Orange Star's Hyperactive Whiz Kid! - Andy For Smash Ultimate! We'll Live To Fight Another Day...

[DNeon]

To get some discussion going in this thread, what would you guys like a hypothetical Advance Wars item to be?

To make it something more unique but still pretty central to the games, I was thinking something like an APC, you use it and it's similar to Bullet Bill, but you don't do much damage can can turn at right angles (plus it's slower) so it just looks like an APC moving around from a top down view.

 

[Ura]

To make it something more unique but still pretty central to the games, I was thinking something like an APC, you use it and it's similar to Bullet Bill, but you don't do much damage can can turn at right angles (plus it's slower) so it just looks like an APC moving around from a top down view.

That sounds pretty neat.

What if you could heal allied units in team battles with APC's? I mean APC's aren't known for healing but they are for supplies.

Actually scratch that. I think APC's can be used to charge up the FS Meters when that feature is turned on.

Would S. Fighters from Dual Strike work? It sounds a bit unfeasible but what if the player can use the item and fly in the air undetected?

 

[Ura]

Smash Direct this Thursday. Don't have much hopes for Andy but man if some miracle happened and he was in the game that'd be amazing and also hilarious to see him get by all the leakers/insiders lol.

Hyped to see Isaac in this game most likely as well as Spirits Mode.

 

[DNeon]

At very least hoping for some kind of AW representation, show me assist trophies (yes multiple please) and items.

 

[Ura]

...and just as I say I was looking forward to seeing Isaac in the game, Vergie says he's an AT. Really hoping he's wrong here. I think the evidence lines up too much for Isaac.

Although I still maintain that Andy being in this game, as unlikely as that is would be super clutch to get by everyone. Would make the moment that much more special lol.

At very least hoping for some kind of AW representation, show me assist trophies (yes multiple please) and items.

I seriously doubt multiple AT'S but I'm expecting Infantry & Tanks to return if there's no playable representation. Of course I'd want the AT to be overhauled as I mentioned before but hey some presence is better than nothing I guess.

Also Smash Bros needs to at least have one Advance Wars track in the game. It would be really disappointing if there wasn't a remix of Andy's theme in the game at the very least.

 

[RamOne]

I spotted a Santa Olaf spirit near the end of the Direct, but the Infantry and Tanks AT are removed from the game. They're not on the site and the site doesn't say 'and many more...'

 

[GoodGrief741]

I spotted a Santa Olaf spirit near the end of the Direct, but the Infantry and Tanks AT are removed from the game. They're not on the site and the site doesn't say 'and many more...'

Really? So... that’s actually a downgrade. Huh.

 

[Ura]

I spotted a Santa Olaf spirit near the end of the Direct, but the Infantry and Tanks AT are removed from the game. They're not on the site and the site doesn't say 'and many more...'

Where exactly in the Direct did you see that? There was so much insanity in there I lost track lol.

And man that really sucks if the Infantry & Tanks AT doesn't show up. This is reminding me of what happened to Isaac in Smash 4 which really sucked. Hopefully Sakurai reconciles this by adding a bunch of sweet Advance Wars tracks in the game.

Hopefully this is enough to spark some interest in Advance Wars being in Smash Bros. I mean Isaac having his AT cut from Smash 4 really got his base energized (myself included as an Isaac supporter) so maybe it has the same effect for Andy.

I should also mention that most new Nintendo franchises have been deconfirmed now. Golden Sun (as much as it pains me to say it) and even ARMS which really caught me by surprise have their staple characters as AT's. Of course we don't know the ramifications with all this and i'm still holding out hope for Isaac to get promoted as DLC.

That being said, the competition for Andy has been lowered with no ARMS to compete with. And XC2 isn't getting a fighter as DLC. I'm not making any promises here but there is a silver lining here for our boy.

 

[DNeon]

True, there's some slim possibility that the AT was removed for them to be incorporated into the moveset!

Yeah....no, I think we'll be resigned to seeing our favourite COs pop in as Spirits. But as long as there's hope we can keep trying.

