Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Sucumbio]

I’m curious about that mod now. I wonder if it’s using the models my brother and I made years ago. I’ve never seen any other custom Battletoads models in Smash other than the ones we made.

By any chance, do remember if they looked like this? This is one of my custom Brawl models:

View attachment 341318

Honestly don't know the video I watched showcased a match between Falco and Pikachu I think but before the match the video presenter went through the character roster which indeed had Battletoads as well as a bunch of 4th Party reps like Superman and whatnot.

That's a Great model btw you're pretty talented!

 

[Gengar84]

Honestly don't know the video I watched showcased a match between Falco and Pikachu I think but before the match the video presenter went through the character roster which indeed had Battletoads as well as a bunch of 4th Party reps like Superman and whatnot.

That's a Great model btw you're pretty talented!

Thanks! We modeled the heads and accessories from scratch but the bodies are actually edited Spider-Man bodies. We mostly did vertex editing so we’re a lot more used to reshaping existing models into something else than building from nothing. Back in the day, I used to make mods all the time with my brother. He did the actual modeling and I did all the texture work.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

 

[Dinoman96]

The unfortunate truth is the only "small" third party IPs that tend to get into Smash are the ones that were highly requested, like Bayonetta and Banjo-Kazooie. Pretty much every other guest character is from a top series from their respective companies, like Sonic, Pac-Man, Street Fighter, Tekken, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc. I just don't see series like Chrono, Battletoads/pretty much any other Rare IP, Ace Attorney, Xenosaga, etc getting playable reps without super huge fan demand.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Akira from Virtua Fighter

He has the same up-B issues that Heihachi had, which is why I believe he got AT'd and Mii'd. Virtually all of VF has this problem, since it wants to do away with the flashiness that special moves in 2D fighters can provide and focus more on realistic martial arts moves.

Other than that, anything could happen for that mysterious fighting game slot.

 

[Yamat08]

True, but it was also built as a Nintendo crossover and they changed that with Brawl. You could argue that the game has already evolved past its original concept and is now a general gaming crossover. I don’t think it’s much more of a stretch to go one more step and include non-gaming characters. Other games have done it and it’s worked out well for them.

They changed it with Brawl, but remember, they were considering changing it as early as Melee, and likely would have if the development wasn't so rushed. And of course, the N64 game couldn't use third parties for the simple reason that it was just a fun little side-project that they could barely get off the ground in the first place. Negotiations with companies outside of Nintendo were certainly out of the question, though who's to say they wouldn't have intended such a thing if they were capable from the start?

 

[Sucumbio]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

I think at this point it could go either way. There's certainly precedent for more fgc as you've noted... And to me there's a few fighting game franchises that would work that aren't already included and I believe some more rep from fighters already in. So with that... My personal picks:

Mortal Kombat

Definitely feel like this franchise is due some respect. I understand the games aren't popular in Japan and the M rated thing kinda works against it but I think it could work. Sub zero or Scorpion specifically.

Soul Calibur

Being namco's other big fighting franchise I'd guess it wouldn't be tough to see them bring in a rep. Mitsurugi seems the most logical.

Killer Instinct

Since Microsoft has worked with smash already I can see this happening! I would place stock in a rep for sure probably Fulgore.

There's several fighters I'm not familiar with like BlazBlue and Guilty Gear to name a couple.... But I could see these franchises being included due to their popularity.

Virtua Fighter

I'd really love to see Akira be upgraded from AT to fully playable. Not only was VF huge in Japan but it was fairly popular everywhere and it's definitely "the other 3d fighter" one thinks of beside Tekken. His moves require frame buffering (1 frame in some cases lol) so it'd be a challenge with implementation but they could figure it out somehow they're geniuses with this stuff.

Already in but additions

So Tekken could see King which I've wanted for awhile now. Street fighter could see Chun-Li ummm.... Don't really play KoF it fatal fury so not sure but hey why not another rep?

 

[Dinoman96]

Mortal Kombat is worser off than just being 'unpopular' in Japan, its newest games don't even officially release there lol

At least most of DOOM and Halo have seen the light of day there, even if they're not super popular.

 

[Shroob]

Mortal Kombat is worser off than just being 'unpopular' in Japan, its newest games don't even officially release there lol

At least most of DOOM and Halo have seen the light of day there, even if they're not super popular.

DOOM has the benefit of being a popular game for Japanese streamers to play due to the newer entries in the series, granted that's not a huge margin of people, but a decent size, and helps cultivate a Japanese fanbase for the series.

