Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[fogbadge]

All the talk from the previous page made me wonder

Imagine that we get a new Mario newcomers and turns out to be a surprise pick. Not Waluigi, Toad, Paper Mario, Geno


Toadette and Toadette alone


How would you react with her getting in over other popular picks?

toadette is equal to toad as my most wanted so ecstatic

 

[Oracle Link]

Never!

DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

... I didnt mean your post?
I just retracted a statement?

I just tried to explain myself regarding my opinion on the purple guy (Not from FNAF but from MArio)
and i couldnt find the right words?

 

[Nabbitfan730]

Sakurai's GDC slides was the following: "It's important to have something only that character can do."

Probably explains why Shadow nor Metal haven't it onto the roster despite being obvious choices

All the talk from the previous page made me wonder

Imagine that we get a new Mario newcomers and turns out to be a surprise pick. Not Waluigi, Toad, Paper Mario, Geno

Toadette and Toadette alone

How would you react with her getting in over other popular picks?

Better than Toad but not saying much honestly. If you want to surprise i would chose Nabbit, Fawful, Vivan or E.Gadd instead. Much more effective

 

[Gengar84]

... I didnt mean your post?
I just retracted a statement?

I just tried to explain myself regarding my opinion on the purple guy (Not from FNAF but from MArio)
and i couldnt find the right words?

I could be wrong but I think they were both just joking with those responses. I think they knew you weren’t referring to them and were just messing with you. Thats how I took it anyways.

On another note, related to Toad, is this canon or just a cartoon thing?

Is the mushroom actually a hat or just part of his head? I’ve never seen it used like this in the actual games. They could always reference the cartoon for some of the moveset inspiration. They already used Advent Children as inspiration for one of Cloud’s outfits and Final Smashes as well as Sephiroth’s reveal trailer.

 

[ScrubReborn]

On another note, related to Toad, is this canon or just a cartoon thing?

IDK, but either way Toad should put that ****ing thing back on

 

[chocolatejr9]

I could be wrong but I think they were both just joking with those responses. I think they knew you weren’t referring to them and were just messing with you. Thats how I took it anyways.

On another note, related to Toad, is this canon or just a cartoon thing?

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Is the mushroom actually a hat or just part of his head? I’ve never seen it used like this in the actual games. They could always reference the cartoon for some of the moveset inspiration. They already used Advent Children as inspiration for one of Cloud’s outfits and Final Smashes as well as Sephiroth’s reveal trailer.

I think it was confirmed during Odyssey's release that that's his head.

 

[Laniv]

All the talk from the previous page made me wonder

Imagine that we get a new Mario newcomers and turns out to be a surprise pick. Not Waluigi, Toad, Paper Mario, Geno


Toadette and Toadette alone


How would you react with her getting in over other popular picks?

Hey, a Toad is a Toad, I'm game! As long as she's normal and doesn't have a comeback mechanic stapled on for the sake of uniqueness, let's do it!

The internet will laugh at my fanbase for another five to ten years. I’ve already had to deal with six years of “A ****ING PLANT” ****posts.

Five more years of Waluigi and Geno discourse? Dear Lord...

 

[Garteam]

All the talk from the previous page made me wonder

Imagine that we get a new Mario newcomers and turns out to be a surprise pick. Not Waluigi, Toad, Paper Mario, Geno


Toadette and Toadette alone


How would you react with her getting in over other popular picks?

Toadette would be fun, but not including Waluigi or Geno would really suck and harm the next Smash.

Whether or not the new Smash will be a major success is contingent upon convincing both hardcore and general consumers that the added content makes up for content lost in the transition from Ultimate. I don't think now is a great time to intentionally neglect big fan favourites in favour of what Nintendo's CMO would prefer the roster to look like.

 

[Gengar84]

I’m curious how much Smashboards really reflects the general opinions of the Smash fanbase at large. Are there some characters that are heavily speculated here that may not translate to the wider gaming audience? Conversely, I wonder how many characters would really appeal to more casual Smash fans that we overlook here?

