JomSpoons
Smash Cadet
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
- Messages
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Karate Joe, the pot punching karate man, is a notable character from Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven franchise, appearing as a playable character in every series entry to date. He trains himself, punching and kicking to the beat of the music. Rhythm Heaven is a series that has gotten little inclusion in Smash in any form, only having five trophies, two songs, and an enemy in Smash Run; the Sneaky Spirits. I think that we need representative from Rhythm Heaven as a playable character in Smash, and I feel that Karate Joe is the best choice.
Note: Rhythm Heaven is not a very story driven series, but even so, this thread contains spoilers. If you have yet to play through all the Rhythm Heaven games and want to remain surprised throughout your entire experience, then I recommend you avoid looking at this thread until you’re done.
Why Karate Joe?
Rhythm Heaven is a series filled to the brim with tons of zany characters. With so many characters, it may lead you to wonder why I feel Karate Joe is the best pick for Smash. Well, here are some reasons why I think he's the best choice.
(Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to say that other Rhythm Heaven characters aren't viable for Smash. Most other Rhythm Heaven characters I see suggested for Smash I think could actually work quite well. I'm just giving my reasoning as to why I think Karate Joe would be the best choice in terms of representation of the series as a whole.)
(Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to say that other Rhythm Heaven characters aren't viable for Smash. Most other Rhythm Heaven characters I see suggested for Smash I think could actually work quite well. I'm just giving my reasoning as to why I think Karate Joe would be the best choice in terms of representation of the series as a whole.)
• He's playable in every Rhythm Heaven game to date
Each Rhythm Heaven game has fresh ideas, with each minigame having their own unique cast of characters. That said, not many characters are mainstays because of it. Karate Joe is one of the few characters that have remained playable in each Rhythm Heaven game. Many other Rhythm Heaven characters I see suggested for Smash have not appeared as playable characters in every entry like Karate Joe has.
The Chorus Kids, for example, have only appeared playable in Rhythm Heaven on DS and Rhythm Heaven Megamix on 3DS. Marshal, who shares the same design of a Chorus Kid, appeared as a tutorial character and as a playable character in the credits game of Rhythm Heaven Fever on Wii. So, you could count this as another instance of The Chorus Kids making a playable appearance. However, The Chorus Kids had no appearance at all in the first game in the series, the Japan exclusive Rhythm Tengoku for GBA. Karate Joe on the other hand has been playable in all four Rhythm Heaven games to date.
I feel like playable appearances are something that not many people consider when it comes to Rhythm Heaven characters for Smash. I personally feel that it's important to keep this in mind. What I like to consider are the people who may have only played through one of the Rhythm Heaven games. Imagine there is a person in Japan who has only played through Rhythm Tengoku; if they saw The Chorus Kids or Marshal in Smash, they wouldn't know who it is even though have played one of the games in the franchise. With Karate Joe, you wouldn't have this problem.
• He's an important character in the series
Karate Joe is arguably the most important character in the Rhythm Heaven franchise. He's the playable character in the first minigame of both Rhythm Tengoku on GBA (which would also make him the first playable character of the entire franchise) and Rhythm Heaven Megamix on 3DS. He's also the playable character of the last main minigame of both Rhythm Heaven on DS and Rhythm Heaven Fever on Wii. In addition he's the playable character of the first post-game minigame in Rhythm Tengoku, the last post-game minigame in Rhythm Heaven Fever, is playable in a total 23 minigames/remixes across the entire series (25 if you count the arcade version of Rhythm Tengoku), has 4 of his own minigames in Rhythm Heaven Megamix alone, and has had several cameos across the series. Karate Joe is definitely one of the most prominent characters of the franchise, and anyone who's played through a Rhythm Heaven game will recognize him.
Moveset
When I see other people who suggest Karate Joe as a character for Smash, I notice that oftentimes people will only take inspiration from Karate Joe's own minigames for his Smash moveset. I do think that could work, but I think it'd be better if his moveset took inspiration from his own minigames as well as many others from across the franchise, sort of like how Mr. Game & Watch takes inspiration from all sorts of different Game & Watch games. It'd be a waste not to use the creative concepts of all these different minigames! Here are some of my ideas for a moveset.
