Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Hadokeyblade]

If there were, very few did, because I remember most of the grumblings being towards Kid Icarus, especially when Dark Pit was confirmed.

And then there was me going

Because Kid Icarus uprising is one of my all time favorites and Dark Pit is just a "no duh" echo.

 

[Laniv]

Here's an idea I wanted to bring up, what about another WarioWare character? I think at this point with Get It Together being a huge success that you could justify another one pretty easy, I think the idea of a character from it is overlooked.

Ashley is the popular choice but it doesn't have to be her.

View attachment 381088

What about Mona? I think her using things like her bike and boomerang and elements from the various jobs she works at. I think that could make for a pretty interesting character.

My top 3 WarioWare characters for Smash Bros are, in no particular order, Mona, Jimmy T., and 9-Volt

 

[smashkirby]

Here's an idea I wanted to bring up, what about another WarioWare character? I think at this point with Get It Together being a huge success that you could justify another one pretty easy, I think the idea of a character from it is overlooked.

Ashley is the popular choice but it doesn't have to be her.

View attachment 381088

What about Mona? I think her using things like her bike and boomerang and elements from the various jobs she works at. I think that could make for a pretty interesting character.

I always wanted Mona over Ashley.

I think you could make a moveset based around the various oddjobs she has had over the series.

Insert Flushed Away "Huzzah!! A man of quality!" GIF here

Seriously though, Mona is legit my #1 choice for a new Wario rep. While I'm not holding my breath, given that Ashley seems to be the frontrunner in that regard (not that I'd be opposed to her or anything), I still support Mona all the same.

I also agree with you in that in addition to her new boomerang (still wondering where the heck Nintendo got the inspiration to give her a BOOMERANG of all things as a weapon, honestly), she could make more use of WarioWare's various microgames in her moveset and I feel as though compared to most of the Ware cast (outside of MAYBE Jimmy T.), it wouldn't look too out of place for her to do so.

What's more, this isn't even getting into her various oddjobs from across the series (Waitress, Bassist/singer, cheerleader, etc.) being incorporated into her moveset either.

Actually... has anyone else felt as though ever since Wario's 'renaissance' (of-sorts) in 2018, Nintendo's been pushing the idea of Mona being his #2 (in the context of WarioWare)? Like, I've been noticing that for some time now, and honestly? I'm all here for that.

 

[NintenZ]

Insert Flushed Away "Huzzah!! A man of quality!" GIF here

Seriously though, Mona is legit my #1 choice for a new Wario rep. While I'm not holding my breath, given that Ashley seems to be the frontrunner in that regard (not that I'd be opposed to her or anything), I still support Mona all the same.

I also agree with you in that in addition to her new boomerang (still wondering where the heck Nintendo got the inspiration to give her a BOOMERANG of all things as a weapon, honestly), she could make more use of WarioWare's various microgames in her moveset and I feel as though compared to most of the Ware cast (outside of MAYBE Jimmy T.), it wouldn't look too out of place for her to do so.

What's more, this isn't even getting into her various oddjobs from across the series (Waitress, Bassist/singer, cheerleader, etc.) being incorporated into her moveset either.

Actually... has anyone else felt as though ever since Wario's 'renaissance' (of-sorts) in 2018, Nintendo's been pushing the idea of Mona being his #2 (in the context of WarioWare)? Like, I've been noticing that for some time now, and honestly? I'm all here for that.

I've noticed that too, it feels like Nintendo has been pushing Mona a lot since WarioWare came back with Gold, especially since Gold establishes that she has a crush on Wario.

I personally think that it's between her and Ashley as the WarioWare character, but given how prominent she's been in recent games I would definitely keep an eye on Mona myself personally.

 

[fogbadge]

Choosing a game to promote doesn't mean it was their only choice, it just means it's the one they opted for.

There are unique factors with all these things. Keep in mind facets like it being pretty much the rotational or unrepresented series which have received promotional additions like FE, XC, and Pokemon, not static ones like Mario, Kirby, Metroid, (sort of) Zelda. That the series still seems to have to hit a certain threshold of success, so we'd get ARMS, but good luck for stuff like Dillon or Ever Oasis (which could actually use the promotion). That there are additional parties with some promotion-heavy series like GF, IS, and potentially Monolith, who each hold some degree of bargaining power.

