Rate Their Chances - Smash Ultimate Edition! Day 672: Five Most Likely First and Third Parties for Smash 6, and Final Goodbyes

[BowserKing]

Billy and Jimmy

Chance: 10%. They have been around since the NES days and they have quite a bit of legacy that would give them an advantage. They might have a slot for the fighter’s pass, but even then it’s a bit of a stretch.

Want: 50%. They would be a fun to play as, and I can see them team up with Snake a match. Overall, they would make decent Smash Bros reps.

Prediction: Skullgirls rep (10%)

Noms: 5 for Echo: Bowser

 

[DanganZilla5]

Bimmy and Jimmy

Chance: 14%

I'm surprised we actually have not rated these characters before. Double Dragon is a classic NES series that inspired future beat em up games. Looking up at how many games there are, it's actually crazy. There are so many spinoffs, ports, and sequels it's hard to keep track of. There is a Battletoads crossover and the Lee bros have been included in numerous crossovers including some River City games. So Double Dragon has had a consistent line of releases and there are some Double Dragon games on the Switch like Double Dragon 4 and the Double Dragon/Kunio Kun bundle.

Double Dragon is owned by Arc System Works, which is a long-standing Japanese company that got some attention in speculation due to them getting a Kunio Kun spirit event. That does make me raise an eyebrow and they are one of the Japanese companies that doesn't have a rep that I could see getting a character. They seem to have a good relationship with Nintendo with them supporting the Switch and their previous systems.

Really, the only big obstacles that the Lees face are not having a lot of fan demand and competition with Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. I could see some people question whether the brothers would have a unique moveset and I assure you they do. Not only would they be the first beat em up rep, but also they got dozens of games' worth of mechanics and weapons to pull from. They would be a badass fighter and overall it's a decently popular enough series that Nintendo could take interest in.

Want: 65%

Heck yeah I'm a sucker for beat em ups. While I do prefer other beat em ups like Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Final Fight, I can't say no to Double Dragon. Classic beat em up gameplay with solid music and some sick attacks. There is enough here to appreciate and I'm patiently waiting to see who is our first beat em up rep as it's a genre I really do want to see represented with a playable character with wacky attacks, varied weapons, and all.

Prediction: Skullgirls rep - 8%

Noms: Yuri Lowell x60

 

[Lionfranky]

Double Dragon

Chance: 7%

They have merits of being NES era characters. They have legacy and influence within beat-them-up genre. But, I am not entirely sure about their fan demand. It seems smaller than support Ryu Hayabusa. I am unsure about their Japanese popularity either. There is competition withing Arcsystem: Sol Badguy and Ragna Bloodedge. That's not even mentioning someone like Axel Stone within the genre. Being pioneer of the genre doesn't guarantee spot in Smash.

Want: 75%

I would be up for it. I remember having blast with playing Double Dragon during my childhood. That's not even mentioning countless other beat-them-up games I played before. My recent entry in this genre was Streets of Rage 4. It surely brings nostalgia. They may not have unique gimmick, but we can probably use some basic fighter again. This genre can definitely get some rep in Smash with fully fledged fighter.

Ryza x 10

 

[Jomosensual]

Billy and Jimmy

Chance 1 - Biggest issue right now is that I think see room for them. Double Dragon is neither a 3rd party with any real relevance right now and it's also not a "shillable" 1st party either. I feel like the rest of the pass is going to be basically that. The first party is kinda obvious but the 3rd party could be anywhere from important and iconic to relevant to just being requested. The Double Dragon Duo are really none of those things. If we had another pass I would go higher but for now I don't see it.

Want 30 - I suppose I wouldn't hate this. But that's after like, 30 more characters I'd rather see get in. I have no connection to the games or characters. It seems like it has a bit more to it than I originally thought, but with only 2 spots left I'll pass. There could be some good moveset potential and I don't believe we have characters from their genre yet so there's some merrit here though.

Predictions:
Skullgirls - 3%

Noms:
Bioshock Protagonist x10

 

[AirMac1]

Billy & Jimmy

Chance: 13%
Double Dragon is popular, but the already added a character from Final Fight, so they probably won’t add another character from a beat-em-up game. If they do, it will probably be someone from Streets of Rage.

Want: 20%
I don’t know much about the series, but I usually like characters from fighting and beat-em-up games, so they could be cool characters.

