Klonoa - The Dream Traveler enters the ring!

[RileyXY1]

Most supporters seem to have lost their hope after the ballot for Smash 4, after all... And while we did get the movie announcement, People are still deeming the series as "still dead".


I remember Klonoa being a more "liked" choice than Pac-Man back then and even winning polls over him. Not saying more recconized but just more well-liked and requested, Probably due to Pac-Man going through his infamous "Dark Age" as I call it at the time...

But that's another story.

Ironically the movie WAS announced right after the final DLC for Smash 4 was finally unveiled.

However, the movie is currently in development hell.

 

[Mario123311]

However, the movie is currently in development hell.

It's more of the fact that Namco is a NDA heavy company and really hates anything regarding their projects being leaked out to the public before it's release or actual reveal, Honestly.

I know this because most VA's and game designers they have hired haven't been allowed to show what they've worked on or voice their character roles in public.

 

[KHJason95]

I would definitely like this, but will it happen? Only time will tell.

 

[AsterikDatBoi]

Good thing Sakurai uses an "Official Smash Ballot 2015" as a reference like King K. Rool, Simon, Chrom, Dark Samus, Richter, Ridley, and Isabelle getting confirmed

 

[AsterikDatBoi]

At least I wanted to support that character since SSB4 is here!

 

[RileyXY1]

A new Smash direct has just been announced for this Thursday.

 

[Mario123311]

Welp. The direct happened.

No spirit or assist trophy. I’m getting worried we are going to get shafted again. And not to attack other supporters for other characters but I’m REALLY hoping they don’t go with Lloyd Irving.

It’s like Namco hates their early 2000’s platformers in general.

 

[AsterikDatBoi]

At least we get a new chance as Paid DLC!!

 

[Luigifan18]

Hey guys, new tweets from Sakurai came in.

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So, who are the lucky contestants? We'll just have to wait and see...

 

[Ring-a-Sheep]

Hey guys, new tweets from Sakurai came in.

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So, who are the lucky contestants? We'll just have to wait and see...

Late response but i don't know what nintendo choosing the DLC means for Klonoa, i know Sakurai has the final say but even then what are the chances? Yoshizawa has mentioned before that's it's pretty much impossible for him to make any move for Klonoa's inclusion and Sakurai would have to come to him to make an offer and that not being acquainted with him (like Kojima) makes it difficult, but rumors of a bamco rep being one of the DLC gives me some hope, lets all hope our boy makes it in this time.

 

[KoopaSaki]

I am just chiming in from the Isaac thread. I love the klonoa games and would love to have him in as the other bandai namco rep given my nostalgia with his games on the gameboy advance. So sign me up for support.

 

[RileyXY1]

Time to revive this thread. Do you think that "Brave" could be Klonoa, based on the leaked stats?

 

[Mario123311]

Time to revive this thread. Do you think that "Brave" could be Klonoa, based on the leaked stats?

I honestly doubt it, sadly. Klonoa is more associated quite blatantly with wind. Hence the Japanese title: “Kaze no Klonoa”.

 

[AuraCuba]

They renewed the trademark, they acknowledged the fan outcry, the stats match up.

It all adds up.

 

[Mario123311]

They renewed the trademark, they acknowledged the fan outcry, the stats match up.

It all adds up.

Nintendo were still the ones who picked the DLC characters out so try not to get your hopes TOO high up. Nevermind renewing trademarks doesn’t exactly mean much but you did bring up how a representative at Bamco acknowledged fans outcry on social media, telling them that our voices our heard.

All we can do is hope for the best, honestly.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Bloody hell, his movie deal got cancelled from lack of progress, so now his chances have gone from small to infinitesimal.

 

[ryuu seika]

Given that support immediately shifted towards other characters after Ridley and K. Rool's reveal, here's to hoping that those other Bamco guys getting in first will be the first step towards Klonoa getting some love.
Alongside Ms. Pac-Man, the poor gal is practically ignored across the board.

I don't know about anyone else but I don't consider Agumon and Klonoa rivals in the slightest. Klonoa is a Namco character and Agumon has always been Bandai.

My heart still belongs to Lloyd, first and foremost, but there's room enough in there for Klonoa, even now.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I don't know about anyone else but I don't consider Agumon and Klonoa rivals in the slightest. Klonoa is a Namco character and Agumon has always been Bandai.

My heart still belongs to Lloyd, first and foremost, but there's room enough in there for Klonoa, even now.

I fully agree with this. Sadly, people still think of potential newcomers as obstacles (including Agumon, who's just laughed off by the Pokémon fans).