Dunno about Halo, I see way more DOOM.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Mortal Kombat is worser off than just being 'unpopular' in Japan, its newest games don't even officially release there lol

At least most of DOOM and Halo have seen the light of day there, even if they're not super popular.

Heck, didn't Sakurai even acknowledge that Doom Slayer was a popular request? Or am I remembering that wrong?

 

[Gengar84]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

I’d love to see Fulgore, Sub-Zero, or Nightmare in Smash. If I had to pick just one, I’d have to go with Fulgore. Killer Instinct is my favorite fighting game franchise ever and has so many amazing songs.

 

[Dan Quixote]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

I definitely think Sol Badguy has a shot, the franchise is picking up a ton of steam and ArcSys seems to have a good relationship with Nintendo.

 

[HyperSomari64]

Sucumbio What about Dead or A-.....?
Oh yeah, Smash is for good boys and girls.

 

[Idon]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

Anyone but another ARMS character.

 

[toonito]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

I still believe Sol Badguy is the next "fightie" from a new franchise to debut in Smash but Kazuya's inclusion perhaps opened a possibility of Namco's 2nd 3D FG franchise, Soul Calibur, to make its debut as well. Likely Nightmare.

Perhaps Jin Kazama is a possible 2nd rep for Tekken. The fact that Sakurai admitted Kazuya's inclusion was in part due to his devil gene (Heihachi doesn't have the gene so it might be closing the chapter on him as playable) makes me wonder if Jin was considered for Ultimate since he also has the gene.

Mortal Kombat despite having little to no presence in Japan can swerve most expectations by citing its now infamous history (IIRC it was MK's depiction of violence that introduced the ESRB rating to the American video game industry) and Western popularity.

SNK could possibly add a combo of Kyo with Iori as an echo to rep the larger KOF series, Nakoruru has an outside shot, or someone from Metal Slug if they want to gain a non-fighting game rep from SNK. Interesting to note that Mai Shiranui is one of the few videogame characters permanently deconfirmed for Smash due to her attire otherwise she'd probably be SNK's 2nd character.

Now Chun-Li....it depends on what Capcom and Nintendo agree for Smash. If Nintendo is more interested in getting more of Capcom's popular and diverse unrepped characters into Smash such as Phoenix Wright, Dante, Jill/Leon, Amaterasu, Monster Hunter etc. then Chun-Li's likely getting the short end of the stick here. If Capcom and Nintendo share an interest in representing their most popular characters in Smash regardless of franchise then Chun-Li can possibly make the roster in the next Smash game as she is the 1st lady of fighting games as well as becoming Capcom's crossover mascot alongside Ryu.

If the trend continues we're potentially looking at least 2 fighting reps in Smash (1 base game and ? depending on how many waves of DLC we get)

 

[Slime Scholar]

What does people wrongly accusing Sakurai of bias change the fact Nintendo was the one who still chose the Fighter Pass 1 and 2?

The point is that if people can't tell the difference between a character being 'shilled' by Nintendo and a character who was chosen for literally any other reason without being told, then what are they even complaining about?

Who is to says that Nintendo wasn't behind these characters in Smash 4 especially with Corrin and Bayonetta inclusion when Sora and Banjo where the most requested?

That's actually true, but the same can be said about a lot of fighters, including ones who aren't branded as being shill characters.

So Steve's inclusion is only good now because he is the most popular game? So if he wasn't, he shouldn't be in Smash no more? Only Popular characters should get in? Super Popularity Bros?

*Nintendo added DQ

Once again, that's not what I was saying.

What I've been trying to get at is that there isn't much inherently wrong with "shilling" to begin with, and yet people act as if the problem is self-evident. What is ACTUALLY wrong with Nintendo choosing characters to promote their recent games or court fans of popular games? What is the criticism being made here? Especially when this is how the series has always worked?

Edit: I would like to add for clarity’s sake that an over-focus on commercial interest could absolutely, on paper, compromise the quality of any game, and that I do understand that aspect of the discussion. But Smash’s roster is so vetted and everyone they’ve added to it has so much effort and attention put into them that I’m confident when I say that we are so far from that being the case here. This isn’t a giant, vapid advertisement like Fortnite or like Danica Patrick in that Sonic racing game. I think fan “ownership” of Smash and the expectation of everything in it being done to answer their individual wishes has skewed peoples perspectives on what actual shilling is.

