Job 95:
Bustling Side Street (Street Fighter V)
View attachment 387363
Chun-Li's stage from SFV. I feel like something that Suzaku Castle kinda gets wrong about the series is how it doesn't reflect the "street" part of its identity. Having a stage that takes place directly in the middle of the city streets, with surrounding vendors and neon lights may get the point across a little better. It's also a great avenue to have character cameos in the background, and would be some representation outside of SFII.
Abstaining from Wario stage for now.
Job 96:
Here's a quick summary of how Arle might work.
Arle is set-up oriented zoner whose projectiles function more as a means of forcing your opponent into an optimal place and following up with solid combo options and magic attacks. Carbuncle accompanies her and operates as a disjoint on select attacks. In a vacuum, Arle's average kill potential is a bit low and her strongest normals are fairly unsafe. But she makes up for it through her stage control, offstage gimping ability and her Garbage Puyo.
Her neutral special is Puyo Drop, a projectile that operates a bit differently than most. Puyo will spawn in pairs of two and consist of randomized (but functionally identical) color combinations. Instead of traveling horizontal, pairs of Puyo will drop vertically from a set distance above Arle. Pressing neutral again will flip it 90 degrees, and so forth, just like in the games. The projectile moves slowly toward the ground, offering Arle a number of options to interact with it. She may attack the Puyo directly and push it in the optimal direction, where it will continue to fall. Or she can hit / throw opponents into the Puyo, which will cause it to pop. Once it reaches the ground it will remain there for a brief time before disappearing, or will simply disappear once an opponent has interacted with it. Strangely, due to its unique interactive properties and stage control I would say the closest point of comparison may be Dedede's Gordos with far less kill potential.
"Popping" Puyo and dealing chain combos / taking damage (would rather not, but realistically it would) over the course of a match will eventually grant Arle the ability to summon a Garbage Puyo as her down special, which will spawn directly in front of her and rocket downward. This meter fills up relatively quickly, but nonetheless it must fill up over time and Arle cannot simply spam this heavy projectile. It's a valuable resource for closing out stocks and applying pressure, functionally similar to Villager's Bowling Ball (a bit stronger) and mechanically comparable to Wario's Waft or Little Mac's KO Punch (a bit weaker). If it lands on stage, it will remain there for some time and work as an obstacle for opponents. If they walk into it, it will deal slight damage and disarm them briefly, often enough to leave them open for a counterattack from Arle. Naturally, if summoned directly above an opponent, it may also deal a strong meteor effect.
I could definitely map out some more down the line, but I felt like I'd lay our her most central mechanics just so people get the jist of what I had in mind. The goal is to create a projectile-centric character who is incentivized to close in on opponents and whose zoning tools are more of a means to an end rather than an excuse to play keep away. Hopefully through that the competitive, pressure-heavy gameplay of Puyo is faithfully represented.
Hurry Up! - Wario Land 4
Body Rock (EN / JP) - WarioWare DIY
Penny's Song (EN / JP) - WarioWare: Get It Together!
Trophies: Orbulon, Pyoro, Penny Crygor
Chun-Li Stage (Alpha) - Street Fighter Alpha
Crowded Street (Drum & Bass Mix) - Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact
Killing Moon - Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Trophies: Dan Hibiki, Juri Han, Luke
