SmashBoards Creates: An Alternate SSB Universe, Part I: SSB64

[Pupp135]

While participating in one of the SmashBoards Creates Threads, I thought it would be interesting if Smashboards made a collective reimagining of the SSB series.

Since this is the alternate version of SSB64, development would’ve started in 1997 after the initial idea of Dragon King was replaced with a ring-out fighting game with Nintendo characters. In this scenario, we’ll have 8 different characters and 8 different stages that people start with and being able to unlock 4 fighters and 3 stages. Also since this a reimagining of the franchise, characters can have movesets entirely different from what they have, and you can also look at this in the perspective of each year when each of these games started development.

Things that we’ll decide on: fighters, stages, 1P-minigames, 1P game, items.
Note: No third parties, but Rare content could be in.

Job 1 will be the post below. I’ll note that Mario was automatically given a spot since he is Nintendo‘s mascot.

Below is the content added to the game:

Spoiler: Fighters

Mario (Super Mario) Specials: Fireball, Spin Jump, Ground Pound
Luigi (Super Mario) Specials: Fireball, Spin Jump, Ground Pound Unlock Criteria: Beat Race to the Finish with all starting characters
Bowser (Super Mario) Specials: Fireball, Whirling Fortress, Bowser Bomb Unlock Criteria: Beat 1P game with all starting characters
Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong) Specials: Barrel Throw, Spinning Kong, Hand Slap Unlock Criteria: Beat 1P game

Excitebiker (Excitebike) Specials: Acceleration, Super Jump Ramp, Mud Splash
Link (Legend of Zelda) Specials: Arrows, Spin Attack, Bomb
Samus Aran (Metroid) Specials: Missiles, Screw Attack, Morph Ball
Marth (Fire Emblem) Specials: Shield Breaker, Dolphin Slash, Counter
Captain Falcon (F-Zero) Specials: Falcon PAWNCH, Falcon Dive, Falcon Kick Unlock Criteria: Beat 1P game within 20 minutes
Kirby (Kirby) Specials: Swallow, Final Cutter, Stone
Fox (Star Fox) Specials: Reticle, Airwing, Reflector
Pikachu (Pokemon) Specials: Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, Thunder

Spoiler: Stages

Mushroom Kingdom (Super Mario) Track: Super Mario Bros. Ground Theme, SMB 3 Athletic Theme
Bowser’s Stadium (Super Mario) Song: Bowser’s Theme (SM64) Unlock Criteria: Beat 1P game as Bowser
Excitebike Arena (Excitebike); (Three different layouts) Song: Excitebike NES Theme
Hyrule Castle (LoZ) Track: Overworld Theme
Crateria (Metroid) Song: Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior
Archaneia (Fire Emblem) Song: FE Overworld Theme
Fountain of Dreams (Kirby) Track: Gourmet Race
Corneria (Star Fox) Song: Corneria (SF64)
Safari Zone (Pokemon) Song: Pokemon Red/Blue/Green Theme
Duck Hunt (Duck Hunt) Song: Duck Hunt Theme Unlock Criteria: Beat Traverse through Level with all starting characters
Final Destination (Series Original) Song: Final Destination (SSB) Unlock Criteria: Beat 1P game on Normal difficulty with 3 stocks and no continues

Spoiler: Non-Assist Items

Super Mushroom (Super Mario)
Hammer (Super Mario)
Bob-omb (Super Mario)
Fire Flower (Super Mario)
Item Box (Super Mario)
Oil Barrel (DK)
Ice Wand (LoZ)
Heart Container (LoZ)
Star Rod (Kirby)
Maximum Tomato (Kirby)
Mr. Staurn (Mother)
Smart Bomb (StarFox)
NES Zapper (Duck Hunt)
Balloons (Balloon Fight)
Crate (Series Original)
Barrel (Series Original)
Beam Sword (Series Original)
Bumper (Series Original)

Spoiler: Pokeball Pokemon

Bulbasaur (Razor Leaf)
Charizard (Flamethrower)
Blastoise (Hydro Pump)
Jigglypuff (Sing)
Meowth (Pay Day)
Victreebel (Sludge Bomb)
Ninetails (Ember)
Electrode (Explode)
Rhydon (Stone Edge)
Magikarp (Splash)
Eevee (Tackle)
Vaporeon (Hydro Pump)
Jolteon (Thunderbolt)

Spoiler: Single Player

1P Game:
Battle 1: 1v1
Battle 2: 2v2
Battle 3: 1v2
Minigame 1: Traverse through Level
Battle 4: 3v Giant Fox
Battle 5: Fight against Metal Charater
Battle 6: Fight against Mario Team
Minigame 2: Race to the Finish
Battle 7: Fighting Polygon Team (Stage: Final Destination)
Battle 8: Bowser (Stage: Bowser’s Stadium)
Race to the Finish: this would be something closer to a recreation of 1-1 or Green Greens, but there would still be three generic enemies who attack players.
Traverse through Level: this is similar to Ultimate’s single player minigame near the end of Classic Mode, except that there are spikes that automatically KO characters.