- Overall, I think he'd be a very timing reliant fighter, requiring multiple button presses and precise timing between those button presses to use his moves to their fullest potential. Lack of timing or button presses won't do much for you, much like the Rhythm Heaven series itself. But mastering the timings for each move could make you a formidable fighter!
- His Recovery/Up Special could be based off the See-Saw minigame. It would create a see-saw beneath you and one of the characters from that game, either See or Saw (very clever names
), would appear above the other side, give an audio cue, and launch you upwards. Pressing the Specials button a second time when See or Saw are about to land, much like you would in the minigame, will launch you higher. If your timing is good, you'll launch fairly high, but if your timing is bad or you fail to perform the second button press, you won't launch very high. - His Neutral Special could be based off his own Karate Man minigames, where Karate Joe is punching pots, large rocks, light bulbs, barrels, and more! Using it would throw a pot in front of you and give an audio cue. Pressing the Specials button a second time will make you punch it. Depending on how accurate the timing on your second button press is will effect how far the pot you punch goes and how much damage it does when it hits an opponent. Failing to perform the second button press will cause it fly past you into the background, but it can still hit an opponent who's right in front of you and deal a small amount of damage. It could also have small chances of the pot being something else, much like Peach's turnips. It could have rarer chances of being a light bulb which deals a bit more damage, a rock which deals a good amount of damage, a cooking pot which does a bit more damage and stuns opponents for a moment, a barrel which would break into a bunch of pieces that'd deal small amounts of damage, and a barrel with a bomb inside which would give a different audio cue and require a third button press after the second to kick the bomb that falls out, which would lob when kicked and explode to deal a ton of damage. Failing to press the button a third time will cause the bomb to fall in front of you and deal damage to yourself instead.
- His Down Special could make The Chorus Kids from the Glee Club minigame appear in front of him, which Karate Joe would conduct with a baton like The Conductor from the minigame. To use this move correctly, you have to continue to hold down the Specials button and wait for the audio cue ("Together now!") to release it, which will cause The Chorus Kids yell in unison and will cause a circular outward push (similar to Mario's F.L.U.D.D. water push) that only effects opponents and pushes them away from The Chorus Kids/Karate Joe. The effectiveness of this push depends on the timing of the button release. If your timing is good, the radius of the push is fairly big. If your timing is bad, the push is a lot smaller. If your timing is way off, then there's no push at all.
- His Side Special could be based off of the Samurai Slice minigames. Using it will have Karate Joe unsheathe a sword and hold it at his side, similar to how The Wandering Samurai from the minigames would. When you begin to unsheathe the sword it'll make an audio cue and at the end of the unsheathe animation, if you press the Specials button again, you'll slice the air in front of you. If the timing on the second button press is good, you can slice through physical projectiles or items coming your way, destroying them and leaving you unharmed. If your timing is bad, you won't slice the air at all and you would have just left yourself venerable during the the animation. The slice only does an average amount of damage when trying to hit opponents directly with it.
- There is so much potential inspiration for his standard attacks that it's impossible for me to decide which ones are best. His Neutral Combo could be based off Figure Fighter, his up Smash could be based off The Clappy Trio, his Down Smash could be based off Crop Stomp, his Forward Smash could have him swinging a guitar like the ones in Rockers or Big Rock Finish, his Down Tilt could be based on Space Dance, his Side Tilt could be based off of Lockstep, his up tilt could be based off of the kick performed in Double Date, his Forward Air could be based on Air Rally, his Back Air on Rhythm Rally, his Down Air on Tap Trial, his Up Air on Catchy Tune, his Neutral Air on Bunny Hop, and so on. His Roll could be based on the flipper rolls in Flipper Flop, and Shielding could even have him holding out a Widget from Built to Scale! There are just so many minigames you could take inspiration from that it's hard for me to even decide on one example, and I'm sure there are even better ideas for moves that I haven't even thought of!
- I have two ideas for Karate Joe's Final Smash. The first (and less interesting) idea is "Earnest" (本気 Honki) based off of Rhythm Tengoku's Remix 8, and using it will make the "本気" text appear for a moment when it's initiated, and cast a dark shadow onto Karate Joe for a short time. During this time your attacks will automatically be timed perfectly. Also, your Neutral Special will always throw rocks when you use it during this time. This Final Smash would work similar to how Wario Man and Mega Lucario do in Smash 4, where they become more powerful for a short amount of time.
