ChronoBound
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
- 8,998
I would like to thank both of you for your compliments. I really appreciate them. I also appreciate anyone that chose to like my post. I understand a lot of my work tends to be verbose, so I understand if many do not manage to get through reading what I have to say. We all have a different way of expressing support for Dixie Kong, and my way is through writing. I am not confident it does much to build support for her to those outside her fanbase, but I do think it helps Dixie fans further understand what is so special about this character. Thank you again for your compliments and others for their support.
Your compliments mean a lot to me as well. I am glad I have been able to provide interesting insight for you for so long. Thank you.
As to the rest of your post, I am not optimistic on that. I already see both Geno and a Tales character (most likely Lloyd, though Yuri has a shot) as very likely, which only leaves three slots left. My estimation is that the next fighter will be confirmed at some point in September, and that the Tales character will be confirmed in December (to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the series).
That would leave only three fighters left for Pass 2. Of these three, I would be surprised if we get through all of Smash DLC without a Capcom newcomer, especially considering how generous Capcom was with content for Smash 4 DLC and Ultimate's base game. There are multiple big name choices for a Capcom fighter as well (namely Dante, Phoenix Wright, and Monster Hunter).
For the other two slots, it gets more dicey. It would be a bit peculiar though if we do not get one more Western third-party character as DLC especially when Sakurai said how he hoped to work with more Western composers in the future. There is also the fact that Western third-party Mii costumes have now started to become a regular occurrence. While the absence of another Western third-party would not be as peculiar as a Capcom newcomer being absent, it would still be a bit peculiar. There are still some very big names that even the Japanese side to the fanbase would be aware of (such as Crash Bandicoot and Minecraft Steve).
For the last slot, there are a few possibilities. Ryu Hayabusa I see as the most likely one, but he has the flimsiest reason for inclusion (namely that Koei-Tecmo is the only major Japanese third-party developer without a character on Ultimate's roster). Arle is another strong possibility. Puyo Puyo has two major titles on the Switch, and the 30th anniversary for Puyo Puyo is next year. Sakurai also seems to look at genre legacy, and Puyo Puyo as a puzzle franchise might be the most notable one outside of Tetris.
The possibility of a Nintendo character depends on Nintendo (and Sakurai) deeming a Nintendo character being more worthy of promotion (or more easily realizable) than the four latter ones I just mentioned (Capcom, Western third-party, Ryu Hayabusa or Arle). In terms of an additional Nintendo character, the three strongest possibilities I see are, in order: a Sword/Shield Pokemon, Elma, and a Rhythm Heaven character.
For Sword/Shield, Pokemon tends to be the only other franchise aside from Fire Emblem that gets "promotional" slots. Major DLC is releasing for Sword/Shield in September, so there is a possibility that a Pokemon ends up being the next fighter for Pass 2. For Elma, it is mainly whether there are plans for a port of Xenoblade X for the Switch, and whether Nintendo has relayed those plans to Sakurai. The same goes for Rhythm Heaven. Rhythm Heaven is the only notable Nintendo franchise that has not received either a Mii costume or Assist Trophy representation, and it supposedly was going to receive a playable fighter and stage in Smash 4 (the Sneaking Spirit is even an enemy in Smash Run).
For a theoretical new DK title though, even if it does exist, it will likely be another year until it is released (maybe to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Donkey Kong franchise next year). That would mean whoever selected the characters for Fighters Pass 2 (Nintendo, Sakurai, or a combination of the two), had to have known about this possible new DK title far in advance. Much further in advance than other promotional fighters have been in Smash. If a DK character were to happen as a result of a desire to promote this possible title, then it would be one of the most miraculous promotions considering how early in development the DK title would have been at the time of Pass 2's roster being decided.
I have said it many times before, and I will say it again, it will take a perfect alignment of special circumstances to make it so that Dixie manages to be a part of Ultimate's roster.
DKC3 is a very underrated game. I do think its just outside the trifecta of SNES platformer masterpieces (Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and DKC2) and that is very strong praise for the title. It does a lot of things right, but its problem was following up after DKC2 (which was extremely hard to top), launching after the Nintendo 64, and having a controversial co-protagonist (Kiddy Kong). I would say it is easily Rare's second best DK platformer. As I said before, DKC3 really helped solidify Dixie Kong as one of my favorite gaming protagonists during the second half of the 90's.
Incredible artwork. Thank you for sharing this. I really like the amount of art this thread produces despite Dixie not being at the forefront of character support and speculation. It is really a shame how many people think she is basically just "Diddy, except with hair gliding". Her prehensile hair offers many different possibilities for attacks and animations in general. She could easily be very distinctive from DK and Diddy despite being "another monkey".Hey everyone, so I've been thinking about ways in which Dixie could use her hair--not just in Smash but for fighting games in general. So, after a couple nights brainstorming I doodled up a lot of new ideas, and I wanna separate them into categories.
