DoctorProctor
Smash Cadet
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2019
- Messages
- 60
So, I’m literally suggesting a smiley face in Smash.
But trust me, Evil Otto would actually be cool in Smash even though it would never happen, ever.
See, Berzerk! (not to be confused with Berserk) is a 1980 arcade game developed by Stern Electronics and Atari Inc.
I currently have no idea who owns Stern Electronic’s games. They may still exist as a company but I doubt it.
The game starred you, the humanoid, invading a secret facility filled with robots trying to kill you. It’s basically a top-down shooter. The robots are voiced by a special chip in the game, and will yell “Destroy the humanoid!” and similar phrases at the player. It’s pretty funny nowadays.
Anyways, after a while, a smiley face would appear onscreen and follow the player. It can phase through walls and is known as Evil Otto. The in-game explanation seems to be that Evil Otto is a robotic security android, which explains why he usually shouts “INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT!” at the player. Evil Otto is indestructible.
Now, Evil Otto is significant because he was the cause of two real-life deaths. Berzerk! is the first video game to ever actually kill someone, both deaths from a heart attack, specifically when Evil Otto appeared onscreen.
Anyways, Berzerk! had a sequel in 1982 called Frenzy!, where Evil Otto reappeared. This game featured more robots, complex rooms, and even a Big Otto room, where a giant Evil Otto statue summons more Evil Ottos and smiles when the player dies.
In this game, Evil Otto is no longer invincible: he changes facial expressions three times before being destroyed. However, he speeds up with each hit.
Berzerk! and Frenzy have been released and ported on many consoles, including arcade, ColecoVision, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Vectrex, the ZX Spectrum, and iOS. A board game was also released based on the game.
How would Evil Otto work in Smash?
Evil Otto has not been seen in nearly 40 years. So, for his appearance in Smash, the entire Berzerk! series would need to be reimagined.
Evil Otto’s design for Smash should be based on the fact that he is an android. He should still keep his smiley-face design, but be made of metal, and in order to use items, creative liberties would have to be taken, such as having a robotic claw arm extend from him. He could possibly be a large, robotic floating disk. His taunts would of course involve uttering of phrases from Berzerk! and Frenzy.
(My concept art of Evil Otto)
His moveset could involve:
- Summoning the other robots from Berzerk!
- Shooting projectiles
- Hovering around
- Stuff from other Stern Electronics games
- Creating electrified walls (Berzerk!)
- Summoning Big Otto (Frenzy)
- Other robot-y moves.
- More Berzerk!-inspired moves.
Evil Otto does have some gimmick potential, in that he could change facial expressions, making him attack stronger and move faster, but deal him significant damage. This move could be a down-special, and would make him change from a happy face, to a neutral face, to a frowny face. Each facial change deals 40 percent, but his damage and speed is tripled. This could allow for some unique character play. Frowny face Evil Otto would be much stronger and much faster than regular Evil Otto, but would likely be at 120% damage.
Evil Otto’s stage could be a reimagining of Berzerk!, or simply a retro Berzerk! stage like Pac-Maze. His series icon could be a robot from Berzerk!, or a smiley face.
Who owns Berzerk!?
Stern Electronics left the videogame industry in 1985, a victim of the Video Game crash. It made pinball machines, and so its pinball assets were purchased by Data East. However, these assets later were purchased by Sega Pinball. In 1999, a portion of Sega Pinball split off to form Stern Pinball, which continues to this day.
Essentially, there is a possibility that the rights to Berzerk! and Frenzy are owned by Sega or Stern Pinball, most likely the latter.
Well, thanks for reading! And I hope this character sounds interesting!
Videos:
Berzerk! gameplay: https://youtu.be/HdewB64l2-c
Frenzy gameplay: https://youtu.be/R8DbU5D2IPU
The Curse of Evil Otto (deaths caused by Evil Otto): https://youtu.be/PkdtnVUm9ik
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