 

[RamOne]

Proof for Santa (Japanese) Olaf at the top:

 

[Ura]

True, there's some slim possibility that the AT was removed for them to be incorporated into the moveset!

Yeah....no, I think we'll be resigned to seeing our favourite COs pop in as Spirits. But as long as there's hope we can keep trying.

Someone mentioned DLC being pre-planned so that's a nice theory albeit unlikely. If Andy wasn't base, I doubt he's pre-planned DLC.

Yeah i'm not giving up until Sakurai explicitly states that all the DLC is done. And really this is the best time for Advance Wars supporters to band together and voice their support for Andy. Among all the bad news, there is still silver linings. It's better to fight a seemingly losing battle then to not try at all.

 

[RamOne]

At the very least, I'd like to see an Advance Wars track.

 

[Ura]

Proof for Santa (Japanese) Olaf at the top:
View attachment 174541

Well if the AT is getting cut then having a lot of CO's appear in Spirits is something of a consolation. That being said, this game better have some new Advance Wars tracks. They can't do the franchise dirty like that. That was the compromise for Golden Sun fans in Smash 4. Isaac's AT was scrapped but they got a DD track.

Although I guess now we can speculate what CO's might be appearing in Spirits.

At the very least, I'd like to see an Advance Wars track.

Exactly. Andy's Anthem needs to be remixed and what have you. Maybe add in some other tracks.

 

[DNeon]

Sakurai mentioned that DLC was part of the project plan when talking about the Rex Mii Fighter, so yeah, escaping the slaughter of representation from the direct isn't necessarily a bad thing.

That said it also means campaigning will do nothing until at very least some theoretical second round of DLC. I'm afraid that ATM it's just time to wait.

 

[Ura]

Sakurai mentioned that DLC was part of the project plan when talking about the Rex Mii Fighter, so yeah, escaping the slaughter of representation from the direct isn't necessarily a bad thing.

That said it also means campaigning will do nothing until at very least some theoretical second round of DLC. I'm afraid that ATM it's just time to wait.

Do you think there's a very slim chance for Advance Wars content as DLC? I mean with DLC being pre-planned and Sakurai doing away with the Infantry & Tanks Assist Trophy.

I know, I know. Please, you don't have to tell me. I'm setting myself up for disappointment.

It's a thought that crossed my mind and I guess i'll grasp any straw I can find. I want to believe there was more to this than meets the eye. Especially with there being some Advance Wars content in Spirits.

 

[DNeon]

I mean, it's always a slim shot. We've always known that. Reading into specific details is always going to be disappointing for something that's such an off chance, but there is hope. There's hope and Spirits of our favourite characters to comfort us. We may have lost the familiar units fighting for us like we're playing AW, but we've gained our favourite characters giving us buffs, and playing themed battles based just on them too (I don't know if this is for all spirits or just some since they can also be bought or crafted but there's hope there too).

 

[Ura]

I mean, it's always a slim shot. We've always known that. Reading into specific details is always going to be disappointing for something that's such an off chance, but there is hope. There's hope and Spirits of our favourite characters to comfort us. We may have lost the familiar units fighting for us like we're playing AW, but we've gained our favourite characters giving us buffs, and playing themed battles based just on them too (I don't know if this is for all spirits or just some since they can also be bought or crafted but there's hope there too).

Yeah themed battles sounds pretty cool. Like fighting against Olaf's spirit makes you face off against or someone.

The thing with the Infantry & Tanks being cut is like...how many other obscure Nintendo franchises are represented as AT's? If you look down the roster, you have Sukapon, Dr. Wright, Devil, Sheriff, Prince of Sable, Starfy, Virtual Fighter, and all these other franchises i'd argue that are MUCH more niche and obscure than Advance Wars and yet it's Advance Wars that gets the cut.

This doesn't add up. Sakurai wouldn't do a series with so much history and significance to Nintendo platforms to just cast them off to oblivion like that. Especially with all those other AT's.

