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Q*Bert Tops the Pyramid - The Q*Bert Support Thread!

Would you like to see Q*Bert be in Smash?

  • Maybe not.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Absolutely not!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5

DoctorProctor

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
60
(Edit: Yes I know there’s already a thread but it’s pretty old and has little information or support [sorry, whoever made it].)

Well, it’s me, SilverRalph from GameFAQS. A while ago I attempted to launch a Q*Bert for Smash campaign and while I did seed the idea in some people’s minds, I think maybe on here Q*Bert can actually be taken a little more seriously.



So, Who is Q*Bert?

Q*Bert is the protagonist of the 1984 arcade game by Gottlieb, Q*Bert. He jumps on cubes to change them to a different color on an isometric pyramid while avoiding enemies and obstacles.

While he isn’t as iconic as Mario, Q*Bert is a very recognizable face in the gaming industry. He’s made two huge Hollywood appearances in recent years, being in Disney’s Wreck it Ralph and Columbia Pictures’ Pixels.

Who owns the rights to Q*Bert?

Q*Bert was created by Gottlieb, who was purchased in 1976 by Columbia Pictures (That’s right, the creators of the movie Pixels). However, the Coca-Cola company soon bought Columbia, and renamed Gottlieb to Mylstar Electronics in 1984. However, due to the video game crash of 1984, Mylstar was closed down. The founder of Gottlieb soon began to purchase Mylstar’s arcade assets and formed a new company in 1984, Premier Technologies, selling pinball machines under the old name Gottlieb. It was during this period that Q*Bert was created.

Premier Technologies however went defunct in the early 1990s, and it sold off all of its assets including Q*Bert.

So who now owns Q*Bert?

Since Q*Bert was created during the period when Gottlieb was owned by Columbia Pictures, the rights to the Q*Bert franchise are owned by Columbia Pictures.

Who is now owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Yes, Q*Bert is a Sony rep.

How would Q*Bert work in Smash?

Q*Bert, as a character, has no arms. He also has not had a significant game in over 30 years.

But let’s not let this stop Sakurai from designing a unique Q*Bert moveset.

I’ve actually made a complete Q*Bert moveset on GameFAQs; I’ll post it here once I find the topic.

Anyways, there was a scrapped idea in Q*Bert where he would shoot “snotballs” out of his nose. This could easily be implemented in Smash as one of Q*Bert’s special moves.

Another move, likely his down special, would be to summon Coily the Snake from Q*Bert. Coily would be shot out of Q*Bert as his initial purple ball form; he would then spring out and “hatch” into Coily, jumping around and biting opponents for a few seconds. Coily would deal low damage, but make opponents flincg. The purple ball would do more damage than Coily, however it is one hit. Coily does consecutive biting attacks, however he can be KO’d like Pikmin.

Up special would obviously be Q*Bert’s Transport Disk. Q*Bert would jump on one of these and be transported to the top of the stage in the original game.

And finally, Side Special could be an extremely interesting move: the Freeze Ball.
Freeze Balls are green balls from Q*Bert, that, when touched, freeze all enemies on the stage. This move would have limited uses, like Wonderwing. It would have high startup lag, with Q*Bert having to pull out a Freeze Ball and use it. Then, all players on the entire screen would freeze in place for one-to-two seconds. It would be like burying, but even in midair (may be mashed out of? Or not?). I’m thinking one to three uses for the Freeze Ball per stock.

Also, since Q*Bert has no arms, he could maybe use his nose like an elephant trunk to grab items.

Taunts of course would include his trademark “swearing” speech bubble.

Stage would be a Block Pyramid from the original game.



