Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[DarthEnderX]

You basic *****es just posting wants again?

 

[dezeray112]

I’ve got a fun little Smash “What if” scenario for you all.

What if Brawl got an updated rerelease on the Wii in 2010?

Sakurai mentioned that the Wii could not handle DLC in the way most fighting games would, at least not easily. So what if Sakurai and the team quickly made an updated rerelease in lieu of DLC? What would the roster for that look like? How would it affect future Smash games?

I’ll post my roster and thoughts later.

I'd probably expect several of the characters that missed out from Mewtwo, Roy, Dr. Mario and Pichu plus several new characters in which I would opt for Capcom's Megaman and Namco's Pac-Man with maybe perhaps bring in two further first party characters from the classic era (maybe Duck Hunt and another retro character like Mach Rider?)

 

[Sucumbio]

The only third party companies I was super confident getting into Ultimate were Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Tekken, Minecraft, and Crash Bandicoot.

Was Tekken cause of the Heihachi costume?

Doom Slayer for next Smash!

(I missed the Dragon Quest hype back then, what were the reasons DQ was predictable?)

 

[Gengar84]

You basic *****es just posting wants again?

View attachment 366332

Have Kunio and Riki ever been presented as 3D models? I’m really curious how their style would translate.

 

[SPEN18]

There is a lot to say, but all I'll say for now is

crud, they have so much work to do on this roster.

The first party pool is still so, so deep.

--

And, yeah, I'll also just caution against proclaiming "locks" when we know so little about the timeline and director for the next game.

 

[Gengar84]

There is a lot to say, but all I'll say for now is

crud, they have so much work to do on this roster.

The first party pool is still so, so deep.

--

And, yeah, I'll also just caution against proclaiming "locks" when we know so little about the timeline and director for the next game.

Yeah, I wouldn’t really call anyone a guarantee, even the Octolings. Things could get even more unpredictable if Sakurai steps down and lets another developer take over. Then everything we thought we knew would be turned on its head. Even if Sakurai stays on, he’s managed to surprise us with each game so I’ll never completely count anyone out or claim that any character is a lock.

 

[Nabbitfan730]

I'm more optimistic. With low long they've apparently been testing it behind closed doors, I bet the Switch 2 (or whatever it's called) gets announced at E3 and launches around November.

We might even see the next Smash game as soon as Holiday 2024. It'll have been a little more than three years after Ultimate wrapped up DLC, a few months longer than the gap from Smash 4's DLC to Ultimate's release.

We learned something related to that recently! One of Sakurai's videos showed the project plan for Ultimate had its final update in early November 2016, a couple weeks before Pokémon Sun and Moon hit shelves. While most newcomers are locked in early on, we know a few are given placeholder spots that are filled in later once their games are ready.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Smash 6's project plan was finalized...some time last week, shortly before the release of Fire Emblem Engage.

You might be too optimistic. Really should reel back those expectations. Nintendo did state multiple times that they want to the Switch to last as long as possible and Switch is still pulling big numbers with several titles still under their belt. Fastest selling system by far.

Wouldn't expect a successor to at least 2024/25 and it is crude to assume that Next Smash Game is in development, let alone directed by Sakurai so soon especially when he just announced that he had basically retired.

Forget for a hot sec about whether the next gen hardware will actually happen this year or next....I'll ask: do you all want it that soon, or are you content to ride out the current Switch for a while longer?

Nope, quite content to ride with Switch. Since 2018, never understood this compulsive need for Pro or Successor especially so soon. Switch isn't perfect but I knew what it was and my expectations were set and so far, it has been a good time. When you think about, for a handheld that is, it's quite impressive.

I want to bring up something that's been concerning to me. I think Ultimate DLC really messed with people's expectations when it comes to a new Smash. I've seen way too many 3rd party predictions compared to 1st party ones. There's only around 2-3 NEW 3rd parties each base game, and Ultimate's base game only had 1 unique one. There's a reason DLC has all these 3rd parties, and that's because that's what brings in the money for both parties, and it gives more time for negotiation and rights to be sorted out. What I've been seeing is less base game speculation, and more next DLC speculation, which is practically 4-5 years away at this point if even. I've seen people say that 1st parties aren't that exciting, and that there's not many to add left that "deserve" it, which is very untrue. It being "unexciting" didn't stop Nintendo from putting 1st parties as DLC as well...Smash 4 sold 1st party SEMICLONES as DLC. I just think people need to temper their expectations quite a lot, we will for sure get cool DLC, but that being the focus of current speculation doesn't rly make sense.

People need to reel back their expectations entirely. Too many especially in the Nintendo community always overhype themselves to the moon and then become extremely dissapointed. If i had a dollar each time it happened I would be finanically set for life.

There are people out there who still think that Next Smash game will be an Ultimate 2/Port with just more characters. Nuts.

 

[Gengar84]

There’s no guarantee that we’re even going to get another Smash game at all. Sure, the logical choice is to keep making them since they make a ton of money but Nintendo isn’t really known for always doing the most logical thing. Either way, it’s going to be a huge challenge to top what Ultimate offered so we’ll have to wait and see.

 

[PeridotGX]

Another thing that makes me hesitate to call anyone a lock is my... bad luck with prior guesses

Me during prerelease: Decidueye and Bandana Dee are locks! They're gonna happen!

Me during DLC 1: Dovahkiin and Arle are locks! They're going to happen!

Me during DLC 2: Waluigi and Papyrus are locks! They're going to happen!

While I have gotten a few wins (I'm still proud of nailing the Steve reveal to the day), it's not a very good w/l ratio and I think I'll hedge my bets for the time being.

 

[Gengar84]

Another thing that makes me hesitate to call anyone a lock is my... bad luck with prior guesses

Me during prerelease: Decidueye and Bandana Dee are locks! They're gonna happen!

Me during DLC 1: Dovahkiin and Arle are locks! They're going to happen!

Me during DLC 2: Waluigi and Papyrus are locks! They're going to happen!

While I have gotten a few wins (I'm still proud of nailing the Steve reveal to the day), it's not a very good w/l ratio and I think I'll hedge my bets for the time being.

There was one moment that I actually got myself hyped thinking that the Battletoads were coming, when Sakurai did this:

In my head, I was thinking of what famous video game trio we could possibly get based on the fact that he had three fingers out. Out of everything I could think of, the Battletoads seemed the most likely. In the end, it turned out that I was completely wrong and that gesture had nothing to do with the number 3. That was probably the most deflating reveal for me even though I really liked Three Houses. Minmin and Steve coming right after made me hesitant to buy the second pass at first (no offense to their fans. I was still happy for them). I’m usually pretty good about being realistic with the chances of my most wanted characters, which are pretty low for the most part.

 

[RealLuigisWearPink]

Add Donkey Kong Jr., to Smash, you cowards.

 

[Sucumbio]

Add Donkey Kong Jr., to Smash, you cowards.

Yes! I'm here for this.

About there even being another game... Yeah there's gonna be another game. The only fighting franchise I can think of that went as many iterations as Smash has and eventually died is Virtua Fighter. I could be wrong tho. But the point is that Smash isnt just a logical cash grab, it's a system seller and unless Sakurai dies before development starts he's going to play a role, even if it's only to give his blessings to a new director.

 

[SPEN18]

when Sakurai did this:

I think I was like, "Three Houses? That would be making it way too obvious..."

 

[Gengar84]

I think I was like, "Three Houses? That would be making it way too obvious..."

While that didn’t exactly pan out logically, you ended up being right about the end result, which is still cool. Not sure why my mind didn’t go straight to Three Houses. Wishful thinking I suppose.

 

[fogbadge]

While that didn’t exactly pan out logically, you ended up being right about the end result, which is still cool. Not sure why my mind didn’t go straight to Three Houses. Wishful thinking I suppose.

and most people would have dismissed it cause it's not called three houses in japan, its called seasons of warfare

 

[Gengar84]

and most people would have dismissed it cause it's not called three houses in japan, its called seasons of warfare

That probably would have given me even more false hope lol.

 

[chocolatejr9]

There was one moment that I actually got myself hyped thinking that the Battletoads were coming, when Sakurai did this:

View attachment 366343

In my head, I was thinking of what famous video game trio we could possibly get based on the fact that he had three fingers out. Out of everything I could think of, the Battletoads seemed the most likely. In the end, it turned out that I was completely wrong and that gesture had nothing to do with the number 3. That was probably the most deflating reveal for me even though I really liked Three Houses. Minmin and Steve coming right after made me hesitant to buy the second pass at first (no offense to their fans. I was still happy for them). I’m usually pretty good about being realistic with the chances of my most wanted characters, which are pretty low for the most part.

TBF, this was how we learned Sakurai was a master of 4D chess...

Add Donkey Kong Jr., to Smash, you cowards.

Can we get Pink Jr. too?

 

[Stratos]

Besides the Switch I don't see how they could make the next console, I mean what more would the next Nintendo console have than the Switch, because I kind of think the Switch is the ultimate console since it's both home and portable. Of course I'm not saying or writing that the Switch is Nintendo's last console.