Honestly Andy being pre-planned DLC is the only thing that makes sense to me here. I hate to sound salty and whatnot but it's true.

 

[DNeon]

I like your optimism...or pessimism that results in hope? Don't know lol, but that said I don't think it's worth reading in to. Isaac lost the AT just to come back. Wars is super important to the history but there's more to it than that. Maybe they just decided it didn't play well, maybe the thought it was too similar to the sheriff. Maybe with ATs being KO-able for points they thought that it was just fodder for your opponents (not exactly wrong).

 

[Ura]

I like your optimism...or pessimism that results in hope? Don't know lol, but that said I don't think it's worth reading in to. Isaac lost the AT just to come back. Wars is super important to the history but there's more to it than that. Maybe they just decided it didn't play well, maybe the thought it was too similar to the sheriff. Maybe with ATs being KO-able for points they thought that it was just fodder for your opponents (not exactly wrong).

Yeah even I can't tell whether i'm optimistic, pessimistic, or somewhere in between lol.

There was the Isaac situation but I think it was more to technical limitations rather than a straight up cut. And I do believe Isaac has a lot more popularity than Andy so if Andy were to get in, it would be in a similar vain of Ice Climbers/Pit/Little Mac rather than being a popular Ballot request.

Advance Wars has such a huge history on Nintendo platforms and Sakurai wouldn't do away with it like that. If anything, I would think he'd give it an overhaul before he would cut the entire thing. The series not being cut entirely makes me believe there's more to it than we think. As seemingly unlikely as that is.

I know, this is Isaac not being in Smash 4 all over again. Only this time i'd argue a bit different with the circumstances involved.

 

[DogManStar]

My worst fears for this series came true too. I'm pretty furious overall at the results of the Direct honestly but I'm not gonna whine about it anymore than I already have on Discord lol. AW got completely done dirty and I have no idea why. I guess if your series hasn't had a new game in some time you don't matter to Nintendo or Sakurai at all. Well, I'll hope for DLC up until it's confirmed over, for what it's worth.

 

[Ura]

Someone on Reddit pointed out that there was an Eagle Spirit showed off in the Direct. Here's the timestamp.

Of course there was also the one RamOne posted earlier with Olaf which points at evidence for many Advance Wars CO's showing up as Spirits. And they span from different games as well. Eagle's is based on his AW1 artwork and Olaf is AW2 based. Which makes me believe there's going to be a lot of Days of Ruin CO's as Spirits as well.

Andy not being there makes me have a little bit more hope in the theory I made as well. It wouldn't make sense to not have the series main character straight up. Time will tell...

My worst fears for this series came true too. I'm pretty furious overall at the results of the Direct honestly but I'm not gonna whine about it anymore than I already have on Discord lol. AW got completely done dirty and I have no idea why. I guess if your series hasn't had a new game in some time you don't matter to Nintendo or Sakurai at all. Well, I'll hope for DLC up until it's confirmed over, for what it's worth.

Advance Wars got done dirty in this game for sure (well at least the base game for now). I mean Sakurai is not one to throw a series like this aside just because relevancy isn't on it's side (I mean sheesh look at all the AT's and Mii Costumes in the game). I firmly believe if that Sakurai didn't think Infantry & Tanks wouldn't work in Ultimate, he would have overhauled the AT entirely in to something else.

Something is up. Being absent in both Assist Trophies and Mii Costumes is reason for suspicion.

Also guys plz don't ask me about my new avi. Lets just say I made a bad bet and now I have to keep it for a while lol.

 

[Q-Long]

Kinda reminds me of Isaac's AT being cut from Smash 4 though.

Though I would love Intelligent System's next project to be AW

 

[Ura]

Kinda reminds me of Isaac's AT being cut from Smash 4 though.

Though I would love Intelligent System's next project to be AW

It is but I don't think the circumstances are completely 1:1. Something is way off about this. Maybe I outta make a big TL: DR post about it.

And trust me dude, we all want IS to return to Advance Wars. Maybe if they did, we wouldn't be in the position we're in right now.