Specials:

  • Up Special - Transport Disk: A spinning Transport Disk from the original arcade game spawns below Q*Bert. He jumps on it, and the disk rises into the air. Similarly to Banjo & Kazooie’s Shock Spring Jump, this move does not make Q*Bert helpless, and he can jump after. The disk immediately disappears once Q*Bert leaves it. This move has great vertical movement, but somewhat bad horizontal movement like Duck Hunt’s recovery. Q*Bert is also vulnerable when on top of the disk.
  • Neutral Special - Mucous Ball: Q*Bert shoots a Mucous Ball in front of him. Q*Bert has a bit of startup lag when preparing to fire these snotballs, but there is little startup lag between shots, so Q*Bert can fire these in somewhat speedy succession, a bit faster than Breegull Blaster. Makes the opponent flinch. Q*Bert cannot use this move while running, unlike Breegull Blaster. Move does 1.5% damage. Inspired by a rejected concept from Q*Bert where he was to shoot mucous balls at enemies, but it was scrapped as Gottlieb wanted the game to have simpler controls.
  • Side Special - Coily/Bad Ball: Q*Bert shoots a purple ball out of his nose. This ball has gravity, and does 0.5% damage. However, once it hits an opponent or the ground, the snake Coily hatches out of the ball and begins to hop around the stage, following whatever player is closest to him. Coily lasts for about 2 seconds and will bite players near him, dealing about 5 to 8 percent damage per bite. Coily can be knocked out by a player after around 15% damage. Q*Bert cannot use this move if his Coily is already on the stage, and Q*Bert will instead fire a Bad Ball. Bad Balls are red bouncy balls from the original arcade game that harmed Q*Bert. In Smash, these balls deal 4% damage and have gravity, but are also bouncy, much like Banjo’s Egg Shot. Has startup lag and overall is very similar to Banjo’s Egg Shot move. Has medium knockback. Bad Balls can only be shot when Coily is onstage. Once Coily despawns or is defeated, using Side Special again will shoot a new Coily.
  • Down Special - Freeze Ball: Q*Bert “picks up” a Freeze Ball (similar animation to picking up and flashing an Assist Trophy). The green ball will freeze all fighters onscreen in place, even in the air. “Frozen” fighters can mash out of this move, similar to burying. Move deals no damage. Q*Bert only has 3 of these balls per stock, and can thus only use the move thrice per stock. This move cannot be used in Sudden Death.


Regular attacks:


  • Three-hit combo: Q*Bert kicks in front of him with one leg, then the other leg, and then hits his body forward like a sort of tackle. Body tackle does moderate damage for a regular attack move.
  • Jab/“spam” combo: When the attack button is held down Q*Bert hits with his nose, slashing it like a sword in front of him. Does low damage. Finisher involves Q*Bert kicking upwards, hitting the opponent up.


Tilt Attacks:


  • Side tilt: Q*Bert does a jump kick forwards. Not only does this move make Q*Bert move, but it can also be angled. Angle of the jump kick can alter the distance Q*Bert jumps in this move (ie angling this move upwards will make Q*Bert jump-kick at a higher angle, and therefore farther, while angling this move lower makes Q*Bert jump-kick at a lower angle, making him travel shorter. Pretty good for combos in my opinion ;).
  • Down Tilt: Q*Bert does a low kick. This move is similar to Mario’s down tilt.
    • Up tilt: Q*Bert jumps upwards, kicking above him. Similar to Pac-Man’s up air.

  • Aerial Attacks:
    • Neutral Air - Reactor: Q*Bert shoots four columns of flames around him in an X shape. This is a reference to the player-controlled ship in Gottlieb’s 1982 arcade shooter game Reactor, which used a similar sound engine to Q*Bert. The columns of flames use the same pixelated graphics as from Reactor.
    • Forward Air - Q*Bert Corkscrew: Q*Bert spins headfirst forward, dealing 3 hits. Like Wario’s down air, but forward.
    • Back Air - Q-butt: Hope you guys like the name for this one. Q*Bert simply hits behind him with his butt.
    • Up Air - Q*Bert Headbutt: Q*Bert does a swiping headbutt. Q*Bert’s nose deals damage in this attack as well as his actual head, giving it some okay range.
    • Down Air - Q*Bert Kick: Q*Bert flutter-kicks below him. A consecutive attack, just like Yoshi’s down air.

