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Make Your Move 14 - This is Snake, I'm done here

UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
305
((For the original version of the set, click here.))

o o o ((Bubble Witch Marin)) o o o
(No image here, check the Appearance Section!)​
o o o ((Backstory)) o o o

An inexperienced young witch from a world of magic, where every magician has their own innate talent. Where others may summon a powerful and unique creature as their servant, or manipulate gravity itself, 18 year old first year student Marin has the specialty of... bubbles.

Marin is a nervous and often depressed girl, the result of her sheltered upbringing and the mocking her ability has earned her. Nevertheless, she is determined to make the most of her underwhelming power. Stray bubbles follow her wherever she goes, the protective quality of her creations granting her fleeting courage. This and her aversion to socializing makes her better known by her nickname: The Bubble Witch.


o o o ((Appearance)) o o o

Marin's pastel blue outfit is loosely based on a stereotypical witch's costume. A pointed hat sits slumped atop her head, and a cloak draped over her shoulders flows down to her waist. Beneath the cloak is a lighter-shaded one-piece dress whose sleeves fall just short of her wrist-length gloves and whose skirt reaches down to her knees, concealing the upper half of her black leggings. A pair of button-on shoes round out the ensemble.

Marin is physically unremarkable. Pale skin that speaks of too much time in the library, shoulder length black hair that frames a nervous expression, and light blue eyes hidden by thick glasses. Her outfit's only recognizable trait is the sphere-shaped sections of fabric removed from her sleeves and the edges of her cloak. It's her bubbles that make her identifiable at a glance, and her wand that draws the eye.

Most wands are a simple shape or charm at the end of a nondescript stick. Inherited from her mother, Marin's wand is stylized after a sunflower, closer to a staff in size between its long green grip and yellow ring-shaped headpiece. Unfortunately for Marin, the comparison has been made between her wand and toy bubble 'wands' often sold to children.


o o o ((Animations)) o o o

Marin's motions convey nervous caution and discomfort, all slight or rushed with little in between. When she walks, she holds her wand to her chest protectively. When she runs, her free hand is used to keep her hat in place. When she dashes, concern for her possessions fade and she charges ahead (or more likely away) blindly with her head low. Even standing idle, she shuffles her feet uncomfortably and glances left and right out of paranoia, and her crouch involves throwing her arms over her head as a shield.

The air is where Marin finds comfort and confidence. Her first jump is a smooth bending of the knees and gymnastics-grade take off, and her second simply creates a small bubble below her that bursts as she leaps off of it. Even when falling her only actions are to tuck her legs to her chest and hold onto her hat.


o o o ((Stats)) o o o

o Ground Speed o o o 6.5 o
o Air Speed o o o 6.5 o
o Jumps o o o 6.5 o
o Size o o o 6 o
o Traction o o o 4 o
o Weight o o o 3 o
o Fall Speed o o o 1.5 o
o Abilities o o o Crawl o

Where most lightweights make up for their lacking durability with speed, Marin's stats don't really do anything to compensate. She has a strong recovery thanks to her floaty nature and aerials, but generally she doesn't want to be hit hard enough for them to come into play. Size-wise she's a hair shorter than Marth and a little wider due to her slouched posture.


o o o ((Specials)) o o o

o (Neutral Special) o (Bubble Magic) o

Marin displays her mastery of magic in the most graceful way possible: frantically waving her wand like a bludgeon. Each swing is a disjointed hitbox that deals 3% damage and minor push-back, made twice a second. Accompanying them is a trail of bubbles created from the wand's headpiece, an effect that is the most important tool in Marin's arsenal.

Bubble Magic produces 5 pokeball-sized bubbles every second, which act as the backbone to Marin's abilities. Each one appears at the edge of the attack's hitbox, where they float in place until acted upon or their impressive 12 second duration ends. Those within half a battlefield platform of Marin are drawn towards her at the speed of Ganondorf's walk. Contact with an enemy causes a bubble to pop for a meager 1% damage and no knockback or hitstun.

The bubbles are bizarrely durable in all other regards. When one intercepts an enemy's attack, there's a cumulative 0.1 second delay where it freezes up in the middle of the animation, each bubble deducting 1.5% from its damage. If a melee hitbox (including disjointed moves) is reduced to 0% damage or less by this effect, the attacker is pushed back and stunned for half a second plus the end lag of the attack, where projectiles just vanish without further harm.
(3% x 2 per second) (1% x 5 per second)

o (Side Special) o (Capture Sphere) o

Sheathed in a brilliant gold, Marin performs an exaggerated swing with her wand. The motion suffers from a lengthy start up and punishable ending lag if whiffed, doing an underwhelming 10% damage for the trouble.

Like Marin, it's more dangerous than it appears. This move has a grab priority hitbox. When Marin's wand strikes an opponent, its golden aura jumps onto the victim and expands into a Capture Sphere, trapping them as it floats upwards at a rate of 3/4ths a battlefield platform a second. Escaping it has the normal grab difficulty, and small bubbles that make contact with it pop and add 0.1x the grab difficulty each (to a maximum of 1.5x the norm).

Notably, Marin's attacks can affect her Capture Sphere. Damage is suffered by the person inside of it, and knockback or means of influencing bubbles work just as well on the Capture Sphere as they do on anything else. Even better in the case of the former, in fact, as the victim's weight is reduced by 1/4th until they escape. Opponents choosing to charge through her bubbles instead of attacking them are in for a nasty surprise if they're not careful.
(10%)

o (Down Special) o (Bubble Dress) o

A gray aura surrounds Marin's wand as she holds it aloft. With a gentle motion, she waves it over herself, creating a form-fitting bubble around her body.

Bubble Dress serves as a temporary barrier around Marin, protecting her from all damage and hitstun (but not knockback) until its 10% stamina is depleted. Her already slow fall speed is reduced by half, and her moves are not interrupted if she is struck in the middle of them unless the attack bursts her Bubble Dress or does greater than flinching knockback.

The Bubble Dress can be enhanced with Bubble Magic. When one of Marin's small bubbles makes contact with her while Bubble Dress is active, it is absorbed into the Bubble Dress, adding 2% to its stamina up to a maximum of 30%, at which point bubbles are no longer absorbed by Bubble Dress until it takes damage.

This allows Marin to take a more aggressive stance that capitalizes on her mobility and the difficulty in hitting her through her various defenses. Alternately, it's a convenient way to move her set up with her, as using her Down Special again disperses the Bubble Dress into a small bubble for every 2% stamina it had left (rounded up) over an area the size of Bowser around her. Grabs can still affect Marin, but the damage and effects of a pummel or throw is subtracted from her Bubble Dress's stamina rather than added to her damage percent until it is popped.
(N/A)

o (Up Special) o (Float) o

Facing the camera and lifting her wand up high, Marin swings downwards with all her might, creating a bubble the size of her full health shield beneath herself.

This bubble acts as a handy platform for Marin, just wide enough to accommodate her atop itself. By pressing a directional button, she can 'steer' her platform in any direction at the speed of Ganondorf's dash, and the bubble will follow her horizontally (but not vertically) should she choose to jump off of it. While standing on her large bubble, Marin has full access to her ground attacks, allowing her a wider variety of options in the air.

The top of the bubble is a solid platform to anyone else, but to Marin, it's a fall-through platform. By double tapping the down button like one would normally fall through a thin platform, Marin drops herself inside the bubble and can attack from its relatively safe confines.

This is not without drawbacks- Marin being in the bubble slows its movement speed to Ganondorf's run, and effects that move bubbles are only half as effective on it as they normally are. Marin does take knockback in the bubble, with her weight suffering a minor decrease while in it. To exit the bubble, she need merely jump or drop down again (the latter ending the move prematurely).

The bubble has 20% stamina. It loses 4% every second it remains out and bursts once that stamina reaches 0, giving it a duration of up to 5 seconds should it not take damage. The player can see when the bubble is nearing the end of its duration as it will begin to quiver and lose its perfectly spherical shape. When it pops, Marin enters freefall if she was on it or in it, or is simply unable to use her Up Special again until she lands if not.
(N/A)


o o o ((Standards)) o o o

o (Neutral A Combo) o (Panicked Swings) o

With only slightly more control and grace than in her Neutral Special, Marin flails at her opponent with her wand. This is a three hit combo, the first two strikes being an up and down motion akin to the aforementioned attack but over a broader area, and the third being a quick horizontal 'slap' with enough force to make her pitch forward slightly, taking a step ahead to regain her balance.

Marin's Neutral A Combo is her quickest means of attack at the cost of being one of her weakest, the first two hits doing 3% each and the final blow doing 4%. What makes it so useful is the reach of her swings; the first two covering a large swath of the area in front of her, including slightly above and slightly below her (the latter being enough to hit an opponent holding a ledge she's standing on), as well as decently far from herself.

It's very easy for Marin to intercept an opponent attempting to take the 'easy way' of dealing with her bubble walls by scooting forward after making one and poking the opponent when they're just short of the wall itself. The final hit of the move has more noticeable ending lag to it, but pushes an opponent away slightly as well, letting her set up for one of her mildly slower tilts or beat a hasty retreat.
(3%, 3%, 4%)

o (Forward Tilt) o (Magnetic Bubbles) o

Gripping the base of her wand in both hands, Marin takes a step back and swings it like a bat. This does 6% damage and flinching knockback, with a sweetspot right at the tip of her wand at the moment it is fully outstretched that deals 9% and mild knockback. The sweet spot is easily noticed, as a purple glow wraps around Marin's wand and becomes more visible from the start of the animation to until it disappears at the end.

What happens if Marin 'misses' is where it gets interesting. The moment the sweet spot at the tip of her wand disappears, the purple glow shoots off the wand and forms a bubble, which floats forward at the rate of Ganondorf's walk. While it lasts only 5 seconds, it otherwise looks and acts like a normal bubble from her Neutral Special with small sparks of energy inside of it, unless there's an opponent or other bubbles within a Stage Builder Block of it.

Sparks fly off the Magnetic Bubble and attach to other bubbles, pulling them along. A similar spark will latch on to the nearest opponent, adjusting the Magnetic Bubble's course to float towards them until another opponent moves closer or the current target moves out of its range, after which it will continue flying in a straight line. Upon contact, the Magnetic Bubble bursts for 2% damage and flinching, and all bubbles it was pulling will continue floating towards the victim for a full second.

Bubbles affected by this move deal an additional 1% damage and flinching for the duration. Only 5 can be drawn by a Magnetic Bubble at a time, handy to avoid draining the supply.
(6% or 9%) (2% x 1~6)

o (Down Tilt) o (Gust Ball) o

With a swift sweeping motion, Marin attempts to knock her opponent's feet out from underneath them using her wand. This move hits both behind and in front of Marin, doing 6% damage and pushing the victim away. Opponents in motion who are close enough for the attack to hit are tripped and knocked to the ground. Due to the best way to deal with a bubble wall being to charge through it before attacking, Marin can very easily counter such an approach by moving forward and quickly throwing out a down tilt.

Like her forward tilt, Marin creates a special type of bubble if her initial attack 'misses'. A faint green glow slides off her staff and forms a sphere with a miniature tornado whipping about inside of it low to the ground. The Gust Ball mostly functions like a normal bubble, with a few minor changes. Its duration is cut to a still respectable 5 seconds, and it will slowly move up and away from Marin at half Ganondorf's walk speed (hardly something to worry about).

When the Gust Ball is popped, be it by attack or contact, a large burst of wind pushes everything within 1 Stage Builder Block away a Block's worth of distance away from it. This includes opponents (who do not suffer hitstun and will even continue an attack animation), and Marin herself should she be wearing her Bubble Dress (who likewise suffers no hitstun).

While the normal version of this move is good up close, the Gust Ball is best used to scatter bubbles over an area or repel an approach, and is especially useful should Marin whiff the swing itself and be left close to the opponent.
(6%) (N/A)

o (Up Tilt) o (Blast Orb) o

Marin stabs upwards with her wand, a cloud of black powder surrounding it. The upward motion allows Marin to hit slightly in front of herself as well as directly above, though it doesn't provide much coverage against aerial foes or opponents behind her. The motion does 7% damage and light upwards knockback, with a sweet spot that deals 10% and slightly better knockback at the wand's tip at the point in the animation it's at its highest.

Like her other tilts, Marin's up tilt creates a unique bubble if no opponents are hit. A small pile of black powder sits in the center of the bubble that marks it as a 'Blast Orb'. It lasts only 5 seconds and otherwise carries the qualities of a normal bubble as created by her Neutral Special. When popped, a blast of fire and smoke fills an area the size of Kirby, bubbles caught in the initial explosion bursting and creating their own smash ball-sized hitboxes.

Foes caught in the initial explosion suffer an impressive 12% damage and medium knockback, with the secondary explosions causing a lesser but by no means minor 8% damage and a little less knockback. Blast Orbs caught in any such explosion will themselves detonate, possibly creating a chain reaction!

If hit by the main explosion, Marin's Up Special bubble bursts and launches her upwards half a battle field platform without putting her in free fall or inflicting damage, and her Bubble Dress has half its health transformed into normal bubbles that float a little ways away from her.
(7% or 10%) (12% or 8%)

o (Dash Attack) o (Bubble Trail) o

Bubble Trail is activated by holding the A button during a dash. As she sprints, Marin adjusts her hold on her wand so the headpiece is above her head. The resulting air movement through its hole causes it to create bubbles in her wake, with the same qualities as the bubbles made by her Neutral Special but at the rate of two every second as opposed to five. Upon release of the A button, she skids to a stop, swinging her wand in a downward arc that leaves a final pair of bubbles and deals 11% and mild knockback.

Though it lacks the volume of her Neutral Special, creating bubbles with her Dash Attack allows Marin to stay on the move while doing so. Due to how close the bubbles are to her when she makes them, Marin's Bubble Dress will automatically absorb the created bubbles rather than leaving them behind as a trail; handy for recharging her protective armor while evading her opponent.
(11% + 1% x 2) (1% x 2 per second)


o o o ((Smashes)) o o o

o (Forward Smash) o (Autumn Wind) o

A powerful overhead swing. Marin closes her eyes in concentration as she channels a wind spell into her wand, covering it in a green glow. Upon release, a crescent-shaped burst of wind as tall as Ganondorf and half a stage builder block wide flies forward a distance of 1-2 battlefield platforms, depending on charge. The swing itself and the crescent do anywhere between 13-18% damage and moderate knockback. The force of the motion causes Marin to stumble forward slightly and suffer an unpleasant amount of ending lag.

Besides being one of Marin's stronger attacks, Autumn Wind serves as an easy way to move her bubbles around. A strong breeze lingers for 2-4 seconds after the projectile portion of the attack itself vanishes, covering a portion of the stage 2 battlefield platforms wide and 1 tall in a steady gust of wind. Bubbles, items, and characters alike within this area are pushed in the direction Marin was facing at the speed of Ganondorf's run. Anything that moves against the wind has that deducted from their speed, and anything moving with it adds it to their speed.

This also has a handy effect on Marin's Side and Down Specials. Capture Spheres are blown away just as normal bubbles, potentially becoming a way to deposit a foe off stage or give their maker breathing room. While in her Bubble Dress, Marin takes reduced knockback when it would send her against the wind and the increase to her move speed by the wind is doubled while running with it. Whether she takes advantage of this or not, Autumn Wind creates an easy way for Marin to cover a portion of the stage in bubbles and hinder an approaching opponent.
(13-18%)

o (Down Smash) o (Cold Front) o

Wide area, low power freezing magic. Shivering from the cold, Marin mumbles words of power through chattering teeth, a deep blue tint covering the area around her. Powdered snow flaking off of her wand, she slams the tip against the ground to create a pair of icicles on either side of her.

The cold temperature is applied to an area one battlefield platform wide and one battlefield platform high, centered on Marin. Enemies who enter the area have their movement speed reduced by half until they leave. The duration of Cold Front is determined by the charge time, lasting anywhere between 3-6 seconds. The icicles deal 15-21% damage and above average horizontal knockback that can KO fairly early, though their use is hampered by needing to be directly next to a ground-bound foe.

Cold Front affects bubbles within it. A thin layer of frost covers them as they are flash-frozen by the temperature change, causing them to descend at roughly the rate of Ganondorf's walk. These bubbles return to normal a second after leaving the affected area.

Enemies that touch frozen bubbles cause them to burst, making the victim suffer a brief moment of stun equivalent to flinching knockback in addition to a bubble's normal damage. Capture Spheres rise at only half the rate they normally do inside Cold Front, which makes damage racking easier, and Marin's weight is increased by half while wearing her Bubble Dress in a Cold Front.
(15-21%)

o (Up Smash) o (Heat Wave) o

A basic, unfocused fire spell. Marin wraps both gloved hands around her wand and mutters an incantation, the air around her turning red. With a shout, she thrusts her wand straight up, a globe of flame in its headpiece.

The increased temperature is applied to an area one battlefield platform wide and one battlefield platform high, centered on Marin. Enemies who enter the area take 3% damage (but no flinching or knockback) every second. The duration of Heat Wave is determined by the charge time, lasting anywhere between 3-6 seconds. The swing itself does 12-17% damage and a respectable upwards knockback that can KO fairly early, though its use is hampered by needing to be directly beneath the foe.

This isn't Marin's only trick, however. Bubbles within the affected area turn red and begin to rise upwards from the heat at the rate of Ganondorf's walk, returning to normal a second after the bubbles escape it. Touching a red bubble or an attack using them inflicts 2% damage in addition to whatever damage the bubble/attack itself would deal. Capture Spheres ascend at 1.5x their normal rate while in Heat Wave's area of effect, making them more effective as a KO option, and Marin's jumps and aerial maneuverability are improved by 1.3x while in her Bubble Dress.

Frozen bubbles will turn into normal bubbles when affected by heat wave, and red bubbles will become normal bubbles under the effects of Cold Front.
(12-17%) (3% per second) (2+X% x Y)


o o o ((Aerials)) o o o

o (Neutral Aerial) o (Aqua Ring) o

Marin does a quick 360 spin with her wand outstretched. A long and thin bubble is left in its path around her, forming a simple ring that pops half a second afterward. Her wand and the bubble do a mere 6% damage and push enemies back roughly half a stage builder block. This simple pirouette is quick and makes for an effective spacer despite its range leaving something to be desired.

There's a few tricks to this move besides the damage. The brief window of time the ring exists does not count as part of the attack's lag or the time it takes to complete the animation, meaning Marin can enter into a different attack before it bursts. The ring also has an effect on nearby bubbles- those that are within half a stage builder block of Marin when she uses this move have their position flipped horizontally- a handy way to bring bubbles behind her to the front to block a hit. The bubbles deal an extra 1% damage and push the opponent back just like the rest of this move while in motion from its effect.

Besides the swap, the bubbles otherwise stop in place and lose momentum for half a second, letting her pause the movement of her swarm from an effect like one of her Smashes. This also applies to Marin's Bubble Dress; while her Down Special is active, Marin can negate knockback from a move that knocks her off the ground but fails to penetrate the defense, leading to a swift comeback before the opponent can take advantage of her sudden departure from the stage.
(6%) (X + 1% * Y)

o (Forward Aerial) o (Bulky Bubble) o

Thrusting her wand forward, Marin's magic pulls any bubbles within a Smash Ball of the thin, disjointed hitbox's path to its edge to form a single large bubble. A quick move with decent reach, and aim-able at that. The thrust's paltry 5% damage is just a bonus; the resulting hitbox centered on her wand's headpiece is what Marin's really attacking with.

If only one bubble is drawn to the headpiece, the hitbox functions as a normal bubble. 1% damage, no knockback, and the defensive effects. When more are absorbed, however, the hitbox grows in size, damage, and knockback. At two bubbles, it deals 2.5% damage and flinching knockback, carrying the defensive benefits of 2 bubbles. This scaling continues up to a maximum of 10 absorbed bubbles, making a Crate-sized hitbox that deals 14.5% damage, moderate knockback, and has the defensive benefits of all 10 bubbles.

Upon contact with an opponent, the bubble bursts, spraying its component bubbles back at Marin and ending the attack. Otherwise, Marin keeps her wand extended with her large hitbox active for as long as the attack button is held. Releasing the attack button simply lets the large bubble separate again. This is one of Marin's best offensive moves, and can be used to exclude a few bubbles from the movement effects of her other attacks (the pull towards the tip taking priority over the other movements when a bubble is in range of both).
(5%) (1% + 1.5 * 0~9)

o (Down Aerial) o (Bubble Bounce) o

Suddenly snapping out of her leg-hold mid-air pose, Marin stomps with both her feet, falling quickly. She descends at a speed comparable to the Star Fox series' characters during their fast-falls, her feet a small hitbox that deals 10% damage and spikes the foe downwards. Unless the attack button is held, Marin will exit the pose after falling half a battlefield platform, otherwise she will continue to drop at that rate until the button is released.

The obvious uses of a stall then fall are here (minus the stall part of the equation): Evading an attack, KOing a foe attempting to recover, hitting an opponent as you jump over them, and so on. What sets Bubble Bounce apart from its kin is its namesake.

Upon successfully hitting an opponent, Marin forms a large bubble between them and herself. This bubble, squeezed between the two fighters, forcibly resumes its spherical shape by launching Marin upwards and pushing her opponent down (this being what inflicts the knockback of the move). It lingers for 2 seconds as a solid wall/platform that prevents the foe from passing through it (such as to pursue Marin or recover) until it pops. The boost is enough to elevate Marin half a battlefield platform, roughly where she was when she used the attack in most cases.

If Marin's bubbles are below her, they are gathered beneath her as she passes until the attack portion of the move ends, up to a maximum of 5 small bubbles or 1 big one (from her Up Special). In the case of the former, assuming she doesn't hit an opponent, she condenses the bubbles into a single bigger bubble she can use to launch herself up as normal, though it is smaller and produces only a fraction of the boost if there are less than 5. It then separates back into the small bubbles that made it.

A pre-existing big bubble launches her the full distance and does not separate nor gain any of the special qualities specific to the one made by this attack. The first 5 small bubbles caught beneath Marin are not absorbed into her Bubble Suit, but others interact with it as normal. Regardless of how she uses it, this move grants Marin a few more evasive and defensive options than her opponent, which is something anyone with her low weight can appreciate.
(10%)

o (Back Aerial) o (Foamy Fall) o
Spinning around (sometimes with a short voice clip of Marin yelping in surprise), the bubble witch swings her wand out to swat her opponent. The sudden strike has poor reach compared to the rest of her moves and is even weaker to boot, dealing only 5% and lacking any usage of her bubbles to compensate.

There are three benefits of this move. First, it changes the direction Marin is facing quickly so she can attack. Second, a foe hit by this move enters free fall for half a battlefield platform of distance- excellent for stopping a recovery dead or setting up for the Down Aerial.

The third is arguably the best- when an opponent is hit, a bit of fluid splatters off of Marin's wand onto them, usually towards their face or sensory organs if they have any. This fluid catches on the wind as the opponent moves through the air, producing a single bubble in their wake for every quarter of a battlefield platform they move, up until the 15th bubble or their landing.