Prediction: Skullgirls rep: 5%

Nomination: Concept: Crazy Taxi rep x10

 

[DanganZilla5]

Billy & Jimmy

Chance: 13%
Double Dragon is popular, but the already added a character from Final Fight, so they probably won’t add another character from a beat-em-up game. If they do, it will probably be someone from Streets of Rage.

Which timeline are you in?

 

[Jomosensual]

Billy & Jimmy

Chance: 13%
Double Dragon is popular, but the already added a character from Final Fight, so they probably won’t add another character from a beat-em-up game. If they do, it will probably be someone from Streets of Rage.

Want: 20%
I don’t know much about the series, but I usually like characters from fighting and beat-em-up games, so they could be cool characters.

Prediction: Skullgirls rep: 5%

Nomination: Concept: Crazy Taxi rep x10

When we find out that AirMac1 actually has insider info and just leaked our E3 character on accident

 

[AirMac1]

Which timeline are you in?

W̶a̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶T̶e̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶F̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶F̶i̶g̶h̶t̶?̶ Danget! I knew I was off!

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Gonna abstain since I'm not feeling well today.

Nominations:
Concept: Miles Edgeworth as Phoenix Wright's alt/echo x5

 

[BlueEyedGrimmbat]

Abstaining. I say I've heard of them, but really I don't know anything.

Noms: Corvo Attano x5

 

[Cutie Gwen]

A sibling rivalry so strong that you'll fistfight each other over the same girl

Chance: 5% Our famous dynamic duo of Bimmy and Jimmy do have quite a bit going for them compared to most so I'm more optimistic than usual. Double Dragon was pretty damn big back in the day, getting a cartoon and a live action movie that made headlines! Unfortunately, it made headlines for less than savory reasons, I believe they filmed an explosion scene that was so loud and sudden, people thought there was an attack. A big issue here are that there are other 'Big NES classic to remember the good old days' characters who seem to get discussed a lot more often too. Another one is the owner, ArcSys, sure, it's happened before with our 2 MS characters not being directly owned by MS, but I can't imagine going to ArcSys and not wanting one of their own poster boys, Sol or Ragna.

Want: 10% I'm gonna be honest, I'd be disappointed at an ArcSys character that wasn't Sol Badguy or maybe Kunio and when it comes to beat em ups, Alex Stone and Haggar are more appealing to me, though this isn't a flat zero because there's some cool ideas around regardless, as a beat em up, I have no doubt that we'd get fighters with a satisfying moveset and Double Dragon's Fist of the North Star setting can make for a very cool looking stage, so while I'd rather have damn near anything else when it comes to the options, I wouldn't inherently dislike this.

Junpei x9
Estelle x1

W̶a̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶T̶e̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶F̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶F̶i̶g̶h̶t̶?̶ Danget! I knew I was off!

Lmao don't worry dude I used to **** up with Final Fight and Fatal Fury a lot too

 

[fogbadge]

abstain. nom grunty x 5

Nominate Grunty x5

hey thats my thing

 

[Commander_Alph]

Bimbo & Jimbo

Chances 5%
Another NES character.. whew, at this point just chuck every game from that system into Smash why not? In any case Double Dragon as a game is like a bottom tier in terms of popularity, lower than the likes of Final Fight, Street of Rage and River City recently and probably the most forgotten too other than Abobo for some reason. The fact that Arcsys marketed River City more with the River City spirit event out of the blue makes their chances a lot smaller. To make it worst they have to wrestle with the likes of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue both of whom define the company more nowadays.

Want 5%

I don't really grew up much with Double Dragon honestly so I'm guessing if B&J Lee were to be added they're probably going to represent the street brawling type beat-em-up as a whole considering they all have more in common which.. I would avoid, I can choose a better candidate than them like Cody and Haggar from Final Fight or Axel and Blaze from Street of Rage with the latter being part of my childhood.

 

[Lyncario]

DRAGON DRAGON, ROCK THE DRAGON, DRAGON BALL Z!

Abstain, my brain is not in the mood to do this.

Nominations

Virtual idols like Miku x5

Predictions

Skullgirls rep: 5.6%

 

[NintenRob]

abstain. nom grunty x 5



hey thats my thing

II'm Helping, figured I'd try and break the tie

 

[Megadoomer]

W̶a̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶T̶e̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶F̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶F̶i̶g̶h̶t̶?̶ Danget! I knew I was off!

He's from Fatal Fury - same initials, but Fatal Fury is an SNK fighting game, while Final Fight is a Capcom side-scrolling beat-em-up.