Also yes, I'm aware that Nintendo decided to add DQ to Smash. I never claimed otherwise. I was referencing the fact that it was something Sakurai already wanted to do.

 

[DarthEnderX]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

So... who's next?

Ryu Hayabusa from Dead Or Alive.

 

[Gengar84]

Ryu Hayabusa from Dead Or Alive.

In that case, change my vote to Rash from Killer Instinct.

 

[Baysha]

I’m that case, change my vote to Rash from Killer Instinct.

Imagine if Link from Soul Calibur got in.

 

[Chuderz]

If I had my way for a fighting game character it'd be Scorpion. It's total bull**** that his game series recently got banned in Japan. I guess it's holding him back but it really shouldn't. It's Mortal Kombat... It's the one out of the whole bunch of current reps that's still missing representation. I'm sorry but Virtua Fighter? Ugh please no. Almost nobody would care, much less the fighting game community where Virtua Fighter is considered a joke. No offense to any fans in this thread obviously. I think Virtua Fighter is best represented by the assist trophies/mii costumes.

Soul Calibur I guess out of the realizable options. I'd be okay with Nightmare/Siegfried echo situation. That way you get one wielding Soul Edge and the other wielding Soul Calibur which makes for the perfect series representation I feel like. I'd like a stance change system to help it feel like the games. This guy's video is what informed my concept of how that'd be implemented into Smash. Personally though I'd map it to a "Shield-B" input because I'd like that input to become standard someday.

Nightmare FOR SMASH! (Character Moveset Concept #7)

What if Nightmare from Soulcalibur was in Super Smash Bros.?

www.youtube.com

 

[ZelDan]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

The one I;d most like to see is easily Sol Badguy. The character himself is cool and getting GG music in Smash would just be the icing on the cake.

If not him, Chun Li would be cool. Never really got into Street Fighter myself but there's no denying how big a get she'd be.

I could maybe see Soul Calibur making it in. We already got one big namco fighting game in Smash so I certainly could see their other biggest make it. I don't follow the series much anymore but I did love the hell out of Soul Calibur 2 and also played a bit of 3 and 4, so I do have some level of connection to the franchise..

 

[PeridotGX]

While we're talking about Fighting Game characters, I have to mention these extraordinarily well made mods. These aren't characters that would ever be added to real smash, but they're still really cool.

 

[Yamat08]

Imagine if Link from Soul Calibur got in.

Funnily enough, that suggestion could actually work. I mean, Ocarina of Time adult Link is technically one of the few casualties of Everyone Is Here (alongside the likes of Mega Charizard X and the Twilight Princess cast).

 

[Chuderz]

So here's another idea I have that kind of goes with standardizing the right-stick as the tilt stick. Repurposing the get-up attack into a whole "new" move called the Crouch-attack! With a slight reanimation the entire cast's get-up attacks can be retooled into a whole new option! The reanimation is of course necessary to make the attack visually fluid from the crouch position as opposed to the knocked-down position both frontward and backward. The input would be Down-A.

The main issue with this is the current standard layout and small restate between a down-tilt and this new crouch-attack but thanks to Kazuya expanding upon Smash's potential that's already settled design. Simply replace down-tilt in its current position on the status quo layout with crouch-attack and then have down-tilt be mapped to down-diagonal-forward-A and down-diagonal-backward-A inputs! Problem solved. Of course you could switch down-tilt and crouch attack in my hypothetical solution to keep down-tilt in its traditional spot but I think it's best to do it the way I proposed so that crouch-attack is standardized in its position across the entire cast.

Since I brought up Kazuya I'd also like to say he'd basically feel absolutely impossible to play properly without having your right-stick set to tilts. I honestly don't see the value in the current status quo of Smash attacks being set to right-stick. It's there if you want it of course thanks to button-mapping but Smash attacks are so pitifully easy to input with tap/hold-directional-A inputs that I legitimately didn't even know my C-stick did anything back in Melee/Brawl as a child. I'm half-ashamed to admit I never used it at all in my many hours of play.

 

[osby]

If I had my way for a fighting game character it'd be Scorpion. It's total bull**** that his game series recently got banned in Japan. I guess it's holding him back but it really shouldn't. It's Mortal Kombat... It's the one out of the whole bunch of current reps that's still missing representation. I'm sorry but Virtua Fighter? Ugh please no. Almost nobody would care, much less the fighting game community where Virtua Fighter is considered a joke. No offense to any fans in this thread obviously. I think Virtua Fighter is best represented by the assist trophies/mii costumes.

