Varia31
Smash Journeyman
Like the title says! As I have said in other threads, I am fine with Samus' moveset as is. It's remained mostly the same throughout every Smash game, so I'm very comfortable with it. That said, if you had the ability to change Samus' moveset, what would you do?
Here is my revision.
So yeah, those are all of my ideas! It's just my thoughts on what I would do if I could give Samus an overhaul.
Alright everyone, have some ideas you'd like to share?
Here is my revision.
So the idea here is that Samus would play a bit more faithfully to the Metroid games, being something of an agile tank. She would have good jumps (a few jumps actually, much like Pit or Meta Knight, by using her Space Jump ability), a relatively fast run speed, and would be relatively heavy. Basically, a lot like she already is, but perhaps less floaty. The trade-off being that she has her Space Jump ability for her to perform more than one midair jump with. She would be focused on ranged attacks, with limited (but strong) melee attacks similar in strength to Ganondorf. This would again keep her more true to her games, where melee is more of a "get off me" tactic, or used to finish someone off. I think I would also give her slightly faster run speed.
With the exception of moves like Charge Shot and Super Missile, her projectiles wouldn't be too strong, but they would have good range that allows her to rack up damage at a moderate rate. Her agility would allow her to maintain distance or get out of sticky situations, and allow her to have good versatility for her weapons. Lastly, and this is just a side comment, but I would give her a voice. Since she's in her Varia Suit, it would of course be more modulated sounding, almost robotic or microphone-like like it was in Other M, but you can clearly tell it's still her in there. I would love Jennifer Hale (who voiced Samus in the Prime Trilogy) to return, but I wouldn't mind Alesia Glidewell (Brawl/SSB4) or even Jessia Martin (Other M). Changing her voice from someone other than Alesia Glidewell should of course carry over to ZSS.
ANYWAYS.
Now... onto her moveset.
Idle poses
-Standing: Samus is turned to the side more with her head turning towards the enemy. Her cannon is raised into the air, with one hand bracing it. Basically, this:
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-Idling 1: Samus stands in a more relaxed position and does random calibrations on her cannon, similar to how ZSS tinkers with her Paralyzer pistol.
-Idling 2: Samus quickly points her cannon in front of her, aiming and looking around with short, sudden movements, as if alert. After a moment of doing this, she'll slowly lower her weapon and return to her standing position.
Taunts
-Up Taunt: The classic Melee taunt returns! This time, however, she will say "You'll have to do better than that".
-Side Taunt: Samus dusts off her cannon in an un-amused manner while uttering a "Hmph..." sound.
-Down Taunt: Same as Brawl/SSB4. She aims both behind her and in front of her, but now asks "... Next?"
Dodges
-Roll: Her "Sense Move" from Metroid Other M. Nice and quick!
-Spot dodge: Unchanged from previous Smash games.
A Button Attacks - Ground
-Neutral A: A single, quick, hardy punch. Similar to Ganondorf's. Can knock people down at low percentages, and cause moderate launching at higher percentages.
-Up Tilt: Same as previous Smash games.
-Foward Tilt: A short-range Wave Beam shot. Causes a very brief stun and pushes the enemy away. Can also go through walls or platforms, just like the Metroid games.
-Down Tilt: Samus performs a sweeping trip move like she used to use in Smash 64. Has decent knockback power that sends opponents slightly away but mainly knocks them up, much like her current down-tilt does.
-Dash Attack: Basically what she has already, only stronger and causes her to briefly spark, glow, and create minor afterimages as if using a brief Speed Booster burst. Upward diagonal knockback that throws the enemy backwards into the direction Samus came from. Can kill at very high percentages.
A Button Attacks - Air
-Neutral Air: Screw Attack. Samus of course rotates many times, but the attack only hits once. Very strong, and can spike diagonally at higher percentages, while at lower percentages it'll still cause downward knockback that would only prove to be a minor set-back most of the time.
-Up Air: I like the drill kick from all the Smash games to date. Keep it the same as SSB4, though perhaps add a slight wind-box? I dunno.
-Forward Air: The Project M Forward Air. For those not familiar, she encases her cannon with Ice Beam effects and clubs the enemy with it. Quick and strong single hit move. Very satisfying to land (in my book, an excellent "get the heck off my stage" attack).
-Down Air: Same as it's always been, but with the speed being how it was in Melee, along with the strength and hitboxes it had back then.