The closest Marin has to a move that generates bubbles for her and one of her better weapons against agile foes, it suffers from requiring a hit to work and lacks the production rate of her Neutral Special or Dash Attack (though it certainly supplements them well). Multiple hits can stack several instances of this effect, though it's difficult to pull off and all instances end upon the foe landing.
(5%) (1% * 1~15)

o (Up Aerial) o (Bubble Lift) o

With a simple, calculated wave that clashes with her normally frantic swinging, Marin creates a single long but thin bubble above herself. Resembling a battlefield platform in dimensions, it acts as a solid wall or floor for foes and a fall-through platform for Marin. Foes touching the platform without attacking do not pop it and do not take damage unless it is under the effect of one of Marin's moves that modify the damage or knockback of the affected bubbles; otherwise, it acts as a normal bubble with similar qualities.

The platform can be manipulated by Marin's attacks like the rest of her bubbles, though it gradually loses altitude over time and descends at half the rate of Marin's fall speed for each person standing on it. Contact with the floor below or an opponent's attack will pop the Bubble Lift, and once popped Marin must make contact with the ground before she can replace it. Only one Bubble Lift can exist at a time. Entering this input again while one already exists causes Marin to perform a quicker swing with a less focused, more nervous expression.

Regardless of which version she uses, Marin suffers little lag with this attack, and deals a single, solid hit of 7% damage and flinching knockback. The platform serves as a less risky way to access Marin's ground game, a recovery booster, an emergency wall against a foe above, and a larger hitbox for her bubble-manipulating moves.
(7%)


o o o ((Grab Game)) o o o

o (Grab) o (Suds Splash) o
Marin's expression twists and her eyes squeeze shut. She forces herself to be brave, adjusts her hold on her wand, and swings it as if it were a net, a bit of whatever matter her bubbles are made of sloshing from its headpiece.

Should the liquid or the wand itself make contact with a foe, the former springs to life and hardens into a rubbery substance around them, the headpiece hooking on whatever extremity is convenient. This grab has decent reach and scarcely any end lag, making it a decent option despite Marin's preference for keeping the opponent at arm's length.

As a final note, Marin can grab an opponent while riding on or in her Up Special bubble. Inside, directional inputs will steer it like normal, and she can jump to exit it. If on the bubble, a directional input will throw the opponent. Note she can't go back in the bubble while holding a foe since the down input is then mapped to her throw. If she has time, she can reposition herself a little before performing the throw.

o (Bubble Grab) o (Bubble Boost) o
There's another way Marin can utilize her grab. Should she fail to grab an opponent and at least one of her small bubbles come in contact with the grab hitbox, it is pulled into the center of her wand's headpiece at the end of the animation.

Time is not subtracted from the bubble's duration while in the headpiece of Marin's wand, though a successful attack using her wand as a hitbox will cause it to pop with whatever effects it would normally have. Besides being a good way to keep a special bubble in reserve, Marin receives benefits depending on the type of bubble held.

A Magnetic Bubble continues to pull her bubbles along, doubling the speed with which they gravitate towards her. Items and even small opponents are very gradually pulled in as well, and a successful hit with a wand hitbox knocks the victim prone with an electric shock.

A held Gust Ball has the opposite effect on bubbles, repelling them at half the rate they are normally pulled in. Marin moves a hair faster, jumps higher, and is otherwise a tad more 'floaty' than normal. A successful blow and the resulting destruction of the Gust Ball sends her and the for flying away from each other, Marin a set distance of half a battlefield platform, her opponent with medium knockback.

Her Blast Orb is the odd one. Instead of directly moving her bubbles, it causes any bubbles in motion from one of Marin's attacks to detonate upon popping- dealing an additional 2% damage and light knockback on contact on top of the normal effects. If Marin hits something with her wand while holding a Blast Orb, it explodes, doubling her ending lag but dealing 1.5x the normal damage and knockback.

Grabbing a normal bubble has a different effect. The rubbery gunk coats the bubble in a gray tint, resulting in a 'Metal Bubble'. It moves at half the rate of other small bubbles, subtracts double the damage from an attack, does no damage but does not break on contact, and reverts to a normal bubble upon destruction or 5 seconds pass. While held, it adds 2% damage and modest knockback to Marin's wand hitboxes, and does not burst upon use like others.

Special bubbles get priority over her normal ones, in the order listed here. If there are two of the same, the closest to Marin is picked. She can release her bubble laglessly at any time by pressing the grab input.
(X * 2 OR X + 2%)

o (Bubble Grab) o (Launch) o
There's one last thing to talk about before moving on to Marin's throws. When she grabs a non-standard sized bubble (prioritizing them over the normal sized ones and lower than actual opponents), like a Capture Sphere, her Up Special bubble, or a bubble platform from her Up Aerial, she does not use her standard throws.

A directional input simply has her propel the bubble in the chosen direction anywhere from half a battlefield platform to a full battlefield platform, depending on how hard the input was pressed. Speed up a Capture Sphere's ascent a little, move that bubble platform, or simply turn her fledgling Up Special into a wall.

o (Pummel) o (Rapidfire) o
Each press of the A button causes Marin to jerk the opponent towards her and then push them back using her hold on them with her wand's headpiece, creating a bubble from the motion. The shake and the bubble do 1% damage each, and Marin can do this up to twice a second. With a quick thumb and an injured opponent, you can really rack up the number of hits here.

The bubbles made by Marin's pummel, though doomed to destruction, are in fact normal bubbles like the rest of her moveset. This means they can be modified by Heat Wave and Cold Front, or any other effects she might have active.

While the number of effects are limited by the fact Marin is in mid pummel and only a few linger on long enough to use her grab, getting this move off with those effects active is potentially devastating- the damage boost from Heat Wave making each bubble more damaging or the stun from Cold Front letting her get in extra hits making this a shockingly effective damage racker.
((1% + 1%) up to twice per second)

o (Forward Throw) o (Chilling Wind) o
Happy to remind opponents that bubbles are not the only thing she can make, Marin produces a blisteringly cold wind that she unleashes into the slime covering the opponent. The slime hardens and shatters, tossing the foe away from her with frozen chunks still stuck on them.

Though the knockback is a little lacking for a KO move, the opponent is stunned and is unable to control their direction in the air or use an attack to stop their momentum for 3/4ths of a second after they normally would, making it much more powerful than it first appears. Besides that, this move does an okay 11% damage.
(11%)

o (Down Throw) o (Slime Coat) o
With a flick of her wrist and a step back, Marin releases the opponent, still covered in gunk. For the next 5 seconds or until grabbed again, any of Marin's attacks that move her bubbles will also move her opponent.

Further, certain effects work differently on them. Cold Front lowers their mobility by 25%, Heat Wave increasing the knockback they take. Magnetic bubbles will grab them like other bubbles, doing 1% damage (but no hitstun) every half a second until they get away from its pull or it is destroyed. Gust Balls and Autumn Wind push the foe twice the distance. Blast Orb causes the Slime Coat to explode, ending the effect and dealing double the usual damage and knockback the secondary explosion hitbox normally inflicts.

The opponent and Marin are left nearly frame neutral to each other at the end of this throw (the opponent having a very slight advantage), just out of reach of Marin's grab. While it's possible for her to chain grabs, her opponent will likely be able to respond because of this lead, and as this move does no damage on its own, it would serve no purpose.
(N/A)

o (Back Throw) o (Voltage) o
Like her forward throw creates wind and ice, her back throw channels lightning. Bolts of electricity surge through her staff and into the opponent, and with a shout of effort, she spins on her heel and tosses the opponent away, stumbling in the process.

This attack is one of Marin's strongest- a solid 15% damage. The opponent is pushed away with light knockback, coming out of this with frame advantage over Marin as she recovers from her misstep, but suffering from a bigger problem than knockback.

For the next 5 seconds, whenever the opponent gets within half a battlefield platform of a small bubble, it is drawn to them by a string of electricity, The bubble will not actually be pulled in close enough to make contact with the foe, being held about a Smash Ball's width away from them. Up to 10 bubbles can be affected by this.

Between their natural pull towards Marin and their held distance from the foe, this ensures whatever attacks they make against Marin will be forced to go through her bubbles first. A big problem if there are any special bubbles in the mix and certainly not negligible even without.
(15%)

o (Up Throw) o (Exploder Balloon) o
The gunk holding the opponent in place begins to inflate and pull away from their body, but Marin isn't planning on releasing them gently. By using a weak fire spell, she has begun to fill the gunk with hot air, causing the victim to slowly drift into the air.

Marin soon finds herself holding the opponent overhead. The opponent is still able to escape the grab, and the duration can still run out on its own. Once she has the opponent off the ground, however, there's no escaping what happens next. Either by the grab duration running out, the bubble reaching its maximum size, an attack striking the bubble or Marin, or the held foe's struggles finally making headway, the 'Exploder Balloon' lives up to its name and detonates in a burst of heated gasses.

The damage and knockback depend on what size the bubble was when it destroyed. It takes a full three seconds to go from its minimum size (barely off the opponent's body) to its full size (a Smash Ball's width in each direction from the foe's body) normally. However, if its edge makes contact with any bubbles, they are pulled in, shaving off a tenth of a second each. The 'Exploder Balloon's destruction leaves them in its wake, returning them to roughly their original position if a bit higher off the ground. A handy barrier should the foe try to come straight down on Marin.

The Exploder Balloon does anywhere between 9~18% damage and moderate to high vertical knockback. A fairly reliable KO move, also handy in getting the foe off the ground and into the air where Marin can utilize her full moveset against them.
(9~18%)


oo00((!!Final Smash!!))00oo

oo00((~Bubble Dragon~))00oo


Feeling the energy of the smash ball surging through her, Marin raises her staff high and shouts. "COME FORTH!" A cloud of bubbles swarm around her staff, the colorful glow of her smash ball-granted aura and the bright shine from her staff as she casts the summoning spell creating a veritable light show.

An eastern-style dragon emerges from her staff, formed of ten crate-sized bubbles (the front most one taking the shape of a head). It swims through the air in a wavy, snake-like pattern, moving back and forth about the stage from one end to the other, up to a battlefield platform past the right/left most ledge (in normal stages), half that distance past where the screen stops panning out to show (on a walk off), or until it reaches a solid wall. Its speed is comparable to Marth's dash, though its swerving movements that take its body up and down 3/4ths of a battlefield platform make its actual rate of travel a little slower.

Each segment of the Bubble Dragon has 15% stamina and deals 8% damage with mild knockback on contact, except the head which has 30% and deals 12%/medium knockback. They take no noticeable knockback from attacks, though being struck causes the dragon to halt for a split second before it continues along its merry way. It will even plow through destructibles without difficulty. The segments act to reduce damage the same as Marin's bubbles, subtracting the same amount of damage from an attack as they deal to an opponent on contact (applied after the damage is subtracted by that segment's stamina) when struck and adding a 0.3 second pause in the middle of the animation.

What truly makes the Bubble Dragon deadly is Marin's ability to interact with it. She can 'steer' or otherwise modify it and its segments through her attacks like her normal bubbles. She can use her Side Special to implant a Capture Sphere in the dragon's chain-like body that lasts two seconds or until it captures an enemy, then disappears or detaches and acts normally, respectively. She can even catch a ride on/in a segment like her Up Special, taking control of the dragon's (rather slippy-slidy) movements by entering the head.

The dragon lasts a whopping 15 seconds or until its head is destroyed. A body segment that runs out of stamina merely bursts into five normal bubbles that Marin may manipulate, the two nearest segments attaching to each other to fill the gap. At the end of its lifespan, whatever is left of the dragon freezes mid-flight, and the segments begin to quiver. After a second's warning, they pop, dropping Marin if she was inside one (at the nearest appropriate space if it was in a destructible at that point) and leaving behind 5 bubbles each.
(8% or 12% x X)


o o o ((Playstyle)) o o o

Marin's namesake ability is her bread and butter. Attacking, defending, ammo, tools, they do it all for her. Creating and managing bubbles while fighting the opponent is simultaneously her greatest asset and her biggest obstacle. All of her attacks, except her Up Special, both create or manipulate bubbles and function as an attack.

Her focus should be on a mass of normal bubbles, as the singular special bubbles created through her tilts lack any threatening qualities on their own; save those for when you have a decent swarm going they can hide among. That said, all bubbles are fragile and take time to replace- Marin can create bubbles while moving and fighting with them for a reason. She should almost never be sitting still and 'just' making bubbles.

In a tight spot, tap the B button to create a quintet of bubbles, then turn them into dangerous hitboxes with a smash, or slip in a Side Special when the unwary foe attempts to sneak through. Call on a Bubble Dress or use her Up Special to negate the hitstun from the weakened attack and counter with a Grab or Forward Smash. Poke the opponent with a few weak tilts and aerials to build damage. A swarm is ideal, but Marin must often spend bubbles to have time to make bubbles.

Marin is surprisingly non-committal in how she uses her bubbles once they're there- only caring that they're there. She can even function (if poorly) without them long enough to repel the opponent so she can make a quick few and regain her momentum. The only time she should focus on bubbles for bubbles' sake is when she's flung the foe hopelessly past the point of recovery, the brief interlude between their loss of a stock and respawn, or when the opponent is indisposed in her Capture Sphere.

As Marin starts to gain momentum, having a good number of bubbles following her and a Bubble Dress up, it takes effort and careful play to break her defenses apart. If she's suffered some damage, she's in as much danger as anyone, but it takes some doing to inflict it between her various bubbles and her mobility.

Once she has her swarm, the next problem is keeping it intact. Since her attacking moves are also what she uses to move it around, she has to be picky about how and when to attack or risk losing her defenses as they drift away or break on the opponent for a sad amount of damage. Her strongest attacks, barring her throws, are the ones that affect the most bubbles, and are therefore the most risky once she has a proper bubble swarm.

Her Bubble Dress lets her keep a safe emergency reserve for such mistakes, and her aerials serve as a way to better organize her set up or otherwise minimize the damage from her mistakes when need be. Her standards also come in handy for this- Forward and Down tilts create special bubbles that spread out her swarm, normally a poor idea due to their function as chaff to break an opponent's attack against them, can be used to store a few bubbles aside for later that aren't within the area of effect for her mass bubble migration abilities.

Her Up Tilt's special bubble is a bit more situational. The threat of a Blast Orb in her swarm is a bit of a gamble- going off at the wrong time can cause her to botch a maneuver, but it makes succeeding with an attack much more rewarding and makes rushing through her bubbles far less appealing. Her grab can pluck these bubbles and withhold them if she sets them out too early on accident or wants a back up.

Marin's relatively straightforward throws and Side Special are her go-to moves when she needs to fight but can't afford to use up resources. Their drawback is lacking punch and being difficult to land, respectively, but her ability to rack damage with repeated hits and create a veritable minefield pick up the slack. Even when she's not directing them or using them as ammo, her bubbles still benefit her.

All in all, Marin is simple to learn but difficult to master. Setting up isn't hard, it's making use of that set up and not blowing it on a stupid mistake that will make or break her game.


o o o ((Extras)) o o o

o (Entrance) o (Pop) o
Marin floats down from the top of the screen, sitting atop the bubble from her Up Special. Her nervous disposition is obvious as she looks around. She steps off and stumbles as it unexpectedly pops. Gripping her wand tightly in one hand, she meekly pushes her hat up out of her eyes and assumes her neutral pose.

o (Side Taunt) o (Boredom) o
Holding her wand up to inspect it, Marin sticks her finger through the hole in its headpiece. She carefully moves her finger through the air to create a bubble with a complex shape, such as a butterfly or her own name, before apparently finding some flaw in her work and waving her wand over it to reclaim the used material.

o (Down Taunt) o (Fancy) o
Marin creates a single bubble, staring at it with an expression that speaks of peacefulness. The bubble abruptly pops, cracking her composure and returning her attention to the battle. The bubble may act as a normal bubble from Marin's Neutral Special, but due to the length of this taunt, its odd position, and its less than 2 second duration, that's more of an easter egg than anything useful.

o (Up Taunt) o ('Gotcha!') o
In a rare show of enthusiasm, Marin does a twirl and shoots the audience a thumbs-up. She then realizes she's being watched, and enters her idle animation with a blush.

o (Codec Conversation) o
Snake: Mei Ling, do you have any idea who this is?
Mei Ling: Her name's 'Marin', though she's better known as 'The Bubble Witch'.
Snake: Can't imagine why...
Mei Ling: She's a student of a magic academy in a world where magicians all bear a personal ability. Her mother helped overthrow a magic-using tyrant and retired to obscurity afterwards. Between the seclusion growing up and the mocking over her ability, she prefers her bubbles as company over people.
Mei Ling: Marin's become famous for an incident involving monsters running free in the academy. The building used to be a stronghold for the mad wizard her mother defeated, refurbished into a house of learning to symbolize hope for the future.
Snake: This might just be me, but using a madman's old stomping grounds for a school sounds like a terrible idea.
Mei Ling: It was. The monster outbreak was caused by a massive 'mother' monster below ground in an undiscovered alcove, an old pet project of the tyrant's that was running amuck without anything to keep it in check.
Mei Ling: It's hard to believe someone pulled through that with just bubbles, don't you think?
Snake: It isn't what tools you have, but how you use them.
Snake: Those bubbles of hers are gumming up my attacks, and the way she and they move around is making it hard to get a hit in in the fist place.
Snake: But that'll be her weakness, too. They're so fragile that she can't go all out. She has to pick and choose her time to attack and keep them safe or she'll be at a disadvantage. They're unfocused enough that a straight hit can squeeze though, and as long as I'm wary of any booby traps, I can probably just walk through some of them. She won't be so tough without their help.
Mei Ling: Overuse of one tool leaves the others to rust.
Snake: Is that a Chinese proverb, too?
Mei Ling: No, just an observation.


o o o ((Closing Comments)) o o o
Well, it's been a while, but I'm back again with a new set. It's been 9 contests since I made an OC set (though not since I last attempted one) and a single contest break since I entered at all (the last entry preceded by a 3 contest absence itself). Most importantly, I had fun making this set, which is something I can't remember doing for a long time.

Joe's MYMini caught my attention near the end of the prior contest, and the idea of making a defensive concept then developing a character who uses it from scratch appealed to my imagination. I'm proud of how Marin turned out, her quirks and strengths and weaknesses all. Being able to finish a set (besides some extras I might add later on) after so many failed attempts over the last two years or so certainly helped my enthusiasm.

I'd like to thank those in the chat for putting up with my walls of text gushing over the work and especially Forward Arrow for previewing most of the set for me. I'm sorry for constantly fading in and out in the community, and I hope to stick around and do a few more sets this time.

Updates:
4/12/13: Replaced Back Throw, as the original did nothing to differ itself from similar abilities Marin could already access.
4/20/13: Edited the numbers on the Down Shield Special to be a little less ridiculous.
6/14/13: Replaced Shine Vision with Shine Guard. Modified any effects that previously referred to Shine Vision to build off of Shine Guard. Fixed some typos and weak wording.
6/15/13: Aaaaand replaced Shine Guard with Blast Orb, with thanks to Joe for the idea of a 'landmine' bubble (why did I not think of that before, when all three tilts could be called that?) and for pointing out that reflecting weak projectiles was really niche for Marin due to how clashing works.
10/02/13: Began rewriting the set so the writing flows better, taking out the moves made for the two contest-specific mechanics and references to them in the interest of making a long read shorter and easier. Fixed some typos, examples of poor wording, and added damage percent notations to the bottom of the two throws that were missing them.
10/06/13: Dropped a portion of the tilts involving a interaction with the Bubble Dress- rather than temporarily converting all bubbles from a Bubble Dress dispersed soon after absorbing a special bubble into that type of special bubble, Marin simply stores them indefinitely like her normal bubbles. The original version, after reading again, simply added unneeded complexity to already complicated moves, and worse still clashed with the intended playstyle.

The bubble grab was also modified slightly- besides the wording change to shorten it a tad, a held bubble pops upon a successful hit with a wand hitbox, a Magnetic Bubble subtly draws in all bubbles rather than just the usual 5 (as well as pulling lighter opponents and items), and all effects were tweaked to have different roles complementary to Marin's playstyle. Very subtly changed the grab itself (an overhead swing as opposed to a spear-like thrust).
 

Rychu

Thane of Smashville
Joined
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Messages
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3DS FC
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And now, because no one demanded it, I'm going to do another commentary, this time doing each set on a move-by move analysis!

Hammer Bro
So, Hammer Bro! Welcome to MYM FatKoopa, we're happy to have you. For starters, a descriptive stats section is totally fine! If you ever want to use numbers, there's a link in the OP comparing all of the different stats and such of the actual Brawl Characters to one another.

Starting off with the specials, the side special is a good move to get the feel of the Hammer Bro down immediately, though to be totally honest I feel like this move and the Neutral Special could have been combined into one attack. As you have the down special already a shout-out to the Sledge Bro, why not have the side special be the Boomarang bro, or something of that nature? Two very similar moves on the specials is usually not too great, but it certainly feels "Hammer Bro.The Up Special is great, it's good outside the box thinking on your part, I just wish it was explained a bit better, as now it's fairly confusing. Good set of specials, though!

Standards are fairly generic directional attacks, as are the smashes, aerials, and throws. What's interesting here is not in those attacks, it's in the specials, particularly the Neutral and Up. When you think to write a character, it helps to envision what the character does and what kind of Playstyle they would have, then building the moveset around that, instead of making the attacks and piecing a playstyle from that. There is a lot of potential for you, definitely: you've got creativity and a good knowledge of this character. Another thing I would suggest is proofreading through your moveset before it's posted: a good spellcheck will do wonders. Overall, though, valiant first effort, and I look forward to see you improve in the future!

AXEL the Dark Hero
So, Axel. I love how much you love this character, makes for an entertaining read all the way through!

I like the Rifle Demon as a summon, kind of a mobile turret-type deal that Axel can reposition at will, though has other tricks up its sleeve and is dangerous to attack. Too cool. I also like the Side special, and the implications that, maaybe you can use with your Demon as an explosion. Good way to work off of that summon! The Up Special I don't like because it damages hi waaaaaaaay too much.The Down Special is way too much fun for it's own good.

The rest of the set plays off of the guitar and demon pretty well. My only complaint is that the demon is about all Axel has to play off of with the S-special. I wish maybe you could summon maybe an obsessive fan and abuse them with some of the attacks, fits Axel's abusive asshole personality that's present throughout the set. I quite like Axel, can't wait to see what you do next!

Ant Hill Mob and Marin to come next!
 

Hyper_Ridley

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2007
Messages
2,289
Location
Hippo Island
Posting to acknowledge this thread's existence, and to say that I'm probably not going to finish Thunder Golem since the motivation I had for it was being able to do it in pieces. Besides, I have to save Nimble Fighter for the LoL character it came from :p
 

n88

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,528
The Cosmic Cube is an extremely powerful artifact in the Marvel Universe, capable of granting a wielder who knows how to use it nearly unlimited power to reshape reality as they see fit. Or just blast stuff. In Brawl, picking up a Cosmic Cube is extremely rare. It functions like a shooting item, replacing the wielder's Jab with a blast of energy comparable in size to Wolf's laser. This blast travels faster than Wolf's laser, however, and each shot deals 18% and moderate-high knockback. The user's Neutral Aerial is also replaced, this time with an omni-directional blast that reaches one Battlefield platform's length away from the wielder and deals 21% and high radial knockback. After being used six times, the cube will vanish rather than simply run out of ammo. It will similarly vanish, no matter how much it's been used, ten seconds after spawning.