Not to be petty but I'm happy that Mortal Kombat will stay out of Smash for the foreseeable future if its fandom's way of showing support is to throw other influential and critically acclaimed fighters under the bus.

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Not to be petty but I'm happy that Mortal Kombat will stay out of Smash for the foreseeable future if its fandom's way of showing support is to throw other influential and critically acclaimed fighters under the bus.

Unless he would be Mii Costume.

 

[Geno Boost]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

Honestly I hope it’s Sukapon from Joy mech fight I feel like he should be in smash since the very beginning of it
Otherwise I would like Hsein-Ko from darkstalker and Gil from street fighters and Sub-Zero from mortal kombat and I guess Harry from teleroboxer if teleroboxer does counts as fighting game

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Honestly I hope it’s Sukapon from Joy mech fight I feel like he should be in smash since the very beginning of it
Otherwise I would like Hsein-Ko from darkstalker and Gil from street fighters and Sub-Zero from mortal kombat and I guess Harry from teleroboxer if teleroboxer does counts as fighting game

Yeah, Sukapon could be cool for Smash as Fighting Game Rep.
We need 1st Party Retro Fighting rep in game, which is really cool.

 

[Gengar84]

Yeah, Sukapon could be cool for Smash as Fighting Game Rep.
We need 1st Party Retro Fighting rep in game, which is really cool.

How about Star Man or the Amazon from Pro Wrestling on the NES? I’m not sure how many people remember that Nintendo actually made a wrestling game. It’s sad that it never got any reference in Smash to my knowledge.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

So here's a question.

Smash likes to put in fighting game characters at this point. It's a pretty blatant pattern.

First we get Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, then Terry from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters, Min Min from ARMS and then Kazuya from Tekken. Pretty much every batch of characters since Smash 4 DLC included at least one new Fighting Game character.

So... who's next? Would it be an old classic like Akira from Virtua Fighter? A modern stat like Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear? Maybe someone more lowkey like Nightmare from Soul Calibur? They could even go back and include more from current franchises like Chun-Li and Twintelle.

What do you think?

As a long-time fan of the fighting genre, I would like to see Nightmare, Sol, Iori, Nakoruru, Chun-li/M.Bison/Akuma, Kasumi. Geese Howard, Scorpion, Fulgore, and Morrigan. Quite a large list but if I had to narrow it down to a select few, then Nakoruru, Sol, or Fulgore.

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

How about Star Man or the Amazon from Pro Wrestling on the NES? I’m not sure how many people remember that Nintendo actually made a wrestling game. It’s sad that it never got any reference in Smash to my knowledge.

Nah, he can be Assist Trophy character.

 

[osby]

If Heihachi's Mii costume resulting in Kazuya is anything to go by, Virtua Fighter and King of Fighters are two fighting game series I'd keep an eye on.

An ArcSystemWorks character also seems like an obvious pick, most likely someone from Guilty Gear.

 

[Gengar84]

Nah, he can be Assist Trophy character.

That’s fair. As long as the game gets any kind of recognition at all, that’s would be cool. Honestly, I didn’t even play it much as a kid but it still left enough of an impression somehow that I still think about the game once in a while.

As far as a Guilty Gear or Blazblue rep goes, do you think they would try to keep the cool cel shaded aesthetic from the games or just try to make them fit better with the rest of the roster? ArcSys shading is some of the coolest stuff I’ve ever seen in a video game. The characters almost don’t even look like 3D models anymore and look more like drawings. I’d personally love to see the whole Smash roster in the next game rendered in that style but that’s a long shot.

 

[Geno Boost]

How about Star Man or the Amazon from Pro Wrestling on the NES? I’m not sure how many people remember that Nintendo actually made a wrestling game. It’s sad that it never got any reference in Smash to my knowledge.

I feel like has killed the chances of another wrestling type of character as that what he was chosen for in the first place
To be honest I would prefer having Pro wrestling rep over to full fill the wrestling type of playstyle as it would be possible that Pro wrestling rep could get the koopalings treatment which would be amazing to have all the 7 Pro wrestling characters at once also all being revived for the first time in 3D and HD

 

[Sucumbio]

I feel like has killed the chances of another wrestling type of character as that what he was chosen for in the first place
To be honest I would prefer having Pro wrestling rep over to full fill the wrestling type of playstyle as it would be possible that Pro wrestling rep could get the koopalings treatment which would be amazing to have all the 7 Pro wrestling characters at once also all being revived for the first time in 3D and HD

I think him being a Pokemon is more his identity than being a wrestler. I also kinda feel like he's unique to ultimate though that's prolly bias since I don't really like him as a character. But I understand and respect your view.