Saying they promoted x doesn't mean they couldn't have promoted y instead, it just means they chose not to. Not knowing the exact marketing reason doesn't mean it's false, especially since Sakurai has overtly said execs told him to put characters like Corrin and Byleth in, and that he agrees FE is overrepresented. It's possible Nintendo sees potential value in funnelling the Smash fanbase towards certain series they think would be a good demographic overlap.

And fwiw they probably would've promoted Astral Chain had it lined up with character selection, but it didn't. FP2 was already decided before it (and Ring Fit) became proven successes.

the entire point of the promotional argument is to try and disprove the idea of sakurai's bias. but if we acknowledge the fact that they could promote any game they want but they keep choosing FE then the argument just proves a FE bias somewhere thus rendering the entire thing pointless as you've just proved the thing you were trying to disprove. also i don't think anyone ever considered FE to be under represented.

They very clearly get to look at these games early.

And if you look at three houses and Sword/shield side by side it's pretty clear which is the better game lol

again they're trying to disprove a FE bias that would just prove it

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Here's an idea I wanted to bring up, what about another WarioWare character? I think at this point with Get It Together being a huge success that you could justify another one pretty easy, I think the idea of a character from it is overlooked.

Ashley is the popular choice but it doesn't have to be her.

View attachment 381088

What about Mona? I think her using things like her bike and boomerang and elements from the various jobs she works at. I think that could make for a pretty interesting character.

I'm not opposed to more Wario characters, but I think calling Get it together a "huge succes" is a pretty big stretch. It didn't do bad by any mean I guess, but it did far less than many other Switch titles that are usually considered far more niche (such as Pikmin 3 deluxe and 4, or all 3 Xenoblade games). And we still don't have the total sales of Move it, but launch sales were very poor in Japan, making less than half of the launch sales of Get it together.

That aside, I agree that Mona could be very fun, but she wouldn't be my first choice as a next Wario characters. I'm not a huge Ashley supporter, but I just think that the mage archetype is so fun to work with and there's a lot you could do with her. I also think that Penny could be super fun with her inventions and chemistry stuff, and Jimmy T could have a very fun but simple dance moveset. I think dance just work naturally for a fighting game like Eddy or Lucky Chloe from Tekken. But arguably I wouldn't be opposed to pretty much any WarioWare characters tbh. Mona could be fun too, Dribble and Spitz could have a super fun duo moveset, Dr. Crygor himself could be fun (but I like Penny a bit more personally).

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I'm not opposed to more Wario characters, but I think calling Get it together a "huge succes" is a pretty big stretch. It didn't do bad by any mean I guess, but it did far less than many other Switch titles that are usually considered far more niche (such as Pikmin 3 deluxe and 4, or all 3 Xenoblade games). And we still don't have the total sales of Move it, but launch sales were very poor in Japan, making less than half of the launch sales of Get it together.

That aside, I agree that Mona could be very fun, but she wouldn't be my first choice as a next Wario characters. I'm not a huge Ashley supporter, but I just think that the mage archetype is so fun to work with and there's a lot you could do with her. I also think that Penny could be super fun with her inventions and chemistry stuff, and Jimmy T could have a very fun but simple dance moveset. I think dance just work naturally for a fighting game like Eddy or Lucky Chloe from Tekken. But arguably I wouldn't be opposed to pretty much any WarioWare characters tbh. Mona could be fun too, Dribble and Spitz could have a super fun duo moveset, Dr. Crygor himself could be fun (but I like Penny a bit more personally).

Wait. How much did Get It Together sell?

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Wait. How much did Get It Together sell?

1.34 milions copies as of December 2022.

 

[NintenZ]

I'm not opposed to more Wario characters, but I think calling Get it together a "huge succes" is a pretty big stretch. It didn't do bad by any mean I guess, but it did far less than many other Switch titles that are usually considered far more niche (such as Pikmin 3 deluxe and 4, or all 3 Xenoblade games). And we still don't have the total sales of Move it, but launch sales were very poor in Japan, making less than half of the launch sales of Get it together.