 

[Phoenix Douchebag]

HURR HURR BIMMY AND JIMMY I AM SO FUNNY GUYS.

Chance: 5%

Let's get the positives first. Double Dragon is agruably one of the most influential games of the eighties, which is saying something seeing how many franchises debuted in that era. Being what is basically THE Beat Em Up franchise, it managed to stay popular during the entire Third and Fourth generations of consoles, it fell its demise during the jump of the 3D era, and things have never been the same for poor old DD.

Now the franchise has seen some success thanks to Double Dragon Neon, but that was released almost a DECADE ago, so there's not much in the horizon for these bros to look foward to. (well, there's also Double Dragon IV, but we don't talk about it)

Unless Sakurai feels like a Boomer and wants to add an old school character, i don't see it.

Want: 35%

Admittedly, i love Beat Em Ups and i would like to see a character from that Genre come into Smash, but when the best Beat Em Up characters aren't even Video Game ones, so my choices are left with Axel Stone, Mike Haggar and these 2. Honestly i would welcome any of them in Smash, it's just that im not jumping from my seat to see them.

 

[Deleted member]

BJ

Chance: 10%

Billy and Jimmy are probably some of the bigger underdog picks for Smash to include. It was an pretty iconic series for its time as it was 1 of a few games to popularize the Beat Em Up genre. When you look at the current status of Vol 2, they definitely stand out from the rest of the cast as they're 2 dudes with a big focus on close combat. Double Dragon is also a game that does at least get some level of recognition through references and cameos like their appearances in River City Girls, even though they're both in the same universe seemingly. Sure, you could say the series is a forgotten relic of its time since there's been very little focus on the series nowadays, but they do have the novelty of being a classic title dating back to the NES days.

What does derail their chances, however, is the fact that a 2 for 1 Challenger Pack has already happened with Pyra and Mythra. Sure, you can say Double Dragon and XC2 are 2 completely different games which shouldn't make this much of an issue, but what we have on both Fighter Passes, they haven't done the same concept twice in 1 Pass so far. The closest to them doing similar concepts would be Hero and Byleth having different alts, but you're comparing a character whos has 3 separate characters as alts and a character with a gender bent alt. Personally, I don't believe Billy and Jimmy would be in Smash with 1 of them as an alt but as an Echo Fighter instead. Echoes do make characters equal to each other while alts favor 1 over the other considering Ultimate's line of Amiibos don't include alts. Maybe it would be different enough since a transformation character isn't the same as a character with an Echo Fighter, but I just don't see it happening.

Want: 99%

Truth be told, I wasn't very big into Beat Em Up games or cared enough to see Billy and Jimmy in Smash for awhile, but sometime after Byleth's presentation, I started thinking about them more to the point I actually went around to watch videos around the series. I got the title theme stuck in my head for some time cause I'd love to hear Smash's version of that track and even envisioned their stage being in line of a Beat Em Up game that scrolls after beating all the stage enemies in it or KO'ing enough people. I legitimately couldn't believe I warmed up to seeing them in Smash the way that I have that they ended up being my most wanted NES characters for Smash over Hayabusa. It actually helps that they aren't brought up as much as him or any other Arc System Works character cause in a way the less they're brought up the more special it feels if they're added to Smash. I may not see them super likely anymore, but I'll still want to see them in Smash someday.

 

[Sari]

Billy and Jimmy Lee

Chance: 5%
One of the most classic games on the NES with no representation in Smash at the moment. The main issue here is that Double Dragon is now owned by ArcSys, and if Nintendo were to approach them about Smash then I'm almost certain they would choose a character from Guilty Gear or BlazBlue instead. On top of this, we got a River City spirit event in early 2020 (well after FP2 was finalized) which is another series owned by ArcSys. There are many ways to look at that, but for me it gives me the feeling that the spirit event was the most we'd be getting from ArcSys.

Want: 40%
I've played the first few levels of the first Double Dragon. It's a fun game even though I didn't really get far into it and I recognize it as one of the quintessential games of its genre. Additionally, I do feel like Smash is long overdue for a beat-em-up rep at some point so I'd be down for just about any major ones. Score would probably be higher if it wasn't for the competition Billy & Jimmy face from all corners.