Special Moves - Ground
-Neutral B: Power Beam/Charge Beam. It basically works almost exactly like Falco's laser, just not electric-y. It travels fast but has a slow firing rate. Hold the button down to charge. You can move around and even do a single jump while charging. Release the button prematurely to fire stronger shots that are stronger based on how long you hold the button down. If you let it charge all the way, however, you can let go of the button and Samus will keep the charge ready for you to use at any given time, just like it has been in every Smash game to date. Visually, though, you will see the surging energy ball and quietly hear the charge sounds still going as long as she still has it on stand-by. Power-wise, it would be the same as it is in SSB4.
-Up B: Screw Attack. Exactly the same as the Screw Rush custom from SSB4, save for being a single hit like my new Nair, and like that Nair, is very strong. However, it launches forward rather than diagonally downwards.
-Side B: Homing Missile/Super Missile. Functions exactly how it always has, but the homing missile travels slow and has great turning like the Mii Gunner's homing missile. The Super Missile, however, functions just like it did in Melee. That means it briefly starts a bit slower but then picks up fast acceleration quickly, and the best part? It has KO power again!
-Down B: Boost Ball+Bomb Combo. Samus quickly turns into her Morph Ball mode to perform a short range boost attack that trips the opponent forward. While doing this, she also lays a bomb for the enemy to fall into, which detonates on contact. This special moves works differently in the air, though. More on that in a moment.
Special Moves - Air
-Neutral B: Functionally the same, just that the Power Beam has a better firing rate in the air, much like Falco. And YES, YOU CAN CHARGE WHILE AIRBORNE.
-Up B: Also the same, but just like the Screw Rush custom, the Screw Attack will fly at a bit of a different angle.
-Side B: Absolutely no difference, just that Samus is of course airborne.
-Down B: C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER! Here is where the specials differ. Instead of boosting while airborne, Samus will drop Bombs that stay motionless in the air and are unaffected by gravity, creating nice little obstacles that are of course timed, but will detonate on contact. Samus will still bounce up a bit when dropping a Bomb. However, as Smash seems to like incorporating variations based on button pressure as of late (I'm looking at you, Ryu), the Bombs will revert to their classic gravity-affected state and fall if you hold down the button for a moment. This way Samus can still perform her (actually reliable) Bomb-jumps from Melee!
Smash Attacks
-Up Smash: Forget trying to fix "Cover Fire", let's try something new! I present to you, the Dark Burst! Samus charges and then fires, but, the interesting part is she doesn't shoot it upward, but rather, she fires it right at her own feet. Since she's immune to her own attack in the game where this weapon originates from (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes), she's perfectly fine! What it does is engulf her in the blast, but anyone within an inch of it will get sucked into oblivion, get some nice damage racked up, and then get lauched out of it before the rift closes, sending them upwards. It only covers Samus, so the radius isn't that big, and you have to be practically in someone's face for it to land, but the payoff is magnificent. The launch power is incredible! So expect to make some killer KOs with this one.
-Forward Smash: Remember the windmill kick she uses in Other M? Yeah. That awesome move. She can charge it up like any Smash and then deliver a spinning kick at an alarmingly fast speed, and it launches straight forward and ever-so-slightly diagonally upward with some impressive strength. KO potential is very high with this one.
-Down Smash: Five Bomb Drop. It works like it does in Super Metroid to a degree. Visually, you'll see Samus instantly do an Accel-Charge on her cannon and then immediately switch to Morph Ball mode, where she will launch five Bombs around her (one right below her, and then two on both sides of her). They fall quick and have a short-fuse, which is sped up by enemy proximity, much like how the Bombs work in SSB4, only faster. The move has rather low KO power, but if you can manage to get the opponent to hit all five bombs, then it'll be quite strong! You would basically need to be centered on the poor sap to do this. Launches diagonally upwards.
Throws
-Grab: Samus launches her Grapple Beam, like always. It comes out faster and retracts a heck of a lot faster, though. Once captured, though, Samus will switch to holding the enemy with her left hand. You'll see why...
-Pummel: A toss-up for me between either smacking the enemy with her cannon or kneeing them to death with her knee spike.
-Up Throw: Samus had a counter-attack in Other M against the Griptians (those Armadillo things) where she launches them high into the air by making like a piston and kicking them straight up. Basically that, just that she gently tosses the enemy slightly above her before curling into position to deliver the kick. Very strong.
-Forward Throw: Another toss-up. I think she could just deliver a hardy left hook similar to Fox's Forward Throw, perform the Lethal Strike she uses against the Ghalmanian (the one where she drags the enemy to the floor and then blasts them point blank in the face), or just stick with her classic Smash one.