I personally consider anything that’s sold over a million copies pretty impressive to me, namely for series that were previously considered niche beforehand (unless they’ve specifically been mentioned to have fallen under expectations but I don’t think Get It Together cost that much money to produce) it’s all in relativity and I’m not really comparing it to other series that have sold more just judging on their own merits, I hope that makes sense from my end. I consider 1.34m pretty impressive for a series like it.

That aside, I agree that Mona could be very fun, but she wouldn't be my first choice as a next Wario characters. I'm not a huge Ashley supporter, but I just think that the mage archetype is so fun to work with and there's a lot you could do with her. I also think that Penny could be super fun with her inventions and chemistry stuff, and Jimmy T could have a very fun but simple dance moveset. I think dance just work naturally for a fighting game like Eddy or Lucky Chloe from Tekken. But arguably I wouldn't be opposed to pretty much any WarioWare characters tbh. Mona could be fun too, Dribble and Spitz could have a super fun duo moveset, Dr. Crygor himself could be fun (but I like Penny a bit more personally).

I’m a little biased for Penny too cause I like her inventions and her song was really catchy in Get It Together, Dribble and Spitz would also be really fun I think personally but I don’t think they would go for them unfortunately. I’d love to see what they would do with Jimmy T.

 

[fogbadge]

Young cricket anyone? No? Fine

 

[Louie G.]

I like Mona a lot, but I do think it would probably have to be Ashley. It surprised me to recognize just how much she has going on in Ultimate, probably some of the most presence of any character who isn't explicitly playable - being an Assist Trophy, a Mii Costume, a 4-Star Spirit and of course having two separate remixes of her theme song.

I've always considered Mona something of a second-in-command too. I guess because her microgame collections tend to be at the very start, but I think her eccentric resume embodies the spirit of the series quite well. I think she's kind of an ideal second character for the series but Ashley just has that edge as the most popular and omnipresent member of the crew.

Young cricket anyone? No? Fine

No offense to Cricket's role in the series proper, but I feel like he would be a poor representative of WW over the characters with more wacky abilities and over the top designs such as Mona, Jimmy T, Orbulon etc. I consider Ashley to be a bit more grounded in this respect too but Cricket doesn't have the popularity to put him over the edge, and a cartoony witch character is a bit more novel than another martial artist. I do like him though, especially since he's a pseudo Rhythm Heaven character.

On that note I consider 9-Volt to be a little underwhelming as a Smash candidate too. I just don't think we need "the Nintendo guy" in a game full of classic Nintendo characters and items that already pick up the slack, a bulk of the NES games in his catalogue are already represented by someone else.

 

[Sucumbio]

I am all for Ashley and to a lesser extent Mona but if either gets in before Waluigi I'm going to explode.

 

[NintenZ]

I am all for Ashley and to a lesser extent Mona but if either gets in before Waluigi I'm going to explode.

Why not both? Never understood why a WarioWare character and Waluigi needed to compete, especially when they’re (very ironically) from two separate franchises.

 

[Ivander]

On that note I consider 9-Volt to be a little underwhelming as a Smash candidate too. I just don't think we need "the Nintendo guy" in a game full of classic Nintendo characters and items that already pick up the slack, a bulk of the NES games in his catalogue are already represented by someone else.

Some might want 9-Volt in the same vein as how some people want D.Va rather than Tracer. Because of the character being a major video game enthusiast and watching them interact with the characters they've played games of.

You know, video game enthusiasts wanting a video game enthusiast like them in Smash Bros. Even if they are unlikelier than other characters.

 

[SPEN18]

Per VGChartz, the WarioWare series ranges roughly from 0.25mil to 2.5mil sales per game, with the variance reasonably well-explained by the system of release and the timing within that system's lifecycle.

 

[Sucumbio]

Why not both? Never understood why a WarioWare character and Waluigi needed to compete, especially when they’re (very ironically) from two separate franchises.

I just don't see both as an option but that's probably because I don't consider them coming from separate series. But since they are in fact, I guess I have to reevaluate them as a character. It just reinforces the motion that Waluigi doesn't actually have any true source material unlike the strict Warioware characters like Wario, Ashley and Mona. Maybe the solution is to finally put Waluigi in a Warioware game? Not even sure why he's not in them...