 

[Oracle Link]

Probably explains why Shadow nor Metal haven't it onto the roster despite being obvious choices




Better than Toad but not saying much honestly. If you want to surprise i would chose Nabbit, Fawful, Vivan or E.Gadd instead. Much more effective

Speaking of shadow mario!
Its really weird how shadow link isnt a unique character but dark pit and samus are eventho they are much newer!

I guess its because of The young links! I mean it would be dumb to only have a shadow Adult Link Right? I mean you want a shadow link to be paired with each unique link right?

 

[Gengar84]

Speaking of shadow mario!
Its really weird how shadow link isnt a unique character but dark pit and samus are eventho they are much newer!

I guess its because of The young links! I mean it would be dumb to only have a shadow Adult Link Right? I mean you want a shadow link to be paired with each unique link right?

My guess is that, in addition to already having multiple Links, Dark Link didn’t play nearly as big a role in the games as either Dark Pit or Dark Samus. Both Dark Pit and Dark Samus were very important characters in their game’s stories where Dark Link was just a single mid stage boss fight. I could be wrong but that’s what I’m thinking at least. I feel like he works well as a costume like he currently is. Although, they could make his voice silent for the costume. That could probably help in actually making him stand out.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I still think Black Shadow would be an excellent Echo for Captain Falcon.

I kinda want them to make that blood falcon costume one of those alt skins where the announcer says the actual name of the character, just so F zero technically has two characters in smash.

 

[Will]

Speaking of shadow mario!
Its really weird how shadow link isnt a unique character but dark pit and samus are eventho they are much newer!

I guess its because of The young links! I mean it would be dumb to only have a shadow Adult Link Right? I mean you want a shadow link to be paired with each unique link right?

Dark Samus and Dark Pit both have important roles in their series and have distinct characteristics/tools that separate them from their progenitors.

Dark Link is a boss that doesn’t speak, and is usually a magic spell with the intentions of testing Link’s skills.

 

[CrusherMania1592]

I kinda want them to make that blood falcon costume one of those alt skins where the announcer says the actual name of the character, just so F zero technically has two characters in smash.

Similar to how Olimar and Alph. That's actually not a bad idea when you bring it up

Toadette would be fun, but not including Waluigi or Geno would really suck and harm the next Smash.

Whether or not the new Smash will be a major success is contingent upon convincing both hardcore and general consumers that the added content makes up for content lost in the transition from Ultimate. I don't think now is a great time to intentionally neglect big fan favourites in favour of what Nintendo's CMO would prefer the roster to look like.

We know there's gonna be rage the second it does happen.

If Waluigi isn't in the game but makes the first DLC, I can expect alot of crotch chops to happen

 

[Gengar84]

Similar to how Olimar and Alph. That's actually not a bad idea when you bring it up

We know there's gonna be rage the second it does happen.

If Waluigi isn't in the game but makes the first DLC, I can expect alot of crotch chops to happen

lol I still can’t believe they actually made Waluigi do the DX crotch chops in that game. Degeneration-X isn’t really something I’d have ever associated with Mario or Nintendo.

 

[Louie G.]

I’m curious how much Smashboards really reflects the general opinions of the Smash fanbase at large. Are there some characters that are heavily speculated here that may not translate to the wider gaming audience? Conversely, I wonder how many characters would really appeal to more casual Smash fans that we overlook here?

Well we can look at past precedent I think. Hardcore fans have more specific tastes that may include characters the genpop doesn’t care much about - but those people are also willing to look past it and just enjoy a character on their own merit.

Plenty of less prevalent or less known characters become fan favorites. Recently K. Rool is a character mostly sought after by hardcore fans and nostalgic adults easily adopted by a younger or more casual demographic because of his appeal and freshness. It’s not hard to imagine someone like Isaac or Geno being the same way.

I think we cover most characters that would appeal to a casual audience, to varying degrees of severity. We’re right on the money to consider Waluigi a part of this, as well as any selection of Mario characters. Animal Crossing and Zelda characters would also have strong appeal for different reasons. I’d wager an addition like Skull Kid would have a surprising amount of reach into this demographic, particularly toward nostalgic millenials.

 

[Gengar84]

Well we can look at past precedent I think. Hardcore fans have more specific tastes that may include characters the genpop doesn’t care much about - but those people are also willing to look past it and just enjoy a character on their own merit.

