Climbing the Ranks - Travis Touchdown For Switch Smash!

[M00NFIRE94]

Three fingers = three mainline NMH games, third Smash game is where Suda helped. Orange thumbnail = tiger motif. Hand pose = henshin pose. Surprise drop = lower-key series.

I-it's happening...??

One can hope. This would make the first fighter I wanted added to Smash.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I'm pretty sure he's just counting down the number of days left.

 

[Looma]

He's obviously counting how many Destroymen are appearing on the Santa Destroy stage.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Good lord, here we go again...

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This is obviously a joke post, but I can see a lot of folks take it too serious.

 

[ramon_zer0]

Hopping from the Dante thread to throw support over y'alls way. Irrationally supporting my boy to a fault, but with the recent rumors helping Travis' chances, I'm suddenly reminded that HEY NO MORE HEROES IN SMASH IS SUCH A GOOD FRIGGIN IDEA

 

[SmashKeks]

TBH, though I'd love to be wrong, I don't see it happening. The reason we latched onto Travis being in pass 2 is because Suda already politely deconfirmed Travis. As we know, game developers love to tow that tricky line of playing coy without breaking NDAs in order to make eagle eyed uber fans excited when a reveal is made, but in most cases devs take the precaution to not outright lie to their fans, for better or for worse, since that's cheap surprise bait and makes you look untrustworthy. I think, so far as we know, Suda was saying that, AT LEAST for pass 1, he hasn't heard from Nintendo asking for Travis is in. If he was, Suda probably wouldn't say anything at all.

Odds are, if Travis is in, it's going to be in whatever happens after fighter pass 1, and in a way that almost works better imo. Travis could come at a later date, which could coincide close to or after the release of NMH3, which works as Sakurai throwing a bone to a good friend, but also as a promotional pick for a game Nintendo is trying to boost, not unlike Bayonetta's status with Bayo 2, where whadaya know, Bayo also made it into Smash 4. Travis comes to Smash around the release of NMH3, people are now looking at Travis in Smash, and by extension will be looking at his series and for an entry point into it if they think he looks cool. The only thing that would make it better is if remakes of NMH 1 and 2 on the Switch were announced sometime after the release of NMH3.

If Travis doesn't happen in Ultimate, it does look like Nintendo is treating the No More Heroes franchise like Bayonetta where they're backing it, possibly provided it stays a console exclusive, which I do think bodes well for Travis' chances in a future Smash title after Ultimate if this pays off and No More Heroes as a franchise soars to new heights with a fandom bigger than it's seen before, which seems to be happening with Bayonetta 3.

 

[Staarih]

So apparently someone on ResetEra (who supposedly has insider info) shared hints on the next fighter, who is "closely related and kept relevant by Nintendo but not their property" or something along those lines. I personally hate all this "insider" nonsense and not sure if it should be given the light of day, but some folks think Travis and No More Heroes fit this description. I'd welcome Travis with open arms honestly, and the sooner the better of course, but if he's not the reveal tomorrow, I'm willing to wait post pass.
Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed, tomorrow we'll all be wiser.

 

[Flyboy]

With a day to think about it and calm down, I really do think that our best shot would be post-pass still. We got deconfirmed pretty hard, and nothing has really changed outside of NMH3 being revealed, which again makes it more likely to come later if at all. I'd ****ing weep if he was revealed as fighter 5, but for now I'm not going to get my hopes up. Luckily I have loads of characters I love, so it could be a ton of people and I'd be happy.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Wish you guys the best of luck in Travis making it tomorrow.

And even if he's not FP5. He's still got a shot for post-Pass DLC.

 

[Cruelcumber]

I've never played a No More Heroes game before, yet for some reason I think it's likely that Travis Touchdown could be Fighter 5 tomorrow. Not 100% certain on this, but he just seems very plausible at the moment. Hopefully if he makes it in, Travis will bring with him a great move set befitting of his personality. At least his series has a solid OST, so that's something that any should look forward too for Smash.