1. When it comes to beat-em-up reps: I already have two other characters I'd much like to see make it in before Billy & Jimmy. The first is Axel Stone from Streets of Rage, which is easily my favorite series of the genre. The second is Mike Haggar from Final Fight, another beat-em-up series that I enjoy. I would much prefer that one of those two characters get in before the Lee brothers.
2. ArcSys is another area with many great candidates/competition. While I haven't really gotten into Guilty Gear or BlazBlue that much, I am much more interested in those series than Double Dragon and would prefer someone like Sol Badguy or Ragna. Additionally, ArcSys also owns the River City/Kunio-kun series and I feel like I would be much more interested in Kunio instead.

So yeah this is the perfect example of "I wouldn't want them over other characters, but if they did get in I'd be cool with it."

-----

Skullgirls rep: 5.64%

Nominations:
Conker x60

 

[Pillow]

Double Dragon
Chance - 10%
It's a classic (a NES one at that), but if we're going to go for a beat em up character I think River City or Streets of Rage has it beat out in terms of popularity and impact. If we're talking Arcsys characters I also struggle to see anyone other than Sol being our guy. It's definitely possible but I'm also not really feeling them either.

Want - 20%
Not against it particularly, but I think I'd still much rather see Kunio or Axel though I'm not really the biggest fan of the genre to begin with. It would just be a very lukewarm addition to me.

Noms:
xMax FromSoft

 

[GoodGrief741]

Bimmy and Jim-

HURR HURR BIMMY AND JIMMY I AM SO FUNNY GUYS.

Dammit man some of us are just comedy-defficient alright?

Chance: 20%
The Double Dragons are the stars of the iconic NES and arcade trilogy known as... I forget. Every list of the great NES games has to mention Double Dragon. It's the first great beat-em-up that laid the groundwork for games like Final Fight and Golden Axe. The franchise spawned sequels, spin-offs, crossovers with the likes of Battletoads and the Kunio cast, comic books, an animated series and of course, a movie. It was a big deal even it its star has diminished.

No doubt Sakurai would like them, the Lees are quintessential gaming history picks. And in terms of competition they're pretty good. As far as ownership goes their only rival is Sol Badguy, the star of a modern franchise that's more popular but not as influential or as big as DD in its heyday. On the genre side of the equation I'd say the only realistic candidate is Axel Stone, from an equally influential but more acclaimed franchise that made more of a splash with its comeback, but who faces way tougher intra-company competition. It's strong but hardly insurmountable. Needless to say, I could easily see the Lee Bros. make it as either of the last two characters, given their complete absence in speculation (and therefore demand) and their comparatively smaller status with the mainstream. And I guess I should mention that I fail to see why the Kunio Spirit Event would disconfirm or even hurt ArcSys' chances when Sephiroth's inclusion was preceded by several Square Enix events.

Want: 100%
You know me, I'm a sucker for retro. I quoted the AVGN like I'm supposed to. Double Dragon is just so much fun, I've played them all several times and would do it again.

Double Dragon is neither a 3rd party with any real relevance right now

It depends on what you consider relevant but Double Dragon IV came out in 2017, on Switch.

Noms: Todd Mother****ing Snap x10
Skullgirls prediction: 6.66%

 

[GoodGrief741]

II'm Helping, figured I'd try and break the tie

That's what you thought you were doing, but actually...

Spoiler: Nominations post-Trevor Philips pre-Billy & Jimmy Lee

Concept: Miles Edgeworth as Phoenix Wright's Alt/Echo x300
Bill Rizer x280
Mike Haggar x265
Concept: A BioShock protagonist x261
Ryza (Atelier) x245
Grunty (Banjo-Kazooie) x245
Concept: From Software rep x245

250 - 201

[Rerate] Concept: League of Legends rep x242
Estelle Bright x235
Tetra x230
[Rerate] Carmen Sandiego x225

200 - 151

Senator Armstrong x200
Sackboy x180
Kaede Akamatsu x170
Riptor x170
Corvo Attano x165
Stage: Bowser's Castle x162
Todd Snap x155

150 - 101

Boss: Rayquaza x150
Meat Boy x150
Rean Schwarzer x140
Mii Costume: Monika x135
[Rerate] Louie x130
Mii Costume: Alex Kidd x128
Junpei (Zero Escape) x127
Boss: Ender Dragon x123
Echo (Bowser) x118
D.Va x115
Mii Costume: 2B x110
[Rerate] Crash Bandicoot x110
Fulgore x107
[Rerate] Officer Howard x105