Plenty of less prevalent or less known characters become fan favorites. Recently K. Rool is a character mostly sought after by hardcore fans and nostalgic adults easily adopted by a younger or more casual demographic because of his appeal and freshness. It’s not hard to imagine someone like Isaac or Geno being the same way.

I think we cover most characters that would appeal to a casual audience, to varying degrees of severity. We’re right on the money to consider Waluigi a part of this, as well as any selection of Mario characters. Animal Crossing and Zelda characters would also have strong appeal for different reasons. I’d wager an addition like Skull Kid would have a surprising amount of reach into this demographic, particularly toward nostalgic millenials.

Oh yeah, totally. I love that Smash can bring attention to smaller characters and franchises and really helps to grow the fanbase of those characters. I appreciate that Smash is willing to revisit older characters like K. Rool that haven’t really seen any attention in a long time. I just feel like we may sometimes focus too narrowly on a select few characters and could be overlooking others who would seem obvious in hindsight.

 

[fogbadge]

Speaking of shadow mario!
Its really weird how shadow link isnt a unique character but dark pit and samus are eventho they are much newer!

that's because they're unique characters where as shadow link is just a series of endless clones

 

[CrusherMania1592]

lol I still can’t believe they actually made Waluigi do the DX crotch chops in that game. Degeneration-X isn’t really something I’d have ever associated with Mario or Nintendo.

And now we will introduce the newest member of D-Generation X. And his name is...


Smash Bros Announcement theme plays

DX theme plays

Waluigi comes out with the crotch chop


It's Wa-Wa-Wa-Waluigi Time!!!!

Greatest way to introduce Waluigi to the series followed by his moveset and signature moves​

 

[Garteam]

I’m curious how much Smashboards really reflects the general opinions of the Smash fanbase at large. Are there some characters that are heavily speculated here that may not translate to the wider gaming audience? Conversely, I wonder how many characters would really appeal to more casual Smash fans that we overlook here?

Issac is probably the most prominent Smash candidate that most casual fans wouldn't recognize simply due to coming from a series of handheld RPGs that haven't seen a new release in 15 years, but Golden Sun finally being on NSO will mitigate this. Geno would be more obscure than Issac if not for the Mario RPG Remake introducing him a new audience and his long-time demand keeping him somewhat in the public conversation.

In terms of characters that would appeal to mainstream audience but are largely overlooked: Jonesy. A lot of people would be pissed, but Fortnite is the video game for a silent but massive collation of people if player numbers are anything to go by. Honourable mentions to a GTA character and the Tarnished for similar reasons (although these choices would piss far fewer people off).

Generally though, I think the thread is pretty good at gauging how popular a potential character pick will be and which audiences will get the most of a given character. I don't usually find myself thinking that people are overplaying the reception that an idea will get.

 

[ScrubReborn]

Speaking of shadow mario!
Its really weird how shadow link isnt a unique character but dark pit and samus are eventho they are much newer!

I'm not sure he warrants a unique spot, even as an echo with his role being as limited as it is. He's literally just a Link duplicate with no real differences in ability or personality to justify even new taunts/attack properites.

However, I have always been of the firm belief that Dark Link should become like Alph/The Koopalings and get his own announcer call and name, complete with his voice being removed. It's literally free, come on.

I kinda want them to make that blood falcon costume one of those alt skins where the announcer says the actual name of the character, just so F zero technically has two characters in smash.

This was another alt idea I had for the longest time. Personally though, I think they should just make him a straight up echo now, different enough personality to justify it. Probably won't happen without a new F-Zero game tho

 

[Freduardo]

I'm not sure he warrants a unique spot, even as an echo with his role being as limited as it is. He's literally just a Link duplicate with no real differences to justify even new taunts/attack properites.

However, I have always been of the firm belief that Dark Link should become like Alph/The Koopalings and get his own announcer call and name, complete with his voice being removed. It's literally free, come on.



This was another alt idea I had for the longest time. Personally though, I think they should just make him a straight up echo now, different enough personality to justify it. Probably won't happen without a new F-Zero game tho

He could have his sound effects bank use the more common shadow link voice (found in four sword adventures and similar games) instead of still sounding like Link.

