Switch to the Old School! Urban Champion for Smash

[UrbanChampionRising]

Wait, who is this street brawler?

Urban Champion was a fighting game that had come out for the original NES back in 1986. In the game, an unnamed character (presumably the Urban Champion) battles it out against an unnamed opponent, fighting back with low and high punches. The goal is to knock this opponent into an open manhole, before he does the same to you. Occasionally, watchers might drop a flowerpot onto your head or a cop car might drive by, bringing the fight to a halt. The game has had multiple re-releases, turning up as an e-Reader game and for the Virtual Console on Wii and Wii U. The game was even included among the 3DS Classics series.

So what, he punches? We got Little Mac for that!

Part of the reason why I'd want to see Urban Champion turn up in Smash is that he has a special place in Nintendo's history: namely, that Urban Champion was their first fighting game. While Joy Mech Fight may showcase a fuller feel in terms of fighting games, that title didn't come out until 1993. Urban Champion beat it to the punch with its release. Sure, the gameplay may be simple, but that is a neat bit of history that the title possesses.

Also, there is an approach that could work in expanding Urban Champion beyond just the punches and references to his own game.

Oh, yeah? What do you have in mind?

Before Sakurai settled on Ice Climbers for Melee, there were a whole host of retro characters he was considering. The Excitebike racer, the Balloon Fighter, Bubbles from Clu Clu Land, even Urban Champion. Well, what if there were someone who could represent the whole group? Much like how Duck Hunt was made to reference the Zapper games, I could imagine Urban Champion as a representative of the NES in general. He could possess specials and moves that would allow him to summon characters and items from NES games. I feel that could give Urban Champion much more to offer a playable fighter for Smash, in addition to offering a neat hook to his gameplay.

So, if you're up for seeing Urban Champion get his time to shine, let's discuss the character and just what he could bring to the table.

 

[Yoshi-Thomas]

Forgot about this one, let's see if it works out. Supported !

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Obligatory smashkirby tag.

That being said, I'm all for Urban Champion getting a second chance despite his game flaws. Ice Climbers didn't age well, yet that didn;t stop them form being playable.

Imagine how cool his rebooted design would look.

 

[Oddball]

I wouldn't want the guy to respresent anything other than his own game. Personally, I'd have the guy look super series and detailed and just have all his moves and attacks be really silly.

 

[lordvaati]

Not sure how I feel about this one. UC is one of those rare Nintendo games that often gets labelled as...kinda bad. Not dated like ICs or some early NES sports games mind but...kinda unenjoyable, the same label given to games like Geist or Wii Music. I certainly can understand the appeal as he does fit the retro quota, but even that has limits, and the idea of characters that represent the lemons of the past getting in ahead of others, even if unintentional, creates poor stigmas.

I really don't want to sound like a **** in a character topic, but I am unfortunately against as a fighter, and only possibly for as an AT.

 

[fogbadge]

as the guy who ran the previous urban champion thread you can bet i support he's still my most wanted retro character

 

[UrbanChampionRising]

I wouldn't want the guy to respresent anything other than his own game. Personally, I'd have the guy look super series and detailed and just have all his moves and attacks be really silly.

I can see going that route. I thought having him represent a lot of those NES games like his would help to give him a bit more variety.

I think I'll post some ideas for special moves for him later, with one set for just based on his game and one set for him as a representative as the NES.

Not sure how I feel about this one. UC is one of those rare Nintendo games that often gets labelled as...kinda bad. Not dated like ICs or some early NES sports games mind but...kinda unenjoyable, the same label given to games like Geist or Wii Music. I certainly can understand the appeal as he does fit the retro quota, but even that has limits, and the idea of characters that represent the lemons of the past getting in ahead of others, even if unintentional, creates poor stigmas.

I really don't want to sound like a **** in a character topic, but I am unfortunately against as a fighter, and only possibly for as an AT.

I can understand that, considering Urban Champion's reputation. Having him as an AT would be fine, but him as a playable fighter would be my favorite option.

 

[fogbadge]

as the dhd had moves from other nez zapper games i thought the champion could borrow moves from other retro nintendo fighters like joy mech fight

 

[UrbanChampionRising]

Now, here are some special moves that I could see for Urban Champion. I'll have them in two movesets. Now, the first moveset is based around if here were designed solely around his own game:

Spoiler: Specials (based around Urban Champion game)

Standard B - Heavy Punch: Urban Champion pulls back to throw a punch. This punch can be charged up to deliver a stronger hit. Either way, this heavy punch is designed to knock an opponent back.

Side B - Manhole Cover: Urban Champion stomps the ground in front of him, causing a manhole cover to flip up. This attack deals the most damage if your opponent is struck with the edge of the manhole cover.

Up B - Flowerpot: Urban Champion does a jump as he throws down a flowerpot under him. If the flowerpot drops for long enough, there is a chance that it will stun a hit opponent.

