Nintendo's First Samurai: Takamaru for SSB4 (Final Request: Ask the US HW devs to add Takamaru)

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Manga? There's a manga? May I have a link?

I've found this image a while ago and it was on sale at EBay. I did remember seeing a board game based o NnMJ too in the past. This is proof that the TV Drama wasn't the only thing that Nintendo had done in the past to promote Nazo no Murasame-Jo.

 

[Cheezey Bites]

It's Nazo no seimei-tai (Mysterious Life Form).

I'ma hazard that doesn't mean extra-terestrial... but it's open enough that they could do anything they wanted with it really...

 

[Pacack]

Well, it's nice to see that Takamaru gets some good support around here. I'm not entirely familiar with the character myself, but from what I've seen thus far I think he would be an ideal retro choice for Sakurai to recreate down the road. On that note, I guess I could be added to the supporters list.

There is one question I'd like to ask of those more familiar with the series. What kind of stage do you think Takamaru could bring to the table? I'm curious because as Takamaru is a very Japanese style character, I would love to see a stage from his series that incorporated some Japanese features. Just looking off his mini game in Nintendo Land, I imagined that a sort of night stage with some pagodas and perhaps some flora like cherry blossom trees could make for a really beautiful arena.

I'd definitely go with Murasame Castle itself.

It's just the most fitting thing to be used for a stage.

I've found this image a while ago and it was on sale at EBay. I did remember seeing a board game based o NnMJ too in the past. This is proof that the TV Drama wasn't the only thing that Nintendo had done in the past to promote Nazo no Murasame-Jo.

I'll see if I can find it online.

It's Nazo no seimei-tai (Mysterious Life Form).

One of the mods here speaks Japanese or knows a native Japanese speaker, right? Might be able to get them to help us.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I'll see if I can find it online.

It's no longer available online since someone bought it a year ago. Sad thing is that almost everything Nazo no Murasame-Jo related from the 80's is extremely rare.

 

[AncientTobacco]

It's no longer available online since someone bought it a year ago. Sad thing is that almost everything Nazo no Murasame-Jo related from the 80's is extremely rare.

He probably meant scanned, not the physical product that was up for sale.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Well, it's nice to see that Takamaru gets some good support around here. I'm not entirely familiar with the character myself, but from what I've seen thus far I think he would be an ideal retro choice for Sakurai to recreate down the road. On that note, I guess I could be added to the supporters list.

There is one question I'd like to ask of those more familiar with the series. What kind of stage do you think Takamaru could bring to the table? I'm curious because as Takamaru is a very Japanese style character, I would love to see a stage from his series that incorporated some Japanese features. Just looking off his mini game in Nintendo Land, I imagined that a sort of night stage with some pagodas and perhaps some flora like cherry blossom trees could make for a really beautiful arena.

It would be sweet to have a SB64 Hyrule Castle throwback, in which you fight atop Murasame (or whichever) Castle, using the pagodas as your platforms with Japanese landscapes in the horizon.

This would be doubly appropriate given the Famicon Zelda-Murasame connection (in that the first ever Smash Murasame stage mirrors the first ever Smash Zelda stage).

 

[Pacack]

It's no longer available online since someone bought it a year ago. Sad thing is that almost everything Nazo no Murasame-Jo related from the 80's is extremely rare.

He probably meant scanned, not the physical product that was up for sale.

I'd be insane to try and find the physical product (though I would totally buy it if I did find it). I'll try looking for scans.

Also, the Japanese wikipedia page uses "は宇宙生命体" (Wa uchū seimei-tai), which translates literally into "space life form" or "cosmic organism" according to google translate (which is pretty good with words at the very least).

 

[False Sense]

It would be sweet to have a SB64 Hyrule Castle throwback, in which you fight atop Murasame (or whichever) Castle, using the pagodas as your platforms with Japanese landscapes in the horizon.

This would be doubly appropriate given the Famicon Zelda-Murasame connection (in that the first ever Smash Murasame stage mirrors the first ever Smash Zelda stage).

That could be pretty cool. I always did like that stage on the 64, and seeing a similar styled stage in SSB4, in HD graphics no less, could be very visually impressive.

I don't know, I've always been fond of Japanese environments, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with the stage potential Takamaru could bring.

 

[FlareHabanero]

I'd imagine a Murasame Stage would shift between being pristine to ravaged as a reference to the events of The Mysterious Murasame Castle.

It looks peaceful one second, and then the next the sky turns red and everything falls into chaos.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I hope it'll be a big stage, and shape shifting. Would be awesome.

 

[Pacack]

For the record, it's definitely an extraterrestrial force of some sort. It's literally "cosmic life force". It may not have anything to do with aliens, though. It may be more kin to "thing that came from space and messed stuff up" than "aliens are ruining everything".

