Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[RodNutTakin]

Well, there is Yakuza, but that has its own collection of unique obstacles. I think it's worth including in the conversation but I don't particularly expect it to happen. Shin Megami Tensei is also an option (I honestly wish we got this before Joker) then of course you've got the possibility of adding onto Sonic, which is kind of an inevitability at some point or another IMO. Unfortunately once you get to the likes of NiGHTS or Jet Set Radio, we've lost the plot a little bit. It's a shame that some of Sega's most colorful and inventive series don't have much of a case to be made.

But Puyo Puyo definitely has a lot in its corner. Puyo Tsuu was one of the biggest JP arcade games of its time right alongside SFII, it's a monumentally important puzzle game and the series is somewhat of a phenomenon overseas. One of my favorite fun facts, did you guys know Puyo was supposed to have an entire theme park in the 90s? It was that big a deal!! I'm still a little bit shocked that we didn't even get a little spirit event or something.

The only issue is how hesitant Sega has been to acknowledge the series here, they're a little wishy washy. We aren't getting the gacha, we didn't get Puyo Chronicle (probably because it was so late in the 3DS lifespan). A Puyo item was left out of the localized version of Sega All Stars Racing. But we got Puyo Tetris 2 a couple days before Japan did? Make up your mind Sega!

My thoughts exactly when it comes to Yakuza/Like a Dragon. It's certainly a notable series for Sega, but I can't imagine it cutting the line unless either Sakurai really likes the series (like in the case of Joker) or whoever the new director for the series is practically begs for a spot in the next Smash (like in the case of Snake).
While I won't deny the possibility of SMT or its subseries, it'd honestly be a letdown if content from it or Persona was once again the only completely new thing added from Sega next time. As for adding onto Sonic, my gut tells me that if Sonic gets anything substantially new, it's more likely to be in the base game, which I have a different mindset for character-wise compared to DLC.
I feel Puyo is going to be what will be naturally gravitated to when it comes to new IPs, particularly since the series's identity transcends being a Sega IP, to the point where there's at least one Puyo on every Nintendo platform minus the Virtual Boy. And on the subject of its identity, since you mentioned SF2 as a comparison point, I'd easily argue that Puyo also had a great deal of influence with its success. Pretty much every company had some answer or equivalent to the "head-to-head falling blocks multiplayer game" phenomenon that Puyo started--Capcom had Puzzle Fighter, Konami had Taisen Puzzle-Dama, Hudson Soft had Panic Bomber, there's the Magical Drop games that started on Neo Geo, Taito's Puzzle Bobble featured versus play by installment #2, Tetris itself got a few head-to-head focused entries, and of course I can't forget Nintendo's own Panel de Pon. Puzzle games of that nature and STGs/SHMUPs are pretty much the two remaining Japanese-popular genres that sorely need something big, IMO.

 

[Speed Weed]

A Puyo item was left out of the localized version of Sega All Stars Racing.

Small correction, the Puyo item wasn't taken out of the localized version of Transformed - it's actually the other way around. The western version of the game is the original version, and the JP version is the "localized" one - when that one came out a couple years later, they made a few changes to appeal more to Japanese SEGA fans, including having a Garbage Puyo replace a previously-original item. It's interesting because IMO all these changes served to make the game cooler and more interesting as a celebration of SEGA's history - not just the Puyo, but they also replaced the og announcer with Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (aka Mr. DAYTONAAAAAAAAA), and added an appearance from Professor Asobin (an old SEGA rabbit mascot that showed up in SG-1000 and Master System manuals) to the tips and tricks blurbs.

Man I wish we got a new SEGA crossover

 

[fogbadge]

The reason why I find master Chef less likely than crash and doomguy in smash because the main audience of smash are Japanese players and they are more likely to recognize crash and doomguy rather than master Chef who is exclusive to a console that only 1% or less of Japanese gamers owns
Both crash and doom are multi console and they don’t suffer of lacking Japanese audience

i know you mean master chief but it really sounds like you're talking about cooking mama

With regards to Scottish characters... The Luminary is from Fantasy Scotland, does he count?

no

 

[Gengar84]

i know you mean master chief but it really sounds like you're talking about cooking mama



no

Snickers Chefs

m.youtube.com

Great googly moogly.

 

[Oracle Link]

So i thought up something!
Something that to my knowledge hasnt been done before on this forum!
A Smash Concept albeit a high quality group one!
And no its not a creates (Leaving almost all characters up to votes leads to lets say "Interesting Rosters" also all of mine failed hard)
I also want to stretch while i start of as the leader thats mostly to set up some basic concepts and characters (like for example i definitly need toon link and jiggly puff in this concept) after wards if wanted i go to a still high ranking but supporting role!
The Theme for this smash is "upbeat" so its not as melancholy/ DRamatic/ Epic as most of the existing smashes!
And Rainbows are there maybe!
Heres the link:
Super Smash Bros Together!

 

[Will]

With regards to Scottish characters... The Luminary is from Fantasy Scotland, does he count?

Man I forgot they all had cockney accents in that game, he definitely got a canon British voice because you hear him talk as a child in a flashback

 

[Geno Boost]

curious if echo got upgraded into clones or unique fighters would they effect smash fighter order numbers?

i know you mean master chief but it really sounds like you're talking about cooking mama



no

phone auto correction does this to me lol

 

[Oracle Link]

Heres the smash Concept Battle field stage:

I wanted to have something Serene and quaint instead of something Epic!
There might be diffrent versions of battle field but all of them share a rainbow Elements on it!

 

[DarthEnderX]

While I would be pretty hyped about King's Quest, I have to be real: If they were going to add a point-and-click(or text input) adventure game representative to Smash, I think they'd be much better off going with some Lucasarts rep.

Either Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion. I say add Guybrush Threepwood as a Fighter. Then give me a Bernard Bernoulli spirit.

Side benefit, owned by Disney. So they can just go through the Sora department again.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Or Phoenix wright, since he's the most well known Point and click adventure game protagonist.

 

[Geno Boost]

Heres the smash Concept Battle field stage:
View attachment 379630
I wanted to have something Serene and quaint instead of something Epic!
There might be diffrent versions of battle field but all of them share a rainbow Elements on it!

i feel like there is way too many grass field stages in smash i prefer something unique

 

[Ivander]

While I would be pretty hyped about King's Quest, I have to be real: If they were going to add a point-and-click(or text input) adventure game representative to Smash, I think they'd be much better off going with some Lucasarts rep.

Either Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion. I say add Guybrush Threepwood as a Fighter. Then give me a Bernard Bernoulli spirit.

No Manny Calavera?

---
Speaking of reapers, I have a favor to ask of those with knowledge of not-so-known games regarding finding the identity of a character.

Spoiler

So a few months ago, somebody made their own attempt at a Konami vs Capcom roster. About as basic and not alot of originality as you probably guessed. That said, who is the character on the last spot, the reaper character? Really the only character who is giving me a hard time finding them, as the others were easy to find or recognise and I haven't exactly kept up with most of Konami's games aside from the notables. It says alot when I can find the identity of a Konami character from a Pachislot exclusive series(Alice Wishheart from Magical Halloween), but not the last character.

Speed Weed
Any knowledge to give for my question?

 

[Hadokeyblade]

No Manny Calavera?

---
Speaking of reapers, I have a favor to ask of those with knowledge of not-so-known games regarding finding the identity of a character.

Spoiler

View attachment 379635
So a few months ago, somebody made their own attempt at a Konami vs Capcom roster. About as basic and not alot of originality as you probably guessed. That said, who is the character on the last spot, the reaper character? Really the only character who is giving me a hard time finding them, as the others were easy to find or recognise and I haven't exactly kept up with most of Konami's games aside from the notables. It says alot when I can find the identity of a Konami character from a Pachislot exclusive series(Alice Wishheart from Magical Halloween), but not the last character.

Speed Weed
Any knowledge to give for my question?

I want Manny as a mii fighter skin. tbh

 

[CannonStreak]

While I would be pretty hyped about King's Quest, I have to be real: If they were going to add a point-and-click(or text input) adventure game representative to Smash, I think they'd be much better off going with some Lucasarts rep.

Either Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion. I say add Guybrush Threepwood as a Fighter. Then give me a Bernard Bernoulli spirit.

Side benefit, owned by Disney. So they can just go through the Sora department again.

Oh, I would love to see Guy Threepwood as a playable fighter in Smash! I just love that idea! I bet so much that he could be a fun fighter!

 

[HyperSomari64]

Speaking of reapers, I have a favor to ask of those with knowledge of not-so-known games regarding finding the identity of a character.

Spoiler

View attachment 379635
So a few months ago, somebody made their own attempt at a Konami vs Capcom roster. About as basic and not alot of originality as you probably guessed. That said, who is the character on the last spot, the reaper character? Really the only character who is giving me a hard time finding them, as the others were easy to find or recognise and I haven't exactly kept up with most of Konami's games aside from the notables. It says alot when I can find the identity of a Konami character from a Pachislot exclusive series(Alice Wishheart from Magical Halloween), but not the last character.

If KvC had guest characters, specially if they aren't from Video Games, I'm sure it will include Scrooge McDuck and the Ninja Turtles. Both are from iconic NES games based on cartoons.
Any other suggestions?

Edit: IS THAT THE GUY FROM SWORD OF ETHERIA!? I remember watching a video about it months ago:

 

[Speed Weed]

No Manny Calavera?

---
Speaking of reapers, I have a favor to ask of those with knowledge of not-so-known games regarding finding the identity of a character.

Spoiler

View attachment 379635
So a few months ago, somebody made their own attempt at a Konami vs Capcom roster. About as basic and not alot of originality as you probably guessed. That said, who is the character on the last spot, the reaper character? Really the only character who is giving me a hard time finding them, as the others were easy to find or recognise and I haven't exactly kept up with most of Konami's games aside from the notables. It says alot when I can find the identity of a Konami character from a Pachislot exclusive series(Alice Wishheart from Magical Halloween), but not the last character.

Speed Weed
Any knowledge to give for my question?

Yeah I don't know this one off the top of my head....it does seem like something I could have come across before though.

Also yeah that roster is uhhhh not good. Having more Rising characters than mainline MGS characters I think is pretty much a dead ringer that the person making this likely does not have much in the way of knowledge of certain sects of Konami

 

[Ivander]

Yeah I don't know this one off the top of my head....it does seem like something I could have come across before though.

Also yeah that roster is uhhhh not good. Having more Rising characters than mainline MGS characters I think is pretty much a dead ringer that the person making this likely does not have much in the way of knowledge of certain sects of Konami

There's a reason I only asked about and showed the Konami side.

But anyway, I've even looked at games like DDR, Bemani and some of their parody shoot-em-ups and couldn't find them there or if they were there, there's like, next to nothing in being able to find them with a detailed search. And the roster maker didn't give a name/game list to be able to trace them. Unlike that one Sega Smash Bros artwork roster which had their names or another person who did their own Konami vs Capcom list and had the names And games listed.

 

[Speed Weed]

There's a reason I only asked about and showed the Konami side.

But anyway, I've even looked at games like DDR, Bemani and some of their parody shoot-em-ups and couldn't find them there or if they were there, there's like, next to nothing in being able to find them with a detailed search. And the roster maker didn't give a name/game list to be able to trace them. Unlike that one Sega Smash Bros artwork roster which had their names or another person who did their own Konami vs Capcom list and had the names And games listed.

FOUND THEM

They're from a PS2 game called OZ, or Sword of Etheria

 

[HyperSomari64]

Will Konami add that PS2 Genie with the voice of Charles Martinet on Super Bomberman R2?

 

[Ivander]

Oh wow, that might be Almira from Sword of Etheria. Although I haven't quite found an exact copy of the artwork of her yet, but her design does match some of the details greatly.

Geez, I swear in the last few months, I've been finding more and more PS2 games I didn't know existed.

 

[Gengar84]

Oh wow, that might be Almira from Sword of Etheria. Although I haven't quite found an exact copy of the artwork of her yet, but her design does match some of the details greatly.

