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Social Banjo-Kazooie Social Thread - Project Dream Come True!

Enigma735

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Hey everyone! I am new to this thread. I have been a huge Banjo supporter for YEARS and I cried tears of joy when he got included, and they are now my mains. But I really want to express my thoughts on this topic.

I'm getting so sick and tired of people complaining about how underwhelming and disappointing Banjo is because he doesn't have some crazy gimmick like the other DLC, and it is so annoying when I hear people say that. Yes, I know people are entitled to their own opinion and I didn't expect everyone to like Banjo, but I did not expect the hate that he has been getting. And personally, I feel those who are complaining about the content he came with and his moveset either haven't played a Banjo game, or wanted Steve over him.

In my opinion, Banjo is absolutely done perfect and I was impressed on how Sakurai captured the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. Banjo has some of the best animations in the entire game, his moveset is faithful to the source material, Spiral Mountain is by far the most detailed and biggest stage out of the DLC so far, the music is PHENOMENAL by remixing a majority of the tracks, and even having Grant Kirkhope back on board to remix the Spiral Mountain theme.

I just don't really see where all the disappointment is coming from, and I ended up being more impressed then I expected. Banjo may not have gotten as much love as Terry, but I honestly think Banjo is second to Terry in terms of love. I just had to get this off my chest because I am just appalled as to why Banjo is getting so much random hate all of a sudden.
 
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DougEfresh

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 23, 2020
Messages
212
Hey everyone! I am new to this thread. I have been a huge Banjo supporter for YEARS and I cried tears of joy when he got included, and they are now my mains. But I really want to express my thoughts on this topic.

I'm getting so sick and tired of people complaining about how underwhelming and disappointing Banjo is because he doesn't have some crazy gimmick like the other DLC, and it is so annoying when I hear people say that. Yes, I know people are entitled to their own opinion and I didn't expect everyone to like Banjo, but I did not expect the hate that he has been getting. And personally, I feel those who are complaining about the content he came with and his moveset either haven't played a Banjo game, or wanted Steve over him.

In my opinion, Banjo is absolutely done perfect and I was impressed on how Sakurai captured the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. Banjo has some of the best animations in the entire game, his moveset is faithful to the source material, Spiral Mountain is by far the most detailed and biggest stage out of the DLC so far, the music is PHENOMENAL by remixing a majority of the tracks, and even having Grant Kirkhope back on board to remix the Spiral Mountain theme.

I just don't really see where all the disappointment is coming from, and I ended up being more impressed then I expected. Banjo may not have gotten as much love as Terry, but I honestly think Banjo is second to Terry in terms of love. I just had to get this off my chest because I am just appalled as to why Banjo is getting so much random hate all of a sudden.
I feel you on all of this. Their playstyle was actually a bit less intuitive than I would've thought given their relatively simple moveset design and there's a lot more complexity and mix ups you can use with Banjo than meets the eye. But people love to hate on "zoner" characters (especially American players) because they're "too campy" (when properly utilizing all of their tools, these assessments are both ones I disagree with) but quickplay has unfortunately created a good portion of this stigma because of how often you run into banjo players who play lame and literally never approach. People also tend to want to play a character only if a high/top level competitive player they like plays them, and there's very few players at these skill levels investing time into the bear and bird. That being said, I think they're great all around and I'm definitely doing my part to explore the depths and intricacies of the character more in this game. Plus they're just so much fun regardless.

P.S.: I cried tears of joy too during his E3 reveal trailer last year as well, by far the happiest I've been about any kind of smash character reveal or gaming announcement in general lol
 

Enigma735

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I feel you on all of this. Their playstyle was actually a bit less intuitive than I would've thought given their relatively simple moveset design and there's a lot more complexity and mix ups you can use with Banjo than meets the eye. But people love to hate on "zoner" characters (especially American players) because they're "too campy" (when properly utilizing all of their tools, these assessments are both ones I disagree with) but quickplay has unfortunately created a good portion of this stigma because of how often you run into banjo players who play lame and literally never approach. People also tend to want to play a character only if a high/top level competitive player they like plays them, and there's very few players at these skill levels investing time into the bear and bird. That being said, I think they're great all around and I'm definitely doing my part to explore the depths and intricacies of the character more in this game. Plus they're just so much fun regardless.