 

[FlareHabanero]

Another concept I would be curious about is the ability to air dash.

Once in the air, you have the option to dash forward or backwards. It's similar to the concept of air dashing in other fighting games, and in those games it's used for both offense and defense. Offensively it's used as a form of approach and defensively it's used as a form of dodging. We don't have a concept like that in Super Smash Bros., the closest thing to that would be R.O.B.'s Robo-Booster. With an agile character like Takamaru, this would be a welcome concept that makes sense.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Another concept I would be curious about is the ability to air dash.

Once in the air, you have the option to dash forward or backwards. It's similar to the concept of air dashing in other fighting games, and in those games it's used for both offense and defense. Offensively it's used as a form of approach and defensively it's used as a form of dodging. We don't have a concept like that in Super Smash Bros., the closest thing to that would be R.O.B.'s Robo-Booster. With an agile character like Takamaru, this would be a welcome concept that makes sense.

Takamaru as Super Smash Bros.'s Zero confirmed!

But all jokes aside, air dashing would make him a versatile character in aerial combat. That's a new feature that haven't been used in Smash before and could be done in a great way.

 

[SchAlternate]

Takamaru as Super Smash Bros.'s Zero confirmed!

I can easily see his N-Air being Zero's spinning slash attack.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I can easily see his N-Air being Zero's spinning slash attack.

Or Takamaru pulling off Ryuujin.

 

[RhymesWithEmpty]

Totally random thought - what if Takamaru had a move mimicing when two Samurai charge toward each other and attack at the same time, like in movies or whatever, and then there's the delayed reaction to build the anticipation to see who got hit as they stand facing away from each other a few paces apart in their attack poses, and finally somebody falls down, wounded. So Takamaru charges, attacks, whatever kind of woodwind instrument it is you always hear in Samurai-related media blows dramatically, then the opponent suffers a delayed bit of knockback. Maybe they even add some cherry blossoms and the sound of wind blowing in his wake just to make it more cliched, awe man.

I don't know how this would be at all useful, I just thought it sounded cool

I've also been trying to think of some way to work Tanukis into his moveset, buuut I'm not really a moveset guy, as you might be able to tell by my confusing description of a probably crappy move above

 

[FlareHabanero]

That idea reminds me of Ike's Quick Draw from Project M.

That attack actually becomes a OHKO under the right conditions, which is fully charging the attack and slamming the opponent with the slash at the right time. When done correctly, the screen with flash red, the opponent will be stunned, and Ike will preform a taunt while proclaiming "You're through!", with the opponent being instantly KO'd afterwards.

 

[bksbestbwoy]

Totally random thought - what if Takamaru had a move mimicing when two Samurai charge toward each other and attack at the same time, like in movies or whatever, and then there's the delayed reaction to build the anticipation to see who got hit as they stand facing away from each other a few paces apart in their attack poses, and finally somebody falls down, wounded. So Takamaru charges, attacks, whatever kind of woodwind instrument it is you always hear in Samurai-related media blows dramatically, then the opponent suffers a delayed bit of knockback. Maybe they even add some cherry blossoms and the sound of wind blowing in his wake just to make it more cliched, awe man.

I don't know how this would be at all useful, I just thought it sounded cool

I've also been trying to think of some way to work Tanukis into his moveset, buuut I'm not really a moveset guy, as you might be able to tell by my confusing description of a probably crappy move above

So basically, you want him to be Sojiro?

I'm so down for this.

 

[LF2K]

Wouldn't it be cool if Takamaru spoke with an old Japanese dialect? His game took place several hundred years ago, so it'd be a nice touch.

 

[RhymesWithEmpty]

Uh. Yes. 100% yes.

Rurouni Kenshin was one of my favorite shows growing up, and Sojiro was one of my favorite characters - auuughhhh, the nostalgia! C'mon, Sakurai, all we want is a single badass samurai! One samurai in a fighting game, is that so much to ask?! D8

 

[Pacack]

Wouldn't it be cool if Takamaru spoke with an old Japanese dialect? His game took place several hundred years ago, so it'd be a nice touch.

All my yes.

Though I'd be fine with him speaking any dialect of Japanese.

Here's a question for you all; should Marth still speak Japanese too, or should Takamaru take over that role entirely?

 

[LF2K]

I'd like if Marth spoke English. We've played his games, we know his story, so having him finally speak English would be great .

But hopefully there will be a language toggle like Marvel vs. Capcom 3, so Japanese Marth can stay for tradition.

 

[SchAlternate]

I dunno, I kinda got used to Japanese speaking Marth, but I think it's time he has an English voice.

As long as he has a thick Japanese accent, I won't mind.

 

[Sehnsucht]

I think an Engrish Takamaru would be the best.

"I am Sumashu Burazurururu!"

