I want to do something a little different. Instead of just looking over the character that I think were rated too high or low, I also want to look at
why it happened. Let's see if we can understand why the ratings were what they were, shall we?
NOTE: I decided to leave Ryu and Roy off this list. How accurate our ratings were depends too much on things we still don't know for sure.
-♪-
Most Overrated
Though these first two months, there was a lot of debating, arguing, character campaigning, and general craziness all around...but there were still patterns. For one,
veteran characters had better treatment overall than most newcomers. Problems that would've been considered deal breakers for a newcomer were often swept away for a veteran as if they were nothing. I ended up scratching my head several times at some of the free passes they got, even if they had significant obstacles in their way.
That brings me to the first character I think was rated too high:
1. Ice Climbers
As we know now, they
were originally planned for Smash 4...but technical complications shelved them. Due to how complicated Nana's AI was, having too many sets on screen at a time was pushing the 3DS beyond its limits, and even putting the squeeze on the Wii U's processor when in 8-Player Smash! Sakurai's team decided it was better for Popo and Nana to sit this one out than either invest even
more time that was better spent elsewhere or leaving them as is and letting them lag the games to the point of unplayability.
If you ask me, that's a pretty big deal, especially since
the team left over for DLC is smaller than the initial team. And yet, so many acted like the Smash Ballot could bend reality and render those problems irrelevant. With so many compelling characters to choose from now, it doesn't seem worth it to invest a significant part of their team to fixing them again and risk having nothing to show for it.
At least they'll be pretty likely for Smash 5.
I've noticed something else, as well. You know how sometimes you see something and it really inspires you? An idea can latch on to your mind and, for a while, you can't stop thinking about it. Several characters now have had support bases show up
once something happened to make them seem likely.
It's like an inverted sour grapes effect, with supporters jumping on the bandwagon to say they were there before the character was confirmed. Not that there weren't
actual supporters before...and I wonder how they felt surrounded by a bandwagon that misrepresented them.
And for the next entry, a bandwagon literally appeared
overnight.
2. Rayman
One of the only third party characters with a tie to Smash already, in the form of a few trophies. Though when the reason
for those trophies was the fact that Nintendo themselves published Rayman Legends in Japan, and when Ubisoft's relationship with Nintendo is currently strained at best, it seems like giving him a near one-in-three chance is wishful thinking that ignores the surrounding circumstances.
But let's be honest. If Artsy Omni hadn't done that super-convincing hoax that got so many people to picture Rayman in Smash? His rating would've been
at least ten points lower.
There's one more thing I've seen, though. It's what, thanks to a friend who came up with the idea, I call
"flavors of the month". Every now and then, sometimes for reasons related to #2, sometimes for reasons that aren't related to Smash at all, a character sees a brief flare up in popularity that translates to ballot support. The thing with flavors of the month is, though,
that support doesn't always last.
You saw this most often with characters just getting their own games, Captain Toad and the Inklings among them. Indie darlings Shovel Knight and Shantae became flavors of the month for a while when their patron companies officially supported them for Smash despite knowing full well how unlikely their chances were. Even before Smash 4 came out, Chrom gained a following and the Chorus Kids suddenly grew a bandwagon out of nowhere when the Gematsu Leak claimed they were guaranteed.
This character, though, is a little more recent.
3. Chibi-Robo
This is why we froze votes for Roy and Ryu once those victory theme files were found. With the surprise announcement of a new Chibi-Robo game
and an amiibo, the little guy became a flavor of the month. It remains to be seen what support he'll sustain, but for now, rating him so high so suddenly feels like a knee-jerk reaction.
To say no less of everyone who assumed they'd throw him into Smash to promote the new game despite the total lack of precedent for it. A word to the wise: I know what it's like to suddenly get really interested in a character, but if you want to give them a high rating,
don't rely on shaky arguments.
Honorable Mentions: Snake got something similar to #1's veteran privilege, and I would've had him at 3 if Chibi-Robo hadn't happened to be near the top of the nominations at the same time a new game was announced. The main reason Snake is so unlikely now, though, has to do with things that happened
after his rating. I have no clue how
Daisy got such a high rating despite being such a divisive figure among Mario fans who has had
one, old appearance in the main series.