 

[Gengar84]

I feel like has killed the chances of another wrestling type of character as that what he was chosen for in the first place
To be honest I would prefer having Pro wrestling rep over to full fill the wrestling type of playstyle as it would be possible that Pro wrestling rep could get the koopalings treatment which would be amazing to have all the 7 Pro wrestling characters at once also all being revived for the first time in 3D and HD

I do like Incineroar and it has grown on me but I agree. I was really hoping for Golisopod as the Gen 7 rep since it’s in my top 5 favorite Pokémon ever. I admit that it was never all that likely though. The biggest point it had in its favor was the fact that it was Guzma’s main Pokémon.

 

[Guynamednelson]

I feel like has killed the chances of another wrestling type of character as that what he was chosen for in the first place
To be honest I would prefer having Pro wrestling rep over to full fill the wrestling type of playstyle as it would be possible that Pro wrestling rep could get the koopalings treatment which would be amazing to have all the 7 Pro wrestling characters at once also all being revived for the first time in 3D and HD

If he gets cut or they have to rely heavily on echoes because EIH2 strips them of their ability to make any unique fighters, Star Man could take the opportunity to reuse Incineroar assets.

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

If he gets cut or they have to rely heavily on echoes because EIH2 strips them of their ability to make any unique fighters, Star Man could take the opportunity to reuse Incineroar assets.

Cool idea, but the Pro Wrestling franchise is so obscure, which it makes it harder to join.

 

[chocolatejr9]

The year's almost over, and Twitter is already hyping up the next Direct. I feel I should remind everybody that the only time we had a January Direct during the Switch era was 2018, and that was a Mini Direct. So we're probably waiting until February.

Man, it's gonna take some getting used to knowing there won't be anymore Smash updates in these Directs...

 

[Chuderz]

Not to be petty but I'm happy that Mortal Kombat will stay out of Smash for the foreseeable future if its fandom's way of showing support is to throw other influential and critically acclaimed fighters under the bus.

Well okay but I think that is very petty and quite a stretch if it's directed at me. If we're talking about influential and critically acclaimed fighters then Scorpion is substantially more significant to video games as a whole than anybody from Virtua Fighter. Virtua Fighter had its time and place like once forever ago while Mortal Kombat is still pushing the genre forward today. Scorpion is instantly recognizable to non-gamers and honestly deserves to join Smash on his own merits. I think overstating Virtua FIghter's overall appeal and legacy is pointless. Even SEGA has seemingly given up on it with MAYBE a Soul Calibur 6 situation in the works MAYBE as a last-ditch effort to revitalize the series but that remains to be seen and very well might not happen at all considering there are confirmed no plans for the series currently. The most recent game in the series is a remaster of a 15-year-old game that was supposed to test the waters. I think it's fairly obvious that it failed but really can't hold that against it considering it's an extremely old game competing in a modern market. Also as a complete aside I'd welcome a revitalized Virtua Fighter series back in the marketplace. Having a whole big publisher/developer behind its own fighting game would be healthy competition.

Now all that being said I'd never hold it against anybody to stan/hype up their series. A character I desperately want, being Crash Bandicoot, is riding primarily on legacy/nostalgia (though I think it's also fair to say that Crash 4 pushed the platforming genre forward some and was a very well polished game) and Banjo-Kazooie ended up getting in regardless of the state of their franchise. I'm just being brutally honest and I also in no way am representative of Mortal Kombat fans as a whole and acting like I am is unfair.

The only thing holding Mortal Kombat back from Smash is something artificial and entirely unnecessary as well as being unfair to its fans. The things holding Virtua Fighter up is Japanese nostalgia/bias straight-up as well as current representation in the game now. I think it's also telling of Virtua Fighter's legacy that Sakurai opted to go the purely nostalgic route for Akira's AT.

Then honestly besides all of this I think Scorpion just adds a much more fun playstyle to the game. He's got an iconic tether grab to offer, a sick as **** soundtrack, a bats-within/foresight gimmick tailored ready, the potential to be repurposed into a Sub-Zero semiclone with Smash's already established ice physics and so on. I just think he'd be cool, fun and hype and for myself a character from Virtua Fighter would be none of that.