Spoiler: Credits

Pupp135
Janx_uwu
Champion of Hyrule
cashregister9
Glubbfubb
evanwoo10
KingBooGengar57
Mamboo07
Ruler of Subspace
Tankman from Newgrounds

Spoiler: Jobs

Job 1: First two fighters vote
Job 2: Mario and Pokemon Stage
Job 3: First Pokeball Pokemon
Job 4: 1P Minigame
Job 5: Two ‘90s Characters
Job 6: Excitebike Arena and Kirby Stage
Job 7: Mario and Pikachu Specials
Job 8: Two Items
Job 9: Two Pokeball Pokeball
Job 10: ‘80s Character
Job 11: Excitebiker and Kirby Specials
Job 12: FE and Metroid Stage
Job 13: Items
Job 14: 1P Minigame 2
Job 15: Pokeball Pokemon
Job 16: Last Starting Characters
Job 17: Marth and Samus Specials
Job 18: Last Starting Stages
Job 19: Items (Song Submissions will be available for vs. Maps)
Job 20: Specials for Last Starting Characters
Job 21: Clone Fighter
Job 22: 1P game format
Job 23: Unlockable Stage
Job 24: Unique Secret Fighter
Job 25: 1P Game Boss
Job 26: 1P Game Stages
Job 27: Special Moves for DK
Job 28: Mostly Unique Fighter
Job 29: Bowser’s Stage
Job 30: Unlock Criteria for Characters and Stages
Job 31: Special Moves for Last Fighter
Indefinite: Fill out list of items (18, 3 of which are containers), pokemon (13), tracks (1 per stage), and alts (3 per fighter) until they are filled.
Job 31: Figuring Out how We Should Approach the Sequel in Terms of Requests and Returning Content (ie new poll, returning characters, stages, and items).
Job 32: Creating a new Smash 2 “Poll”

 

[Pupp135]

Job 1: Submit a Nintendo character who would not be considered in the Super Mario series, and state why you think they are a good addition. (no characters debuting after 1997)
Since Mario is Nintendo’s mascot, he was automatically given a spot, and I think we should add characters from other series also. Even though they have ties to Mario, DK, Yoshi, and Wario are eligible since they have their own series.

I’ll nominate Link from the Legend of Zelda series since LoZ is a well-known franchise with 4 games and a 5th on its way during the late ‘90s.

 

[Janx_uwu]

JOB 1: Excitebiker

Popular racing game character from the NES. Rides a bike and is cool.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Job #1: Little Mac

The main character from Punch-Out, Little Mac would fight pretty similarly to how he does in Smash 4. Punch Out was actually pretty prolific and well-known compared to the other Nintendo series at the time and so I think Mac would be a good fit for this. I also feel like it would be cool to add an actual fighter from the start.

 

[cashregister9]

Job #1

Duck Hunt

This Funky Duck and Dog Duo were packaged with Mario back in the day and has become one of the earliest icons in videogaming.

 

[Glubbfubb]

Kirby
Nothing special, I just cant picture smash without kirby

 

[evanwoo10]

Job #1: Pikachu

Pokémon fever was a huge thing back in the late 90’s. Pikachu at the time of Smash’s development was starting to become to main mascot of the Pokémon series, with the anime and soon to be released yellow version. It makes sense from a marketing perspective to include Pikachu, it would advertise both Smash and Pokémon.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the submitted options for Job 1

Pupp135 Link
Janx_uwu Excitebiker
Champion of Hyrule Little Mac
cashregister9 Duck Hunt
Glubbfubb Kirby
evanwoo10 Pikachu

Vote for your three most wanted, with your submission being in second or third. The two characters with the most votes get added.

My Votes:
1. Kirby
2. Excitebiker
3. Pikachu

Also, I posting a side poll asking if the original 8 can have multiple characters from one franchise.

Should multiple characters from the same franchise be allowed as starters?

Vote Now! [Yes] [No]

www.strawpoll.me

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

1. Excitebiker
2. Pikachu
3. Little Mac

 

[evanwoo10]

1. Duck Hunt
2. Pikachu
3. Kirby

 

[Pupp135]

Excitebiker 5
Little Mac 1
Duck Hunt 3
Kirby 4
Pikachu 5

Excitebiker and Pikachu are added to the roster.

Also, multiple characters from the same series can be on the starting roster.

Job 2: Submit a Mario and Pokemon Stage, and describe the layout and potential hazards of the stage.

