Smashboards Creates: SSB If It Was Created During the Switch Era

[Pupp135]

This was influenced by an incomplete thread, and I decided to make a thread where make something where SSB was created during the Switch Era.

Rules:

• Please be respectful to others! Debate is welcome, but please keep it civil.
• While this is a scenario where SSB did not exist before the Switch, I encourage you to submit the characters/content YOU want, not just the ones you think would be most marketable.
• Non-Videogame content will be excluded.

Spoiler: Fighters

Mario (Super Mario)
Link (Legend of Zelda)

Before we start going into characters, I want to start with two different jobs as this will affect the decisions of who are eligible to join. For now, we’ll have Mario and Link as the first two confirmed fighters.

Job 1: How should Pokemon (Pokemon Company is technically not fully owned by Nintendo) and Third Parties be treated for Base Game? In this case, what is the maximum number of pokemon and third party characters allowed?

I’m fine with leaving the door open to Pokemon and third parties. As this is the first game, and there probably won’t be more than thirty fighters base game, I’ll propose a limit of three pokemon and two third party fighters. In the case of Pokemon, it allows us to add another fighter outside of Pikachu and a potential promotional pick.

Job 2: What is the timeline for the game’s release? This will affect who’s eligible as some characters may debut during the Switch era.
I think a late 2019/early 2020 release window would be good as it still allows for Switch era Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, Pokemon (assuming that we’re allowing Pokemon content), and Xenoblade games to be represented.

Spoiler: Jobs

Job 1: How Should We Handle Pokemon and Third Parties
Job 2: What is the Timeline for Release
Job 3: Submit a Fighter Count
Job 4: Submit a Gameplay Proposal
Job 5: Submit a Nintendo Character
Job 6: Submit a Stage for Super Mario and Legend of Zelda

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #01: Perhaps controversially, if only because I think it'd be interesting, I'd say that second and third parties shouldn't be allowed in the base roster at all. It opens up a lot of space for more unusual or other interesting picks that might otherwise get superceded. The sole exception to this would probably be HAL, because they're presumably developing the game. Hence, no Intelligent Systems, Platinum Games, Pokemon Company, etc. (DLC would probably be a good place to put some of these developers at the forefront, though.) Bear in mind that stuff by, say, Monolith Soft or Retro Studios is still fair game.

Job #02: I think 2021 holiday season (let's say December for argument's sake) would be pretty neat. It lets more Switch-era stuff get pulled in (like New Horizons, for instance) as well as the other stuff mentioned like Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, plus it's deep enough into the era to allow for decent cross-promotional picks here and there for things like Dread or the NSO Expansion Pack.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 1: of course that we can add pokémons, Pikachu is very obvious,while others can be happen to join in Smash,and wilhe 3rd Parties,can be obvious too,the most obious choices could be Sonic

Job 2: i'm also on Knee's side,2021 is a good choice

 

[BritishGuy54]

Job 1: No Third Parties. And let’s have some fun here. No second parties until DLC. Yes, that means HAL is not allowed either.

Job 2: Winter 2019 release date

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I don’t think not having second parties makes much sense at all tbh, it’s Pokemon of course nintendos gonna try to add it in the base game, and I don’t think we necessarily need a restriction. I dont think third parties should be in the base roster though.

Honestly, I think we could just set the release date for like early 2025, could be fun to envision this as a sort of cap off to the Switch era.

 

[darkvortex]

Take Ultimate 's release of late 2018. "Nintendo Crossover Project" would be put into development during the Wii U era. This project would then be moved to the Switch era, designed to be a big launch for their new platform. Like most modern multiplayer games it would be designed with DLC in mind.

Yes to second parties. Pokemon would likey be expensive and thus will only get a select few characters. No third parties in base.

Kind of creation thread outed and smash outed so idk if I'll post much but I like the idea

 

[Northsouthmap]

Job 1: Pokemon are allowed for base game and DLC. Third parties are allowed for DLC.

Job 2: Either 2019 or 2023, in which Nintendo released movies based on their games

 

[Louie G.]

Job 1: Base roster is first party only, DLC allows third parties but not base roster. Unless Namco is still developing, and under that circumstance I think Pac-Man could be an exception.

Since it might get a bit clumsy otherwise, “second party” is allowed. But personally I would not mind if we didn’t add Pokemon, or at least limited the number we could add to 2-3. I have to imagine TPC is a bit more of a stickler nowadays, and much of Smash’s freedom is granted by its already proven success and history with Pokemon since the very beginning.