P.S.: I cried tears of joy too during his E3 reveal trailer last year as well, by far the happiest I've been about any kind of smash character reveal or gaming announcement in general lol
I could not have said this better myself.

Also, Banjo's reveal for Smash is definitely up their in my favorite gaming moments lol. His trailer felt like a Nintendo family reunion.
 

DougEfresh

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 23, 2020
Messages
212
Yes exactly. I was so thrilled when they ended up dropping during the first week of September too, as I thought we would all have to wait several weeks more into fall before their release!
 

CosmicQuark

Smash Master
Joined
Aug 17, 2018
Messages
3,522
Hey everyone! I am new to this thread. I have been a huge Banjo supporter for YEARS and I cried tears of joy when he got included, and they are now my mains. But I really want to express my thoughts on this topic.

I'm getting so sick and tired of people complaining about how underwhelming and disappointing Banjo is because he doesn't have some crazy gimmick like the other DLC, and it is so annoying when I hear people say that. Yes, I know people are entitled to their own opinion and I didn't expect everyone to like Banjo, but I did not expect the hate that he has been getting. And personally, I feel those who are complaining about the content he came with and his moveset either haven't played a Banjo game, or wanted Steve over him.

In my opinion, Banjo is absolutely done perfect and I was impressed on how Sakurai captured the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. Banjo has some of the best animations in the entire game, his moveset is faithful to the source material, Spiral Mountain is by far the most detailed and biggest stage out of the DLC so far, the music is PHENOMENAL by remixing a majority of the tracks, and even having Grant Kirkhope back on board to remix the Spiral Mountain theme.

I just don't really see where all the disappointment is coming from, and I ended up being more impressed then I expected. Banjo may not have gotten as much love as Terry, but I honestly think Banjo is second to Terry in terms of love. I just had to get this off my chest because I am just appalled as to why Banjo is getting so much random hate all of a sudden.
I agree as well, they're pretty much what I expected from Banjo & Kazooie in Smash, and more. Usually with Smash characters, it takes me a long time to get used to character's moves ("Wait, down b does that? Why? How do I recover, this is complicated"), whereas Banjo & Kazooie were a perfect fit for me. Particularly their recovery, being able to do stuff out of the shock spring jump really makes them feel at home with their platformer roots. While they're not perfect--I feel like they could have squeezed in more of their in-game abilities for a more complete moveset--they did pretty much everything I expected (eggs, talon trot, wonderwing, even breegull bash!) as well as stuff I didn't expect, but now couldn't see being without (they really went all-in on their stage, pretty much recreating all the little details of Spiral Mountain--and I did not expect them to get Grant's involvement, to me that showed me how important it was). I don't get people's frustrations with the characters--"They suck they're like... high mid-tier"--but it's mainly those from the competitive scene, and I'm a casual player myself, and so while I'd love to see Banjo & Kazooie getting played by the heavy hitters (or really, any Smash let's players), I don't care and don't have to watch competitive matches (Tweek and Nairo's switch from hype to disappointment did hurt a bit, though).

They're the ideal love letter to the bear and bird duo. I was worried it might be a Mario situation where I love the character, but not a fan of their moves, but was so happy with all of the attention to detail that was put into them. As it is in the games, they're the underdogs, the unlikely heroes, and I'm fine with it staying that way.
 
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Enigma735

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Mt. Cuminshidmore
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I agree as well, they're pretty much what I expected from Banjo & Kazooie in Smash, and more. Usually with Smash characters, it takes me a long time to get used to character's moves ("Wait, down b does that? Why? How do I recover, this is complicated"), whereas Banjo & Kazooie were a perfect fit for me. Particularly their recovery, being able to do stuff out of the shock spring jump really makes them feel at home with their platformer roots. While they're not perfect--I feel like they could have squeezed in more of their in-game abilities for a more complete moveset--they did pretty much everything I expected (eggs, talon trot, wonderwing, even breegull bash!) as well as stuff I didn't expect, but now couldn't see being without (they really went all-in on their stage, pretty much recreating all the little details of Spiral Mountain--and I did not expect them to get Grant's involvement, to me that showed me how important it was). I don't get people's frustrations with the characters--"They suck they're like... high mid-tier"--but it's mainly those from the competitive scene, and I'm a casual player myself, and so while I'd love to see Banjo & Kazooie getting played by the heavy hitters (or really, any Smash let's players), I don't care and don't have to watch competitive matches (Tweek and Nairo's switch from hype to disappointment did hurt a bit, though).

