Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[SharkLord]

Nothing better than the time-honored tradition of "it looks kinda like the smash logo innit" fueling speculation.

Smash fans watching Ultraman (He makes a plus sign with his hands and his company is affiliated with Bandai-Namco)

 

[RileyXY1]

Yeah, this is the most worrying thing about the Kadokawa acquisition for me. Kadokawa owns a huge amount of popular light novels like Re:Zero, Konosuba, Overlord and Classroom of the Elite. Not to mention they own Doga Kobo, the anime studio who did Oshi no Ko. In fact, the amount of anime they've produced or own the source material from is staggering:

Kadokawa - Companies - MyAnimeList.net

Trying to find anime produced by Kadokawa? Discover anime by Kadokawa on MyAnimeList, the largest online anime and manga database in the world!

myanimelist.net

To add to this, Sony already owns Crunchyroll, Funimation and Aniplex. Buying Kadokawa would turn the anime industry into a near-monopoly.

Yeah. That's just the scariest thing about this acquisition. Buying out Spike Chunsoft and FromSoftware is nothing compared to the near-monopoly Sony would have on the anime industry.

 

[Ivander]

Is a remake of Star Fox Adventures an option?

I mean, it is. Though I think a good number of people probably want a new game more than a remake, even if the remake isn't Star Fox 64 again. The main reason I suggested Star Fox 2's setting and whatnot was because Star Fox 2 never got a proper release.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

So on the topic of smaller IPs, something I'm a bit curious about in regards to Star Fox.
After Star Fox Zero, two things had happened for the series. One was the Star Fox crossover with the Ubisoft game Starlink. The other was the shocking appearance of the cancelled Star Fox 2 on the SNES Classic, which would also later come to the SNES NSO. And to people's surprise, while it had early Star Fox 64 elements, gameplay-wise, it had alot of ambitious elements that wouldn't be tried until Star Fox Command and Zero, from being being more of a space shooter with RTS elements, having multiple and choosable playable characters for the main story mode(Star Fox Zero had different playable characters, but only during certain missions), originally having the Walker before SFZ and even perma-death in regards to the pilot you control.

So fans of Star Fox, aside from the usual "Don't be another Star Fox 64":

• Would you like a new game to try another take on Star Fox 2 and Star Fox Command's RTS/Space-shooter hybrid gameplay? Maybe with a more streamlined story compared to what Command tried to do with it's different timeline paths and whatnot? Like sure, the characters could still interact with each other if they team-up and fight alongside each other and different pilots have different dialogues with the different bounty hunters like Wolf, Pigma, Leon, whatnot, but it's more for background flavor, character development and whatnot while the game still has a more straightfoward ending(although maybe with the option of adding some extra flavor, like when Fox goes to face Andross himself, the other pilot you teamed him up with will force their way to help Fox fight against Andross, and then after beating Andross, Andross tries to take out both, but James comes to save both, with a different interaction/dialogue depending on who went with Fox. Peppy would probably have the most heartfelt dialogue seeing James again).
• Or do you think a new Star Fox game could try to do some more newer things than just simply a steamlined Space-shooter? Maybe another attempt at Star Fox Assault or maybe their own more Open-world take similar to Starlink? Do you think there's anything from Starlink that a new Star Fox game could try doing and expanding upon?
• Do you want Miyu and Fay to appear in a new game? Like sure, Star Fox fans wanting something new than just the old Star Fox formula will probably say yes to any new characters that aren't just the 64 Cast. But after Star Fox 2's release, do you think Miyu and Fay should appear properly in a new Star Fox game?

I think Starlink is a solid base for Star Fox title, but it needs expanded on and given a better gameplay loop than just doing the planetary scans and repeated hierarchy of enemy types. If the core of the game was open world, but there were select on rail sections (not unlike BotW's shrines) then at that point you can effectively balance out the sense of non-linear exploration and focused level design that good Star Fox titles excel at. One could even incorporate a rewards system with it via finding missions/jobs in the wild that get you money, which you use to improve your Arwings, which in turn gets you better results when doing the on-rails bits.

