Should characters have to be unlocked? Or should they already be available?

[Jakor]

I enjoy unlocking things in Smash Bros. too. Not only characters, but stages, music, trophies, stickers, etc. like in Brawl. I hope that grid thing will be back in Smash 4, and seeing as Sakurai put three of them in Kid Icarus: Uprising, he will surely expand the one in Smash 4 also.

 

[ZelDan]

I would like to be able to unlock characters just because it's been a part of the last three games. It has kind of become a staple in the series.

That being said I wouldn't really complain if every character was already unlocked from the beginning.

Either way the game will be fun and will probably get alot of playtime from me.

 

[AIM0001]

You see this pic right here? This is what excites me each and every time! Even if its to unlock a character I dont like I still love having to earn my characters and fight them in a match first. In fact I thought it was waaaay too easy to unlock the whole roster in Brawl.


I hope in Smash 4 they make it atleast as challenging to unlock characters as it was in Melee. Theres nothing fun about unlocking all the characters in the first 2 days....I dont see why we'd have to unlock stages,trophys etc. but then have all of the roster unlockable from the start? I'd be disappointed it they didnt make us earn our characters through playing single and multiplayer modes....

 

[Curious Villager]

I hope in Smash 4 they make it atleast as challenging to unlock characters as it was in Melee. Theres nothing fun about unlocking all the characters in the first 2 days....I dont see why we'd have to unlock stages,trophys etc. but then have all of the roster unlockable from the start? I'd be disappointed it they didnt make us earn our characters through playing single and multiplayer modes....[/B]

You do know you don't "have" to play through the SSE in order to unlock all characters right? (I'm assuming you're talking about the SSE) The only characters really necessary to do that were Toon Link, Jigglypuff and Wolf. It was just another option for those that just wanted all characters as soon as possible and go straight for online matches. I went through the other options first before I went for the SSE.

 

[Super FOG]

You have to be joking me...

Unlocking characters is addicting? Really? If it was, you'd start the game over again to unlock the characters again and continue to do so in an endless loop.

smh

Not a bad idea.

Luckily, in Melee I can just remove the Memory Card and try to unlock the maximum of hidden characters that I can, without wiping my save data.

But I strongly agree that unlocking hidden stuff is really, really addicting! I hope that SSB4 feature multiple save slots.

"A NEW FOE HAS APPEARED!!"

 

[DakotaBonez]

unlocking stuff adds replayabilty and makes the game more fun and gives you something to strive for. sometimes the trip there is better then the destination

I prefered tripping in brawl over the newly designed final destination.
I always get caught under the oddly angled edge when I try to recover.
Tripping however has never led to my demise as it provides
invincibility frames.

 

[JPW]

I love unlocking characters. However Brawl made it too easy.

It took me only 3 days to unlock everyone. Whereas Melee took me up to 2 to 3 weeks.

BUt i like unlocking characters. I remember back in the day when we did have the dojo or the net to ruin it. How exciting it was to unlock Captain Falcon in SSB64. or how interesting it was to unlock someone like Ness who we never heard of before.

I remember how it felt to unlock Marth in Melee. And ditch Link and give Marth a go, and realise he's a thousand times better than Link could ever be.

 

[bombers14]

I thought the challenger approaching from melee was better

 

[JavaCroc]

I thought the challenger approaching from melee was better

Agreed. Brawl's (which I never saw until I looked it up on Youtube because of SSE) was lacking. Melee's screen had a more ominous, "Warning!" feel to it.

 

[Bowserlick]

Start with original eight starters from 64. Everyone else has to be unlocked.

 

[JavaCroc]

Start with original eight starters from 64. Everyone else has to be unlocked.

I suggested that too. But I think it should be an option at start since some players really could not stand that, even if the early unlockable characters are easy to find.

 

[DakotaBonez]

I suggested that too. But I think it should be an option at start since some players really could not stand that, even if the early unlockable characters are easy to find.

Isnt it strange that there aren't any games with an Unlock All Characters button?
XD Im Still against it though.

 

[Bowserlick]

I suggested that too. But I think it should be an option at start since some players really could not stand that, even if the early unlockable characters are easy to find.

That would be a nice feature. I guess some new characters should be available on the roster. Some people will want to dig right into the new features. Keeping guest characters as unlockables should be a tradition.