Down B - Champion Counter: Urban Champion holds his hands up briefly in a guard stance. If he is hit in this moment, he doesn't take damage and instead strikes back fast with a punch.

Final Smash - Nothing to See Here: When activated, Urban Champion starts standing around and whistling as if acting innocent while a cop car passes by. If anyone attacks Urban Champion in this state, then that passing cop car will deliver a powerful attack to whoever is fighting.

As for this other moveset, this is designed around the idea of him serving as a representative of NES games:

Spoiler: Specials (based around NES games)

Standard B - Sonic Boom: Urban Champion summons Bubbles from Clu Clu Land, who fires a sonic wave forward that can stun opponents.

Side B - Excitebike: Urban Champion summons an Excitebike racer, who zooms forward and runs over anyone in his path...at least until he races off the stage or into a wall.

Up B - Flipper: Urban Champion goes flying upward as a flipper from Balloon Fight appears under him. The flipper remains for a few seconds and acts like it does in Balloon Fight, knocking back anyone that touches it.

Down B - Champion Counter: Urban Champion holds his hands up briefly in a guard stance. If he is hit in this moment, he doesn't take damage and instead strikes back fast with a punch.

Final Smash - NES Remix: Urban Champions summons two hockey players from Ice Hockey to slam into anyone next to him. Any opponents hit by this will be transported to an 8-bit realm as a cutscene plays out, showing them attacked by a barrage of 8-bit NES characters and culminating in Urban Champion punching them into an open manhole.

 

[fogbadge]

heres my old moveset

Spoiler

b: heavy punch, deals strong knock back
b up: window girl, a window appears above him and the girl who showers you with confetti in the game helps the champion jump higher
b side: manhole frisbee, throws a man hole cover like a frisbee
b down: flowerpot drop, drops a flower pot straight down momentarily stunning foes

side smash: high kick
up smash: punches upwards
down smash: kicks in both directions one after the other

neutral air: circular kick
forward air: clenches fists together and swings them downwards in front of him
back air: elbows behind him
up air: claps arms together
down air: kicks the air below him

pummel: head butts them
forward throw: strikes with fists clenched together
back throw: throws and strikes with a high kick
down throw: throws opponent to the ground a strikes with heel of foot
up throw: throws up the punches with both fists one after the other

dash: tackles
final smash: the Police, the fighter stands acting innocent as a horde of police cars go past doing damage and launching opponents

 

[UrbanChampionRising]

heres my old moveset

Spoiler

b: heavy punch, deals strong knock back
b up: window girl, a window appears above him and the girl who showers you with confetti in the game helps the champion jump higher
b side: manhole frisbee, throws a man hole cover like a frisbee
b down: flowerpot drop, drops a flower pot straight down momentarily stunning foes

side smash: high kick
up smash: punches upwards
down smash: kicks in both directions one after the other

neutral air: circular kick
forward air: clenches fists together and swings them downwards in front of him
back air: elbows behind him
up air: claps arms together
down air: kicks the air below him

pummel: head butts them
forward throw: strikes with fists clenched together
back throw: throws and strikes with a high kick
down throw: throws opponent to the ground a strikes with heel of foot
up throw: throws up the punches with both fists one after the other

dash: tackles
final smash: the Police, the fighter stands acting innocent as a horde of police cars go past doing damage and launching opponents

Nice. It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between your work and mine.

It's actually sort of interesting how easy it was to figure out specials for moves based just on his own game versus specials for him as a representative for the NES. I do feel that the route of him as NES representative would help Urban Champion offer more as a character, but it certainly is a bit more challenging to figure out which games to represent and with what sort of moves. The NES Remix Final Smash was the easiest part of that moveset.

I have to say, though, one of his victory poses has to be his little victory dance with the window girl dropping down confetti.

 

[smashkirby]

Obligatory smashkirby tag.

That being said, I'm all for Urban Champion getting a second chance despite his game flaws. Ice Climbers didn't age well, yet that didn;t stop them form being playable.

Imagine how cool his rebooted design would look.

Thanks for tagging me, Aussie.

Here's MY moveset:

Spoiler: WARNING: Slight "copy-paste" from an old thread

In terms of being different from Little Mac, the Urban Champ would have Mac's strength, but even stronger, with a few drawbacks, such as:

1. NO super armor on ANY attacks, but as a result, due to fighting on the streets, his attacks are more aggressive than Little Mac, because he doesn't know how to hold back. The other problem is due to him having trouble controlling himself sometimes he may do 1-2% damage to himself. It'd be pretty uncommon for him to do this, though.

2. He would use weapons, such as crowbars, manholes, flower pots, and....well, whatever else you'd find/use in a street fight. I'd say switchblade, but I think that's taking it a little TOO far.

