RageofNidhogg
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2008
- Messages
- 14
I've seen a lot of complaints about the roster recently, and I've also seen a lot of defenses of the roster. So I decided I would talk about the roster personally just to say what I have on my mind.
First I will address the people who are disappointed by the roster and who do not like it. I personally am one of these people though I will attempt to stay as objective as I can in this post.
I think one of the main reasons people are disappointed by this roster is because they feel betrayed. They feel that Sakurai hyped the game up so much and said it would be so grand and great and then he didn't include many of the characters we felt were a shoe-in. They feel betrayed because the size of the roster is much smaller than they would have been led to believe by comments from many different places and from the dojo updates. I myself feel this way a bit. Though I am able to get over it. 35 characters isn't really that few. I believe we have more added movesets from melee to brawl than from 64 to melee so it's really not as bad as many people seem to make it.
Personally I think these people have good reason to feel this way. I mean from Sakurai's comments about going overboard on the game it seems like there would be more than 35 characters. And for all the hype of the game and the statements about how it is the fans' game and it may be the last. People just expected a lot. It's not really their fault for expecting so much. It's just the way the game was presented. Things like the dojo really helped get our hopes up about the game, making us think it would be extremely great. Most games don't have a dojo, they don't get updates about the game. The hype for the game was huge which is probably why people feel betrayed when the roster is not just as huge.
The second thing that people seem most disappointed in is the distribution of the characters. This is personally why I am disappointed, as I am fine with 35 characters, just not the 35 characters we have. I feel that the number of characters in smash from each franchise should be based on their popularity which is definitely not the case with this roster. I'll start by going through each franchise starting with the Mario franchise.
The Mario franchise lost one character. Though he was a clone, this puts the Mario franchise down to the same number of characters as Zelda (less if you count Sheik). Now I love Zelda as much as the next guy, but Mario is much more popular and well known. Mario is the most well known videogame franchise period, I just don't see why they would lose a character.
I don't really see a problem with the Zelda franchise, unless Ganondorf is a clone. Pokemon seems fine to me as well, as does the Kirby Franchise. (Note I am going in order of number of playable characters)
Now the one franchise I have a big problem with is Star Fox. Star Fox only has five games, none of which have been that popular, and none of which have been known as good games since 64. And yet they have 3 characters. 3 characters that will most likely be similar to each other. They leave out the much more unique Krystal. Although I don't really like Krystal I think she would be a better choice for Brawl. I don't understand why they gave Star Fox 3 characters when they left much more popular franchises such as Metroid with 1 and Donkey Kong with 2. I understood in melee why Star Fox got an extra rep while Metroid stayed the same, because Falco would be an easy clone. But now with Brawl which is supposedly not rushed they give Star Fox 3 characters still leaving Samus alone. I just don't understand that. Espescially when Star Fox games have been on the decline and other games such as Metroid have had a Resurrection or are growing in popularity greatly like Fire Emblem.
I am fine with the Kirby series characters, and for the most part the DK series characters although I believe that DK deserves a third character more than Star Fox. I don't really have that much of a problem with the FE series except that I think that they deserve another character much more than Star Fox. I think Mother doesn't really deserve a second character but I'm not sure how popular it is in Japan so I can't really pass judgment on that. I have no problem with all of the franchises with 1 character except the Metroid Series.
I'll just say it now. The Metroid series deserves another character. It is one of the most popular Nintendo series and it recently has had a resurrection in the Prime games around the world. Yet instead of getting a Metroid character we have three characters from Star Fox. This just aggravates me because Star Fox is not anywhere near as popular as Metroid and its games are on the decline. And for those who say there are no characters from Metroid who could be in Brawl. Ridley would be a great character in Brawl. He's unique, he's a villain, and he wouldn't be that hard to make a moveset for. And don't tell me he's too big or too awkard. Bowser is huge in many of the Mario games usually ranging from 3 times Mario's size to about 10 times Mario's size in his 3D games. And the awkwardness of a character has little to do with his appearance in his games. It is more to do with the moveset and movement given to the character. Metroid just deserves a character so much more than Star Fox.