The first category I wanna show is what I'm gonna call "Hair Pivots"; this is basically maneuvers and attacks where Dixie uses her hair to support herself while another body part performs an attack. It's one of many ways that show how her hair itself can do more than smack enemies. Speaking of which, here's an example:
Dixie can perform a reverse Flip Kick! By using her hair as a balancing agent, Dixie kicks both feet out behind her and uses the momentum as well as her ponytail to swing her legs in an arc. As she does so, her ponytail supports her entire body and allows her to extend her reach past the length of her limbs; Dixie's granted a field of range that's unusual for a Kong her size, with a move that's performed swiftly and gracefully thanks to its momentum. This is perfect for enemies trying to sneak up on Dixie as it's guaranteed to knock them backwards and upwards. The attack is quite strong overall, and one of its greatest assets is how startlingly fast she can perform it. As it's meant to deal with sneak attacks it can come without warning, so beware.
Very proud to show this one. I'm trying to give her an acrobatic flair while balancing the chimpiness and the girly/cartoony aspect. My headcanon is that each Kong has broken most of their bones at least twice in the jungle, so contorting should be no sweat. This concept is a general idea that can work for any fighting game, but in the context of Smash this is definitely Up Tilt or Up Smash material, but anyone who sees this is free to use it however they like for whatever. Speaking of fighting games, this is actually inspired by Cammy from Street Fighter; obviously Cammy can't use her hair to help her do this, but that's where I got the inspiration.
Hope everyone likes this, and please put this on twitter whenever you want!
As others have pointed out, that was just a screenshot of a mode where you can display trophies next to one another in Brawl.
However, interestingly enough, Dixie was intended at one point to be part of Brawl's roster (and there is still a fighter folder for Dixie in Brawl's coding). Sakurai has even admitted that Dixie was planned to be playable, however, his intention was to make her as part of a tag team with Diddy. There were technical difficulties getting the tag team concept to work, so he and his team cut Dixie and re-worked Diddy as a fully independent fighter.
I still wonder if the reason (or one of the reasons) Dixie still has not made the roster yet is due to Sakurai wanting to revisit that tag team concept or thinking the tag team concept is the only thing that would make Dixie "interesting".
Since everyone else is reminiscing about their first exposure to the Smash Bros. series, I think I will share mine as well. I wrote this a while back:
Samus and Ridley were two of my favorite video game characters ever, and I very anxiously awaited a fourth game in the Metroid series throughout the late 1990's. I constantly replayed Metroid 1, Metroid II, and Super Metroid, in anticipation that a Nintendo 64 installment would eventually be announced.
When my family finally got the internet in 1997, I was surprised to see that so many other people also loved Super Metroid. I discovered a Metroid fansite called the Metroid Database. Every week or so, I would check that site for any news or rumblings pertaining to a possible new Metroid game.
In late 1998, there was an entry saying something along the lines of "Samus finally makes her Nintendo 64 debut", and I was ecstatic because I thought finally a new Metroid game had been announced. However, when I clicked on the entry it talked about a fighting game and linked to an IGN story.
The IGN story talked about a fighting game featuring all of Nintendo's major heroes and amongst them, Samus. Needless to say I was overcome with joy. Not only would Samus finally make a new major appearance on a game console, but all of my other favorite video game characters (which were mostly Nintendo) would be in as well. It was like some sort of fantasy come true.
I anxiously awaited the release of Smash 64. Samus, Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, and Pikachu all being in the same game was really amazing to see. I was even surprised and happy to see they brought in Ness (EarthBound was yet another game I liked that none of my classmates knew about). Smash Bros. seemed to be a game made just for me.
When Smash Bros. was finally released in the West, I was absolutely blown away when I actually got my hands on it. The items, the stages, the roster, everything amazed me. It very quickly became one of my favorite games for the Nintendo 64. I was even endeared with the "nonsense pick" Jigglypuff (back then, people had no idea why Jigglypuff was chosen as Pokemon's second playable character aside from perhaps Jigglypuff having a similar body to Kirby). The more I played, the more it became one of my favorite games ever.
To add in some more details, I cannot tell you how much of a big deal Super Smash Bros. was for me. I was someone that would be ecstatic just to see Samus cameo in another game (Super Mario RPG, Kirby Superstar, and Kirby's Dream Land 3 were made a little more special for me due to their Samus cameos). Almost all of the Nintendo franchises that had big SNES titles, received or were going to receive Nintendo 64 installments. Of the franchises that had a character on Smash 64's roster, the only two that did not have a 64 installment yet or known to have one in development were Metroid and Kirby, and with Kirby a major Kirby title was released just over a year ago (Dream Land 3) by the time Smash 64 released (January 1999 in Japan). By comparison, Metroid's last game at Smash 64's release was nearly five years ago (March 1994).
For a big Metroid fan like me (and I was the only one in my class that even knew about the series), it was miraculous that Samus managed to make a roster of 12 when Metroid's future looked uncertain. Seeing Samus in 3D for the first time was incredible for me, as well as being able to see a Metroid environment in 3D (the Planet Zebes stage).
Having Samus in a Nintendo 64 title but also in a game with many of my other favorite game characters was very surreal. I had always thought her N64 debut was going to be in a "Metroid 64", but it ended up being in a crossover of all things. Like even Mother had a Nintendo 64 installment in development at the time (it was featured in screenshots in magazines going back to early 1997), and Kirby's developer (HAL Laboratories) was the developer of Smash 64 so those two made sense on some level despite there not having been 64 releases for their franchises yet. However, for Metroid, it was a franchise that had no known future at the time.