- My second idea is for Karate Joe's Final Smash is "Remix 10" or "Final Remix" where using it will make Karate Joe perform his combo move he uses in Rhythm Heaven Fever, and any players hit by it would be launched up to Rhythm Heaven where a bunch of characters from the series would be and would all fly by and attack the opponents brought there, similar to how Duck Hunt's and Shulk's Final Smashes work.
Special Move Visualizations
(Sorry for how sloppy my art is. I did all of it with a mouse and I'm not a great artist to begin with. Hopefully though this gives you a better image of my ideas!)
Appearance & Costumes
Another thing I see commonly associated with Rhythm Heaven fighters for Smash is them being 2D in-game like Mr. Game & Watch. I'm not really sure how people came to this consensus, since Rhythm Heaven is no stranger to 3D graphics (granted, not nearly as often as their 2D graphics, but either way 3D graphics in Rhythm Heaven isn't a foreign concept) and other characters have been translated to 3D to be fighters in Smash. Pit never had an official/finalized 3D model until he appeared in Brawl, so I don't see why Rhythm Heaven characters couldn't do the same.
I personally would prefer if Karate Joe was in Smash, he'd get translated into 3D. Kinda like how the Space Dancers were translated to 3D as the Paddlers from Rhythm Rally. (Specifically their models in Megamix, which are really sleek and capture their original style extremely well.) I feel like we could get a really nice looking 3D model for Karate Joe if they go with that sort of style for Smash. In the long run, it doesn't really matter to me whether he's 2D or 3D. But if it were up to me, I'd pick 3D.
As for alternate costumes, I've made a simplistic mockup of what Karate Joe's could look like. A lot of people have already made similar mockups for Karate Joe, but I wanted to try my own hand at it. Hope you guys like it! (It took a lot longer to make than I'd like to admit...)
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These are all the ideas I had for alternate costumes. They're all based on appearances Karate Joe has made in the franchise. Those who are familiar with the series likely know what these are based off of, but for those who don't, you can click the spoiler for explanations of each.
I personally would prefer if Karate Joe was in Smash, he'd get translated into 3D. Kinda like how the Space Dancers were translated to 3D as the Paddlers from Rhythm Rally. (Specifically their models in Megamix, which are really sleek and capture their original style extremely well.) I feel like we could get a really nice looking 3D model for Karate Joe if they go with that sort of style for Smash. In the long run, it doesn't really matter to me whether he's 2D or 3D. But if it were up to me, I'd pick 3D.
As for alternate costumes, I've made a simplistic mockup of what Karate Joe's could look like. A lot of people have already made similar mockups for Karate Joe, but I wanted to try my own hand at it. Hope you guys like it! (It took a lot longer to make than I'd like to admit...)
These are all the ideas I had for alternate costumes. They're all based on appearances Karate Joe has made in the franchise. Those who are familiar with the series likely know what these are based off of, but for those who don't, you can click the spoiler for explanations of each.
- The White costume would be his default. This is how he most commonly appears throughout the franchise and in most promotional art.
- The Blue costume is based off the second most common way he's portrayed, most notably in Rhythm Heaven DS and Rhythm Heaven Fever. I put it as the second costume because of this.
- The Orange costume is based off of his appearance in Rhythm Heaven Fever's Karate Man 2 and Rhythm Heaven Megamix's Karate Man Combos! (which is a port of Fever's first Karate Man with the color scheme of Fever's Karate Man 2)
- The Yellow costume is based off of his appearance in Rhythm Heaven DS's Karate Man 2.
- The Gray costume is based off of his appearance in Rhythm Heaven Fever's Remix 9.
- The Player 1 and Player 2 costumes are based off of Rhythm Heaven Fever's 2 Player version of Karate Man.
- The Tempo Up costume is based off of his appearance in the Rhythm Tengoku Arcade exclusive minigame, Karate Man Tempo Up!
- The Remix 6 costume is based off of his appearance in Rhythm Heaven DS's Remix 6.
- The Remix 7 costume is based off of his appearance in Rhythm Heaven Fever's Remix 7.
- The Honeybee Remix outfit is based off Rhythm Heaven Megamix's Honeybee Remix.
- The Father outfit is based on Karate Joe's Father.