Taunts:
  • Side Taunt: Q*Bert’s famous “swearing”. He does an animation and makes a speech bubble appear with random symbols and punctuation. Uses the same sound effects as in the arcade game.
  • Up Taunt: Q*Bert hops happily up and down, like Ice Climber’s hopping taunt.
  • Down Taunt: Q*Bert summons a different enemy in front of him and the two pose. Coily is not a part of this taunt, as he is a move. Characters that can appear are Slick, Sam, Ugg, and Wrong-Way.


  • Smash Attacks:
    • Up Smash: Q*Bert stands on his nose as the move is charged. When released, Q*Bert straightens his nose and kicks upward, launching the opponent. Does 15% damage.
    • Side Smash: Q*Bert holds a Q*ube in front of him. When the move is released, he flips the cube forward, dealing damage to whoever the cube hits. This move is a reference to the less popular Q*Bert sequel “Q*Bert’s Q*ubes”.
    • Down Smash: Q*Bert spins on his side, hitting players with both his legs and his nose as he spins. Slightly similar to Wario’s down smash.
    • Dash Attack: Q*Bert does a dropkick forwards. Similar to Bowser’s dash attack, but... ya know... worse.
    • Final Smash: Q*Bash: Q*Bert spawns a large sideways Transport Disk. All characters caught in the disk are transported into a black background. An 8bit original sprite of Q*Bert summons all of the characters from “Q*Bert” in their original sprite forms and they all take turns attacking the caught character. Q*Bert sound effects play and the character is then launched while a section of the original Q*Bert Game Over sound is played. Similar to Duck Hunt’s final smash.

      An alternate Final Smash could be Q*Bert summoning the actual nuclear reactor from Reactor.

      Other:
    • Run animation: Q*Bert hops around the stage instead of running.
    • Idle animation 1: Q*Bert hops a bit.
    • Idle animation 2: Q*Bert looks around annoyed, and scratches himself with his nose.
    • Item grabbing and Grab animations: Q*Bert, as he has no hands, uses his nose to grab items and players, much like how an elephant uses their trunk. Most of Q*Bert’s throws are pretty self explanatory.
    • Throws: Q*Bert shoots a ball out of his nose while he holds the opponent, launching the fighter in the air along with the mucous ball in whatever direction.
    • Pummel: Q*Bert kicks the opponent while he holds them with his nose.
    • Ground Recover attack: Q*Bert stands up and kicks behind and in front of him.

      Victory screens:
    • 1: Q*Bert hops around and does a pose.
    • 2: Q*Bert is chased by Coily and Coily hits him into the screen right as Q*Bert’s name is shown.
    • 3: Q*Bert is disguntled and annoyed and “swears” with a speech bubble.


Music:


  1. Q*Bert (Remix): A Flat-Zone style original remix using small jingles and sound effects from the original arcade game.
  2. Control Select (Q*Bert NES) (Remix): https://youtu.be/BJeCsDOgVoc (click to expand)
  3. Title (Q*Bert for Game Boy) (Remix): (used in Q*Bert’s reveal trailer) https://youtu.be/PJxl7N8CtrU
  4. Title (Q*Bert 3) (Remix): https://youtu.be/1DcranDClQo
  5. Stage Theme 1 (Q*Bert 3) (Original): https://youtu.be/a97VKBS_p5U
  6. Stage Theme 7 (Q*Bert 3) (Remix): https://youtu.be/OheVhXWPuB8
  7. Title Theme (Reactor) (Remix): (Unable to find link)
  8. (New music could be added from the new 2019 Q*Bert mobile game).

Stage: Pyramid

The stage is a 3D isometric block pyramid from the original Q*Bert arcade game. This stage uses a mechanic where each cube in the pyramid is a platform, which, due to the isometric perspective, is interesting. The blocks change a different color when walked on by a fighter. When all cubes are completed, the pyramid flashes colors, and then starts a new “level” and all fighters are given a damage buff for a few seconds. When stage hazards are off, the blocks never change color when stepped on, and no buffs are ever given.

Why should Q*Bert be in Smash?