Job 2: Honestly cool with whatever, but anywhere 2021 onward sounds good since it will safely allow the game to accommodate a lot more Switch stuff than Ultimate did. Almost inclined to just push it to 2024 so we can include Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 etc but I don’t feel super strong about it one way or the other. Just in favor of second half of the Switch lifespan.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the proposals:

Mine

Job 1: How should Pokemon (Pokemon Company is technically not fully owned by Nintendo) and Third Parties be treated for Base Game? In this case, what is the maximum number of pokemon and third party characters allowed?

I’m fine with leaving the door open to Pokemon and third parties. As this is the first game, and there probably won’t be more than thirty fighters base game, I’ll propose a limit of three pokemon and two third party fighters. In the case of Pokemon, it allows us to add another fighter outside of Pikachu and a potential promotional pick.

Job 2: What is the timeline for the game’s release? This will affect who’s eligible as some characters may debut during the Switch era.
I think a late 2019/early 2020 release window would be good as it still allows for Switch era Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, Pokemon (assuming that we’re allowing Pokemon content), and Xenoblade games to be represented.

KneeOfJustice99

Job #01: Perhaps controversially, if only because I think it'd be interesting, I'd say that second and third parties shouldn't be allowed in the base roster at all. It opens up a lot of space for more unusual or other interesting picks that might otherwise get superceded. The sole exception to this would probably be HAL, because they're presumably developing the game. Hence, no Intelligent Systems, Platinum Games, Pokemon Company, etc. (DLC would probably be a good place to put some of these developers at the forefront, though.) Bear in mind that stuff by, say, Monolith Soft or Retro Studios is still fair game.

Job #02: I think 2021 holiday season (let's say December for argument's sake) would be pretty neat. It lets more Switch-era stuff get pulled in (like New Horizons, for instance) as well as the other stuff mentioned like Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, plus it's deep enough into the era to allow for decent cross-promotional picks here and there for things like Dread or the NSO Expansion Pack.

DragonRobotKing26

Job 1: of course that we can add pokémons, Pikachu is very obvious,while others can be happen to join in Smash,and wilhe 3rd Parties,can be obvious too,the most obious choices could be Sonic

Job 2: i'm also on Knee's side,2021 is a good choice

BritishGuy54

Job 1: No Third Parties. And let’s have some fun here. No second parties until DLC. Yes, that means HAL is not allowed either.

Champion of Hyrule

I don’t think not having second parties makes much sense at all tbh, it’s Pokemon of course nintendos gonna try to add it in the base game, and I don’t think we necessarily need a restriction. I dont think third parties should be in the base roster though.

Honestly, I think we could just set the release date for like early 2025, could be fun to envision this as a sort of cap off to the Switch era.

D darkvortex

Take Ultimate 's release of late 2018. "Nintendo Crossover Project" would be put into development during the Wii U era. This project would then be moved to the Switch era, designed to be a big launch for their new platform. Like most modern multiplayer games it would be designed with DLC in mind.

Yes to second parties. Pokemon would likey be expensive and thus will only get a select few characters. No third parties in base.

Kind of creation thread outed and smash outed so idk if I'll post much but I like the idea

Northsouthmap

Job 1: Pokemon are allowed for base game and DLC. Third parties are allowed for DLC.

Job 2: Either 2019 or 2023, in which Nintendo released movies based on their games

Louie G.

Job 1: Base roster is first party only, DLC allows third parties but not base roster. Unless Namco is still developing, and under that circumstance I think Pac-Man could be an exception.

Since it might get a bit clumsy otherwise, “second party” is allowed. But personally I would not mind if we didn’t add Pokemon, or at least limited the number we could add to 2-3. I have to imagine TPC is a bit more of a stickler nowadays, and much of Smash’s freedom is granted by its already proven success and history with Pokemon since the very beginning.

Job 2: Honestly cool with whatever, but anywhere 2021 onward sounds good since it will safely allow the game to accommodate a lot more Switch stuff than Ultimate did. Almost inclined to just push it to 2024 so we can include Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 etc but I don’t feel super strong about it one way or the other. Just in favor of second half of the Switch lifespan.

Vote for your three most wanted for each job, where yours is not first.

Job 1 (Second and Third Parties)
1. Darkvortex
2. Mine
3. Louie G.