 

[Nickthebrick1]

Hey guys, I think we should consider the other barriers when it comes to the next smash. (I know there aren't official barriers besides no non-video characters ever but just bare with me here)

I recently did a retrospective on Ultimate's DLC and I realized that they tried to catered in different eras. Aside from bridging the gaps to other 3rd party companies for better relations in the future I saw a pattern. Correct me if I'm wrong

Piranha Plant: Enticement and something familiar for DLC. Also caters to a WTH character;
Joker: One of the best acclaimed games to debut that year, establish relations with Atlus;
Hero: Most iconic JRPG ever, caters a lot to the East with Japan in particular and balances out the B & K pick, improves relations with square enix;
Banjo & Kazooie: Iconic Nintendo series, caters a lot with the west and balances out the Hero pick, improves relations with Microsoft;
Terry: Well known fighting game character and caters a lot in the South America areas, improves relations with SNK;
Byleth: Nintendo requested personally for promotion;
Min Min: Same reason as above. Because Spring Man and Ribbon girl are already represented by an AT and costume respectively, this was plan C;
Steve: Well best selling video game of all time and possibly the most iconic character of the modern era, also improves relations with Microsoft;
Sephiroth: Most iconic villain under SE's umbrella. And aside from improving relations further, I assume this was part of the deal to include Cloud in the base roster among other things, and possibly to open the door in for Sora;
Pyra/Myhra: Wanted to include Rex in the base roster but couldn't happen at the time. And since he's already represented by a costume, the best they had were a duo character, promotion;
Kazuya: Iconic 3D fighter character, also improves relations with Namco who have helped developed the games;
Sora: Winner of the Smash ballot, and probably is the most requested character of all time in the likes of Geno and Waluigi, also improves relations with SE.

Using this a blueprint, and I don't know about the base roster, but if we assume if this next game will have DLC, which is almost guaranteed, it'll probably work as a half a business deal and half pleasing the fans.

Two more things I would like to address. Western Characters and Guns.

I see people request characters like Spyro, Crash, Master Chief and Scorpion but people seem to gloss over is that Smash is made by Nintendo, which is a Japanese company. Characters like Snake, Mega Man and all the other third parties sans Steve were relatively simple to include in because they didn't have to worry about the distance and language barrier. Steve got in because his popularity is well known and even then it took them a long time to get in. Another thing, a good chunk of western characters isn't well popular in Japan. But the same is true in Reverse. Takamaru's inclusion wasn't prioritized for this reason, and Marth and Roy inclusion was very anxious for this reason all the way back in Melee. If we do see any western characters, I'll be probably something very well known, ground breaking, and somewhat familiar with the eastern audience, and even then we will probably see one, maybe two if we're lucky.

Guns are a bit tricky here. Smash has so far include characters (looking at you Snake) with grenades, heavy explosive weapons and what not, but never realistic weapons such as handguns, shotguns, etc. Because my educated guess would be that it would raise the rating. So characters like a Resident Evil Character, Doom guy or any other characters whose fighting style revolves heavily around be realistic firearms might be diluted for them to even get in smash. But at the same token, Joker got include even though he wields a knife and gun (I know in the lore its a prop gun but the imagery is still there and most people who haven't known Persona doesn't know that fact) but he got in anyways, and the ESRB has become more looser in recent decades. As long as there are no blood and guts and the impacts is obscured by the colorful effects it could alleviate a lot of the problems. Even then, they could make a realistic firearm character DLC so it doesn't effect the base game rating but I digress.

What do you guys think overall? Any thoughts?

 

[NintenZ]

Oh yeah wanted to share this

it’s a mess lmaooo, but here are my mains and characters I want, as well as characters I support too (Geno, Mallow, Doomslayer, and Style Savvy might jump to most-wanted once I play their games, I recently got Super Mario RPG, all of the Doom games, and all the Style Savvy games)

 

[SPEN18]

Waluigi doesn't actually have any true source material

?

there exist video games in which he appears...so, by definition, he does

 

[Guynamednelson]

Not even sure why he's not in them

He wasn't created by Ko Takeuchi. Neither is Wario, but Nintendo just puts him in them to market the games as being wacky anyway.