 

[SmashKeks]

Here's something I was thinking about: Any Travis fan knows how Travis could be unique and original from any other fighter in Smash with his moves, style, and personality, but nevertheless if and when Travis makes it in, I feel like we should expect and prepare for the inevitable nay-sayers who will judge him the moment he's revealed because he's somewhat anime inspired and uses a sword. With that in mind, how would we feel if a Travis reveal trailer mocked that? As Flyboy pointed out, in would totally be in character for Travis to bring his classic trying-too-hard-to-be-cool one liners and abrasive, rude, bad sense of humor both to the game and to his trailer. Could you imagine something like a stealth Smash trailer in a future direct that opens with an X slashed across the screen, advertising the game Bash Bros. Ultra for the HAZRE Death Drive, that reveals a generic anime boy with some armor, a cape, and a sword, only to pan out to see Travis watching this from his TV in his apartment. "Oh brother, the last thing this game needs is another sword wielding Japanese pretty boy." Just then, Marth busts into the apartment and Travis and Marth start clashing swords, or something. I hadn't entirely thought it through but you get the idea. Alternately like Flayboy said I could see Travis making an off hand joke about being a sword user in the gameplay section of his trailer, maybe followed by him riding his motorcycle or using wrestling throws or using the power gloves or something. "This game has a lot of sword swingers in it already, but do any of them do THIS?".

 

[Looma]

I don't think words can properly convey how much I wanted to hear "Too many swordfighters? She must mean me!" yesterday.

 

[SmashKeks]

I don't think words can properly convey how much I wanted to hear "Too many swordfighters? She must mean me!" yesterday.

Yeah, I don't dislike Byleth as much as some (still disappointed though.), and I don't think Byleth does anything to Travis' chances, but my take away was that a Travis trailer should've been the one to use a "too many swordsman" joke. It still could but now it'd be redundant.

 

[Flyboy]

Hey if it helps, we know now that characters with a modern resurgence aren't totally off the table and that Nintendo definitely wants to get theirs even in a pass full of first parties. With NMH3 being backed by Nintendo hard, even used as their big Game Awards trailer, I think we could definitely see him happening.

There are of course, the usual Mii costume and Spirits worries, but until those happen Travis is going to be my number one wish for volume 2 until the bitter end.

(For the record, I am really happy about Byleth and I think the humorous nature of their trailer bodes well for us because it shows that Nintendo isn't afraid to get self-referential. As a 3H fan I was rolling with laughter the whole way through, it was very funny and clever.)

 

[Looma]

Now that you mention Mii costumes:

MASK de Smith Mii Brawler or RIOT

 

[SmashKeks]

Hey if it helps, we know now that characters with a modern resurgence aren't totally off the table and that Nintendo definitely wants to get theirs even in a pass full of first parties. With NMH3 being backed by Nintendo hard, even used as their big Game Awards trailer, I think we could definitely see him happening.

There are of course, the usual Mii costume and Spirits worries, but until those happen Travis is going to be my number one wish for volume 2 until the bitter end.

(For the record, I am really happy about Byleth and I think the humorous nature of their trailer bodes well for us because it shows that Nintendo isn't afraid to get self-referential. As a 3H fan I was rolling with laughter the whole way through, it was very funny and clever.)

If anything, I think Byleth might improve Travis' likelihood somewhat. I already compared Travis to Bayonetta. Byleth seems to be a promotional pick for the DLC, possibly the first one if Hero doesn't count. This goes to show that Nintendo is willing to have at least a few new characters represented just to promote something they want to sell. Now say it with me: Who has a new game on the horizon that could stand to make some good sales, is being backed by Nintendo, and would have all eyes on it if it's title character finds his way into the biggest fighting game ever?

 

[AntagonisticGalaxyCetacea]

Travis continues to avoid Mii Costume purgatory, hope lives on

 

[smileMasky]

I have a strong feeling he'll be in this pack. After all NMH3 is this year. I really hope we get to see it.

Edit: if they will do a trailer they need to do it the Suda way.

 

[Marvel-Otaku-Man]

I want to be hopeful. Its a new set of DLC fighters and that last NMH3 trailer did really well (nearly at a million views), so maybe, hopefully?

 

[lanky_gunner]

I have a good feeling he'll show up in some form in this next fighters pass. Whether it's a spirit board, mii costume, or (please...) a full blown character with stage and super rad music...that remains to be seen.

But hey, I'm pretty hopeful, so who knows?

Also, just imaging what stage he could bring (maybe something from NMH3?!) or Mii costume (maybe ask Capcom for some Killer7 love?) just leaves the possibilities wide open!

 

[SmashKeks]

I have a good feeling he'll show up in some form in this next fighters pass. Whether it's a spirit board, mii costume, or (please...) a full blown character with stage and super rad music...that remains to be seen.

But hey, I'm pretty hopeful, so who knows?

Also, just imaging what stage he could bring (maybe something from NMH3?!) or Mii costume (maybe ask Capcom for some Killer7 love?) just leaves the possibilities wide open!