I don’t want us to go excessive on the third party and pokemon fighters, but I don’t want us to also restrict us out of Kirby, Xenoblade, and Fire Emblem from the base roster either.

Job 2 (Release Timeline)
1. KneeofJustice
2. Mine
3. Darkvortex

In this case, I want us to have a release time that allows us to showcase Switch era games but not right before a new console is released, which could hurt its performance.

Job 3: Submit a Number of Playable Fighters

I’ll stick with 20, which is the same number for NASB and Playstation All-Stars, but I did entertain the idea of 25, which seems like a realistic limit.

Job 4: Submit a Gameplay Proposal

Ultimate’s playstyle is really good in my opinion, and I’d be happy using it here.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #01:

1. Darkvortex.
2. Louie G.
3. Champion of Hyrule.

Job #02:

1. Darkvortex.
2. Pupp135.
3. Champion of Hyrule.

Job #03: I'm going to say 21, with the caveat that the 21st character is some kind of "secret" or "bonus" - whether it be a clone, a secret "boss", or a particularly odd pick that fills a similar kind of role.

Job #04: I think it'd help for the sake of simplicity to go with something familiar, but seems as this is the first game in the series... I'd say a Smash 64 inspired moveset. Hence, no side specials, no UI gimmicks, and generally simplistic character concepts that can fill in roles beyond just representing themselves.

 

[Northsouthmap]

Here are the proposals:

Mine


KneeOfJustice99


DragonRobotKing26


BritishGuy54


Champion of Hyrule


D darkvortex


Louie G.



Vote for your three most wanted for each job, where yours is not first.

Job 1 (Second and Third Parties)
1. Darkvortex
2. Mine
3. Louie G.

I don’t want us to go excessive on the third party and pokemon fighters, but I don’t want us to also restrict us out of Kirby, Xenoblade, and Fire Emblem from the base roster either.

Job 2 (Release Timeline)
1. KneeofJustice
2. Mine
3. Darkvortex

In this case, I want us to have a release time that allows us to showcase Switch era games but not right before a new console is released, which could hurt its performance.

Job 3: Submit a Number of Playable Fighters

I’ll stick with 20, which is the same number for NASB and Playstation All-Stars, but I did entertain the idea of 25, which seems like a realistic limit.

Job 4: Submit a Gameplay Proposal

Ultimate’s playstyle is really good in my opinion, and I’d be happy using it here.

You forgot about my proposal

 

[Louie G.]

Job 3: I think Melee is a good point of reference, somewhere around 26 characters. I think if they were able to achieve that back then, they can do it now. Obviously Melee got to build off of 64 a little bit, but combining the development of the two is probably about how much dev time a normal game would take nowadays. Remember that Melee was effectively a rush job.

Which is to say at least a handful of characters probably ought to be derivatives or clones to reach this number. I don’t think it would have to be quite as down to the wire as Melee, so they might be more akin to semiclone status, but nevertheless.

So my final pitch is going to be 24 characters + 4 clones. I think 20 might be cutting it a bit close to do anything really creative with, so the wiggle room is for us to have some fun with wackier pulls. Even if we don’t go with my pitch specifically I hope the points I brought up are something people will think about.

Job 4: I’m in agreement with Knee about avoiding any super complex UI gimmicks or comeback mechanics. I think our point of reference for complexity should be Brawl. We can have stuff like Wario Waft or Olimar’s Pikmin management, but less so Hero’s spell menu, and so forth. Let’s play a little neater within the lines of archetypes.

I think otherwise it should play more or less like Ultimate, as Pupp said. I’m okay with keeping side specials around, I think it would have been a natural feeling thing to implement even without the prior experience. But it could be interesting to explore without it! I’m pretty go with the flow on this stuff and I’ll just play by the rules once we establish them.

Something I do want to propose though - a proper EX meter. Final Smashes would be more unified in function similar to a super in Street Fighter or Guilty Gear. And just as well, a sufficient charge may provide a stronger version of a special attack. If we’re not going to explore individual character meters, maybe it would be appropriate to give everyone their own.

 

[Pupp135]

You forgot about my proposal

Sorry about that, and it should be fixed now.

