SmashBoards Creates: A Namco Platform-Fighter

[ninjahmos]

That's right. I'm doing yet another SmashBoards Creates thread about a video game company known for making arcade games. I might be doing this often in the future. And this time, I'm covering Namco.

Namco (now Bandai Namco) has been known as one of the most iconic creators in the video game industry, giving us iconic franchises like Pac-Man, Galaxian (AKA Galaga), Tekken, Soul Calibur, Tales, Ridge Racer and Ace Combat. They've had a few crossovers such as Namco X Capcom and Project X Zone. I think the only platform-fighter they've ever made was The Outfoxies, released in 1995 in arcades (only in Japan)... until Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U, both released in 2014, and they've helped develop the Super Smash Bros. series since then. And now... I think it's time we had a platform-fighter that focuses solely on Namco franchises.

As usual, let's start with the obvious characters.

Pac-Man

It's Pac-Man. Need I say more? His theme music could be a remix of Pac-Man's Park.

Kazuya Mishima (Tekken)

Kazuya Mishima is an iconic character in the Tekken series, which is an iconic part of Namco's legacy. His theme music would probably be a medley remix of Kazuya Mishima ~ Devil Kazuya, Emotionless Passion, and Be In The Mirror.

Jin Kazama (Tekken)

Pretty sure I don't need to explain why I think Jin should be in this. His theme music would obviously be a remix of Jin Kazama.

Siegfried Schtauffen and Nightmare (Soul Calibur)

Siegfried and Nightmare are two of the most iconic characters (and two of the main characters) of the Soul Calibur series. In fact, one could argue they're both the mascots of the Soul Calibur series (along with Mitsurugi, but we'll get to him next). Siegfried defeated Cervantes and Soul Edge/Inferno. It changed back into a sword, and Siegfried went and picked it up, and seconds after he did, the sword gripped onto him and wouldn't let go. As it gripped onto his hand, it changed Siegfried into a darker version of himself known as... Nightmare. Their theme music could be a medley remix of Worth Dying For and Raise Thy Sword.

Heishiro Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur)

Of course, we can't forget about Mitsurugi. He's been a mainstay for the series since the beginning. I'd give him a medley remix of Duelists and Hubris.

Now, without further ado, let's start out first three Jobs.

Job #1:
Pick a satisfactory but reasonable roster number.

Job #2:
Pick a "classic" Namco character and a "modern" Namco character.

Job #3:
Pick a title for this game.

 

[GamingFan1997]

Roster Size - 50 fighters

Classic Namco Fighter - Gilgamesh (The Tower of Druaga)

Modern Namco Fighter - The Tarnished (Elden Ring)

 

[nirvanafan]

Classic - Taizo Hori (Dig Dug)

Modern - Prince of All Cosmos (Katamari)

 

[ninjahmos]

Rick Taylor (Splatterhouse)

Rick Taylor is the main protagonist of Namco's horror beat 'em up series, Splatterhouse, which is also an iconic part of Namco's legacy. Rick and his girlfriend Jennifer (two college students) go to the mansion of Dr. Henry West. Dr. West kidnaps Jennifer and leaves Rick for dead. Suddenly, Rick is awakened by a mysterious mask with a spirit hidden within it that gives him great and terrible power. His theme music could be a thrash metal medley remix of I Will Find You, Adrenaline, Personal Reflection, and This Story is Happy End?

Lloyd Irving (Tales of Symphonia)

I don't know if he counts as "modern" since the game came out in 2003 and 2004, but Lloyd would definitely be a great pick for this. His theme music could be a remix of Fatalize.

 

[ninjahmos]

That's right. I'm doing yet another SmashBoards Creates thread about a video game company known for making arcade games. I might be doing this often in the future. And this time, I'm covering Namco.

Namco (now Bandai Namco) has been known as one of the most iconic creators in the video game industry, giving us iconic franchises like Pac-Man, Galaxian (AKA Galaga), Tekken, Soul Calibur, Tales, Ridge Racer and Ace Combat. They've had a few crossovers such as Namco X Capcom and Project X Zone. I think the only platform-fighter they've ever made was The Outfoxies, released in 1995 in arcades (only in Japan)... until Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U, both released in 2014, and they've helped develop the Super Smash Bros. series since then. And now... I think it's time we had a platform-fighter that focuses solely on Namco franchises.

As usual, let's start with the obvious characters.

Pac-Man

It's Pac-Man. Need I say more? His theme music could be a remix of Pac-Man's Park.

Kazuya Mishima (Tekken)

Kazuya Mishima is an iconic character in the Tekken series, which is an iconic part of Namco's legacy. His theme music would probably be a medley remix of Kazuya Mishima ~ Devil Kazuya, Emotionless Passion, and Be In The Mirror.

Jin Kazama (Tekken)

Pretty sure I don't need to explain why I think Jin should be in this. His theme music would obviously be a remix of Jin Kazama.

Siegfried Schtauffen and Nightmare (Soul Calibur)

Siegfried and Nightmare are two of the most iconic characters (and two of the main characters) of the Soul Calibur series. In fact, one could argue they're both the mascots of the Soul Calibur series (along with Mitsurugi, but we'll get to him next). Siegfried defeated Cervantes and Soul Edge/Inferno. It changed back into a sword, and Siegfried went and picked it up, and seconds after he did, the sword gripped onto him and wouldn't let go. As it gripped onto his hand, it changed Siegfried into a darker version of himself known as... Nightmare. Their theme music could be a medley remix of Worth Dying For and Raise Thy Sword.

Heishiro Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur)

Of course, we can't forget about Mitsurugi. He's been a mainstay for the series since the beginning. I'd give him a medley remix of Duelists and Hubris.

Now, without further ado, let's start out first three Jobs.

Job #1:
Pick a satisfactory but reasonable roster number.

Job #2:
Pick a "classic" Namco character and a "modern" Namco character.

Job #3:
Pick a title for this game.

I'm gonna keep these Jobs open until next Thursday.

By the way, I added Mitsurugi.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 1: 46 Characters

Job 2: Klonoa

 

[ninjahmos]

I'm gonna keep these Jobs open until next Thursday.

Actually, it’s been too long, so I think I’ll keep all Job submissions open until NEXT Thursday.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Roster Number: I'd say 32 would be a decent amount for a base roster. Leaves plenty of space for icons and such whilst also allowing for a decent variety of weirdos and deeper cuts.

Classic Namco Character:
Character Name: Taira no Kagekiyo
Character Origin: Genpei Tōma Den

Once, he was a samurai of the Tairo clan. However, in the final battle of the Genmei War, he was slain in the Battle of Dan-no-Ura, and his clan was destroyed by the Minamoto clan. For the sake of vengeance and honour, he was reborn - and sought the Imperial Regalia of Japan to finally slay his nemesis, Minamoto no Yoritomo.

I feel like Genpei Tōma Den is a pretty important game to represent here, even if the series hasn't had many entries (three, as of writing.) The game was a side-scrolling hack-and-slash arcade title that, in Japan, has been massively critically lauded and is seen as one of their many defining and iconic titles from the era - with impressive critical reviews, including in its PC Engine port. The game would then recieve a board game adaptation for the Famicom (yes, really, packaged with physical game pieces) and a sequel developed by NEC in the form of Samurai Ghost.

That said, its continuing legacy is obvious in much of Namco's rereleases and "nostalgic material" - such as appearing as a skin in Pac-Man 99, the original arcade game recieving a release in Namco Museum Vol. 4 as The Genji and the Heike Clans, and even a ShiftyLook comic (Scar), as well as several playable appearances in other pieces of media (or at least in the form of cosmetics, as is often the case in SoulCalibur games.)

Whilst Taira no Kagekiyo might not be a household name here in the West, his series and presence is an undeniably important part of Namco's history... and also, he's an undead samurai, how could you not like that.

Modern Namco Character
Character Name: Don-Chan
Character Origin: Taiko no Tatsujin

So, yes, another Japan-centric one - but I think Don-chan is a pretty obvious pick (even if his claim to being "modern" is a little questionable given his first game was in 2001, but I think we could reasonably count it given its modern prominence.) A sentient taiko drum and the star of the Taiko no Tatsujin series of rhythm games, notable for their drum-centred gameplay and tendency to include drum peripherals in home releases for all of the Donkey Konga fans out there, Don-chan is a pretty decent candidate for one of Namco's modern icons - and I think it also helps that the series has seen a release almost every single year since its inception back in 2001. Not only that, the little guy's no stranger to crossovers - Mario Kart Arcade GP Deluxe, anyone?

Game Title: Namco Ultra Wars: Supreme Battle. It's in reference to the Wonderswan Color game Namco Super Wars, which was a strategy game featuring many of Namco's franchises released back in 2002. A deep cut, but I think it'd be better than something like Namco X Namco.

 

[tonygameman]

Goddamn, it's been that long?

Roster Number: 40

Spoiler: Classic Fighter

Bravoman

Character Theme: A triumphant medley remix of the "Title/Attract Mode" and "Suburb Stages" themes (in the same vein as this arrangement).

Bravoman is the main protagonist of the eponymous video game series, which debuted for the Japanese arcades in May 1988. In the original action platformer game, he started as Hitoshi Nakamura (or Arnold; a caricurate of Namco's founder and president, Masaya Nakamura), an average, mild-mannered car insurance salaryman with his own family (consisting of a wife and two kids), until one day, Nakamura was walking back home and confronted a humanoid-like alien named Alpha Man, who comes from the planet Alpha and informs him of Dr. Bomb, a mad scientist and his army of robots as he plans to enslave the human race and take over the Earth with a deadly superweapon. To stop this from happening, Alpha Man hands Nakamura ultra energy transformation material in the form of three items (a metal rod, tuning fork and a 100 yen coin), which allows him to transform into Bravoman, a bionic superhero with telescopic limbs and the "Super Unequaled Hero of Excellence" himself.

Heavily inspired by tokusatsu and Japanese kaiju films, directed by Norio Nakagata (a composer who also worked on Genpei Tōma Den, with a legendary film director Keita Amemiya having drawn artwork for both titles), the game has received critical praise thanks to its fun gameplay with level variety, colorful graphics and parodies/spoofs of Japanese movies/pop culture, with Bravoman himself getting a first place in the Gamest magazine's "Best Character of the Year" award in 1988 (promotional comics; cover). It was later ported for the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine in October 1990 (where it was given a English release), Wii Virtual Console and the EZweb, i-Mode (wallpapers) and S! Appli network services, which featured new stages and remastered visuals/audio. The original arcade version was finally brought to a worldwide audience on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch through Hamster Corporation's Arcade Archives in June 8th, 2023.

Bravoman's popularity has been so huge in Japan that Namco developed an arcade spin-off in 1990, Pistol Daimyo no Bōken, which focuses on one of the bosses, Pistol Daimyo (who flies around with fans on his feet and shoots projectiles from a cannon he wears on his head), and characters even made multiple cameo appearances in Namco's other games/titles such as Marvel Land (with Waya-Hime, a female cyborg ninja who herself got a telephone card, a costume for Taki in Soul Calibur II and a capsule toy for the "Namco Girls" gashapon line-up), Namco Chronicle, Family Tennis Advance, Super World Stadium '99, Pro Baseball Famista 2011, Namco Super Wars (a RPG game for WonderSwan Color), Namco X Capcom (where he pairs up with Wonder Momo), Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (a selectable medley track in Pac-Land) and Pac-Man 99 (a custom DLC theme/skin). The series also received a web-comic adaptation from ShiftyLook, which managed to achieve an animated series and a mobile game "Bravoman: Binja Bash!", before the website was discontinued in 2014.

Basing on his original appearance from the video games (though Rob Paulsen may reprise the role in international/English versions), Bravoman can use his telescopic limbs to attack opponents with short-ranged melee punches and kicks (especially in a diagonal 45 degree angle, which may work as his side special), even being able to crawl on the ground and stretch his neck for crouching headbutts or swing it upwards. The player can hold an attack button to increase Bravoman's attack range and make them longer, referencing the original arcade game's pressure-sensitive buttons.

He can also charge Wave-Action Bullets to shoot energy projectiles from his arms, jump quite high into the air by quickly extending & retracting his legs (tilting left or right allows for slight horizontal movement), use the Bullet Train to warp himself at high speeds in a chosen direction, and summon Lottery Man, who gives out a item for various buffs like healing (onigiri/rice ball, ramen or sushi), temporary invincibility (Beverage) and increased damage (Piercing Fist) with a long cooldown period. Bravoman can also transform into his submarine form to slide across the ground or even a Super attack, in which he dashes forwards and attacks opponents into an undersea cliff side before firing out a barrage of missiles and returning back to the stage.

Spoiler: Modern Fighter

The King of All Cosmos

Character Theme: A remix of the main/intro theme, "Katamari on the Rocks", from Katamari Damacy.

The King of All Cosmos is one of the main/recurring characters in the third-person puzzle-action series Katamari, which is created by Keita Takahashi and began from the PlayStation 2 game Katamari Damacy released in March 18th, 2004. He is a colossal-sized, god-like entity and very flamboyant, narcissistic king who rules over the Great Cosmos, often instructing his son, The Prince (who he constantly berates, though he does care about him), to collect up lots of objects by rolling the magical Katamari ball until they are large enough for him to turn them into Stars, having accidentally destroyed all of them and even the Moon after getting drunk one night. In the sequel We Love Katamari, a backstory was slowly revealed with his father, Papa, raising him to be a top boxing competitor (being as harsh and strict) while going through many different life events like meeting his future wife, The Queen.

Katamari Damacy became a cult classic/sleeper hit for its creative premise, humor and soundtrack, winning several awards and leading to the release of numerous sequels, mobile titles and remakes, even achieving a ShiftyLook webcomic in September 17th, 2012 and the series' characters showing up on collaborations in games like Crossy Road, Famista Dream Match, the Mojipittan series, The Fast and the Furious, Noby Noby Boy, LittleBigPlanet and many others.

Some people may say that The Prince would make more sense as a Katamari rep because of his prominence outside the series and how The King seems way too big (much more than a certain space lizard), but it was claimed by him a few times that his size can change depending on the mood, and has been actually shown at various different sizes himself throughout various games (the smallest being 5 cm in Beautiful Katamari's Chatéau Notre Desir stage). Besides, he would be a weird, yet funny pick among other characters in the roster, even taking notice of his costumes (and RoboKing as an alternate character from Katamari Forever).

The King of All Cosmos is a large fighter (around the same size as Ridley in Ultimate) with vasts of moveset potential, being able to attack by performing punches with boxing gloves (from his experience fighting street punks; even Me & My Katamari's Game Over screen), clapping both hands together (Katamari Damacy Online's Game Over screen), doing dancing techniques, riding his bike from We Love Katamari, shooting lasers from his eyes and dropping meteors that fall diagonally from the sky in-front of him. He can also fly/levitate in the air, apply negative statuses to opponents inside a purple forcefield of cosmic telepathy (like when talking to his son), make them float by punching a small anti-gravity shockwave into the ground, summon a black hole to pull an opponent towards him as a grab, and even the Prince himself in some of the attacks involving a Katamari ball, rolling over opponents to damage them and picking up items to make it grow slightly bigger unless stopped or dropped off-stage.

His Super attack would involve the Prince appearing as he rolls out a very large Katamari a short distance. If any opponents are hit by this, The King will teleport into the background and fire out the Royal Rainbow from his mouth to pick up the Katamari, sending stuck opponents into space where he throws them away in a light flash, turning the Katamari into a star. They are then sent flying back into the stage with huge damage, unless their health is low enough which will make them become part of the star on a background instead.

 

[MysticalGnocchi3264X]

Don't got many ideas to say about this thread, though this thread I made about a particular Pole Position fighter would sound funny enough! https://smashboards.com/threads/ssb-newcomers-approaching-dan-darrett.520564/

 

[ninjahmos]

OK, I think it's time we looked at the submissions for the first two Jobs here and voted.

Job #1: Roster Number

50 Characters ( GamingFan1997 )

46 Characters ( DragonRobotKing26 )

32 Characters ( KneeOfJustice99 )

40 Characters ( tonygameman )

Job #2: Classic and Modern

Gilgamesh and The Tarnished ( GamingFan1997 )

Taizo Hori and Prince of All Cosmos ( nirvanafan )

Rick Taylor and Lloyd Irving (Me)

Klonoa ( DragonRobotKing26 )

Taira no Kagekiyo and Don-Chan ( KneeOfJustice99 )

Bravoman and The King of All Cosmos ( tonygameman )

Vote for your Top 3 for both classic and modern characters. You can self-vote, but not in 1st place.
1. Taira no Kagekiyo
2. Klonoa
3. Rick Taylor

1. The King of All Cosmos
2. Don-Chan
3. Lloyd Irving

I think I'll keep Job #3 open until NEXT Thursday, because we need more submissions for titles.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Rick Taylor
2. Klonoa
3. Taizo Hori

1. Don-Chan
2. Lloyd
3. Prince of All Cosmos

1. 40
2. 32
3. 50

 

[GamingFan1997]

1. Taizo Hori
2. Gilgamesh
3. Taira no Kagekiyo

1. Prince of all Cosmos
2. Lloyd Irving
3. The Tarnished

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Taizo Hori
2. Rick Splatterhouse
3. Klonoa

1. Don Chan
2. Prince of all Cosmos
3. Lloyd Irving

 

[nirvanafan]

Klonoa
Taizo Hori
Rick Taylor

Don Chan
Prince
Lloyd

 

[darkvortex]

1. Taizo Hori
2. Rick
3. Gilgamesh

1. Lloyd
2. Don-Chan
3. Prince

 

[tonygameman]

1. Taira no Kagekiyo
2. Bravoman
3. Gilgamesh

1. Don-Chan
2. King of All Cosmos
3. The Tarnished