 

[SPEN18]

Alright, I'm new here on SmashBoards, though I've been lurking in threads for quite a while. The disappointment of this direct and this roster has prompted me to finally make an account; I might as well participate in discussions if it may help charactes that I'd like to be in the game someday.

Andy is my #2 most wanted character, and one of the first characters I can remember legitimately hoping for in Smash. Really, he's pretty much tied for #1 with Isaac from Golden Sun, but Isaac I thought was a bit more likely so he wins the tiebreaker I guess. Still, Andy's inclusion would be really hype for me, unlikely as it is (it would maybe even ease my salt for this roster). I'm pretty shook about the AW assist being removed, though (along with Saki, sob). Part of me wants to say, "at least we got some of those sticker thingies in Spirits mode," but really that's not any better than what we had in Brawl.

Anyway, not sure who to tag to be added to the list of supporters.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Well, since we got everything cut, we’re basically the new Isaac. If we can build enough support, maybe for the next game we can get... our old AT back.

 

[Ura]

Alright, I'm new here on SmashBoards, though I've been lurking in threads for quite a while. The disappointment of this direct and this roster has prompted me to finally make an account; I might as well participate in discussions if it may help charactes that I'd like to be in the game someday.

Andy is my #2 most wanted character, and one of the first characters I can remember legitimately hoping for in Smash. Really, he's pretty much tied for #1 with Isaac from Golden Sun, but Isaac I thought was a bit more likely so he wins the tiebreaker I guess. Still, Andy's inclusion would be really hype for me, unlikely as it is (it would maybe even ease my salt for this roster). I'm pretty shook about the AW assist being removed, though (along with Saki, sob). Part of me wants to say, "at least we got some of those sticker thingies in Spirits mode," but really that's not any better than what we had in Brawl.

Anyway, not sure who to tag to be added to the list of supporters.

Not to worry. I'm the owner of this thread and i'll add you to the list. Feel free to stick around because this thread can use some activity lol.

Isaac's deconfirmation hurt me as well. I mean he had so many things going for him only for him to be an AT again. If there's ever going to be DLC promotions for AT's I hope it's him.

I mentioned a lot of things going for Andy despite us losing the Infantry & Tanks AT. I mean on a surface level it looks very bleak but it just doesn't add up. Advance Wars being among the top unrepresented Nintendo franchises and all. I'm going to make a big post detailing why I believe this is the case.

Well, since we got everything cut, we’re basically the new Isaac. If we can build enough support, maybe for the next game we can get... our old AT back.

Well yeah we really are looking like Isaac being cut in Smash 4 but for the time being, I want to hold out on hope just for a bit.

Ideally, I would want us to build enough support to become DLC but IIRC all of it is pre-planned.

 

[SPEN18]

I'd have to rewatch the relevant part of the direct to see about the DLC. It seems like some people have said it's pre-planned and some are saying that it hasn't been worked on at all yet. It's just that I really don't wanna rewatch that direct ;(
You knew within the first minute that Verge was right, the Grinch was wrong, and Isaac was probably an AT. And no more base fighters except for two of the more boring picks imaginable (in my opinion). Piranha plant didn't make it better; when I saw Mario walking around and fighters having stars running round their heads I thought for a split second that maybe it was Geno (personally I'm not heavily invested in Geno, though it would be nice for his fans and an inclusion that actually did something for the character). But yeah, pretty deflating overall.

Need to find a way to rally the AW fans, probably without another ballot.

 

[Ura]

I'd have to rewatch the relevant part of the direct to see about the DLC. It seems like some people have said it's pre-planned and some are saying that it hasn't been worked on at all yet. It's just that I really don't wanna rewatch that direct ;(
You knew within the first minute that Verge was right, the Grinch was wrong, and Isaac was probably an AT. And no more base fighters except for two of the more boring picks imaginable (in my opinion). Piranha plant didn't make it better; when I saw Mario walking around and fighters having stars running round their heads I thought for a split second that maybe it was Geno (personally I'm not heavily invested in Geno, though it would be nice for his fans and an inclusion that actually did something for the character). But yeah, pretty deflating overall.