 

[Super FOG]

I prefered tripping in brawl over the newly designed final destination.
I always get caught under the oddly angled edge when I try to recover.
Tripping however has never led to my demise as it provides
invincibility frames.

lol. You reminded me a match where a tripping saved me from Marth's Critical Hit attack.

 

[JavaCroc]

Isnt it strange that there aren't any games with an Unlock All Characters button?
XD Im Still against it though.

I'm just talking about an option between a starting SSB64-number roster and a starting normal-size roster. I don't support the idea of all characters available at start - where's the effort involved then?

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

I enjoy unlocking characters. That's half of the fun. I actually dislike games where all the characters ate unlocked right from the start.

I think though more newcomers should be unlocked besides sonic, snake, Lucario, R.O.B., Wolf and Toon Link that we had in Brawl. Split it evenly.

 

[---]

I like unlocking overall, but how it's done needs to be evened out. In Brawl it was too easy (5 matches to get Ness?), Melee it was too difficult (20 hours just to unlock Mewtwo?). Needs to be balanced out like 64.

SSE handled character unlocking rather well, but I do think that it could be structured out differently.

EDIT: This includes stages, to some extent.

 

[AIM0001]

You do know you don't "have" to play through the SSE in order to unlock all characters right? (I'm assuming you're talking about the SSE) The only characters really necessary to do that were Toon Link, Jigglypuff and Wolf. It was just another option for those that just wanted all characters as soon as possible and go straight for online matches. I went through the other options first before I went for the SSE.

No I was not talking about SSE. I was talking about unlocking characters through arcade or just playing a certain amount of hours to get a character approaching screen and how exciting it was to unlock things that way. Rather than just having all characters unlocked from the get go.

 

[MelMoe]

I too enjoy unlocking characters. However I did not enjoying unlocking characters I already new about. Newcomers should be the majority of the unlockables.

Yes, Melee's challenger approaching screen is awesome. My brother & I would try to guess the silhouette of the newcomer. Ha I remember trying to guess Mr. G&W; we had no clue what that thing was, good times.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

The silhouette-styled "Challenger Approaching" screens really make you wonder who you'll be up against, especially when you're not familiar with the character you'll be fighting.

 

[Shorts]

Characters are what fighting games are all about, and that makes them THE LTIMATE REWARD. Unlocking characters should be a task. Something that takes some good hard work. I want melee and harder unlockables, with almost ALL OF THEM being new. Brawl did it all wrong. Pos.

 

[Zap tackle]

I personally like the inclusion of unlockable characters as (unless you spoil yourself) you can have some secrets available in the game. It adds to the overall fun of the game and it even forces you to do some tasks to unlocking these characters (making them even more special when you finally unlock them).

 

[Slim_X]

Cool

I have no problem with unlocking characters, as long as we unlock them in a way that isn't cheap and easy like Brawl's SSE. In Melee, one of my joys was seeing the "Challenger Approaching" screen at random (I knew not what characters were hidden) and then discovering who it was.

In regards to unlocking characters, I've had a fun idea for player who want more of a challenge in this area. Suppose when you start up SSB4, the game asks you if you want to play in "Easy" or "Hard" mode. The difference between the modes:

• Easy: A normal amount of characters are available at the start and a normal amount of characters hidden. Nothing special.
• Hard: All but the original eight SSB starter characters are hidden. In this mode, you must unlock every other character in order of their appearance in the series. You unlock Jigglypuff first since it was arguably the first character you could easily unlock in SSB64. Then you can unlock Luigi, Captain Falcon, and Ness in that order. Since Peach was the first announced new character for Melee, you unlock her first and then progress through the rest of the Melee cast, then the Brawl and finally the SSB4 cast of new characters.

The "Hard" mode would provide a fun challenge and sort-of "history of the featured Smash Bros. series characters.

I would choose hard for a great challenge your idea is great!

 

[Mic_128]

The only thing I hope they change in regards to unlockables is going back to Melees style of unlocking the newcomers. Why Brawl gave you the new ones then unlocked all the old ones makes no sense...

As for tournaments, just make it easier to copy save files.

 

[Vinylic.]

Acutally, they gave out both New and veteran characters.

The ones you has to unlock were both new and veteran also, but we're still considered as Secret Fighters.

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/index.html

Luigi, ness, and GnW for example.

