Just checked again in training mode, and outside of the start of the move (which automatically places a powered rail) it seems like one has to actively place the subsuquent powered rails if one wants to use them. If one does nothing the subsuquent rails act as normal.Power rails replace normal rails if you have gold and red stone until they run out. There is no special input, it's the same ol' side b.
Which gives him some needed mix-up potential IMHO, choosing when or if to place the subsuquent powered rails.
Remind me again, what was 's useless move in... ooooh you mean FLUDD back in Brawl?Oh yeah, uncharged Rollout. I think they made it better in the newer games, although still not good, but in the older games, it was just a cute animation.
I think one of the biggest aspects of design creep within the series is the amount of useless, or incredibly situational Special Moves. From 64, you've got (at least casually), , , , (though I wouldn't trade Falcon Punch for the world), & , Melee has , , &, Brawl has &, and only because they nerfed Mach Tornado into the ground, the fourth game has , but only without the K.O. Punch & , and this game pretty much just has . And this is all after the moves have been balanced and rebalanced.
With Special Moves being a lot of the newer characters's best moves, it's really weird seeing the characters with Special Moves that do basically nothing for you or are just way too slow or difficult to realistically hit someone with.
You need gold too? Huh. The presentation gave me the impression that he could use it fairly often. I guess that isn't the case.
Still, that's a valid overall point. I get the impression that many of the early Special Moves suffered because they were incredibly niche instead or incredibly limited. Yoshi's Egg Lay and Egg Roll are eggcellent (I regret nothing!) examples of that since the former has never really offered much reward for the risk (worst case scenario it can be directly punished by the egg-ed opponent), and the latter is limited by Yoshi's inability to jump and it being too straightforward (same with Rollout).
Contrast Egg Lay with 's Bite: Both work kinda similarily, but Bite heals Wario, he can swallow items (Yoshi can't with Egg Lay) and Bite also has much stronger knockback, which prevents the opponent from readily turning the tables. Bite's simply more versatile.
And contrast Egg Roll with 's Roller - sure, the Roller's straightforward, but it's also an offstage mixup and buries the opponent on hit. Not only is the Roller a bit more versatile, but also more rewarding on hit. Using Egg Roll offstage will likely lead to a self-destruct.
I'd argue that 's cannonballs can also count in that list (at least back in 4),
And yes, powered rails require gold. Must've been another post-presentation change, and not just to limit the rails (but also to give the gold more use).
Last edited: