Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Borskaboska]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you all something for a while now.

What do we all think the next Smash Bros. game's intro is going to be like? Both animation-wise AND music-wise?

Personally, I'd like something like Smash 64 and Melee, animation-wise. Where the intro uses pre-rendered cutscenes (that are exclusive to said intro) that plays up Smash's nature of being a huge crossover between the Nintendo multiverse/gaming multiverse.

Music-wise, however? I think it's about time Smash Bros. got someone like Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z) or Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece) to really bring the hype for a new Smash Bros. opening.

I'll say this much... PLEASE, do NOT give future Smash Bros. game intros something like Lifelight. EVER AGAIN.

No shade to Erina Koga and Abby Trott. They're beautiful singers, but Lifelight (as the INTRO to a Smash Bros. game) kind of kills the hype for me a bit, ngl.

Sakurai very clearly has a good eye when it comes to story boarding character reveals and such, so i don't doubt it'll look cool. Showing off the different characters one by one, they strike a pose and show out some signature attack, it all takes place in some ambiguous plain or empty ravine. And we will all love it.

A huge thing thats happened to fighting games since Ult was in production was the massive success of Guilty Gear Strive. Strive prooves that a good artstyle can absolutely sell a game; its crazy to think now but before strive GG was a pretty niche franchise. I could see Sakurai taking inspiration from strive for the artstyle in the next game.

Sakurai tends to do opera/classical for the openings to give the game a "grand" feel, like smash is this huge mythic event that can only be expressed through the same genre as a church choir. But if they were to use something different, I'd go for Jazz Fusion. Like it's a fusion of styles, and smash is a fusion of franchises. And i think it realy embodies the energetic nature of smash matches.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

I'm not sure what I want from the next Smash musically, just please no more soap opera opening titles every time you boot up the game

 

[BritishGuy54]

Maybe going back to Smash 4’s music style and bringing something new into it is the best move.

 

[fogbadge]

Sakurai very clearly has a good eye when it comes to story boarding character reveals and such, so i don't doubt it'll look cool.

yeah remember that pulse pounding excitement of a game dumping people off a cliff

 

[Swamp Sensei]

yeah remember that pulse pounding excitement of a game dumping people off a cliff

You joke, but that's one of the most important plot points in the Tekken series. It makes perfect sense that it would be in the trailer. It's what made Kazuya, Kazuya.

 

[Gorgonzales]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you all something for a while now.

What do we all think the next Smash Bros. game's intro is going to be like? Both animation-wise AND music-wise?

Personally, I'd like something like Smash 64 and Melee, animation-wise. Where the intro uses pre-rendered cutscenes (that are exclusive to said intro) that plays up Smash's nature of being a huge crossover between the Nintendo multiverse/gaming multiverse.

Music-wise, however? I think it's about time Smash Bros. got someone like Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z) or Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece) to really bring the hype for a new Smash Bros. opening.

I'll say this much... PLEASE, do NOT give future Smash Bros. game intros something like Lifelight. EVER AGAIN.

No shade to Erina Koga and Abby Trott. They're beautiful singers, but Lifelight (as the INTRO to a Smash Bros. game) kind of kills the hype for me a bit, ngl.

I want a fully-original CGI opening. No cutscene or trailer re-use.
There's a reason Melee's intro is touted as one of, if not the best intros in the series.

 

[fogbadge]

You joke, but that's one of the most important plot points in the Tekken series. It makes perfect sense that it would be in the trailer. It's what made Kazuya, Kazuya.

i know but it was still so underwhelming.

it looks like he’s clearing up after sephiroth’s trailer

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you all something for a while now.

What do we all think the next Smash Bros. game's intro is going to be like? Both animation-wise AND music-wise?

Personally, I'd like something like Smash 64 and Melee, animation-wise. Where the intro uses pre-rendered cutscenes (that are exclusive to said intro) that plays up Smash's nature of being a huge crossover between the Nintendo multiverse/gaming multiverse.

Music-wise, however? I think it's about time Smash Bros. got someone like Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z) or Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece) to really bring the hype for a new Smash Bros. opening.

I'll say this much... PLEASE, do NOT give future Smash Bros. game intros something like Lifelight. EVER AGAIN.