100 - 51

Stage: Tetris x100
Giygas x90
Legends Trainer x90
Gunvolt x90
Concept: Virtual idols like Hatsune Miku x85
Concept: Darksiders rep x80
[Rerate] Concept: New Zelda character x80
Garchomp x77
Concept: More ATs as one new item x75
Dwight Fairfield (Dead by Daylight) x75
Concept: Rocket League rep x75
Echo (Olimar) x66
Concept: SNES-era Final Fantasy rep x65
Magolor x65
Concept: Danganronpa protagonist x65
[Rerate] Yuri Lowell x65
Ghirahim x60
[Rerate] Zhao Yun x60
[Rerate] Tails x60
Gooigi x55
Vi (Bug Fables) x55
Echo: Zeraora (Lucario) x55
[Rerate] Jin Kazama x55
Jin Sakai x55
Demi-Fiend x55

50 - 25

[Rerate] Agumon x40
Mii Costume: Zagreus x40
Conker x40
Filia (Skullgirls) x31
Ratchet & Clank x30
Concept: Large and Normal Final Destination made into separate stages x25
Springtrap x25

Under 25

Regigigas x20
[Rerate] Metal Sonic x20
Yarn Yoshi x15
[Rerate] Shovel Knight x15
Captain Charlie (Pikmin) x15
[Rerate] Reimu x15
Plague Knight x15
Tetris x10
Slash Kamei (Snowboard Kids) x10
Jesse (Control) x10
Infernape x10
[Rerate] Gex x10
[Rerate] Concept: Echo Fighters Pass x10
[Rerate] Q*Bert x10
[Rerate] Ryu Hayabusa x10
Octoling x10
[Rerate] Gene x10
Concept: Crazy Taxi character x10
[Rerate] Earthworm Jim x9
[Rerate] Brian x7
Concept: Rocket League content x5
[Rerate] Thrall x5
[Rerate] Lara Croft x5
Stage: Tetris 99 x5
Concept: Raizing shmup rep x5
Donbe and Hikari x5
Soma Cruz x5
Concept: KOS-MOS with T-elos alt x5
[Rerate] Master Hand x5
Pyramid Head x5
[Rerate] Elma x5
Siris (Infinity Blade) x5
[Rerate] Phoenix Wright x5
Concept: Tsukihime rep x5
Echo: Ms. Pac-Man x5
Firebrand x1

Ryza, Grunty and From Software rep pass League of Legends rep and are now tied for fifth place. LoL rep, along with Estelle Bright, who couldn't keep up, fall off the top seven. And so my beautiful quadruple tie is gone, reduced to ashes...

Todd Snap snaps up 150 noms.

Demi-Fiend makes a deal for 50 noms.

Springtrap escapes the under 25 club.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Abstain. I know nothing about Double Dragon.

Nominations: Concept: Danganronpa protagonist x5

 

[Louie G.]

BILLY & JIMMY

CHANCE - 9.5%
Double Dragon hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire nowadays, but it's absolutely a series with a strong legacy. One of the foundational games of the beat-em-up genre, a genre that is oddly totally absent from Smash's roster despite honestly having quite a bit of DNA within Smash's core gameplay (the way items are handled for example, and Subspace / Smash Run take some definite pointers). The classic Double Dragon games are available on the eshop to boot, and Double Dragon II is on the NES Classic. I feel like this pass is short of longstanding legacy picks to the same extent as Hero or Terry, so the opportunity is definitely open for the Lee brothers to swoop in. Especially with a huge ninja shaped barrier seemingly out of the way.

Arc System Works is also a sleeper pick for another company Nintendo could collaborate with for Smash. "Sleeper" being used lightly at this point, Sol Badguy is hardly an underrated suggestion anymore, being pretty much the posterboy for speculation underdogs... which in turn is a bit contradictory, but I digress. ArcSys is one of the bigger Japanese companies to keep an eye on, I think. Sol gets the most attention and it's for an understandable reason, ArcSys is mostly known for its fighting games nowadays and Guilty Gear is pretty much its pride and joy. Double Dragon is among various acquired properties from Technos Japan, just like Kunio-Kun / River City Ransom, which in turn makes it a bit of an overlooked choice for ArcSys' FIRST series in Smash.

Speaking of River City Ransom, it's currently the only ArcSys series with any content in Smash... which is a little bit curious. I should specify that I'm not particularly expecting an ArcSys character, but if we got a character from a company that hasn't debuted on the roster yet I think they're one of the frontrunners. At the very least, they've got their foot in the door and kind of out of nowhere at that. Could of course not pan out to mean anything but it's definitely raised an eyebrow, it's not like it synced up with anything significant but neither did our Warframe spirit.