A stage from NMH3 might be the best option to promote his upcoming game, if there's a notable set piece that will be important to the game, maybe the alien ship but I worry that could make the stage too similar to Star Fox stages like Corneria or Orbital Gate Assault. Otherwise there's lots of cool set pieces in NMH 1 or 2, but none that are more important than others in most cases. I always just imagined a stage warping stage titled "Santa Destroy" That starts in the Motel Hero parking lot, then shifts to other places, but there's so many cool areas it'd be hard to pick just 3 or 4 of them. If I had to take a Stab at it, maybe parking lot > Shinobu's NMH1 fight location in the abandoned school building > The desert where you fight Jeane, complete with Dark Star's dragon in the background boxing you into a circular arena > Jaspar Batt's office. Maybe replace the dessert with Guan's supermarket rooftop where you fought Margaret, so it's 2 for 2 with location from NMH1 and 2, the motel of course being a link to both games, as well as 3.

 

[Megadoomer]

parking lot > Shinobu's NMH1 fight location in the abandoned school building > The desert where you fight Jeane, complete with Dark Star's dragon in the background boxing you into a circular arena > Jaspar Batt's office

Reading that gave me traumatic flashbacks to the windows.

My concern is that none of those places are really related to each other. (aside from the motel and Jasper Batt's office, which are across the street from each other, from what I recall) I think the No More Heroes motel would work fine on its own, though if they made it a mobile stage, maybe it could travel between various stores/businesses throughout Santa Destroy?

 

[smileMasky]

Why do I get the feeling we will get something that will go hand in hand with NMH3 and smash. I can't wait for the release date.

 

[SmashKeks]

Reading that gave me traumatic flashbacks to the windows.

My concern is that none of those places are really related to each other. (aside from the motel and Jasper Batt's office, which are across the street from each other, from what I recall) I think the No More Heroes motel would work fine on its own, though if they made it a mobile stage, maybe it could travel between various stores/businesses throughout Santa Destroy?

Maybe that's fair, it's true none of those locations are intrinsically related, but I was trying to think about memorable set pieces in the series since, outside of the motel, there aren't a whole lot of memorable locations that are seen constantly throughout and are any more important than any other set pieces. I do like your idea of the businesses, maybe flipping from the motel, to Beef Head videos, to Thunder Ryu's dojo, to the alley with the Russian bar, or something. Alternately since all of the boss stages are more or less given equal billing, I considered maybe they could somehow make a stage that has a lot of NMH boss set pieces, but it randomly picks four for each match, or just randomly flips through them so long as the match goes on, that way each battle on the stage is unique. Imagine starting every match at the Motel, but at any moment you could be transported to Death Metal's mansion, the Santa Destroy stadium (on the field or in the basement, although maybe not the basement cause wow that fight was disturbing.), the school building, the movie studio, the beach, speed city, the prison island, Guans, the housing complexes with Alice Twilight, Jaspar's Office, and any others I missed that might be cool. I tried to cut out any boring/redundant/hard to make into a stage morph areas, namely a lot of desserts, empty roads, etc., but otherwise it would totally be in line for mad man Sakurai to sort of pull a Mario Maker stage with a NMH stage to have something like 16 unique locales that the stage shifts through randomly, reminding the fans of the fights had in those places.

I also considered whether there'd be any way for a NMH stage to emphasize 1 on 1 fights, but I couldn't think of anything other stages don't already do, such as Final Destination or the King of Fighters stadium. I considered whether they'd make a stage that you could only play on stamina mode, but I can't imagine they'd restrict gameplay options for any reason, and that'd make this theoretical stage confusing for new players. Odds are it'd probably be a stage with a platform set up, but I can't think of any special gimmicks that would be uniquely NMH, thus the set piece of the motel/multiple set pieces would probably be the next place to look to make an authentic NMH stage.

 

[Phoenixio]

With the news drought, I've been thinking about Travis quite a bit. I really hope he gets in, and a lot of people in the main speculation thread think he has a shot, especially with his 2020 circumstances, as pointed out a few posts ago.

Stage wise, I thnk they should go with the Motel, or the Parking Lot. They're the two most recurring locations. If it's the Parking Lot, I could see the gimmick being that you can't get out of bounds through the roof, or something akin to Terry's arena where you need to smash the roof to get out. The NMH series is so horizontal with little to no vertical movements, so that's be quite fitting.

Ability-wise, I think the luchador grabs is a good idea. The rest can be mostly sword based (since Travis Strikes Back is outside the main line he's known for). I wonder how they'll incorporate the stances/battery? I could see his moves being a tad stronger than other swordfighters, at the cost of him "slowly" regenerating battery by reloading akin to Inkling. It could also be his down B like Limit Break on Cloud. Stances are trickier, I guess they'll just show up as weaker/stronger moves, like how Byleth changes weapons for some of them.