No shade to Erina Koga and Abby Trott. They're beautiful singers, but Lifelight (as the INTRO to a Smash Bros. game) kind of kills the hype for me a bit, ngl.

Well first of all this Lifelight slander will not stand. But as far as openings go, a dedicated animation for it would be cool, and is possible, but I think the most we can expect is the now typical reuse of cutscenes made for other purposes. I dunno what the music's gonna be since each game has had a very different style.

Am I the only one that likes...for lack of a better term, "lower energy" battle themes? I've seen stuff like "oh yeah, they made those changes to Counterattack to make it more fitting for a fight" when it's literally a battle theme. Perfection Can't Please me isn't exactly low energy, but I've also seen a few people not liking it due to it "not fitting a fight" even though the beat is all like "can't stop won't stop me now". Even more strangely, they do seem to like Mirror of the World even though it takes so long to get going that the match is over by the time we get to the first verse if we even get there.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

The next Smash's intro cutscene should start with the camera slowly panning from a waterfall to thr river, while warm, moody music by Angelo Badalamenti plays in the background.

 

[Megadoomer]

https://x.com/SmashBrosJP/status/1800422718724333901

For anyone who missed them, the first batch of new spirits (Noah and Mio, Rauru, Oatchi, and the Splatoon 3 hosts) is being added back to the spirit board, so the rest should follow in the coming weeks.

 

[Oracle Link]

I don’t know a ton about Mother/Earthbound but I’m not sure Paula’s proportions really work for an echo. She looks a lot taller and thinner than Ness. Kind of like Peach to Mario. Giygas does have a cool design so he could be fun. Not sure whether his abilities are similar to Mewtwo where he would make sense as an echo but they definitely look similar at least. Porky’s spider mech he used in Brawl could be cool too.

Okay true shes actually a tiny bit taller! But i dont think she left the Realm of Echo/ Alt she could be made just a bit smaller!
And i think her sprite had the same height as nesses!

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I don’t know a ton about Mother/Earthbound but I’m not sure Paula’s proportions really work for an echo. She looks a lot taller and thinner than Ness. Kind of like Peach to Mario. Giygas does have a cool design so he could be fun. Not sure whether his abilities are similar to Mewtwo where he would make sense as an echo but they definitely look similar at least. Porky’s spider mech he used in Brawl could be cool too.

Okay true shes actually a tiny bit taller! But i dont think she left the Realm of Echo/ Alt she could be made just a bit smaller!
And i think her sprite had the same height as nesses!

Her concept art clay model thingy does seem slightly taller than the others, but pretty negligibly so. It's hard to judge with posing, but this seems to have carried over with her model in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She's also thinner, and while it's hard to judge because of the dress, she does seem to have a bit longer limbs and a shorter torso.

It probably wouldn't cause any problems to minorly adjust her to fit Ness's rigging. She could even be scaled up slightly to fit her marginally taller stature. Now, whether or not they'd actually want to do that is an entirely different story, but I don't think it'd be weird looking if they did. Also if they do I want her to have at least a taunt with the Teddy Bear. Super bonus points if they replace PSI Magnet with a move inspired by the Teddy Bear mechanic.

EDIT: Ooh! You know what would be super cool? Her down taunt could be Pray. Paula gets on her knees and prays for an absurdly long time. When the taunt finally ends, one of the following things happens:

Spoiler

• A random other player takes 50-90%.
• Everyone is mushroomized (Ramblin' Evil Mushroom item effect).
• A random player is healed down to 0%.
• Everyone gets a flower on their head.
• Everyone gets a wind effect on them for a few seconds. While it lasts, they take 1.5x damage.
• Everyone is inflicted with sleep.
• Everyone with a meter has that meter filled.
• Everyone heals 5%.
• Everyone heals 20%.
• Everyone gains a stock (or a K.O. if in a time match).

 

[RileyXY1]

Her concept art clay model thingy does seem slightly taller than the others, but pretty negligibly so. It's hard to judge with posing, but this seems to have carried over with her model in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She's also thinner, and while it's hard to judge because of the dress, she does seem to have a bit longer limbs and a shorter torso.