They're the ideal love letter to the bear and bird duo. I was worried it might be a Mario situation where I love the character, but not a fan of their moves, but was so happy with all of the attention to detail that was put into them. As it is in the games, they're the underdogs, the unlikely heroes, and I'm fine with it staying that way.
I agree 100% and I do think another group that hates the bear and bird duo are the hardcore competitive players that will literally hate on any character and say they suck if they aren't at least high tier. That is why I like to stay away from tier list videos and stuff like that. I don't wanna feel like the competitive scene is telling me who I should and should not play with. As long as I love the characters and franchises in general, that is enough for me to main them and definitely give them an edge over other characters. Its almost been a year and I am still in shock that they actually made it in.
 

Enigma735

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The tier scene is such a joke that there is a template that lets you make your own lists...and it can let you write them to be about anything, from their puzzle-solving abilities to whoever's got the biggest shoe size.
Exactly lol I seen those. Don't get me wrong, I respect the competitive scene and I really do appreciate top players from all over the world playing Smash together, but the little things like tier lists rubs me the wrong way and I hate feeling like I am being told who I should play with.
 

RetrogamerMax

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Exactly lol I seen those. Don't get me wrong, I respect the competitive scene and I really do appreciate top players from all over the world playing Smash together, but the little things like tier lists rubs me the wrong way and I hate feeling like I am being told who I should play with.
Exactly! We should only play as characters we love and enjoy not just characters who competitive players see as reliable or the best.
 

kirbsmash

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Banjo may not have gotten as much love as Terry, but I honestly think Banjo is second to Terry in terms of love. I just had to get this off my chest because I am just appalled as to why Banjo is getting so much random hate all of a sudden.
Then again, Terry got hate for being 'Ken'. He got flank of being 'a Ken wannbe' and is overshadowed by 'Sans' who is THERE with the bear and bird duo. I hate that 'who?' means that they shouldn't come in Smash. Also, the duo is hella fun.
 
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DougEfresh

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Mar 23, 2020
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I agree 100% and I do think another group that hates the bear and bird duo are the hardcore competitive players that will literally hate on any character and say they suck if they aren't at least high tier. That is why I like to stay away from tier list videos and stuff like that. I don't wanna feel like the competitive scene is telling me who I should and should not play with. As long as I love the characters and franchises in general, that is enough for me to main them and definitely give them an edge over other characters. Its almost been a year and I am still in shock that they actually made it in.
Pretty much this right here. People tend to put way too much stock into tier lists across all levels, and the biggest problem with them is that they're so subjective: what factors and criteria are most relevant to that player? Is it just results, or are they also factoring in what they think are the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of characters? Do they consider under-representation or over-saturation of certain characters over others and how that affects perception of tier placements and viability? Not to mention that I think many top players most likely don't like going against the grain of popular opinions among their peers when making these tier lists and explaining their reasoning for the specific placement of characters within it (particularly if the character's design or gimmick is controversial or if the popular opinion is strong one way or another for any number of reasons) in order to maintain their brand and keep their viewers/subs/fans.

Anyway, long story short, I agree with you once again lol. For 99% of us, it's my opinion that we'll be much better off playing the characters we actually enjoy and have faith in than those we can't do either with (even with mid and high level competitive players too, top level play is different just because the results do matter that much more if you're genuinely trying to make a living off of competitive smash). It's actually really funny to me too how so many people think "mid tier" is so bad when the discrepancies between characters across all tiers is as small in Ultimate as it ever has been in the entire series and they should train the characters they enjoy as hard as they can if they want to "git gud" instead of whining about buffs they want just because their character(s) is/are not top 10-15 in the game lmao.
 

KirbyWorshipper2465

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The classic box art, in the style of Pokémon.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Exactly! We should only play as characters we love and enjoy not just characters who competitive players see as reliable or the best.
Seriously, I mean the latest tourney thread has, as of this writing, most of the posts be from either Kirby haters or those who dismiss him because of tier.