Home Stage
Every fighter needs their own home stage (unless you're R.O.B. who is practically begging for a stage at this point), and with all the different minigames in the series, there are quite a few different things you could do for a stage. Here are a few ideas for Rhythm Heaven stages I have.
Mamarin Palace
(Tibby's Mom)
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(If anyone can get a full image of this with the surrounding area included, please let me know. I couldn't find one)
This is a bit of a strange choice for a stage, but I think it could work well in Smash. Rhythm Heaven's minigames tend to focus more on the characters than the environments surrounding them, meaning there aren't many distinct singular areas in the series. Rhythm Heaven Megamix is the only game in the series to have a story and different environments for the menus. In my opinion, I find Mamarin Palace, the final area of the game, to be the most unique. Tibby, the mascot character and protagonist of Rhythm Heaven Megamix, is a part of a species of creatures that grow into palaces when they get older. Tibby's Mom is a living palace in Heaven World known as the Mamarin Palace, who you attempt to help in the final stretch of the game.
I think Mamarin Palace could make for a good stage, where you're fighting in front of the palace, and you can jump up the Left-Hand and Right-Hand Towers and on top of Tibby's Mom, similar to how you would scale the Tomodachi Life and Luigi's Mansion stages. Tibby's Mom's expressions also could change depending on where fighters are standing and what they're doing. There could also be some of the characters from Megamix's story cheering in the background, such as Tibby, Boondog, Donna, Trey, Bertram, Betty, Colin, The Gatekeeper Trio, ect. There could even be some stage hazards, like the cars from Freeze Frame and the Rhythm Rockets from Launch Party.
Remix Stage
A stage based off of the remixes of Rhythm Heaven could be really cool. It could work like how Flat Zone 2 and Flat Zone X does with it's different Game & Watch games, taking you from one minigame to the next. It could be just the different areas from the minigames, or it could even be in the midst of the minigames, with the characters for each doing what they'd normally do in the Rhythm Heaven series, but could damage you at the same time. For example, if Blue Birds were included in this stage, when they "Peck their beaks" it'd damage any players who are close enough to get hit by the pecks. (Probably didn't have to explain that one, but whatever.) This could make for some very interesting scenarios, needing you to avoid characters and objects on the stage with the minigames' different audio cues serving as warnings.
Mamarin Palace
(Tibby's Mom)
(If anyone can get a full image of this with the surrounding area included, please let me know. I couldn't find one)
This is a bit of a strange choice for a stage, but I think it could work well in Smash. Rhythm Heaven's minigames tend to focus more on the characters than the environments surrounding them, meaning there aren't many distinct singular areas in the series. Rhythm Heaven Megamix is the only game in the series to have a story and different environments for the menus. In my opinion, I find Mamarin Palace, the final area of the game, to be the most unique. Tibby, the mascot character and protagonist of Rhythm Heaven Megamix, is a part of a species of creatures that grow into palaces when they get older. Tibby's Mom is a living palace in Heaven World known as the Mamarin Palace, who you attempt to help in the final stretch of the game.
I think Mamarin Palace could make for a good stage, where you're fighting in front of the palace, and you can jump up the Left-Hand and Right-Hand Towers and on top of Tibby's Mom, similar to how you would scale the Tomodachi Life and Luigi's Mansion stages. Tibby's Mom's expressions also could change depending on where fighters are standing and what they're doing. There could also be some of the characters from Megamix's story cheering in the background, such as Tibby, Boondog, Donna, Trey, Bertram, Betty, Colin, The Gatekeeper Trio, ect. There could even be some stage hazards, like the cars from Freeze Frame and the Rhythm Rockets from Launch Party.
Remix Stage
A stage based off of the remixes of Rhythm Heaven could be really cool. It could work like how Flat Zone 2 and Flat Zone X does with it's different Game & Watch games, taking you from one minigame to the next. It could be just the different areas from the minigames, or it could even be in the midst of the minigames, with the characters for each doing what they'd normally do in the Rhythm Heaven series, but could damage you at the same time. For example, if Blue Birds were included in this stage, when they "Peck their beaks" it'd damage any players who are close enough to get hit by the pecks. (Probably didn't have to explain that one, but whatever.) This could make for some very interesting scenarios, needing you to avoid characters and objects on the stage with the minigames' different audio cues serving as warnings.