 

[Nabbitfan730]

Man, this does not bode well at all. I will admit that Ubisoft has been heading for the bottom recently.

SOH and That Rayman DLC better ramp up attraction and starting selling gangbusters fast because this ain't looking good for Ray's chances in terms of Smash and His Presence in terms of Gaming in general. Might want to retract a bit my praise eariler. Got too over-zealous there.

Ubisoft says Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope underperformed https://t.co/g3I4j4Eioz pic.twitter.com/J0gZ3g7brS

— Nintendo Everything (@NinEverything) January 11, 2023

Ubisoft says it has cancelled three unannounced projects and will now focus on its “biggest brands”, following slower than expected sales, notably Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023.

— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) January 11, 2023

 

[Quillion]

Besides the Switch I don't see how they could make the next console, I mean what more would the next Nintendo console have than the Switch, because I kind of think the Switch is the ultimate console since it's both home and portable. Of course I'm not saying or writing that the Switch is Nintendo's last console.

Some way to make the next console dual-screen won't hurt. Then it'll have everything the Switch had plus the DS, 3DS, and Wii U.

 

[Wonder Smash]

There was one moment that I actually got myself hyped thinking that the Battletoads were coming, when Sakurai did this:

View attachment 366343

In my head, I was thinking of what famous video game trio we could possibly get based on the fact that he had three fingers out. Out of everything I could think of, the Battletoads seemed the most likely. In the end, it turned out that I was completely wrong and that gesture had nothing to do with the number 3. That was probably the most deflating reveal for me even though I really liked Three Houses. Minmin and Steve coming right after made me hesitant to buy the second pass at first (no offense to their fans. I was still happy for them). I’m usually pretty good about being realistic with the chances of my most wanted characters, which are pretty low for the most part.

Though I never speculated since it wasn't going to be long before the next character was going to be revealed anyway, I do remember there was a lot of people who were. There some thinking it was hinting to Crash Bandicoot because of the Trilogy (which had just came out on the Switch not that long ago), some who thought it meant Sora because of Kingdom Hearts III (this was, of course, long before he actually did become a playable character), and then there were others that thought about Three Houses. Probably more than that.

 

[Stratos]

Some way to make the next console dual-screen won't hurt. Then it'll have everything the Switch had plus the DS, 3DS, and Wii U.

Yes, that's right.

 

[SPEN18]

Some way to make the next console dual-screen won't hurt. Then it'll have everything the Switch had plus the DS, 3DS, and Wii U.

Now I'm just imagining my Switch with like a fold-down flap that houses the second screen, kind of like an upside-down DS.

Don't know how it'd work on the TV tho.

 

[Quillion]

Yes, that's right.

Now I'm just imagining my Switch with like a fold-down flap that houses the second screen, kind of like an upside-down DS.

Don't know how it'd work on the TV tho.

I'm thinking some kinds of peripherals would be better. Give it an attachment for handheld and a Wii U-like controller for docked.

It would make more "creative" functions like in Mario Maker more fun for docked at least, but it also won't be fully required either.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

How many other people here have a dream character that they think has absolutley no chance of making it in? I have quite a few but my number one is Zegram Ghart from Rogue Galaxy. His design is just so cool and he’s voiced by one of my favorite voice actors ever (Steve Blum). I love Rogue Galaxy and it actually translates really well mechanically to a Smash character but the IP is owned by Sony and made by Level 5 so the chances are about as close to zero for Smash as possible. It doesn’t help that Zegram isn’t even the main character.

I already mentioned mine.

Super Robot wars only started getting regularly released outside of Japan around 2015 or so. But its been a JRPG mainstay in Japan since it's first game on the Gameboy in 1991. It's mainly been locked to Japan because of the intense licensing issues that spawn from it being a crossover RPG with various Anime/game/manga/sometimes live action characters teaming up in the stories.

But BandaiNamco seems to be trying to get things going outside of Japan, with baby steps, first releasing spin offs like Project X Zone worldwide and then releasing SRW proper in some english speaking countries before finally releasing 30 in North America.

So hopefully someday the series can mark it's presence worldwide enough for a smash rep.


To show how many franchises have crossed over into SRW here's a picture where we see the roster from one of the games:

Some of the characters here might look familiar lol

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Man, this does not bode well at all. I will admit that Ubisoft has been heading for the bottom recently.

SOH and That Rayman DLC better ramp up attraction and starting selling gangbusters fast because this ain't looking good for Ray's chances in terms of Smash and His Presence in terms of Gaming in general. Might want to retract a bit my praise eariler. Got too over-zealous there.