-Back Throw: In Other M, Samus could spin around a Ki-Hunter one handed and hurl it across a rather long hallway with enough strength to go splat. Yeah, she would use that. While spinning, it can swat other enemies around that are close (like Mario's back throw). Is a KILL THROW at about 150%, but as you might imagine, can be done earlier if you're at the edge of Final Destination or what have you.
-Down Throw: Griptian Lethal Strike from Other M. Samus will push the enemy to the ground, slam her foot down on top of them to pin them down, charge up, and then blast them, sending them upwards diagonally like it does in SSB4.
Misc. Abilities
-Wall Jump: It ain't Samus if she can't walljump.
-Space Jump: Similar to Pit, Meta Knight, etc. Has more than one midair jump. This is to compensate for her Screw Attack being more horizontal now, as well as her being less floaty.
-Zair: Air grapple beam attack/ledge tether. It functions like it does in Brawl again when used to attack, and has the most damage and power at the tip.
-Morph Ball Crawl: Just like Project M! Comes complete with flashy glow-y effects for whenever she transforms. No Boost Ball attack though, since that's already taken by her ground-based Down B.
Final Smash
Three ideas here.
-Power Bomb: Samus quickly changes to Morph Ball mode, charges up a Power Bomb, then detonates it! It covers about 3/4 of Final Destination, so it's a considerable radius. It's like a Smart Bomb in that it racks up burn damage and then launches foes, but it happens a lot quicker, and of course, has way more launch power. These are miniature nukes we're talking about here! Avoid it by just staying as far away from Samus as possible.
-Gunship Assault: Straight from Metroid Prime 3, Samus commands her Gunship to perform a carpet-bomb run across the stage. Lots of missiles and explosions like a freakin' Michael Bay film. Can be avoided with adequate cover or just by carefully but quickly timing a jump around said missile that gets close to you.
-Hyper Mode: Samus summons her PED Suit tech and goes all Phazon Madness mode. This is a timed transformation type FS, so she has free roam of the stage. She uses her Phazon Hyper Beam to rack up damage and slow enemies down by doing so, then can deliver killing blows with amazingly fast and painful Phazon Hyper Missiles! And true to her game, Samus is absolutely invincible during this FS. She also gets a buff to her overall mobility. "How do I avoid this one?!" Run like heck.
Extras
-Costume DLC: Metroid Prime Trilogy Varia Suit (with alternate Phazon Suit colors)
-Costume DLC: Classic Style Varia Suit and Gravity Suit (i.e. Super Metroid)
-Costume DLC: Fusion Suit and Omega Fusion Suit
-Costume DLC: NES Style Power Suit and Varia Suit
With the exception of moves like Charge Shot and Super Missile, her projectiles wouldn't be too strong, but they would have good range that allows her to rack up damage at a moderate rate. Her agility would allow her to maintain distance or get out of sticky situations, and allow her to have good versatility for her weapons. Lastly, and this is just a side comment, but I would give her a voice. Since she's in her Varia Suit, it would of course be more modulated sounding, almost robotic or microphone-like like it was in Other M, but you can clearly tell it's still her in there. I would love Jennifer Hale (who voiced Samus in the Prime Trilogy) to return, but I wouldn't mind Alesia Glidewell (Brawl/SSB4) or even Jessia Martin (Other M). Changing her voice from someone other than Alesia Glidewell should of course carry over to ZSS.
ANYWAYS.
Now... onto her moveset.
Idle poses
-Standing: Samus is turned to the side more with her head turning towards the enemy. Her cannon is raised into the air, with one hand bracing it. Basically, this:
-Idling 2: Samus quickly points her cannon in front of her, aiming and looking around with short, sudden movements, as if alert. After a moment of doing this, she'll slowly lower her weapon and return to her standing position.
Taunts
-Up Taunt: The classic Melee taunt returns! This time, however, she will say "You'll have to do better than that".
-Side Taunt: Samus dusts off her cannon in an un-amused manner while uttering a "Hmph..." sound.
-Down Taunt: Same as Brawl/SSB4. She aims both behind her and in front of her, but now asks "... Next?"
Dodges
-Roll: Her "Sense Move" from Metroid Other M. Nice and quick!
-Spot dodge: Unchanged from previous Smash games.
A Button Attacks - Ground
-Neutral A: A single, quick, hardy punch. Similar to Ganondorf's. Can knock people down at low percentages, and cause moderate launching at higher percentages.