Unlike most shooting items, the Cosmic Cube will also grant the wielder a number of other advantages. These always include superarmor against attacks dealing 2% and less as well as a universal 3% power buff to all attacks. Additionally, the wielder's damage gauge will tick backwards at 8% a second for as long as they hold the cube. Let me guess what you're thinking; that's nice but it doesn't sound like that big a deal. Well, here's the thing: it takes some impressive willpower and foreknowledge to operate the thing, and very few will be able to unlock its secrets. On the MYM14 roster, there are (currently) no fighters able to use it for any grander purpose. Regardless, it's a versatile weapon that's advantageous for anyone to hold even if they're not using it, and it will likely be fought over quite a bit.

The Faustian Item Bargain exists as a separate mode from regular Brawl. In this mode, items are sorted into varying power levels. At the base are your Foods and your Mr. Saturns, with a gradual scaling up to the top of the pyramid, your Final Smashes and Golden Hammers. At the beginning of the match, you get to decide which levels of items you'd like access to, and how often you'd like them to spawn. During the match, items will spawn at random as they normally do, but each item will be tied to a certain player, indicated by the colored boxes around the items. Initially, only the corresponding player will be able to interact with any given item, but the colored boxes will vanish when their items begin to disappear, allowing any fighter a moment to interact with them.

But let's back up a second. We've already established that players can pick more powerful items and higher spawn rates for themselves. But why not just take all Final Smashes and Golden Hammers all the time? Well, taking higher-level items and higher spawn rates will increase the damage percentage that you start a stock with. So yes, you can expect to constantly get Final Smashes, so long as you don't mind playing a 250% handicap. For a 0% start, take the lowest level of items at the lowest spawn rate. Going totally itemless will actually make you start at -8% damage. Yes, the opponent has to deal 8% damage just to get you to zero (you'll take knockback as if you were already at zero, mind you). How's that for a deal?
 

JOE!

Smash Hero
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
8,075
Location
Dedham, MA
Well, it seems Marin wins by default!

I'll have the week 1 results up for tomorrow, had a long school day today and bleh...



WEEK 1 RESULTS:

This week, everyone is a winner! All created items will be used from here on, but only 1 item mechanic. Who's won out this week?
Due to shortened time due to school / etc, I will cut to the chase:​
WEEK 2:
CROWD APPEAL
TheKalmarKing takes the first week with his Crowd Appeal mechanic! Combining another mechanic into the game (the crowd's cheering) into the entry as well as "reactive" items based on who you're fighting, the stage, or even how well you're doing / how flashy you are creates a great dynamic between being flashy and being practical, and now it's -your- turn to work with it!​
This week you are to take a character from MYM14 and go over possible appeal abilities for them. Not limited to just items (however, you should describe how at least one of the items made works in with the chosen character), but create a method to work appeal into general gameplay beyond items, or even working with them. For example, how would you punish or reward certain kinds of play though use of the crowd?​
While this is going on, you all should probably find a partner for next week's mini, you just might need them!
 

Knight Dude

Keeping it going.
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Kaine-Rodgers
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It's not too late to post my own moveset is it? There's one that I made in a character support thread a little while back and I wanted to re-post it here.
 

Knight Dude

Keeping it going.
Joined
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Messages
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The States
NNID
Kaine-Rodgers
3DS FC
0232-7749-6030
EDIT: Ok, Here's the first attempt at making him feel more like Starforce Megaman. I'll also try to add more detail. I admit, I don't know as much about Geo as I do Classic Megaman or Megaman X, I figured it'd be a good challenge for me. Sorry if some of the pictures are too small to see.

EDIT 2: I'm adding a few more details, now that the stats are now more or less finished.

EDIT 3: Some more details have been added, I'm trying to iron out some of the kinks in the moveset. I plan on adding more to the playstyle and what ways Megaman can be used in a fight effectively, though I don't know when that stuff will be done.

Play-Style Idea
Geo's playstyle should mostly be focused on being able to rush down the opponent with close range attacks, as he has a variety of close range battle cards from his games as well as his partner Omega-Xis. Megaman, in his many incarnations is known for his vast pool of long range attacks, while the moveset SFMM is mostly rush-down from what I have in mind I also have a certain "gimmick" in mind that can represent the gun-play aspect of Megaman as well. It should be noted that, while SFMM has better horizontal K.O. game, he still has a couple combos dedicated to vertical combat.

Basic Character(s) History
Coming Soon....Maybe.

Stats

Overall: Megaman should be a character with balanced stats across the board. The only major stat he should be lacking in is his air movement. While the only two stats that are noticeably higher are his jumping height and weight.

Ground Speed 6/10: Megaman should have some decent ground speed to make sure he can keep himself as close to, or as far from, any opponents as he needs to be.

Air Speed 4/10: In order to balance his above average ground speed Megaman should have a little bit trouble in the air.

Size: 5.5/10: This version of Megaman should be slightly taller than Peach.

Weight 7/10: Megaman might be a kid, but he's wearing armor so he should be heavier than average.

Fall Speed 5/10: Megaman should have average falling speed.

Jump Height 7/10: Having come from a franchise that mostly revolves around platforming, it would kinda make sense that any form of Megaman is good at jumping. For comparison's sake, Megaman's first jump should be as high as Mario's while his second jump is high as Luigi's. Like most characters, Megaman can only jump twice on the ground.

Traction 6/10: Megaman should have slightly above average traction.

Extra Stuff: Megaman's extra traits are similar to other Megamen, namely X. Megaman should be able to jump off of walls similar to some other Megaman characters. Unlike Diddy Kong Megaman dosen't stick to the walls, rather he has the ability to slide down on the wall slowly.

Here's what he looks like as Megaman
2008519-megamanstarforce3blackace_03.jpg

Here's what Omega-Xis,his EM-being partner looks like:

Moveset-wise, Omega-Xis can mostly serve as Geo's "finisher weapon" most of the moves that would involve Omega-Xis somewhat slow but very powerful. Meaning that they are the most useful for K.O.s.
Starforce Megaman Moveset:

The main reason I chose this Megaman is I thought that it'd be interesting to see how it would turn out. Most Megaman movesets(That I've seen anyway)are either Classic Megaman, Megaman X or Megaman EXE. So I wanted to try something "different".
A moves

AAA: First Megaman does a basic jab with his right hand then he attacks using a move similar to the syncro hook his left, and does a kick to the gut with his left leg. Each hit does 5% damage. Last hit has a little knockback. This should just be a basic combo, nothing too special about it. Each of the attacks should be somewhat fast, about as fast as Mario's AAA combo.

Forward + A: A quick roundhouse kick from the right leg. Does about 8% damage. Decent horizontal knockback. This attack, if timed correctly should be able to combo into his basic three hit combo. This should be his second fastest A move on the ground. This move can also serve for poking the opponent.

Up + A: Megaman morphs his arm into a greenish-blue beam sword and he slashes his sword upward. Does around 11%. Decent vertical knockback. Like his forward A, it can be comboed in to his basic three hit attacks. This is meant to serve as an alternative basic combo for those that prefer vertical combos. This move is his slowest Non-Smash A move, it's main advantage is its larger than average hitbox.

Down + A: A quick low kick that does about 9%. Very, very little knockback. This move is pretty much meant for poking your opponent getting in a little bit of damage. In order to serve as a decent poke move this move is very quick, For comparison, It should be faster than Luigi's Down+A. The attack also has more range than Luigi's as Megaman sticks his leg out further.

Dash + A: Slide: Megaman does a sliding kick,similar to Classic Megaman that deals 7% of damage. Decent knockback. This slide kick should be a bit faster than Mario's and it should have slightly more range too.

Forward + Smash: Beast Slash: Megaman summons Omega-Xis to use the Beast Slash. Uncharged does 15% damage, full charge does 30% damage. Sends the enemy flying horizontally. This Smash attack should take about 2 seconds to fully charge, and it serves as one of his main KO moves. The only real disadvantage of Megaman's Forward + Smash, is that the Beast Slash is rather slow, both in charging up and in the actual attack animation. For comparison, the animation for the Beast Slash should be slightly faster than Brawl's Falcon Punch.

The animation of Megaman's Forward Smash should look similar to the Beast Slash in the Starforce games. Omega-Xis lunges ahead of Megaman and slashes the enemy.


Up + Smash: Megaman does a backflip kick with both legs. Uncharged does 13% damage, full charge does 26%. Sends the enemy flying up into the sky. The main purpose of this move is obviously to serve as a vertical finisher. It should be noted that the Up + Smash is faster than his Forward + Smash but is notably weaker when fully charged.

Down + Smash: Megaman does a powerful sweep kick with his left leg. Uncharged does 11%, full charge does 22%. Decent knockback. This should be his weakest Smash move, in terms of knockback. As it mainly serves to keep enemies off your back instead acting as a finisher. At higher percentages however, around 75% or so, the Down + Smash can land a quick ground vertical K.O.

B moves

B: Mega-Buster: Megaman uses his signature arm cannon to shoot people up.The Mega-Buster has three levels of power, uncharged, semi-charge, and full-charge. Uncharged shots have the smallest hitbox, they can be shot quickly while moving. Of course, its also the weakest, only dealing 5% damage per shot. Uncharged shots have little to no knockback. Uncharged shots are about the same size as uncharged Super-Scope shots and are yellow and gold. Holding the B-button down for about 1 second Megaman can shoot a semi-charged shot. Semi-charged shots are about 1 1/2 times larger and deal 13% damage per shot. Semi-charged shots are the same two shades of green as Omega-Xis' aura. Holding the B-button down for about 3 seconds Megaman can shoot a fully-charged shot. Fully-charged shots are the largest and are shot at the same speed when shot. Fully charged shots deal 23% damage and sent the enemy flying horizontally. The fully charge shots are colored blue and light-blue. The fully-charge shots are about the same size as Samus' full-charge shot. The shots fired from the Mega-Buster are about as fast as Falco's blaster. No matter the charge level, the buster shots can fired at the same speed once the B-Button is no longer held. The buster shots have the same range as Falco's blaster as well, regardless of charge level. The Mega-Buster shots explode on contact, no matter the charge level of the buster shot. it should be noted that unlike Samus, letting go of the B-button will release the buster shot.


Weapon Changing/Taunting: This is an idea that is normally seen in quite a few Megaman fan-movesets but, honestly; I think its a good idea. We already have taunts that do damage(albeit very little)so having taunts that can alter or enhance special attacks seems like the next step. Here's the idea I have for the weapon changing.

Up-Taunt: Switch to Plasma Gun: By pressing the Up Button on the D-Pad, Geo will hold a Battle Card above his head that will brightly glow yellow/golden. Once he does this Geo's Mega-Buster will change into the Plasma Gun. The Plasma Gun shoots a ball of electric energy at the opponent. The Plasma Gun does the same amount of damage as the semi-charge shot(13%). But the Plasma Gun is a bit slower and has 10% less range. The Plasma Gun can't be charged, so you'll constantly have the raw power of the semi-charge shot, but with less speed and range. The main advantage of the Plasma Gun however, is to stun foes when fired for about 1 second. This will leave enemies wide open for a finishing attack. The secondary advantage for the Plasma Gun is that is can pass through enemies instead of exploding on contact. Meaning that if you have good timing you can hit 2 or even 3 enemies with a plasma shot, giving you the chance to take out multiple opponents. Pressing Up-Taunt again while the Plasma Gun is equipped will cause Geo to hold another Battle Card above his head, this time it will glow the same two light green colors as Omega-Xis' aura. This indicates that you've switched back to the Mega-Buster.

The Plasma Shot's Buster on Megaman's arm should look kinda like this:


Side-Taunt: Switch to Mech Flame: By pressing the Left Button or Right Button on the D-pad, Geo will draw a Battle Card and hold it right in front of him and it will glow red/orange. This signifies you switched to the Mech Flame. Pressing and holding the B Button with the Mech Flame equipped will cause Megaman to spray a continuous stream of fire from his buster. You can hold the attack for 4 seconds as the flame fades away slowly. The attack does 3 hits per second and does 2% per hit. So attacking an enemy with the Mech Flame at full power deals 24% damage. Unlike Bowser or Charizard, Megaman's Mech Flame is shot straight in front of him. This gives this attack more horizontal range. But it can be a it hard to enemies on lower levels. Pressing either of the Side-Taunt buttons on the D-pad while the Mech Flame is equipped will cause Geo to draw a Battle Card and hold it right in front of him and it will glow the same two light green colors as Omega-Xis' aura. This means that the Mega-Buster has been re-equipped.

The Mech Flame's Buster on Megaman's arm should look kinda like this:


Down-Taunt: Switch to Chain Bubble: By pressing the Down Button on the D-Pad, Geo will draw a Battle card and hold it behind him. The card will glow navy/blue this means that the Chain Bubble gun is equipped. When the Chain Bubble is shot, it will split in 3 directions, forward, up-forward, and down-forward. Each Chain Bubble shot has he same range as Ness' PK Fire. Each Chain Bubble deals 7% damage per shot. Each Chain Bubble explodes on contact. The biggest advantage of the Chain Bubble is to hit enemies on higher and lower levels. Pressing the Down Button on the D-Pad while the Chain Bubble is equipped Geo will draw a Battle card and hold it behind him. and it will glow the same two light green colors as Omega-Xis' aura. This means that the Mega-Buster has been re-equipped.



Forward + B: Million Kick: In the Megaman Starforce games, Megaman can obtain a powerful move called the Million Kick, where he does a flurry of kicks at blinding speeds. You can keep attacking by pressing the B-button repeatedly while holding forward. The Million Kick does 6% per hit, but has very little knockback. Mostly used for Edge-Guarding and racking up damage for a finishing move. Megaman stands still when using this move, both on the ground and in mid-air. This move can also be done right after the AAA combo, if you have the right timing. This move can be comboed into some mid-air moves such as Up+Air, Neutral+Air, and Forward+Air. In terms of speed this is the fastest move in all of Megaman's moveset.
This is what the Million Kick looks like:


Up + B: Heat Upper: Another attack seen in the Starforce Games, Megaman hand is lit on fire and he uppercuts the enemy. This can work as a vertical recovery attack. The attack would do 9 hits, with the first 8 hits dealing 2%(16% in total)damage each and the last hit dealing 5% damage. Has decent knockback. This move can work well for vertical K.O.s. Like most recovery attacks, Megaman will enter a free fall state after using the Heat Upper.

Down + B: Tornado Dance: Another attack Megaman can use in the Starforce games. Megaman spins his whole body around so quickly that his body is wrapped in a tornado. This move can work kinda like Metaknight's Mach Tornado. The Tornado Dance does 10 hits, with each hit dealing 2% or 3% damage. This move's secondary function should work as a horizontal recovery, while the attack is used in mid-air. If the Tornado Dance is used on the ground, Megaman will attack in place. The Tornado Dance can rack up damage quickly, to make up for its lack of knockback or K.O. potential. After the Tornado Dance is used, Megaman won't actually enter a freefall state. But if the Tornado dance is used for a second time in mid-air, Megaman will no longer move forward, instead he will only attack in place, as if he was on the ground using the attack.

The Tornado Dance should look as flashy as the Battle Card picture.


Mid-Air Moves

A(in mid-air): Megaman kicks forward dealing 9% damage that has a little bit of knockback. Think of this kick being similar to Mario's Neutral Air, but the kick has a bit more range, since Geo is a bit taller. The Neutral Air's main purpose for poking the enemy, while the secondary purpose is to extend certain combos.

Forward+Air: Megaman summons Omega-Xis and punches forward. The attack deals 13% damage. Decent horizontal knockback. This attack's main advantage is that the attack has a large hitbox making it easier to hit enemies. The biggest drawback of this move is its speed. Given the decent damage output and the large hitbox, this is Megaman's slowest move.

Back+Air: Megaman does a spinning horizontal slash with his sword that deals 7% damage, but this move has decent knockback. This move mostly serves as a means to push the enemy back in order to keep your distance, if you want to rely on long range combat. Holding down the A button will have Megaman continually spin while descending. But he will descend faster than normal.

Up+Air: Megaman attacks with a backflip kick with his left leg. The attack does around 12% damage that has little bit of knockback. The main purpose of this move will keep the enemy in mid-air a bit longer, though it should be a bit risky as Megaman's mid-air game is his main drawback.

Down+Air: Shooting Star: Megaman does a dive kick that does 12% damage that has decent vertical knockback. This move mostly serves as a way to keep Megaman on the ground. This move can be canceled into Tornado Dance as well as the Heat Upper.


Throws


Grab Range: Megaman's grab range is above average. When Megaman grabs an enemy, he can do more than just a normal grab. By pressing the button, Megaman does a basic grab with decent range. But holding down the button, Megaman will use Omega-Xis to reel the target in closer, in a similar manner as Link or Samus.But compared to Link and Samus the grab range doesn't travel as far. When done in Mid-Air, Omega-Xis will automatically be summoned, regardless if the button was held or not. Again, like Link and Samus, you can use the throw as a tether recovery, however the range doesn't reach as far, about 70% as far as the other tether recovery. The tether recovery for Megaman works only as a last ditch effort for horizontal recovery if the Tornado Dance fails somehow.

Throw+A: Megaman punches whoever he grabs in the gut. Each hit does 4%

Throw+Forward: Megaman shoots his buster at close range dealing 11% damage. This throw has a little bit knockback. This is just the basic throw, nothing too flashy.

Throw+Back: Megaman summons Omega-Xis behind him, who chucks the enemy behind him very quickly. dealing 14% damage. This throw has great horizontal knockback. This is the throw mostly used to get in any quick knockouts, it doesn't do much damage but makes up for it with being able to send the enemy flying. In terms of sheer knockback, this throw is the most powerful.

Throw+Up: Megaman Summons Omega-Xis who then, strikes the enemy with a quick slash that deals 12% damage. this throw has great vertical knockback.This throw, while not quit as good as the back throw should be available to those who prefer vertical knockouts.


Throw+Down: Megaman summons Omega-Xis, who then grabs the enemy with both hands and slams them down, This throw does 24% damage, making it the strongest throw, but it has no knockback. This throw is mostly mean for racking up damage or to serve at the end of a basic ground combo.

Final Smash

(Option 1)Zerker Form:
I chose Zerker Form as its one of the easier forms to implement in the game, without changing his gameplay style too drastically. Zerker Form can more or less work in a similar manner as Wario-Man. Instead of unleashing a single powerful attack, Megaman cranks all of his attacks to 11 for a relatively short amount of time(about 15-25 seconds)and he becomes completely invincible during the Final Smash. Each of Megaman's Zerker Form attacks deal 3 times as much damage as his normal form. However there are a few differences when it comes to his moveset when in this form. Megaman's Forward Smash in no longer the Beast Slash that he uses with Omega-Xis. Instead its the Zerker Form's signature attack, the Thunder Slash. The Thunder Slash has Megaman grab his sword with both hands, and he slams down the blade with great force. Another move that is changed is his Forward+Air, Megaman no longer uses Omega-Xis for this attack, instead Megaman stabs forward with his blade with great force. Megaman's basic AAA combo is also changed. Instead of punching twice and then kicking, Megaman slashes horizontally, then vertically, then boots the enemy forward. Each hit of this forms AAA, deals 15% damage per hit. Even with another weapon equipped, Megaman will switch back to the Mega-Buster, once the Final Smash was activated. Like all of his other moves, the Mega-Buster will deal 3 times as much damage. The Mega-Buster also gains an electric spark effect while in Zerker Form.

I might make other Final Smash Ideas for Saurian, Ninja, and Black Ace forms.
 

darth meanie

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
452
I've considered a moveset for Star Force Mega Man myself. You've got a solid framework here, but honestly, it doesn't feel very 'Star Force' ish. You don't capitalize on some of the elements that are so unique to his design, like Omega-Xis, moves like Beast Slash, Mega Attack homing moves, his directional shield, etc. The special moves should really showcase what you want to make the most central part of the set, and the battlecards you chose don't feel particularly important to who Mega Man is.

You talk about not knowing where to go with a Final Smash, and yeah, there are so many options since that game has such ridiculous post-game and power-up content available. I'd suggest for this set working backwards instead. Choose a Final Smash or fighting style available to use in the game, like Zerker from Star Force 2 or Red Joker as a Final Smash, and then build the special moves around that aspect of what you can do as Mega Man. You could build a set based around a strategy or playstyle in game, and everything would flow together from there. Focus on playing to the strengths of the character you chose.


Also, I recommend putting up an image for the header and a bit more detail to the moves. Princess Peach's down aerial is four kicks that link together, but it's an amazing tool for pressuring enemies, wracking up damage, and comboing out of her float that can be used in so many different ways. Describing it as just a brief, generic animation and a damage percent wouldn't cut it.
 

TheKalmarKing

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
162
Megaman StarForce

That's rather... under-detailed to say the least. Like Darth Meanie said, a picture would be very nice, and the fact that Starforce is the less known Megaman doesn't help (One of the less known, at least). Also there is no bio, so we're just left pondering whether what his story is. We just know he's not Classic, X or EXE.

Now on to the moves. Basically, the normals are non-existent. It is one thing than to neglect the normals, because you're tired, you don't see much use for them or whatever, but it's another thing than to put only totally generic moves. It doesn't feel like Megaman, it feels like Sheik with a sword. Seriously, I'm not joking. The Specials are rather bland themselves; nothing very interesting, nothing you can remember.

Now, I perfectly understand that as a beginner, your moveset is basic. Don't worry, you will improve with time and training. One of the basics is creating the playstyle, how Megaman is played, that kind of stuff, that solve a lot of problem and the moveset itself will be much easier to create. Reading JOE!'s guide will help, it is well-written and always useful. As a fellow newcomer, I hope you will become a better movesetter, and I'm waiting for your next submission.

EDIT: Wow, you improved fast. First of all, the moveset is far nicer with the pics, the stats and playstyle. Looks far better. Now for the normals, while still a bit generic and flat, they are actually explained: why are they here and why we would use them, that kind of stuff. That's something that Jinbe admittedly lacked, so I can only respect you. The specials are much more developped too, making them almost unique (Because as you said, it's nothing really new). Sooooo... Good job, I guess.
 

Knight Dude

Keeping it going.
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I've considered a moveset for Star Force Mega Man myself. You've got a solid framework here, but honestly, it doesn't feel very 'Star Force' ish. You don't capitalize on some of the elements that are so unique to his design, like Omega-Xis, moves like Beast Slash, Mega Attack homing moves, his directional shield, etc. The special moves should really showcase what you want to make the most central part of the set, and the battlecards you chose don't feel particularly important to who Mega Man is.