Music
A big part of Rhythm Heaven is... well, it's music! There certainly is a lot to work with when it comes to Smash remixes and covers of Rhythm Heaven music. Here are some different ideas for Smash music if Karate Joe were to be included.
Karate Man Medley
If Karate Joe were in Smash, he HAS to have some of his iconic themes included! I think the best thing they could do is make a medley cover of Karateka, Struck by the Rain, and Lonely Storm. I'm no composer, but I think these three could work really well together in a cover track, similar to tracks like Mega Man 2 Medley and Mario Paint Medley from Smash 4 (two of my favorite Smash tracks ever), but with their respective vocals included as well.
Rhythm Tengoku, Rhythm Heaven (DS),
Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Rhythm Heaven Megamix Medleys
Similar to my last idea, I think there should be medley covers for each Rhythm Heaven title. It's probably a bit unrealistic to have a medley for each of the four entries in the franchise, but if it were to happen I think it'd be fantastic. There are so many different songs in each Rhythm Heaven that they could use, so it'd be hard for me to come up with an idea for a medley on par with Smash's. I think there would probably be four to six songs incorporated into each medley, starting with the main theme of each game. I was going to list a few tracks from each game that I think would be good for a medley, but there are far too many songs I like from each, so I can't bring myself to narrow it down.
But I'm sure Nintendo could compose some great medleys given all the tracks they have to work with.
Victory Theme:
Karate Man Prologue
In every Rhythm Heaven game, all of Karate Joe's minigames open with the same jingle.
I think this should definitely be Karate Joe's victory theme, and maybe incorporate some other song elements into it that give off that distinct Rhythm Heaven vibe. Maybe incorporate the last few notes of Rhythm Heaven Fever's Wii Channel theme or something along those lines.
Karate Man Medley
If Karate Joe were in Smash, he HAS to have some of his iconic themes included! I think the best thing they could do is make a medley cover of Karateka, Struck by the Rain, and Lonely Storm. I'm no composer, but I think these three could work really well together in a cover track, similar to tracks like Mega Man 2 Medley and Mario Paint Medley from Smash 4 (two of my favorite Smash tracks ever), but with their respective vocals included as well.
Rhythm Tengoku, Rhythm Heaven (DS),
Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Rhythm Heaven Megamix Medleys
Similar to my last idea, I think there should be medley covers for each Rhythm Heaven title. It's probably a bit unrealistic to have a medley for each of the four entries in the franchise, but if it were to happen I think it'd be fantastic. There are so many different songs in each Rhythm Heaven that they could use, so it'd be hard for me to come up with an idea for a medley on par with Smash's. I think there would probably be four to six songs incorporated into each medley, starting with the main theme of each game. I was going to list a few tracks from each game that I think would be good for a medley, but there are far too many songs I like from each, so I can't bring myself to narrow it down.
But I'm sure Nintendo could compose some great medleys given all the tracks they have to work with.Victory Theme:
Karate Man Prologue
In every Rhythm Heaven game, all of Karate Joe's minigames open with the same jingle.
I think this should definitely be Karate Joe's victory theme, and maybe incorporate some other song elements into it that give off that distinct Rhythm Heaven vibe. Maybe incorporate the last few notes of Rhythm Heaven Fever's Wii Channel theme or something along those lines.
Other People's Ideas!
I've already given all my ideas, so now I want to hear yours! Feel free to share your own ideas for Karate Joe in Smash on this thread, and I might even add them to this section! Here are some of my favorite ideas/works of Karate Joe in Smash!
Smash Bros. styled Karate Joe by ZacharyZachH
Smash Bros. styled Karate Joe by ZacharyZachH
(This is more of a general Rhythm Heaven character, but it uses Karate Joe and a Chorus Kid as the basis, so I thought it was worth including here. Plus, I just think this is really cool and I love Kevin's art.)
Made a quick move set for my ideal Rhythm Heaven rep for the next Smash. Thought it'd be cool to have a character that focused heavily on timing and the various mini games from the series. pic.twitter.com/GH03ihWhKU
— Kevin Fagaragan (@KevinFagaragan) March 26, 2018
Hippopotasauce said:
Hippopotasauce said:SPECIAL MOVES
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While the standards, smashes, grabs, etc. could work whatever they decide on, there are a couple moves that I think should be in his moveset. So whether they go with the karate or the rhythm heaven-based moveset, these are the special moves I think he should have.