Mario Stage: Mushroom Kingdom

I nominated Mushroom Kindom as it is an important area in the Mario series, and there are various tools and obstacles that appear in the platforming levels of the original Super Mario Bros. Mushroom Kingdom would have an aesthetic similar to the one in SSB. In terms of layout, it would be close to the one in Melee, but there would be pipes on the opposite sides of the stage where players can use to travel between pipes.

Pokemon Stage: Pokemon Stadium

I nominated Pokemon Stadium as one of the major aspects of Pokemon is pokemon battles, and I didn’t want to pick a specific location at the time. Pokemon Stadium would have the same layout as the one in Melee, but there would be no transformations.

 

[evanwoo10]

Mario Stage: Bob-omb Mountain

The stage would take place around the top of the big mountain on Bob-omb Battlefield from Super Mario 64. I chose this stage, because it was the location for the first level in Super Mario 64, one of Mario’s biggest games at the time of development. The hazards could be Bob-ombs walking back and forth, along with Koopa the Quick running around to knock players around.

Pokémon Stage: Professor Oak’s Lab

Professor Oak’s Lab would be a mostly flat indoor stage, along with some tables and platforms. I picked this stage, because Professor Oak’s Lab is where you can get your very own starter Pokémon in the first generation games. The hazards could be Charmander, Squritle, and Bulbasaur playing with each other by using their attacks to fight one another.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Mario: Princess Peach’s Castle

Pretty much just how it works in Melee

Pokémon: Safari Zone

It’s hard to get a good picture of what I think the layout would be, but pretty much it would be completely flat with a couple of trees at each end which you can stand on. There would be lots of tall grass and trees in the background and occasionally pokémon will jump in from the background and do an attack to change the course of the match.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the nominations below

Mario Stages
Mushroom Kingdom
Bob-omb Mountain
Princess Peach’s Castle

Pokemon Stages
Pokemon Stadium
Prof. Oak’s Lab
Safari Zone

For each subgroup, vote for your two most wanted stages, where your submission is not first place. The most voted stage gets added for each subgroup.

My votes:

Mario
1. Peach’s Castle
2. Bob-omb Mountain

Pokemon
1. Safari Zone
2. Pokemon Stadium

Also, I’m created a poll asking if Pokeballs should be replaced with Assist Dolls, which would include characters from any Nintendo game.

Which item should be added?

Vote Now! [Pokeball] [Assist Doll]

www.strawpoll.me

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Mario
1. Mushroom Kingdom
2. Bob-omb Mountain

1. Pokemon Stadium
2. Safari Zone

 

[cashregister9]

1. Mushroom Kingdom
2. Bob-omb Mountain

1. Pokemon Stadium
2. Safari Zone

 

[evanwoo10]

1. Princess Peach’s Castle
2. Mushroom Kingdom

1. Safari Zone
2. Pokémon Stadium

 

[Pupp135]

Vote Counts

Mushroom Kingdom 5
Bob-omb Mountain 3
Princess Peach’s Castle 4

Pokemon Stadium 6
Safari Zone 6

Mushroom Kingdom won for the Mario stage, but there’s a tie with Pokemon Stadium and Safari Zone, so a poll will be used to determine which stage gets added.

Which stage should be added?

Vote Now! [Pokemon Stadium] [Safari Zone]

www.strawpoll.me

Also, pokeballs were voted over assist dolls.

Job 3: Submit a pokemon to be a pokeball and describe how it works. I will note that if a pokemon is added is a pokeball, then it will not be allowed to join as a playable fighter.

My choice will be Bulbsaur, which will use razor leaf when it attacks similar to Venusaur’s attack in SSB64’s Saffron City.

 

[Pupp135]

Safari Zone won for the Pokemon stage, I’ll give a couple more hours for pokeball submissions; otherwise, Bulbasaur wins by defaul.

 

[evanwoo10]

Job #3: Electrode

When spawned, Electrode will began to charge up by glowing more and more yellow. Then, Electrode will explode, unleashing a huge amount of lightning at anyone nearby, causing a lot of damage.

 

[Pupp135]

I’ll soon add the poll for deciding if Bulbasaur or Electrode will be the first pokeball pokemon.

Also, I’ll make job 4 available right now, which is choosing the first single player minigame and how it works.
I’ll nominate race to the finish, which plays similarly to the ones in the original SSB, but the layout would be closer to a typical platforming level like 1-1 or Green Greens. In this case, the generic fighters would be the primary obstacles along with potential items like the original SSB

 

[Pupp135]

I forgot to add the poll in my previous post, and here it is.

Which should be added for the pokeball item?

Vote Now! [Bulbasaur] [Electrode]

www.strawpoll.me

 

[Pupp135]

Bublasaur won the vote as the first pokeball pokemon, and since only one minigane was added, my race to the finish mode is the first minigame.

Job 5 will be to submit a Nintendo character who debuted from 1990-97, which can be a second Pokemon. Also, stay why you think they are a good addition.