 

[BritishGuy54]

Job 3: 24 characters + 4 clones

Job 4: Ultimate’s playstyle is fine.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Darkvortex
2. Louie G
3. Champion of Hyrule

1. Louie G.
2. Knee of Justice
3. Darkvortex

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Darkvortex
2. Louie G.
3. Champion of Hyrule

1. KneeOfJustice
2. Pupp135
3. Darkvortex

22 Playable Fighters

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 3: 26 Fighters

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the votes:

Pupp135 2
KneeOfJustice99
DragonRobotKing26
BritishGuy54
Champion of Hyrule 3
D darkvortex 12
Northsouthmap
Louie G. 7

Darkvortex’s stance on Pokemon and third-party characters will be applied, so Pokemon are allowed base game but not third parties.

Pupp135 6
KneeOfJustice99 8
DragonRobotKing26
BritishGuy54
Champion of Hyrule 1
D darkvortex 6
Northsouthmap
Louie G. 3

KneeofJustic99’s release date will be used, so holiday 2021 will be the base release timeline.

Here are the nominations for fighter counts:

Pupp135 20
KneeOfJustice99 21
Louie G. / BritishGuy54 28 (four of which are clones)
Northsouthmap 22
DragonRobotKing26 26

Vote for your three most wanted, where yours is not first.

1. NorthSouthMap
2. KneelfJustice99
3. Louie G. /BritishGuy54

I feel like NorthSouthMap and KneeofJustice give us a little extra wiggle room without going to an unrealistically large size.

Gameplay

Pupp135 / BritishGuy54

Ultimate’s playstyle is really good in my opinion, and I’d be happy using it here.

KneeOfJustice99

I think it'd help for the sake of simplicity to go with something familiar, but seems as this is the first game in the series... I'd say a Smash 64 inspired moveset. Hence, no side specials, no UI gimmicks, and generally simplistic character concepts that can fill in roles beyond just representing themselves.

Louie G.

I’m in agreement with Knee about avoiding any super complex UI gimmicks or comeback mechanics. I think our point of reference for complexity should be Brawl. We can have stuff like Wario Waft or Olimar’s Pikmin management, but less so Hero’s spell menu, and so forth. Let’s play a little neater within the lines of archetypes.

I think otherwise it should play more or less like Ultimate, as Pupp said. I’m okay with keeping side specials around, I think it would have been a natural feeling thing to implement even without the prior experience. But it could be interesting to explore without it! I’m pretty go with the flow on this stuff and I’ll just play by the rules once we establish them.

Something I do want to propose though - a proper EX meter. Final Smashes would be more unified in function similar to a super in Street Fighter or Guilty Gear. And just as well, a sufficient charge may provide a stronger version of a special attack. If we’re not going to explore individual character meters, maybe it would be appropriate to give everyone their own.

Vote for your two most wanted, where yours is not first.

1. Louie G.
2. Mine/BritishGuy54

I prioritized Louie G.’s gameplay as I feel like a first SSB game of the switch would be something that is more complex than 64.

Job 5: Submit a Nintendo character

As two of Nintendo’s juggernaut series have received nominations, I’ll go with Samus as Metroid had a notable 35 year history at the time, and it’s bonus points that this game coincides with Dread.

Job 6: Submit a Super Mario and Legend of Zelda stage

I’ll nominate Princess Peach’s Castle as this is a recurring location in the series, and it would have the Melee layout as it allows for some additional complexity without getting out of hand.


I’ll nominate Hyrule Castle here, but the layout would be a little more symmetrical.

 

[Louie G.]

1. DragonRobotKing (26)
2. Mine / BritishGuy (24 + 4 clones)
3. Northsoupmap (22)

1. Pupp / Britishguy
2. Mine

Job 5: Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Will kick things off with perhaps a bit of a bold move. We obviously have a lot of obligatory 64 vets to fill in, but I'm going to prioritize one of the most essential modern picks from Ultimate (yknow, in the universe where these games exist). Since Mario and Link are already set aside, the next biggest Nintendo series I can think of is Animal Crossing. Especially when this game is slated for a 2021 release... New Horizons dropped the year prior, and it's probably the Switch's greatest standalone success. Isabelle is often treated as Animal Crossing's mascot, she is its most popular character, and she appears front and center on much of Nintendo's company branding. She has a statue in the Tokyo Nintendo Store and is one of the first in line for the parade.

She, along with Inkling, feels like the most obligatory step forward past Nintendo's two most classic mascots. And I think this balance of classic characters with contemporary ones is a good way to point us in a healthy direction building this roster. Mario and Link represent the old and evergreen, while Isabelle (and Inkling) represents the new wave, being a character who debuted hardly a decade ago and has already flourished to worldwide recognizability. And it will be nice to establish a prominent female character this early too. Obviously I can see the case for Villager, but personally since we're starting completely from scratch I'd like to advocate for more defined characters rather than avatars. I think this is the better and more exciting move for this purpose.

