thread gets me. If you have an empathetic bone in your body, then you can't help but feel for characters that you spend time with and watch grow through their experiences. And with SSB, it feels like a continually expanding family. When a new iteration comes around, I'm always filled with gleeful anticipation to discover who returns and who joins in for the first time. Even for the characters that I don't personally prefer, it's nice to see them still. I'll come back later and expound on some of my more heartfelt reunions/welcomings at a later date.

This.

Character reveals are huge for me. While the game is primarily about the fun & mechanics and whatever, I get invested in the characters I play.

Characters from my childhood, characters from my high school years, characters I've only just met formally (having not played their original game), characters I didn't know I liked until I gave them a chance.

SSB's roster literally becomes a family. It brings Nintendo's history together. Subspace drove this point home even more. Despite being able to play Brawl, or Melee, and play the games these characters are from, when a Veteran is revealed, it's like going to a reunion, or a party, and seeing an old friend you haven't seen in years.

The concept of cuts is nerve wracking. It's like losing someone close to you. Especially if you played them.

I was less invested prior to Brawl, but Subspace made me fall in love with over half of the cast, and I loved the play styles and updates for various characters.

I think the only character I wasn't specifically excited to see was Lucario (and to a lesser extent Yoshi).

I play a lot of characters who I deemed "in danger". Toon Link, Olimar, Ice Climbers, Pokemon Trainer, Snake, Lucas... So to see some of them (and any others I played) return was a huge relief for me. I'm sad to see Snake, Squirtle & Ivysaur essentially confirmed gone (I honestly didn't play Charizard much at all outside of Boss Battles. I LOVED Squirtle and Ivysaur). I saw it coming, but I'm no less sad about it.

However, for the first time, I have been excited by -every- newcomer so far. I wanted Little Mac (and he looks great), Villager looks like a blast to play, Megaman & Rosalina looks awesome too, Greninja was my starter in X and has really cool moves, and Wii Fit Trainer is the "character I never knew I wanted".

It's always depressing to see people I want turn out to be ATs or Pokeballs, but I'm still glad I get to see them in the game.

Honestly, I am most worried/freaking out about Veterans now. Originally, it didn't even cross my mind, but I really don't want to lose anyone. Specifically, Ice Climbers & Lucas. And while I didn't play R.O.B. or Mr. Game & Watch as much as others, I can't even imagine a celebration of Nintendo history without them anymore. I'd also say I was worried about Ganondorf, but I feel like it'd be insane to cut him.

Newcomer-wise, I have opened my mind considerably since Brawl. Pre-Brawl, I was bitter about tons of characters and didn't want certain ones in. I've matured in those few short years and I'm honestly just happy to see new characters in general.

I'll be pretty disappointed if Shulk and/or Isaac don't get in, though.

 

[Fatmanonice]

Today I'm going to talk about my memories of the Donkey Kong franchise:

The Donkey Kong franchise has a lot of memories for me, probably more so than everything else aside from Mario. My very first video game was Donkey Kong for the Colecovision. My dad introduced it to me when I was only three years old and, naturally, I was terrible at it. It wouldn't be until years later that I'd even see the second stage but it was a good memory because it was one of the few times I really bonded with my dad growing up. For whatever reason, my dad came to hate video games later on. I remember most of my childhood my dad would tell me that they were a waste of time despite him being an avid player in the arcade days. It was also ironic because he personally bought every video game console I owned up until the Wii which I bought myself.

I remember when Donkey Kong Country first came out. I remember playing it at Wal-Mart and being completely entranced by it. I was already a big fan of Mario and Kirby at the time so the transition was all too natural and I was hooked. My dad must have sensed much much I loved that game because about a week later I would wake up in the middle of the night to find a Wal-Mart bag with the game inside next to my pillow. It was one of the last games that I would play with my older sister before she decided that "video games were for nerds" and wouldn't play with me again until more than a decade later when Wii Sports came out. She always played DK and I played Diddy. Whenever Diddy would lose the minigames and stomp on his hat, I would shout "Goddamnit" because I thought it was funny and I wasn't aware I was swearing until my sister told my parents and the SNES had to be put away for about a week.

