Louie G.
Smash Hero
Alright, so a progress check just so everyone is aware. We are currently in the final stretch - we agreed on 22 unique characters. Right now we've got 18, and we're voting in two more. That means after this round there's only one chance left (before DLC, presumably).
So this space is very precious. What's the priority right now... getting new series in? Filling out some more supporting characters from our currently represented series? Probably a little of both in my eyes, so I'll try to account for that here. Frankly, it's probably about that time to start making those weird choices. You know, your Ness and Captain Falcon and Jigglypuff. A few extra characters that may rest outside audience expectation, be it someone they don't expect to fight or introducing them to something a bit lesser known or obscured with time.
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1. Little Mac - So I think my main complaint with this roster is that we've slightly flanderized the idea of a "Switch roster". If Smash Bros was made today, I don't think it would be so corporate in its exclusion of longstanding legacy characters and weirdos from Nintendo's extensive history. Mind you, I think our roster has still managed to be fun and eclectic, but my point is that just because the series will debut on Switch does NOT mean we need to keep it limited to exclusively characters active in new games on the console. This has literally never been how the series operates.
As such, I think Little Mac is a great fit for a number of reasons. He provides kind of a pseudo "retro" pick - Nintendo always celebrates its vintage history in arcades and on the Famicom / NES, and Punch-Out is a mainstay of these celebrations. It's also perhaps the one that most obviously lends itself to a fighting game context, for reasons I don't need to elaborate on. And when looking at the roster as it stands, I think Little Mac embodies several archetypes that ought to be filled. He's a more "traditional" fighter among zany projectile users and big heavy hitters. He's a speedster, and he's a lightweight - serviced somewhat by Pikachu, but not especially present in any standalone character. When trying to solve the puzzle of which gameplay styles still ought to be accounted for, I think Mac is a perfect solution. And in rounding out the roster and its reach throughout Nintendo history, he does a great job at that too.
2. Tom Nook - He's my nomination, and I'll stand by him. I think if any other series warrants a second character there's a strong case for it to be Animal Crossing... but you may say, Animal Crossing is an inherently non-violent series and we really only need one character to represent that. Well, a couple rebuttals to that claim - first one is that Tom Nook is perhaps one of the most omnipresent Nintendo mascots outside the Mario cast, frequently shares the spotlight with Isabelle herself and has really found his footing in this role once again after the blowout success of New Horizons. So as far as important Nintendo characters go, he's one of the most essential in my eyes.
But beyond this, Nook has a personality all his own and various quirks and traits that inform his moveset quite differently than Isabelle. While Isabelle is more bubbly and carefree, Nook is more mild mannered and reserved. He's got a tail to whip around, he's got a whole money / shopkeeper theme to work off of, he's got two little nephews who would do anything he says. There are maybe a couple traits that could be shared across the Animal Crossing characters, such as some variant of Pocket, but this guy has way more unique stuff going on than a lot of people give him credit for.
3. Officer Howard - I'm surprising myself a bit with this one, but I felt that we could use another new series on the roster and this one feels uniquely interesting. With this character you've got essentially a "stand" character with a puppet mechanic, and given our roster's lack of duos otherwise (I'm talking like, on stage at the same time) I could see some value in exploring this unorthodox team. Officer Howard feels suited to fill a role not unlike Ness or Shulk in past Smash titles, giving a smaller series a shot at the action for its striking identity and moveset potential. I'm open to giving it a shot.
There are a few characters I should mention that I considered nominating. I thought I was going to rally behind Lucina, but I progressively felt a bit more okay with keeping it Edelgard for now. I'm open to this in the next round, but I think we have more crucial priorities at play as things stand. Ring Fit Trainee seems like the obvious "new series" representative, but I'm okay with a number of scenarios here. I think she could be a DLC character, but I also believe Dragaux as a boss would do a serviceable job celebrating this game. I've been trying to vote that through but no dice yet... haven't quite given up.
Cinderace is not a bad choice, but I'm pretty content leaving Pokemon as it is right now. The Trainer is a pretty clever way to just get the essence of Pokemon covered and a variety of silly little creatures while not giving it too much real estate on the roster. Mind you I think another Pokemon would be just fine, but I'm not that motivated toward it yet. I'm also unsure if Cinderace would be "the move" for me. Sami is a neat idea but like... Advance Wars remake only releases in the west, I feel like it's awkward to make the case for Advance Wars when they're not taking that initiative in Nintendo's home country. Just saying.
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Job 56: Honestly, could we hold off on this one? This is pretty heavily reliant on whether or not we add Alph as a clone.
Job 62: Magolor (Kirby)
You can never be too sure what trick Magolor is going to pull when he arrives. He has no alignment and can help or hurt anybody on the stage with his gem apples. The gem apples have two opposite functions that occur randomly - if you pick them up and attempt to eat them, they will either heal you 50% or become a ticking time bomb (with a small window to throw it away, or at other opponents). It's your choice to take the risk or not... will you trust this friendly looking little guy, or are you keen to his charade? Has he truly turned over a new leaf? Find out for yourself.