I think one could even pull off good depth with the choice in Arwing pilots to accompany you. Make it a big cast (at least seven selections of Fox, Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Miyu, Fay, & Krystal) and create a system of plus and minus elements with them. Certain ones will be better for particular missions, while others might be ideal for staying at the Great Fox and defending it from enemy attacks. Lots of potential if done right.

 

[fogbadge]

I mean, it is. Though I think a good number of people probably want a new game more than a remake, even if the remake isn't Star Fox 64 again. The main reason I suggested Star Fox 2's setting and whatnot was because Star Fox 2 never got a proper release.

Well I wouldn’t say no to a new game either

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Or do you think a new Star Fox game could try to do some more newer things than just simply a steamlined Space-shooter? Maybe another attempt at Star Fox Assault or maybe their own more Open-world take similar to Starlink? Do you think there's anything from Starlink that a new Star Fox game could try doing and expanding upon?

This is where I think Star Fox should go.

Keeping the franchise as an on rail shooter doesn't seem to be worth it in today's day and age. It's a lot of work for comparatively little playtime. Today's consumers want bigger games (or at least super ambitious games). Games that go on for a couple hours, even if they're REALLY good, get lambasted all the time.

Alternatively, you could make the longest on rail shooter ever made and that could be fun, but I don't think that's doable with a modest budget.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Smash fans when their pizza is cut into four slices

You know what this means? Zero is the one to blame!

Zero confirmed.

 

[Gengar84]

I had a rough concept of a moveset for Bill Rizer a while ago based on weapon switching. There’s a few ways you could do this but I think the simplest way is to use a wheel like Shulk’s Monado arts.

Here’s a list of all Bill Rizer’s guns in Contra III. These could serve as the basis of his moveset as each has its own unique function for his weak attacks.

Machine Gun - Bill's default gun. This has great speed and range but causes no knockback. This is very similar to Fox's laser
Crush Gun - A powerful missile launcher with a shorter range and large end lag. Similar to Samus' smash forward special
Homing Gun - Weaker homing missiles that shoot a bit faster similar to Samus' weak forward special
Spread Gun - A gun similar to a shotgun that shoots in a wide range of five bullets per shot but can't travel as far horizontally
Laser Gun - A very powerful short range gun that shoots a laser beam
Fire Gun - A flamethrower that acts in much the same way as Bowser's fire breath. Very powerful gradual damage but poor range.

Weak Attacks

Neutral A - Similar to Mega Man's blaster, Bill shoots straight forward with whatever gun he has equipped

Forward Tilt - Again, like Mega Man's blaster, Bill shoots straight forward while walking forward

Up Tilt - Bill shoots his gun directly upwards. Bill can also shoot diagonally in a 45 degree angle by tilting the stick diagonally and can move while doing so.

Down Tilt - Bill lies down on the ground and shoots straight forward. He also has a diagonal tilt that he can use while moving

Running attack - Bill performs a shoulder tackle similar to Samus

Smash Attacks

Forward Smash - Bill slashes twice with his combat knife

Up Smash - Bill attacks with the end of his gun similar to Samus' counterattack in Samus Returns

Down Smash - Bill thrusts his combat knife downward

Special Attacks

Neutral Special - Hold this down to select the gun like Shulk’s Monado wheel, which affects all his tilts, jab, and aerials.

Up Special - Bill performs a spin jump and shoots his gun in all directions in a spiral. This is an attack from Contra III.

Forward Special - Bill rides his motorcycle similar to Wario. Unlike Wario, he can shoot his gun while riding it.

Down Special - Bill surrounds himself in a force field and reflects all projectiles similar to Fox's reflector.

Aerial Attacks

Like his ground tilts, Bill uses his equipped gun to shoot in up to 8 directions

Final Smash - Helio Bomb - This is a powerful, screen clearing bomb from Contra III. This is essentially a larger and more powerful Starfox Bomb.

 

[Borskaboska]

So on the topic of smaller IPs, something I'm a bit curious about in regards to Star Fox.
After Star Fox Zero, two things had happened for the series. One was the Star Fox crossover with the Ubisoft game Starlink. The other was the shocking appearance of the cancelled Star Fox 2 on the SNES Classic, which would also later come to the SNES NSO. And to people's surprise, while it had early Star Fox 64 elements, gameplay-wise, it had alot of ambitious elements that wouldn't be tried until Star Fox Command and Zero, from being being more of a space shooter with RTS elements, having multiple and choosable playable characters for the main story mode(Star Fox Zero had different playable characters, but only during certain missions), originally having the Walker before SFZ and even perma-death in regards to the pilot you control.