One of my most memorable Christmases was Christmas 1995. I got Donkey Kong Country 2 and I must have spent a good to 6 to 7 hours that day playing it mindlessly in the basement with my cousin. It was a game I followed extensively through video game magazines at the grocery store (that I never bought, of course) and wanted to play it for months. I remember the frost on the basement window and the smell of the cold from the outside. Me and my cousin had a blast and it was probably the last Christmas that felt like it had "real Christmas magic" to it.

In regards to Smash, I was pretty disappointed when Diddy wasn't in Melee. I remember there were a few websites who swore up and down that Wario and Diddy had made the cut, only for it to be shown to be not be true when it came out. Their absence is probably what spurred me into actually participating in Smash speculation. I remember sending a completely exhaustive list to NoA in 2002 with a Smash roster of 100 characters, only for them to send back an automated message several months later. Needless to say, Diddy was on my wishlist for Brawl and I was pretty thrilled when he made the cut. He was never really one of my mains but I felt like he was one of the most deserving characters, especially after I had played countless hours of the DKC games, DK 64, and Diddy Kong Racing. His addition felt fantastic because he was a character I had waited years for. To this day, I'm still a big fan of the DK franchise. After its future became questionable during the Gamecube era, it came back in full force with DKCR and it was good to see that the franchise that got me into gaming was here to stay.

 

[Rhus]

This.
The concept of cuts is nerve wracking. It's like losing someone close to you. Especially if you played them.

Please don't leave me, Wolf O'Donnell </3

It's great to see so many people treasure characters the way I do. Each character holds memories, and some are pretty strong memories. I'm pretty excited to see any character revealed, because I know someone, somewhere is really excited about this and holds memories about that character like I do for Fox McCloud. There's so many reasons you can hold a character in such an important place in your mind and it's so great to see people sharing these memories.

 

[Moldy Clay]

Please don't leave me, Wolf O'Donnell </3

It's great to see so many people treasure characters the way I do. Each character holds memories, and some are pretty strong memories. I'm pretty excited to see any character revealed, because I know someone, somewhere is really excited about this and holds memories about that character like I do for Fox McCloud. There's so many reasons you can hold a character in such an important place in your mind and it's so great to see people sharing these memories.

Yeah, I have a lot of attachment to the Zelda characters first and foremost, with Pokemon following up the rear (although my attachments are primarily to ones that will never be playable, but I actually chose Froakie & Charmander in Pokemon X, so I am actually more excited about Charizard due to that, even though he was my least favorite of PT's in Brawl).

Then there are ones for nostalgia, like how I always purposely killed Mario to play Luigi in Super Mario Bros., or all the time playing the original Punch Out, and so on.

Some characters are ones that I built attachment or nostalgia to after the fact. Like, I knew of their games/played their games before SSB, but I wasn't heavily into their games. Actually, Melee made me try out a lot of games that I had skipped over during NES/SNES/Gameboy/N64 eras. Brawl even moreso. I have so many memories with these characters.

Even characters I didn't care about originally. For example, I didn't really care about Ness, having not originally played EarthBound. After playing it recently, I have a newfound attachment to him because of Miiverse drawings I did where I got invested in giving character to him. I can't imagine a Smash without him now, even ignoring the whole "original 12" concept.

 

[Aninymouse]

Today I'm going to talk about my memories of the Donkey Kong franchise:

The Donkey Kong franchise has a lot of memories for me, probably more so than everything else aside from Mario. My very first video game was Donkey Kong for the Colecovision. My dad introduced it to me when I was only three years old and, naturally, I was terrible at it. It wouldn't be until years later that I'd even see the second stage but it was a good memory because it was one of the few times I really bonded with my dad growing up. For whatever reason, my dad came to hate video games later on. I remember most of my childhood my dad would tell me that they were a waste of time despite him being an avid player in the arcade days. It was also ironic because he personally bought every video game console I owned up until the Wii which I bought myself.