Billy & Jimmy aren't without their shortcomings though. In my eyes they stride the line a little close to Terry both aesthetically and their brawler moveset, although perhaps the latter can be avoided if they lean into using various items / weapons that you pick up in the game. But they also have Sol to compete against, a series that is currently a lot more relevant for ArcSys and seems to be crossing over here and there too, so I feel like for now Guilty Gear is their signature IP. Of course though, it's up to Nintendo at the end of the day and I don't think they'd particularly say no if they did want the Lees. The question is ultimately just "would they even want them?" which is a can of worms in itself and applies to... pretty much everyone, but I will say it doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of incentive to go for these guys at the moment. Still an interesting case and not one I would be incredibly shocked to see pan out either.

WANT - 50%
Despite nominating these guys for a while, I don't have much attachment to this series or the beat-em-up genre in general. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it get representation though, like I said it's an important genre that has even had a notable impact on Smash's identity. I think bringing in characters from a variety of game types that have not yet been utilized is great and not only keeps the roster fresh from a gameplay perspective, but also lets Smash thrive even more as a celebration of games of all kinds. So all in all I'd accept these guys no problem, but to be honest I think I'd rather have Axel Stone or Kunio. The former because god damn, Streets of Rage music in Smash sounds like a dream, and the other because I would love to see Kunio stylized like his iconic sprite akin to Mega Man (that's how I think they'd handle him, at least). Billy & Jimmy are a bit milquetoast I guess. Not a problem but I think there are other options with just a little more flair who can do kinda the same thing.

TAILS x10
Skullgirls - 4.35%

 

[Neosonic97]

Dragons x2

Chance: 5%
It's not impossible. Double Dragon does have that legacy on the NES, and Beat-em-ups are a genre not yet explored in Smash (Terry is Fatal Fury/King of Fighters). With that being said, the main primary issue that a Double Dragon rep would have is competition from two of ArcSys' other, more popular works: Guilty Gear and Blazblue, which are more likely to be the first ArcSys rep if we do get one (Likely Sol Badguy or Ragna the Bloodedge respectively).

Want: Abstain.
I don't really know how to feel about these guys, as I haven't really played their games. They'd be sorta cool, I guess? I just don't know enough about them to give any real rating, though.

Noms: Reimu Rerate x5.

Since we can finally throw away that stupid 'no official appearances on Nintendo Consoles' argument I'm gonna push hard for a Reimu rerate.

 

[Yiptap]

Billy Bob Joe

Chance: 10%
Double Dragon, huh? Well to get things started, as stated many times, Double Dragon has a hell of a legacy, being the big daddy of the beat em up genre. It even had a movie once (From what I heard, it's sh*t)! Back to talking about games, Double Dragon had various crossovers, such as the Battletoads. Fairly recently, Double Dragon had a revival with a new game, so that's a plus! Now for the cons... In the genre, Streets of Rage has become more popular so the Bros have a competitor. And to restate something that @Velveeta Dream said, FP2 had a duo already, with it being Pythra. Overall, I could see Billy and Jimmy being a dark horse pick. However, they aren't extremely likely. But it's not impossible!

Want: 30%
I'm not really a fan of the beat em up genre. However, I'm still willing to recognize the Dragons' importance in gaming. I'm also not very familiar with Double Dragons, with my most experience being the Abobo computer games. It isn't anything I would hate, but nothing I would be ecstatic about neither.

Noms: Meat Boy x Max

 

[waddledeeonredyoshi]

Abstaining cuz I just don't feel like it today

Skullgirls rep: 7.84%
Plague Knight x5

 

[Inue Houji]

Billy and Jimmy Lee
Chance: 5%
They would be a very possible base game pick, but this is DLC. I don't think the series has anything on the horizon, and the last game was during the 7th gen of consoles(PS3 etc.).
I'd say their only chance is as a Terry style pick, and those don't happen often.
There's also the issue of them being ArcSys now, and they have other equally or more popular franchises too.
Better luck next time.

Want: 40%
I had pretty much only heard mentions of the series until a few weeks ago. I played Double Dragon Neon through PS Now, the game was pretty fun. I played 2P with my brother, so I'm not sure how the single player experience is, but I imagine the intended way is 2P anyway. The music was great, but that's to be expected, as it was composed by Jake Kaufman(Virt). This is only the case for Neon however, so I'm not sure how the earlier games hold up. Moveset potential exists aplenty, and there's also the possibility of having both Billy and Jimmy as a tag team. The only thing that holds them back is that they look somewhat bland IMO.