Edit: Yooka-Laylee now has a proper 64-bit graphics option:

https://www.playtonicgames.com/yooka-laylee-the-64-bit-tonic-is-out-now-on-all-consoles/
 
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DougEfresh

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Aren't Nintendo Directs planned and recorded several weeks in advance of when they're actually premiered, or is it just the Smash character reveals/presentations? Idk why general Nintendo Directs would operate differently than smash directs (in which case, we should probably get one in June regardless), but maybe they do and I just didn't know about it.
 
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CosmicQuark

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Aren't Nintendo Directs planned and recorded several weeks in advance of when they're actually premiered, or is it just the Smash character reveals/presentations? Idk why general Nintendo Directs would operate differently than smash directs (in which case, we should probably get one in June regardless), but maybe they do and I just didn't know about it.
Nintendo Directs are planned months in advance. They have to coordinate with NOA and NOE, their third party and indie partners. There's a lot of planning that happens beforehand, then the time it takes to shoot, edit, and make changes if need be. NateDrake was mentioning that on the SpawnCast, which confirmed my suspicions on how it worked.
 
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DougEfresh

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Nintendo Directs are planned months in advance. They have to coordinate with NOA and NOE, their third party and indie partners. There's a lot of planning that happens beforehand, then the time it takes to shoot, edit, and make changes if need be. NateDrake was mentioning that on the SpawnCast, which confirmed my suspicions on how it worked.
Alright, that's what I thought. I'm not the most familiar on how things are being handled with Corona virus in Japan these days, but I have to imagine that there will be a Nintendo direct of some kind over the summer even with the way things are/have been (especially with such advanced planning as you described). They're still a business that needs to advertise and promote their new products/games while creating relevance and hype for ones coming down the pipeline, after all.
 

CosmicQuark

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Alright, that's what I thought. I'm not the most familiar on how things are being handled with Corona virus in Japan these days, but I have to imagine that there will be a Nintendo direct of some kind over the summer even with the way things are/have been (especially with such advanced planning as you described). They're still a business that needs to advertise and promote their new products/games while creating relevance and hype for ones coming down the pipeline, after all.
Yeah, apparently Japanese companies like Nintendo are not adjusting well to work at home, which has led to delays (apparently Smash is an exception, as everything I've heard shows Sakurai thinks things are going smoothly given the circumstances). I think given everything I've read a Summer direct is really unlikely, and what's more likely to happen is Nintendo will let third party developers announce their games when they're ready, and Nintendo will release info on their games, either through Twitter or short announcements (their financial briefing is a likely place to put a lot of information), rather than highly edited and polished video productions, for the time being, and that would likely resume in the Fall as they find their footing.
 

DougEfresh

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Yeah, apparently Japanese companies like Nintendo are not adjusting well to work at home, which has led to delays (apparently Smash is an exception, as everything I've heard shows Sakurai thinks things are going smoothly given the circumstances). I think given everything I've read a Summer direct is really unlikely, and what's more likely to happen is Nintendo will let third party developers announce their games when they're ready, and Nintendo will release info on their games, either through Twitter or short announcements (their financial briefing is a likely place to put a lot of information), rather than highly edited and polished video productions, for the time being, and that would likely resume in the Fall as they find their footing.
Hmm, I see. Not that I'm holding my breath for it, but particularly after all of this blows over (for the most part, anyway), I really hope Nintendo improves on their advertising practices and just communicates more in general. Waiting 6.5 months for a random as hell "direct-mini" at the end of March with easily the weakest way to "present" a new smash character was kind of BS (and personally, XC:DE was really the only thing I got remotely excited about). A lot of people will just stop caring or forget about smash/other games if they continue to wait so long between their announcements, especially if they keep trying to do that shadow-drop method they last several weeks ago. Sometimes I just don't understand Nintendo's thought process and methods are when it comes to business lol.
 

Banjoisawesome2020

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Anyone else heard of that major leak of the Wii's source code and other things from Nintendo? I hope this won't affect their trust with other companies...and we never get a new Banjo-Kazooie game on a Nintendo console... :(
 

dlewis53

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Anyone else heard of that major leak of the Wii's source code and other things from Nintendo? I hope this won't affect their trust with other companies...and we never get a new Banjo-Kazooie game on a Nintendo console... :(
...Dude, unless it was directly stated (or there's significant evidence) that the ones responsible for this were from other companies, then Nintendo has no reason to distrust other video game companies.

You really need to calm down and stop assuming the worst.
 