-Up Tilt: Same as previous Smash games.
-Foward Tilt: A short-range Wave Beam shot. Causes a very brief stun and pushes the enemy away. Can also go through walls or platforms, just like the Metroid games.
-Down Tilt: Samus performs a sweeping trip move like she used to use in Smash 64. Has decent knockback power that sends opponents slightly away but mainly knocks them up, much like her current down-tilt does.
-Dash Attack: Basically what she has already, only stronger and causes her to briefly spark, glow, and create minor afterimages as if using a brief Speed Booster burst. Upward diagonal knockback that throws the enemy backwards into the direction Samus came from. Can kill at very high percentages.
A Button Attacks - Air
-Neutral Air: Screw Attack. Samus of course rotates many times, but the attack only hits once. Very strong, and can spike diagonally at higher percentages, while at lower percentages it'll still cause downward knockback that would only prove to be a minor set-back most of the time.
-Up Air: I like the drill kick from all the Smash games to date. Keep it the same as SSB4, though perhaps add a slight wind-box? I dunno.
-Forward Air: The Project M Forward Air. For those not familiar, she encases her cannon with Ice Beam effects and clubs the enemy with it. Quick and strong single hit move. Very satisfying to land (in my book, an excellent "get the heck off my stage" attack).
-Down Air: Same as it's always been, but with the speed being how it was in Melee, along with the strength and hitboxes it had back then.
Special Moves - Ground
-Neutral B: Power Beam/Charge Beam. It basically works almost exactly like Falco's laser, just not electric-y. It travels fast but has a slow firing rate. Hold the button down to charge. You can move around and even do a single jump while charging. Release the button prematurely to fire stronger shots that are stronger based on how long you hold the button down. If you let it charge all the way, however, you can let go of the button and Samus will keep the charge ready for you to use at any given time, just like it has been in every Smash game to date. Visually, though, you will see the surging energy ball and quietly hear the charge sounds still going as long as she still has it on stand-by. Power-wise, it would be the same as it is in SSB4.
-Up B: Screw Attack. Exactly the same as the Screw Rush custom from SSB4, save for being a single hit like my new Nair, and like that Nair, is very strong. However, it launches forward rather than diagonally downwards.
-Side B: Homing Missile/Super Missile. Functions exactly how it always has, but the homing missile travels slow and has great turning like the Mii Gunner's homing missile. The Super Missile, however, functions just like it did in Melee. That means it briefly starts a bit slower but then picks up fast acceleration quickly, and the best part? It has KO power again!
-Down B: Boost Ball+Bomb Combo. Samus quickly turns into her Morph Ball mode to perform a short range boost attack that trips the opponent forward. While doing this, she also lays a bomb for the enemy to fall into, which detonates on contact. This special moves works differently in the air, though. More on that in a moment.
Special Moves - Air
-Neutral B: Functionally the same, just that the Power Beam has a better firing rate in the air, much like Falco. And YES, YOU CAN CHARGE WHILE AIRBORNE.
-Up B: Also the same, but just like the Screw Rush custom, the Screw Attack will fly at a bit of a different angle.
-Side B: Absolutely no difference, just that Samus is of course airborne.
-Down B: C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER! Here is where the specials differ. Instead of boosting while airborne, Samus will drop Bombs that stay motionless in the air and are unaffected by gravity, creating nice little obstacles that are of course timed, but will detonate on contact. Samus will still bounce up a bit when dropping a Bomb. However, as Smash seems to like incorporating variations based on button pressure as of late (I'm looking at you, Ryu), the Bombs will revert to their classic gravity-affected state and fall if you hold down the button for a moment. This way Samus can still perform her (actually reliable) Bomb-jumps from Melee!
Smash Attacks
-Up Smash: Forget trying to fix "Cover Fire", let's try something new! I present to you, the Dark Burst! Samus charges and then fires, but, the interesting part is she doesn't shoot it upward, but rather, she fires it right at her own feet. Since she's immune to her own attack in the game where this weapon originates from (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes), she's perfectly fine! What it does is engulf her in the blast, but anyone within an inch of it will get sucked into oblivion, get some nice damage racked up, and then get lauched out of it before the rift closes, sending them upwards. It only covers Samus, so the radius isn't that big, and you have to be practically in someone's face for it to land, but the payoff is magnificent. The launch power is incredible! So expect to make some killer KOs with this one.