 

[Zhadgon]

I can see Takamaru being played like Vergil in MvsC 3, it could be cool and have great moveset potential.
.n_n.

 

[UltimateWario]

I think an Engrish Takamaru would be the best.

"I am Sumashu Burazurururu!"

I ****ing lost it.

 

[Baskerville]

Takamaru's Final Smash better be this:

 

[egaddmario]

Takamaru's Final Smash better be this:

You stole my idea...

Another concept I would be curious about is the ability to air dash.

Once in the air, you have the option to dash forward or backwards. It's similar to the concept of air dashing in other fighting games, and in those games it's used for both offense and defense. Offensively it's used as a form of approach and defensively it's used as a form of dodging. We don't have a concept like that in Super Smash Bros., the closest thing to that would be R.O.B.'s Robo-Booster. With an agile character like Takamaru, this would be a welcome concept that makes sense.

Wouldn't air dashing kind of break the whole concept of recovering? Unless his weight and UpB are balanced, he would always come back. Although, Pit and ROB have their recovery, so i guess air dashing cooooould work....

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I think an Engrish Takamaru would be the best.

"I am Sumashu Burazurururu!"

Impossiburuuuuuu!

 

[Banjodorf]

I could see air dashing being balanced similar to Project M Mewtwo's float.

If he can use it as a sort of horizontal second jump, his up-b doesn't need to be nerfed, and it could give him a very interesting game.

 

[FlareHabanero]

Wouldn't air dashing kind of break the whole concept of recovering? Unless his weight and UpB are balanced, he would always come back. Although, Pit and ROB have their recovery, so i guess air dashing cooooould work....

Clearly someone missed that part where you can only do it once in the air.

Maybe twice, not sure. But maybe at the cost of a double jump.

 

[egaddmario]

Clearly someone missed that part where you can only do it once in the air.

Maybe twice, not sure. But maybe at the cost of a double jump.

...it appears i did...

 

[Pacack]

About to try Nazo no Murasame jo. Wish me luck. I'll need it.

 

[FlareHabanero]

Any, trying to make a prototype of the idea of a more input heavy character, a character that uses more then one input for many of his attacks and a mechanic that make the character switch between moves flawlessly.

Standard attack would be something along the lines of a upward slash, downward slash, middle slash, a quickly flurry of attacks, and then quickly preforming an uppercut and then slamming the ground as a finishing move.
Side tilt will be stab attacks up to two times, then preforming a downward kick that knocks the opponent down.
Forward smash would be Takamaru turning invisible, then reappearing to preform a quick downwards slash. If inputted again, he'll disappear then reappear using an upward slash.

This is pure prototype material, so keep that in mind.

 

[Pacack]

I'm having the most delightfully infuriating time of my life. Let me point a couple things out that I've learned:

He does not use his sword very often at all. He will use it when you're right next to an item or an enemy or when deflecting an attack. That's it. I definitely think that his gameplay would revolve more on projectiles than we're predicting in our movesets. It would be fine to use swordplay for A-moves and whatnot, but I'd definitely recommend making at least some of his specials projectiles. Seriously, the game uses more projectiles than the original LoZ does.

The game is hard, but really really fun. I would definitely recommend you pick up Nestopia, the Disk Drive Bios, and a Nazo no Murasame Jo ROM and try it out. Just keep in mind that you are going to die a lot and that the game is meant to take a lot of trial and error. There are dead ends and optional paths galore. You're meant to find the correct path after dying in the wrong places a few times. Also look in suspicious areas for secret items, because they're everywhere, and they are practically necessary for beating the level. Also, in the castle levels, feel free to go for the kidnapped maidens for extra lives if you need them, but be prepared to fight in case its not actually a maiden in the bag.

TL:DR The game is intense and addicting and Takamaru throws things a lot.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I'm having the most delightfully infuriating time of my life. Let me point a couple things out that I've learned:

He does not use his sword very often at all. He will use it when you're right next to an item or an enemy or when deflecting an attack. That's it. I definitely think that his gameplay would revolve more on projectiles than we're predicting in our movesets. It would be fine to use swordplay for A-moves and whatnot, but I'd definitely recommend making at least some of his specials projectiles. Seriously, the game uses more projectiles than the original LoZ does.

The game is hard, but really really fun. I would definitely recommend you pick up Nestopia, the Disk Drive Bios, and a Nazo no Murasame Jo ROM and try it out. Just keep in mind that you are going to die a lot and that the game is meant to take a lot of trial and error. There are dead ends and optional paths galore. You're meant to find the correct path after dying in the wrong places a few times. Also look in suspicious areas for secret items, because they're everywhere, and they are practically necessary for beating the level. Also, in the castle levels, feel free to go for the kidnapped maidens for extra lives if you need them, but be prepared to fight in case its not actually a maiden in the bag.