I remember when Donkey Kong Country first came out. I remember playing it at Wal-Mart and being completely entranced by it. I was already a big fan of Mario and Kirby at the time so the transition was all too natural and I was hooked. My dad must have sensed much much I loved that game because about a week later I would wake up in the middle of the night to find a Wal-Mart bag with the game inside next to my pillow. It was one of the last games that I would play with my older sister before she decided that "video games were for nerds" and wouldn't play with me again until more than a decade later when Wii Sports came out. She always played DK and I played Diddy. Whenever Diddy would lose the minigames and stomp on his hat, I would shout "Goddamnit" because I thought it was funny and I wasn't aware I was swearing until my sister told my parents and the SNES had to be put away for about a week.

One of my most memorable Christmases was Christmas 1995. I got Donkey Kong Country 2 and I must have spent a good to 6 to 7 hours that day playing it mindlessly in the basement with my cousin. It was a game I followed extensively through video game magazines at the grocery store (that I never bought, of course) and wanted to play it for months. I remember the frost on the basement window and the smell of the cold from the outside. Me and my cousin had a blast and it was probably the last Christmas that felt like it had "real Christmas magic" to it.

In regards to Smash, I was pretty disappointed when Diddy wasn't in Melee. I remember there were a few websites who swore up and down that Wario and Diddy had made the cut, only for it to be shown to be not be true when it came out. Their absence is probably what spurred me into actually participating in Smash speculation. I remember sending a completely exhaustive list to NoA in 2002 with a Smash roster of 100 characters, only for them to send back an automated message several months later. Needless to say, Diddy was on my wishlist for Brawl and I was pretty thrilled when he made the cut. He was never really one of my mains but I felt like he was one of the most deserving characters, especially after I had played countless hours of the DKC games, DK 64, and Diddy Kong Racing. His addition felt fantastic because he was a character I had waited years for. To this day, I'm still a big fan of the DK franchise. After its future became questionable during the Gamecube era, it came back in full force with DKCR and it was good to see that the franchise that got me into gaming was here to stay.

It's funny... I have a similar story when it comes to Donkey Kong, my dad, and I...

When I was really young, we had an Intellivision II, with games like Ski Free, Pitfall, and Burger Time. But the Intellivision II was sort of crappy, and it just stopped working early on. My dad never played it, and although I tried a few times, it broke.

Fast forward to Donkey Kong Country. My dad and I were at Sears, I believe, and I was looking at all the game stuff. It was like it was the first time I had seen any of these modern games. I distinctly remember seeing Donkey Kong Country 2 and Twisted Metal in the display case. Yeah, we weren't exactly early adopters. It would be quite a while before I actually owned my own copy of DKC2.

But the biggest deal was when we got it home. Me and my dad played through the game together in Tag Team mode. I think I was Diddy, and he was Donkey Kong most of the time. It was so great, having to switch to him to kill the big enemies that I couldn't hurt. It was the first game I ever played for any length of time. The moment I'll never forget was the first time we came to the Ice Ropes cave. We tried, and we tried. and we tried... we finally got to the halfway point marker. and we tried some more, and again, and once more... we had to leave the SNES on all through the night, because there was nowhere to save, and we'd lose so much progress! When we finally beat the Ice Ropes cave, we threw a little party, because I think the save point was right after that. My dad got a little burned out from that level. But, really, it was one of the few things we did together as I was growing up. I really loved my dad, the Donkey Kong master.

I, too, was very excited for Diddy Kong to make it into Brawl! Definitely my hypest moment. I could hardly believe it! My appreciation of Diddy Kong has waned a bit since then, however, because of how infuriating it is to face his banana spam in Brawl. But DKC2 and DKC3 were definitely favorites of mine, too.

I'll never forget... when I was almost done with DKC3, I was down to the last of the Lost World levels... the Rocket Barrel level. It really was an astounding feat of game design, for it's time. For the first half of the game, you guided a descending rocket down through a narrow crevasse. When you got to the bottom, you hit the ignition switch, and you rocketed up a similar crevasse on the right-hand side! When the rocket was ascending, the right/left controls were reversed, so I had to hold the controller upside-down! My whole family got in on it! My dad, mom, sisters, and I all took turns trying to control the unwieldy rocket. It really was the only other time we had one of those Donkey Kong family moments. Just like the Ice Ropes, beating the Rocket Barrel level was very satisfying, and we all kinda celebrated.