Need to find a way to rally the AW fans, probably without another ballot.

In the part where Sakurai talked about the Rex Mii Costume, he had this to say...

"We decided which fighters to include when we started planning so we couldn't add characters from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was announced after planning had started"

"We've yet to create any of the paid DLC, and we haven't locked down any release dates. But we'll start working on them as soon as we're done with the main game."

At least with the 2nd quote, it implies that DLC has already been decided and that the team has gotten all the legal licensing done for 3rd parties and what have you.

So say for instance if Andy were low priority in development, it could possibly be a reason why the Infantry & Tanks AT disappeared. And also a reason why they would want the character post-release.

 

[SPEN18]

Not sure if those quotes really confirm that DLC has already been decided, but even without that it's likely. This would explain why so many popular characters like Isaac, Skull Kid, Ashley, Waluigi, Shovel Knight, Lyn, etc. were all shown as ATs. If they hadn't already decided the DLC then it's likely that some or all of these characters may have been held off as ATs to leave the door open for them being playable.
Of course, that argument assumes that ATs won't be upgraded via DLC, which could happen. I am still holding onto a sliver of hope for GS DLC, but I am not really counting on it.

 

[OptimisticStrifer]

Someone on Reddit pointed out that there was an Eagle Spirit showed off in the Direct. Here's the timestamp.

Of course there was also the one RamOne posted earlier with Olaf which points at evidence for many Advance Wars CO's showing up as Spirits. And they span from different games as well. Eagle's is based on his AW1 artwork and Olaf is AW2 based. Which makes me believe there's going to be a lot of Days of Ruin CO's as Spirits as well.

Andy not being there makes me have a little bit more hope in the theory I made as well. It wouldn't make sense to not have the series main character straight up. Time will tell...

Advance Wars got done dirty in this game for sure (well at least the base game for now). I mean Sakurai is not one to throw a series like this aside just because relevancy isn't on it's side (I mean sheesh look at all the AT's and Mii Costumes in the game). I firmly believe if that Sakurai didn't think Infantry & Tanks wouldn't work in Ultimate, he would have overhauled the AT entirely in to something else.

Something is up. Being absent in both Assist Trophies and Mii Costumes is reason for suspicion.

Also guys plz don't ask me about my new avi. Lets just say I made a bad bet and now I have to keep it for a while lol.

It's crazy that Count ****ing Canoli was made into a spirit. I feel like I'm the only one who remembers "Master of Disguise.' Gives me hope for more obscure Spirits like Fawful or Dimentio.

 

[SPEN18]

I mean most of those "spirits" probably took like 10 minutes to make lol (maybe a bit of an exaggeration). Literally just copy and paste a JPEG and come up with some arbitrary effects for it, which can't be too hard since the effects can only be so varied.

 

[OptimisticStrifer]

I mean most of those "spirits" probably took like 10 minutes to make lol (maybe a bit of an exaggeration). Literally just copy and paste a JPEG and come up with some arbitrary effects for it, which can't be too hard since the effects can only be so varied.

I do appreciate the thought that goes into the unique conditions for each Spirit. That's pretty cool, and they didn't HAVE to do that.

 

[SPEN18]

I do appreciate the thought that goes into the unique conditions for each Spirit. That's pretty cool, and they didn't HAVE to do that.

Yeah I can admit that they at least put some thought into it. But given the sheer quantity of them I doubt that they'd all be that unique. Inevitably there are going to be many that are pretty generic; they probably wouldn't show those ones in the direct presentation though.

 

[Ura]

Not sure if those quotes really confirm that DLC has already been decided, but even without that it's likely. This would explain why so many popular characters like Isaac, Skull Kid, Ashley, Waluigi, Shovel Knight, Lyn, etc. were all shown as ATs. If they hadn't already decided the DLC then it's likely that some or all of these characters may have been held off as ATs to leave the door open for them being playable.
Of course, that argument assumes that ATs won't be upgraded via DLC, which could happen. I am still holding onto a sliver of hope for GS DLC, but I am not really counting on it.