So fans of Star Fox, aside from the usual "Don't be another Star Fox 64":

• Would you like a new game to try another take on Star Fox 2 and Star Fox Command's RTS/Space-shooter hybrid gameplay? Maybe with a more streamlined story compared to what Command tried to do with it's different timeline paths and whatnot? Like sure, the characters could still interact with each other if they team-up and fight alongside each other and different pilots have different dialogues with the different bounty hunters like Wolf, Pigma, Leon, whatnot, but it's more for background flavor, character development and whatnot while the game still has a more straightfoward ending(although maybe with the option of adding some extra flavor, like when Fox goes to face Andross himself, the other pilot you teamed him up with will force their way to help Fox fight against Andross, and then after beating Andross, Andross tries to take out both, but James comes to save both, with a different interaction/dialogue depending on who went with Fox. Peppy would probably have the most heartfelt dialogue seeing James again).
• Or do you think a new Star Fox game could try to do some more newer things than just simply a steamlined Space-shooter? Maybe another attempt at Star Fox Assault or maybe their own more Open-world take similar to Starlink? Do you think there's anything from Starlink that a new Star Fox game could try doing and expanding upon?
• Do you want Miyu and Fay to appear in a new game? Like sure, Star Fox fans wanting something new than just the old Star Fox formula will probably say yes to any new characters that aren't just the 64 Cast. But after Star Fox 2's release, do you think Miyu and Fay should appear properly in a new Star Fox game?

While I think they should probably have a regular mainline entry first, I always thought the Starfox cast would make for a good fighting game roster. Pigma reminds me a lot of Rufus from SF5.

 

[SharkLord]

This is where I think Star Fox should go.

Keeping the franchise as an on rail shooter doesn't seem to be worth it in today's day and age. It's a lot of work for comparatively little playtime. Today's consumers want bigger games (or at least super ambitious games). Games that go on for a couple hours, even if they're REALLY good, get lambasted all the time.

Alternatively, you could make the longest on rail shooter ever made and that could be fun, but I don't think that's doable with a modest budget.

Regarding the length issue, there's also the fact that Nintendo games are almost always priced at $60-70, regardless of their length, so a lot of people feel ripped off if they'll only squeeze like eight hours out of that. Increased budget and inflation means games end up more expensive, but more expensive games are expected to have more meat on 'em to justify the costs. As such, games end up having to be longer to justify that price tag.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Honestly the 60 dollars / euros / pounds argument doesn't even make sense. Inflation happens world wide and games have a stable price. So in a way, we should be thankful. They drop prices quickly to, to about 50 at least. And then there are super deals and you name it.

Anyway, speaking of Star Fox. Yeah Starlink seems like a nice and doable goal for them to strive for. However I also hope they expand on the on foot missions, and make it similar to Assault and Adventures. Hopefully a healthy mix of both.

Star Fox is another series I feel is hugely neglected after Donkey Kong. Nintendo is seriously sleeping on these two brands and it's not a good look.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

This is where I think Star Fox should go.

Keeping the franchise as an on rail shooter doesn't seem to be worth it in today's day and age. It's a lot of work for comparatively little playtime. Today's consumers want bigger games (or at least super ambitious games). Games that go on for a couple hours, even if they're REALLY good, get lambasted all the time.

Alternatively, you could make the longest on rail shooter ever made and that could be fun, but I don't think that's doable with a modest budget.

Maybe they can have about half of the game be a aerial-based rail shooter, while the other half is a ground-based 3rd person shooter with various different weapons to choose from, unlock and upgrade. They can have a bigger focus on story/in-game dialogue, they can implement team based and free-for-all online multiplayer modes, and **** I’m just describing Kid Icarus Uprising.

 

[fogbadge]

Star Fox is another series I feel is hugely neglected after Donkey Kong. Nintendo is seriously sleeping on these two brands and it's not a good look.

