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

[Bingoshi]

I have a question, and I hope at least someone can help me answer it. I noticed that Nintendo Land has an official site (I've never seen it before) so I went to it and eventually found this screen.

Now, I know where all of the art of each character came from, but Takamaru's is the only picture I can't find anywhere on the internet. Does anybody know what image of Takamaru this is, and where it came from? It's been bothering me for days.

 

[Bingoshi]

I have a question, and I hope at least someone can help me answer it. I noticed that Nintendo Land has an official site (I've never seen it before) so I went to it and eventually found this screen.
View attachment 10780

Now, I know where all of the art of each character came from, but Takamaru's is the only picture I can't find anywhere on the internet. Does anybody know what image of Takamaru this is, and where it came from? It's been bothering me for days.

EDIT: I somehow posted this twice... How do I erase it?

 

[BluePikmin11]

I haven't seen that art before, could be a scrapped concept art.

 

[Pacack]

I have a question, and I hope at least someone can help me answer it. I noticed that Nintendo Land has an official site (I've never seen it before) so I went to it and eventually found this screen.
View attachment 10780

Now, I know where all of the art of each character came from, but Takamaru's is the only picture I can't find anywhere on the internet. Does anybody know what image of Takamaru this is, and where it came from? It's been bothering me for days.

What I would do for the full image...

 

[Marakatu]

That image surely fits the artworks done back in the day. But I had no success finding that particular image.

 

[LF2K]

It's probably from some promo art from way back in the day. He certainly looks like an old-school anime character.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I've scouted some more Nazo no Murasame-Jo material, mostly from the old Brawl Takamaru thread.

Official Board Game

Official Strategy Guide

 

[Banjodorf]

Is that an action figure above the strategy guide? DO WANT.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Is that an action figure above the strategy guide? DO WANT.

Nah, Nintendo didn't really want to go that far at the time. As far as they went was nothing but a few manga, board game, and the guide. If his game was legitimately successful like Mario, then we would have had a such a figure.

 

[Banjodorf]

Nah, Nintendo didn't really want to go that far at the time. As far as they went was nothing but a few manga, board game, and the guide. If his game was legitimately successful like Mario, then we would have had a such a figure.

Aw, bummer. Well, here's hoping a Smash appearance will prompt fan creation of such things, I'd love a Takamaru action figure!

 

[Sehnsucht]

It just now occurs to me what a shame it is that we're not getting an actual Story Mode.

Imagine Takamaru in an SSE-esque campaign with HD cutscenes. *salivates*

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

It just now occurs to me what a shame that we're not getting an actual Story Mode.

Imagine Takamaru in an SSE-esque campaign with HD cutscenes. *salivates*

Yeah, it's for the best since he was offended by people spoiling his hardwork on the Internet. Not to mention the CGI taking up most of the space on Brawl's disk (which is worth 8GB). Seeing him fight Link in Story Mode would have been an interesting scene (and way to attract fangirls. ).

 

[Sehnsucht]

Yeah, it's for the best since he was offended by people spoiling his hardwork on the Internet. Not to mention the CGI taking up most of the space on Brawl's disk (which is worth 8GB). Seeing him fight Link in Story Mode would have been an interesting scene (and way to attract fangirls. ).

I still don't understand Sakurai's mentality. This is the Age of Information, brah; if you release something, it's going to make its way on the Internet somehow. If Sakurai is worried about spoilers, the fault is on the non-spoilered Internet browser for spoiling themselves by clicking on the videos.

Still, the lack of such a campaign does free up development time for other departments, so it's a decent trade-off. The trailers so far have been excellent, and apparently every character is getting one in the game. Takamaru's is going to be totally sugoi.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Speaking of Takamaru, Nazo no Murasame-Jo is still not a Wii U Virtual Console game in Japan yet. That is pretty suspicious and it makes me wonder if the game were to coincidentally be added next month (NnMJ's anniversary).

 

[Pacack]

I've scouted some more Nazo no Murasame-Jo material, mostly from the old Brawl Takamaru thread.

Official Board Game

Official Strategy Guide

THAT REMINDS ME!

Have some Ebay/Amazon.jp finds. Feel free to ask for links if you want to see if you can buy it.

 

[Banjodorf]

It just now occurs to me what a shame it is that we're not getting an actual Story Mode.

Imagine Takamaru in an SSE-esque campaign with HD cutscenes. *salivates*

Hey, the way I see it, that makes the possibilities of his reveal trailer all the sweeter.

Granted, they could go with an Okami-style trailer, but I totally expect some fancy HD CGI in there somewhere.

So! A question (that may have already been discussed) for my fellow Takamaru fans!

Blue hair or black?

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Hey, the way I see it, that makes the possibilities of his reveal trailer all the sweeter.

Granted, they could go with an Okami-style trailer, but I totally expect some fancy HD CGI in there somewhere.

So! A question (that may have already been discussed) for my fellow Takamaru fans!

Blue hair or black?

Once you go black, you never go back. So I say black hair should be the default while blue hair should go with a blue costume.

THAT REMINDS ME!