I forgot to mention the last character I have a problem with. This character would be the infamous R.O.B. Now I know Sakurai likes WTF characters but seriously... R.O.B.? He's a robot that stacks things... and very few people know who he is. I'm not even sure if most the people who have been around as long as he has know who he is. Now many people would say that this is similar to Game and Watch and Ice Climbers, but there is one big difference. Game and Watch and Ice Climbers are characters. They have flavor and personality. They have backstory (sort of) and very interesting movesets. R.O.B. on the other hand is just a generic robot. He's not a character and he has no backstory. Now if R.O.B. was just an awesome looking character this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but he just isn't. He's not cool-looking, he's not cute, and he's not a character. So what does he have going for him? I just think that Sakurai could have made so many better choices.
Now, to end my character discussion I will say that I think that many of the character choices of Sakurai just seem illogical. Simply, who is he trying to appeal to with this roster? Only big Star Fox fans will cheer at the inclusion of both Falco and Wolf, and seriously there just aren't that many big Star Fox fans. The lack of Ridley seems to be making many people mad already, and well... not very many people at all like R.O.B. Many times Sakurai has implied that he is going for the casual audience in this game. But if this is true, why not give us more popular characters? Why put R.O.B. in who casual players are sure not to know and are most likely not going to like. I mean I personally am not a casual player, but I know more than a few, and when I play with them, they play with the characters they like and recognize or think are cool. And seriously, I don't think very many people think R.O.B. is cool.
To end my negative viewpoint of this roster I will say this. Many people have said that we should be thankful for all the other things that have been put into Brawl. But I'm sure most of the people on these boards would sacrifice Target Smash, Multi-Man Brawl, Home-run Contest, all the extra music, and the Subspace emissary for a larger roster. Because in its essence Brawl is a multiplayer game in which people play as popular characters from Nintendo. Whether you look at it like a party game or a competitive fighter, the main drive of this game is it's multiplayer.
This is why I believe that many people are disappointed in the roster. It is at least why I feel that way.
In my next thread I will attempt to refute myself through some of the arguments in defense of the roster.
First I will address the people who are disappointed by the roster and who do not like it. I personally am one of these people though I will attempt to stay as objective as I can in this post.
I think one of the main reasons people are disappointed by this roster is because they feel betrayed. They feel that Sakurai hyped the game up so much and said it would be so grand and great and then he didn't include many of the characters we felt were a shoe-in. They feel betrayed because the size of the roster is much smaller than they would have been led to believe by comments from many different places and from the dojo updates. I myself feel this way a bit. Though I am able to get over it. 35 characters isn't really that few. I believe we have more added movesets from melee to brawl than from 64 to melee so it's really not as bad as many people seem to make it.
Personally I think these people have good reason to feel this way. I mean from Sakurai's comments about going overboard on the game it seems like there would be more than 35 characters. And for all the hype of the game and the statements about how it is the fans' game and it may be the last. People just expected a lot. It's not really their fault for expecting so much. It's just the way the game was presented. Things like the dojo really helped get our hopes up about the game, making us think it would be extremely great. Most games don't have a dojo, they don't get updates about the game. The hype for the game was huge which is probably why people feel betrayed when the roster is not just as huge.
The second thing that people seem most disappointed in is the distribution of the characters. This is personally why I am disappointed, as I am fine with 35 characters, just not the 35 characters we have. I feel that the number of characters in smash from each franchise should be based on their popularity which is definitely not the case with this roster. I'll start by going through each franchise starting with the Mario franchise.
The Mario franchise lost one character. Though he was a clone, this puts the Mario franchise down to the same number of characters as Zelda (less if you count Sheik). Now I love Zelda as much as the next guy, but Mario is much more popular and well known. Mario is the most well known videogame franchise period, I just don't see why they would lose a character.