Geez, I swear in the last few months, I've been finding more and more PS2 games I didn't know existed.

I can’t say I’m familiar with it either but I kind of dig her design. Particularly the armored version on the right.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Oh, I would love to see Guy Threepwood as a playable fighter in Smash! I just love that idea! I bet so much that he could be a fun fighter!

He would use insult fighting as a weird mechanic.

 

[CannonStreak]

He would use insult fighting as a weird mechanic.

I can see it working like this.

You know how some fighters like Little Mac have gauges for special things? Well, when Guy is on stage, everyone else on stage has a gauge that relates to the insults Guy Threepwood throws at his opponents. When the gauge is a quarter full, the opponents start taking more damage, gaining more damage every time the gauge is filled a quarter of a way. When the gauge the other fighters have when fighting Brush is fully filled, they can take serious damage from powerful attacks from Guy himself, possibly being KOed if their damage percentage is high enough. This just affects fighter's ability to take damage and make it higher, not the damage percentage itself.

There is also a chance other fighters could steal Guy's KO if they KO another fighter affected by Guy's insults first. The fighters who fight Guy turn more red the more the gauge is filled.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, aside from any special attacks that uses insults, Guy Threepwood would make heavy use of the taunt button, which has more insults than there are three taunts.

 

[Louie G.]

Puzzle games of that nature and STGs/SHMUPs are pretty much the two remaining Japanese-popular genres that sorely need something big, IMO.

On the current topic of Konami characters, and a pseudo-response to this very agreeable point about SHMUPs and Puzzle games I feel like Konami's SHMUPs are really heavily overlooked in Smash discussions. The difficulty is that those games don't always have the clearest defined characters to pull from, but I think Twinbee would be an excellent addition and covers both his own series and Parodius to some extent.

I'm not totally sure how much I see this happening, but I think he's worth much more attention than he's generally given in the community. At least that's the most practical and conventional SHMUP "rep" I can think of for Smash off the top of my head, and I find the idea really appealing personally.

Well, Twinbee and Opa-Opa I suppose. Another point for weird and awesome Sega characters that probably won't be in Smash! And well, I guess I'm also thinking of a pretty specific type of SHMUP so if we extend that definition toward Contra and Metal Slug (which I would absolutely love in Smash) then we've got even more options.

 

[SPEN18]

He wouldn't really be "fighting with insults" but I wonder if there's some way to incorporate yelling at opponents into a Mr. Resetti moveset. At least he's the character who I can most imagine fighting in that kind of sense. I mean, we need Nook first but Resetti has unexplored potential, I'm telling you

 

[CapitaineCrash]

On the current topic of Konami characters, and a pseudo-response to this very agreeable point about SHMUPs and Puzzle games I feel like Konami's SHMUPs are really heavily overlooked in Smash discussions. The difficulty is that those games don't always have the clearest defined characters to pull from, but I think Twinbee would be an excellent addition and covers both his own series and Parodius to some extent.

I'm not totally sure how much I see this happening, but I think he's worth much more attention than he's generally given in the community. At least that's the most practical and conventional SHMUP "rep" I can think of for Smash off the top of my head, and I find the idea really appealing personally.

Well, Twinbee and Opa-Opa I suppose. Another point for weird and awesome Sega characters that probably won't be in Smash! And well, I guess I'm also thinking of a pretty specific type of SHMUP so if we extend that definition toward Contra and Metal Slug (which I would absolutely love in Smash) then we've got even more options.

I'd say Rhythm is another genre big in Japan that is forgotten in Smash. I think a DDR character or Donchan would be the fronturnner for the genre. If you want first party you could obviously add Rhythm heaven.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

With shoot 'em ups its also an out of sight out of mind phenomenon. It might be one of the most prominent examples of a video game type whose audience by no means shrunk, but did get relatively smaller when other genres become more prominent. Throw in the fact that they were often tied to arcade scene that largely died out in the West and you end up with a remarkably big category of games (ones that defined entire companies in certain eras) being the "oh yeah those things" to some contemporary audiences.