Predictions
Skullgirls: 1.6%

Nominations
Ratchet & Clank x10

 

[3DSNinja]

Abstain
Nominations: Springtrap x5

 

[Dan Quixote]

Hu haven't done one of these in a while but I actually know these characters so let's a go

William and James

CHANCE - 15%
Sakurai does love his classic 8-bit era icons, and Double Dragon stands out among them. It helped codify the beat-em-up genre AND it was a gigantic mainstay for co-op multiplayer arcade games. The movie may have sucked, but so did every other video game movie and theirs was at least one of the more famous. The beat-em-up genre is woefully underrepresented in Smash for being so important to video game history, and the series has popularity in both the east and west. I think they're pretty likely for a future game, but... idk about SSBU. If Nintendo really wanted to work with ArcSys on this one, I think they would go with something else. Someone far more marketable for DLC like Sol. Says a lot to me that they made Kunio the Spirit Board event and just used the characters' River City Ransom spritework. I don't think they're prioritizing classics or "representation" for DLC, so they'd probably overlook ol' Billy and Jimmy 'til next time.

WANT - 45%
I started writing this post with the intention of giving Bimmy and Jimmy a low-ish want score with the explanation that there's representation on both the beat-em-up genre side and the ArcSys IP side that I'd like to see more. That's still kinda true, but as I think about it more I started realizing that the Lees totally deserve it. Yes Sol is cool but tbh I'm personally more familiar with Double Dragon anyways. And as I recall, Billy and Jimmy did have some pretty unique moves in their arcade games, setting them apart from other icons of the genre like Axel or Cody. (There's also the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, and if I can go on a tangent here, people always underrate those turtles whenever the conversation of "What if Nintendo finally did add a 4th-party character?" comes up, those are very important and huge games.) Plus just the fact that there's two of them, even if they would probably just be alternate costumes of each other, is nice.

Nominations: Concept: SNES-era Final Fantasy rep x10

Predictions: Skullgirls 6.5%

 

[NintenRob]

That's what you thought you were doing, but actually...

Well in that case

Nominate
Grunty x3
From Software rep x1
Carmen Sandiego x1


Oh and obviously I'm abstaining.

 

[Sari]

Day over.

Rate Concept: Skullgirls rep.

Predict Peppino from Pizza Tower.

Megadoomer

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Some songs to get into the Skullgirls mood:

Spoiler: Skullgirls Music

 

[Lionfranky]

Abstain as I know very little about Skullgirls in general.

Ryza x 5

 

[BowserKing]

Skullgirls rep

Chance: 10%. The franchise has been around for quite a bit and there are quite a bit of fans who love it, giving this franchise a bit of an advantage. However, some of the characters would either be censored (not just fanservice, but blood as well) or face being absent (like Mai), but that did not stop Bayonetta and Pyra and Mythra from getting in alongside Joker, then it should not be too much of a problem. The real problem is who?

Want: 60%. I think a Skullgirls rep would be fun to play as, but which rep would be the best fit? I think amoung the most likely choices are Peacock, Sqiggly and Ms. Fortune. I can see Peacock face off against Toon Link and other cartoony fighter’s, and her cartoony style would give her uniqueness among the Skullgirls cast. I can see Squiggly encounter Steve (in Zombie skin) and seeing an undead fighter would be unique. Ms Fortune would be a long shot since Shen can tear her head of and use as a weapon, which might not be E10 material. But overall, a Skullgirls rep would be a great addition to the Smash Bros Roaster.

Prediction: Peppino (5%)

Noms: 5 for Stage: Bowser’s Castle

 

[Perkilator]

Abstain.

Peppino: 1% (I at least know Wario Wario Wario would be enthusiastic)

Noms:
[Rerate] Crash Bandicoot ×5

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Don't worry Mike Z isn't involved anymore

Chance: 1% So, Skullgirls. The issue here is being very niche, infamously niche among the FGC, not Melty levels of niche though. Outside of that? It's got a surprising amount going for it, though I don't think it's enough to shake that core argument away. Skullgirls has arcade cabinets in Japan, is critically acclaimed and pretty much a sacred cow in that regard and surprisingly, it's still alive and kicking! A whole new season of DLC including Umbrella who had become a meme because she got shafted! If it was a bit more popular, I'd have bumped the score up but alas.