 

[Gengar84]

Oh yeah wanted to share this
View attachment 381128
it’s a ****ing mess lmaooo, but here are my mains and characters I want, as well as characters I support too (Geno, Mallow, Doomslayer, and Style Savvy might jump to most-wanted once I play their games, I recently got Super Mario RPG, all of the Doom games, and all the Style Savvy games)

I’ll try one but I’m on my phone so it will just have to be text.

Main:
Ganondorf

Secondary:
Sephiroth
Terry
Random button

Least wanted characters (though I won’t complain if they get in):
Freddy Fazbear
Conker

Most wanted characters:
Rash/Pimple/Zitz
Magus
Zegram
Fulgore
Illidan
Sarah Kerrigan
Sub-Zero
Zero
Xemnas
Bill Rizer/Lance Bean
Vi/Caitlyn, Jinx, or Ahri/Yasuo
Alphen/Shionne
Lu Bu
Nightmare
Jessie/James
Gengar, Golisopod, or Cofagrigus
Dixie
The Black Knight, Tharja, Rhinka, or Petra
Bugzzy
Jenna Anderson
Medusa
Nia or Noah/Mio (Ouroboros fusion)
Raziel
Death
Princess Garnet
Etna
Gaige
Ogremon

 

[Sucumbio]

I tried ROB and BK for the first time today and it was awesome but I kept trying to use rob like kirby thinking he'd have 5 jumps instead of having to use up b to float around. I tried Steve yesterday and had no clue wtf I was doing lol pick up and play is still a thing tho I really did enjoy BK the most out of the 3.

Edit

How does the fairy bottle item work? You're supposed to break it open or what?

 

[Kirbeh]

I tried ROB and BK for the first time today and it was awesome but I kept trying to use rob like kirby thinking he'd have 5 jumps instead of having to use up b to float around. I tried Steve yesterday and had no clue wtf I was doing lol pick up and play is still a thing tho I really did enjoy BK the most out of the 3.

Edit

How does the fairy bottle item work? You're supposed to break it open or what?

If you're not at 100% or more it doesn't do anything. If you are, it heals up to 100%.

 

[RouffWestie]

Here's an idea I wanted to bring up, what about another WarioWare character? I think at this point with Get It Together being a huge success that you could justify another one pretty easy, I think the idea of a character from it is overlooked.

Ashley is the popular choice but it doesn't have to be her.

View attachment 381088

What about Mona? I think her using things like her bike and boomerang and elements from the various jobs she works at. I think that could make for a pretty interesting character.

Not even trying to be a contrarian, but 9-Volt's Mom is my only wanted newcomer from Wario Ware. She has established physical strength and supernatural powers despite being such an inconspicuous generic-looking mother. I'm a sucker for that trope.

 

[fogbadge]

What do you guys think overall? Any thoughts?

well there was a couple things i noted. first of all nintendo already had a relationship with atlus before joker got in they've had an even longer one with their parent company sega. secondly we know rex's costume did not factor into the decision to exclude him from the game as sakurai was still considering him. next there is absolutely nothing to suggest that min min was sakurai's third choice, in fact it seems she was the first choice of the ARMS director. next B&K are british so any imaginary language barriers you perceive aren't there. nintendo's relationship with SE was already pretty good long before sora's inclusion and besides he was up to disney. also no one ever said byleth was requested by nintendo.

i don't know where you get your facts from but you need to double check them

 

[Kirbeh]

If we do get another Wario character, Syrup and Mona are my personal choices.

Ashley is the one that I think has the best shot.

Aside from those 3 I'd also be happy with Jimmy, either 9 or 5-Volt, or one of the Crygors.

 

[Louie G.]

Guns are a bit tricky here. Smash has so far include characters (looking at you Snake) with grenades, heavy explosive weapons and what not, but never realistic weapons such as handguns, shotguns, etc.