Q*Bert is a pretty iconic character in the gaming industry. He’s an arcade rep who’s had a presence on Nintendo consoles (Q*Bert for NES and Game Boy; Q*Bert 3 SNES). He’s also freaking Q*Bert. I mean, come on, why shouldn’t he be in Smash? You gotta love him! He’s also a movie star, and also a pretty top-tier Sony rep. (Name one actual Sony rep other than Kratos. Crash and Sora are not owned by Sony.)

Anyways, thank you for reading and your support!


(Looks like Q*Bert’s iconic enough to be featured on the cover for Video Games: The Movie along with Pac-Man, Sonic, and Mario! Let’s hope these 4 reunite again someday...)


(Update: It seems Columbia Pictures is making a new Q*Bert game for mobile! https://youtu.be/bPxqoXyERP8)
 
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smash puffle

Smash Ace
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Yes, I will support. Could you imagine Q*bert of all characters being the final Fighters Pass character revealed at TGAs? I wouldn't even be mad.
 

Mr. Stevenson

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Jun 5, 2018
Messages
735
Q*Bert would be marvelous. We need more arcade icons in Smash, and I believe Q*Bert would be perfect for that role. He could also have a really creative moveset.
 

Swop

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My favorite classic Arcade mascot, his game is hard as hell but the character himself is hilarious and strange.

I'd love to see the little Orange snozz creature in smash but Q*Bert nowadays is a literal who to a vast majority of people and its sad, the very best we could see would be a spirit- IF that! and being Owned by Sony (which I had no idea until just now) makes it even harder for the guy to appear.

Come to think of it, Q*Bert has had a very rough life it seems, only being remembered as a Character from Wreck-It Ralph to a lot of people is depressing.

"@!#?@!?"
 

DoctorProctor

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
60
My favorite classic Arcade mascot, his game is hard as hell but the character himself is hilarious and strange.

I'd love to see the little Orange snozz creature in smash but Q*Bert nowadays is a literal who to a vast majority of people and its sad, the very best we could see would be a spirit- IF that! and being Owned by Sony (which I had no idea until just now) makes it even harder for the guy to appear.

Come to think of it, Q*Bert has had a very rough life it seems, only being remembered as a Character from Wreck-It Ralph to a lot of people is depressing.

"@!#?@!?"
Well it ain’t hopeless yet, we just need to spread the word.
 

Oddball

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
1,722
I'd love to see Q*bert appear in Smash.

One of his taunts needs to be having the little cartoon word balloon appear above his head with "@!#?@!" in it.
 

DoctorProctor

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
60
I'd love to see Q*bert appear in Smash.

One of his taunts needs to be having the little cartoon word balloon appear above his head with "@!#?@!" in it.
Of course ;)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/234547-super-smash-bros-ultimate/78147432

Here’s an older topic I made on GameFAQs about Q*Bert. The poll showed Q*Bert’s support, and I also made a complete moveset as a part of it.

Here’s a complete Q*Bert moveset:

Q*BERT MOVESET:
Specials:

  • Up Special - Transport Disk: A spinning Transport Disk from the original arcade game spawns below Q*Bert. He jumps on it, and the disk rises into the air. Similarly to Banjo & Kazooie’s Shock Spring Jump, this move does not make Q*Bert helpless, and he can jump after. The disk immediately disappears once Q*Bert leaves it. This move has great vertical movement, but somewhat bad horizontal movement like Duck Hunt’s recovery. Q*Bert is also vulnerable when on top of the disk.
  • Neutral Special - Mucous Ball: Q*Bert shoots a Mucous Ball in front of him. Q*Bert has a bit of startup lag when preparing to fire these snotballs, but there is little startup lag between shots, so Q*Bert can fire these in somewhat speedy succession, a bit faster than Breegull Blaster. Makes the opponent flinch. Q*Bert cannot use this move while running, unlike Breegull Blaster. Move does 1.5% damage. Inspired by a rejected concept from Q*Bert where he was to shoot mucous balls at enemies, but it was scrapped as Gottlieb wanted the game to have simpler controls.
  • Side Special - Coily/Bad Ball: Q*Bert shoots a purple ball out of his nose. This ball has gravity, and does 0.5% damage. However, once it hits an opponent or the ground, the snake Coily hatches out of the ball and begins to hop around the stage, following whatever player is closest to him. Coily lasts for about 2 seconds and will bite players near him, dealing about 5 to 8 percent damage per bite. Coily can be knocked out by a player after around 15% damage. Q*Bert cannot use this move if his Coily is already on the stage, and Q*Bert will instead fire a Bad Ball. Bad Balls are red bouncy balls from the original arcade game that harmed Q*Bert. In Smash, these balls deal 4% damage and have gravity, but are also bouncy, much like Banjo’s Egg Shot. Has startup lag and overall is very similar to Banjo’s Egg Shot move. Has medium knockback. Bad Balls can only be shot when Coily is onstage. Once Coily despawns or is defeated, using Side Special again will shoot a new Coily.
  • Down Special - Freeze Ball: Q*Bert “picks up” a Freeze Ball (similar animation to picking up and flashing an Assist Trophy). The green ball will freeze all fighters onscreen in place, even in the air. “Frozen” fighters can mash out of this move, similar to burying. Move deals no damage. Q*Bert only has 3 of these balls per stock, and can thus only use the move thrice per stock. This move cannot be used in Sudden Death.


Regular attacks:


  • Three-hit combo: Q*Bert kicks in front of him with one leg, then the other leg, and then hits his body forward like a sort of tackle. Body tackle does moderate damage for a regular attack move.
  • Jab/“spam” combo: When the attack button is held down Q*Bert hits with his nose, slashing it like a sword in front of him. Does low damage. Finisher involves Q*Bert kicking upwards, hitting the opponent up.


Tilt Attacks:


  • Side tilt: Q*Bert does a jump kick forwards. Not only does this move make Q*Bert move, but it can also be angled. Angle of the jump kick can alter the distance Q*Bert jumps in this move (ie angling this move upwards will make Q*Bert jump-kick at a higher angle, and therefore farther, while angling this move lower makes Q*Bert jump-kick at a lower angle, making him travel shorter. Pretty good for combos in my opinion ;).
  • Down Tilt: Q*Bert does a low kick. This move is similar to Mario’s down tilt.
    • Up tilt: Q*Bert jumps upwards, kicking above him. Similar to Pac-Man’s up air.

  • Aerial Attacks:
    • Neutral Air - Reactor: Q*Bert shoots four columns of flames around him in an X shape. This is a reference to the player-controlled ship in Gottlieb’s 1982 arcade shooter game Reactor, which used a similar sound engine to Q*Bert. The columns of flames use the same pixelated graphics as from Reactor.
    • Forward Air - Q*Bert Corkscrew: Q*Bert spins headfirst forward, dealing 3 hits. Like Wario’s down air, but forward.
    • Back Air - Q-butt: Hope you guys like the name for this one. Q*Bert simply hits behind him with his butt.
    • Up Air - Q*Bert Headbutt: Q*Bert does a swiping headbutt. Q*Bert’s nose deals damage in this attack as well as his actual head, giving it some okay range.
    • Down Air - Q*Bert Kick: Q*Bert flutter-kicks below him. A consecutive attack, just like Yoshi’s down air.

Taunts:
  • Side Taunt: Q*Bert’s famous “swearing”. He does an animation and makes a speech bubble appear with random symbols and punctuation. Uses the same sound effects as in the arcade game.
  • Up Taunt: Q*Bert hops happily up and down, like Ice Climber’s hopping taunt.
  • Down Taunt: Q*Bert summons a different enemy in front of him and the two pose. Coily is not a part of this taunt, as he is a move. Characters that can appear are Slick, Sam, Ugg, and Wrong-Way.