It probably wouldn't cause any problems to minorly adjust her to fit Ness's rigging. She could even be scaled up slightly to fit her marginally taller stature. Now, whether or not they'd actually want to do that is an entirely different story, but I don't think it'd be weird looking if they did. Also if they do I want her to have at least a taunt with the Teddy Bear. Super bonus points if they replace PSI Magnet with a move inspired by the Teddy Bear mechanic.

Although PSI Magnet is a move she actually uses in Earthbound.

 

[Oracle Link]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you all something for a while now.

What do we all think the next Smash Bros. game's intro is going to be like? Both animation-wise AND music-wise?

Personally, I'd like something like Smash 64 and Melee, animation-wise. Where the intro uses pre-rendered cutscenes (that are exclusive to said intro) that plays up Smash's nature of being a huge crossover between the Nintendo multiverse/gaming multiverse.

Music-wise, however? I think it's about time Smash Bros. got someone like Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z) or Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece) to really bring the hype for a new Smash Bros. opening.

I'll say this much... PLEASE, do NOT give future Smash Bros. game intros something like Lifelight. EVER AGAIN.

No shade to Erina Koga and Abby Trott. They're beautiful singers, but Lifelight (as the INTRO to a Smash Bros. game) kind of kills the hype for me a bit, ngl.

I Think something like Chala Head Chla would fit Smash! Something Upbeat, slightly silly but with some punch to it!

Her concept art clay model thingy does seem slightly taller than the others, but pretty negligibly so. It's hard to judge with posing, but this seems to have carried over with her model in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She's also thinner, and while it's hard to judge because of the dress, she does seem to have a bit longer limbs and a shorter torso.

It probably wouldn't cause any problems to minorly adjust her to fit Ness's rigging. She could even be scaled up slightly to fit her marginally taller stature. Now, whether or not they'd actually want to do that is an entirely different story, but I don't think it'd be weird looking if they did. Also if they do I want her to have at least a taunt with the Teddy Bear. Super bonus points if they replace PSI Magnet with a move inspired by the Teddy Bear mechanic.

EDIT: Ooh! You know what would be super cool? Her down taunt could be Pray. Paula gets on her knees and prays for an absurdly long time. When the taunt finally ends, one of the following things happens:

Spoiler

• A random other player takes 50-90%.
• Everyone is mushroomized (Ramblin' Evil Mushroom item effect).
• A random player is healed down to 0%.
• Everyone gets a flower on their head.
• Everyone gets a wind effect on them for a few seconds. While it lasts, they take 1.5x damage.
• Everyone is inflicted with sleep.
• Everyone with a meter has that meter filled.
• Everyone heals 5%.
• Everyone heals 20%.
• Everyone gains a stock (or a K.O. if in a time match).

I Think Paula should also get Pk Freeze From Lucas but thats a given me thinks!

 

[RileyXY1]

Although I'm not sure if Earthbound will even get another character. I think it's getting knocked back down to just Ness next game.

 

[BritishGuy54]

Although I'm not sure if Earthbound will even get another character. I think it's getting knocked back down to just Ness next game.

Yeah. Ness is likely going to be the only face from the Mother series here on out, and I’d think that with a roster around Brawl’s size is where I can see Ness himself getting cut.

It’s not even like Star Fox or F-Zero where its dormancy could be seen as a missed opportunity. Mother ended on its own terms, as it seems.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Yeah. Ness is likely going to be the only face from the Mother series here on out, and I’d think that with a roster around Brawl’s size is where I can see Ness himself getting cut.

It’s not even like Star Fox or F-Zero where its dormancy could be seen as a missed opportunity. Mother ended on its own terms, as it seems.

Yeah but he's still an iconic face of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. One does not simply just remove a character like that.

 

[RileyXY1]

Yeah but he's still an iconic face of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. One does not simply just remove a character like that.

Yeah. Ness is extremely popular and one of the defining characters of the series. Smash also raised awareness for Earthbound and now it sold like hotcakes on the Wii U Virtual Console and its addition to NSO took up an entire section of a Direct all on its own. I just can't see Ness getting cut.

 

[Louie G.]

