TERRY FACES THE FURY!
I have no personal connection to SNK whatsoever but I am familiar with both Terry and SNK's legacy as a fighting game juggernaut. As someone who loves both 90s anime (avatar checks out) and fourth generation video games, that trailer got me pretty excited in addition to being hilarious. While it's a shame we got so little gameplay footage, I'm glad he's coming relatively soon and I think I will take the time to play more of SNK's games to get to know Terry better. It's both too bad that this got leaked but also sort of a blessing because a lot of people might have had more hostile reactions to Terry otherwise.
MORE DLC CONFIRMED
Gotta be honest, I saw this as a pipe dream scenario. Nintendo was always so conservative with their DLC, Sakurai has been working on Smash nonstop since 2012, and he said in his recent book DLC is not as profitable as people thought. Yet it happened anyway. Holy ****ing ****. Smash is insane. Ultimate will go down in history as one of the biggest achievements in all of video games and they will never top it with future sequels, which is exactly why Sakurai is doing this. While at this point, basically all of my big megahype wants are in and I know nobody they could announce could come close to Banjo & Kazooie as DLC, I am hopeful they will still be cool choices that enrich the roster and make me excited about continued support. While I buy all Smash characters/stages/music, I would like at least another 2-3 characters I have a personal connection to in order to stay invested (I'm already satisfied for the most part with the Fighters Pass). And hey, maybe some of these inclusions will introduce me to cool new games (I know Joker's did, big time).
This truly is going to be Sakurai's magnum opus and the grand finale to the last 20 years of Smash. I can't wait. It's already my favorite game of all time, but with all of this DLC? It's an absolute joke. Smash has never been, and will never be, this good again.
BANJO & KAZOOIE SHOWCASE
Banjo shadowdrop was ****ing godly. Yesterday was a FEAST for Smash fans. I was so certain we'd see them in October at the earliest, but they are chugging along at a great pace for this DLC. As for the content in the update, WOW, Spiral Mountain has so much love put into it. You can tell they wanted to go all out for the most requested character. I love that Sakurai put so much emphasis on Tooty's cameo, given that she hasn't appeared in 21 years. That was a legit shocker. Although I wish we got more song rips (no Rusty Bucket Bay or Grunty Battle Theme?), 7 remixes is incredible and more than double what I anticipated. You can tell Sakurai has a ton of respect for Kirkhope's legacy as a composer.
Banjo & Kazooie themselves are an amazing fighter. No fancy bells and whistles, just a straight up homage to N64 platforming goodness. They play exactly like you would expect if they were added back in Melee. Wonderwing and Breegull Bash both feel extremely satisfying to land, and I love their alt colors, ESPECIALLY the Grunty one. I seriously never thought K. Rool would have competition for a main, but B&K make the case for a very close secondary. It's a god damn good time to be both an old school Rare fan and a Smash fan. (Dixie in season 2 pretty please?)
The lack of Rare Mii costumes is kind of disappointing, but I never buy Mii costumes anyway. Well. Except for one...
SANS UNDERTALE
This was the point where I say "I give up." I give up trying to predict Sakurai. I'm done. I can't outguess him. He's got me beat just when I think I've figured him out, and I am LIVING for it. The Sans Mii costume might be the most shocking and simultaneously funniest addition in Smash history, not to mention Sakurai casually talking about meeting Toby Fox and playing Smash with him. The costume itself is amazingly detailed and a Mii Gunner moveset fits Sans really well. But of course, I would be remiss to not talk about...
MEGALOVANIA. Megalovania is in Smash. Literally what the ****. I assume this is all some big prank that is going to come undone at some point. I have fought Mewtwo playing as Banjo on Duck Hunt's stage while Megalovania plays. As someone who remembers Megalovania back from Toby Fox's days working on Homestuck... this is just mindblowing. This has me excited for what else Smash has in store for us while we chug along into season 2 of DLC.
HOME RUN CONTEST
Uh, this exists. Cool for those who like it. I basically never played it in the old games and that will continue to be the case here.
OVERALL
Yesterday was a megaton of Smash news that nobody expected. Probably some of the biggest announcements since the November Smash Direct. The future of Smash is looking brighter than ever, and I can't thank Sakurai enough for how hard he's worked for us. While not every decision or character is going to be something I love, I trust his vision going forward and nobody can say he doesn't care about giving the fans what they want. Never in a million years after Smash 4 did I think we would get here... but Sakurai finds a way to top himself each time.
I'm not gonna put arbitrary numbers or values or anything, but between all this Smash news and playing as Banjo for like, 5 hours straight last night, I'm so blessed we live in this timeline. While before I was a little weary about being stuck in Smash speculation for so long after the Fighters Pass, I trust it will work out. Bring on the next set of DLC!