So this space is very precious. What's the priority right now... getting new series in? Filling out some more supporting characters from our currently represented series? Probably a little of both in my eyes, so I'll try to account for that here. Frankly, it's probably about that time to start making those weird choices. You know, your Ness and Captain Falcon and Jigglypuff. A few extra characters that may rest outside audience expectation, be it someone they don't expect to fight or introducing them to something a bit lesser known or obscured with time.
---
1. Little Mac - So I think my main complaint with this roster is that we've slightly flanderized the idea of a "Switch roster". If Smash Bros was made today, I don't think it would be so corporate in its exclusion of longstanding legacy characters and weirdos from Nintendo's extensive history. Mind you, I think our roster has still managed to be fun and eclectic, but my point is that just because the series will debut on Switch does NOT mean we need to keep it limited to exclusively characters active in new games on the console. This has literally never been how the series operates.
As such, I think Little Mac is a great fit for a number of reasons. He provides kind of a pseudo "retro" pick - Nintendo always celebrates its vintage history in arcades and on the Famicom / NES, and Punch-Out is a mainstay of these celebrations. It's also perhaps the one that most obviously lends itself to a fighting game context, for reasons I don't need to elaborate on. And when looking at the roster as it stands, I think Little Mac embodies several archetypes that ought to be filled. He's a more "traditional" fighter among zany projectile users and big heavy hitters. He's a speedster, and he's a lightweight - serviced somewhat by Pikachu, but not especially present in any standalone character. When trying to solve the puzzle of which gameplay styles still ought to be accounted for, I think Mac is a perfect solution. And in rounding out the roster and its reach throughout Nintendo history, he does a great job at that too.
2. Tom Nook - He's my nomination, and I'll stand by him. I think if any other series warrants a second character there's a strong case for it to be Animal Crossing... but you may say, Animal Crossing is an inherently non-violent series and we really only need one character to represent that. Well, a couple rebuttals to that claim - first one is that Tom Nook is perhaps one of the most omnipresent Nintendo mascots outside the Mario cast, frequently shares the spotlight with Isabelle herself and has really found his footing in this role once again after the blowout success of New Horizons. So as far as important Nintendo characters go, he's one of the most essential in my eyes.
But beyond this, Nook has a personality all his own and various quirks and traits that inform his moveset quite differently than Isabelle. While Isabelle is more bubbly and carefree, Nook is more mild mannered and reserved. He's got a tail to whip around, he's got a whole money / shopkeeper theme to work off of, he's got two little nephews who would do anything he says. There are maybe a couple traits that could be shared across the Animal Crossing characters, such as some variant of Pocket, but this guy has way more unique stuff going on than a lot of people give him credit for.
3. Officer Howard - I'm surprising myself a bit with this one, but I felt that we could use another new series on the roster and this one feels uniquely interesting. With this character you've got essentially a "stand" character with a puppet mechanic, and given our roster's lack of duos otherwise (I'm talking like, on stage at the same time) I could see some value in exploring this unorthodox team. Officer Howard feels suited to fill a role not unlike Ness or Shulk in past Smash titles, giving a smaller series a shot at the action for its striking identity and moveset potential. I'm open to giving it a shot.
There are a few characters I should mention that I considered nominating. I thought I was going to rally behind Lucina, but I progressively felt a bit more okay with keeping it Edelgard for now. I'm open to this in the next round, but I think we have more crucial priorities at play as things stand. Ring Fit Trainee seems like the obvious "new series" representative, but I'm okay with a number of scenarios here. I think she could be a DLC character, but I also believe Dragaux as a boss would do a serviceable job celebrating this game. I've been trying to vote that through but no dice yet... haven't quite given up.
Cinderace is not a bad choice, but I'm pretty content leaving Pokemon as it is right now. The Trainer is a pretty clever way to just get the essence of Pokemon covered and a variety of silly little creatures while not giving it too much real estate on the roster. Mind you I think another Pokemon would be just fine, but I'm not that motivated toward it yet. I'm also unsure if Cinderace would be "the move" for me. Sami is a neat idea but like... Advance Wars remake only releases in the west, I feel like it's awkward to make the case for Advance Wars when they're not taking that initiative in Nintendo's home country. Just saying.
---
Job 56: Honestly, could we hold off on this one? This is pretty heavily reliant on whether or not we add Alph as a clone.
Job 62: Magolor (Kirby)
You can never be too sure what trick Magolor is going to pull when he arrives. He has no alignment and can help or hurt anybody on the stage with his gem apples. The gem apples have two opposite functions that occur randomly - if you pick them up and attempt to eat them, they will either heal you 50% or become a ticking time bomb (with a small window to throw it away, or at other opponents). It's your choice to take the risk or not... will you trust this friendly looking little guy, or are you keen to his charade? Has he truly turned over a new leaf? Find out for yourself.