It’s not even like Star Fox or F-Zero where its dormancy could be seen as a missed opportunity. Mother ended on its own terms, as it seems.

This is a bit of an odd standard to hold a series to IMO. In maintaining its integrity and ending the story on its own terms, it makes it more expendable than series that Nintendo has willingly neglected? Realistically none of these three series should be in any danger when it comes to Smash, but if that's your reasoning behind it I'm just kind of confused why it makes Mother in particular less salvageable. It's punishing a series for knowing when it's said what it needs to say. In my opinion, this is practically an anti-art mindset. I have more faith in Smash than that.

I think there's place in Smash, even at its most conservative, for characters just representing one really good, culturally important and beloved game. It's not really like the series, at least under Sakurai's control, to be so superficial to use Smash as exclusively a tool to showcase whatever Nintendo can feasibly sell or might have interest in selling later. As fans we should also really take a stand against that, because it's antithetical to the celebratory nature of the series and the way it amplifies the artistry and beacons of creativity across all of Nintendo history. The moment Smash is no longer a creator driven series is when we may need to be concerned, but Sakurai still has dominant creative control to elevate all of the old, new and evergreen unless Nintendo is actively opposed to a series continuing to be acknowledged at all. The treatment of the Mother series on Switch / NSO implies otherwise.

If I may spin it for a second - if the Xenoblade name was retired after Xenoblade 3, and that story deemed complete, would we be talking about removing Shulk in the future? Does Metal Gear effectively concluding make Snake a character of less value? I would really hope that's not what it comes down to.

 

[BritishGuy54]

If I may spin it for a second - if the Xenoblade name was retired after Xenoblade 3, and that story deemed complete, would we be talking about removing Shulk in the future?

It depends. For a Smash 6, I wouldn’t remove them just yet. Smash 7 and still nothing? Maybe down to just one fighter would do.

I was mainly talking about a situation of a severe roster cut, which I doubt will happen.

 

[Gengar84]

This is a bit of an odd standard to hold a series to IMO. In maintaining its integrity and ending the story on its own terms, it makes it more expendable than series that Nintendo has willingly neglected? Realistically none of these three series should be in any danger when it comes to Smash, but if that's your reasoning behind it I'm just kind of confused why it makes Mother in particular less salvageable. It's punishing a series for knowing when it's said what it needs to say. In my opinion, this is practically an anti-art mindset. I have more faith in Smash than that.

I think there's place in Smash, even at its most conservative, for characters just representing one really good, culturally important and beloved game. It's not really like the series, at least under Sakurai's control, to be so superficial to use Smash as exclusively a tool to showcase whatever Nintendo can feasibly sell or might have interest in selling later. As fans we should also really take a stand against that, because it's antithetical to the celebratory nature of the series and the way it amplifies the artistry and beacons of creativity across all of Nintendo history. The moment Smash is no longer a creator driven series is when we may need to be concerned, but Sakurai still has dominant creative control to elevate all of the old, new and evergreen unless Nintendo is actively opposed to a series continuing to be acknowledged at all. The treatment of the Mother series on Switch / NSO implies otherwise.

If I may spin it for a second - if the Xenoblade name was retired after Xenoblade 3, and that story deemed complete, would we be talking about removing Shulk in the future? Does Metal Gear effectively concluding make Snake a character of less value? I would really hope that's not what it comes down to.

I completely agree with this even if I don’t have a ton of personal interest in the Mother series itself. I like the thought of Smash celebrating gaming history as a whole and not focusing exclusively on advertising. New characters from recent games are important too but I feel too many people just hyper focus on that aspect at the expense of everything that came before. Adding an older character to Smash can even bring in new fans to their home series and has the potential to lead to a revival of a dormant series like Brawl did for Pit.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

F-Zero getting dumped among the "dead" franchises despite 99 being decently popular and a pretty great game never fails to make me sad lol.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

F-Zero getting dumped among the "dead" franchises despite 99 being decently popular and a pretty great game never fails to make me sad lol.

I wouldn't be surprised if most people stop listening when they hear [X Series] 99.

I have heard that F-Zero 99 was great, but I still tend not to care, and since it's a Nintendo Switch Online exclusive, I can't even play it.