I'm not sure my introduction to video games was timed well, though. Ever since then, I've had a big problem with becoming too fixated on video games. The birthday party I got DKC2? I played it all night long, and the kids that were invited mostly fell asleep, bored to death. Or how about the Pokemon obsession that came on strong in middle school? I've only recently quit Pokemon for good, because my fixation on it was messing up my entire life. But that's another story.

Thank you, @ Fatmanonice , for reminding me of times of family love and togetherness. Things just aren't the same for me and my dad, anymore. Back then, I had the whole world ahead of me. Now I've lived long enough to disappoint people. Amazing how people change over time, isn't it? And even then, the more things change, the more they stay the same, sometimes...

 

[Lautsuu~]

I actually have dear memories of the Nintendo 64 days with Super Mario 64.

It was literally the only thing that I bonded with my dad and sister. The hours the three of us sat through, watching my dad beat Bowser, while my sister made hilarious commentary.
I will never forget the time when we decided to finally defeat King Boo. Dang, those were good times.

And don't even get me started with Pokémon Stadium and Golden Eye.

 

[KCCHIEFS27]

This thread is why smash bros is my favorite franchise ever. Makes us all look at games or series we otherwise never even gave a second thought. Ike's update last week has definitely made me the most hyped I have been for this game, even more than any newcomers. Melee got me into the Fire Emblem franchise which has become one of my top video game franchises of all time (Ike being one of my favorite 3 video game characters ever). And as a kid playing smash 64, I thought Ness was related to Ash Ketchum or something

 

[Deleted member]

You know, this thread summarizes why I am so excited for certain characters, like Greninja and Ike. Greninja's appearance is kind of a reflection of the good times I had playing through Pokémon Y with Fro during a time in my life that was otherwise quite embarassing in reterospect. On the other hand, Ike is different. Both my brother and my friend played Ime in Brawl, and seeing him back reminds me of the times we had playing Brawl. I also think this explains why I'm notbothered by the absence of some characters. It's not an attraction to the character, it's more an attraction to what they represent to me. Those memories will always be there, even if the character won't be.

 

[Fatmanonice]

And as a kid playing smash 64, I thought Ness was related to Ash Ketchum or something

That's funny you say that because I did too. I thought Ness was Ash given the powers of his Pokemon. I thought PK stood for Pokemon, the double jump came from Pidgeotto, PK Fire from Charmander, PK Thunder from Pikachu, and PSI Magnet from Squirtle (I thought it was a water shield).

Also, I hope I'm not breaking too many hearts but I don't really have any memories of Mother. I didn't play and beat Earthbound until 2004 so it wasn't a big part of my childhood. Ness, however, has always been one of my mains in Smash Bros for some odd reason. I just like the way he plays as a fighter.

 

[Moldy Clay]

To get more into some of my attachments:

When I was a child, before preschool even, my parents got an NES. My dad primarily played Duck Hunt, but my mom and aunt played Super Mario Bros., and I just watched for most of this time because I was absolutely terrible. Eventually, my mom's friend let us borrow (and eventually keep) the original The Legend of Zelda. I watched my mom play it hundreds of times. I'd watch, I'd get flinch and yell with her when she got hit/died, I'd get excited when she found a new item/beat a dungeon/found a heart container. It was great. I watched my mom play a lot of games, including Castlevania III and Dragon Spirit. Eventually, I started playing games myself, and we started playing co-op games, like Ikari Warriors and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game. But the fondest memories were still of Zelda, which I eventually dedicated time to trying to beat for myself. And the biggest accomplishment came when I found the Red Ring in Level-9. My mom hadn't. She beat the game with the blue tunic. I was beside myself when I found that AND beat Ganon. I had surpassed my mom in Zelda. Years later (as in, when the Collector's Edition came out), I finally wound up getting 100%, and then replaying through the 2nd Quest, which my mom usually stopped during.