Standard B - Hit 3: Karate Joe punches in front of him, which sends projectiles to the opponent in a high but short arc. Holding the B button causes him to hit up to 3 total, taking about 1.5 seconds for him to hit all of them. These projectiles can also fall of the stage and hit people offstage. A pot does standard hit damage and isn't particularly special. They can also be picked up if they land on the ground, but will disappear when another pot is spawn. The second punch results in a lightbulb, which does less damage than a pot, but leaves opponents stunned. The third punch is a rock, which does the most damage and also meteor smashes opponents in the air.
Down B - Combo: If you're within range of the opponent, trap them in a combo that would work similar to Marth's dancing blade. The final hit can knock them back in any direction you choose. However, if you miss, you go completely helpless, so be careful.
Side B - Bomb: Another projectile, but while the the standard B is more vertical with a small arc, the Bomb is more horizontal with a larger arc. Karate Joe crouches down and kicks a bomb forward. Opponents are hit with very much knockback and damage. However, it has a decent amount of start-up lag, so use it when you know you can get a hit.
Up B - Barrel Explosion: Now this is a move I've just invented on my own, he doesn't have a lot of choices for recoveries. A Barrel appears around Karate Joe and then explodes, blasting him upwards. Shrapnel from the explosion can also damage enemies. It has a lot of vertical range, but very little horizontal range, so know when to use it.
Specials
-B
Throw pot
Joe throws an object from the games. Objects thrown can be reflected with any attack from other fighters. Up to three objects can be on screen at once. When three pots are thrown with proper and consistent timing, activates flow for the current stock / timed match.
-UB
Combo
On ground, tosses a bunch of objects near him and hits with a flurry. When flow is active, the player can release the button with proper timing to finish with an uppercut
In air, only the uppercut is executed, no matter whether flow is active or not, but will have a much smaller hitbox if flow is not active
-DB
Chop
When used in succession when flow is active with good timing, becomes a weak projectile, like Falco’s lasers. Has a sweetspot on the palm of the hand. Spikes on sweetspot when flow is active.
-SB
Punch Kick
Tosses a barrel near him and breaks it. Bomb appears. When flow is active, the player can release the button with proper timing to launch the bomb farther. The bomb eventually explodes upon contact with the ground
Tilts
-A
His jab / punch from the games
Rapid skrikes:
Oraoraoraora! (Basically what can be seen in Karateka Mania's Demon stages)
-Utilt
Catch from catchy tune / clap from clappy trio
-Dtilt
Stabs the ground with the fork
-Stilt
Hits opponents with a spaceball bat
-Dash Attack
Imitates a record scratch movement from DJ school
Aerials
-Nair
Performs a midair kick, similar to Mario’s. Good combo starter / extender
-Fair
Does the pose from Lockstep
-Bair
Gets out a camera from Freeze Frame and snaps behind him
-Dair
Samurai’s sword movement, but pointing downwards
-Uair
Hits a dough ball upwards
Smashes
-Fsmash
Spin move from Frog Hop
-Usmash
"Kamone" jump from Fan Club
-Dsmash
Stomps the ground and pulls out a turnip
Grabs
-Grab
Generic
-Pummel
Hits opponent with drum stick
-Uthrow
Jumps like in See-Saw and throws the opponent up. The jump will actually count as a jump, so Joe can combo into any aireal. This also means that the grounded jump will be used up.
-Dthrow
Plucks out the opponent from the ground. The pluck can be canceled with any tilt to keep the opponent buried. This will allow for many mixups.
-Fthrow
Hits the opponent with a ping pong racket
-Bthrow
Preforms the “let’s sit down” pose from Space Dance
Other Animations
-Shield
Generic defense pose, arms up
-Airdodge / Wavedash
Spins in the air, similar to Bon Odori
-Roll
Rolls like in Night Walk (Fever)
-Spot Dodge
Nods like Captain Tuck in Flipper Flop, goes into the background layer.
-Perfect Shield / Parry
Blocks like the Samurai in Super Samurai Slice. Adds a half heart to Flow if active
-Utaunt
Spins a lightbulb on his finger. Then drops and breaks it. The dropped lightbulb will have a hitbox, that deals little to no stun as well as 1%. The lightbulb will count as an object for neutral special.