-Forward Smash: Remember the windmill kick she uses in Other M? Yeah. That awesome move. She can charge it up like any Smash and then deliver a spinning kick at an alarmingly fast speed, and it launches straight forward and ever-so-slightly diagonally upward with some impressive strength. KO potential is very high with this one.
-Down Smash: Five Bomb Drop. It works like it does in Super Metroid to a degree. Visually, you'll see Samus instantly do an Accel-Charge on her cannon and then immediately switch to Morph Ball mode, where she will launch five Bombs around her (one right below her, and then two on both sides of her). They fall quick and have a short-fuse, which is sped up by enemy proximity, much like how the Bombs work in SSB4, only faster. The move has rather low KO power, but if you can manage to get the opponent to hit all five bombs, then it'll be quite strong! You would basically need to be centered on the poor sap to do this. Launches diagonally upwards.
Throws
-Grab: Samus launches her Grapple Beam, like always. It comes out faster and retracts a heck of a lot faster, though. Once captured, though, Samus will switch to holding the enemy with her left hand. You'll see why...
-Pummel: A toss-up for me between either smacking the enemy with her cannon or kneeing them to death with her knee spike.
-Up Throw: Samus had a counter-attack in Other M against the Griptians (those Armadillo things) where she launches them high into the air by making like a piston and kicking them straight up. Basically that, just that she gently tosses the enemy slightly above her before curling into position to deliver the kick. Very strong.
-Forward Throw: Another toss-up. I think she could just deliver a hardy left hook similar to Fox's Forward Throw, perform the Lethal Strike she uses against the Ghalmanian (the one where she drags the enemy to the floor and then blasts them point blank in the face), or just stick with her classic Smash one.
-Back Throw: In Other M, Samus could spin around a Ki-Hunter one handed and hurl it across a rather long hallway with enough strength to go splat. Yeah, she would use that. While spinning, it can swat other enemies around that are close (like Mario's back throw). Is a KILL THROW at about 150%, but as you might imagine, can be done earlier if you're at the edge of Final Destination or what have you.
-Down Throw: Griptian Lethal Strike from Other M. Samus will push the enemy to the ground, slam her foot down on top of them to pin them down, charge up, and then blast them, sending them upwards diagonally like it does in SSB4.
Misc. Abilities
-Wall Jump: It ain't Samus if she can't walljump.
-Space Jump: Similar to Pit, Meta Knight, etc. Has more than one midair jump. This is to compensate for her Screw Attack being more horizontal now, as well as her being less floaty.
-Zair: Air grapple beam attack/ledge tether. It functions like it does in Brawl again when used to attack, and has the most damage and power at the tip.
-Morph Ball Crawl: Just like Project M! Comes complete with flashy glow-y effects for whenever she transforms. No Boost Ball attack though, since that's already taken by her ground-based Down B.
Final Smash
Three ideas here.
-Power Bomb: Samus quickly changes to Morph Ball mode, charges up a Power Bomb, then detonates it! It covers about 3/4 of Final Destination, so it's a considerable radius. It's like a Smart Bomb in that it racks up burn damage and then launches foes, but it happens a lot quicker, and of course, has way more launch power. These are miniature nukes we're talking about here! Avoid it by just staying as far away from Samus as possible.
-Gunship Assault: Straight from Metroid Prime 3, Samus commands her Gunship to perform a carpet-bomb run across the stage. Lots of missiles and explosions like a freakin' Michael Bay film. Can be avoided with adequate cover or just by carefully but quickly timing a jump around said missile that gets close to you.
-Hyper Mode: Samus summons her PED Suit tech and goes all Phazon Madness mode. This is a timed transformation type FS, so she has free roam of the stage. She uses her Phazon Hyper Beam to rack up damage and slow enemies down by doing so, then can deliver killing blows with amazingly fast and painful Phazon Hyper Missiles! And true to her game, Samus is absolutely invincible during this FS. She also gets a buff to her overall mobility. "How do I avoid this one?!" Run like heck.
Extras
-Costume DLC: Metroid Prime Trilogy Varia Suit (with alternate Phazon Suit colors)
-Costume DLC: Classic Style Varia Suit and Gravity Suit (i.e. Super Metroid)
-Costume DLC: Fusion Suit and Omega Fusion Suit
-Costume DLC: NES Style Power Suit and Varia Suit
So yeah, those are all of my ideas! It's just my thoughts on what I would do if I could give Samus an overhaul.
Alright everyone, have some ideas you'd like to share?
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