I don't really see a problem with the Zelda franchise, unless Ganondorf is a clone. Pokemon seems fine to me as well, as does the Kirby Franchise. (Note I am going in order of number of playable characters)
Now the one franchise I have a big problem with is Star Fox. Star Fox only has five games, none of which have been that popular, and none of which have been known as good games since 64. And yet they have 3 characters. 3 characters that will most likely be similar to each other. They leave out the much more unique Krystal. Although I don't really like Krystal I think she would be a better choice for Brawl. I don't understand why they gave Star Fox 3 characters when they left much more popular franchises such as Metroid with 1 and Donkey Kong with 2. I understood in melee why Star Fox got an extra rep while Metroid stayed the same, because Falco would be an easy clone. But now with Brawl which is supposedly not rushed they give Star Fox 3 characters still leaving Samus alone. I just don't understand that. Espescially when Star Fox games have been on the decline and other games such as Metroid have had a Resurrection or are growing in popularity greatly like Fire Emblem.
I am fine with the Kirby series characters, and for the most part the DK series characters although I believe that DK deserves a third character more than Star Fox. I don't really have that much of a problem with the FE series except that I think that they deserve another character much more than Star Fox. I think Mother doesn't really deserve a second character but I'm not sure how popular it is in Japan so I can't really pass judgment on that. I have no problem with all of the franchises with 1 character except the Metroid Series.
I'll just say it now. The Metroid series deserves another character. It is one of the most popular Nintendo series and it recently has had a resurrection in the Prime games around the world. Yet instead of getting a Metroid character we have three characters from Star Fox. This just aggravates me because Star Fox is not anywhere near as popular as Metroid and its games are on the decline. And for those who say there are no characters from Metroid who could be in Brawl. Ridley would be a great character in Brawl. He's unique, he's a villain, and he wouldn't be that hard to make a moveset for. And don't tell me he's too big or too awkard. Bowser is huge in many of the Mario games usually ranging from 3 times Mario's size to about 10 times Mario's size in his 3D games. And the awkwardness of a character has little to do with his appearance in his games. It is more to do with the moveset and movement given to the character. Metroid just deserves a character so much more than Star Fox.
I forgot to mention the last character I have a problem with. This character would be the infamous R.O.B. Now I know Sakurai likes WTF characters but seriously... R.O.B.? He's a robot that stacks things... and very few people know who he is. I'm not even sure if most the people who have been around as long as he has know who he is. Now many people would say that this is similar to Game and Watch and Ice Climbers, but there is one big difference. Game and Watch and Ice Climbers are characters. They have flavor and personality. They have backstory (sort of) and very interesting movesets. R.O.B. on the other hand is just a generic robot. He's not a character and he has no backstory. Now if R.O.B. was just an awesome looking character this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but he just isn't. He's not cool-looking, he's not cute, and he's not a character. So what does he have going for him? I just think that Sakurai could have made so many better choices.
Now, to end my character discussion I will say that I think that many of the character choices of Sakurai just seem illogical. Simply, who is he trying to appeal to with this roster? Only big Star Fox fans will cheer at the inclusion of both Falco and Wolf, and seriously there just aren't that many big Star Fox fans. The lack of Ridley seems to be making many people mad already, and well... not very many people at all like R.O.B. Many times Sakurai has implied that he is going for the casual audience in this game. But if this is true, why not give us more popular characters? Why put R.O.B. in who casual players are sure not to know and are most likely not going to like. I mean I personally am not a casual player, but I know more than a few, and when I play with them, they play with the characters they like and recognize or think are cool. And seriously, I don't think very many people think R.O.B. is cool.
To end my negative viewpoint of this roster I will say this. Many people have said that we should be thankful for all the other things that have been put into Brawl. But I'm sure most of the people on these boards would sacrifice Target Smash, Multi-Man Brawl, Home-run Contest, all the extra music, and the Subspace emissary for a larger roster. Because in its essence Brawl is a multiplayer game in which people play as popular characters from Nintendo. Whether you look at it like a party game or a competitive fighter, the main drive of this game is it's multiplayer.
This is why I believe that many people are disappointed in the roster. It is at least why I feel that way.
In my next thread I will attempt to refute myself through some of the arguments in defense of the roster.