You talk about not knowing where to go with a Final Smash, and yeah, there are so many options since that game has such ridiculous post-game and power-up content available. I'd suggest for this set working backwards instead. Choose a Final Smash or fighting style available to use in the game, like Zerker from Star Force 2 or Red Joker as a Final Smash, and then build the special moves around that aspect of what you can do as Mega Man. You could build a set based around a strategy or playstyle in game, and everything would flow together from there. Focus on playing to the strengths of the character you chose.


Also, I recommend putting up an image for the header and a bit more detail to the moves. Princess Peach's down aerial is four kicks that link together, but it's an amazing tool for pressuring enemies, wracking up damage, and comboing out of her float that can be used in so many different ways. Describing it as just a brief, generic animation and a damage percent wouldn't cut it.
Thanks. I'll definitely try to improve on the moveset. I can think of a few moves that involve Omega-Xis(Namely involving his throws). As for what I want to focus on for Megaman's playstyle, I want to focus on his unique close range moves, when it comes to special attacks anyway. But I do have an idea when it comes to other long range weapons, I've seen the idea implemented in other movesets before and I think it can work. I'll also and various stats and stuff like power,dashing speed soon.
 

darth meanie

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
452
Marin

I read this set a bit ago, but I still hadn't gotten around to commenting it, which makes me feel bad, because I love you UserShadow and you made a set! Anyways, I have to begin the set with the base mechanic of course, which I really like a great deal. Taking defense and putting it on the field for both players to work around in the form of these fragile bubbles is clever, and it gives her a barrier she can work effectively with. It's one of the most original, interesting to build off of concepts I can think of in recent memory. Kudos, I really, really like it.

Unfortunately, that really is where most of the praise ends, as Marin falls into the easy pitfalls such a mechanic opens up. The bubbles are fascinating as written. There's no need to continue to manipulate the bubbles themselves in the set, but you pile on a bunch of different modified bubbles into different moves and tilts and ways to combine bubbles or move them around... when that's really not what they were designed to do in the first place. They worked well as a barrier, turning them into general use ammunition wasn't a good move. It's all sort of awkward as well, with each mechanic not clearly evident towards its input, and not clearly fitting into the playstyle either. Bubbles are meant to be a defense at first, but then the Gust Bubble has you scattering them all so they become ineffectual. More options are only good when they give you more interesting decisions to make, not when they dilute the playstyle or make your choices too easy.

You avoid the common mistake of making moves that are only useful for manipulating mechanics rather than attacking, but you replaced it with an equally upsetting vice. Her actual attacks all feel hopelessly generic, a simple damage percent and vague motion of a wand that is brushed aside quickly to get to the meat of all the interactions you've weighed yourself down with. The jab and down tilt tease me with thoughts about how Marin is actually using her moves to get into combat, but I'm left sort of feeling like they just fill the spot rather than actually build off of how she should behave. It's all very reactionary at best.

Having her moves' special functions activate on whiff contributes to this sort of bloated feeling in the set, as if each move is actually two different moves, one for hitting and one for general 'manipulation', which combined with all her other extra moves you've supplied, bubble grabs, parry attacks, and shield specials makes the set just plain unnecessarily long. The parry moves really, quite simply, are no better than what her regular options in such a scenario would be, and would fit much better as follow-ups from a special than an extra two inputs that are out of place from any other character (self: jot that down for future reference actually). The shield specials though are the most unforgivable, and are where any balance quibbles I had with the set earlier become irrelevant due to the complete game-breaker you've laid down.

It's been a tendency I've occasionally seen in many sets, even great sets like Zant back from MYM6 or your old Houndoom set that I still look back at as an exemplary rushdown / pressure moveset, that you can introduce a concept in a special and then introduce standards later that completely usurp it at what it does. I dislike moves like Marin's dash attack (and dislike backwards / run away dash attacks in general; is Brawl not campy enough already?) where a concept that should be sovereign territory of the specials spills over into another move. THe shield specials here are the most offensive part of the entire set, and throw any notion of balance out the window entirely. The ability to shield while performing a special move alone is mindbogglingly good. Shield pressure is very difficult to pull off if your name isn't Meta Knight or Peach, and a quick breather is all you need to recover a damaged shield to full usefulness again. Marin is already specialized at defense without using a shield, so making her specials while shielding stronger on top of that is just absurd. The worst offender without a doubt though would have to be the Shield Down Special. How is being able to set up a 30% complete barrier to damage, that you can recharge, while your shield is up, possibly, even remotely balanced? Even a mediocre player has no excuse to ever, ever take damage again with this move at their disposal.

I realize this comment has started to turn into a review with an eye towards the negative, but a fair amount of my harshness comes from disappointment because of how much I liked to core idea itself. I really want to like Marin, but the set ends up choking on overcomplicating itself rather than simply playing to the strengths of the concepts from the beginning. For me, I read the set, and see each move trying to compete for attention and show off how cool its idea is and how it feeds into the mechanics, and the end result is that the playstyle is muddled by all these ideas that are more designed to look good when first read rather than work in unison towards the core idea you begin the set with. The core ideas in the playstyle are good, but I feel like more focus on her immediate goals in a match would have brought the set more to life. Put the opponent in the air? Where do you want them? What moves should they be afraid of the most? Where can you put your most dangerous hitboxes, and how do you change battle plans when you're aiming for a kill? It's important to answer these questions as well.

As one final statement, I really wish you made more character out of her than she currently has. Marin is very much a vehicle for an idea, not a personality. You mention occasionally her franticness, but its not thorough. An OC like this deserves a quote, dialogue, something to make me like the character too. Besides, personality can be just as big an element of making playstyle as ability is.
 

Kholdstare

Nightmare Weaver
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,439
Work is slow for now, so I will say a few things to no one in particular. Try to use animations and taunts in move sets if you want to express their personality, as these are the most direct methods of characterization. Second, apply Occam's razor to your moves. " the simplest solution is the best one". Or something like that. Also remember to have fun. Keep working at it until its right to you.

As for the minis, a few suggestions. Joe, don't rush your ideas. Also be clear with us. Junahu may have already talked to you about it, but we don't exactly know why you chose one over the other. As for jun's mini, use TMs and other items to make your sets feel like a pokemon trainer. Ideas that haven't been done: ranger move set, snagger move set, team magma/aqua sets, pokemon controlling other pokemon, officer jenny. Look at the pta wiki for trainer classes as move set ideas.
 

ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
Marin
I have to disagree with DM on this set, in that I don't feel the execution past the base is necessarily a bad thing. Admittedly, the Shield Specials feel a bit overpowered in some regards and the Down Special in particular needs to be toned down, but to some degree I can excuse that on the basis that the set HAD to have such a mechanic for the sake of the mini it was made for. At any rate, the idea is perfectly interesting, giving Marin a sort of constant defensive measure she can use for both offense and defensive purposes. Given the fact that she can't exactly use the magnetic bubbles to a degree of ridiculous efficiency without proper set up too, this set doesn't play at all like a standard camper, she actually does have to go close range with the foe and utilize her defensive bubbles against them to protect herself while she gradually picks away at the foe's life through various bubble related tricks. Interesting to see a defensive character who for once isn't just hiding away in their own little corner of the stage in a fortress of traps.

The actual alternate bubbles are interesting, perhaps a little too challenging to properly utilize but they don't really destroy her set up particularly much and frankly with the bubble defense she has she'll have time to think out how she uses them a little bit more than usual anyway. It's a very neat playground, with among my favorite bits being introduced in the grab game with the ability to attach a bubble to your staff or utilize all the various alternate conditions for bubbles in the pummel. That's all very clever, and pretty much everything feels fun to tinker around with. I can't help but feel the set might be a bit too defuse in it's focus though, while everything clearly interacts with the bubbles the set does so in a large number of different ways that don't all flow together in a very clear cut way. I love how open ended the set is though, she's never denying a player of interesting options and in that way would be very fun to play as, particularly if the player prefers a slower game. If her individual options all flowed together a bit more smoothly and the Shield Specials were less powerful I could see this set being fantastic, but even as is I'm not going to deny that I enjoy a good playground set, and this has all the marks of one with a variety of interesting options and a cool basis to start from.
 

UserShadow7989

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
305
Marin

I read this set a bit ago, but I still hadn't gotten around to commenting it, which makes me feel bad, because I love you UserShadow and you made a set! Anyways, I have to begin the set with the base mechanic of course, which I really like a great deal. Taking defense and putting it on the field for both players to work around in the form of these fragile bubbles is clever, and it gives her a barrier she can work effectively with. It's one of the most original, interesting to build off of concepts I can think of in recent memory. Kudos, I really, really like it.
Thank you. I loved the concept of a mobile defense, of something weak becoming something that could overcome something strong. Also, I want to thank you for going in depth with the comment to give me as much to work with as possible, though I want to debate several of the points.

Unfortunately, that really is where most of the praise ends, as Marin falls into the easy pitfalls such a mechanic opens up. The bubbles are fascinating as written. There's no need to continue to manipulate the bubbles themselves in the set, but you pile on a bunch of different modified bubbles into different moves and tilts and ways to combine bubbles or move them around... when that's really not what they were designed to do in the first place. They worked well as a barrier, turning them into general use ammunition wasn't a good move. It's all sort of awkward as well, with each mechanic not clearly evident towards its input, and not clearly fitting into the playstyle either. Bubbles are meant to be a defense at first, but then the Gust Bubble has you scattering them all so they become ineffectual. More options are only good when they give you more interesting decisions to make, not when they dilute the playstyle or make your choices too easy.
I... honestly have to strongly disagree. Firstly, the bubbles were always intended to work this way. While the prompt was for a defensive mechanic, I had always planned for them to be useful as offense as well as for defense. Marin's magic and abilities center around her bubbles. From a character stand point, she doesn't just rain thunder down to smite enemies or set them ablaze, her skill set revolves around supplementing her special ability to turn it from a weakness to a strength.

From a mechanical stand point, Marin needs ways to move her bubbles, else she locks herself into a small corner of the stage that the opponent can easily chisel her out of. In every incarnation of the Smash Bros series, fights rage back and forth across the stage; even campers have to move about and will find themselves in situations where approaching is the better option. The fact that these moves also make the bubbles into weapons is where the interesting decisions come from- how well you manage your bubbles is vital, as mistakes can lead to a loss of your defense as well as your ability to fight effectively.

As for the special bubbles from the tilts, they do have a purpose in line with the playstyle (though of all of them, I was eyeballing the up tilt over the down tilt as not fitting). A. They make charging through Marin's field of bubbles a poor idea. B. They let her move small amounts of bubbles (or a large number of bubbles a small distance) for offense without sacrificing her entire defense, as opposed to her smashes which move her bubbles en masse. C. Pushing some of the bubbles aside lets her follow up with a smash attack without moving (and therefore risking/using) her entire swarm. For the Gust Ball in specific, remember that bubbles are slowly drawn to Marin so long as they're relatively close and there's no other effect moving them about- it's very easy for her to just get them back into position between that and her manipulation moves.

As for the combining, that was more of an animation description in most cases- excepting the Bubble Dress and her Up Throw, 'combined' bubbles basically act like a number of smaller bubbles equal to the ones used for it do, and in all cases just split back up once the animation is done (or by deactivating the effect in the case of the Bubble Dress).

You avoid the common mistake of making moves that are only useful for manipulating mechanics rather than attacking, but you replaced it with an equally upsetting vice. Her actual attacks all feel hopelessly generic, a simple damage percent and vague motion of a wand that is brushed aside quickly to get to the meat of all the interactions you've weighed yourself down with. The jab and down tilt tease me with thoughts about how Marin is actually using her moves to get into combat, but I'm left sort of feeling like they just fill the spot rather than actually build off of how she should behave. It's all very reactionary at best.

Having her moves' special functions activate on whiff contributes to this sort of bloated feeling in the set, as if each move is actually two different moves, one for hitting and one for general 'manipulation',
(Sorry to cut the comment in this manner, but that portion of the sentence is more related to the paragraph above in terms of my response)

The wand swings aren't her 'actual' attacks. They're the fallback option, the last resort, the equivalent of having a gun but no bullets so you use it as a club. She's not a brawler who can mash heads with her bare hands; direct fighting is not something a squishy wizard specializing in bubbles will ever do. In character and in mechanics, Marin's attacks are her bubbles and what magic she uses to supplement them. Even her jab and down tilt are only really combat-worthy when she has a bubble field that tempts the opponent to take the 'easy' route of running though them to clear them out.

As for having the moves' special (or rather, main) functions activate when she doesn't hit, that was the point. It means she actually can protect herself (if extremely poorly) against opponents without her bubble field/without undoing her bubble field when she needs it in place.

which combined with all her other extra moves you've supplied, bubble grabs, parry attacks, and shield specials makes the set just plain unnecessarily long. The parry moves really, quite simply, are no better than what her regular options in such a scenario would be, and would fit much better as follow-ups from a special than an extra two inputs that are out of place from any other character (self: jot that down for future reference actually). The shield specials though are the most unforgivable, and are where any balance quibbles I had with the set earlier become irrelevant due to the complete game-breaker you've laid down.
Parry Attacks and Shield Specials were part of the contest the set was made for. While I have some of the blame in the case of the latter as it's technically 'my' mechanic, I had to put it together from two others proposed in the previous weak. Regardless, I agree the set's length is an issue, and I do feel the ability to grab bubbles (even if it makes sense to be able to do) was done in a needlessly complex way.

As for the parries in specific: Neutral Special (the basis of the A Parry) can't put any significant space between Marin and the opponent. The A parry is a spacer to give Marin breather room and replace lost bubbles. The B Parry is in fact the Side Special with very slight modifications, since the actually Side Special is too slow to really land as a follow up barring some roundabout engineering of the situation (spread bubbles, use Down Smash to hinder opponent's ability to move about, get into position for Side Special and hope they don't dodge-roll). Again, your point stands in that they don't stand out.

It's been a tendency I've occasionally seen in many sets, even great sets like Zant back from MYM6 or your old Houndoom set that I still look back at as an exemplary rushdown / pressure moveset, that you can introduce a concept in a special and then introduce standards later that completely usurp it at what it does. I dislike moves like Marin's dash attack (and dislike backwards / run away dash attacks in general; is Brawl not campy enough already?) where a concept that should be sovereign territory of the specials spills over into another move.
The Neutral Special will always be Marin's go-to over her dash/back air and tilts. It creates bubbles in larger numbers and quicker than any other option, and that number is needed both for defense and offense. It can be used on the air or on the ground, in motion or while standing still. Her dash and back aerial are more specialized- besides being limited to the ground and air respectively and creating far fewer bubbles, her dash creates bubbles slowly and requires she leave them behind and spread out without a smash or other bubble moving attack in effect, and back aerial requires she land a hit on her opponent. They're helpful in oddball situations where her Neutral Special isn't effective, or when you really want to run away/knock the opponent into fast fall for a split second but they don't steal its thunder.

THe shield specials here are the most offensive part of the entire set, and throw any notion of balance out the window entirely. The ability to shield while performing a special move alone is mindbogglingly good. Shield pressure is very difficult to pull off if your name isn't Meta Knight or Peach, and a quick breather is all you need to recover a damaged shield to full usefulness again. Marin is already specialized at defense without using a shield, so making her specials while shielding stronger on top of that is just absurd. The worst offender without a doubt though would have to be the Shield Down Special. How is being able to set up a 30% complete barrier to damage, that you can recharge, while your shield is up, possibly, even remotely balanced? Even a mediocre player has no excuse to ever, ever take damage again with this move at their disposal.
It's either/or. You either input the special while your shield is up to get your shield while you special in exchange for it decaying twice as fast, OR you input the shield during the start up of the special and get the stronger version at the cost of 1/3rd your shield. You don't get the shield AND the stronger special at the same time at any point, ever. Check the mechanic post earlier in the topic for the details. I don't mind criticism when it's reasoned out (as the rest of your comment has been), but when it's the biggest paragraph of the post is based on a failure of reading comprehension, it irritates me.

As for the Shield Down Special, yes, it's overpowered (even with how the mechanic actually works), and I'll drop the percents at the next edit of the set. The idea was that it would start at a percent that could survive a solid hit before getting its buffs, but I fully admit that as is, it's overkill.

I realize this comment has started to turn into a review with an eye towards the negative, but a fair amount of my harshness comes from disappointment because of how much I liked to core idea itself. I really want to like Marin, but the set ends up choking on overcomplicating itself rather than simply playing to the strengths of the concepts from the beginning. For me, I read the set, and see each move trying to compete for attention and show off how cool its idea is and how it feeds into the mechanics, and the end result is that the playstyle is muddled by all these ideas that are more designed to look good when first read rather than work in unison towards the core idea you begin the set with. The core ideas in the playstyle are good, but I feel like more focus on her immediate goals in a match would have brought the set more to life. Put the opponent in the air? Where do you want them? What moves should they be afraid of the most? Where can you put your most dangerous hitboxes, and how do you change battle plans when you're aiming for a kill? It's important to answer these questions as well.
The bubbles are the core of the moveset and every option you have as a Marin player. They are her defense, her offense, her comfort zone, her tools, her source of strength, and she has to use them productively and carefully. Every move either manipulates, capitalizes on, or is strengthened by the bubbles, usually a combination of them. Is the focus lopsided? Admittedly, yes- I feel I could have balanced it better among the three. She is heavily focused on manipulating the bubbles in her moves, and while this is a means of attack in and of itself and feeds into the other two qualities, some more focus on the other sides would have been nice. I still feel the focus on manipulation makes sense from character and mechanical stand points and that it isn't necessarily a flaw so much as a different direction.

As one final statement, I really wish you made more character out of her than she currently has. Marin is very much a vehicle for an idea, not a personality. You mention occasionally her franticness, but its not thorough. An OC like this deserves a quote, dialogue, something to make me like the character too. Besides, personality can be just as big an element of making playstyle as ability is.
This I agree with fully. Though I worked on ideas for what Marin's game would be like and her own role in it as I made the set, I didn't convey much of her personality through the moves or playstyle beyond a few qualities (cowardly and anti-social mainly, with some hints of her being a little boastful when things are going her way in one of the taunts and to a lesser extent the playfulness of the throws/her options once her defenses are up, and a bit clumsy in her entrance animation, which don't amount to much on their own).

Dialogue is not the means I would use to convey this, since when I picture a fighting game as frantic as the Smash Brothers series having the characters shout quotes every time they use a move I imagine it sounding like a garbled mess (especially with more than 2 fighters), but I could have found a spot to put more character into her (the extras section in particular is bare and asking for something to tell more about the character and her 'source material').
 

FrozenRoy

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Comment corner = updated, BTW. Sorry for slacking off on it the past few days.

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

While DM's comment went for a much more negative tone, mine will most certainly go for a more positive spin, on the basis that I am quite fond of this set. Don't take this to think this comment will be without criticism.

I'll start with the good part. I do quite love the usage of bubbles here, as not only does it make great use of the Clash and Parry mechanic, but it brings a fresh new take on bubbles as used in a moveset, when compared to a set such as...let's just say...Bubbleman.EXE. Using the slightest of lag makes it managably balanced while still giving it purpose, as well, and the Bubble Dress is a cool way to use it defensively, while the Side Special uses it more offensively. All very nice stuff. The tilts and smashes then proceed to add layers onto layers on the uses of the bubbles and although the fact the moves always affect your bubbles is a downside, Marin uses this weakness into a playstyle-related strength, turning into a weakness she must get around with the creation of more bubbles or by using some of the moves that minimally change her bubbles, such as back aerial, jab, dash attack and her grab. I especially enjoy how the Forward Throw interferes with momentum cancelling, something we really should see more often.

While not the most tightly wound set, it also has fairly good flow, as the bubbles can work towards offensive overwhelming via numbers or defensive holing up pretty easy, and her tilts do well to work with the passive bubbles following her, although I do agree with DM that overall the melee moves could work into the game better, but I feel like what is here is adequate. One thing I do dislike is the Shield Specials: While NSpec and SSpec are fine, DSpec is really bad and USpec is also a move I don't enjoy much. DSpec mostly because it entirely renders the normal DSpec useless: why not use the Shield DSpec, even if it does cost shield? Most certainly an area that could be improved. On the plus side, you have a PK Rockin' Final Smash.

I also feel like the set is pretty well characterized and I very much enjoy the use of animations: Jarad's vivid animations greatly helped me enjoy that set, Mami also had some great animations (especially through images) and I feel Marin's descriptions too hlep this set. They give a good feel of the character while fighting, but without being in the way or overwrought, so it feels like it is organically molded into the set. Having so many moves and the descriptions being long does make it a big of a slog, though...but with the way the set is constructed, I don't feel it is TOO big of a deal or really all that fixable.

So yes, I quite like this set, for innovative use of a good concept that flows well and is an excellent read in both moveset and character, even if it has some points that drag it down. Take that as you will.

Rising Star

I don't really have much to say on Starforce Megaman, as anything I would say feels like it'd echo DM's comment and to some extent KalmarKing's as well. I did want to discuss the weapon changing mechanic, though: Personally, I dislike the use of taunts for this, as it feels a tad unwieldly and makes the taunt lose their original use of being taunts. The attacks have also been changed to be somewhat better, although I do not feel they really work together towards much of a gameplan. I also wanted to say that it would have been cool if the Side Special worked like Marth's Dancing Blade, with a variety of kick options based on how you input it after the first. MYM could use more Dancing Blade-like moves. They're cool.

Cement Comment

Ant Hill Mob is a pretty cool moveset and I feel a good deal better than the Twosome. The more Hugo-esque elements of the Mob are used fairly well, trying to avoid taking over the moveset while still presenting a wide variety of options, with things like the bomb and blowtorch taken fairly well advantage of. The moveset is quite silly, but it's a Wacky Races set, it should have some silly! So that is quite good.

Moves like the Jab show a good grasp of vehicular movesets and how to work with them, the cement is...okay, but it does feel like it'd mess with a lot of characters, and I still dislike D-Throw's messing with foot attacks: it seems situational, as most characters would just not care much about it, while those that do are likely semi-crippled by it, and if it is for logical reasons...well, to me, it seems more logical for them to just be able to use feet attacks with a giant piece of concrete helping than to not be able to use them at all. I also feel like the Up Smash stilts could have been better taken advantage of with the set aside from just sticking stuff to the underside.

Still, what is around, such as the various good bomb and blowtorch tricks (mob turrets!) and the fairly flowing nature of the mobster's uses pushes it up to a good level. I do wish some of the worse stuff like the cement had been changed and somehow I feel like there could have been more: The stilts could have had more flow, for example. But still, it is quite enjoyable, and worth a read.
 

JOE!

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MINI UPDATE:

Just to clarify, the crowd favor mechanic won out not only due to the relative simplicity, but also due to how the "crowd" can be worked into other facets of gameplay beyond just the item mechanic, as well as being a twist on an existing game element without need of special menus and the like. While other ideas were indeed awesome, the crowd appeal sets a foundation for much more later on.


Also, this week's mini, along with all minis from here on end, will be due this upcoming Sunday. All minis will now have 2 weeks to be worked with due to my school / etc concerns. Get going with those item interactions!
 

TheKalmarKing

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
162
MYMini Challenge (Because nobody else is interested!)

