Seeing as how Brawl is easily the most anticipated game for the Wii, and the Wii is the most popular console right now, don't you think it would be fitting for Nintendo to think about moving this franchise to the most popular portable?
I know a Smash Bros. DS game has been talked about among the forum quite a bit, and the general agreement is that it wouldn't work. Well, I'd have to disagree, myself. I personally think they could pull off a great DS version of Smash. I've given it a lot of thought, so I'll explain. Try to follow me on this one:
First off, if you have a DS, go get it. This text-only demonstration will be a lot easier if you know exactly what I'm talking about. Secondly, let's just assume they're porting "Melee" to the DS. We'll temporarily excuse the obvious technological differences right now, just so I can explain how the gameplay would port.
Well, to begin with, the buttons would be completely customizable, so if you don't like my particular setup, you could change it. (Again, this is all best-case scenario. Plus, it's 1:17am and I'm really bored, waiting for the next Brawl update. XD) So I'll list what each button would do:
A: Jump
B: Regular Attack (think "A" button on the Cube)
Y: Special Attack (think "B" button on the Cube)
X: Grab
R: Block
L: Tilt (I'll talk about this later)
D-Pad: This would take the place of the control stick on the Cube. Yes, we're sacrificing 360 degrees for 8-directions. This is inevitable.
Touch-Screen: Swipe-Stick (I'll talk about this later)
Okay, let me explain how the d-pad would work. First off, you would always be "running." Meaning, when you press Right or Left, it would be just like quickly slamming your control stick right or left. Right+B would be like a regular charging smash attack. Now, if you're still holding a direction after an attack/throw/etc, you would start walking/tilting, just like in Melee. However, this wouldn't be the only way to Tilt.
When you hold the L button as or before you press a direction, it is recognized as a tilt. When you think about it, this doesn't really change the difficulty of pulling of a regular tilt attack, since you have another button to worry about. Still, it's something I think most people could get used to.
So basically, all of the other buttons would work the same way they do on the cube. Jumping would be the same. Short hopping, fast-falling, even wave-dashing could be pulled off. (Of course, with the ability to only aim at a 45 degree angle, wave-dashing wouldn't be as "customizable") Of course, that still leaves the C-Stick. This is where the Touch Screen comes in.
Alright, this is really simple. Basically, to use this "virtual" C-stick, all you'd need to do is "slash" your thumb in any direction on the touch screen. You don't need to have any specific starting position, you can just tap anywhere (probably somewhere on the right side) and immediately slash in any direction. Now, before you bash this, go grab your DS. Mentally map the aforementioned buttons and pretend to play a Melee match. Now, instead of moving your thumb quickly down to use the C-Stick, move it quickly left and just slash. It doesn't feel too bad, does it? In fact, it almost feels as natural as the C-Stick.
And the nice thing is, the C-Stick does offer 360 degrees of direction, so you'd be able to angle your smashes perfectly. As an added bonus, you'd be able to throw your items in any direction, too. (Something Melee should be able to do.) And just to throw in a bit more, if you hold down the L button while slashing, you perform a tilt attack, that can now be perfectly angled.
I know the controls wouldn't be exactly the same, but they certainly aren't that much different. And they're definitely playable.
As for the two screens, that would be simple. The top screen would be all action. No percentages, no nothing. Just the stage and the fighters. The bottom screen would show the 4 players' percentages, stocks, and perhaps something else, like the item you're holding.
Really, the only major road block would be the system requirements for a game like this. Well, if it had original Smash Bros 64 graphics, I'm sure it would be able to pull off faster, more in-depth mechanics. And I doubt anyone would mind the graphics. They could even make the backgrounds a rendered 2D, like Resident Evil or the new Ninja Gaiden DS.
So, this post killed about 20 minutes for me. But seriously, what do you guys think of this idea? I mean, Nintendo will probably make a Smash game for the DS, or the next gen DS. It's pretty much inevitable. I just hope it would be something like this.
~Dac
I know a Smash Bros. DS game has been talked about among the forum quite a bit, and the general agreement is that it wouldn't work. Well, I'd have to disagree, myself. I personally think they could pull off a great DS version of Smash. I've given it a lot of thought, so I'll explain. Try to follow me on this one:
First off, if you have a DS, go get it. This text-only demonstration will be a lot easier if you know exactly what I'm talking about. Secondly, let's just assume they're porting "Melee" to the DS. We'll temporarily excuse the obvious technological differences right now, just so I can explain how the gameplay would port.
Well, to begin with, the buttons would be completely customizable, so if you don't like my particular setup, you could change it. (Again, this is all best-case scenario. Plus, it's 1:17am and I'm really bored, waiting for the next Brawl update. XD) So I'll list what each button would do:
A: Jump
B: Regular Attack (think "A" button on the Cube)
Y: Special Attack (think "B" button on the Cube)
X: Grab
R: Block
L: Tilt (I'll talk about this later)
D-Pad: This would take the place of the control stick on the Cube. Yes, we're sacrificing 360 degrees for 8-directions. This is inevitable.
Touch-Screen: Swipe-Stick (I'll talk about this later)
Okay, let me explain how the d-pad would work. First off, you would always be "running." Meaning, when you press Right or Left, it would be just like quickly slamming your control stick right or left. Right+B would be like a regular charging smash attack. Now, if you're still holding a direction after an attack/throw/etc, you would start walking/tilting, just like in Melee. However, this wouldn't be the only way to Tilt.
When you hold the L button as or before you press a direction, it is recognized as a tilt. When you think about it, this doesn't really change the difficulty of pulling of a regular tilt attack, since you have another button to worry about. Still, it's something I think most people could get used to.
So basically, all of the other buttons would work the same way they do on the cube. Jumping would be the same. Short hopping, fast-falling, even wave-dashing could be pulled off. (Of course, with the ability to only aim at a 45 degree angle, wave-dashing wouldn't be as "customizable") Of course, that still leaves the C-Stick. This is where the Touch Screen comes in.
Alright, this is really simple. Basically, to use this "virtual" C-stick, all you'd need to do is "slash" your thumb in any direction on the touch screen. You don't need to have any specific starting position, you can just tap anywhere (probably somewhere on the right side) and immediately slash in any direction. Now, before you bash this, go grab your DS. Mentally map the aforementioned buttons and pretend to play a Melee match. Now, instead of moving your thumb quickly down to use the C-Stick, move it quickly left and just slash. It doesn't feel too bad, does it? In fact, it almost feels as natural as the C-Stick.
And the nice thing is, the C-Stick does offer 360 degrees of direction, so you'd be able to angle your smashes perfectly. As an added bonus, you'd be able to throw your items in any direction, too. (Something Melee should be able to do.) And just to throw in a bit more, if you hold down the L button while slashing, you perform a tilt attack, that can now be perfectly angled.
I know the controls wouldn't be exactly the same, but they certainly aren't that much different. And they're definitely playable.
As for the two screens, that would be simple. The top screen would be all action. No percentages, no nothing. Just the stage and the fighters. The bottom screen would show the 4 players' percentages, stocks, and perhaps something else, like the item you're holding.
Really, the only major road block would be the system requirements for a game like this. Well, if it had original Smash Bros 64 graphics, I'm sure it would be able to pull off faster, more in-depth mechanics. And I doubt anyone would mind the graphics. They could even make the backgrounds a rendered 2D, like Resident Evil or the new Ninja Gaiden DS.
So, this post killed about 20 minutes for me. But seriously, what do you guys think of this idea? I mean, Nintendo will probably make a Smash game for the DS, or the next gen DS. It's pretty much inevitable. I just hope it would be something like this.
~Dac