 

[Slime Scholar]

I don't expect they’ll cut Lucas in the next game but Mother’s presence in Smash is probably only going to shrink from this point on. The series is finished.

I wouldn't be surprised if most people stop listening when they hear [X Series] 99.

I have heard that F-Zero 99 was great, but I still tend not to care, and since it's a Nintendo Switch Online exclusive, I can't even play it.

I had a lot of fun with the game, but last time I played it, it felt like there was a core group of players that had more or less figured everything out and I was getting put in lobbies with people with 100+ 1st-place wins. It’s probably not any more forgiving now.

 

[Louie G.]

I don't expect they’ll cut Lucas in the next game but Mother’s presence in Smash is probably only going to shrink from this point on. The series is finished.

I expect that they will cut Lucas next game, to be honest. I’d be surprised if they didn’t. I just don’t think we’ll ever be in a situation where Ness is in real danger so long as Sakurai is still around and the roster doesn’t straight up reboot (like, a REAL reboot) to like 25 characters.

And yeah, Mother probably won’t get any new characters unless people get really vocal about it. But it’s still fun to talk about, the series has a colorful cast bursting with potential. Personally I wish I could be a little more confident in Porky’s odds.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

I expect that they'll cut Lucas, but he may come back as DLC like he did in 4, though it definitely depends on how many characters get cut and where the priorities are.

If I remember right, Sakurai said at one point that if he knew Mother 3 wasn't coming westward, he wouldn't have included Lucas, and while obviously there's no way to tell where his opinion lies now, I think it makes sense to assume Lucas is lower priority than a lot of characters.

I don't think Ness will ever be in danger of being cut though just because of his position as one of the original 12 outside of a crazy small roster reboot MAYBE, just like how I never think Jigglypuff is in any danger despite some people having views to the contrary.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I don't think Ness will ever be in danger of being cut though just because of his position as one of the original 12 outside of a crazy small roster reboot MAYBE, just like how I never think Jigglypuff is in any danger despite some people having views to the contrary.

I think this is due to three things:

1. Jigglypuff is polarizing popularity wise. The whole "buff the puff" thing made it clear that the character has fans, but it probably has just as many, if not more people who want The Balloon Pokémon gone.
2. When downsizing rosters, Jigglypuff is extremely annoying to handle. You're probably only going to want to have 4-5 Pokémon characters on the roster, and you aren't going to want Gen 1 Pokémon to dominate your choices. Unfortunately, Pikachu and Pokémon Trainer are already 4 Gen 1 characters who kinda have to be there unless you've got an unorthodox plan for the trainer, or cut him and keep Charizard or something. Then you've got to look at Lucario, Mewtwo, Greninja, and Incineroar, and forgo most or all of them for Jigglypuff.
3. Jigglypuff did not make Super Smash Bros. Brawl's roster. She was added in during the development extension, but if they didn't take a bit longer to throw Sonic together, she would have been gone, which sends the message that Sakurai doesn't view her as essential, which is validating for those that want her gone.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm also one of the people that can see her leaving, mostly for reasons 2 and 3. I like the Pokémon, but I still ended up cutting her in my mockup roster.

 

[Gengar84]

I think this is due to three things:

1. Jigglypuff is polarizing popularity wise. The whole "buff the puff" thing made it clear that the character has fans, but it probably has just as many, if not more people who want The Balloon Pokémon gone.
2. When downsizing rosters, Jigglypuff is extremely annoying to handle. You're probably only going to want to have 4-5 Pokémon characters on the roster, and you aren't going to want Gen 1 Pokémon to dominate your choices. Unfortunately, Pikachu and Pokémon Trainer are already 4 Gen 1 characters who kinda have to be there unless you've got an unorthodox plan for the trainer, or cut him and keep Charizard or something. Then you've got to look at Lucario, Mewtwo, Greninja, and Incineroar, and forgo most or all of them for Jigglypuff.
3. Jigglypuff did not make Super Smash Bros. Brawl's roster. She was added in during the development extension, but if they didn't take a bit longer to throw Sonic together, she would have been gone, which sends the message that Sakurai doesn't view her as essential, which is validating for those that want her gone.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm also one of the people that can see her leaving, mostly for reasons 2 and 3. I like the Pokémon, but I still ended up cutting her in my mockup roster.