Smash 64 was one of my favorite games of all time at that point simply due to it bringing most of my favorite game characters together for the same game. Like having all these characters interact with one another and being able to be inside their other universes was really incredible.
I remember being intensely hyped for the international release of Smash. Like I would print out as much screenshots of the game as I could, and put them all into a binder, and arrange the screenshots by character (a Mario section, a Samus section, a Yoshi section etc.). I would constantly look at the screenshots in the binder to daydream about playing Smash, and what the game would play like.
I got Smash 64 as a birthday gift, and the wait was easily worth the hype. It became one of my favorite 64 titles instantly.
Even small things like Ridley's cameo in the background to Smash 64 made the game very special to me (it was amazing to me how Ridley of all things was even able to make a cameo in Smash 64). This cameo actually got me to daydream about the possibility of a Smash 2, and in particular about villains/antagonists for each Nintendo franchise joining the roster.
Smash 64 today is looked at as a very barebones games, but back in the day (over 20 years ago), it was really groundbreaking. I never could have imagined that Smash would end up taking the form it has now, and we would go from 12 characters, to over 80. Ridley was the character I spent the most time hoping for, and it took nearly 20 years for him to happen. At this point, I am pretty satisfied with the roster, and the content in Ultimate in general.
Spinning the topic back to Dixie, it is incredible how things changed for her since the time Smash 64 debuted to now. Back when Smash 64 was released, Dixie had three consecutive years as the protagonist of a major platformer release (DKC2 in 1995, DKC3 in 1996, and DKL3 in 1997). Her last major appearance was only a little over a year old by the time Smash 64 was released. Ironically enough, this ended up being not just her last major appearance, but her last appearance in general (in the DK series) until 2004 (when Donkey Konga 2 released in Japan). In terms of a major appearance in her own series, it took until Tropical Freeze for her to get a major starring role again.
Back at the time when Smash 64 debuted, it was Samus who was fading in the shadows and Dixie was at the forefront as being Nintendo's biggest heroine (but still, Samus and Dixie Kong were probably considered the Top 2 Nintendo heroines, regardless of how old Super Metroid was at the time). Now, it seems that Dixie has basically faded to the background, while Samus is a face of "core" Nintendo.
I find that interesting. Like with Samus for Smash 64, it would take some sort of miracle for Dixie to somehow be added to the roster at this point. Her last major role was all the way back in early 2014, and while she made a new appearance recently (added to the roster in Mario Kart Tour earlier this year), it has been a while since she has last made waves.
At this point, all I can do is wait and see. I am not expecting Dixie to make it onto Ultimate's roster, but I still hope she somehow does.
Smash has been a part of my life since early 1999, and it is peculiar how over 20 years later, one of Nintendo's two biggest heroines at the time still has not made it in. However, at the same time, it is perfectly understandable given the context of how she missed DK64 and how the DK franchise was handled after the Rare buyout (as well as how DK tended to be overlooked as a series in both Melee and Smash 4).
Dixie Kong is dear to me, but I do not feel like doing the level of character support for her that I did for Ridley and Roy. With Dixie, her issue is not possible design issues (like Ridley's size within the Metroid series) or about being worthy to be in (like with Roy), but rather that many simply do not find her interesting for whatever reason. That is why I applaud the artwork produced in this thread. Not only do they display her unique abilities, but also the personality she has.
She has not become a very highly requested character, but she is probably among the Top 5 most wanted Nintendo newcomers, and in general most support her inclusion even if their support of her is tepid. She might even be regarded as the most conspicuous absence at this point. I feel that given the right circumstances, she could have an outpouring of support, though who knows how it would come about though (I originally thought K. Rool being confirmed would be the catalyst for this).
I might share more of the history I have had with Smash in the future if there is an interest in it. Not many remember the pre-Melee hype period, or the anticipation for Brawl (when it was being referred to as Smash 3) prior to E3 2006. I started being involved with the online Smash community in 2001 so there is a lot I have seen that seems to have been largely forgotten.
Very little Nintendo news in general got announced this year, yet there still managed to be a little news pertinent to Dixie (her Mario Kart Tour debut). I do think we will get two more characters for Ultimate confirmed this year (probably one in September and another in December). That would leave the second half of Pass 2 for 2021.
I do enjoy expressing my thoughts and ideas in this thread, and I have said before this one of the few places left I am still a somewhat regular contributor (though I only made five posts so far this year in this thread). Sharing my own personal first experiences with the Smash Bros. series (as well as reading those of others) was enjoyable.
It will be interesting to see what ends up being announced in September. Personally, I am expecting Fighter #77 to finally be unveiled, as well as possibly a full fledged Nintendo Direct (or at the very least some sort of Nintendo software announcement). Unfortunately, I am not expecting much in the way of DK news until next year.
Thank you to all of those that managed to get through reading this post. I hope those that did read through it either got some additional insight or some entertainment value from it.