  • Smash Attacks:
    • Up Smash: Q*Bert stands on his nose as the move is charged. When released, Q*Bert straightens his nose and kicks upward, launching the opponent. Does 15% damage.
    • Side Smash: Q*Bert holds a Q*ube in front of him. When the move is released, he flips the cube forward, dealing damage to whoever the cube hits. This move is a reference to the less popular Q*Bert sequel “Q*Bert’s Q*ubes”.
    • Down Smash: Q*Bert spins on his side, hitting players with both his legs and his nose as he spins. Slightly similar to Wario’s down smash.
    • Dash Attack: Q*Bert does a dropkick forwards. Similar to Bowser’s dash attack, but... ya know... worse.
    • Final Smash: Q*Bash: Q*Bert spawns a large sideways Transport Disk. All characters caught in the disk are transported into a black background. An 8bit original sprite of Q*Bert summons all of the characters from “Q*Bert” in their original sprite forms and they all take turns attacking the caught character. Q*Bert sound effects play and the character is then launched while a section of the original Q*Bert Game Over sound is played. Similar to Duck Hunt’s final smash.

      An alternate Final Smash could be Q*Bert summoning the actual nuclear reactor from Reactor.

      Other:
    • Run animation: Q*Bert hops around the stage instead of running.
    • Idle animation 1: Q*Bert hops a bit.
    • Idle animation 2: Q*Bert looks around annoyed, and scratches himself with his nose.
    • Item grabbing and Grab animations: Q*Bert, as he has no hands, uses his nose to grab items and players, much like how an elephant uses their trunk. Most of Q*Bert’s throws are pretty self explanatory.
    • Throws: Q*Bert shoots a ball out of his nose while he holds the opponent, launching the fighter in the air along with the mucous ball in whatever direction.
    • Pummel: Q*Bert kicks the opponent while he holds them with his nose.
    • Ground Recover attack: Q*Bert stands up and kicks behind and in front of him.

      Victory screens:
    • 1: Q*Bert hops around and does a pose.
    • 2: Q*Bert is chased by Coily and Coily hits him into the screen right as Q*Bert’s name is shown.
    • 3: Q*Bert is disguntled and annoyed and “swears” with a speech bubble.


Music:


  1. Q*Bert (Remix): A Flat-Zone style original remix using small jingles and sound effects from the original arcade game.
  2. Control Select (Q*Bert NES) (Remix): https://youtu.be/BJeCsDOgVoc (click to expand)
  3. Title (Q*Bert for Game Boy) (Remix): (used in Q*Bert’s reveal trailer) https://youtu.be/PJxl7N8CtrU
  4. Title (Q*Bert 3) (Remix): https://youtu.be/1DcranDClQo
  5. Stage Theme 1 (Q*Bert 3) (Original): https://youtu.be/a97VKBS_p5U
  6. Stage Theme 7 (Q*Bert 3) (Remix): https://youtu.be/OheVhXWPuB8
  7. Title Theme (Reactor) (Remix): (Unable to find link)
  8. (New music could be added from the new 2019 Q*Bert mobile game).

Stage: Pyramid

The stage is a 3D isometric block pyramid from the original Q*Bert arcade game. This stage uses a mechanic where each cube in the pyramid is a platform, which, due to the isometric perspective, is interesting. The blocks change a different color when walked on by a fighter. When all cubes are completed, the pyramid flashes colors, and then starts a new “level” and all fighters are given a damage buff for a few seconds. When stage hazards are off, the blocks never change color when stepped on, and no buffs are ever given.

UPDATE 2:

Here’s some lovely Q*Bert artwork.






Speaking of, this last picture seems to be from a new Q*Bert game being made by Columbia Pictures themselves!

https://www.sonypictures.com/games/qbert

https://youtu.be/bPxqoXyERP8
 
Last edited:

Megadoomer

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DoctorProctor DoctorProctor just a heads up that making eight separate posts in a row, as well as making posts purely to bump a thread (which I've deleted) are considered spam and are against the rules. The rules of the forum can be found at the bottom of every page, or there's a direct link to them here.
 

DoctorProctor

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
60
DoctorProctor DoctorProctor just a heads up that making eight separate posts in a row, as well as making posts purely to bump a thread (which I've deleted) are considered spam and are against the rules. The rules of the forum can be found at the bottom of every page, or there's a direct link to them here.
Oh, you’re not allowed to do that?
Whoops, sorry lol

Thank you for keeping the moveset/new game posts though.
 
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