But agreed, that still would be best for an Alph/Koopaling situation.

Also agree on Blood Falcon either as an alt or echo.

 

[fogbadge]

That would make link the first character to have a mook for an alt

 

[Gengar84]

I don’t play Fortnite but I don’t really understand the hatred for the game or Jonesy as a character. My only real complaint is that he has kind of a boring visual design. I’ve seen other Fortnite characters that look much more visually interesting. They did a great job on the TMNT character designs too. Mechanically, I think he could be interesting as a combination of a gunner and a builder. Definitely not my first choice of characters but I’d be willing to give him a shot.

 

[fogbadge]

I don’t play Fortnite but I don’t really understand the hatred for the game or Jonesy as a character. My only real complaint is that he has kind of a boring visual design. I’ve seen other Fortnite characters that look much more visually interesting. They did a great job on the TMNT character designs too. Mechanically, I think he could be interesting as a combination of a gunner and a builder. Definitely not my first choice of characters but I’d be willing to give him a shot.

well I’m not 100% sure but I think people blame the game for the surge of live service games in recent years

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

That would make link the first character to have a mook for an alt

What are Zombie and Enderman then?

 

[BritishGuy54]

I’m curious how much Smashboards really reflects the general opinions of the Smash fanbase at large. Are there some characters that are heavily speculated here that may not translate to the wider gaming audience? Conversely, I wonder how many characters would really appeal to more casual Smash fans that we overlook here?

From what I’ve seen, the Smash fanbase is divided at large on whether to expand even more with more third parties, or size down and become more like Smash 4 with more general Nintendo picks.

Basically, it’s complicated. There are people who would rather have more Nintendo picks, or more third party picks. More recent additions, or more legacy characters.

 

[HyperSomari64]

What are Zombie and Enderman then?

A miserable pile of secrets!

 

[fogbadge]

What are Zombie and Enderman then?

I’ve no idea I’ve never played Minecraft

 

[Gengar84]

From what I’ve seen, the Smash fanbase is divided at large on whether to expand even more with more third parties, or size down and become more like Smash 4 with more general Nintendo picks.

Basically, it’s complicated. There are people who would rather have more Nintendo picks, or more third party picks. More recent additions, or more legacy characters.

That’s probably a good thing. I think it’s great that we have such varied opinions and most of us here are pretty open. I tend to lean towards third party and legacy characters at this point since a lot of my favorite first party characters that actually have a chance are already in. Nintendo is my favorite gaming company but there’s a ton of third party characters I’d still love to see.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I don’t play Fortnite but I don’t really understand the hatred for the game or Jonesy as a character. My only real complaint is that he has kind of a boring visual design. I’ve seen other Fortnite characters that look much more visually interesting. They did a great job on the TMNT character designs too. Mechanically, I think he could be interesting as a combination of a gunner and a builder. Definitely not my first choice of characters but I’d be willing to give him a shot.

Well they could always just use Peely, both he and Jonesy share mascot priviliges.

And he's a sentient bananna

 

[fogbadge]

Well they could always just use Peely, both he and Jonesy share mascot priviliges.

And he's a sentient bananna

And then he gets eaten by DK

 

[Guynamednelson]

His whole inclusion screams "last minute". His character model is ported from Robin's Final Smash, which, speaking of, he's still part of... his facial expressions are kinda weird and his unique animations look kinda rushed. He also had the wrong victory theme at launch lol.

Chrom feels like Schrodinger's Last Minute Addition if anything. There's the stuff you mentioned, but at the same time he has a unique FS, all of Roy's animations save ones directly ported from Marth were changed for him, and he's got more intentional gameplay differences than his own daughter. Even his Soaring Slash isn't a copypaste of Ike's Aether, Ike throws his sword up while Chrom never lets go of it.

His jab I will admit is awkward, they wanted to make him do a forward grip for his animations, but that...was definitely made to be used in reverse grip.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

And then he gets eaten by DK

He always dies in trailers as a running gag so that could be his reveal trailer.

 

[Louie G.]