Banjoisawesome2020

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...Dude, unless it was directly stated (or there's significant evidence) that the ones responsible for this were from other companies, then Nintendo has no reason to distrust other video game companies.

You really need to calm down and stop assuming the worst.
Sorry...I just get worried...
 

Dinoman96

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So, this guy's been working on his own Project M Banjo-Kazooie moveset.


It started development before Banjo was officially confirmed for Ultimate, so there's a ton of differences between this and the official version. Who do you think did it better?
 

3BitSaurus

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So, this guy's been working on his own Project M Banjo-Kazooie moveset.

It started development before Banjo was officially confirmed for Ultimate, so there's a ton of differences between this and the official version. Who do you think did it better?
The animations feel a bit wonky, but I do think I like the Down Smash, Fair and Bair more.
 

DougEfresh

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Mar 23, 2020
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I like that he represented the flight pad and beak bomber in their moveset, although it does feel strange to have wonderwing absent. Also weird how up smash isn't an actual attack either and I'm not so sure on rear egg not being included in their moveset, either. But having the actual rat-a-tat-rap for fair is great, and I agree that his dsmash is better. The back air is cool, too. Definitely unique if nothing else though, curious to see what the final product will look like with some polishing.
 
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RetrogamerMax

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So, this guy's been working on his own Project M Banjo-Kazooie moveset.


It started development before Banjo was officially confirmed for Ultimate, so there's a ton of differences between this and the official version. Who do you think did it better?
I love the usage of Pack Wack and Flight in the moveset.
 

CosmicQuark

Smash Master
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So, this guy's been working on his own Project M Banjo-Kazooie moveset.

It started development before Banjo was officially confirmed for Ultimate, so there's a ton of differences between this and the official version. Who do you think did it better?
It's really interesting to now see two different takes on Banjo & Kazooie's moveset come to life. In particular, it's made me appreciate even more how I'm shocked and pleasantly surprised on what Ultimate's team came up with, and references to aspects of the games I wasn't sure they would be okay with incorporating, but they did. On the other hand, Project M's seems to stay a bit more true to the original games, though in many ways I feel like Ultimate did a better job. That being said, obviously Project M is done by fans, with limited resources and on their own time, so any critique I have includes the disclaimer that they did an amazing job given the resources they have, and visually look a lot more remarkable than I assumed a fan version can look like (particularly given the--lackluster fan mods that have preceded it). And despite Banjo & Kazooie being in Ultimate, I feel like if they can find the motivation, I'd love to see it completed as there's still a niche for a non-Ultimate style Banjo & Kazooie Smash fighter, and I'd love to see what they ultimately do with it.

I really like the incorporation of a legitimate Rat-a-Tat Rap, since that's the move I always played in the games, but instead in Ultimate, it's only used in a backwards version, which is much harder to pull off and, as such, I use less. I know Smash fans love his forward air with the Dr. Mario punch, but everyone's reaction seems to be "too bad it doesn't spike." I feel like had they used Rat-a-Tat Rap for his forward air rather than a move that was already in Smash, there'd be less expectations of people thinking it would spike (Smash/Banjo fans correct me if I'm wrong, and I may also be confusing that with his down air where people don't like that he goes too low--which I think fits the characters, so I'm fine with it as is). Though I'm not a fan with the Project M also using Peck, as they can be quite similar, and Rat-a-Tat Rap is the better move and should take precedent. Which is why I'm glad Ultimate went with Beak Bayonet, incorporating a move from Tooie I was hoping for, but didn't expect to be in the game. So satisfying to use that.

I like Ultimate's up tilt more with Kazooie propping up Banjo with Banjo kicking upwards more, as any created moves that utilize both Banjo & Kazooie I feel are better. While I like the use of Pack Whack, I also really love how Ultimate incorporated both shooting and pooping eggs--the latter, I didn't think they'd do, and was pleasantly surprised they included. The downside is you can only use them with grenade eggs, would be nice to cycle through them. I feel like Banjo & Kazooie's forward air should be Rat-a-Tat Rap and his back air should be the air version of Pack Whack.

I like Ultimate's Up Smash more, as it was able to include Banjo & Kazooie's Beak Buster and Bill Drill while making both feel different enough, whereas here it's only used as a glorified jump. While more like the original games, I feel like this is one instance where Smash's deviations from the originals worked. In the Project M version, I'm not sure how it really works as a "move"--feels better having Flip Flap incorporated in his jumps, as Ultimate did.