That Kabuto should be a new item in Super Smash Bros. 5. Just imagine characters like Ness or Kirby wearing it.

Also, the Blue Sandals that allow you to walk on water would be another option. *imagines Peach wearing blue sandals*

 

[Soupeschleg]

Hey, the way I see it, that makes the possibilities of his reveal trailer all the sweeter.

Granted, they could go with an Okami-style trailer, but I totally expect some fancy HD CGI in there somewhere.

So! A question (that may have already been discussed) for my fellow Takamaru fans!

Blue hair or black?

Well his hair in the game was blue...but I'm not sure how many blue-haired swordsmen Smash Bros can handle. I'd say alternate costumes with both is the way to go. And speaking of alternate costumes, they definitely have some options with Tak that I hope they take advantage of!

 

[Fatmanonice]

So, who here has actually played Nazo no Murasame? I've only played it for a little because my *totally obtained by legal means source* bugged out and became unplayable and I never bothered to try to *reobtain through legal means* it again.

 

[Banjodorf]

Well his hair in the game was blue...but I'm not sure how many blue-haired swordsmen Smash Bros can handle. I'd say alternate costumes with both is the way to go. And speaking of alternate costumes, they definitely have some options with Tak that I hope they take advantage of!

Yeah, alt costume (or really just a color swap ala Peach and probably Rosalina) would be a great way to include both hair colors. The number of blue haired swordsmen is getting quite large, especially if Chrom joins and Ike stays. Honestly I feel like black should be default, and blue a color swap, just for that reason. Either way looks good, and in the NintendoLand art, he had black hair. So there's that.

As far as actual alt costumes go, him wearing something like his Captain Rainbow attire would be frickin amazing. I prefer his normal getup, but it would still be super cool.

 

[Marakatu]

Here's my prediction for the next Direct:
Iwata: "Mysterious Murasame Castle will be available on the Virtual Console. Also, Takamaru will be a playable character in both Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros. I'm glad to say that 2014 is the Year of Takamaru. Please, celebrate. *bows*"

So, who here has actually played Nazo no Murasame? I've only played it for a little because my *totally obtained by legal means source* bugged out and became unplayable and I never bothered to try to *reobtain through legal means* it again.

Well, I did. But I never made it past the third boss. *insert ashamed emoticon here. I'm using my cellphone and I can't find the danm emoticon*

 

[Banjodorf]

Here's my prediction for the next Direct:
Iwata: "Mysterious Murasame Castle will be available on the Virtual Console. Also, Takamaru will be a playable character in both Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros. I'm glad to say that 2014 is the Year of Takamaru. Please, celebrate. *bows*"


Well, I did. But I never made it past the third boss. *insert ashamed emoticon here. I'm using my cellphone and I can't find the danm emoticon*

That would be the best year. And then everyone would be like "What in the **** is a Takamaru?" and I'd just be sitting here laughing. And watching the Smash trailer until my eyes fell out.

 

[Banjodorf]

So! Trailer music! Art style aside, are you guys hoping for something traditional Japanese, or something closer to the boss theme from Ninja Castle?

I'm kind of hoping for something that starts out slow prior to the reveal, but really picks up once they've shown him, whether it be rock-based or just a fast paced version of the normal theme.

 

[Deleted member]

So! Trailer music! Art style aside, are you guys hoping for something traditional Japanese, or something closer to the boss theme from Ninja Castle?

I want to hear the main theme from Ninja Castle be his trailer theme and I hope that it features Japanese instruments. I think that the music should have the speed initially be slow, but then picks up and goes a bit faster. Then, the music should stay within that fast tempo until the Smash logo comes up, and the music should slow back down.

For an art style, I think that his trailer should either have a water-colored art style or a Japanese anime art style. It should be something to reflect the culture of Japan, much like Little Mac's trailer did by having a comic-book styled trailer to reflect America.

 

[DustyPumpkin]

For an art style, I think that his trailer should either have a water-colored art style or a Japanese anime art style. It should be something to reflect the culture of Japan, much like Little Mac's trailer did by having a comic-book styled trailer to reflect America.

Little Mac VS Takamaru will be the new major Rivalry and or Pairing.
There's gonna be like major Asian VS Western battle music and everything
Something like this
Only probably not, I doubt they'd give character rivalry's their own music, but they should that sounds like a cool idea.

 

[Pacack]

Hey, the way I see it, that makes the possibilities of his reveal trailer all the sweeter.

Granted, they could go with an Okami-style trailer, but I totally expect some fancy HD CGI in there somewhere.

So! A question (that may have already been discussed) for my fellow Takamaru fans!

Blue hair or black?

Nintendo Land Takamaru has black/really dark navy hair, so I'd go with that.

I have a question, and I hope at least someone can help me answer it. I noticed that Nintendo Land has an official site (I've never seen it before) so I went to it and eventually found this screen.
View attachment 10780

Now, I know where all of the art of each character came from, but Takamaru's is the only picture I can't find anywhere on the internet. Does anybody know what image of Takamaru this is, and where it came from? It's been bothering me for days.

 

[LF2K]

For music, they should obviously go traditional Japanese music. Mac's trailer had a Rocky like song in it.