I feel like this may have been more of an issue during Brawl, which obviously had some impact on the way Snake was designed, but I think Joker is a testament to the looser standards surrounding guns in the present. I think the mass appeal of games like Fortnite have probably helped turn this around, but I think all we have to do is look at Smash itself. Like you said, Joker is in the game. His gun is, for all intents and purposes, just a gun. ESRB is not concerned about canon and as such had to judge it as if it was a real firearm. I imagine the stylized effects helped make this an easier sell, which could certainly be extended to any firearm user in the future.

I'm mostly gonna defend Master Chief here on out, since I think Halo is a special case where their brand of weaponry is more abstract. Halo is a sci-fi game and many of its weapons are designed to compensate, concerns of a realistic firearm are less of an issue when they all look like alien objects. We already have plenty of items in-game that follow a similar trend. I want to say Master Chief would fit into Smash Bros exceptionally well with barely any need for compromise.

And then as far as western characters go, I think they are generally overestimated but if Microsoft returns there is a fair shot of any of Master Chief / Crash / Doomguy returning to the conversation (presumably as DLC, though). I think western indie characters, like Sans, are probably fairly easy to nab due to a lower price range and a solid working relationship. Toby Fox in particular speaks Japanese and is presumably bros with Sakurai after their sparring match and Famitsu baton pass. And Ubisoft is begging for Rayman, as usual. I don't think we'll see ALL of these things happen, probably only a couple, but I'd say it probably helps the aforementioned trio of Chief, Crash and Doom that Microsoft is already involved and now owns virtually all of the most popular western AAA requests.

Lack of notoriety overseas is still an obstacle (for everyone I mentioned other than Sans... Japan loves Undertale) but one that I think is circumvented for most through their deep legacy. Halo and Doom are historically significant enough where I think that barrier is justifiably moot so long as Sakurai makes their impact on the genre clear. Not to mention Master Chief really isn't some complete unknown over there to begin with, people know who he is. And hey, Doom Slayer has a costume in Smash and Sakurai even went into more detail abt it on his channel recently. Crash probably has even less of an issue with this, although his recent releases have performed less than stellar. In Japan he probably remains more of a 90s throwback.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Keep in mind also that any new third parties in the base game itself could circumvent the entire regional popularity issue to a large degree anyway. A Japan that's getting an Arle in Smash 6 is likely not going to be that turned off if the latter also includes a Master Chief.

 

[Nickthebrick1]

I feel like this may have been more of an issue during Brawl, which obviously had some impact on the way Snake was designed, but I think Joker is a testament to the looser standards surrounding guns in the present. I think the mass appeal of games like Fortnite have probably helped turn this around, but I think all we have to do is look at Smash itself. Like you said, Joker is in the game. His gun is, for all intents and purposes, just a gun. ESRB is not concerned about canon and as such had to judge it as if it was a real firearm. I imagine the stylized effects helped make this an easier sell, which could certainly be extended to any firearm user in the future.

I'm mostly gonna defend Master Chief here on out, since I think Halo is a special case where their brand of weaponry is more abstract. Halo is a sci-fi game and many of its weapons are designed to compensate, concerns of a realistic firearm are less of an issue when they all look like alien objects. We already have plenty of items in-game that follow a similar trend. I want to say Master Chief would fit into Smash Bros exceptionally well with barely any need for compromise.

And then as far as western characters go, I think they are generally overestimated but if Microsoft returns there is a fair shot of any of Master Chief / Crash / Doomguy returning to the conversation (presumably as DLC, though). I think western indie characters, like Sans, are probably fairly easy to nab due to a lower price range and a solid working relationship. Toby Fox in particular speaks Japanese and is presumably bros with Sakurai after their sparring match and Famitsu baton pass. And Ubisoft is begging for Rayman, as usual. I don't think we'll see ALL of these things happen, probably only a couple, but I'd say it probably helps the aforementioned trio of Chief, Crash and Doom that Microsoft is already involved and now owns virtually all of the most popular western AAA requests.

Lack of notoriety overseas is still an obstacle (for everyone I mentioned other than Sans... Japan loves Undertale) but one that I think is circumvented for most through their deep legacy. Halo and Doom are historically significant enough where I think that barrier is justifiably moot so long as Sakurai makes their impact on the genre clear. Not to mention Master Chief really isn't some complete unknown over there to begin with, people know who he is. And hey, Doom Slayer has a costume in Smash and Sakurai even went into more detail abt it on his channel recently. Crash probably has even less of an issue with this, although his recent releases have performed less than stellar. In Japan he probably remains more of a 90s throwback.