Anyways, the reveal ideas above were great too, I could really picture them fully. I hope they go with something like that, even addressing his swordfighting status. Although if they decide to go for his twin katana loadout, that would be original enough and maybe people wouldn't complain as much...

 

[SmashKeks]

With the news drought, I've been thinking about Travis quite a bit. I really hope he gets in, and a lot of people in the main speculation thread think he has a shot, especially with his 2020 circumstances, as pointed out a few posts ago.

Stage wise, I thnk they should go with the Motel, or the Parking Lot. They're the two most recurring locations. If it's the Parking Lot, I could see the gimmick being that you can't get out of bounds through the roof, or something akin to Terry's arena where you need to smash the roof to get out. The NMH series is so horizontal with little to no vertical movements, so that's be quite fitting.

Ability-wise, I think the luchador grabs is a good idea. The rest can be mostly sword based (since Travis Strikes Back is outside the main line he's known for). I wonder how they'll incorporate the stances/battery? I could see his moves being a tad stronger than other swordfighters, at the cost of him "slowly" regenerating battery by reloading akin to Inkling. It could also be his down B like Limit Break on Cloud. Stances are trickier, I guess they'll just show up as weaker/stronger moves, like how Byleth changes weapons for some of them.

Anyways, the reveal ideas above were great too, I could really picture them fully. I hope they go with something like that, even addressing his swordfighting status. Although if they decide to go for his twin katana loadout, that would be original enough and maybe people wouldn't complain as much...

The more I think of a potential NMH stage, I go back to the Motel No More Heroes, where I imagine a ground level in the parking lot, but you can also run up and fight on the flight of stairs, and run along and fight on the upper level where Travis apartment is. Maybe let people jump around on the roof too and add some obstacles in the parking lot like a car or two or a vending machine you could jump on so the stage isn't too boring.

As for Travis death glove, Suda has specifically said he gave Travis the death glove to beef him up with some nice upgrades so he'll be ready to fight the bosses in NMHIII, so presumably Travis will utilize the glove in some manner in a main series game. If Travis' suplexes and lazer sword isn't enough for his moveset, we have death glove moves and the NMHIII teaser showed Travis in some Power Rangers, Kamen Rider-esque battle suit that flies and shoots missiles, so that could potentially be a part of a Travis moveset too, if not as a move then maybe as a taunt.

I wouldn't put stances on all of Travis' moves, but I could imagine a few using them, probably incorporated with a directional input. Personally I imagine a neutral/side special for Travis being his charged sword slash, similar to Kirby and Dedede's hammer. With a flick of the joystick in any diagonal direction, such a move could be a powerful ground or anti air option if your opponents try to jump at you. Same with a forward tilt/smash/air. On recharge, I could see it being a Cloud limit, or maybe something like Inkling. your swords power becomes weaker with continued use until it's useless, upon which you have to hit special and shield to charge the sword a bit.

This is probably a longshot, but I'd love to see Travis use all of his katanas. Default model and gameplay has him holding bloodberry, but a neutral special could see him use Rose Nasty for that secret spin move in NMH2, a down smash could see him slash at both sides with Rose Nasty, a forward smash uses Peony, with upsmash he unsheathes Tsubaki MKIII for a single slash, down air has him use Tsubaki MKII (The thick one with the four prongs) to do a hybrid Link/Cloud dair, etc.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Just so you all know, we're rating Travis on Rate Their Chances today.

 

[SmashKeks]

Just so you all know, we're rating Travis on Rate Their Chances today.

I'd love to participate, but I never learned how those threads work.

 

[chocolatejr9]

I'd love to participate, but I never learned how those threads work.

Then please! Allow me to enlighten you.

You have two percent scores: one for Chance and one for Want. For each score, you must give at least two conplete sentances explaining your reasoning for said score. If you lack knowledge on the character/concept, you can abstain. Also, if you group multiple topics under a single score, you must increase the amount of sentences accordingly (i.e. if you give two characters the same Want score, you have to have at least four complete sentences). After your rating, you can nominate a character/concept to be rated. By default, you only have five noms a day. However, you can try and predict the collective Chance score of the character/concept being rated next. If you get the closest prediction, you get additional noms depending on how close you were.

Does that help any?

 

[SmashKeks]

Then please! Allow me to enlighten you.