Want: 70% I have very little experience with Skullgirls but holy **** the presentation alone is amazing, the aesthetics are absolutely perfect and the roster mostly representing different eras and genres of cinema is a dream come true for me, most of the characters have loads of visual charm and have such fun **** to work with due to being from, you know, a fighting game. ****'s just very easy on the eyes

Estelle x1
Junpei x9

 

[Sari]

Concept: Skullgirls rep

Chance: 2%
While Skullgirls is fairly popular, I don't really see it as a big priority for Nintendo to the point where they'd add an entire character from it. Like I'm really not sure what else to say other than that there are much bigger fighters to choose from, and that none of the companies that are a part of (or previously worked on) Skullgirls are all that big especially compared to other Western competition. This just screams spirit event to me.

If this were to actually happen, I'm fairly confident the character would be Filia since she's pretty much the face of Skullgirls (they could also add Fukua alongside her if they really wanted to). Other choices I can see happening are Ms. Fortune, Cerebella, or even Marie if they decide to go for a Min Min/Pyra sort of situation.

Want: 70%
Skullgirls is a really great fighting game. In fact, the game is basically going through a reboot ever since they cut ties with Lab Zero/Mike Z and a new wave of characters has been releasing (with Umbrella being revealed as playable just last week). It's one of the best fighters you can get (and is often super cheap on Steam during sales) so grab it as soon as you can.

As for whether I'd actually want a character from it in Smash, I'd be down for it though I do have my concerns. One of the main appeals of Skullgirls is the hand drawn animations for each character (I think it even has a world record for how many frames each character possesses). If Skullgirls were to ever get a rep in Smash, they'd either have to make the character a 3D model or directly port all of their animations from Skullgirls itself. Both of these would probably just look really weird (I know G&W exists but the cardboard cutout thing is pretty much his whole shtick). This isn't a major detriment to my want score since we can't say for sure how it'd look, but it is enough to make be a bit hesitant. And yes I know the Cuphead costume is a thing but that's different since it's a blank Mii costume.

Now as for who I would want, well if it were up to me personally then I'd go for Squigly since she's my favorite character. But I would often use Filia (or Fukua technically) when I played it on Steam before so I'd be alright with her. Really though I'd be fine with just about any character that isn't Double or Painwheel.

Also I'd love to hear the NMO Arena theme in Smash so there's that.

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Peppino chance prediction: 0.5% - This is going to be one of those days where I question my faith in humanity (or at least, this thread's logic in chance scores)

Nominations:
Conker x10

 

[3DSNinja]

Abstain
Nominations: Springtrap x5
Peppino predictions: 0.2%
There's no way he's getting in when his game is still in the demo phases - I just wanna spread the word of the existence of Pizza Tower, lol.

 

[fogbadge]

abstain. i thought this was a brand of headphones. nom grunty x5

 

[ahemtoday]

Skullgirls rep

Chance: 2%

Well, Skullgirls is on the Switch, so that's something. It's... probably the indie fighter I see the most about on a regular basis, though I don't think I've ever really seen it outside of a fighting game context. And it's apparently powerful enough to start getting characters again, which is wild.

That said,.. yeah, it's a bit of a long shot. Indie characters don't have a great track record even when they're quite associated with Nintendo, so Skullgirls is already at kind of a disadvantage. Considering the game's content (not just of the fanservice variety but also, like, the fact that the roster includes a zombie, a writhing experimentee with a sawblade coming out her spine, a catgirl whose limbs detatch themselves regularly, and Miss YoUr SiNs HaVe No AbSoLuTiOn), it... doesn't quite strike me as the sort of thing Nintendo would want to actively and majorly promote. I mean, not that it's that much of an issue - if it was a more major game, I probably wouldn't mention it. But when you already have a big obstacle like relative obscurity, it makes all your other obstacles seem bigger too.

Want: 90%

You know what, screw it. Skullgirls got me into fighting games. I love the game's style and characters, how its side characters and even background extras are just as absurd as the main cast (shout out to the Street Fighter dogs, bowler hat katana girl, the guy with a tongue parasite, and Yuzuriha), and its movesets. I now main charge characters and zoners and cannot imagine a world wherein I ever actually escape from pressure.

The most likely choice is Filia, and I'd be happy with that, but I have to admit I would prefer a traditional fighting game character that wasn't a shoto for once. Especially since fighting games are really well-suited to non-main character picks. I think the most likely characters other than Filia are Squigly, Peacock, or Marie, and I'd be fine with any of those, personally.

Junpei x3
Earthworm Jim x7

Prediction: Peppino gets 0%.