TL:DR The game is intense and addicting and Takamaru throws things a lot.

Believe me Pacack, I've learned the hard way years ago since this game was nothing compared to Metroid, Kid Icarus, or The Legend of Zelda in terms of difficulty. You can easily your way around in Hyrule, but definitely not in any of the NnMJ castles. Almost every enemy is on par with a Metroid, Wallmaster, and Reaper in terms of annoyance. The boss fights are almost as hard as the second to last bosses in the aforementioned games. It takes a retro game veteran to have good luck in this game.

 

[Deleted member]

The point about him not using his sword often makes me think he would have a primarily hand-to-hand style with sword strikes being saved for stronger hits (aside from the projectiles).

 

[Pacack]

Believe me Pacack, I've learned the hard way years ago since this game was nothing compared to Metroid, Kid Icarus, or The Legend of Zelda in terms of difficulty. You can easily your way around in Hyrule, but definitely not in any of the NnMJ castles. Almost every enemy is on par with a Metroid, Wallmaster, and Reaper in terms of annoyance. The boss fights are almost as hard as the second to last bosses in the aforementioned games. It takes a retro game veteran to have good luck in this game.

I fully expect that I'll need to use a cheat code to give me 99 lives so I activate invincibility. (Did you know that was a thing? Apparently, everyone thought it was a hoax until they actually checked it out. Without cheating, it supposedly takes at least half a day for a player that knows the game inside out to get that many lives.)

Currently, I'm stuck on the second castle, but I've almost beaten the boss a couple of times. Funnily enough though, I'm having less of a problem with this than I have with the original Metroid (for now, at least.) I just never could get good at that game for some reason.

I'll keep trying in my spare time to beat the game without cheats, but I doubt I'll make it past the third castle before it just gets too difficult for me (I'm hardly a master of retro games). This is assuming the difficulty continually increases at the rate it's been going, though, so it may be even earlier than that.

The point about him not using his sword often makes me think he would have a primarily hand-to-hand style with sword strikes being saved for stronger hits (aside from the projectiles).

From what I've played, I'm imagining him being a very fast and fairly projectile-heavy character that wrecks other projectile users with ease. He would use his sword occasionally, but it wouldn't be the focus of his playstyle at all. At least one move has to nullify (just nullify, not reflect) projectiles completely with his sword (like he does with non-magical attacks in his game), and it would be a good idea to have his really good killing blows be sword attacks (since his sword attack that activates when you're close to enemies is strong enough to kill the larger minion enemies that I've come across, it only makes sense).

 

[AncientTobacco]

I'm having the most delightfully infuriating time of my life. Let me point a couple things out that I've learned:

He does not use his sword very often at all. He will use it when you're right next to an item or an enemy or when deflecting an attack. That's it. I definitely think that his gameplay would revolve more on projectiles than we're predicting in our movesets. It would be fine to use swordplay for A-moves and whatnot, but I'd definitely recommend making at least some of his specials projectiles. Seriously, the game uses more projectiles than the original LoZ does.

The game is hard, but really really fun. I would definitely recommend you pick up Nestopia, the Disk Drive Bios, and a Nazo no Murasame Jo ROM and try it out. Just keep in mind that you are going to die a lot and that the game is meant to take a lot of trial and error. There are dead ends and optional paths galore. You're meant to find the correct path after dying in the wrong places a few times. Also look in suspicious areas for secret items, because they're everywhere, and they are practically necessary for beating the level. Also, in the castle levels, feel free to go for the kidnapped maidens for extra lives if you need them, but be prepared to fight in case its not actually a maiden in the bag.

TL:DR The game is intense and addicting and Takamaru throws things a lot.

Good to hear that you're enjoying it.

Every Takamaru supporter should at least try his game.

 

[Pacack]

Good to hear that you're enjoying it.

Every Takamaru supporter should at least try his game.

Definitely. Makes me understand and want the character a whole lot more.

Also, I had a pretty cool idea for a Nazo no Murasame-jo Assist Trophy:

Meet the Maiden (Or Damsel or whatever else you want to call her.)! In Nazo no Murasame-jo, you can rescue Maidens who have been kidnapped to get an extra life. However, when examining the bag that they're being kept in, you may be surprised to find that it's not a Maiden at all, but rather a powerful demon that will chase you around the castle. As an Assist Trophy, this bag would appear before showing either the Maiden, who would heal the summoner of all damage that they have received, or the demon, who would attack the summoner violently and likely KO them. Finding out that you've summoned this Assist Trophy would make the match really tense for a moment or two, since it would either be extremely helpful or absolutely disastrous. It would be enough to completely change the way the match is going in either fighter's favor.

What do think? Do you like the idea? Or would it maybe be better off having the bag as an item that you can choose to take the risk of opening?