Crowd Mode

A twist on the usual spectator mode,, here up to four players can assume the role of a crowd member while up to four other guys are fighting. For the fighters, nothing changes from the Crowd Control feature, but for the others of course, it's a whole other deal! Instead of points being auto-attributed like before, now the crowd members will be able to vote for their favorite fighter. However, for the bonus items, they are still chosen by the computer, to avoid complications. While it's basically just a buffed-up spectator mode, at the fight's end, there will be a special award given to the crowd's favorite fighter. That could perhaps unlock trophies... ?

(Yes it's rushed and very simplistic, but I forgot about the Mini and since nobody else is participating, at least,, I'm keeping it alive)

 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
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[collapse=Shadow the Hedgehog]I meant to comment this set shortly after it was posted, but I got caught up in starting my own (which is good in a way since I see the set has been edited since then). Cutting to the chase, the first thing I'd like to address is how unrealistically slow a Chaos Spear moves. It feels very forced just to cash in on the potential exploitations when surrounding evidence would say otherwise; when one thinks "arrow" and "shooting forward" they usually think of high-speed, and furthermore a Chaos Spear actually travels fast in the games. You have Chaos Control if you want slower projectiles anyway, whereby in its current state a Chaos Spear might as well be static (it may as well move quickly when you have a way to slow projectiles in the first place). I just really don't like how the slowness of a Chaos Spear conflicts with the high-speed feel a Sonic/Shadow set should invoke.

From there the set spreads out various physical and magicy attacks for Shadow, somewhat leaning towards the latter (his 3-hit combo attack from Shadow the Hedgehog would have also been welcome as his jab). I was a little unsure of what to think in regards to this, but upon taking another look I realized you included some of Shadow's more iconic stuff in the aerials, the Homing Attack in the N-air, kung-fu for F-air and slide attack for Dash Attack. I can honestly say Chaos Snap is an absolutely perfect recovery and move for Shadow since it brings back memories of the StH's Opening Cutscene and lets him choose whether he wants to fight up-close or from afar. I just wish Chaos Spear could be used as a quick projectile to pelt enemies with on demand and just have Chaos Control stop projectiles inside it so you can fire em all out at once in a cool fashion, serving the same purpose they do in the set's current state. Sure you have Homing Attack and high ground speed to reach the opponent, but it'd feel nice to have a spammy projectile. The projectile-stopping could even serve to balance enemies being slowed inside or to temporarily counter their projectiles, as well as helping with the U-Smash as you suck in a ton of projectiles coming your way.

Overall I'd say Shadow's a decent set in my books if one that could use some improvement - it certainly wouldn't take much to get me to like it even more, though we can't be sure if the changes would please others like DM so don't mind me. Also the basketball image at the bottom of the set is pure WIN.[/collapse]
 

ForwardArrow

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
502
Ant Hill Mob
Obviously, this set is going to alienate some people from the start on the basis that it's a sort of vehicle Hugo set, and yes smashing 2 of the more unsmash genres together produces a result that is definently not easy to balance. In that regard though, I don't think this set is actually that bad though. Sure it's definitely on the very powerful side, but the AI control on the minions, the amount of time their set up takes and the required positioning to do anything especially ridiculous makes me think that the set would require a lot of skill to play well, and even then a smart opponent can fight back perfectly well against this set.

The actual concepts here are very good too, with the way the player has to conserve gangsters between creating fancy set ups and comboing the foe and defending the vehicle/providing it mobility options. The cement in particular is a highlight, ignoring the somewhat awkward interactions with people's feet, the constructs on the car make the prospect of camping with the gangsters a lot more interesting, and for that matter so is sticking blowtorches to the car or burying bombs. The sheer variety in their set ups and the fact that you can just abuse their status as a vehicle set in dozens of fun ways too makes the set feel very open ended too. It's not perfect, I feel the flow between the parts that use the nature of the vehicle and the set ups on the vehicle isn't all that strong, the way you set up the stage construction makes me believe it'd be frustrating to actually pull off in a match, and with how some inputs feel like they really have to be made unique in an awkward way I wonder if the set is too unsmash for it's own good, since it requires such bizarre functions for some inputs. Still, these aren't too big of problems, and the good aspects are strong enough to make it my favorite set thus far.
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
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Nov 24, 2008
Messages
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[collapse=Croagunk]I'll have to agree with a lot of what others have brought up about this set. You did well in making Croagunk feel like a pre-evo and play sneakily, yet at the same time some of the execution and input placements feel awkward - Croagunk doesn't force approaches, he's the one being forced to approach. It's already been established that the poisoning doesn't really work well with the fact that Croagunk is a close-range fighter who's also light and isn't great with spacing, though in your defense he does have counters and is fast enough to run away from most characters. You can stack the poisoning with Poison Jab, but that doesn't change the amount of time it'll take to be put into effect, and running away from opponents just to make the poison take effect would admittedly be in-character of Croagunk but be very boring for the player. Croagunk is underpowered, in-char I'll admit, but having feints and counters at least make his poisoning just a -little- viable.

On a minor note, the Down Special randomly getting such a massive burst of power over being hit while not being knocked away seems a bit tacky to me (I had a similar problem with Jarvis' F-tilt), as well as the fact that such a little frog has the same grab range as Dedede (I may forgive this if you mentioned that he leaped forward or something). Side Special doesn't sit well with me, though if you were looking for something more relevant I reckon it'd be cool to see a Monkey Flip-esque attack where Croagunk bounces off anything he hits, going a certain distance based on the time you spent charging - that'd give the little guy the sufficient spacing he so desperately needs after poisoning a foe while being able to jump over stuff like walls. Why you need such a situational attack just to slide over somebody's landmine when you have a roll like everyone else is beyond me.

Croagunk has its heart in the right place in terms of characterization, yet his playstyle isn't quite up to scratch. I'm not saying that making him trappy to make the poisoning more relevant and usable would be a good idea, but rather how the poison itself works: poison is quite flexible, and while making it stronger would be a bit out-of-character for Croagunk it could have been that foes take 1% whenever they move or attack. That would perfectly compliment Croagunk's established counter-game and the fact that he fights up-close and has no means of stalling for the poison in the first place, which would take effect quicker. It's always an idea for the future, though (maybe I should work on Roxie again...).[/collapse]


[collapse=Ultron]Been meaning to get around to this guy since I tend to like your more meaningful sets. it's an interesting tribute to Kang to make another powerful 3v1 Marvel villain as the finale of Nateska, and while I was more hoping he'd be a regular 1v1 character like with Dormammu I actually looked up some stuff on the character today via Wikipedia and it seems he's a regular user of the Encephalo Ray and is more cunning than I gave him credit for. Thus, it makes sense why you'd want to give him a 3v1 given it'd be otherwise difficult to represent this character trait.

Beyond the menacing "mind control" and consciousness shifting, Ultron seems a bit unsure of what he's wanting to do, especially since you haven't written a playstyle section yet (though you've shown us you plan to). It's hard enough to make a duplicate function without it getting overly awkward, and it makes sense for Ultron to command his drones, but automatically doing so on each attack feels as though it would break their attacking flow just for your sake when sometimes you wouldn't want that. There's a very easy solution to this however, and that's to pull off an Abra by having the player double-tap the input to make the drones use the same move. The drone's attack would obviously be out-of-sync with Ultron's, but that'd actually be interesting since you could knock one foe into the drone's attack for extra damage or scare other foes. Heck, you could even make it so Ultron can use another input during one of his attacks to make a drone use that, leading to an endless amount of combinations and so you're not just incredibly limited to being forced to make the Jab and N-air or F-tilt and F-air work together with each other (even though they're not actually that forced). I can't be sure whether you planned out the possible interactions with these chain-inputs, yet it's for that reason I'd like to see a playstyle section slapped onto the end of the set.

What mainly appealed to me about this set were the drone interactions, especially the fun F-Smash in which you just shoot through a bunch of them, even if the impending explosion leads to some semi-broken hitstun (hitstun that would look really cool to pull off with a ton of drones, nonetheless). Though Side Special may only come across as being a way to keep foes away from each other, I greatly appreciate it for being atmospheric and portraying an important aspect of Ultron's character that would otherwise never be shown, somewhat similar to Scratch's D-throw - making the foe use an attack of your choice on a drone to have it explode is interesting, yet it also seems unfair given you could just make them use a really laggy attack and exploit it with your fastest attack of which the drone will also use due to synching. Even worse when the effect won't wear off until the foe dies (presumably) so if they're hit by the beam even once they'll have to stay the hell away from a drone, which is pretty hard what with Ultron's Neutral Special. Aside from those few quibbles and the eventual realization that you can have infinite drones onstage, Ultron isn't broken and has a simple enough base moveset, though I'm not too sure what he wants to accomplish with it outside of drone interactions.

I guess you could say I'd like to hear more about your intentions and how the set should play, especially given the plans for a non-boss mode. At least for now the set works, which is good.
[/collapse]
 

n88

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,528
It's hard enough to make a duplicate function without it getting overly awkward, and it makes sense for Ultron to command his drones, but automatically doing so on each attack feels as though it would break their attacking flow just for your sake when sometimes you wouldn't want that. There's a very easy solution to this however, and that's to pull off an Abra by having the player double-tap the input to make the drones use the same move. The drone's attack would obviously be out-of-sync with Ultron's, but that'd actually be interesting since you could knock one foe into the drone's attack for extra damage or scare other foes. Heck, you could even make it so Ultron can use another input during one of his attacks to make a drone use that, leading to an endless amount of combinations and so you're not just incredibly limited to being forced to make the Jab and N-air or F-tilt and F-air work together with each other (even though they're not actually that forced). I can't be sure whether you planned out the possible interactions with these chain-inputs, yet it's for that reason I'd like to see a playstyle section slapped onto the end of the set.
Good thought on that! I've been meaning to make a few changes to Ultron (maybe some minor changes to the standards and potentially replacing the Down Special, which feels unnecessary with the ability to sync up with drones) before I wrap up with the Playstyle section, but time's been getting away from me. I should be able to get around to it soon now that the semester's winding down.
 

BridgesWithTurtles

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The long road to nowhere
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Greetings. I'd like to contribute a moveset but I have one question: The MYMini Challenges, do those replace the normal period of moveset posting while active, or can movesets be posted at any time prior to the voting period? I want to make sure I've got proper MYM etiquette before posting a moveset, and I couldn't find the answer to my question in any of the provided information, so I thought I'd ask here.
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
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Greetings. I'd like to contribute a moveset but I have one question: The MYMini Challenges, do those replace the normal period of moveset posting while active, or can movesets be posted at any time prior to the voting period? I want to make sure I've got proper MYM etiquette before posting a moveset, and I couldn't find the answer to my question in any of the provided information, so I thought I'd ask here.
You can make movesets at any time prior to the voting period. MYMinis are simply extra optional things done for fun and do not replace anything.
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
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Location
Australia
Minami Iwasaki



"That girl's cute."

"I was in her class back in Junior High, and all she does is read. She's kinda creepy."


Minami is one of the central characters of Lucky Star, a quiet girl from a wealthy family who doesn't show much emotion. She has excellent grades and is good at just about everything, especially athletics, but ended up quite distant from her classmates since most of them saw her as a cold person. It wasn't until Minami met her to-be-best-friend Yutaka that she would open up to others and make more friends, the more pronounced aspect of her character development in the series. If you put her cold demeanor aside, Minami is actually a very kind, modest and gentle person who will go out of her way to help those around her - she even saved a boy from being run over in the manga! Minami is also seen in a comical light half the time, being teased for her perfect disposition and clearly being embarrassed by such remarks.​


Stats



Minami is incredibly athletic, able to keep up with Captain Falcon and roll as efficiently as Lucario, even having some nice aerial abilities for a human girl. She's riddled with many human privileges, yet at the same time lacks the kind supernatural fighters have - for one she doesn't have any breasts! There there Minami, it's not like having a pair would be beneficial for your stats. I hear they cause back problems.​


Specials

Neutral Special Rebound
Minami sweeps her arm out at jab speed, dealing 1% to foes while spinning them around and pushing them back a little. It also reflects blunt physical projectiles and sends them flying forward no matter which direction they came from, but by holding B and smashing the control stick Minami can choose to knock the projectiles above, below or even behind her if she wishes. Tapping the control stick sideways while holding B allows Minami to walk back and forth for spacing while up and down lets her angle her arm slightly to further adjust a projectile's travel. Minami can redirect both friendly and enemy projectiles just so long as they're not swords or arrows.​

Side Special Soccer Ball
Minami doesn't enjoy being close-up, so instead she makes use of a single soccer ball that plops itself down at her feet. This soccer ball can be knocked around just like its Brawl counterpart, but it behaves and bounces around realistically and can only be hit with leg-based attacks (dealing 1.4X their damage and knockback). Characters with legs can also move the ball as they travel across the ground and even bounce it skywards with their jump! The ball's power is dependent on the character's dash if it was grounded and their actual jump used to bounce it in mid-air: dash-wise, Ganon would barely kick the ball higher than he jumps whereas Minami herself would kick it well past Battlefield’s top platform, dealing anywhere between 6-22% with knockback on a very high angle that'll KO at 310-95%! A very good projectile, but also one foes can take control of and use against Minami if she's not careful - letting the ball bounce in place and lose enough momentum for a weaker jumper to head-butt it or having a foe kick it from the sides are common ways to lose it, which you can’t afford when you can only have one out at a time. The ball will break through any non-leg hitbox it out-prioritizes, bounces off anything it clashes with and loses all momentum upon being out-prioritized, so be ready for anything (kick attacks that out-prioritize the ball give control of it to the foe).

Attempting this move with a soccer ball already out or via smashing the input will have Minami swing her leg back and throw out a goal-scoring kick that deals 12% and good diagonal base knockback that can KO at 160%. The knockback can be angled slightly with the control stick, which helps with the attack's second effect of kicking items as if they had been smash-thrown, sending them on a angle unique to being thrown normally. The kick works as a melee attack, though it has a bit of cooldown that leaves Minami open to a shieldgrab if blocked.​

Up Special Momentum Whirl
Minami extends a hand and performs a spinning leap for as long as you mash B, potentially covering the distance of Link's comparable Up Special before she starts falling normally. The spin has no hitbox and covers no horizontal distance, but it lets Minami tech an item at the start of it and increases the momentum in her arms to the point where she can throw one even further than usual if you tap the control stick in one of 4 directions like you normally would. While spinning for the minimal time has a noticeable effect on the item's performance, keeping it up for a full two seconds makes it as powerful as one thrown by the Giant Diddy Kong from SSE! This allows Minami a bit more control over the strength of her throws at the cost of making them more telegraphed, either going in for a finishing blow or throwing the item upwards as a pseudo-trap that won't come down for a good couple of seconds. Minami doesn't leap when she spins on the ground, able to go in and out of the move quickly to catch enemies off-guard.​

Down Special Super Tech
Minami bends down and swipes her right hand across the floor. It's effectively the same as picking up items normally or teching them, except Minami will hold it in her right hand as a secondary item that frees her other hand to pick up another item or grab a foe. Minami can still throw or drop a secondary item in mid-air if she didn't have a primary one, though be aware that holding items this way makes them more susceptible to being dropped upon taking knockback. Using this move while holding a secondary item has Minami hold it normally or switch it with a primary item she was holding.​


Smashes

F-Smash Dodgeball

Minami takes out a dodgeball, which acts as a powerful throwing item. It deals 24% and impact stall followed by high knockback that'll KO at 80%, but only moves at a moderate speed and loses its momentum quickly with each bounce - this is bad because being foes with their guard up can tech it with good timing and use it against Minami, who can only have one dodgeball out at a time. Charging this Smash or using it with an item causes Minami to throw it normally, except she can angle the toss and just as she releases the item she'll twist her hand to make it spin like a corkscrew. This item will travel with 0.7-1.3X the efficiency of a smash-thrown item, but when it hits the ground it'll spin around as a makeshift trap like R.O.B's Gyromite before eventually losing momentum and being usable to all (not all bouncy items will spin if it'd be awkward for them to do so, like Beam Swords or Home Run Bats). It's nice to have the cover of the brief static hitbox, though it's also good to have a way for a ball to not bounce off surfaces in case you want to exploit for follow-ups or just have it nearby.

If Minami doesn’t have an item on her while a dodgeball is out, she'll panic in embarrassment over having lost it! Even Minami makes mistakes from time to time.​

U-Smash Basketball
This time Minami takes out an outdoor basketball of which is effectively the opposite of the dodgeball. It travels quite far (further than ZSS's suit parts) fairly quickly and will bounce for a long time, but it only deals 11% with weak base knockback, not KO'ing until around 200%. The weak knockback isn't all bad though since it can keep enemies in place for other attacks and consecutive shots when combined with the Neutral Special, making for a fun game of tennis. If you continued to charge the smash or used it while holding an item, Minami will throw the item behind her on a high angle with the strength of a strong-smash throw, as if passing it to a teammate behind her - with two items you can tap A shortly after throwing the first one to throw the second as an uncharged hit in quick succession.​

D-Smash Volleyball
Minami takes out an indoor volleyball. It's pretty much your standard-fare throwing item, traveling decently far at a good speed while dealing 16% that'll KO at 145% and having enough of a lifespan to be exploited. Charging this move causes Minami to crouch down and throw the ball as low to the floor as she can, which in turn can hit crouching enemies or even other balls lying on the floor that'd otherwise be difficult to pull off normally.

Players can use all their moves minus grabgame when holding one of Minami's balls, and can drop them instantly in mid-air (Z without a directional input) for a fast release method or combo starter since the ball will inflict upwards knockback on anyone it hits before being bounced roughly twice the distance. If two balls collide with each other, including a soccer ball, they'll bounce off each other as if they were walls, whereas if a ball bounces into another one passing by or without momentum it'll knock it away while invoking momentum into it, much like in a game of billiards (deadly with the Up Special). Speaking of realism, balls dropped from a higher distance tend to bounce higher, especially if there was more force behind the throw, though they'll bounce for longer if dropped with minimal force. Minami can obviously only have one of each kind of ball presented thus far, so make sure foes don't catch or knock them out of her!​


Standards

Standard
Minami sweeps ahead in seemingly random directions for up to 9 hits of 0.7% before weakly pushing the foe just far enough so the two end up in a neutral position. Each hit comes out quickly enough that you can hold a foe in place for little more than a second (taking hitlag into account), but if you mashed A hard enough Minami will actually move forward an entire SBB with her foe over the course of the attack, which is actually incredibly useful for picking up items as you pass them. If Minami had a throwing item on her at the end of the attack she can strong-toss it into the opponent by pressing A again for a guaranteed hit, which is good if you need the spacing.​

Dash Attack
Minami performs a sliding kick that covers a platform's distance, dealing 9% with decent knockback on a very low angle while KO'ing at 200%. Not only is it excellent for kicking soccer balls into enemies what with the low hitbox but also for slipping underneath enemy projectiles in case Minami's own balls are used against her, making for an excellent approaching move. It can also be used to edge-guard or get past foes if you were close enough to them, a quick move that's only hard to spam because it's a Dash Attack.​

F-tilt
Minami crouches down before throwing out a kick that covers a wide arc in front and above her, dealing a strong 12% with some very good upwards knockback that'll KO at 140%. It's easily the strongest of Minami's tilts and has great range, though it has a little start-up lag and is prone to being punished through shield-grabs. Good for getting enemies in the air if you don't want them on the ground, as well as for knocking soccer balls up into the air. That may seem redundant when you automatically bounce the ball when you jump, but here Minami doesn't have to jump and more importantly the ball will land in front of her, a decent way to invoke defensive measures and counter shield-grabbers.​

U-tilt
Minami swiftly sweeps a hand overhead, as if flicking a ball over to a teammate in the rear. This deals 3% and low backwards knockback (not KO'ing until 300%) that places enemies diagonally above Minami regardless of whether they were hit from the front or from below. It lacks range and power, but is fast enough that it can used out of the Jab to put enemies on the opposite side of Minami - don't underestimate its usefulness in putting enemies closer to a falling ball or getting them out of the way to help reach a stray ball they were safeguarding. Just be sure not to dawdle for too long after actually hitting since foes will be in an easy position to B-air you shortly afterwards.​

D-tilt
Minami gets down on one knee for her crouching animation, which she follows-up on by lowering herself against the ground and kicking out with both legs. It's not very fast, but has decent range and deals 6% with reliable horizontal knockback that'll KO at 180%. You can get extra damage and spacing with a soccer ball (as many as two hits against heavy or shielding foes), but even without a target the kick is good for spacing the soccer ball for the Dash Attack since hitting later into the attack gives Minami more time to react to its fate. Another surprising use for this move is to knock the soccer ball into another ball lying on the ground to hit into an enemy or keep away from them, possibly roll it offstage so it'll be back in your possession.​


Aerials

N-air
Minami holds her arms out and spins around once, dealing 5% and weak diagonal downwards knockback that can be used to follow-up with a ball toss, not KO'ing until 400%. The attack's range isn't great, but it's very fast to the point where it can be used as a substitute tech over air dodging, and Minami's extended arms can actually catch items next to her as well. Furthermore, holding A after the attack causes Minami to continue spinning around much like she does with her Up Special, only without height gain and a special surprise: if she was holding two items and tossed on sideways she'll toss the one on the same side of her instead of just the primary item, allowing her to throw off an opponent's timing (she spins fast enough that the item may as well be randomly chosen, though). If anything the move can also be used as a substitute for the Up Special if you don't want to waste a recovery or feel it would get in the way of hitting an opponent.​

F-air
Minami brings an arm back before leaning forward and throwing it out in a cool-looking palm thrust. It's a bit laggy but deals a lot of damage, 12% and high base knockback on a low angle that'll KO at 135%. In addition, if the victim would drop an item they were holding as a result of the knockback it'll instead be pushed out of them and go flying at the same speed in the same direction. This saves Minami the trouble of having to pursue the ball after scoring a KO since it'll likely go off-screen, a liberty she'll need in FFA Matches when the ball could easily fall into enemy hands. If you've got skill with ball walls or there's simply a wall behind the opponent the ball they were holding will most likely bounce off and back into them for extra damage, quite possibly KO'ing them. Certainly a worthy substitute for ball KO'ing or just sending foes flying, though it's somewhat difficult to land due to a combination of lag and sub-par range. You might want to try it against foes being pressured by falling balls.​

B-air
Minami leans back and slams her elbow downwards, inflicting a surprisingly good 11% with solid downwards knockback that'd KO offstage at 110%. The range is a little lackluster like with some of Minami's other moves but comes out quickly, making it useful for grounding opponents in case you want space or to keep them on the same vertical plane as a ball falls on them.​

U-air
Minami points upwards for another Jab motion, though this one trades speed for range, dealing 2% with some good hitstun that disrupts a foe's momentum. It's good for pressuring foes into a ball, getting past them or simply throwing off a pursuit while falling, and really Minami doesn't need extra vertical KO power when her soccer ball already provides it. That being said, this attack is nigh-useless without a ball to capitalize on.​