They don't but they do hint at these characters being pre-planned. Sakurai also said something about not revealing who the characters were for some reason so I think it soft confirms that the first season of DLC (granted even of there's more than one) is decided already.

I mean most of those "spirits" probably took like 10 minutes to make lol (maybe a bit of an exaggeration). Literally just copy and paste a JPEG and come up with some arbitrary effects for it, which can't be too hard since the effects can only be so varied.

They did but at the same time I'm kind of glad because otherwise Advance Wars would have no representation with trophies. And it's easier for the development team.

I do appreciate the thought that goes into the unique conditions for each Spirit. That's pretty cool, and they didn't HAVE to do that.

Yeah and from the looks of it, they could possibly range in the thousands. If that were the case, we might have most Advance Wars CO's as Spirits.

Also, may I add you to the support list?

 

[OptimisticStrifer]

Sure man! Andy's pretty cool. I've just been focusing on a lot of other characters lol xD

 

[SPEN18]

Sorry for the bit of negativity there; I think that Spirits mode is something I can't really appreciate fully yet until I get over the initial disappointment with the way things turned out. Like the whole time they were talking about it I was just waiting for the hammer to come down on an Isaac assist, and during the CG trailer I was way too burnt out to really care (plus Kirby being the only survivor was a clear Sakurai bias, one that normally would be fine by me but given everything else made it seem like this "adventure" was just Sakurai's personal fanfic).

 

[Ura]

Sure man! Andy's pretty cool. I've just been focusing on a lot of other characters lol xD

Cool. Welcome aboard my friend! To the imaginary Orange Star Army we created since Sakurai couldn't be bothered with the real one lol.

Sorry for the bit of negativity there; I think that Spirits mode is something I can't really appreciate fully yet until I get over the initial disappointment with the way things turned out. Like the whole time they were talking about it I was just waiting for the hammer to come down on an Isaac assist, and during the CG trailer I was way too burnt out to really care (plus Kirby being the only survivor was a clear Sakurai bias, one that normally would be fine by me but given everything else made it seem like this "adventure" was just Sakurai's personal fanfic).

Spirits underwhelmed me at first but when I re-watched the Direct, I kinda liked it better especially since it's the new Event Mode.

I had the same sentiment after they revealed Ken and Incineroar were the last characters. The rest of the Direct was kinda brought down by that and I was pretty disappointed. And with DLC being a blank slate so far, it doesn't add much confidence.

That being said though, I'm still very much looking forward to playing this game and all the content it has to offer. Adventure Mode looks really good and I'm glad they brought it back. Gotta look for silver linings where they are.

 

[SPEN18]

Definitely better than Smash Tour.
Although they did keep some of the board game mechanics it seemed.
Is there co-op to it? I can't even remember the whole thing was just a blur to me.

Edit: glad Eagle got a sticker. He's probably one of my favorite COs

 

[ProfPeanut]

Oddly enough, getting spirits for both Eagle and Olaf is one heck of a sign. But perhaps we ought to wait and see if they're just random cameos, or if there's an abnormal number of Advance Wars spirits for a series that just lost its Assist Trophy.

 

[DNeon]

plus Kirby being the only survivor was a clear Sakurai bias, one that normally would be fine by me but given everything else made it seem like this "adventure" was just Sakurai's personal fanfic).

On the one hand, this explanation is only cannon because this is how Sakurai wrote it but:

Kirby is legit straight up the most powerful Nintendo character, like he literally fights bad guys who's are in the middle of destroying the whole universe. The Warp Star can get between planets in seconds, so it's faster than the speed of light, and he's essentially a walking black hole.

Like, in the "Death Battle" 'who would win between ______' communities he's known as 'cosmic tier' i think. Kirby is just canonically that OP.

Actual Edit: don't read much into the presence of CO Spirits, there's a lot of them and a lot of ones that are far more niche and under represented in Smash