Jigglypuff has actually been my brother’s main for most of Smash until Ultimate where he started using Lucina and Palutena more. I think he’d be sad to see her go for that reason. There are tons of Pokemon we both like more than Puff but it would suck to lose your main you’ve played for the whole series.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

I think this is due to three things:

1. Jigglypuff is polarizing popularity wise. The whole "buff the puff" thing made it clear that the character has fans, but it probably has just as many, if not more people who want The Balloon Pokémon gone.
2. When downsizing rosters, Jigglypuff is extremely annoying to handle. You're probably only going to want to have 4-5 Pokémon characters on the roster, and you aren't going to want Gen 1 Pokémon to dominate your choices. Unfortunately, Pikachu and Pokémon Trainer are already 4 Gen 1 characters who kinda have to be there unless you've got an unorthodox plan for the trainer, or cut him and keep Charizard or something. Then you've got to look at Lucario, Mewtwo, Greninja, and Incineroar, and forgo most or all of them for Jigglypuff.
3. Jigglypuff did not make Super Smash Bros. Brawl's roster. She was added in during the development extension, but if they didn't take a bit longer to throw Sonic together, she would have been gone, which sends the message that Sakurai doesn't view her as essential, which is validating for those that want her gone.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm also one of the people that can see her leaving, mostly for reasons 2 and 3. I like the Pokémon, but I still ended up cutting her in my mockup roster.

This is all fair, I just don't expect to see Puff get the boot, nor do I want her to because the original 12 feels like such an ironclad thing, even if it's only by technicality in Brawl lol

Plus I kind of have a hard time seeing them cut Puff right after introducing a Paradox version of it and giving it a little bit of the limelight in Scarlet and Violet's plot by extension, even if it's only a tiny bit.

 

[ninjahmos]

Jazz Fusion in Smash would actually be pretty cool...

 

[Gengar84]

Jazz Fusion in Smash would actually be pretty cool...

Is that basically Persona 5’s musical style? I did like a lot of music from that game, particularly the songs with a bit of a rock influence mixed in like in Scramble.

I don’t really know enough about music to really name many specific genres or styles but my favorite band is Evanescence. It would be cool to have something in that general style for an opening. I mostly listen to video game and anime soundtracks so my opinion on music probably doesn’t count for much lol.

I always thought this fan video of a Fall Out Boy song actually made for a pretty cool Smash opening:

My Smash Bros. What You Did in The Dark 1.04: Hyper Deluxe Remix Complete All-Stars Battle Royale

Hot N Fresh out the kitchen. There will be no patch notes.Once again, the music belongs to Fall Out Boy and the footage to Nintendo.

m.youtube.com

 

[BritishGuy54]

Maybe for music, to elaborate on my earlier post, maybe doing a mix between Smash 4’s style and something like jazz would be neat.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I think this is due to three things:

1. Jigglypuff is polarizing popularity wise. The whole "buff the puff" thing made it clear that the character has fans, but it probably has just as many, if not more people who want The Balloon Pokémon gone.
2. When downsizing rosters, Jigglypuff is extremely annoying to handle. You're probably only going to want to have 4-5 Pokémon characters on the roster, and you aren't going to want Gen 1 Pokémon to dominate your choices. Unfortunately, Pikachu and Pokémon Trainer are already 4 Gen 1 characters who kinda have to be there unless you've got an unorthodox plan for the trainer, or cut him and keep Charizard or something. Then you've got to look at Lucario, Mewtwo, Greninja, and Incineroar, and forgo most or all of them for Jigglypuff.
3. Jigglypuff did not make Super Smash Bros. Brawl's roster. She was added in during the development extension, but if they didn't take a bit longer to throw Sonic together, she would have been gone, which sends the message that Sakurai doesn't view her as essential, which is validating for those that want her gone.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm also one of the people that can see her leaving, mostly for reasons 2 and 3. I like the Pokémon, but I still ended up cutting her in my mockup roster.

This goes to show Jigglypuff is also relatively easy to program in. This was always a factor for Jigglypuff to stay around, amongst being a 64 veteran.