Oh right Fortnite, I forgot about the impact that game had. You do make a lot of good points. But would that go double for a character representing a genre that hasn't been in smash yet?

And on that same subject matter. What can still be included for smash realistically?

For me personally off the top of my head would be:

Horror
Puzzle
PC Gaming
Music Games
Zombie
FPS
Visual Novel
Educational (Yes I know the last one would be a stretch but it would be an interesting move, maybe it could be filled by Dr. Kawashima or Dr. Lobe)

Honesty I hope we get an educational or horror character.

 

[Ivander]

Oh right Fortnite, I forgot about the impact that game had. You do make a lot of good points. But would that go double for a character representing a genre that hasn't been in smash yet?

And on that same subject matter. What can still be included for smash realistically?

For me personally off the top of my head would be:

Horror
Puzzle
PC Gaming
Music Games
Zombie
FPS
Visual Novel
Educational (Yes I know the last one would be a stretch but it would be an interesting move, maybe it could be filled by Dr. Kawashima or Dr. Lobe)

Honesty I hope we get an educational or horror character.

PC Gaming feels rather silly when almost all notable PC-focused franchises have had at least one console game. Even series like Half-Life and Team Fortress. So it's like, why focus on PC Gaming specifically and not just Gaming?

 

[Louie G.]

Educational (Yes I know the last one would be a stretch but it would be an interesting move, maybe it could be filled by Dr. Kawashima or Dr. Lobe)

I actually saw someone modding Dr. Kawashima into Ultimate the other day, I'm excited to see it come together. On top of being a hilarious character he also represents a cornerstone of Nintendo... floating head boss characters!

I'm a big advocate for getting new genres represented, both to diversify for a wider audience whose favorite kind of game may not have any presence in Smash and to open the door to fun new gameplay opportunities brought out by those unique gameplay styles. Puzzle and Rhythm games are two of my favorite genres and while I've found a lot to enjoy about the characters we did get, it does feel like my somewhat odd taste in more arcade-y styled genres falls by the wayside more often than not. Not-so-coincidentally, my two most wanted characters are Arle from Puyo Puyo and the Chorus Kids from Rhythm Heaven. I feel like the unique qualities of these two pretty much speak for themselves.

FPS, Horror, Beat 'Em Up and SHMUP deserve shout-outs too, all very important and currently absent with some really great characters to choose from and unique mechanics to build upon. And imagine the new eyes that get drawn toward the roster at the inclusion of Master Chief on western soil, or Arle from the other side of the world. Some of these genres are simply too significant to keep ignoring, in my opinion.

Just for posterity, a bunch of noteworthy games that fit these qualifications.

Rhythm - Rhythm Heaven / Taiko no Tatsujin
Puzzle - Puyo Puyo / Panel de Pon (Puzzle League)
Beat 'Em Up - Kunio-Kun (River City Ransom) / Streets of Rage / Ninja Gaiden / Double Dragon
Horror - Resident Evil / Silent Hill / Fatal Frame
First Person Shooter - Halo / DOOM / Half Life / Overwatch
Educational - Brain Age / Big Brain Academy
SHMUP - Touhou / Gradius / Twinbee
Run & Gun - Contra / Metal Slug / Cuphead
Visual Novel - Ace Attorney / Danganronpa

The list goes on, Smash has barely scratched the surface!!

 

[Nickthebrick1]

PC Gaming feels rather silly when almost all notable PC-focused franchises have had at least one console game. Even series like Half-Life and Team Fortress. So it's like, why focus on PC Gaming specifically and not just Gaming?

I think I phrased it incorrectly, I meant characters/games that were major successes or were well known on the pc gaming market back in the day.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Nintendo decides to finally honor the legacy of edutainment games and we somehow end up with Smash stages based on Mario is Missing and Mario's Time Machine.

 

[Ivander]

I think I phrased it incorrectly, I meant characters/games that were major successes or were well known on the pc gaming market back in the day.

