Back when I still owned a Dreamcast, I briefly played a little game called Capcom vs SNK. To make a long story short, Capcom and SNK were both well known for their fighting games. And this game pitted their best characters against each other. If you’re still not getting the picture, it’s as if Smash were combined with Virtual Fighter or Tekken and somehow the developers made it all work. Keep in mind I said <u>somehow</u>. The Capcom fighters are very different from the SNK fighters. Sure they both have punches and kicks, but beyond that everything is different. In order to preserve the style and feel of each game, Capcom vs SNK features something called grooves. By selecting different groves, when you select your character, you are free to play in the style that you prefer. If you like Street Fighter (Capcom) the best, pick that groove. If you like King of Fighters (SNK) the best, that groove is just a click away.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 has a similar feature called isms. These isms allow players to play any character in three different styles. The styles hearken back to previous games. Because the various Street Fighter games games that preceded Alpha 3 are so different, each ism was had to be balanced against each other. This is no simple task.
<p align="center"><a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ssb-marios.jpg" title="ssb-marios.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ssb-marios.jpg" alt="ssb-marios.jpg" /></a></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
Now for the big question. What could this mean for Smash?
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If you’ve been playing Smash since the beginning, then you already know that Sakurai changed some things between the original and Melee. Throws have been severely toned down. L/Z-canceling no longer canceled all of your lag, but simply half of it. And you can easily DI in or out of everything. Some people claim they like Smash64 better than Melee. A lot of us feel that the changes to smash were made for the better. But, looking at the two games side by side, is one better than the other, or are they just different? It’s hard to say.
What kind of changes can we expect from Brawl? Looking at the history of the Nintendo consoles sheds some light on the situation. The N64 was the first 3D system. Smash 64 could only do so much because the industry and the developers were still in a period of youth or nonage. The result, the game speed was moderate, the projectiles were fairly large, the controls were a little loose, and all the characters floated around with a similar level of “floatyness.”
<p align="center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/987680405-00.jpg" title="987680405-00.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/987680405-00.jpg" alt="987680405-00.jpg" /></a></p>
With the Gamecube, Sakurai had much more experience and processing power to work with. The result, a faster, more precise, fighter with many unique properties and crazy physics calculated on the fly. Now, momentum can be created and transfered in ways that Smash 64 never could. The little changes like this really enriched Melee.
So what can the Wii do that the Gamecube couldn’t? It’s as simple as more. Every aspect of Smash can be tweaked and enhanced to enrich the game further. We all know about standing on crates and footstool jumping. But these little additions are more complicated then they seem. A significant amount of computing is involved when 3D objects colliding and interacting. These two additions alone hint to a more complex and dynamic character interaction system. Perhaps now, we won’t be able to simply pass through opponents in the air or on the ground.
What if Sakurai included Smash-ism or Smash grooves into Brawl? Assuming that all options are balanced, grooves/ism would add a unique level of depth to the game. Even in Melee, players have the option to adjust their handicap and mess around with the damage ratios. Have any of us really experimented with these options? I thought about using these options to balance out the tier list, but somehow I never got around to it. This is probably because handicap and damage ratios are too complex. Thinking about ratios in relation to grabs, throws, fall rates, and all the various kinds of hits in the game is too complicated even for me. If you ask me, ism/groove are a better way to go about giving the player such options. Even if I found a way to perfectly balance Smash, I wouldn’t have anyone else to play that “version” with. Because Smash has so many options, it’s easy not to want to experiment for fear of losing company or competition. Options that manipulate the game on the core level like this should be organize into easy options like isms.
Is this idea too farfetched? I don’t think so. Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO added a new ism called GC-ism. If you guessed that the GC stands for Gamecube, then you get one hundred coins (keep in mind that they’re Coin mode coins, and they’re worth virtually nothing)! The developers made this ism because the Gamecube controllers had fewer buttons than a traditional arcade pad. In order to compensate, the gameplay was “simplified.” This sounds like the same situation Sakurai encountered when developing a control scheme for just the Wiimote. Of course, somethings have to be different. Whether it makes fighting easier or harder for you isn’t as important as finding the style that you like.
“There’s no need to be confused about what does what—just choose the play style you prefer!” ~ Sakurai.
The Brawl team is considerably larger than the Melee team, and they have been working on it for much longer than for Melee. Have you seen what the new Adventure mode looks like? (I didn’t called it the single player because it could have cooperative play). It should be clear to everything that, they’re pulling out all the stops to create the Smash to top all previous Smashes. “We’re putting tons of fighting spirit into making this game” ~Sakurai.
Isms could change everything. Just think of an item-ism that possibly sacrifices a players grabs in replacement for the ability to draw upon a limited selection of items (like Peach’s down-B). Brawl already has a lot of customization with the controls. Could this idea carry on into the characters? From additional costumes to move sets, could it all be on the table already? If Street Fighter Alpha 3 can automatically switch character costumes to more classic style when playing in classic-isms, then Brawl can do anything.