You have two percent scores: one for Chance and one for Want. For each score, you must give at least two conplete sentances explaining your reasoning for said score. If you lack knowledge on the character/concept, you can abstain. Also, if you group multiple topics under a single score, you must increase the amount of sentences accordingly (i.e. if you give two characters the same Want score, you have to have at least four complete sentences). After your rating, you can nominate a character/concept to be rated. By default, you only have five noms a day. However, you can try and predict the collective Chance score of the character/concept being rated next. If you get the closest prediction, you get additional noms depending on how close you were.

Does that help any?

A bit, but maybe I'll pop over there to see how it's done firsthand. Thank you for the explanation though.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Today we're rating Travis in the Rate their Chances thread. If you feel like it, you should pop by and say why you think Travis is likely and why you want him in Smash!

Edit: from the looks of it someone already gave you guys the heads-up. Great!

 

[Louie G.]

Have I not posted here yet? Either way, I've got a great feeling about Travis and he's become one of my most wanted characters. He's got my support and honestly Fighter Pass 2 would feel empty without him. It's just too perfect of an opportunity for him!

Something that I feel is underappreciated in Smash Bros is the unique personalities that characters bring to the table beyond their moveset. Travis has a ton of great moveset potential of course, but the biggest reason I like him so much is the potential for all of that personality oozing from him. He can be a little goofier and wilder than your average swordfighter, a little more self-aware than the other characters, really playing it up for the audience and carrying himself like he's big ****. I love the thought of it.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Look sharp, everyone, looks like Grasshopper will be featured in a digital event next month:

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http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...ishers_this_june_including_sega_atlus_and_snk

 

[Flyboy]

I'm excited for this event. I'm really hoping we get NMH3 news, plus companies like SNK showing up gives me hope for KOF news as well.

 

[Saer2k]

I can't wait to see some of the gameplay they will show off! Hopefully we'll finally get a proper introduction of Fu's gang
and maybe see some beloved wacky characters from the previous NMH games or other Suda51 games.

 

[Megadoomer]

I'm wondering if/how they're going to incorporate Bad Girl and Bad Man into this game, since the game leading up to this was about Bad Man bringing Bad Girl back from the dead.

I'm also wondering when the inevitable Destroyman boss fight is going to show up, where he's somehow going to have survived exploding, been abducted by aliens, and have the top half (top quarter? Seeing as half of it was robotic) of his body placed on top of a giant mechanical super-spider, or his brain has been put inside of Dracula's body, or something equally ridiculous.

While I haven't played Killer 7, Dan Smith from that game wants Travis dead, based on the intro to Travis Strikes Again, so maybe he'll show up?

 

[SmashKeks]

I'm wondering if/how they're going to incorporate Bad Girl and Bad Man into this game, since the game leading up to this was about Bad Man bringing Bad Girl back from the dead.

I'm also wondering when the inevitable Destroyman boss fight is going to show up, where he's somehow going to have survived exploding, been abducted by aliens, and have the top half (top quarter? Seeing as half of it was robotic) of his body placed on top of a giant mechanical super-spider, or his brain has been put inside of Dracula's body, or something equally ridiculous.

While I haven't played Killer 7, Dan Smith from that game wants Travis dead, based on the intro to Travis Strikes Again, so maybe he'll show up?

We may already have an idea what his appearance in this game will look like based on some concept art that was posted on the internet years ago. I even talked about it in this thread a bit on an earlier page. Still I won't spill if you'd rather find out for yourself, plus the story may have changed from concept phases and for all we know they won't go with the initially reveal direction, or maybe they won't use Destroyman at all.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if we'll finally get to see the actual killer of Shinobu's father. The topic's yet to be addressed in full.

While I haven't played Killer 7, Dan Smith from that game wants Travis dead, based on the intro to Travis Strikes Again, so maybe he'll show up?

No clue, but there does seem to be a metaverse with at least some of Suda's games now (although Silver Case, 25th Ward and Flower, Sun and Rain will likely remain in a video game for simplicity's sake), so we might see slightly stronger crossover elements.

That being said, it's funny how both NMH and Shantae, indie-based properties, both got newcomer-friendly installments almost immediately preceding plot-advancing ones, and both get to have their companies featured in the same event.

 

[Nazyrus]

Damn just listening to some of the new tracks, imagine this type of music in smash if they brough him in with tracks of the new game, lol

This is supposedly a boss theme.

 

[SmashKeks]

Damn just listening to some of the new tracks, imagine this type of music in smash if they brough him in with tracks of the new game, lol

This is supposedly a boss theme.

Only problem is I don't think that song originated from a video game, so rights might get tricky and Sakurai might not consider the track just by proxy of it being a non video game originated track. Which does suck since if I had it my way and Travis gets into smash Genki Rockets Heavenly Star would 100% get a Smash remix.