I'm conflicted on both Ultimate and Project M's up air. On the one hand, I was confused at first, but as I've played Ultimate's Banjo & Kazooie, I've grown to like their up air, though I'm not sure if Smash fans like it or not. Project M's up air accomplishes the same thing, though looks faster. I do think Ultimate's is more creative, and I like it the way it is, but if other's aren't a fan of it, I'd be fine with it being switched up. I like Project M's neutral air's callback to the original Dreams beta design, and I am sick of Ultimate's neutral air being called "Ivy Nair." Here's an example of it being taken from the games, in the form of Wing Whack, but repurposed to fit the move. I actually really like the use of Wing Whack, it's my go-to aerial move, since Back Rat-a-Tat-Rap is harder to accomplish. And in general, I like moves that stick to the originals more than made up moves, though I think Ultimate did a good job with most of the ones they made up for Smash.

I really love Ultimate's Up Special, as it makes a lot of sense to use Shock Spring Jump, however I am disappointed that there's no Flight Pad alternative to have that reference in as well. I whole-heartedly agree with King Bob that one of the best experiences in the original Banjo-Kazooie was flying for the first time, as it was far more engaging, easier to use, and freeing than Mario's Wing Cap, though it comes with the drawback of potentially being broken if implemented poorly. I can see the conflict of only having one, and Shock Spring Jump has much less potential to be broken. But seeing Flight work in Project M, it makes me wonder how well Ultimate could have done it if they went that direction. I particularly like the idea of having different moves open up after using a move. For instance, using Flight allows Banjo & Kazooie to have different specials, with their side special being Beak Bomb, whereas out of Flight, their side special is Wonderwing. Also with Flight, they can keep Banjo & Kazooie's simple egg mechanic, but include more egg types--the egg type associated with Flight could be Fire Eggs, as an example. Though, I still don't know how Flight can be incorporated without being too broken, so I'm curious how they balance that in Project M.

Overall, I like a lot of the ideas Project M has, some I think are better than Ultimate as they stay more true to the original games, however, when it comes to the moves the Ultimate team came up with, I like their creativity more. I like Project M's incorporation of Rat-a-Tat-Rap, Pack Whack, and Flight more, though I would personally implement them differently to make the moveset more refined, but I like Ultimate's incorporation of Wonderwing, Bill Drill, and Wing Whack more. Though, it has reinvigorated my interest in creating a moveset of my own, now knowing how things work and don't work, and so I'll likely look into making my own moveset and post them when I'm satisfied with it. Also, I am less knowledgeable of the intricacies of how moves in Smash work, and it's also difficult for me to keep track of the generic names of moves (e.g., bair, ftilt) and so I'm sure I made a mistake somewhere. But those are my immediate thoughts after watching the showcase.
 

DougEfresh

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It's really interesting to now see two different takes on Banjo & Kazooie's moveset come to life. In particular, it's made me appreciate even more how I'm shocked and pleasantly surprised on what Ultimate's team came up with, and references to aspects of the games I wasn't sure they would be okay with incorporating, but they did. On the other hand, Project M's seems to stay a bit more true to the original games, though in many ways I feel like Ultimate did a better job. That being said, obviously Project M is done by fans, with limited resources and on their own time, so any critique I have includes the disclaimer that they did an amazing job given the resources they have, and visually look a lot more remarkable than I assumed a fan version can look like (particularly given the--lackluster fan mods that have preceded it). And despite Banjo & Kazooie being in Ultimate, I feel like if they can find the motivation, I'd love to see it completed as there's still a niche for a non-Ultimate style Banjo & Kazooie Smash fighter, and I'd love to see what they ultimately do with it.

I really like the incorporation of a legitimate Rat-a-Tat Rap, since that's the move I always played in the games, but instead in Ultimate, it's only used in a backwards version, which is much harder to pull off and, as such, I use less. I know Smash fans love his forward air with the Dr. Mario punch, but everyone's reaction seems to be "too bad it doesn't spike." I feel like had they used Rat-a-Tat Rap for his forward air rather than a move that was already in Smash, there'd be less expectations of people thinking it would spike (Smash/Banjo fans correct me if I'm wrong, and I may also be confusing that with his down air where people don't like that he goes too low--which I think fits the characters, so I'm fine with it as is). Though I'm not a fan with the Project M also using Peck, as they can be quite similar, and Rat-a-Tat Rap is the better move and should take precedent. Which is why I'm glad Ultimate went with Beak Bayonet, incorporating a move from Tooie I was hoping for, but didn't expect to be in the game. So satisfying to use that.