-Staunt
Pose for the fans!
-Dtaunt
Puts on headband from Karate Man Combos 2P. The headband stays for the rest of the current life / match. Repeating the taunt will make him adjust the headband
-Idle Loop
Beat animation but stylised
-Misc idle 1
Adjusts belt
-Misc idle 2
Tosses a pot around
-Land
Generic
-Walk
Generic
-Run
Generic
-Jump
Jumps like Play-Yan
-Double Jump
Poses like the player’s character in Pajama Party
-Entrance
Joe starts facing backwards, away from the screen, then turns around and is shown to be chowing down on a pork rice bowl.
-Victory pose 1
Pose like in Karate Man (Tengoku)'s OK rating screen
-Victory pose 2
Pose like in Karate Man (Gold) 2’s superb rating screen
-Victory pose 3
Pose like in Karate Man Combos’ superb rating screen
-Lose
Joe’s stomach grumbles
-Star kill
Poses akin to the samurai when he fails a whirlwind strike / large demon block
-Screen kill
Poses akin to the common fail animations in Rhythm Heaven (Tap Trial etc)
-Launched techable head
Look at that fanmade sprite sheet someone made. The one with the custom uppercut.
-Launched techable stomach
Crutches stomach
-Launched techable leg
Holds knee
-Launched techable backstab
Common back hit pose. (Maybe like the tf2 mercenaries’ backstabbed poses? They could look good on Joe. Check spycicle poses.)
-Trip
Common trip
-Launched untechable
Common spin
-Footstooled / spiked on ground
Common “oh no some dude tried to smash my head into the ground” pose
Final Smash
Non-stop Beat(ing)
Joe rushes in with a massive haul of objects. Opponents get pelted, and then uppercut by Joe, who also breaks a barrel. Launches opponents upwards. Higher flow means more knockback and damage.
Flow mechanic
The player can activate the flow meter by using neutral B three times, with consistent timing (timing it to the rhythm of the background music helps). Once active, attacks that are well timed will gain more power. All attack’s knockback will also now be synced for even more extended combos, even at higher percents. To build up flow, the player has to keep long combos. Higher flow deals more damage. The flow bar has four hearts. With max flow, Joe will enter serious mode, and the next four objects will be cooking pots and stones which deal massive damage and knockback, and also cannot be reflected. Higher tempo means less knockback and more damage while slower tempo means more knockback and less damage.
Tempos can take a value between 75 and 192 bpm. The tempo will automatically be truncated if they exceed these ranges. While it helps alot, the activation objects do not have to be thrown in time with the background music. The tempo will be based on the average of time between each object use, precise to the tenth decimal.
The flow mechanic is done this way because the music will most likely not have a bpm value on them. Players could also add their own custom music to Lawl.
Shielded Special:
While shielding, press B to deactivate Flow. Can come in handy to resync the tempo. With max flow however, this activates Serious Mode, which does not reset.
Freefall Hurt:
Similar to Little Mac’s
-Freefall special
Similar to Mario’s pose in Ultimate
Karate Joe moveset concept video by pizzadudeguyman
Thank you for reading! I hope you guys liked some of my ideas, and hopefully it's gotten you thinking up some ideas of your own! Please share any ideas or thoughts below. Also, if you have any corrections for grammatical errors, dead/incorrect links, or just general rewording/reformatting, feel free to let me know. (Just be civil, please!)
Supporters List
(Let me know if you want to be added!)
Supporters List
(Let me know if you want to be added!)
JomSpoons
Hippopotasauce
AwesomeAussie27
SquashiniKun
MegaMarioMan9
Tony Duck
P PepperFoop
xjthegulpin
Esquelen
WingedSupernova
Iko MattOrr
smashkirby
@~Pazzo~
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Malalaika
Domino11332
ninjahmos
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TriMaxTime
A AquaSol
LetterO
nintenplayer
GoodGrief741
?????????????Credits
- Special thank you to
Hippopotasauce
for creating the original Karate Joe thread and inspiring me to make my own for Smash Switch!
- Music note icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com
- Font made from Online Web Fonts is licensed by CC BY 3.0
- Custard Condensed font by Rian Hughes
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