There's no reason to not have her. Pokémon is huge and has a big focus on characters. So it kinda goes hand in hand.

I wouldn't be surprised she'd be gone one day however. But only if they'd choose to, and go out of their way to cut characters or something.

 

[Will]

Jigglypuff did not make Super Smash Bros. Brawl's roster. She was added in during the development extension, but if they didn't take a bit longer to throw Sonic together, she would have been gone, which sends the message that Sakurai doesn't view her as essential, which is validating for those that want her gone.

Was Jiggs the only one developed in this extension? I’d assume Toon Link and Wolf were as well but I don’t wanna be no donkey.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Was Jiggs the only one developed in this extension? I’d assume Toon Link and Wolf were as well but I don’t wanna be no donkey.

No you're right here. These where the "extra" developed characters. Roy and Mewtwo being close to done as well.

 

[Louie G.]

Jigglypuff is one of only two secondary series reps in Smash 64, and the other one is Luigi. So the gap is pretty significant, it makes sense she is the one sticking point. I don't think she will be cut, and if she is then I expect she will be one of the first returning veterans as DLC. The Original 12 status, however trivial, means a lot to people. Even if we lost like half the roster, I believe Jigglypuff would be among those most requested to come back.

She was almost cut in Brawl, but admittedly that was a long time ago. There's a pretty significant difference between an established veteran returning for the third game in the series, vs a perfect attendee returning for their sixth bout. It's possible this longevity means more now than it ever did...

But really, I just think Jigglypuff is historically so easy to develop and animate that there's virtually never any reason to do away with her. Bringing her back is likely "over" any number of last minute semiclones more than it is "over" any completely unique Pokemon like Mewtwo or Greninja.

 

[Wonder Smash]

I think Earthbound is too special of a series to have any cuts. If I'm not mistaken, Iwata was actually involved in the series and even if Mother 3 has not been released outside of Japan, Lucas is here and fans have been exposed to Mother 3 in some way and they still want the game itself There's no point in turning back now. Cutting Lucas would do more harm than good.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

If they were pulling from Gen 9, what would you guys think about them swapping out trainers in addition to adding a new character from Pokémon Scrarlet/Violet. Like, let's say we get Koraidon/Miraidon (or something), and Lucas/Dawn as the Pokémon Trainer with Tirtwig, Monferno, and Empoleon* as newcomers under their umbrella. Charizard would, of course, be added solo.

*It's a difficult call to make as to which Pokémon to pick of the nine options. Infernape and Piplup are pretty obvious inclusions, but that means you'd also have to do Grottle, who would be a bit of a challenge to implement. You could go with Turtwig, but then you'd have Prinplup, who is very unpopular. Turtwig, Monferno, and Empoleon seems like the best balance of popularity and functionality to me.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

I think Earthbound is too special of a series to have any cuts. If I'm not mistaken, Iwata was actually involved in the series and even if Mother 3 has not been released outside of Japan, Lucas is here and fans have been exposed to Mother 3 in some way and they still want the game itself There's no point in turning back now. Cutting Lucas would do more harm than good.

I would agree with this if it hadn't already happened before in Smash 4. And Smash 4 didn't even have to worry about cutting back after something like Everyone is Here, Lucas just... didn't make it into the base game.

 

[Louie G.]

If they were pulling from Gen 9, what would you guys think about them swapping out trainers in addition to adding a new character from Pokémon Scrarlet/Violet. Like, let's say we get Koraidon/Miraidon (or something), and Lucas/Dawn as the Pokémon Trainer with Tirtwig, Monferno, and Empoleon* as newcomers under their umbrella. Charizard would, of course, be added solo.

Personally, I'd rather them just go ahead and bring Gen 1 Pokemon Trainer back in this instance instead of developing three (and with a Gen 9/10 pick, four) brand new Pokemon characters with time and resources that could be distributed elsewhere. In Brawl was one thing but that feels a lot less defensible now, in my opinion. Particularly when many veteran Pokemon are already quite popular and would be disappointing losses in the wake of this new content. We're likely going to lose a few already, we don't need to create a scenario where we have to outright lose most of them to make space.