Well Star Fox hasn't done as well as DK, it's last game did not go down well so maybe it's more odd for DK but it makes a sort of sense with SF. But I think nintendo will revive them one day

 

[Folezicle Lives!]

Nothing better than the time-honored tradition of "it looks kinda like the smash logo innit" fueling speculation.

I miss the days of analysing Sakurai's furniture

 

[Gengar84]

Does anyone have any items they really want to see in the next game? Assuming Dixie Kong gets in as a semiclone of Diddy and they aren’t built into her moveset, I’d love to see the Animal Buddy crates as an item. I think I’d go with Rambi. Squawks, Rattly, and Squitter as the rideable buddies you could get. I’d try to make the gameplay of riding them mirror how they play in DKC 2 as closely as possible. The buddies would disappear after either a set amount of time or taking a set amount of damage.

 

[fogbadge]

Does anyone have any items they really want to see in the next game? Assuming Dixie Kong gets in as a semiclone of Diddy and they aren’t built into her moveset, I’d love to see the Animal Buddy crates as an item. I think I’d go with Rambi. Squawks, Rattly, and Squitter as the rideable buddies you could get. I’d try to make the gameplay of riding them mirror how they play in DKC 2 as closely as possible. The buddies would disappear after either a set amount of time or taking a set amount of damage.

I always thought the splatbrella from splatoon would make a good item

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

 

[Gengar84]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

I’m expecting a new 3D Mario game like Odyssey at launch and a new Mario Kart sometime in the first year. I’m not sure if will be Odyssey 2 or a brand new thing. I’m thinking they’ll reveal Smash next year and release it some time the following year with steady updates and reveal trailers throughout. I feel like we’re overdue for a big Mario game at launch. It used to feel like such a huge event with the NES, SNES, and N64 getting a brand new Mario as the first game but things haven’t really lined up since then.

 

[Noipoi]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

New 3D Mario (please god), new Mario Kart, some kind of new IP that plays into the system’s gimmick like Wii Sports or ARMS, maybe a port of an older Zelda game like Wind Waker, and support from new og Switch games like Legends ZA, Metroid Prime 4, and perhaps the rumored Robobot HD.

 

[fogbadge]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

I would guess new Mario kart, possibly a new splatoon and maybe a new Kirby

 

[Ivander]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

3D Mario, Mario Kart, maybe Metroid Prime 4 if it does go cross-platform, possibly Fire Emblem and a game based and to showcase the system's features, like Wii Sports/NintendoLand/1-2-Switch.

 

[BuckleyTim]

I just hope we see a new IP like Arms or 1-2 Switch was, something that adds some spice to a more conventional lineup. I guess the playtest thing they did a month or two ago could count since the public wasn't meant to see that.

 

[RileyXY1]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

I'm concerned that Pokémon Gen 10 might be rushed out purely to capitalize on the Switch 2's launch.

 

[Opossum]

I'm concerned that Pokémon Gen 10 might be rushed out purely to capitalize on the Switch 2's launch.

I mean...there's literally no evidence toward this happening. Pokémon always takes a little while to come out on a new system.

 

[Noipoi]

I'm concerned that Pokémon Gen 10 might be rushed out purely to capitalize on the Switch 2's launch.

This probably isn’t happening.

At this rate we’ll get our first glimpse at ZA in February, on Pokemon Day. Seeing as how they still need a couple months to market the game before release it’ll probably come out around summer at the earliest, fall at the latest.

So while they’re focusing on the big new Legends game releasing somewhere between May-June-ish and November, they’re also supposed to reveal, market, and release the 10th generation titles? Without both games cannibalizing each other and making Gamefreak and TPC look even more disorganized than they already do?

Yeah, I don’t see it. Say what you will about PLA and Gen 9 dropping in the same year, at least Arceus was already out before they revealed S/V.

 

[BuckleyTim]

What the next switch needs is another collaboration between Koei Tecmo and Intelligent Systems. I am of course talking about WarioWarriors, the world's first character MicroAction game.