D-air
Minami bends her legs before throwing out two kicks on a diagonal angle that each deal 8% and decent knockback on a high angle that'll KO at 220%. If the target in question was an enemy, Minami will footstool jump off of them to the point where she'll be the one higher up in the air at around 50% or less. This effectively brings the foe into the air to be finished by a well-timed ball toss (especially at higher percentages), though it can also flow into a vertical toss/drop if Minami wants a ball to bounce for longer and higher. It's also the rare melee attack that's actually safe to use on shields since Minami will simply footstool jump off those foes, and can be used to kick or head-butt a soccer ball into the air obviously. The only downside to this attack is the awkward angle it comes out on which leaves defenseless from below if she doesn't have a ball on her.​


Grab

Minami takes a step forward and reaches out with one hand, having as much range as you can get on a tall-ish high school girl. Once Minami grabs someone, she'll bring them towards her and hold them by the collar whilst dropping any secondary item she was holding via Down Special to free up her hands. At first Minami might give off the impression that she's fine with being close to the opponent, but if the player holds on for long enough (at least 1.5 seconds) the taciturn's face will turn red from embarrassment! This is mostly an Easter Egg, though it's cute to see Minami getting all flustered from extreme social contact.​

Pummel
Minami doesn't have it in her to wail on the foe, so she instead takes back any item that was in her team's possession or belonged to them. If the foe was holding a ball, use this to take it back before following up with a throw.​

F-throw
Minami back-flips away from the foe, kicking them back for 6% and okay knockback that barely scales and won’t KO until 250%. The throw comes out instantly and pops Minami back a small distance, making it good for quick horizontal spacing, but also as a way to deal with outsiders since Minami’s legs can damage foes until the back-flip ends (inflicting radial knockback). If Minami had a soccer ball on her she can kick it into the foe to deal more damage, but it won’t stop there as the ball will bounce off them and be knocked back into Minami’s legs before being sent off on a 45 degree angle. The ball will usually travel past foes instead of hitting them (at lower percentages), but that just means Minami can use it as a makeshift wall for her other balls given how slow it’ll be moving.​

B-throw
Minami swings her opponent around and lets them go before delivering a powerful kick to their gut, sending them flying far on a low angle for 10%. This has the best knockback out of Minami's throws and provides the most spacing, capable of KO'ing near the edge at 100%. It's also useful with ground behind Minami since she may have thrown a ball or two into the air before approaching the opponent in which case they'll be pressured.​

U-throw
Minami smacks her opponent in the jaw to knock them upwards, dealing 5% with enough base knockback to acquire breathing space, KO'ing at 280%. The absolute most obvious way to follow-up on this is to knock the soccer ball upwards and into the foe, but even if you don't the foe will have to assume you will due to the attack coming out of nowhere, having no choice but to waste their second jump (good for aerial follow-ups). Another obvious use for this throw is to knock the foe into a falling ball you threw up a moment ago, providing you had good timing since the foe won't stay in hitstun for very long at all.​

D-throw
Minami pushes the foe back a bit before smash-throwing whatever item she was holding at them, though since you can't be holding an item while grabbing a foe the only way to obtain one is to take one they were holding via Pummel. This adds an element of danger for foes who are grabbed by Minami while holding one of her balls given it'll always deal more damage than her other throws and comes back to her after bouncing off the target. The only other reason you'd want to use this throw otherwise is to keep the foe close to you since all the others provide Minami with sufficient spacing.​


Playing As Minami



Quick, Efficient and Perfect
Minami is undoubtedly the most perfect character ever. Not only can she run very fast but also has an amazing set of projectiles with enough speed, power and consistency to invalidate any necessity to fight up-close. The icing on this utmost delicious cake is that said projectiles count as items, which Minami can not only hold two of but utilize better than other characters! Heck, if the opponent tries to attack or shield against the projectile it'll just come back to Minami, so she can even break an opponent's shield without even trying! (of course they'd have to be pretty dumb to let that happen) Forget Meta Knight, Minami will barrage you with mighty projectiles you won't see coming before you can even lay a finger on her...

Okay, so Minami isn't -that- powerful. For one she's limited to how many projectiles she can have onscreen at a time, and since said projectiles are items they can be caught by foes and used against her. It's also easier for foes to catch a ball if it needs to cover a lot of distance before reaching them, and if they're in the air since they have access to their air dodge which can tech items for them. As such it is actually more effective for Minami to use her projectiles from up-close instead of far away, since not only does this give foes less time to react to one thrown at them but it also lets Minami unexpectedly transition into her melee game given how fast she moves.

Minami's opening projectiles of choice require a bit of a thought due to the risks associated with them. It's immediately tempting to use 2 balls at the same time, but since Minami will drop them more easily when she's sent flying they can easily fall into enemy hands, who'll most likely safeguard them from their owner given how easily she can tech or reflect them. At least with one ball Minami will get to keep it even if she's sent flying and use it for defensive purposes like mixing it up with a buffed throw via Up Special. A soccer ball adds greater risk to Minami's start-up game since foes can easily utilize and mix it into their own game, capable of utterly destroying the taciturn with it if she didn't have a ball on her since she doesn't have a D-air that hits directly beneath her. Effectively speaking, if Minami decides to use a powerful ball to KO early it can just as easily be used against her for the same reason if she's not careful, whereas the weaker tennis ball is less risky but not as rewarding.

One way to avoid such a heavy breakdown is to spread the balls across the stage by throwing them off the top of the screen or dropping them in midair. Just throwing a ball upwards normally can make for a basic pseudo-trap, but using the Up Special makes it mighty at the cost of taking more time to come down. The best thing about bouncing balls though, is how they act as makeshift walls for other balls to bounce against for various purposes - note that this takes great skill and timing to pull off, but can be made easier if the ball was dropped instead of outright thrown since it'll bounce more slowly, and from a lower height too (though it'll bounce for longer from higher-up). Dropping balls as you approach the foe can be a great investment since you can have a ball bounce off them and then off the bouncing ball behind you and back into the foe, though again this takes skill and timing to pull off. If you're not confident about bouncing balls into other balls, you can always try knocking a foe into them with another ball or the B-throw. It's best for Minami to bounce a ball close to an opponent to better exploit it, and to not neglect it since foes can easily steal it from her when it loses all momentum. Not having access to the ball is one downside to bouncing and spreading it around, though it's easy enough for Minami to run towards it for retrieval purposes.

Minami's melee game isn't nearly as strong as her projectile game, but that's not to say it isn't important - remember how Minami's balls are better used up-close than from afar? Being near the opponent gives Minami the potential to surprise foes with a melee attack instead of throwing a ball at them, which in turn can help put them in a position where it's easier to KO with a ball, like near the ledge. Minami can do a decent job at damage-racking if she fights up-close with her balls (though this is risky for aforementioned reasons), but otherwise melee is better used for pushing opponents around, either near the ledge or near a falling ball. Melee is also a last resort for Minami if she has no balls to use (a rare occurrence outside of throwing them off the top of the screen) and she needs to slide past a foe in order to get them back (or just use D-throw if they were holding it).

Minami's air game is a bit more hands-on since it lets her work closer with her balls. You may wonder why you'd want foes in the air if it means they can tech your balls more easily, but then again it does makes them easier to KO and subjugate with your anti-vertical game via soccer ball and ball-dropping. It's not uncommon for a foe to short-hop in order to catch a ball heading their way, and some may even stay in the air periodically in order to prevent being punished by Minami's D-throw given she can't grab and all, occasionally using a ball they've tech'd to defend themselves from one Minami would throw at them - try and take advantage of this! It's very easy for Minami to score a KO high up in the air, though it's also easy for her to become defenseless if she wastes her balls since her U-air can't damage much or KO and she'll have no means of defending herself from below - an obvious reason why you want to take advantage of the way items behave when thrown or dropped vertically along with a ball's bouncy nature to have it keep returning to Minami after hitting a foe.

In the end, it very much boils down to whether Minami wants to KO via edge-guarding or knocking opponents off the top of the screen depending on which would be more effective. The former encourages Minami to save her balls for when she's knocked an opponent off-stage so she has plenty of ammo to use against them: will you hit the foe with your melee game before bombarding them with your volleyball, dodgeball and soccer ball? Perhaps you might want to bounce the soccer ball into the air and even use the Up Special to fire off a powered shot? There is in fact reward to packing two balls and a soccer ball at the same time while hitting the foe with your melee game, and it shows here since you can just go all-out on the foe and outright destroy any chances they have of making it back onstage. Of course, if the enemy's recovery would invalidate such a risky tactic, knocking them off the top of the screen would generally be more ideal. This style of play lets Minami spread her balls behind her while approaching an opponent before bringing them behind her with Dash Attack, U-tilt or B-throw, though again, you may also want to preserve your balls in which case the U-throw or D-air would be more ideal, following into the air game with the soccer ball and one or two balls of your choice. Minami isn't limited to one way of using her balls; being items, there are many ways to use them and as such her play style is quite open-ended.

Overall, Minami is a fast-paced, versatile fighter who can finish off opponents quickly, but she's just an ordinary human girl and as such her way of fighting isn't special or unique from a universal perspective, able to be mimicked by just about anyone else. It's not the tools that make the person special however, but rather the person who makes the tools special; underestimating Minami may cause you to be Lucky Star KO'ed!​

[collapse=Advanced Techniques]
Minami is capable of utilizing some advanced item-related techniques developed in Brawl, greatly assisting her in battle if the player is willing to learn them.

Glide Toss - This can be used for approaching and retreating while casually throwing out a ball, both of which work in Minami's favor. It's also an excellent way to circle around a foe using Minami's great roll, though since it comes out fast the timing can be very difficult to pull off. Minami can also leave herself open to punishment by trying to roll around a foe, but it's rewarding to land a successful hit in a similar vain to the U-tilt and B-throw.

Dodge Dropping - Should be self-explanatory.

DACUS - This is the same technique as Snake's Mortarsliding where you perform a Dash Attack and then use your U-Smash right out of it to slide forward 1/3 of Final Destination, except here Minami can pull it off with any of her Smashes! The Dash Attack already helps Minami slide past enemies if she's close enough, yet this helps even more by providing excellent spacing for her ball set-up upon connecting with a foe - one neat combo involves using the U-Smash to toss a ball behind the enemy you just slid past for some damage and to have the ball on the other side of them of which you can bounce your other ball(s) off if you're quick enough. Much like with the Mortarslide, it's easier to pull off if you actually hit with the move and initiate hitlag, yet Minami doesn't have to specifically hit a foe - remember she has the soccer ball! The only downside is that unlike with the Mortarslide, Minami has no hitbox in front of her for protection while she's sliding, making her vulnerable to attack if predicted.
[/collapse]

Team Matches

It wouldn't feel right to exclude a summary of how well Minami works in team matches! Minami's balls are key here, giving her partner a free projectile that doesn't interfere with their gameplan unless they like grabbing a lot - heck, balls can even add new options for that character when combined with their existing attacks! The most interesting ball for this purpose is of course the soccer ball which mingles with each character uniquely, especially those with kicking attacks - just make sure your character actually has legs or else they won't be able to kick it around or knock it up with their first jump. This all requires Minami actually gives up these items selflessly, but then again remember she can still access and knock them around easily! Minami's versatility also helps in fights since she can fight up-close or from a distance to suit whatever her partner's doing. And don't forget to look out for ally items to exploit!​


Final Smash - Perfection
The screen zooms on Minami as the background changes to various Lucky Star characters (mostly Yutaka) giving her praise for being awesome and perfect among other things. Realizing that everyone has high expectations for her, Minami is suddenly imbued with a surge of amazing power! This makes Minami invincible, gives her 3 extra mid-air jumps, makes her attacks and tosses faster, gives her soccer ball OHKO knockback whenever she kicks it with the Side Special, greatly increases the knockback on her melee attacks and imbues her tosses with the strength of a giant character's and an awesome fiery effect! Want to know what happens when you go for a power shot with the Up Special? You'll great a freaking massive explosion that rivals a Smart Bomb's and inflicts colossal damage! (always inflicting OHKO knockback if it hits a foe head-on, even if it was the tennis ball!) It only lasts for 6 seconds and doesn't lift any restrictions on Minami's ball count though, so you'll have to decide whether you want to OHKO with a ball or throw them up beforehand and KO with the stronger melee attacks.​


[COLLAPSE="Extra Awesome Extras"]
Extras


Animations

Standing Around
Minami stands perfectly still and upright, not showing the slightest bit of emotion or eagerness for battle (She’s a schoolgirl, so why should she?).

Idle
When left alone for a good while, Minami will grip her right arm tensely and look away. Is she nervous about being in Brawl?

Walk
Minami holds her hands out in front of her like an attendee, clearly embarrassed as she blushes and shifts her gaze haphazardly while walking. How cute!

Run
Minami strides forward a bit more vigorously, swaying her limbs somewhat energetically.

Dash
Minami goes into an all-out sprint, the upper-half of her body leaning forward slightly to emphasize her efforts.

Roll
Minami faces the screen and cartwheels to her new location at an astounding pace. This sounds rather cool since no Brawl character shares the animation with her.

Sleeping
Minami spreads her body across the floor and lies sideways, using her dominant left hand as a pillow. She looks happy in her sleep, but then again she's from a peaceful world.

Growth
If enlarged by something like a Super Mushroom, the first thing Minami does is check whether her chest got large too…but it didn't! Poor Minami pats her chest frantically, shocked that it stayed in "correct" proportion with the rest of her body. I wonder if they’d grow if she touched a Super Mushroom chest-first?

Shrink
On the opposite spectrum, Minami panics if she’s shrunk, but who wouldn’t? Now she knows how her senpais all felt when they were magically shrunk down in Lucky Star: Pocket Travelers.

Food
Minami likes buckwheat noodles and dislikes carbonated beverages - she'll be healed twice as much from the former if she eats it, while she will not attempt to consume the latter in which doing so will result in a small thought bubble appearing above her head with the item in question being crossed out.

Opening
Minami is already on the battlefield, remaining as perfectly calm as she can in the face of the situation that has been presented to her. She does not show any emotion, though I'd imagine she'd at least be a little bit worried having to go up against such fierce opponents.

Taunts

Up Taunt
Minami clasps a hand near her chest while looking down, saying "They say that truth is stranger than fiction.", courtesy of her English voice actress Michelle Ruff. While Minami's not trying to insult her opponent, this is quite fun to use when you've managed to score a KO or kill a boss since it's her only taunt where she actually speaks, but as a result it has a long duration and thus can only be used sparingly.

Side Taunt

Minami turns away and pats what little chest she has. It wouldn't be a set for Minami without this kind of taunt, and it's pretty hilarious when used at the right time.

Down Taunt

Minami sits down and takes out a book to read, a common trait among taciturn anime girls. As an Easter Egg, foes can take the book out of Minami's hands if they pick it up like an item. This results in the foe reacting in a way that would be in-character for them (each character has their own unique animation and even their own dialogue) upon taking a book from someone else, and leaves poor Minami all flustered and embarrassed!
Axel: Takes out a marker and scribbles on the cover of the book before saying "Here ya go!" and dropping it back down on Minami. If one looks close enough, the cover now has a badly drawn picture of Axel and his signature on it, both of which leave Minami staring in confusion.
Etna: Handles the book like some alien object and says "Ohhh, I bet I could make some HL with this!" before pocketing it (if a Prinny is next to her she'll give it to him to handle instead). You're mean.
Raspberyl: Flips through the book before saying "You're studying in the middle of a Brawl? Gimme your autograph later!".
Gaston: Mimics that scene from the film by handling the book roughly while saying "How do you read this? It has no pictures!" before tossing it aside like trash.
Jeanne D'Arc: Looks inside the book, only to put on a dissatisfied face. She then says "I can draw better than this!" before freezing the book and dropping it onto the floor, smashing it to pieces.
Yuki Nagato: Looks into the book and says "Unique." before handing it back to Minami.


Doc Scratch Taunt
As foreshadowed, the bowl is filled with buckwheat noodles and a pair of chopsticks sticking out. Minami will pick up the bowl, though instead of eating from it she'll look around to make sure the bowl doesn't belong to anyone else - she has morals, but is slightly tempted by the fact that her favorite food just happens to be out in the open. When you initiate the vigorous animation, Minami will sit on her knees and eat slowly, since unlike a lot of comical anime characters who can eat ridiculously fast Lucky Star eat at the same pace a normal human would. You can obviously drop the bowl and return to the fight anytime you like.

Victory Poses

Win 1
The upper-half of Minami's face is darkened as she faces away from the other players, uttering "Whatever." in an uncaring tone before walking away. It seems out-of-character for Minami to be so directly dismissive, though she's probably hiding her embarrassment or weariness of constantly being praised given how talented she is. This victory animation usually plays Minami curb-stomps the other players or wins multiple matches in a row - it perfectly emulates how a player would feel after winning tons of chore-like battles against CPUs!

Win 2
Minami is seen drawing on a piece of paper, something she doesn't do often but displays surprising talent for as seen later in the manga. Before she can finish however, a passing wind blows the paper out of her hands off-screen, its contents to remain forever ambiguous. Minami doesn't seem to mind her work being blown away; quite the contrary, she gives off a content smile towards the direction the paper was blown as she brushes her hand along her short hair.

Win 3
Minami is seen playing the piano with little to no effort, yet another talent of hers...if one listens carefully enough she's actually playing her fanfare, the last part of her theme song in the anime befitting of her calm reaction to winning.

Win with an Ally
Minami faces away from her ally, saying "I see. It's not so much making friends as it is becoming them, through our efforts in trying to understand one another." - this quote comes from the English manga, but the original didn't make enough sense so it had to be revised by yours truly.

Win against Konata
Not one to be taken aback by such a loss, Lucky Star's lead girl takes on a prideful stance while saying "I still have bigger boobs than you!", causing Minami to turn red with embarrassment and pat her flat chest.

Win with Konata
Konata slaps Minami's back while saying "Yu-chan will be so proud of you!". Minami gives off a satisfied smile, seemingly happy with this outcome.

Win with Ayano
While Minami and Ayano have met, the two aren't all that familiar with each other and as such Ayano is seen happily cooking something while Minami stares at her fairly well-developed chest while occasionally looking down at her own.

Win with/against Yukari
Yukari will say "Quickly, efficiently and perfectly..." teasingly before giggling to herself, which causes Minami to blush in embarrassment. Winning against Yukari always feels like a loss.

Win against Yutaka
As if the entire match was just a friendly game, Yutaka doesn't behave like a bad sport but rather praises her friend while standing next to her, cheerfully saying "You're so awesome Minami-chan!", causing Minami to smile warmly as she gently pats Yutaka's head. Cute!

Win with Yutaka

Yutaka is sleeping, resting her head on a kneeling Minami's lap after having been tired out from the match. The cuteness of the situation could make one explode.

Loss
Minami claps nonchalantly since she's not a bad sport, but if the victor had a noticeable pair of breasts she'll look away and pat her non-existent pair in melancholy!

Series Symbol


The Lucky Star symbol is 3 individual stars overlapping each other. As symbols are presented in monochrome, the middle star is a light shade of gray while the other two stand out more.


The Iwasaki household’s courtyard serves as a small walk-off stage for Brawl and Minami’s home stage, with a beautiful sunset constantly beaming down. Starting from the left is a tall gate that obstructs the movement of players’ and shelters them from the blast zone beyond the concrete path; if you don’t like it, knock it down with an attack. To the middle of the stage is a table outfitted with a white parasol that can be stood on, but otherwise serves as scenery.

Of course, the most interesting part of the stage by far is the Iwasaki household situated on the right. If being a massive wall isn’t enough of an incentive for players to camp with their backs to it, the household also has numerous features to it that might make one reconsider. The roof can be used as a camping spot that’s somewhat difficult to access without good jumps, though it has a ledge for players to use and is risky to stand on due to how close it is to the blast zone. There’s also the balcony of the second floor and a small fence which can be destroyed to gain access to another ledge and platform. This leads to a glass window that blocks access to the house, though you actually break it to get inside if you’re a jerk with no respect for Japanese property, in which case you’re led to a small yet ambiguous room of the household. There’s a small closet in the room you can break open to get a free item or two if they’re turned on, though the room is incredibly cramped and leads right into a blast zone; if you’re going to vandalize someone’s house and steal stuff form it, you deserve what’s coming to you.


The last feature of the household is the door that opens up every so often and stays open for a couple of seconds. This occurs randomly after 6-12 seconds of the match have passed and is barely obvious no thanks to the faint sound-byte and visual cue to go with it, but is well worth your attention: the first player to enter the house will be greeted by Minami’s mother, Honoka, as they’re treated her words of hospitality for a few seconds as the door shuts – she probably thinks they’re Minami’s friend! The lucky player can’t be attacked while inside the house, and when sent back out they’ll gain a second of invincibility along with a neat bonus, which could be anything from 5-30% worth of healing from free food or a free item, be it held one if they were holding one or something that you don’t handle like a soccer ball, badge, or a Dragoon Piece. If your character is particularly lucky (by which I mean it’s an actual trait of theirs), have the crowd cheering for them and/or have 0% health, Honoka will give them better healing and items, sometimes even giving them multiple at the same time! In extremely rare instances, it’s possible for Honoka to give characters the Smash Ball aura if it’s turned on, or even 2-3 Dragoon Pieces at the same time.

The Iwasaki Household is a very peaceful stage, that’s for sure. Aside from the door opening every now and then, the occasional car might drive by, and maybe a person or two will walk by and to glance at the (mild) wackiness taking place in the courtyard. If you want a sheltered stage that rewards territorial play and has peaceful music, you'll want to try out this stage.

Alternate Costumes

Fun fact: the winter Sailor Uniform you usually see the Lucky Star girls in is their costume for the Red Team. The summer Sailor Uniform, a short-sleeved variation of the winter one is what they wear for the Blue Team. Green Team is an awkward re-coloring of the winter uniform.

Along with the costumes you might have taken note of in previous pictures, these might strike your fancy:

[collapse="Hawk"]
The Lucky Star girls once played an animal game where they compared each other’s characteristics to animals’, and Yutaka described Minami as a hawk because of her coolness (eat your heart out Captain Falcon!). The wings would look stupid if they appeared to be stuck on, so Minami will actually use them to jump and they shed feathers when she moves through the air.

Unlock Condition: Beat All-Star on any difficulty.
[/collapse]

[COLLAPSE="Goth"]
Minami's Gothic "magical girl" costume to go with Yutaka's. Or maybe not, because it doesn’t provide Minami with any aesthetic changes.

Unlock Condition: Make a contract with Kyubey.
[/COLLAPSE]

[COLLAPSE="Fantasy"]
An RPG fantasy attire worn by Minami in the PS2 Visual Novel Ryoo Gakuen Otosai. It comes with hawk wings, and gives Minami’s balls more of a fantasy flavor as appear more like energy balls.

Unlock Condition: Clear Boss Battles on Intense.
[/COLLAPSE]

[COLLAPSE="Net Idol"]
Minami's outfit from the PSP game Lucky Star Net Idol Meister. As an Easter Egg, Minami's Down Taunt is replaced with a stylish spin before she holds her right hand on her hip and points diagonally upwards with her left hand, looking a little embarrassed. If Minami uses this when the crowd isn't cheering for anyone else, they'll cheer her name. Minami's balls will also appear cute and fluffy, sometimes having the Lucky Star logo printed on them.