For some that genre doesn't effectively even exist prior to 3D variations came along, and for some not until console versions got released.

 

[Will]

unless it’s yami yugi i don’t need any new Konami fighters

I’m just kidding please add Raiden please please pretty please with a cherry on top and gluten-free sprinkles

 

[HyperSomari64]

unless it’s yami yugi i don’t need any new Konami fighters

Yeah, and Wolverine, Bucky O'Hare and Buster Bunny.

Edit: And The Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa, Asterix and the Simpson family.

 

[Ivander]

unless it’s yami yugi i don’t need any new Konami fighters

I’m just kidding please add Raiden please please pretty please with a cherry on top and gluten-free sprinkles

I mean, I think he'd be cool, but...you know, Shonen Jump and whatnot.

If Yugioh ever happened in Smash Bros, Please make a new Pokeball/Summon item in the form of a Yugioh card. You can't just put Yugioh in and not have a Summon item for it.

 

[Kirbeh]

If we're talking Konami schmup reps I think any of TwinBee/WinBee, Takohiko/Belial, Hikaru/Akane, and Aoba make for good choices.

 

[RodNutTakin]

On the current topic of Konami characters, and a pseudo-response to this very agreeable point about SHMUPs and Puzzle games I feel like Konami's SHMUPs are really heavily overlooked in Smash discussions. The difficulty is that those games don't always have the clearest defined characters to pull from, but I think Twinbee would be an excellent addition and covers both his own series and Parodius to some extent.

I'm not totally sure how much I see this happening, but I think he's worth much more attention than he's generally given in the community. At least that's the most practical and conventional SHMUP "rep" I can think of for Smash off the top of my head, and I find the idea really appealing personally.

Well, Twinbee and Opa-Opa I suppose. Another point for weird and awesome Sega characters that probably won't be in Smash! And well, I guess I'm also thinking of a pretty specific type of SHMUP so if we extend that definition toward Contra and Metal Slug (which I would absolutely love in Smash) then we've got even more options.

Call it bias, but I think Tako/the Octopus from Parodius would edge out Twinbee in this category.

(cool art of him I found on Screwloose Studios)

While I'm aware of Twinbee being a popular and recurring Konami character, I feel Tako and the Parodius games would supersede him on the pecking order, mainly by the virtue of Parodius being Konami's best-known attempt at mish-mashing their own IPs (over games like Wai Wai World and DreamMix), and secondly because the greater Gradius franchise is undoubtedly a Konami flagship. Tako is a good answer to the conundrum of having a SHMUP fighter in Smash; most protagonists in those games are represented by an otherwise-inanimate flying ship (even in Parodius where Vic Viper is sentient, it doesn't have any sapient traits), which to say the least, would be incredibly awkward to animate well in Smash. As the main Parodius mascot, Tako solves this issue because in the games where him or one of his sons are playable, they are the ship. They "swim" in mid-air instead of flying, but can still shoot projectiles and missiles like the other ships can. Essentially, you could have Tako have a unique fighting style that mixes a normal "waddling head" fighting style (like Kirby and Jigglypuff) with the moveset he has and the power-up system from his home game. Essentially, it'd be the best way in my eyes to translate something related to Gradius into a Smash fighter, and it'd come with the bonus of having other Konami IPs get content because of their links with the Parodius games (Mainline Gradius games, TwinBee, Goemon, Tokimeki Memorial, Antartic Adventure, Lethal Enforcers etc.)

(also btw just for a frame of reference; Tako is the octopus in the MSX and first arcade Parodius. Takosuke, his first son, is the octopus in Gokujou and Sexy Parodius. Takohiko, Tako's second son, is the octopus in Jikkyou Oshaberi.)

 

[Speed Weed]

Twinbee and Opa-Opa would both rule

 

[Ivander]

How about make the Shoot-em-up ending section from Smash Bros. Ultimate into it's own unique Mode? Give it 6 stages, with 6 bosses and 2 mini-bosses(for Stage 3 and 5) and the 6th stage is a repeat of the Galeem/Dharkon platformer section, but re-made for a shoot-em-up setting(with a section where Dharkon assumes a shape familiar to the Crab and Shadow Gear from Gradius 2 and 3.) and finishing with fighting Galeem and Dharkon(and destroying their Cores).