I'll add some stages in a little while. Just wanted to get this out there while it was on my mind, and break in the new game!

 

[BritishGuy54]

Roster Count:
1. Pupp
2. Myself/Louie G.
3. Northsouthmap

Please. Let us have clones. I know most people don’t like them, but they’re kind of necessary here, and it feels like a cop-out to not have them.

Job 5: Inkling (Splatoon)

This shouldn’t be a surprise. With more core Nintendo characters compared to when 64 was created, Inkling would certainly be prioritised.

Job 6:
Mushroom Kingdom (Super Mario Bros., 1985)

Of course, a retro throwback is warranted, and why not the original Super Mario Bros.? I imagine this stage will be a strange hybrid between Melee’s Mushroom Kingdom, and Brawl’s Mushroomy Kingdom.

The aesthetics will resemble the original game. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 are all here, on loop. It might be a bit much for a first stage submission, but I can’t really refuse this option.

Great Plateau Tower (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 2017)

With a classic stage must come a modern one too. Can’t really refuse anything from Breath of the Wild stage-wise here. Works as it does in Smash Ultimate.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Pupp
2. Myself
3. Northsouthmap

Job 5: Kirby

i can't let missing the Sakurai's creation, and he is the iconic character

 

[Pupp135]

Roster Count:
Please. Let us have clones. I know most people don’t like them, but they’re kind of necessary here, and it feels like a cop-out to not have them.

If we don’t select the 24+4 clone option, we can set up a separate job to select a number of clones for the roster.

 

[nirvanafan]

Byleth

Not as popular as some of our other nominees but is one of the most "switch era" feeling eligible nominees imo (alongside other rotating cast series like Xenoblade or Pokemon)

Mario Maker

Think its a fun way to rep multiple Mario eras, pretty much the same as real Smash.

Koholint Island

Thought id throw the other big "new" zelda game that would have been out by our late 2019/early 2020 release timeframe. BotW makes more sense imo but this could stand out with its artstyle. Will use a concept i found by WilliamHeroofHyrule (thought there was a mod or fan game with this stage but this is closest i found in my quick research).

Concept

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Roster Count

1. 22
2. 26
3. 20

That said, I think it'd be cool for us to have at least a couple of clone jobs like BritishGuy mentioned.

Gameplay

1. Louie G's submission
2. Pupp135's / BritishGuy54's submission

Job #05:
I was originally going to submit a Splatoon character, then an Animal Crossing character, so I'm kind of in an odd spot. That being said...

Character Name: Shulk
Character Origin: Xenoblade Chronicles (2010)

Monolith Soft are wholly owned by Nintendo, and while series like Splatoon and Animal Crossing are obvious flagships, I also wouldn't write off the rising star of the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise - that specifically came to a lot of prominence after XC2. That said, I'm going with Shulk because of his role as the protagonist of the first game, in his design from the (recently released) Future Connected.

I think the general concensus is making characters a little simpler, and this would actually give us the opportunity to look at Shulk through a different lens. While I can imagine a lot of his attacks being based both on his Arts and Monado Arts in XC coupled with elements of his Blade abilities in XC2, I wouldn't go down the route of making him the buff/stance character.

Job #06
Mario Stage: New Donk City
Stage Origin: Super Mario Odyssey (2017)

Unlike Ultimate's take on the Metro Kingdom, I'd have this stage take place on the rooftops of the city and use some of the floating scaffolding platforms - giving players a view over the streets, and letting them see the hustle and bustle of city life for New Donkers. Obviously this is picked as a prominently promoted world from a recent mainline Mario title, but it's also packed with references to Mario's history, so seems only natural in my mind.

Zelda Stage: Skyloft
Stage Origin: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)

Again, a unique and more simplistic take on this stage that instead takes place atop the Light Tower (that can be seen in the foreground of the image attached.) The idea is that you'd see NPC characters and Loftwings around. Similar to the last stage submission, the logic here is that it's cross-promotion for a recent release - Skyward Sword HD - but also works as a more general rep for the Zelda series.

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. 20
2. 21
3. 22

1. Pupp/British
2. Louie

I will submit characters and stages later

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Character: Pikachu