I like Ultimate's up tilt more with Kazooie propping up Banjo with Banjo kicking upwards more, as any created moves that utilize both Banjo & Kazooie I feel are better. While I like the use of Pack Whack, I also really love how Ultimate incorporated both shooting and pooping eggs--the latter, I didn't think they'd do, and was pleasantly surprised they included. The downside is you can only use them with grenade eggs, would be nice to cycle through them. I feel like Banjo & Kazooie's forward air should be Rat-a-Tat Rap and his back air should be the air version of Pack Whack.

I like Ultimate's Up Smash more, as it was able to include Banjo & Kazooie's Beak Buster and Bill Drill while making both feel different enough, whereas here it's only used as a glorified jump. While more like the original games, I feel like this is one instance where Smash's deviations from the originals worked. In the Project M version, I'm not sure how it really works as a "move"--feels better having Flip Flap incorporated in his jumps, as Ultimate did.

I'm conflicted on both Ultimate and Project M's up air. On the one hand, I was confused at first, but as I've played Ultimate's Banjo & Kazooie, I've grown to like their up air, though I'm not sure if Smash fans like it or not. Project M's up air accomplishes the same thing, though looks faster. I do think Ultimate's is more creative, and I like it the way it is, but if other's aren't a fan of it, I'd be fine with it being switched up. I like Project M's neutral air's callback to the original Dreams beta design, and I am sick of Ultimate's neutral air being called "Ivy Nair." Here's an example of it being taken from the games, in the form of Wing Whack, but repurposed to fit the move. I actually really like the use of Wing Whack, it's my go-to aerial move, since Back Rat-a-Tat-Rap is harder to accomplish. And in general, I like moves that stick to the originals more than made up moves, though I think Ultimate did a good job with most of the ones they made up for Smash.

I really love Ultimate's Up Special, as it makes a lot of sense to use Shock Spring Jump, however I am disappointed that there's no Flight Pad alternative to have that reference in as well. I whole-heartedly agree with King Bob that one of the best experiences in the original Banjo-Kazooie was flying for the first time, as it was far more engaging, easier to use, and freeing than Mario's Wing Cap, though it comes with the drawback of potentially being broken if implemented poorly. I can see the conflict of only having one, and Shock Spring Jump has much less potential to be broken. But seeing Flight work in Project M, it makes me wonder how well Ultimate could have done it if they went that direction. I particularly like the idea of having different moves open up after using a move. For instance, using Flight allows Banjo & Kazooie to have different specials, with their side special being Beak Bomb, whereas out of Flight, their side special is Wonderwing. Also with Flight, they can keep Banjo & Kazooie's simple egg mechanic, but include more egg types--the egg type associated with Flight could be Fire Eggs, as an example. Though, I still don't know how Flight can be incorporated without being too broken, so I'm curious how they balance that in Project M.

Overall, I like a lot of the ideas Project M has, some I think are better than Ultimate as they stay more true to the original games, however, when it comes to the moves the Ultimate team came up with, I like their creativity more. I like Project M's incorporation of Rat-a-Tat-Rap, Pack Whack, and Flight more, though I would personally implement them differently to make the moveset more refined, but I like Ultimate's incorporation of Wonderwing, Bill Drill, and Wing Whack more. Though, it has reinvigorated my interest in creating a moveset of my own, now knowing how things work and don't work, and so I'll likely look into making my own moveset and post them when I'm satisfied with it. Also, I am less knowledgeable of the intricacies of how moves in Smash work, and it's also difficult for me to keep track of the generic names of moves (e.g., bair, ftilt) and so I'm sure I made a mistake somewhere. But those are my immediate thoughts after watching the showcase.
Just gonna comment on a few of these that resonated with me the most. I totally agree with you regarding the project M version of BK's up smash. First off, the obvious: it's supposed to be a smash attack, so more faithful to their abilities from their series or not, it makes no sense whatsoever that it is just a glorified jump and not any kind of offensive move to use. Lastly, I also agree with you that representing characters' movesets too faithfully from their games can actually end up being disappointing because certain moves just might not feel right even if every animation and attack is "accurate" to the source material they come from. A lot of the charm of characters in Smash is derived from the creative liberties the dev team uses when designing them and their movesets/animations while also staying sufficiently loyal to the abilities used within the games they originate from (so that they can feel both familiar enough yet also novel to allow for a fun and exciting character to play as). Ultimate did a great job overall with this balance in designing Banjo & Kazooie.