 

[Mario123311]

I would say how I personally feel about the Tales series here, but I've already said them in the "Rate Their Chances" and I really don't want to be rude here.


I honestly wish Namco would utilize more of their actual IPs more or would at least stop neglecting their platformer franchises. (Especially doesn't make me feel better considering they literally ignored Pac-Man World for representing their main mascot.)

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/in...or-wants-to-release-of-materials-book/.144691

Seems the former director wants to have a series material compilation book made for Klonoa. I wouldn't mind buying it untranslated.

 

[NB96]

This would be really cool to see happen. I grew up with platformers

 

[Capybara Gaming]

If we do end up getting another Namco Bandai rep, it's either gonna be a Tales character (likely Yuri), a Digimon character (likely Agumon), or Klonoa, at least in my humble opinion. I don't feel like a Tekken character's really got the spot.

 

[OnyanRings]

I support my favorite lil' furry boyo.

I'm not sure about his chances but i'd love to see him playable.

 

[RileyXY1]

If they are bringing back all the 3rd Party DLC Mii Fighter costumes from Smash 4, Lloyd Irving probably won't be playable. Having both Heihachi and Lloyd out of the running would make it easier for Klonoa or Agumon to get in.

 

[Deleted member]

If they are bringing back all the 3rd Party DLC Mii Fighter costumes from Smash 4, Lloyd Irving probably won't be playable. Having both Heihachi and Lloyd out of the running would make it easier for Klonoa or Agumon to get in.

Pretty much, but there would be many other Bandai Namco characters also in the running.

 

[RileyXY1]

Pretty much, but there would be many other Bandai Namco characters also in the running.

I already mentioned two of them, but as I said, there are many more.

 

[Manondork]

I've only ever played the first Klonoa game like last week, but I like the little Sonic OC lookin' guy. I support the idea of bringing the boy back into the lime light by putting him in Smash.

 

[Mike Annett]

I discovered Klonoa back in the days with the really fun Klonoa Beach Volleyball. Then I played the other games and they're fantastic. It's a shame that Namco never advertised this franchise properly because it had the potential to be something great.

I think that the terrible sales of the WII games kinda killed the franchise. I think Namco are not interested in doing another game but maybe they could accept propositions from indy developpers if they have something that could make it work. It seems like the only solution, I definitely don't believe in a miracle comeback like "hey remember that game on PS1 ? Here's the sequel".

I support him, he could be very interesting

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Klonoa support must not die. I can't stress this enough. Banjo & Kazooie got in despite their series being dead as a doornail, so even if Klonoa won't get any games in the future, the best we can hope for is for his support for Smash inclusion to increase by Smash 6. The chance for this is still there, no matter if the odds are being stacked heavily against us.

In the meantime, someone has thankfully requested one of the more notable fan artists to draw Klonoa:

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I discovered Klonoa back in the days with the really fun Klonoa Beach Volleyball. Then I played the other games and they're fantastic. It's a shame that Namco never advertised this franchise properly because it had the potential to be something great.

I think that the terrible sales of the WII games kinda killed the franchise. I think Namco are not interested in doing another game but maybe they could accept propositions from indy developpers if they have something that could make it work. It seems like the only solution, I definitely don't believe in a miracle comeback like "hey remember that game on PS1 ? Here's the sequel".

I support him, he could be very interesting

Welcome, dream traveller!

 

[Nazyrus]

Here's hoping! would be a pleasant surprise as our so needed missing Namco DLC rep.

 

[chocolatejr9]

I've never played the Klonoa games, so I don't have a proper opinion on the character. That being said, I could see him fitting in quite well with Smash. Problem is, it's hard to say what Bandai Namco's role in this game is. Despite co-developing the game, all the representation they have is Pac-Man and their early arcade games. Do they even want another character in? If so, then who? Would they add one of the mainline picks (Tales or Tekken), a smaller character (Klonoa), or even someone to represent the Bandai half of Bandai Namco (Digimon)? There are more unknowns than people may think.

But that's just my take. Anyways, I support Klonoa. Sign me up!

 

[Adelto]

Like chcolatejr9 said i never played a klonoa game but i love his design so it would be cool if he join in but yeah if we get a bandai namco rep it probably won't be klonoa except if they trying to revive the series wich i'm okay with but i don't see it happening sadly.

 

[3BitSaurus]

Welp. The direct happened.

No spirit or assist trophy. I’m getting worried we are going to get shafted again. And not to attack other supporters for other characters but I’m REALLY hoping they don’t go with Lloyd Irving.

It’s like Namco hates their early 2000’s platformers in general.