Unfortunately, we skipped SNES in favor of Genesis, so an entire generation of memories was replaced with she and I playing Sonic 3, Sub-Terrainia, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, World of Illusion w/Mickey & Donald, X-Men 2: Clone Wars and Castlevania: Bloodlines. Now that I was older, and able to play these games (and the Genesis was mine), it became more competitive. We would try to best each other. She worked at night, so I'd be at school, while she played, and then I'd come home and get further on my save or my run. But we'd also share info with each other on how we did things. This also occurred with Link's Awakening, but neither of us beat it originally because we got stuck at stupid parts (someone also stole our copy of the game, and I wound up getting another copy a few years later, where someone pointed out the stupid detail I was overlooking in the 6th dungeon that stumped me).

This continued on until we finally got an N64, with Ocarina of Time. Same deal (took turns, she while I was at school, myself when I got home, and we'd try to pass each other). I'll never forget how awesome it was to beat Ocarina of Time. Ah man... Unfortunately, after that, she didn't really have time to play anymore. She didn't really like the time mechanic of Majora's Mask, and she didn't like the sailing in The Wind Waker, and she stopped playing Twilight Princess because I got frustrated watching her and I was backseat gaming. She did end up playing through Phantom Hourglass, and seemed to enjoy it, but that was the extent of that.

So a bulk of my childhood was playing games with my mom, and the only Nintendo games actually happened to be Zelda ones and the original SMB (but none of the others until Sunshine). Now, I had played Metroid, Kirby, other Marios, etc at friends' houses and at a thing I went to during the summer, but it wasn't until Pokemon that I actually delved into another Nintendo franchise myself.

Then Super Smash Bros. was announced, and holy crap. I literally cared about nothing except for the fact that you could play Link. I was freaking out. I was at Weis with my mom, grocery shopping and I looked at a Game Pro or XpertGamer magazine or something and see screenshots and flailed. I begged my mom to buy the magazine JUST because it had that single page with a few pics of it.

It was also the first fighting game I had ever owned, so the concept of beating it in like 10 minutes was totally beyond me and I was very confused when I beat Master Hand, but man... that game changed everything.

I only played Link, and to a lesser extent, Ness & Captain Falcon. Neither of whom I knew. I was completely confused by who these characters were.

I also proceeded to have my mom buy at least two other magazines that had SSB in them. One had info/preview stuff that showed all the starters and had all the games they'd been in up to that point, while the other was a vague guide that revealed how to unlock everything and how to beat their Break the Targets/Board the Platforms. I also became THE friend to hang with, and I was everywhere, bringing the N64 and/or SSB and controllers. My friend & I even created a rivalry out of Link & Samus, since those were our characters, It was great.

And to think, that only a couple years later, Melee came out. Which I was grounded during, so I had to play in secret, and play at my friend's house.

Instead of veering off for the rest of my life over the course of that time (in this post, anyway), I just want to focus quickly on the fact that Melee really made me stop to consider "Maybe I should play some of these other series..." and I got F-Zero GX, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Kirby Air Ride, and so on. Buying these games prompted me to play other games in the series that I missed (Super Mario 64, Metroid...) and buy an SNES from a friend, with Super Mario World, then get some hand-me-downs of DKC, Star Fox, Super Metroid... and I finally bought ALttP (on GBA).

Fast-forward to now, and I own at least one game featuring every character/franchise in Super Smash Bros. (although, I don't actually own Gyromite, or a R.O.B. game, but I own several games with R.O.B. cameos). In some cases, I own all of them now in some form (digital or retail). And why? Because I love these characters, and it was Super Smash Bros. that caused this. I don't love ALL of them, but nearly all of them. Melee and Brawl got me to try games I never really gave a chance to, and in some cases, I gave a second chance to, after dismissing them, and now I love the characters even more, and their franchises even more, and I can't wait to see them return, or to see some of my favorite faces show up for the first time.

So yeah, characters are a huge deal to me for SSB. They're like family, and new friends.