Yeah, that makes more sense. Anyway:

Horror: Resident Evil / Silent Hill / Fatal Frame
Puzzle: Puyo Puyo / Panel de Pon / Professor Layton
PC Gaming: Half-Life / Diablo / Warcraft / Starcraft / Team Fortress / Probably a bunch of others still.
Music Games: The closest one to a reasonable one would be Rhythm Heaven, maybe Harmo Knight, since alot of other big music-focused games use licensed music, like Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Just Dance, etc. That said, if people are willing to count "programs" as games, Hatsune Miku could work.
Zombie: Obviously, Resident Evil.
FPS: Halo / Doom / Half-Life
Visual Novel: Ace Attorney / Professor Layton / Famicom Detective Club / Fate series
Educational: Brain Age, although I really don't see Dr. Kawashima getting in. And really, as much as it'd be fascinating, I don't see an Edutainment character like Reader Rabbit, Pajama Sam, Putt Putt, etc, getting in.

 

[UserKev]

For everyone who want to reply to the topic, what would you consider an irreplaceable stage?

When looking at Smash 64's stages, Dreamland 64, Mushroom Kingdom and Yoshi's Story didn't really need to come back, but Smash 64 version of Peach's Castle and Planet Zebes are irreplaceable. For Melee, Mushroom Kingdom 2 is rather unique. For Brawl, Skyworld. For Smash Wii U, Mario Galaxy. I would also ironically say that Yoshi's Story (Melee) feels irreplaceable to me. Possibly the stages I'll never get over if they were cut or never return.

 

[Ivander]

For everyone who want to reply to the topic, what would you consider an irreplaceable stage?

When looking at Smash 64's stages, Dreamland 64, Mushroom Kingdom and Yoshi's Story didn't really need to come back, but Smash 64 version of Peach's Castle and Planet Zebes are irreplaceable. For Melee, Mushroom Kingdom 2 is rather unique. For Brawl, Skyworld. For Smash Wii U, Mario Galaxy. I would also ironically say that Yoshi's Story (Melee) feels irreplaceable to me. Possibly the stages I'll never get over if they were cut or never return.

Dreamland 64, Temple and Corneria.

 

[HyperSomari64]

And really, as much as it'd be fascinating, I don't see an Edutainment character like Reader Rabbit, Pajama Sam, Putt Putt, etc, getting in.

Hey, don't slander my boys Freddie Fish and Spy Fox.
(Can the CES 1993 Giant Mocap Mario Head counts as an edutainment rep because of Mario's Typing 2?)

 

[fogbadge]

For everyone who want to reply to the topic, what would you consider an irreplaceable stage?

When looking at Smash 64's stages, Dreamland 64, Mushroom Kingdom and Yoshi's Story didn't really need to come back, but Smash 64 version of Peach's Castle and Planet Zebes are irreplaceable. For Melee, Mushroom Kingdom 2 is rather unique. For Brawl, Skyworld. For Smash Wii U, Mario Galaxy. I would also ironically say that Yoshi's Story (Melee) feels irreplaceable to me. Possibly the stages I'll never get over if they were cut or never return.

temple. and this point it'd just be weird not to have it

 

[SPEN18]

It's probably past its prime but Brain Age had two of the top 10 best-selling DS games, which is no small feat, and still managed a million units on Switch.

 

[Wonder Smash]

For everyone who want to reply to the topic, what would you consider an irreplaceable stage?

When looking at Smash 64's stages, Dreamland 64, Mushroom Kingdom and Yoshi's Story didn't really need to come back, but Smash 64 version of Peach's Castle and Planet Zebes are irreplaceable. For Melee, Mushroom Kingdom 2 is rather unique. For Brawl, Skyworld. For Smash Wii U, Mario Galaxy. I would also ironically say that Yoshi's Story (Melee) feels irreplaceable to me. Possibly the stages I'll never get over if they were cut or never return.

64 Mushroom Kingdom is irreplaceable. I'm really glad they brought that back with the actual NES look.

3D Land is also irreplaceable. I think it's best of the side-scrolling Mario stages.

GB Dream Land, Hyrule Castle, Temple, Green Hill Zone, Boxing Ring, and Duck Hunt, are also irreplaceable.