You know, what makes it even worse to me is that I can't stop making comparisons between Klonoa and Kirby (specifically Kirby's Dream Land, before he had any Copy Abilities and could just suck enemies and spit them out). Both games have a cute "dream" theme going on as well. So it's really sad to see Klonoa getting treated like this while Kirby is, to this day, a big moneymaker for Nintendo.

Like... what went wrong, exactly? Maybe the PS1/PS2 didn't have the audience the games were originally meant to reach or something? Lack of advertisement? I dunno...

Klonoa support must not die. I can't stress this enough. Banjo & Kazooie got in despite their series being dead as a doornail, so even if Klonoa won't get any games in the future, the best we can hope for is for his support for Smash inclusion to increase by Smash 6. The chance for this is still there, no matter if the odds are being stacked heavily against us.

Absolutely. I guess, if anything, long term support - very vocal support - is what ultimately made Banjo possible. It's about amassing requests, to a certain extent.

 

[Adelto]

Yeah he'll eventually be popular enough to be included even if it's in smash 7 or whatever wich one .

 

[Mike Annett]

You know, what makes it even worse to me is that I can't stop making comparisons between Klonoa and Kirby (specifically Kirby's Dream Land, before he had any Copy Abilities and could just suck enemies and spit them out). Both games have a cute "dream" theme going on as well. So it's really sad to see Klonoa getting treated like this while Kirby is, to this day, a big moneymaker for Nintendo.

Like... what went wrong, exactly? Maybe the PS1/PS2 didn't have the audience the games were originally meant to reach or something? Lack of advertisement? I dunno...

Outside the dream theme, I don't see any similarities between the two franchise haha

Door To Phantomile sold pretty well, it's definitely a lack of advertisement that killed the franchise. They released a game on the WonderSwan (the namco portable system that failed). Then Klonoa 2 came out on PS2 with a miserable advertisement, so the game failed. Then they released a spin off about Beach Volleyball, on PS1 and only in Japan and Europe (why they did that is beyond my comprehension).

Then there's three games on Gameboy Advance. The first one being Empire Of Dreams, a platformer focused on puzzle (but there's still challenging platforming sections). The second is a sequel, the formula is the same, also a pretty good game. But the two games sold pretty bad. The third is a Japan exclusive action RPG called Klonoa Heroes, never played that one.

Finally, they made a remake of Door To Phantomile on the WII and once again, the advertisement was just non existant (many people including myself didn't even know that this remake was a thing until many months after it came out). Of course, the game sold miserably (probably one of the biggest failure ever for a huge company like Namco).

A lack of advertisement really killed the franchise and it's a shame because Namco had a huge potential with this franchise and all of Klonoa's games are great.

 

[Mario123311]

The Wii remake especially did poorly due to fan backlash/controversy stemming from the scrapped proposed redesign, the reveal of the english voice acting (Especially Klonoa’s voice being heard in trailers/footage online) and of course the drastically different art style from the PS1 original.

Namco knew fans would be the only ones who would buy it and the poisoned the well before they could even drink from it.

Mike Annett I know Klonoa 2 wasn’t exactly a commercial success but I don’t recall it being a failure. Last I heard DtP was what underperformed massively which is why it’s so rare and expensive to obtain physically.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

And then there's the rather confusing tie-in free coupon to a restaurant called "Wahoo", that came in copies of the game. Lord knows how that happened.

At any rate, Smash shows that it's possible to bounce back from a fiasco. Take , who eventually got a new sequel a few years after his exposure in Smash 4, a crossover appearance that came at the heels of the disastrous and controversial guest appearance from Bad Box Art Mega Man in Street Fighter X Tekken. Which, incidentally, was a project related to Namco...

 

[Adelto]

Like i said maybe namco bandai will decide to put klonoa to try using smash bros to revive him.
It's a win-win for them because that will help them to make more games and they'll gain a dlc spot for smash

 

[Deleted member]

Mike Annett I know Klonoa 2 wasn’t exactly a commercial success but I don’t recall it being a failure. Last I heard DtP was what underperformed massively which is why it’s so rare and expensive to obtain physically.

According to Wikipedia, K2, along with 2 other titles, were expected to sell 900,000 units together but only sold 290,000 together.

Like i said maybe namco bandai will decide to put klonoa to try using smash bros to revive him.
It's a win-win for them because that will help them to make more games and they'll gain a dlc spot for smash

Nintendo suggested the characters and Sakurai picked from the list. BN likely doesn’t have much of a part in this.

 

[Adelto]

Well true but maybe they talked to sakurai about it i don't know