Smash Switch Speculation: Earthbound / Mother

Note: These articles are more for discussion purposes before E3. They'll be short, sweet, and to the point for a brief recap and looking into possible characters/stages for each series in Smash Bros. These also go by a "Don't expect too much" philosophy. Please remember to be civil in the comments discussion.

Earthbound/Mother and Super Smash Bros - Earthbound is one of the series that has heavily been pushed up thanks to Smash Bros. In Super Smash Bros 64, only Ness appeared with no stages. In Melee, Earthbound was given two stages. In Brawl, the series still had two stages but got a new character (Lucas). In Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and 3DS it stays about the same for the franchises, except with Lucas being a downloadable character.

So, how about this time?

Returning Characters​

Lucas and Ness both seem pretty probable to return - Considering Lucas was only cut from the main roster to sell more DLC (last heard) and they're both beloved characters, it seems pretty likely. At least getting Ness back is pretty much all but confirmed.

New Characters​

Masked Man or bust, most likely. Frankly, we're probably looking at a bust and will be fortunate enough just to get the two characters from the series back. The only acknowledgement of Ninten I've had any luck in finding is a sticker from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and just about everyone from Brawl had a sticker; he hasn't even had an alt costume. Porky's been mentioned before, but considering that the team aren't all that likely to program Ridley, a highly requested character, this is even more of a stretch.

Returning Stages​

It's hard to see Onett not make a return. New Pork City is safe, too, if there's 8 player Smash. Beyond that, maybe Magicant will be given a chance on console.

New Stages​

It's really a hard guess. One new earthbound stage definitely seems possible, though.

Author's Note: What are your thoughts on the Earthbound franchise? What Earthbound related content would you like to see in Smash for Switch? Let us know in the comments below!

 

It would be nice to get Mother 3. It's a series that fans would like and would fill a lot of blanks in why Lucas was timid in Brawl.
I think something that would be a interesting twist would see something like Paula/Kumatora as character to see a branching variety of PK moves. We just got the basic: Fire and Thunder. Then Flash and Freeze. I would like to see some stuff like brainshock, paralyze, ground, beam, etc. Although its likely we'll never get a new Mother game, maybe the out cry could be strong enough to get a new game. Who knows.

 

Lucas and Ness both seem pretty probable to return - Considering Lucas was only cut from the main roster to sell more DLC (last heard)

...What? Where did this come from? I've never heard this.

Masked Man or bust, most likely. Frankly, we're probably looking at a bust and will be fortunate enough just to get the two characters from the series back. The only acknowledgement of Ninten I've had any luck in finding is a sticker from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and just about everyone from Brawl had a sticker; he hasn't even had an alt costume. Porky's been mentioned before, but considering that the team aren't all that likely to program Ridley, a highly requested character, this is even more of a stretch.​

How so? Porky is much smaller than Ridley. If you're referring to the Brawl version of Porky, they exaggerated his mech to a ridiculous degree to make it a boss. He's too small to even really fit in it in that version (he sits in the middle and somehow levitates to stay there when the mech is moving with it's back up), whereas in Mother 3 he takes up almost all of the mech with his body.

His actual sprite from Mother 3 has him at about Ganondorf's height (or lower, since much of it could be moved to the background without any issue.)

Spoiler: Porky's Sprite compared to Ness and Ganondorf

It's hard to see Onett not make a return. New Pork City is safe, too, if there's 8 player Smash. Beyond that, maybe Magicant will be given a chance on console.

We didn't get New Pork City in Sm4sh even with the Lucas DLC & 8-Player Smash so I don't know what constitutes it as being safe. We never got Fourside back, either...

We have, however, gotten at least one new Mother stage every Smash game so I would be surprised if we didn't see a new one for Smash Switch.

 

I really, honestly doubt we'll get any new characters from this series. Earthbound is an amazing game (and so is the Mother series), of course, but I think because it ended so long ago, that's really the only reason why. Realistically, as much as I would like Masked Man, I think the only logical choice for any new character would be Ninten. He could have his own share of PK moves and stuff. Maybe Giegue, with his Final Smash just going full Giygas?

Either way, I think a pretty cool change for Ness and Lucas to have would be if their percentages worked how they do in their games -- basically a rolling counter. I really don't think it'll change anything (except maybe they can get combo'd on more), but it'd be a neat visual effect.

 

Getting characters like Kumatora and Masked Man would be cool, but unfortunately I don't think anyone else from the Mother/Earthbound series will be appearing in Smash though.

We can only hope.

 

The only hope is for new stages, honestly. There's tons of cool locales from the Mother series that would make neat stages. Saturn Valley, Lumine Hall, The Cave of the Past, Club Titiboo, you name it

 

...What? Where did this come from? I've never heard this.
[etc on post]

Hey. I'll briefly touch on these, (I'm the starter of this series, though, I'm not the only person writing/editing them)

1. It came from one of the leaks back during Smash 4 Switch hayday. If it really matters to you, I'll gladly dig it up, but that's why I put "last heard". Roy and Lucas as DLC don't really surprise me either. It's very common in game development for content to be held back to be sold at a later date.

2. It's not that he's big (or just that) - It's that he's hard to program. Hi, I've been a game programmer on and off for many years. If Porky was, an actually requested and beloved character, it'd be a slightly different story, but even requested and beloved characters (Mewtwo, Ice Climbers, Ridley, King Dedede etc) have had problems in the past of the Smash series. If it comes down to Porky over 7 clones/semi-clones, do you think the development team has a big enough reason to choose Porky? If so, that's fine, that's your take on it. From talking with many others... the answer to that has pretty much been a flat out "no".

The only hope is for new stages, honestly. There's tons of cool locales from the Mother series that would make neat stages. Saturn Valley, Lumine Hall, The Cave of the Past, Club Titiboo, you name it

Pretty much this.

\
Either way, I think a pretty cool change for Ness and Lucas to have would be if their percentages worked how they do in their games -- basically a rolling counter. I really don't think it'll change anything (except maybe they can get combo'd on more), but it'd be a neat visual effect.

That's actually a really cool idea as a visual option that would be interesting to see on many characters. As an additional visual option, of course.

 

a bansho style character would be dope