 

[Chico113]

any character that you've unlocked in brawl, should automatically be playable imo

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

The only thing I hope they change in regards to unlockables is going back to Melees style of unlocking the newcomers. Why Brawl gave you the new ones then unlocked all the old ones makes no sense...

As for tournaments, just make it easier to copy save files.

Certain veterans aren't meant to be starters when you think it over.

In terms of game data, plenty of games that have online features tend to make their game data copy protected. This would make it impossible for players to transfer their game data if their gaming system breaks down at some point in time.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

From personal experience, having to unlock a character meant I was more likely to try playing as said character.

 

[IhaveSonar]

Yeah, melee-style unlocking of characters was amazing. A staple of my childhood was seeing that "challenger approaching" screen after completing an event or beating 100-man melee or something specific to unlock a character.

 

[DakotaBonez]

Yeah, melee-style unlocking of characters was amazing. A staple of my childhood was seeing that "challenger approaching" screen after completing an event or beating 100-man melee or something specific to unlock a character.

Or if ya sucked at melee like me you could just play 1000 versus matches.
Alternatively 20 hours of versus matches works too.
I remember I made a resolution to play 4 hours a day until completion.
Now that I'm older I went back and unlocked the characters the MAN's way.

 

[Wario Bros.]

Keep unlockable characters and stages.
No unlocking battle rules.
No Subspace Emissary-easy unlocking.

That is all.

 

[Red(SP)]

Keep unlockable characters and stages.
No unlocking battle rules.
No Subspace Emissary-easy unlocking.

That is all.

Pretty much this, nuff' said.

 

[Holder of the Heel]

The thing is that with unlocking the characters it forces you to do certain tasks with specific characters and modes and thus introduces you to aforementioned things while warming you up to the formula of Smash Brothers, all the while handing you new characters to play with, and thus giving you a sense of progression and excitement. Not to mention, there are those who play the game who don't follow the news like us, or those who are such hardcore fans that they feel the need to stay away from all SSB4 news for the sake of being completely surprised when purchasing the game.

The game, while focused on multiplayer, would lack direction without unlockables, and while there would still be some if all the characters were available from the start, but as Shortie said, they are the ultimate contents to the game, and thus the best to partially hide and motivate someone to explore.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Yeah, melee-style unlocking of characters was amazing. A staple of my childhood was seeing that "challenger approaching" screen after completing an event or beating 100-man melee or something specific to unlock a character.

Melee unlocking was great. Except Mewtwo's. Seriously, how was ANYONE supposed to figure that one out, even on accident?

 

[Super FOG]

Melee unlocking was great. Except Mewtwo's. Seriously, how was ANYONE supposed to figure that one out, even on accident?

Play with four controllers by 5 hours and voilá!

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Play with four controllers by 5 hours and voilá!

Ah, I seem to have misunderstood the criteria(I thought you had to play 20 combined hours in one match). I still think it's a bit much.

 

[BirthNote]

They should have unlockable characters. A HUGE part of wanting to play an SSB game is finding out who's in the game. Having everyone available makes you appreciate the roster less and gives you less of a reason to do anything BUT vs your friends. Some excitement comes from who's already playable, who's hidden, the stages you can unlock and the music you can get. If all characters are immediately available, then the excitement of who MIGHT be in the game dies quickly, and the other forms of excitement have to compensate for it.

Every game has unlockable content because the developers want you to come back for more. They want you to keep playing the game. Why would they have one of the most important aspects of Smash--the characters--all available as soon as you start? Imagine if games of any genre had all the weapons/powers/abilities/stages/characters/items available to you as soon as you start the game. That's counter-productive.

 

[Arcadenik]

Hmmm... I prefer having the villains, sidekicks, retro characters, region-exclusive characters, and third-party characters as unlockable characters.

 

[SubparSmashBrother]

I enjoy unlocking the characters but I can understand not wanting to have to unlock them.

Solution: have a "cheats" menu with codes that can unlock all characters/stages. Anyone who really wants the content mmediately can just look up the codes online.

 

[Mic_128]

Certain veterans aren't meant to be starters when you think it over.

Definetly, in regards to ones like Game and Watch.

Having Marth as an unlockable but having Ike as a starter just seemed odd, same with Ness/Lucas and a couple of others.

Ah, I seem to have misunderstood the criteria(I thought you had to play 20 combined hours in one match). I still think it's a bit much.

Not really, it's a solid afternoon of play.