Ubisoft says Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope underperformed https://t.co/g3I4j4Eioz pic.twitter.com/J0gZ3g7brS

— Nintendo Everything (@NinEverything) January 11, 2023

Ubisoft says it has cancelled three unannounced projects and will now focus on its “biggest brands”, following slower than expected sales, notably Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023.

— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) January 11, 2023

This is significant.

If Ubisoft is moving away from certain brands, then they likely won't have any drive to push them into Smash.

 

[MrMcNuts]

Man, this does not bode well at all. I will admit that Ubisoft has been heading for the bottom recently.

SOH and That Rayman DLC better ramp up attraction and starting selling gangbusters fast because this ain't looking good for Ray's chances in terms of Smash and His Presence in terms of Gaming in general. Might want to retract a bit my praise eariler. Got too over-zealous there.

Ubisoft says Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope underperformed https://t.co/g3I4j4Eioz pic.twitter.com/J0gZ3g7brS

— Nintendo Everything (@NinEverything) January 11, 2023

Ubisoft says it has cancelled three unannounced projects and will now focus on its “biggest brands”, following slower than expected sales, notably Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023.

— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) January 11, 2023

Game could still be a slow burner and catch up. Alot of people are waiting to get it cause they know it won't be long till it goes on sale.

And Rayman doesn't need a new game to get in smash. It helps a lot. But we've had cases like the Belmont's and banjo who've had no games, just crossovers and merch. Ubisoft is still pushing merch (Youtooz dropping this year and some merch on their site) and we have yet to see how the DLC in sparks of hope will do. I don't think he's down for the count in smash at all.

 

[Geno Boost]

Here is an item I want in the next smash game if returns

Minecraft Egg Spawner item

It could spawn:
-Pillager (follow someone and hits you with axe dealing massive damage)
-Stray (shoot arrow that makes someone slow)
-Witch (throw potion that could heal or poison or deal massive damage)
-Magma Cube (jump attack and multiply as you hit it)
-Creeper (follows someone and explode dealing massive damage)
-Cave Spider (follows someone and hit with poison effect)

It’s basically like pokeball and assist trophy but consist of Minecraft hostile mob with each egg being being different color depends on what it spawns but what makes this one different that hostile mobs are no one ally so basically even if you spawn it they can choose to hit you but you can still hit them and kill them.

This It doesn’t take too much development time as Minecraft animations and models are simple

 

[Dinoman96]

The only thing going for Rayman at this point is fan demand and ultimately, whatever he has probably just isn't enough to get him into Smash.

 

[MrMcNuts]

The only thing going for Rayman at this point is fan demand and ultimately, whatever he has probably just isn't enough to get him into Smash.

Beg to differ

He may have only gotten enough ballot support for a spirit, but he's consistently stayed among the top 10 requests in the west during ultimate's speculation cycle arguably becoming slightly more popular, with no sign of slowing down. Even if he's not number 1 we know several characters who got in from fan demand who definitely weren't close to number one as well such as dark Samus, chrom, or Belmonts. Some of these you could even say he was on par with in smash 4 or more requested than.

Combine that with his company having some close ties to Nintendo, and them allowing Ubisoft to put him in a Mario game (the game's director confirmed in an interview they had to ask Nintendo on what they could do and recieved lots of No's so a yes on that is pretty significant) he definitely has a fair shot

The most likely? No but definitely fair. His only hurdle really is his Japanese popularity, which could either change with sparks of hope, or eventually the smash team could change their stance (they've changed their stance on plenty of fan rules that use to be deemed unbreakable)

He missed the boat two games now, but there's plenty of fan demands that missed the boat for years that eventually got in by ultimate. The lad definitely has more merits than people give him credit for.

 

[RealLuigisWearPink]

Can we get Pink Jr. too?

I'll do you one better. Donkey Kong Jr. Math the stage, and if you get equations wrong you're instantly killed.

Think we can make a stage more hated than 75M?

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

The only thing going for Rayman at this point is fan demand and ultimately, whatever he has probably just isn't enough to get him into Smash.

I mean sure fan demand for Rayman is pretty damn good and somehow rising but the real kicker is that Rayman is now going to be IN a Mario game.

That’s a pretty solid gap that just got bridged.

 

[MrMcNuts]

I mean sure fan demand for Rayman is pretty damn good and somehow rising but the real kicker is that Rayman is now going to be IN a Mario game.

That’s a pretty solid gap that just got bridged.

I think a lot of people also overlook how significant that is. Here is the original quote from the game director:

The fact they received "tons of 'no'" but got a yes on Rayman is significant to me. They could have easily said "we'd rather you choose someone like Wario, Rosalina, or Bowser Jr." So it shows people at Nintendo see Rayman as a valuable addition to headline Mario DLC.