And besides the playable characters, you can also pick most of the Assist Trophy characters(who will hold the Super Scope like other characters) as well as two unique additions in Vic Viper and the Gyaraga.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

How about make the Shoot-em-up ending section from Smash Bros. Ultimate into it's own unique Mode? Give it 6 stages, with 6 bosses and 2 mini-bosses(for Stage 3 and 5) and the 6th stage is a repeat of the Galeem/Dharkon platformer section, but re-made for a shoot-em-up setting(with a section where Dharkon assumes a shape familiar to the Crab and Shadow Gear from Gradius 2 and 3.) and finishing with fighting Galeem and Dharkon(and destroying their Cores).

And besides the playable characters, you can also pick most of the Assist Trophy characters(who will hold the Super Scope like other characters) as well as two unique additions in Vic Viper and the Gyaraga.

Like the minigame mode of Tatsunoko vs capcom where you played a shoot 'em up with some of the characters on the roster.

 

[Ivander]

Like the minigame mode of Tatsunoko vs capcom where you played a shoot 'em up with some of the characters on the roster.

Yeah, it used to be one of many minigames in the JP version of TvC, but could only be played with PTX-40A, the Lost Planet mech. In the TvC Ultimate All-Stars version, that mini-game was the only one that came back and it was repurposed into a more bigger mini-game where you could play with 4 players and aside from PTX-40A, you could also play as Ryu, Ken the Eagle or Tekkaman Blade.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Also yeah that roster is uhhhh not good. Having more Rising characters than mainline MGS characters I think is pretty much a dead ringer that the person making this likely does not have much in the way of knowledge of certain sects of Konami

And, like, so many Rumble Roses characters...

 

[Louie G.]

Call it bias, but I think Tako/the Octopus from Parodius would edge out Twinbee in this category.

No complaints from me, I think that'd be great! I just felt that between the two Twinbee had a bit more clout / recognition overseas - at least from my experience, I knew about him first - but Parodius would be the Konami SHMUP I'd be most excited to see content from in Smash anyway. You make a solid case for him functionally and that Parodius can extend toward Gradius content proper (which I agree, that's the "big one", I just didn't know if there was a key character who could do so). Although despite being a ship himself, I think Twinbee would translate over just fine into a playable character in his own right.

Honestly I feel like whoever they'd decide to go with, Gradius content would be slapped on top of that just by proxy. Twinbee / Tako operating as a general Konami SHMUP vessel like how Terry covers all the SNK fighting games (and more) feels justified enough to me.

How about make the Shoot-em-up ending section from Smash Bros. Ultimate into it's own unique Mode? Give it 6 stages, with 6 bosses and 2 mini-bosses(for Stage 3 and 5) and the 6th stage is a repeat of the Galeem/Dharkon platformer section, but re-made for a shoot-em-up setting(with a section where Dharkon assumes a shape familiar to the Crab and Shadow Gear from Gradius 2 and 3.) and finishing with fighting Galeem and Dharkon(and destroying their Cores).

This is a really cute idea, I'm actually surprised I've never heard it brought up before now.

 

[Peripuff]

The rising discussion of Arle is very interesting. It feels like she's very common to find on people's likely lists nowadays and it's cool that she's getting so much attention lately! She's been my most wanted for a long time so I'm really hoping that we'll finally get to see her next time. I didn't even consider the fact that Madou Monagatari 4 is probably gonna be non-insignificant boost to her chances especially considering we are also expecting a new Puyo game sometime next year. It feels like things are lining up quite nicely.

 

[SPEN18]

Spoiler: Mario Wonder

So
I already mentioned Jr, but I have not yet mentioned another in Mario Wonder: King Boo.

Of course, King Boo's case still rests primarily on being the big bad of LM in addition to his consistent stream of spinoff and more minor appearances. But this is his first real appearance in mainline 2D Mario I believe, which adds just a tiny bit more to the resume.