Garteam
Smash Master
Ever since that bombshell of an interview yesterday, it seems a lot of people are thinking about the direction the next Smash game will take. Particularly, veterans seem to be the centre of the conversation, as it seems less and less likely that "Everyone is here!" will be a consistent thing. Many people have theorized that the next game will be a pseudo-reboot and do away with much of the roster. While I'm not entirely sold on the idea, it does make for a fun conversation piece. Let's assume the worst case scenario: for this hypothetical Smash reboot, only 30 characters return from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Who do you think would be the ones to make the cut and why? Feel free to share rosters and rational.
To start, here's my 30 veteran roster:
To start, here's my 30 veteran roster:
-I don't think I need to explain the original 8. They all lead some of Nintendo's most iconic franchises and are still very popular to this day.
-
is a no-brainer. He's the number 2 in Nintendo's biggest series. Plus, he's been around since day 1.
- Much like how Luigi is Nintendo's main sidekick, and are Nintendo's leading lady and villain respectively. It would be weird to not have them hanging around.
- Seeing how DK is a major seller for Nintendo, it would be weird to leave him stranded as a singular character like in the Melee days. As such, it only made since that would return. I guess I could've brought K. Rool back instead, but it would feel weird to have him without DK's little buddy.
- is the star of two separate series, along with being a mainstay in the Mario cast. While it may seem a bit excessive to have this many characters associated with Mario in such a small roster, Wario simply feels too important to leave out.
-I choose and as the retro reps, simply because I feel their games have had the greatest impact in the Nintendo legacy among the NES bunch. This was a difficult decision, as all the NES characters bring interest move sets to the table. However, I felt leaving it to the 2 most iconic characters would leave enough room to fill out the rest of the roster while respecting Nintendo's past.
-Seeing how The Legend of Zelda is Nintendo's 3rd biggest series (well, 4th if you count the Wii brand, but still pretty important!), it only felt right to bring back another character from this series. Much like with Diddy and DK, it would feel weird to choose a character that wasn't for this position, especially since her name is in the title of the series! Plus, she adds some nice girl power to the roster.
-Admittedly, made my list by the skin of his teeth. I probably could've left him out for something like another retro character or maybe even the Mii Fighters, but I felt that Zelda was important enough to get a third character instead. Plus, something just feels good with all 3 pieces of the Triforce being present.
-After all the effort it took to get in the game, it would be a shame to see him go so soon! Metroid is definitely large enough to justify having two veterans and I'd much rather see Ridley return than Zero Suit or Dark Samus, seeing how he's more unique and important to Metroid than those two.
-It was tough choosing between Dedede and Meta Knight for who would rejoin alongside Kirby. However, I ultimately ruled in favour of for being generally more important to Kirby and having a more unique moveset.
-Sakurai likes himself some Kid Icarus, so's return was another no-brainer. It's a little sad to see him as an only child again though, but keeping things at 30 required some brave sacrifices.
-Speaking of no-brainers,. He's been with the series since day one, he's got a unique moveset, a large fanbase, and Earthbound seems to only be getting more and more popular as time goes on.
-Animal Crossing has proven itself to be more than that weird Japan-only N64 game it started as, it's become one of Nintendo's most prolific franchises. That, combined with his extremely unique gameplay, more than justifies's return.
-Some may call it cheating to bring back as a complete entity, but I'm gonna do it anyway. and are iconic and popular enough to rival Pikachu himself! And what lacks in the iconic status, he more than makes up for with a unique moveset. I also brought back for a similar reason. He's iconic, well-liked, and has a unique playstyle.
-If you had to have one Fire Emblem character, it's going to be. He's the face of the franchise and his name has become synonymous with both his own home series and Smash Bros. Plus, his playstyle is consistently popular across all the entries he appears in.
-Choosing only one of the 6 remaining Fire Emblem characters to return was tough. It got even tougher once I narrowed it down between Ike and Robin. Ultimately, I went with, as he has the most unique playstyle of the group and he is from the series' most popular entry.