Unlock Condition: Have the crowd cheer for you 5 times.
[/COLLAPSE]

[COLLAPSE="Yukata"]
No set for an anime schoolgirl can be complete without one of these. It'd be a little hard to run in, but that doesn't seem to hamper Minami's athletic abilities.

Unlock Condition: Play on Iwasaki Household 10 times.
[/COLLAPSE]

[COLLAPSE="North High AKA Yuki Nagato outfit"]
My personal favorite, Minami attempting to dress up as her counterpart Yuki Nagato! It doesn't come with reality-warping abilities, sadly, but looks absolutely amazing.

Unlock Condition: Play 1,000 VS Matches and beat Classic, All-Star and Boss Battles on Intense without continuing. Getting this is definitive proof that you've mastered Minami, so wear it with pride!
[/COLLAPSE]


Event Match 12 - Lucky Rivalry


Description: It's about time these two threw down in a game of Beach Volleyball...
Play As: Minami or Konata (2 stock)
Play Against: Konata or Minami (2 stock)
Stage: Delfino Plaza
BGM: D-Drive Love
This Match takes place on the small isolated island of the Delfino Plaza stage shown here, with Yutaka cheering for her best friend and cousin in the background. Only ball-related items will spawn and the opponent's AI isn't that great, making for a fairly easy match. Completing it unlocks new skins for Minami's balls.

Event Match 88 - The Quest for Breasts


Description: You're not the only one who wants to be nice-bodied!
Play As: Minami (1 stock)
Play Against: Etna (infinite)
Stage: Bridge of Eldin
BGM: Disgaea 2 - Beautiful Darkness
The goal of this match is not to KO Etna but rather wait it out until a nice, fresh glass of Mega Milk appears on a random part of the stage, which you must drink before Etna does or receive an instant Game Over. It's more difficult than a standard-fare match given Etna has infinite stock and Minami only has one, but that's not the worst part: Etna can deploy up to 7 Prinnies at a time instead of the usual 3 to block off portions of the ground, and her Impaler brings her to you no matter how far you run, effectively giving her some degree of omnipresence - that's a good reason why this match takes place on Bridge of Eldin and not Temple. Prinnies are easy enough for Minami to kill, but they're also easy enough for Etna to summon, which is why blocking off her advancement and staying at mid-range is generally a good idea, increasing your chances of reaching the fabled Mega Milk.

Completing this Event Match unlocks the Mega Milk Trophy, and the cliffhanger as to whether the milk took effect or not...

Snake Codec

:snake: Colonel, I'm fighting a green-haired anime girl with an incredibly flat chest. She's wearing the same high school uniform as Yutaka.
:denzel: That could only be Minami Iwasaki. She's a stereotypical taciturn with a kind nature and love for reading, but don't let that fool you; Minami ranks among the elite as a ballslinger, so much so she can put your breasts out of commission from a mile away.
:snake: Huh, didn't think sporting equipment could be that lethal. Maybe I should start carrying some on my missions...
:denzel: I wouldn't go that far, Snake. It's the one using the weapon that counts, after all.
:snake: Right.
:denzel: Speaking of weapons, there's nothing stopping you from using Minami's balls against her. You might even be able to use them better than she can.
:snake: To think that Brawl has been reduced to a simple game of sport.
:denzel: Learn to appreciate it Snake. Consider it a vacation when there are scarier and wackier methods of taking out your enemies in Brawl.
[/COLLAPSE]​





Thus concludes what I consider to be by-far my best set of all time. Minami is actually the dream set I'd -love- to use in Super Smash Bros, not only because she's my favorite anime character but also since she'd be a lot of fun to play what with being able to utilize fun elements from Brawl like items and the soccer ball - just imagine how satisfying it'd be to have a one-up against your foes in terms of item usage! Minami pretty much embodies what I'd want from an ideal Brawl main and I'm extremely proud to have been able to finally reach such a perfect conclusion. Hopefully you all enjoyed the set as much as I did.

 

BridgesWithTurtles

Smash Champion
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Messages
2,172
Location
The long road to nowhere
3DS FC
3523-2059-7939
Thank you, FrozenRoy. That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure.

So, I present my first (and hopefully not last) submission to MYM. I'd love and appreciate any kind of feedback.

ChuChus


In the depths of space, there is a lone Space Port, where an ongoing struggle between life and death takes place. The ChuChus, a species of space mice, are being pursued by the gluttonous Kapu Kapus, deranged alien felines with only one primal goal: to consume as many ChuChus that they can get their fangs on. However, the ChuChus are skilled rocketeers, and four rocket pilots have decided to help. By rounding up as many ChuChus as possible, they can escape from the cat-infested Space Port, saving the lives of hundreds of passengers.

This was the principal concept behind the game ChuChu Rocket!, a hectic party/puzzle game. Up to four players competed to round up as many frantically scurrying mice as possible, and only the rocket with the most passengers at the end of the clock could lift off, claiming victory. While rescuing ChuChus is the premise of the game, the aim in actual gameplay is just as much about sabotaging the number of passengers in the opponents' rockets as it about increasing one's own count. If a horde of ChuChus has to be led to their doom in order to secure an even larger number, then so it must be. Likewise, directing a Kapu Kapu into a foe's rocket, wiping out one third of their total passengers in the process, is a necessary strategy for success.

In Smash Bros, “ChuChus” is the name given to a playable entity consisting of a player-controlled ChuChu Pilot, who is followed by any number of normal ChuChus, which form the core of the character's playstyle.

ChuChu Pilots

As is the case with Pikachu, players who choose ChuChus are limited to just four color swap options, as each color swap changes the designated ChuChu that they control. These pilots were the four “characters” that were played as in ChuChu Rocket!, each one piloting an appropriate insterstellar vessel that corresponded with the player's number.

Chuih. As the representation of “Player 1” in his game of origin, he serves as the default color for the character, and is used for the blue team.

Chubei. As the representation of “Player 2” in his game of origin, his yellow color makes him the only pilot without a team designation.

Chupea. As the representation of “Player 3” in her game of origin, she is used for the red team.

Chubach. As the representation of “Player 4” in his game of origin, he is used for the green team.

Following ChuChus

The ChuChu Pilots may be bold, but they know that they are small, and so their strength must come from numbers. Following ChuChus are a characteristic white-and-blue color, and they don't change to match the player's color swaps, much like Olimar's pikmin. They are just as, if not more important than the pilots themseves. While the player does not control them directly, they follow the player and assist in the function of moves, as well as acting as buffer to absorb hits. When a match begins, ChuChus appear on-screen by descending in a rocket, which remains on the field until it is switched (with neutral special). The ChuChu Pilot and three following ChuChus step out of the rocket, and so three mice are given to the player to start every match; it is the player's responsibility, however, to accumulate more. Up to twenty ChuChus can follow the pilot at one time.

Statistics


Size ~ 0.5
Weight ~ 1
Jumping ~ 8
Ground Speed ~ 9
Traction ~ 10
Air Speed ~ 8
Fall Speed ~ 4
ChuChus have some crazy disparity between their statistics. They are the smallest character in the game, not even reaching Kirby's size. Their weight is also incredibly low, beating out only Jigglypuff. On the other end of the spectrum, they have fantastic speed and control, with a dash speed second only to Sonic, very quick and effective jumps, and the ability to turn on a dime. This contributes greatly to their stage control and maneuverability, which are essential for their own survival; because of their weight (and lack of close-quarters options), they're very susceptible to being easily killed. A tiny frame size and great movement options allow them to escape from harm to continue the fight on their own terms. Their high jumps and low fall speed give the impression of “space jumps”.

Animations

Idle Stance
The ChuChu Pilot stands on their two stubby legs. Occasionally, they'll teeter back and forth, and wave their ears forward in a fanning motion.

Walk
The ChuChus toddle forward, with both large feet appearing to form a wheel-like motion.

Crouch
ChuChus have very pliable bodies, so the pilot squishes themself down into a football-like shape.

Dash
A very frantic dash, as the mice scurry along the ground at breakneck pace. Similar to Pichu's dash, in that their stubby legs almost appear non-moving, giving them the appearance of “boosting” along the ground while vibrating.

Jump
A kick up off of the ground, both legs held behind the ChuChu if jumping forward, or in front of them if jumping backward, as if they were bounding off of the surface of the moon.

Aerial Jump
A simple front or back flip, depending on the jumping direction.

Shield
The pilot cowers, shaking in fear. They block their eyes by covering them with their ears.

Sidestep
The pilot teeters backward on one leg, wobbling due to a lack of balance.

Roll
The pilot performs a tumbling cartwheel backward, or a somersault forward.

Air Dodge
The pilot performs an acrobatic backflip, twirling as if floating in space.

Helpless Fall
The pilot falls head-first, with their legs held out above them, as if skydiving.

Edgehang
Without any arms, the pilot has no choice but to hang upside down by their tail, its end laying atop the ledge.

Trip
The ChuChu falls flat on their front, legs in the air behind them. They look up with a distressed look on their face.

Sleep
The pilot lies atop their feet, like a bird perching in its nest. Their ears droop slightly.

Special Moves

Neutral Special – ChuChu Rocket

These namesake vessels are color-coordinated according to ChuChus' palette. At first, the ChuChus' rocket, a small vehicle about as tall as Link, stands in the background where the player spawned. However, by using the special move button, the rocket can be set up at any location; it transfers its position to the background of wherever the player is standing when the move is used. Resetting the rocket takes about 2 seconds, leaving ChuChus vulnerable. The placement of the rocket is strategic, however, so much thought should be put into where it's placed; it's not a move that should be used willy-nilly, not only because it'd leave the player vulnerable, but also because it's just poor playstyle.

Rockets act as an absorbing space for “following” ChuChus; whenever a mouse falls or runs into the rocket, it is counted as entering the vessel. A counter keeps track of the vehicle's load, which can reach up to 999 mice, though this number would only realistically be achieved in an hour-long match. The number of mice collected transfers along with the rocket wherever it is placed.

When the special move button is pressed while the player is in front of their rocket, rather than setting it down again, the player will extract ChuChus. The number extracted will always be the exact amount needed to reach twenty followers. In the case that the rocket doesn't have at least twenty ChuChus and the player cannot reach that amount with the number of mice already in play, all the mice in the rocket will be extracted (for example, if you have no ChuChus in play and only 5 in the rocket, those 5 will be taken out). Rockets don't disappear when the player is defeated, but they become defunct.

The rocket is the centerpiece of ChuChus' playstyle. It is a bank that manages the most crucial currency in the player's arsenal. Its volume and location should always be attentively noted. Of course, mice just don't fall from the sky. They have to be encouraged to enter the player's roster with...

Down Special – Hatch
The pilot places a tiny, metallic, spherical cave of sorts, roughly equivalent to a mouse hole, in the background. These objects are where mice spawned from in endless numbers in ChuChu Rocket!. The hole's opening faces the screen, and mice emerge from the entrance, entering the plane of battle. Like the rocket, the hatch can be replaced in any location save for in the air. Unlike the rocket, two hatches can be placed by each player.

Most of the time, a hatch will spawn one mouse every two seconds, always running toward the right. Every twenty seconds, however, 10 mice will come scurrying out of the passages all at once. They always run right by default, but if they hit a wall, they will instantly turn around and run left. Likewise, if they hit a wall again, they'll turn right. They will run off of platforms and ledges. On the field, recently-spawned ChuChus can't simply be coerced into following the player around; they must first be convinced of their apparent safety and be coaxed into a rocket. A basic way to achieve this is by simply placing a hatch to the left of a rocket. However, ChuChus have many ways to creatively create paths for the mice to follow. Advanced planning and set-up is required at high-level play, because each individual ChuChu only has 10% of health, and can be attacked to be disposed of; a brain-dead “hatch next to rocket” strategy won't work if your opponent keeps killing all of your mice as they spawn. Of course, a big part of ChuChu Rocket!'s gameplay involved stealing mice from your opponent's path, so any mouse is fair game. ChuChus spawned from another ChuChus player's hatch can be directed into one's own rocket.

Like the rocket, when the player is defeated, it stays on the stage, but becomes inert.

Mice appearing from hatches in ChuChu Rocket!

Up Special – Blast Off!
The player's rocket appears behind them, and the pilot and all of their following mice pile into it. This roughly missile-sized stellar vehicle can then be controlled to fly in any inputted direction, with the ability to turn. Control is generally similar to that of Snake's Nikita missile. The rocket must be replaced onto the stage after using this move.

The distance and time that the player can fly is determined by the amount of mice inside of the rocket. If the number is 5 or less, only a short burst is available. With 10-20 mice, that time is doubled. With 20-50 mice, control time is essentially comparable to that of Ness' PK Thunder. With 50 or more mice, control time is equal to that of Snake's Nikita. The rocket's speed is relatively slow, and it putters around at a speed matching Pit's Wings of Icarus.

The rocket can deal damage, but should not be used offensively, except for as a surprise kill move. Upon colliding with an enemy, intentionally or not, the rocket explodes, instantly depleting one-third of its mice count and sending the pilot into helpless fall. While it deals a hefty 30% damage and can kill at around 110%, the cost in lost of mice can be too severe a consequence at times. Additionally, because of the way it functions, this recovery can be easily gimped unless the player is adept at steering the rocket out of harm's way.

Side Special – Cat Walker
A Kapu Kapu, about Falco's height, immediately spawns underneath the pilot, so that the little ChuChu is sitting on the cat's head. As soon as it comes out, one of the player's following ChuChus appears on the ground in front of the cat, running forward while the Kapu Kapu chases it. If the player has no ChuChus following them, this move cannot be used.

As long as the button combination is held, the player rides along the cat, which runs straight at the same speed as Jigglypuff's dash. If it collides with an opponent, the cat plows right through them, knocking them into the air and behind the player with moderate knockback. 16% damage is dealt. The cat would never catch the running mouse if on an infinite plane, but if the ChuChu hits a wall and turns around, it may run right into the Kapu Kapu's mouth and be eaten. The cat would then disappear. If the cat comes into contact with other mice while in play, however, it simply eats them without stopping.

When used in the air, Cat Walker offers a decent bit of distance, but the Kapu Kapu falls quickly while moving forward. It can be used to aid recovery by jump canceling. The pilot can jump off of the cat's head at any time, propelling themselves up with a single hop roughly equivalent to their first-jump. If a cat is jumped off of, it remains in play until it either catches the running ChuChu or falls off the stage; like ChuChus, Kapu Kapus will turn around upon hitting a wall. The running Kapu Kapu will continue to damage foes that contact it until it disappears, or if Cat Walker is used again, as it will then disappear and be replaced by another.

If a Kapu Kapu runs into a rocket, one-third of its ChuChus are deducted and the cat disappears. Obviously, they should be kept away from the player's rocket and directed toward an opponent's, in the case of a ChuChus ditto.

Standard Moves

Jab – Tail Flick
The pilot twirls around once, bopping with the end of their tail, dealing 3% damage. A very short-range attack that serves only as a meek last-resort. Has a unique effect in that it turns the pilot around, causing them to face the other way. Knocks foes right behind the pilot at low percentages, allowing them to instantly follow up with another jab. This can trap foes for several hits that link together.

Ledge Attack – Frontflip
The pilot frontflips onto the stage, their body acting as a single hitbox. A low-power move with minimal range. Comes out quickly and deals 2-3% damage.

Ledge Attack (Strong) – Flail
The ChuChu quickly swings up and over the top of the ledge, distressingly distorting their shape to deal small, multiple hits that each knock foes a short distance away. This move is composed of three hitboxes, which deal 4% damage each.

Floor Attack – Tail Spin
Sliding onto their feet from their stomach, the pilot twirls around once, hitting with its tail held low to the ground. This pops foes into the air for a possible quick follow-up, but it has a 30% chance to cause the opponent to trip instead. Deals 3-4% damage.

Floor Attack (Strong) – Frenzy
Quickly getting up, the pilot angrily convolves and pulses, spewing out small speech bubbles with various random symbols inside of them. These bubbles, numbering 5 total, come out quickly and each only stay out for 3 frames before disappearing, appearing one after the other in various spots above the pilot's head. Each bubble deals 6% damage as long as they are active and sends the opponent a decent distance away.

Dash Attack – Circle-sault
The pilot performs a somersault, legs held out straight to create a circular outline around their body. Very similar in effect to Olimar's dash attack. Should be used as an escape tool in a scuffle. This move has next to no ending lag, so the pilot can transition from this move right into their dash.

Side Tilt – Side Directional Tile
Color-coded for each player as with the rocket, the main tool used by the pilots in ChuChu Rocket comes into play as an indirect offensive option here. Depending on the direction faced, the pilot spawns a directional tile that indicates either “left” or “right” with arrow markings. The tile is laid flat on the ground, and is difficult to make out from the game's normal camera view. The tile comes out almost instantly, and becomes active after the first few frames. Any player that contacts the tile is jetted in that direction with a forceful push, and suffers a minuscule 5% damage.

Of course, the main purpose of this move (and others involving tiles) is to control the path of ChuChus spawned from hatches. A mouse that runs over a tile follows in that direction. To make a right-running ChuChu turn left toward your rocket, for example, lay a left-directional tile in front of it. Stringent and calculated placement of rockets, holes, and tiles is key.

Kapu Kapus spawned from Cat Walker are also effected by tiles, though they destroy them after contacting them twice. Other players can also destroy tiles by attacking them twice. The player's pilot themselves, their teammates, thrown items, and projectiles (including those originating from the player) are also effected by these tiles, and are thrust in the direction they face. ChuChus' Up Special is unaffected by tiles. As is the rule in ChuChu Rocket!, each player can have up to three tiles (all types included) in play at once, with any fourth tile replacing the oldest one in play. Tiles disappear when KO'd. All of the same rules and properties of this move apply to all other tiles spawned from other moves.


Up Tilt – Up Directional Tile
A tile is set on the ground right below the pilot, with an arrow pointing “up”. Its placement would suggest that any foe contacting it would be launched into the background, but because of the way Smash Bros.' use of directional planes work, it actually launches them up into the air a short distance, dealing 5% damage in the process.

ChuChus are launched into the air as well, and fly up and off the screen unless they hit a ceiling, are absorbed by a rocket, or contact another panel that sends them in a different direction. This can be helpful if one's rocket is on a raised platform but the player wishes to collect mice occupying the lower part of a stage.

Down Tilt – Down Directional Tile
The pilot spawns a “down” directional tile at the space in front of their feet. Foes that contact this tile are dealt 5% damage and sent directly into the ground. That is to say, this move grounds enemies, similar to the way a spike would. Mice are unaffected by this tile, and run past it.

Side Smash – Mouse Mass
This requires at least three ChuChus to execute. The pilot orders at least three mice to jump forward, battering with their bodies. They travel one character space in front of the pilot, then return. This move has some cooldown as the mice are recollected. The range and power of this move are increased slightly by the amount of ChuChus on hand; up to ten can participate. At its weakest (3 mice and no charge), this move deals 13% damage. At its strongest (10 mice and a full charge), 36% damage is dealt. Kills at 120% damage.

The attack can be used as a pseudo-shield, organizing one's ChuChus to gather in the front rather than follow behind, as they tend to do. As they hop in unison, the mice form a sort of living wall that absorbs hits. Mice may be lost while being attacked during these frames, however.

Up Smash – Rocket Launch
The pilot sets up a miniature rocket on the ground in front of them, with the intent to launch it. Following ChuChus scramble into it as this move is charged, with more mice resulting in more power for the rocket when it launches. With no charge, only 1 ChuChu is used, while with a full charge, 5 are used. When released, this smash sends the rocket bursting straight upward, not stopping until it hits an enemy, object, or ceiling.

Flying at a speed 4/5 that of Snake's mortar, the rocket deals 14% damage with no charge, or 25% damage with a full charge. A small explosion destroys the rocket (and any mice within it, though they safely return if the rocket flies off-screen) upon collision. This deals high knockback and deals 10% damage to enemies that are hit by the explosion.

Down Smash – Chu2 Bomb
In Sonic Battle, Tails was able to deploy bombs that served as an homage to ChuChu Rocket! This move causes the pilot to set down a mechanical ChuChu, which runs along the ground. The robotic rodent detonates upon contacting another player, dealing moderate knockback (killing at 180%) and 16% damage uncharged (21% damage fully charged). Similar in appearance to a regular ChuChu, the Chu2 can blend in rather well, especially if there are many mice on the field. It it also effected by tiles in the same way that normal mice are. Astute opponents can identify this stealthy danger by its movement pattern: it moves left rather than right.

Neutral Aerial – Space Flip
The pilot flips backwards, swatting with their tail between their legs. A low priority, low range, low power attack that offers very little, other than a last resort. The tail smacks opponents upward and deals 6% damage.

Forward Aerial – Air Side Directional Tile
A directional panel is set in the air in front of the pilot. The direction of the tile is determined by the direction the pilot is facing: “left” if left, or “right” if right. If an opponent contacts this tile, they are bolted in the corresponding direction and dealt 5% damage.

Unlike the ground tiles, aerial tiles aren't laid flat. Instead, their tops are displayed to the players; fully visible squares. These tiles stay suspended in air, though they are otherwise identical to the grounded tiles, featuring the same properties. They should be mixed up with grounded tiles to create efficient paths for ChuChus to take, or death traps for opponents to stumble into.

Back Aerial – Air Side Directional Tile
Like their forward aerial move, ChuChus' back aerial places either a left or right directional tile, but behind them rather than in front of them. However, this move sees the pilot place the panel of the direction opposite to which way they're facing, so a right-facing pilot will place a left-directional panel behind them. As always, 5% damage is dealt.

Up Aerial – Air Up Directional Tile
The pilot looks upward and engenders an “up” directional tile right above its head. Opponents that contact this panel are sent barreling upward about 5 character spaces. ChuChus are effected the same way as they are with a grounded version of this tile. Deals 5% damage.

Down Aerial – Air Down Directional Tile
The pilot looks downward as a “down” panel spawns below them. This panel works a bit differently than its grounded counterpart, as they are launched downward and grounded, rather than just grounded on the spot. This tile has the properties of a meteor smash, making this move key for off-edge play. Mice travel downward until they fall off-stage, land, or contact a different panel moving them in another direction.

Throw Game

Grab – Mouse Troop
Since the ChuChus lack arms or hands, the only way for them to take grip on a foe is to pin them down. To grab, at least three mice are required. Three ChuChus jump at the enemy, pinning them down. If the enemy breaks out of this grab, all three mice will be flung off and lost.

Pummel – Hickory Dikkory Dock
To pummel, additional ChuChus are required. Each input sends a mouse hopping onto the enemy's head, kicking off before returning to the player's roster. A moderate-speed grab attack that deals 2-3% damage per hit.

Forward Throw – Scurry
The three grabbing mice instantly get on the ground and begin scurrying forward, lined-up in a row. They push the enemy along with them, dealing multiple, small, linking hits that deal 2% damage each for a total of 16% damage. The three mice disappear after traveling a length of half of Battlefield (unless already near a ledge, in which case, they just run off the ledge, dragging the enemy with them), completely removing them from the player's lineup and releasing the enemy with no knockback. On the plus side, it's a throw with a good bit of damage output, and can be smartly used to position opponents in conjunction with tiles. This move's off-of-ledge properties aren't strong enough to kill other characters, though it can be used for creative kills nonetheless (such as dragging them offstage and into a down-panel).