As for the art, they should go for an older paint style. It would also parellel the comic book style from Mac's trailer.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Here's my prediction for the next Direct:
Iwata: "Mysterious Murasame Castle will be available on the Virtual Console. Also, Takamaru will be a playable character in both Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros. I'm glad to say that 2014 is the Year of Takamaru. Please, celebrate. *bows*"

Takamaru: "I'm waaaaiiiiiiting, Sakurai!"

 

[FlareHabanero]

I've scouted some more Nazo no Murasame-Jo material, mostly from the old Brawl Takamaru thread.

Official Board Game

Official Strategy Guide

This makes me think that there was an intention of making The Mysterious Murasame Castle one of Nintendo's flagship titles, but unlike others released around that time it bombed as was quickly forgotten. TV specials, strategy guides, posters, ads, novelties, the works. Though I am still curious why it's being referenced with the turn of the 21th century while it was silent through out the 80's and 90's.

Also I'm curious if attempting to do that again in a entirely different era would create different results.

 

[Banjodorf]

I can see why they're attempting to use MMC and Takamaru more these days.

It would've been something that was so Japanese as to not really make a profit over here back in the NES days, and the game was nothing TOO amazing in Japan.

However, with how connected the world is these days, and how popular in pop culture Samurai/Ninja culture ends up being, along with the various game genres that have popped in the last decade. I can see Nintendo going "Wait a minute. We have one of those. Maybe we should actually do something with it."

I'm sure I'm wrong at points, but it just seems like a franchise with alot of popular potential, whereas things like Starfy, Sukapon, etc. have/would be more niche by design.

 

[---]

So, who here has actually played Nazo no Murasame? I've only played it for a little because my *totally obtained by legal means source* bugged out and became unplayable and I never bothered to try to *reobtain through legal means* it again.

Got a complete copy of the GBA port off Amazon for Christmas. It's pretty dang hard, I'd almost rather play the Lost Levels. Have only made it to Level 2 so far.

EDIT: Looks like new copies go for $20-25 now, while used copies go for around $10-20.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

I'm not sure if this is the exact art from the Nintendo Land website but it seems pretty darn close.
(pause at exactly 7:50)

There are some other awesome things in the video so make sure to watch the whole thing I happened across this glorious video while searching for murasame castle remixes.

Here's the video embedded.

 

[Marakatu]

I'm not sure if this is the exact art from the Nintendo Land website but it seems pretty darn close.
(pause at exactly 7:50)

There are some other awesome things in the video so make sure to watch the whole thing I happened across this glorious video while searching for murasame castle remixes.

Here's the video embedded.

This is an amazing finding. I never saw that before. o.0

 

[Ixbran]

bump from the dead.

topic of Takamaru was brought up on GameFAQ's, and thought it wouldn't hurt to revive this thread. I my still have high hopes he will get in. I also feel that its worth bringing up that Hideki Kamiya, from Platinum Games, says he'd like a chance at working on a Remake of Murasame Castle.
https://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/247276749350645760

 

[Sehnsucht]

bump from the dead.

topic of Takamaru was brought up on GameFAQ's, and thought it wouldn't hurt to revive this thread. I my still have high hopes he will get in.

...This thread is the furthest thing from dead. It's still very much active, as you might find upon looking through the last several pages.

 

[Ixbran]

Really? I've had this set to my watch list, but I've not gotten a single notification it was getting messages, weird. I presumed it was dead, so just did a search of it in the forums to find it.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Really? I've had this set to my watch list, but I've not gotten a single notification it was getting messages, weird. I presumed it was dead, so just did a search of it in the forums to find it.

From my observations, notifications wear off after a certain time. If you have not posted and/or visited a watched thread in X amount of time, notifications about thread activity cut off. Alerts for likes and quotes are reliable, however.

Kind of weird, but it is what it is. Whatever the case, this thread is still going full steam ahead, so feel free to stick around.

 

[Ixbran]

haha, alrighty then.

but still i do hope he does get into SSB4, his deserves a series revival. And if its done in the hands of Hideki Kamiya of PG, that would be so kick ass!

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

haha, alrighty then.

but still i do hope he does get into SSB4, his deserves a series revival. And if its done in the hands of Hideki Kamiya of PG, that would be so kick ***!

I just want that troll to just reveal this **** at E3 already if that's his next project. HD Takamaru in a brand new game would make me cry tears of joy like Ukraine.

I'm not sure if this is the exact art from the Nintendo Land website but it seems pretty darn close.
(pause at exactly 7:50)

Here's the video embedded.

Yep, that's the right artwork alright. Since it's an animation, it could be part of a commercial.

 

[Ixbran]

I just want that troll to just reveal this **** at E3 already if that's his next project. HD Takamaru in a brand new game would make me cry tears of joy like Ukraine.

Well Hideki has gone on record saying he would like to work on a Murasame Castle revival project: https://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/247276749350645760

So it is entirely possible that if Takamaru is included in SSB4, and he is entitled to a remake like Kid Icarus, then Hideki is likely who they will go to for said revival.