It's funny you mentioned the up air and neutral air, as I've come to grow more fond of the former and less keen on the latter as I've continued to play the duo over time. Up air is relatively fast, very disjointed and satisfying to hit to anti-air/juggle, and the first hit of up air can yield a lot of follow ups if you manage to get that precise hitbox and react fast enough to get a grab, fsmash, wonderwing, etc. A lot of utility there. Nair is not bad by any stretch, but it's just a bit slow, and I think it's unfortunate that its dragdown ability is a bit unwieldy even if there's somewhat of a pattern to get that more consistently for follow ups. At least make it a bit faster to help them not get so abused in the air at times, if you ask me. I think if they were to outright replace his neutral air, it should be with the aerial version of pack whack, since that too goes in a circular motion that goes all around Banjo's body (which is pretty much what almost all of neutral air attacks do).

To sum it up, yes, he made some really novel design choices and I can certainly appreciate his attention to detail in representing the series so thoroughly through the character of Banjo & Kazooie, but I think that comes at a bit of a cost in terms of "fun" factor from a lack of creativity and adding things that are either very weak offensively or completely non-offensive with no apparent other uses (that couldn't be accomplished already through other controls) that diminishes the excitement of playing the duo. Still can't get over the fact that his up smash isn't any kind of attack and as cool as flight pad/beak bomber are in their moveset, Idk how you can use it well at all in any matches that were actually serious for one reason or another lmao.
 

RetrogamerMax

Smash Legend
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I know it's already almost been a year since Banjo & Kazooie were announced, but it's still so surreal to see them in the game when they were literally seen as nothing more than a pipe dream to most of us for almost 20 years.
 

Nesysli

Smash Apprentice
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Dec 31, 2018
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I know it's already almost been a year since Banjo & Kazooie were announced, but it's still so surreal to see them in the game when they were literally seen as nothing more than a pipe dream to most of us for almost 20 years.
Indeed, it's still hard for me to believe, it has been a dream for me practically my whole life. Seeing Banjo fight Mario, DK, Mega Man, Yoshi, Cloud & lots of other of my video game favorites; just right outside of his house where I spent many, many treasured hours playing his games is still hard for me to wrap my head around.
 

DougEfresh

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 23, 2020
Messages
212
I know it's already almost been a year since Banjo & Kazooie were announced, but it's still so surreal to see them in the game when they were literally seen as nothing more than a pipe dream to most of us for almost 20 years.
I still feel the same way from time to time, bro. Though for me, I've mostly moved from a state of shock and jovial disbelief that they're actually playable in Smash to feeling like they fit in so well that it seems they've been part of the roster for much longer than they actually have been. My complete joy playing as them still hasn't faded away one bit, though.

Despite the disdain many people have for the bear and bird duo as characters in Ultimate, I've had a few people intrigued about them and one or two have even asked me to teach them how to play BK (both have yet to take me up on the help I've offered them for that, though). Just the fact that my love and dedication to playing them in this game has led to other people being interested in learning more about and playing as BK not only is a huge compliment to me as a player (apparently I make them look good and interesting enough to play as despite many others calling them a campy, lame zoner), but also adds even more to the joy I've continued to have playing them. From their fantastic reveal trailer to their earlier than expected release, it's truly an unforgettable moment in my life and especially in my time gaming that has led to many, many hours of pure bliss and happiness for me.
 
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I know it's already almost been a year since Banjo & Kazooie were announced, but it's still so surreal to see them in the game when they were literally seen as nothing more than a pipe dream to most of us for almost 20 years.
Dreams do come true, in this case, Project Dream heh. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself seeing them on the roster with other favourites, heavy hitters and all stars. Truly feels like the Ultimate Smash title.
 
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