The Inklings blur the lines between what happened with 2 and 3; a new IP with a tidal wave of hype that made people want them in Smash
right now without waiting to see how their series even panned out! Since the only "promotion" they got were Mii costumes, though, it seems their biggest argument...has been splatted. And then there's
Pichu, a generally disliked clone who still managed to nearly crack the Top 25 though veteran privilege and ratings that
outright disregarded arguments made against the previously rated Pokémon in a blatant case of
doublethought!
Enough ranting, though. Let's talk about some characters with brighter futures.
Most Underrated
There's an argument I see made constantly:
the idea that we'll only get one DLC character per series. So much of the fanbase acts like it's unquestioned truth...and yet,
we have no proof of it. The biggest argument that it exists involves claiming a series can only justify so many "reps" in comparison with other series...but
that doesn't seem true either! Consider how two Mario newcomers made it into Smash 4 despite cries of oversaturation. Consider how it took until Brawl for there to be more than one character from Kirby's games. Consider the fact that Bowser Jr.
almost didn't make it...and that no one was planned to take his "slot".
In other words: All those characters rated low from people assuming a more popular character would "take" their series' "roster spot", or assuming they already
had? All those characters ripped in Want out of fear of them "stealing" a more popular character's "slot"?
Reconsider them.
Such unfounded ideas have skewed several ratings we've done so far...and my pick for most underrated saw a perfect storm.
1. Krystal
Krystal's day was hard to watch. Post after post of "she won't get in over Wolf", cries of "You aren't stealing Wolf's spot!", far too many "no furries" cards played by people who would go on to openly praise Wolf despite the latter being a furry character himself! But there's nothing saying we can't get
two Star Fox characters, especially with a brand new game giving the series the spotlight again and with Sakurai implying he wants to go all out with DLC.
And you know how much focus the developers put on unique newcomers this time around? All that talk of how Robin was chosen over Chrom because of how much more potential he had, how easily he could differentiate himself from the rest of the roster, how he could represent aspects of Fire Emblem that no current character--or Chrom--could?
Have you seen Krystal supporters much--can't say I blame you if you haven't, considering it makes you an easy target in places--and listened to why they think she'd make such a great addition to Smash? You'll keep seeing references to her staff from Star Fox Adventures, how it'd make her the first fully unique Star Fox character since Fox himself. You'll see the staff's powers from Adventures be discussed, how easily they could be worked into a moveset
and give Krystal abilities no other character has. You might even see talk of weapons beyond her staff, of the ground combat from Star Fox Assault and how untapped its various blasters and artillery are.
Moveset potential is one of the things the developers care most about...and the biggest point Krystal's supports make is
her moveset potential.
But Krystal wasn't the only character who got screwed over. My next entry barely got the time of day because of a character already in.
2. Sceptile
With Ivysaur gone, there are no characters right now with the plant-based powers of a Grass type. With a one-two-three punch of fan support--
the most popular Grass starter--paving the way further than any other Pokémon character seems to have gone, relevance from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire gaining the attention of the Smash fanbase, and the high moveset potential many Pokémon naturally have, Sceptile has a legitimate chance to do something with that wide open thematic niche. Mewtwo has only made a small dent in the support for other Pokémon characters, and Scep's biggest roadblock, the idea that we couldn't possibly get another Pokémon, doesn't hold any ground.
I actually had a lot of trouble finding a #3.
Paper Mario was dealt a similar fate by people assuming we won't get a Mario character as DLC, as well as others who seemed to care more about him being another version of Mario than the fact that he'd lean toward playing completely different. And yet, despite that, I feel like his final rating was pretty fair.
For my third pick...I think I have to go to recent events.
3. Tetra
Did
anyone see Hyrule Warriors 3D coming? With a surprise port leaked a few days early, now everyone's back to talking about fan favorite Tetra again. Depending on how this turns out, she could end up a flavor of the month, and from there, who knows how much support she'll sustain? It'll depend on how many people stay interested in Tetra and if her abilities in Hyrule Warriors spur fans' imaginations as much as Impa's did.
I admit it's rather shaky, and she wasn't underrated by
much. I did say I had trouble deciding on one. >_>
Most Accurately Rated
This one's such a crapshoot. Anything we assume is accurate could change drastically in a short time (See: Konami). I don't feel like I can reliably call this one.
I abstain.
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