-It's not a Smash Bros game without. F-Zero may be dead, but Falcon is still one of the most popular fighters of the bunch. There's just no way to proceed without him.
-,, and all fall under the same justification. These three hail from some of Nintendo's most recent successes at creating new IPs. Their series continue to only grow and gain significance as time goes on. Plus, they all have one-of-a-kind playstyles that would be sorely missed.
-
is a no-brainer. He's the number 2 in Nintendo's biggest series. Plus, he's been around since day 1.- Much like how Luigi is Nintendo's main sidekick,
and are Nintendo's leading lady and villain respectively. It would be weird to not have them hanging around.- Seeing how DK is a major seller for Nintendo, it would be weird to leave him stranded as a singular character like in the Melee days. As such, it only made since that
would return. I guess I could've brought K. Rool back instead, but it would feel weird to have him without DK's little buddy.-
is the star of two separate series, along with being a mainstay in the Mario cast. While it may seem a bit excessive to have this many characters associated with Mario in such a small roster, Wario simply feels too important to leave out.-I choose
and as the retro reps, simply because I feel their games have had the greatest impact in the Nintendo legacy among the NES bunch. This was a difficult decision, as all the NES characters bring interest move sets to the table. However, I felt leaving it to the 2 most iconic characters would leave enough room to fill out the rest of the roster while respecting Nintendo's past.-Seeing how The Legend of Zelda is Nintendo's 3rd biggest series (well, 4th if you count the Wii brand, but still pretty important!), it only felt right to bring back another character from this series. Much like with Diddy and DK, it would feel weird to choose a character that wasn't
for this position, especially since her name is in the title of the series! Plus, she adds some nice girl power to the roster.-Admittedly,
made my list by the skin of his teeth. I probably could've left him out for something like another retro character or maybe even the Mii Fighters, but I felt that Zelda was important enough to get a third character instead. Plus, something just feels good with all 3 pieces of the Triforce being present.-After all the effort it took to get
in the game, it would be a shame to see him go so soon! Metroid is definitely large enough to justify having two veterans and I'd much rather see Ridley return than Zero Suit or Dark Samus, seeing how he's more unique and important to Metroid than those two.-It was tough choosing between Dedede and Meta Knight for who would rejoin alongside Kirby. However, I ultimately ruled in favour of
for being generally more important to Kirby and having a more unique moveset.-Sakurai likes himself some Kid Icarus, so
's return was another no-brainer. It's a little sad to see him as an only child again though, but keeping things at 30 required some brave sacrifices.-Speaking of no-brainers,
. He's been with the series since day one, he's got a unique moveset, a large fanbase, and Earthbound seems to only be getting more and more popular as time goes on.-Animal Crossing has proven itself to be more than that weird Japan-only N64 game it started as, it's become one of Nintendo's most prolific franchises. That, combined with his extremely unique gameplay, more than justifies
's return.-Some may call it cheating to bring
back as a complete entity, but I'm gonna do it anyway. and are iconic and popular enough to rival Pikachu himself! And what lacks in the iconic status, he more than makes up for with a unique moveset. I also brought back for a similar reason. He's iconic, well-liked, and has a unique playstyle.-If you had to have one Fire Emblem character, it's going to be
. He's the face of the franchise and his name has become synonymous with both his own home series and Smash Bros. Plus, his playstyle is consistently popular across all the entries he appears in.-Choosing only one of the 6 remaining Fire Emblem characters to return was tough. It got even tougher once I narrowed it down between Ike and Robin. Ultimately, I went with
, as he has the most unique playstyle of the group and he is from the series' most popular entry.-It's not a Smash Bros game without
. F-Zero may be dead, but Falcon is still one of the most popular fighters of the bunch. There's just no way to proceed without him.-
,, and all fall under the same justification. These three hail from some of Nintendo's most recent successes at creating new IPs. Their series continue to only grow and gain significance as time goes on. Plus, they all have one-of-a-kind playstyles that would be sorely missed.
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