Back Throw – Mouse Wheel
The three grabbing mice rotate in a circle around the held enemy's frame, carrying the fighter with them as they roll 3 character spaces behind the pilot. At the end of this move, one of the mice holds onto the foe and jumps out of the formation, launching them horizontally. Deals 11% damage and has decent kill power, killing at 110%. Sacrifices one ChuChu.

Up Throw – Mouse Ladder
The three ChuChus hop onto the ground, then one headbutts the enemy from below, knocking them a few inches into the air. This is followed up by a second and third hit from the other ChuChus. Each hit deals 3% damage, and the foe is knocked a short distance into the air. No ChuChus are sacrificed.

Down Throw – Hop on Pop
The three ChuChus knock the foe to the ground and hop onto them, bouncing up and down atop them. Each mouse makes three quick hops, each hit dealing 1% damage. No knockback is dealt by this move. No mice are lost.

Final Smash
Mouse Mania / Cat Mania

One of two hectic modes from ChuChu Rocket wreak havoc as ChuChus' Final Smash. A rapidly-spinning roulette bar appears juxtaposed over the center of the screen. If the player inputs an upward direction on the joystick while activating this move, the roulette stops on Mouse Mania, accompanied by the in-game announcer from ChuChu Rocket shouting “Mouse Mania!” The roulette disappears, and immediately, a massive amount of mice appear on-screen, pouring out from hatches that appear all over the stage. As the mice frantically scurry about in a state of frenzied anxiety, they cause damage to opponents, essentially acting as hundreds of moving, weak hitboxes. Players caught in the flood of mice can be juggled about for high amounts of damage. Mouse Mania lasts for 15 seconds, and then all of the mice disappear.

If the player holds a down input on their joystick, they will instead experience Cat Mania. This summons 7 Kapu Kapu, which waltz around the stage aimlessly. Thankfully, the player's rocket is briefly removed during this move's duration. The Kapu Kapu deal 20% damage and massive knockback by biting opponents they bump into. However, they are rather slow and easy to dodge, especially on larger stages. A definite downside is that they can also attack the player that summoned them, so the player has to use their speed and small size to their advantage, and dodge the cats. This move ends after 15 seconds.

If no input is given during this move's execution, the Final Smash is chosen at random.

Extras

Up Taunt
The pilot hops up and rapidly distorts their shape excitedly, as if restless with energy.

Side Taunt
The pilot leans forward, a cocky expression on their face. Batting their ears back and forth intimidatingly, they mockingly shout “You're weak!”

Down Taunt
The pilot hops up and down three times angrily, shouting “Bring it on!”

Victory Animation 1
The pilot, surrounded by three followers, hops up and jitters in the air happily.

Victory Animation 2
The pilot hops for joy, eyes closed in bliss. However, they open their eyes, which flick to the left side of the screen, and then begin running to the right. A Kapu Kapu chases the poor rocketeer off-screen, and the chase reappears in the background, coming from the right side of the screen. They reappear from the left side of the screen, and the pattern loops.

Victory Animation 3
A horde of ChuChus pile into a rocket while the pilot quickly scans the area to make sure the coast is clear. The pilot then hops into the rocket and the vessel blasts off, going off the top of the screen.

Playstyle

ChuChus are an advanced character, simply because they are so unconventional and limited in what they can do by certain logistics. They can best be described as survivalist in philosophy; you want to avoid getting hit, and you always want to escape to fight another day. As the smallest characters available, the ChuChus are incredibly vulnerable at all times, so they must be economical about every single action they take. Adroit placement of rockets, hatches, and tiles are key for stage control, but practically everything that ChuChus can use to their advantage can also be used against them, so the player must always be one step ahead, tactically, if they wish their set-ups to be favorable, and not a hindrance. The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry...

Balancing the pressure of the fight with one's own self-devised plans is crucial. Running away can be the best option. If the player is low on mouse-power and all of their tiles have been destroyed, sometimes the best thing to do is use that great speed and dodgy small frame to get away from the enemy and think of a new plan, setting up new gizmos and gadgets to force the enemy to waste their concentration on trying to figure out how to avoid your traps, rather than focusing on the actual fight. If need be, following ChuChus provide excellent coverage and work as reliable buffering. A full party of twenty mice can provide significant cover from pressuring attacks such as Falco's Blaster and Pit's arrows. Mice shouldn't be sacrificed carelessly, but it's not always a bad idea to let them die if it provides much-needed defense.

Playing ChuChus is all about decision-making. Having many ChuChus in play improves offensive and defensive capabilities, but following mice are also susceptible to being killed, and if one isn't careful about keeping their rocket full, they may find themselves burning through mice faster than they can replenish them. Having a Kapu Kapu on-screen can be great for dealing with enemies, but what if it gets to your rocket and eats your mice? Should one recover with their up special move, even if it means removing their on-stage rocket and relinquishing an influx of ChuChus they may have been able to absorb? In a ditto match, should one focus on stealing or sabotaging the other player's mice, or should they focus on protecting their own rocket? What it boils down to is the act of balancing the decisions to make sacrifices. Playing too conservatively may net the player a surplus of mice, but if they are unwilling to do much else, ChuChus have really no way to defeat their opponent.

Placement is incredibly important, and tiles are the most important facet of that concept. As they are destroyed and the pressures of combat require new positioning, the player must constantly place tiles. Tiles work to direct ChuChus into one's rocket, detour Kapu Kapu from the rocket, frustrate the enemy by pushing them around, and deal damage; they are the glue that holds the character's playstyle together. While their primary purpose is to collect mice, don't underestimate their use in offense; tile placement takes up eight of this character's move slots, so ChuChus are severely lacking in traditional attack options. Create a path to lead an enemy into a Chu2 Bomb, or use Up Smash to knock a foe into an upward tile at the top of the screen for a star KO. Creativity is rewarded with ChuChus, as they don't have many approaches to score kills in the conventional way. To play ChuChus, one should be as much of a devious mastermind as their game of origin required.
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
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Australia
[collapse=ChuChus]This might be the first set ever made that's designed to be used against the same character, which is obviously fitting with the multiplayer aspect. It sort of reminds me of a cruel version of Olimar what with the deliberate sacrifices and survival of the fittest. The writing style and presentation are both very good, with no shortage of pictures and game referencing that helps those who haven't played like myself. It's obviously trying to stay as true to the game as possible while being smash-viable, which I can respect if the notion of the pads eating up half the inputs was deliberate as to give the mice little options.

I actually really like the running part of the set because of how effective it is, a realization I came to upon you pointing out that trailing mice can absorb projectile hits for you. That, and you have traps you can set-up after acquiring space of which you can assemble in a bevy of ways or put up a mouse hole. It very much rewards you having the max 20 mice out, but on this note I do wish there were more ways to take advantage of such a huge number of mice - most of the time I was expecting the moves that do take advantage of mice to produce a result with all 20 out, but none of them do. It might have been intentional on your part for balancing reasons, but it'd be nice to include. For another nitpick, the rocket might move a little too slowly for the dire consequence of hitting a foe.

Apart from that you're very much aware of all the on-goings in this well thought-out set, which feels feels almost like a game mode as much as it is a set! For some further praise, I like the Taunts for showing that the mice can speak bold and arrogant words whereas without them I would have thought they'd be mindless mice without them. It's a great set, and I hope you make another sometime in the near future.[/collapse]
 

JOE!

Smash Hero
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Dedham, MA
*from Mobile*

Makes me a sad panda that the mini seems to have died she to me having school and such... What was wrong with it guys?
 

n88

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,528
*from Mobile*

Makes me a sad panda that the mini seems to have died she to me having school and such... What was wrong with it guys?
I suspect a big part of it was timing; things have been pretty quiet on all fronts. I know I've been busy lately, and I guess the mini just didn't quite grab my attention.

Anyway, I'm still a bit behind on my reading but I can offer some thoughts on a few sets.

ChuChus is (are?) a very impressive first effort. You've clearly taken your time with this and it shows; the set demonstrates a good understanding of what goes into a playstyle and how moves interact with each other, as well as a slavish devotion to recreating the mechanics of another game inside Smash that I can only applaud. Like Kat says, a game with multiple players as ChuChus feels like a mode unto itself. ChuChus represent a more hectic, strategic take on the minion/helper ideas present in Olimar that really does sound like a blast to play.

My lone piece of advice is that as is it stands, the control scheme somewhat limits ChuChus' options, with tile-laying taking up so many of ChuChus' attacks. Having that many attacks be so similar feels like it would really limit ChuChus' options. Perhaps you could change the Neutral Special to a tile-laying move (with the direction of the tile determined by an analog input), and give that attack's rocket-relocation functionality to Up Special (which already moves the rocket anyway). Withdrawing ChuChus could simply be a function of the Standard Attack button, like picking up items. Arranging the set like that would free up Standards and Aerials for more varied moves, which could help build up ChuChus' game and give him more attacking (or running away) options.

Of course, that's just my take. I'm unfamiliar with the source material and it's very possible that you've got some good reasons for implementing things the way you did. Here's hoping we'll see more from you soon!

I've already given you my thoughts on Minami, Kat, and they haven't much changed. To paraphrase, I really like what you've done with the item-combo game; Minami has a lot of depth and finds some creative uses for items not much different from Brawl's ow. The way Minami brings a dodgeball element to the fight is equally commendable. And of course there's the fact that this set never feels like it gives into tackiness or reaches too far for potential, despite the very simple nature of the character. The Extras (which I hadn't seen before) are a nice touch; something we could probably stand to see more of these days. Big thumbs up on this one.

Shadow, like others have pointed out, certainly isn't short on compelling ideas. Slow-moving projectiles are always interesting, and time-slows are something we don't see all that much of (I think. That didn't become a thing while I was on semi-hiatus, did it?). Shadow feels like he'd be a lot of fun to play around with, particularly in terms of his Specials and Smashes. On the other hand, he doesn't feel very much like Sonic. I'm not a Sonic buff by any means, but I feel like he has more in common with the Blue Blur than you make use of here. I feel like Shadow would also benefit from being able to shake up the speed on his Chaos Spears and get a fast-moving variant, or have some other form of fast-moving projectile that's less limited than his UTilt and FTilt ones. Also, (Joe or somebody jump in and correct me if I'm wrong) as I recall, there is no difference in power between an uncharged and a partially charged Smash, so it doesn't really matter that Shadow can partially charge his Smashes during his teleport.

Anyway, I do like the set overall. It's not my favorite of the contest, but it has some great ideas, and is pretty darn fun to imagine in action. Good work.
 

FrozenRoy

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,260
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Las Vegas, Nevada
Switch FC
SW-1325-2408-7513
*from Mobile*

Makes me a sad panda that the mini seems to have died she to me having school and such... What was wrong with it guys?
I just had no interest in making an item mode or building off of it, so the Mini didn't appeal to me.
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
1,251
Location
Australia
Mini-wise, I was worried about screwing over the established playstyle of the character I was going to do. It actually takes a lot of thought (you have to understand both the mini and the moveset in question, neither of which you can turn to Brawl for) and even then you're forcing characters to play in a certain way in what is effectively an oppressive game mode (Brawl already works well enough that camping and stalling aren't fall-proof - I don't want to be punished for those), not to mention each character and moveset already have a way in which their author intended for them to work. You were probably going for the same goal with last contest's challenge mini to have each week build up to something big, and that is fine. On the other hand, perhaps you're playing off your most adored item mechanic a bit too much, as there's no way you could have intended that to be the second week's mini from the very beginning. If you can't play off the crowd appeal mechanic anymore, which I suggest you don't, I'd personally like to see you make us do more with the casual + competitive idea on other aspects of Brawl. For example, make a stage for a MYM14 character (or just any kind of stage in general) that embodies a casual and competitive spirit. MYM could do with a slew of thought-out stages.
 

Kholdstare

Nightmare Weaver
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,439
I'd actually love some Injustice-style stages, as in a flat neutral field with several objects/hazards that are constant and stage-specific, plus the transitions. Transitions are awesome.
 

JOE!

Smash Hero
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
8,075
Location
Dedham, MA
*le back on my comp*

Well, the plan was:

1) Item suggestion + mechanic

2) group work to flesh out mechanic using items created.

seeing as 2 was never really done though, what to do?
 

Kholdstare

Nightmare Weaver
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
1,439
Try doing a mini that isn't "you make stuff for the winner's stuff" but instead "you make stuff to build on your own stuff" so you're making something that's uniquely your own.
 

JOE!

Smash Hero
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
8,075
Location
Dedham, MA
You're right Khold, last Mini had a competitive edge to it, but it eventually tired out to just 1 man standing, even with the "group" mechanics part.

Should switch the focus back to the individual level:

UPDATE:
Ret-conning the last entry, I'd like you all to go over how the items created would work with your various mechanics.You have plenty of interesting material from the other MYMers, use it as a chance to flesh out the ideas!

In the mean time, the partner part still applies!
 

Katapultar

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
1,251
Location
Australia
Item Battle
To recap, this "mode" allows players to choose an item to start off with, up to 3 to cycle between with each stock. Given the choice, how would you be able to use -these- items?

Orbiting Option - Players can obviously choose the color of the Option. It is effectively a "transformation" item and as such is good for characters who need their hands freed to use their own items, such as Mami or Minami - what makes it different from a Super Mushroom or Metal Box however is that it actually generates a hitbox around your character. Regardless of which one you choose, they're all good for disrupting approaches, making one easier or creating new combos, but being a transformation item means you need to make the most of a match's beginning.
Crowbar - It's not as permanent as other battering items, but man it can ruin set-ups. I guess it's good for handicaps or pissing off your friends due to the situationalness, what with being useless against Meta Knight.
Vortex Vial - I don't need to stress how much projectile characters will love this baby, and perhaps by some extent summon characters. The more frequently and powerful the projectiles the better.
Skateboard - More permanent than the other items shown above, this is a great one for just about anyone. Especially slow characters. It's not so good for aerial characters though, since using your second jump on the board causes it to disappear.
Power Glove - Ummm, why would anyone want to start off with this?
B-Ball - Apart from being a normal throwing item, it's good as a mini-bunny hood.
Magic Carpet -
Wonder Launcher -
Eggplant Staff -



More to come later.
 

BridgesWithTurtles

Smash Champion
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Messages
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The long road to nowhere
3DS FC
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ChuChus is (are?) a very impressive first effort. You've clearly taken your time with this and it shows; the set demonstrates a good understanding of what goes into a playstyle and how moves interact with each other, as well as a slavish devotion to recreating the mechanics of another game inside Smash that I can only applaud. Like Kat says, a game with multiple players as ChuChus feels like a mode unto itself. ChuChus represent a more hectic, strategic take on the minion/helper ideas present in Olimar that really does sound like a blast to play.

My lone piece of advice is that as is it stands, the control scheme somewhat limits ChuChus' options, with tile-laying taking up so many of ChuChus' attacks. Having that many attacks be so similar feels like it would really limit ChuChus' options. Perhaps you could change the Neutral Special to a tile-laying move (with the direction of the tile determined by an analog input), and give that attack's rocket-relocation functionality to Up Special (which already moves the rocket anyway). Withdrawing ChuChus could simply be a function of the Standard Attack button, like picking up items. Arranging the set like that would free up Standards and Aerials for more varied moves, which could help build up ChuChus' game and give him more attacking (or running away) options.

Of course, that's just my take. I'm unfamiliar with the source material and it's very possible that you've got some good reasons for implementing things the way you did. Here's hoping we'll see more from you soon!
Thank you for the feedback. I did attempt to recreate not only the functions of the original game, but also the feel and frenetic gameplay. Every major gameplay feature of ChuChu Rocket! is recreated in the set, aside from one exception, in that tiles don't disappear after about twenty seconds. I felt as if including that would just handicap ChuChus exorbitantly and really had no place in the playstyle I intended. As for the tiles and their taking up so many inputs, it's because tile-laying is actually the only ability the player has in the source game (everything else is technically possible in canon, though, so it's not like I pulled everything else out of my rear), so I felt that the player should have to rely on a single action for much of their inputs, and play smartly despite such a disadvantage.

That being said, I definitely recognize what you mean in that the character is vastly limited, which is something I admittedly intended to an extent, since ChuChus aren't fighters in canon and I wanted to create that feel of survival through smarts rather than power; I wanted the player to be the Jerry, not the Tom, basically. However, I agree that, looking back, I could have given the set more options, though I would have had to take some more liberties with the canon I was given. I feel as if ChuChus' reward isn't quite high enough to compensate for their demand.

This might be the first set ever made that's designed to be used against the same character, which is obviously fitting with the multiplayer aspect. It sort of reminds me of a cruel version of Olimar what with the deliberate sacrifices and survival of the fittest. The writing style and presentation are both very good, with no shortage of pictures and game referencing that helps those who haven't played like myself. It's obviously trying to stay as true to the game as possible while being smash-viable, which I can respect if the notion of the pads eating up half the inputs was deliberate as to give the mice little options.

I actually really like the running part of the set because of how effective it is, a realization I came to upon you pointing out that trailing mice can absorb projectile hits for you. That, and you have traps you can set-up after acquiring space of which you can assemble in a bevy of ways or put up a mouse hole. It very much rewards you having the max 20 mice out, but on this note I do wish there were more ways to take advantage of such a huge number of mice - most of the time I was expecting the moves that do take advantage of mice to produce a result with all 20 out, but none of them do. It might have been intentional on your part for balancing reasons, but it'd be nice to include. For another nitpick, the rocket might move a little too slowly for the dire consequence of hitting a foe.

Apart from that you're very much aware of all the on-goings in this well thought-out set, which feels feels almost like a game mode as much as it is a set! For some further praise, I like the Taunts for showing that the mice can speak bold and arrogant words whereas without them I would have thought they'd be mindless mice without them. It's a great set, and I hope you make another sometime in the near future.
Thank you as well. As I assured above, tiles taking up so much of the inputs was indeed intended to properly represent the character and limit their options. The reason for not using all twenty mice for any single attack was that I felt that despite ChuChus' handicaps, any move making use of that many individual hitboxes would simply have either too much range or too much power. Additionally, I felt that, regarding a move that loses mice, losing all twenty mice (or even half of that) in one fell swoop would be a bit too drastic, considering that adding to one's rocket would be difficult enough with how frantic the gameplay is.

Your comment about the rocket is a very good point, and I was worried it may be underpowered as a recovery. Perhaps I should increase its speed. The reasoning behind its slowness was to discourage its use offensively, though I suppose a smart player should make that decision for their self.

The point about the mice talking is funny, actually. The mice are never shown speaking themselves, but their game had the option of letting loose a selection of preset comments during multiplayer (intended for online gameplay), with a different pitch for each player, so I assumed that was supposed to represent the pilots themselves.
 

Junahu

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
899
Location
Shropshire Slasher
Challenge MYmini14 Week 2/3
I'd like you all to go over how the items created would work with your various mechanics
... um... done? My mechanic didn't alter how players used or acquired items, so any input I give on how to use the items would be generic advice.
So, instead, I'll just give comments on all the items.

Orbiting Option:
I felt that Brawl didn't take enough advantage of "equip" items, but this 4-in-1 item handily showcases their potential in a way that actually works with each player's playstyle (instead of broken Superspicy-curry shenanigans). Each of the four options sounds uniquely useful, without burdening themselves with unneccessary complexity.
Though I wish the item cycled through its four colours while waiting to be picked up. That way it wouldn't simply be a race to grab the item first. Instead there'd be a bit of tension while the first person there waits for the item to become the option they really need.

Crowbar:
What a thoroughly bizarre item. There's an ecclectic (albeit useful) combination of effects, hiding the fact that this is simply a battering item. The crowbar should probably have its own attack properties (maybe it knocks foes away in a unique direction? Or stuns the foe?) so it isn't literally a beam sword with added perks.
And I don't suppose I should tell you that a beam sword changes its range based on the character holding it.. right?

Vortex Vial:
Clearly the best item, cuz I made it.

Skateboard:
This is a really neat mobility item that introduces the idea that low-traction isn't inherently bad, in a way that any player can grasp. I also really dig the concept of jumping onto an item to activate it. The item truly does feel more tangible with that one little detail.
The ability to turn on a dime might be a little abusable/annoying though.

Power Glove:
The idea of an actively bad equip item isn't wholly flawed in a normal Brawl match, but an equip item that ONLY affects characters with projectile attacks, is harder to defend, even inside of its intended mode. For all of its potential as a telekinetic glove, hamstringing it to only control projectiles is a pretty big waste.
Honestly, if you want it to be a bad thing to equip, then the glove should just jumble your controls.

B-Ball:
This is a lovely little complement to the Soccer ball item, swapping its striking KO power for the nuanced control of throwability and... well.. bounciness. There might be a bit of confusion as to why one ball has to be struck, whilst the other needs to be picked up, but that's a relatively slight issue.
I do like that the item increases jump height, though the other buffs may be taking that too far, especially since it's an item that must be thrown before the player can use aerials. I understand that the buffs are intended to encourage the player to keep possession of the ball, but that's a losing battle with an item that locks you out of your regular attacks. The main appeal of the item after all, is in tossing it in ways that react creatively with the level geometry.

Magic Carpet:
I don't think this item needs the ownership-mechanic (as in, ownership even when not on the carpet), nor the ability to fly to the owner via Up-B. It's a brilliant, controllable, fallthrough platform, which has absurd amounts of potential on its own. Such a concept would be better without the owner having such an abusable tool to trivialise the foe's attempts to steal his ride.
This and the Skateboard item complement eachother pretty nicely as items. Both grant mobility, and the ability to use ground attacks in different situations.

Wonder Launcher:
There's a unique inventiveness behind having a gun that shoots items, that plays off of our existing aprehension of tossing capsules/containers at our foes. A cynical mind would simply ask "what does this do for matches that capsules don't?", but I'm not being cynical today, so I won't ask that. It's still a smart item that creates some intriguing dynamics.
It would be more in keeping with the source's mechanics, and potentially more deep as an item, if the three levels of "charge" were replaced with the launcher passively charging up whilst not being fired (with the charge increasing faster if the launcher is being held). Players could grab the item right away and start firing junk at the enemy, or they could wait until it gains enough charge for a single powerful item. It'd be like a reverse game of hot-potato, with everyone trying to gain possession of an item they're incentivised to not use right away.

The Cosmic Cube:
I think an item that grants its holder access to an omni-directional shockwave attack is interesting on its own, and the constant healing that forces opponents to try to knock the item out of their hands makes for a neat dynamic.
But the Jab attack should have triggered the same shockwave attack as the Neutral Aerial, because horizontal projectiles you can only use on the ground are kinda lame. And personally speaking, I like my items to do the same thing when used in midair as they do when used on the ground.
And 8% healing per second sounds ludicrously high.. unless the Cube vanishes after 10 seconds even if the player is still holding it.
 
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