I don’t play Fortnite but I don’t really understand the hatred for the game or Jonesy as a character. My only real complaint is that he has kind of a boring visual design. I’ve seen other Fortnite characters that look much more visually interesting. They did a great job on the TMNT character designs too. Mechanically, I think he could be interesting as a combination of a gunner and a builder. Definitely not my first choice of characters but I’d be willing to give him a shot.

Hatred toward Fortnite and Jonesy comes from a similar place to Minecraft and Steve. I'm not saying it's a 1:1 case, surely the live service model of Fortnite makes it a bit more complicated, but so much of that stigma just comes from it being the hot new thing and fear from older fans that a trendy game popular with younger people will taint Smash with cringe.

I have no inherent issue with Jonesy on paper, personally. Fortnite has been around long enough, and has been consistently popular enough, by now to justify it as more than a simple trend. I'm just not that compelled by its potential for content. There are more interesting shooter character options, we have a character who is able to build platforms already, and Fortnite's visual identity is not very strong. So I worry this would make him feel a bit more obligatory than inspired. But Fortnite does have a lot of quirkiness to it - silly costumes, dances etc that I could see being implemented in more dynamic ways. Personally, I'd rather one of those goofy skins like Fishstick or Peely be made playable first.

I don't want to count it out entirely, but Fortnite just doesn't seem like a game made to cross over with other things, rather it's built to be the perfect vessel for crossovers itself. It feels almost deliberately basic in design so you can have all these clashing styles and characters come together in a believable way. Smash is similarly flexible, although I'm just referring to how Joker, Steve, Banjo, Terry etc all have much more distinct individual styles to represent than Jonesy / Fortnite rep does. It's a real valid possibility but one that I'm going to have to be convinced by. I can think of several ways I'd be happy with it but I'm uncertain if it's the way they would like to represent it.

 

[Opossum]

Chrom feels like Schrodinger's Last Minute Addition if anything. There's the stuff you mentioned, but at the same time he has a unique FS, all of Roy's animations save ones directly ported from Marth were changed for him, and he's got more intentional gameplay differences than his own daughter. Even his Soaring Slash isn't a copypaste of Ike's Aether, Ike throws his sword up while Chrom never lets go of it.

His jab I will admit is awkward, they wanted to make him do a forward grip for his animations, but that...was definitely made to be used in reverse grip.

Honestly the funniest part about Chrom's awkward Jab is that it was retroactively made canon in Engage lmao.

 

[fogbadge]

Honestly the funniest part about Chrom's awkward Jab is that it was retroactively made canon in Engage lmao.
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on the one hand I want to point out a technicallity on the other I don’t want to risk getting into a debate over FE canon

 

[DarthEnderX]

I could be wrong but I think they were both just joking with those responses.

Ya.

On another note, related to Toad, is this canon or just a cartoon thing?

No. The mushroom is their head.

That's why all the Toads in Odyssey wear hats on top of their mushrooms. Because otherwise you could Cappy them.

I’ve no idea I’ve never played Minecraft

They're mooks.

 

[Sucumbio]

From @/officialDannyT

What's your favorite video game of all time? Mine... @/AnimalCrossing: New Horizons! #NationalVideoGameDay

F. Okaaay if it's HIS favorite game I at least gotta try it before deciding if I truly truly don't like it.

I did not know about national favorite game day but I think every weekday of the year is a national celebration somewhere these days and that's cool. My favorite game of all time .... ... .. . Resident Evil for the Sony PlayStation.

 

[Gengar84]

From @/officialDannyT

What's your favorite video game of all time? Mine... @/AnimalCrossing: New Horizons! #NationalVideoGameDay
View attachment 392101

F. Okaaay if it's HIS favorite game I at least gotta try it before deciding if I truly truly don't like it.

I did not know about national favorite game day but I think every weekday of the year is a national celebration somewhere these days and that's cool. My favorite game of all time .... ... .. . Resident Evil for the Sony PlayStation.

There’s a lot of games I really like but if I had to narrow it down to just a single game, I’ll go with Final Fantasy IX. It’s not perfect and the combat can be a bit slow but I think it had such a charming atmosphere and a really good story with enjoyable characters. I also like how every character feels so mechanically unique after VII and VIII.