 

[DarthEnderX]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

Smash 6
Splatoon 4
Smash Karts

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

Yeah Smash 6 is very likely to be a launch title imo

 

[Kirbeh]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

Vulgus 2

 

[DarthEnderX]

Spoiler: My results

I have blind spots for horror games, life sims and 3D fighters.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

The only things I really expect outright are a new 3D Mario and a new Mario Kart, as well as potentially a new IP like Splatoon or ARMS have been the last couple of consoles. I could see Fire Emblem possibly happening, though as an Alear fan obviously I'd prefer it didn't for Smash reasons, and I could see a new Kirby game potentially but I have seen the rumors of a possible Robobot remaster, so if that's true it'll cut into that game lol

 

[HyperSomari64]

View attachment 396928

Spoiler: My results

View attachment 396929

I have blind spots for horror games, life sims and 3D fighters.

No Pac-Man or I have bad eye sight?

 

[Ivander]

Yeah Smash 6 is very likely to be a launch title imo

That heavily depends on if the game Sakurai is working on is another Smash Bros. Because it's become quite clear that they can't just release another one so casually after Smash Ultimate. It's not just that it's going to be very hard to follow-up from Ultimate, but Sakurai is the biggest reason why Smash Ultimate was as much of a success as it was and him not being involved with the next Smash Bros will absolutely impact it. Sakurai is easily the face of Smash Bros and probably up there with Miyamoto and Aonuma as one of the most recognizable faces for Nintendo fans.
Smash Bros. is not Call of Duty. Very far from it. The next Smash Bros. can't just be made so casually and nonchalantly. It needs a direction, it needs a plan, it needs finesse, it needs to be taken seriously and most importantly, it needs heart.

 

[Kirbeh]

View attachment 396928

Spoiler: My results

View attachment 396929

I have blind spots for horror games, life sims and 3D fighters.

How's this list supposed to work exactly? Is it randomized every time? Otherwise it seems pretty lacking itself. It does account for plenty of games I wouldn't expect the average person to have played (like Shadow Hearts) but there are still plenty of missing genres and other "big" games you could argue would make sense to include as well.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Smash Bros. is not Call of Duty. Very far from it. The next Smash Bros. can't just be made so casually and nonchalantly

Well neither is CoD, they don't crap out new CoDs in a one year dev cycle, they have alternating teams that each work on a new game for three years.

Except for MW3 2023 for some godawful reason.

 

[Stratos]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

New 3D Mario game
New The Legend of Zelda game
Pokémon Gen 10
New Metroid game
New Kirby game
Splatoon 4
Super Smash Bro. 6

 

[Ivander]

Well neither is CoD, they don't crap out new CoDs in a one year dev cycle, they have alternating teams that each work on a new game for three years.

That sounds worse when you put it like that. 3 teams working on CoD, each team's title releasing a year after one other and when one team is finished, they immediately go back to making a new CoD?

 

[The Prankster 16]

So what games do you expect to see in the Switch 2's launch year?

1st Year 2025
Switch:
DKCR HD, XBX DE, Prime 4, Legends ZA, Zelda WW HD, Robobot HD
Switch 2:
New 3D Mario, Mario Kart 9/10 (depends how Tour is counted), Splatoon 4, FE remake, New IP or ARMS 2, Tech demo game (more like Nintendo Land)

2nd Year 2026
Switch (End of Support for major 1st party releases):
Zelda TP HD, KI Uprising HD, F-Zero GX HD
Switch 2:
New Kirby Game, Switch Sports 2, New Mario Sports (Maybe Baseball), New Paper Mario, Smash 6, Pokemon Gen 10 (30th anniversary)

3rd Year 2027 (Less set in stone)
Zelda OOT Remastered, 2D Mario (Wonder 2?), New DK game (FINALLY), Luigi's Mansion 4, New Star Fox, New Monolisoft IP

 

[Noipoi]

Bro Smash is never a launch title where is this coming from?

Did I miss something? Is there a lore reason? Am I stupid?

 

[CannonStreak]

View attachment 396939

Bro Smash is never a launch title where is this coming from?

Did I miss something? Is there a lore reason? Am I stupid?

I was thinking the exact same things you said!

I mean, how is Smash going to be a launch title for the Switch 2, anyway? I mean, for all we know, it might just begin development not too long or before the Switch 2 is launched.