 

[Nabbitfan730]

Game could still be a slow burner and catch up. Alot of people are waiting to get it cause they know it won't be long till it goes on sale.

And Rayman doesn't need a new game to get in smash. It helps a lot. But we've had cases like the Belmont's and banjo who've had no games, just crossovers and merch. Ubisoft is still pushing merch (Youtooz dropping this year and some merch on their site) and we have yet to see how the DLC in sparks of hope will do. I don't think he's down for the count in smash at all.

Fair, Rayman doesn't necessarily need a new game to get in. Most characters have gotten in without having a game in years but the tweet referring to brands and franchises. Ubisoft wanting to smaller-scale franchises which unfortunately considers Rayman does weaken especially when comes to representation.

This is significant.

If Ubisoft is moving away from certain brands, then they likely won't have any drive to push them into Smash.

My thoughts exactly. Smash is may be seen as "celebration of gaming" but also great marketing tool for many companies as we saw for the FP with Hero, Byleth, Sephiroth etc. If that tweet holds water and Ubisoft want to cut back in favor of bigger leagues, i could see them passing off Rayman to instead advertise their bigger franchise like AC going forward.

I don't think he's down for the count either, Rayman still has lot going for him but like said before, this definitely does slow his momentum.

Funnily enough I think his best chances is Nintendo. They seem to view the franchise in high regards arguably more than Ubisoft and willing to lots of collabrations. My worry is that Nintendo and/or Sakurai would request Rayman as their choice and Ubisoft would just shut them down.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Man, this does not bode well at all. I will admit that Ubisoft has been heading for the bottom recently.

SOH and That Rayman DLC better ramp up attraction and starting selling gangbusters fast because this ain't looking good for Ray's chances in terms of Smash and His Presence in terms of Gaming in general. Might want to retract a bit my praise eariler. Got too over-zealous there.

Ubisoft says Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope underperformed https://t.co/g3I4j4Eioz pic.twitter.com/J0gZ3g7brS

— Nintendo Everything (@NinEverything) January 11, 2023

Ubisoft says it has cancelled three unannounced projects and will now focus on its “biggest brands”, following slower than expected sales, notably Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023.

— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) January 11, 2023

Dang, and I was hoping those guys could make a new Mario & Luigi game...

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Dang, and I was hoping those guys could make a new Mario & Luigi game...

Nintendo when a fourth Mario RPG brand dies off

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

How many times do I have to say it that Meowth should’ve been one of the OG 12 instead of Jigglypuff body shapes be damned

And this is why this point is silly. The unlockable 4 only got in because they were model swaps. Period. Replacing any has to have the same point. They don't even have to play remotely alike(look at Ness, who was taken from Mario. They at most kind of share slightly similar moves here or there).

Meowth would've been possible, if even more time was done. Assuming Mewtwo wasn't higher priority and took over fast. We'd still get a near identical unlockable 4 anyway. They'd be directly based upon the playable models. There's almost no one who really could get in over Ness at that point, especially with Mother 64 not being a thing at that point(I think it was already cancelled by then too?) The few other options at that point could've been stuff like Dark Link, Wario, Dr. Mario, Wolf, maybe Falco(Wolf at least was a swap of Fox in Star Fox 64), Clefairy(who is similar to Jigglypuff, though quite a bit different), maybe Raichu(cause model swaps don't mean the exact same model, but close enough to create something), and I can't think of any more easy ones within the specific plausible stuff. Ignoring playable Bosses/Mini-Bosses, of course. I mean, Giant DK and Metal Mario are pure gameplay clones, as are the Fighting Polygons, but yeah. Master Hand was buggy when tested(and couldn't function well in other stages, heh).

 

[HyperSomari64]

Am I allowed to add 4th parties?

I'd shid my pants if we got Wallace and Gromit or Billy Butcher from The Boys (show version)

My biggest holy mary picks are real-life celebrities that had GOOD video games (namely Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater).

But if you want something more fictional, then i go with AoStH!Robotnik, Mickey Mouse, Turok, Godzilla, Accelerator and Misaka from Railgun, Asterix and Obelix, and Ben 10.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Have Kunio and Riki ever been presented as 3D models? I’m really curious how their style would translate.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

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- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

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2nd model is more accurate. They're not supposed to have noses.

 

[Wonder Smash]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

2nd model is more accurate. They're not supposed to have noses.

I think the 3D models for the Mighty Fight Federation game were pretty good.

Too bad the other Double Dragons (Ryuichi and Ryuji) weren't in that game with them.