Wow, a lot of talk about Bowser since my last post. I want you guys to know that I'm not completely against speed for Bowser, I'm just stressing that there might be other things we can do. Speed is kind of a cop out IMO. It's just like "hey this character sucks? Speed em up, case closed!" Yes I know speed is a huge factor, yes I know about MvC. Sentinel wasn't slow, but primarily it was his
range that did the trick.
My training partner was a Bowser main for most of Brawl. I know Bowser's playstyle pretty well. Let's look at some of his strengths and see what we can do.
Throws
It's a shame that the throw speed code is ******** on Bowser. But we did seem to accomplish adding ending lag to MK's downsmash. Is there anyway to take ending lag away from Bowsers throws? I'm not even sure if he could still combo, but it's worth a thought.
Grab release
He had a great grab game of course, partially due to the grab release stuff. Now, personally, I see nothing wrong with grab release combos unless they are infinite.
@Alopex
How is it any different from a regular combo? Sure there is DI, but there are still plenty of 2 hitter quitters that DI does little to avoid (CF upThrow to knee/sideB to knee, Jiggz uair to rest, ect). Grab release was the one thing about his grab game that combo'd since his actual throws didn't. He could even kill some bigger/slower characters with upB out of grab release. There's nothing wrong with Bowser having something guaranteed, is there? Grab release is a choice made by the player when they are
already guaranteed damage just from the grab. Grab release doesn't create anything guaranteed where there already wasn't!
Does using an exploit as a way to smooth over balancing a character seem a bit lazy to anyone else?...Come on guys, we can be a bit more creative than that. We've got so many tools at our disposal to make Bowser more viable, and the best we can come up with is making his grab idiot proof?...don't just leave a stupid exploit in the game because one or two characters would do better with it.
Speeding up his grab release is no more lazier than speeding up anything else, and it actually
is more creative than speeding up most other things. If Bowser is the only one with a grab release, that makes him unique aka a creative buff. Who said we had to leave it in for the others? Just keep it for Bowser - He's the only character that actually relied on it to be viable. No one else
needed it, it was just another option for them. There's nothing stupid about it though: you earn the grab, you earn the damage, whether it's from a release or not.
SideB
The bodyslam was great partially due to insane range, the ISJR, and Bowsercide. The decreased buffer window nerfs ISJR not only due to the difficulty of input, but also because
the grab frame doesn't come out in time on low buffer settings. This means you cant catch somebody who rushes in to stop the ISJR with the actual grab. With buffer between 1-3, and possibly higher, the only use of the infinite is to create an autocancel effect for his aerials. Giving Bowser a specific buffer setting to preserve this unique part of his game is not out of the question, is it?
Range
Bowser has pretty good range! His ftilt is great for stopping the rush. Bair has super deceptive range and comes out fast. Fair is his best air to ground move, so if there was some way to make the range on that similar to Melee's, that would be a great buff. Don't know if that is possible at this point, though.
upB
Bowser's 'get out of jail free' card. We've already been looking at buffing this, and for good reason. Range and Speed are the obvious choices, but don't forget about height! If we want his recovery better, making it rise higher a la Link's upB would be a great way to do that. Also think about knockback. upB could kill you in Melee. I don't think that's ever going to happen in B+, especially due to gravity.