“Oh, and this is all included in the same Game Disc, so rest easy.” ~Sakurai. Sounds like the game is finished. Sakurai owns all the doors and holds all the keys.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 has a similar feature called isms. These isms allow players to play any character in three different styles. The styles hearken back to previous games. Because the various Street Fighter games games that preceded Alpha 3 are so different, each ism was had to be balanced against each other. This is no simple task.
<p align="center"><a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ssb-marios.jpg" title="ssb-marios.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ssb-marios.jpg" alt="ssb-marios.jpg" /></a></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
Now for the big question. What could this mean for Smash?
<!--more-->
If you’ve been playing Smash since the beginning, then you already know that Sakurai changed some things between the original and Melee. Throws have been severely toned down. L/Z-canceling no longer canceled all of your lag, but simply half of it. And you can easily DI in or out of everything. Some people claim they like Smash64 better than Melee. A lot of us feel that the changes to smash were made for the better. But, looking at the two games side by side, is one better than the other, or are they just different? It’s hard to say.
What kind of changes can we expect from Brawl? Looking at the history of the Nintendo consoles sheds some light on the situation. The N64 was the first 3D system. Smash 64 could only do so much because the industry and the developers were still in a period of youth or nonage. The result, the game speed was moderate, the projectiles were fairly large, the controls were a little loose, and all the characters floated around with a similar level of “floatyness.”
<p align="center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/987680405-00.jpg" title="987680405-00.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/987680405-00.jpg" alt="987680405-00.jpg" /></a></p>
With the Gamecube, Sakurai had much more experience and processing power to work with. The result, a faster, more precise, fighter with many unique properties and crazy physics calculated on the fly. Now, momentum can be created and transfered in ways that Smash 64 never could. The little changes like this really enriched Melee.
So what can the Wii do that the Gamecube couldn’t? It’s as simple as more. Every aspect of Smash can be tweaked and enhanced to enrich the game further. We all know about standing on crates and footstool jumping. But these little additions are more complicated then they seem. A significant amount of computing is involved when 3D objects colliding and interacting. These two additions alone hint to a more complex and dynamic character interaction system. Perhaps now, we won’t be able to simply pass through opponents in the air or on the ground.
What if Sakurai included Smash-ism or Smash grooves into Brawl? Assuming that all options are balanced, grooves/ism would add a unique level of depth to the game. Even in Melee, players have the option to adjust their handicap and mess around with the damage ratios. Have any of us really experimented with these options? I thought about using these options to balance out the tier list, but somehow I never got around to it. This is probably because handicap and damage ratios are too complex. Thinking about ratios in relation to grabs, throws, fall rates, and all the various kinds of hits in the game is too complicated even for me. If you ask me, ism/groove are a better way to go about giving the player such options. Even if I found a way to perfectly balance Smash, I wouldn’t have anyone else to play that “version” with. Because Smash has so many options, it’s easy not to want to experiment for fear of losing company or competition. Options that manipulate the game on the core level like this should be organize into easy options like isms.
Is this idea too farfetched? I don’t think so. Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO added a new ism called GC-ism. If you guessed that the GC stands for Gamecube, then you get one hundred coins (keep in mind that they’re Coin mode coins, and they’re worth virtually nothing)! The developers made this ism because the Gamecube controllers had fewer buttons than a traditional arcade pad. In order to compensate, the gameplay was “simplified.” This sounds like the same situation Sakurai encountered when developing a control scheme for just the Wiimote. Of course, somethings have to be different. Whether it makes fighting easier or harder for you isn’t as important as finding the style that you like.
“There’s no need to be confused about what does what—just choose the play style you prefer!” ~ Sakurai.
The Brawl team is considerably larger than the Melee team, and they have been working on it for much longer than for Melee. Have you seen what the new Adventure mode looks like? (I didn’t called it the single player because it could have cooperative play). It should be clear to everything that, they’re pulling out all the stops to create the Smash to top all previous Smashes. “We’re putting tons of fighting spirit into making this game” ~Sakurai.
Isms could change everything. Just think of an item-ism that possibly sacrifices a players grabs in replacement for the ability to draw upon a limited selection of items (like Peach’s down-B). Brawl already has a lot of customization with the controls. Could this idea carry on into the characters? From additional costumes to move sets, could it all be on the table already? If Street Fighter Alpha 3 can automatically switch character costumes to more classic style when playing in classic-isms, then Brawl can do anything.
“Oh, and this is all included in the same Game Disc, so rest easy.” ~Sakurai. Sounds like the game is finished. Sakurai owns all the doors and holds all the keys.