I’m nominating Marth from the Fire Emblem series since FE had 4 games at the time, and we don’t have a sword user yet.

 

[evanwoo10]

I’ll renominate Kirby

Job #5: Kirby

I agree with what Glubbfubb said, it wouldn’t feel the same without Kirby. Kirby was one of Nintendo’s recent popular icons at the time. Just by looking at Kirby, he is marketable towards children and could help sell some more copies.

 

[cashregister9]

Nominating Ness from Earthbound

Ness is the protagonist from the cult classic JRPG Mother 2/Earthbound, He could use PSI, Yo-yo's and B-Ball bats

 

[Pupp135]

Renominating Duck Hunt

Since Duck Hunt debuted in 1985, please change your nomination to someone who debuted between 1990 and 1997.

 

[cashregister9]

Since Duck Hunt debuted in 1985, please change your nomination to someone who debuted between 1990 and 1997.

How the heck did I miss that detail!?! It's fixed now

 

[KingBooGengar57]

Bublasaur won the vote as the first pokeball pokemon, and since only one minigane was added, my race to the finish mode is the first minigame.

Job 5 will be to submit a Nintendo character who debuted from 1990-97, which can be a second Pokemon. Also, stay why you think they are a good addition.

Fox from Star Fox.
He can use his lasers, dash with Fox Illusion, and use his reflector. He's for those that want quick and fast gameplay, with a practically no melee attacks.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the nominations
Pupp135 Marth
evanwoo10 Kirby
cashregister9 Ness
KingBooGengar57 Fox

Vote for your top three choices, with your nomination being second or third. The top two being added to the game.

My votes
1. Kirby
2. Ness
3. Marth

 

[Mamboo07]

1. Kirby
2. Fox
3. Marth

 

[KingBooGengar57]

1. Marth
2. Fox
3. Ness

 

[evanwoo10]

1. Marth
2. Kirby
3. Fox

 

[cashregister9]

1. Kirby
2. Marth
3. Ness

 

[Ruler of Subspace]

1. Kirby
2. Marth
3. Fox

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the votes
Marth 12
Kirby 14
Ness 4
Fox 6
Marth and Kirby will both be added to the roster.

For Job 6: Submit a layout for Excitebike Arena, and sumbit a Kirby stage and its layout.
For the Excitebike Arena, I‘d imagine it as a walkoff map where the edges of the map are slanted and increase in height towards the center. Also, excitebikers would approach the map from the left side, damaging players who touch them.

For my kirby map, I’d submit Fountain of Dreams with the same layout since I find the map too pretty to leave out.

 

[Pupp135]

I’ll leave submissions for Excitebike Arena layouts and Kirby stages open for a few more hours.

 

[KingBooGengar57]

Here are the votes
Marth 12
Kirby 14
Ness 4
Fox 6
Marth and Kirby will both be added to the roster.

For Job 6: Submit a layout for Excitebike Arena, and sumbit a Kirby stage and its layout.
For the Excitebike Arena, I‘d imagine it as a walkoff map where the edges of the map are slanted and increase in height towards the center. Also, excitebikers would approach the map from the left side, damaging players who touch them.

View attachment 326682
For my kirby map, I’d submit Fountain of Dreams with the same layout since I find the map too pretty to leave out.

For Job 6, the excite bike arena would be randomized from one of three options. The first has several high ramps, the second has a large, hilly ramp, and the third has a giant ramp with a platform hanging off of it.
Kirby stage:
Ice Cream Island
A simple flat stage with two palm trees that drop exploding coconuts.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are polls below for Job 6
Excitebike Arena layout (sorry for the typo with KingBooGengar57’s name on the poll)

Whose Excitebike Arena layout should be used?

Vote Now! [Pupp135] [KingBooGangar57]

www.strawpoll.me

Kirby map

Which stage should be added?

Vote Now! [Fountain of Dreams] [Ice Cream Island]

www.strawpoll.me

I’ll post Job 7 right now, which is to submit a neutral special, an up special, and a down special for Mario and Pikachu.

Here are mine:
Mario
neutral special: Fireball, which works exactly like it does in SSB.
up special: Spin Jump. Mario spins around in a circle with his arms out, and he moves up vertically and hurts anyone who comes inter contact. You can use the horizontal movement of his recovery while using the move.
down special: Ground Pound, and this works like Yoshi’s/Bowser’s.

Pikachu
I like the SSB64 specials enough for Pikachu, so I’ll just nominate those.

 

[evanwoo10]

Kirby map

Which stage should be added?

Vote Now! [Fountain of Dreams] [Ice Cream Island]

www.strawpoll.me

I think the poll is broken.

 

[Ruler of Subspace]

I think the poll is broken.

Agreed, unless someone is using a VPN to vote so many times.