3. His special moves would all be different from Mac, with the exception of Mac's Rising Star up special and Slip Counter down special. As I've said before, the Urban Champ would be more aggressive than Mac, and due to this, his up special, would rise to a more crazy height, due to his hot-blooded nature and his Slip Counter would involve him grabbing his opponent after they've struck him during the Counter animation, resulting in him grabbing them and punching them back hard, and I mean HARD.

4. His standard special would not be the Straight Lunge, but the "Burst Barrage". With this, the Urban Champ would charge up, and where Mac's fist glowed red, the Urban Champ's entire body would turn red, with him getting more and more of a furious expression on his face. When the attack is fully charged, he will GO OFF, starting with a powerful punch, and kick to the ribs, ANOTHER kick to the ribs, a punch to the gut, a headbutt, and ending it with what could essentially be considered Mac's side smash attack. His side special would involve him tossing a random item from Urban Champ, like a flower pot, or even a manhole, among other things.

5. I imagine his redesign to be along the lines of having THREE outfits. One being his jean jacket with torn sleeves, while wearing a red-and-white striped shirt underneath, with jeans pants on. His other outfit would consist of wearing a baby blue t-shirt with a red long sleeve shirt at the bottom while wearing blue sweatpants. The last one would be...well...a simple white t-shirt, as a homage to Cody Travers of Final Fight/Street Fighter fame, and Axel Stone of Streets of Rage. Also, I guess if they want to be realistic, his default outfit would involve him having golden-blonde hair, as seen above. His alts. would involve blue hair, purple hair, and green hair. I'll think of the others later.

6. His FS would either be him and an army of Urban Fighters beating down on opponents, or the Urban Champ would basically use a grounded version of the Mii Brawler's FS.

 

[Kirby Dragons]

While I do support Urban Champion, I dislike the idea of him using stuff from other games. He has enough of a moveset already, with two types of special punches, flower pots, a manhole cover, and the police.

 

[SSBCandidates]

Please let me support UC! He needs more love!

 

[GoodGrief741]

I don’t get why he would have to represent the NES Library, if he doesn’t work on his own then he doesn’t work. While I’d love him in, I really can’t think of any plausible movesets. (Although it would be really funny if he was in as a joke character, being sluggish and having terrible jumps). Maybe his stage could come back though.

 

[Wonks]

(This post is from a thread previously entitled, "Urban Champion! The Fighter No One Asked For!" Unbeknownst to myself, there was another Urban Champion thread.)

Of all the NES games Nintendo ever crafted--and perhaps, of all the games ever by Nintendo--there was none so lambasted as Urban Champion. It was not a well-received game at the time, and 30 years after the fact, opinions have not much changed. Yet its perception never stopped Nintendo from re-releasing it at every turn: e-Reader cards, Wii Virtual Console, 3DS 3D Classics (which, I have to say for the latter--the 3D depth perception is fantastic). Despite its faults, there are many such as myself who derive some modicum of enjoyment from it: the simple premise, the (American) football game-esque strategy of gaining turf by pushing your opponent back, and perhaps, the balance of imagination of what the game is and what it could have been.

Urban Champion has a place in Nintendo's fighting game pantheon, unremarkable thought it may be to many. Because of which, the Urban Champion fighter should be given some consideration to Nintendo's flagship 2D fighting game which he was, in a way, a failed pioneer.

Wait...you actually like the game?
The game is not quite among my favorites, but I do enjoy it.

Oh, I get it--April Fools, right?
Despite the coincidental timing of this post, I assure you it is not a prank.

In the NES game, he only, like...has two moves (punch to the head & punch to the gut).
Here's where Sakurai and Co. will have to use some imagination. I've always thought Urban Champion should get a re-boot in the vein of Power Stone. The fighters could use city landmarks and surrounding debris to engage in battles. While still looking to the original for inspiration, here's some ideas:

Down B - Flower Pot Drop: A disgruntled city-dweller appears from atop the screen and throws a potted plant below; think: Pikachu's Thunder attack.

Up B - Fire Ladder: The fighter climbs up a fire escape ladder, having it drop down on any opponents once he's reached the pinnace.
Side B -- Manhole Throw: Ever wonder what happened to the manhole covers in the original game? I mean, what city streets just has open manholes on every corner? Turns out the Urban Champion stole then, and will throw them like a flying disc at their opponent.
Neutral B -- Lightpost Swing: In the original game, there's lightposts on on the street--the Urban Champion will produce one, swing around it, and lay a kick to his opponent.
Final Smash -- Patrol Car: Every so often in the NES game, a police car would come to break up the fight. If you were on the losing side of the screen, the cops would haul you off. Upon grabbing the Smash Ball, the Urban Champion would act nonchalaunt as the patrol car pulls up, and a guilty opponent would trudge towards the car, which would usher them to the very far side of the stage.

So what would his schtick be?
In the original game, the fighter had a stamina meter. With every punch you threw, your stamina would decrease, causing your moves to become sluggish and leaving you vulnerable. Urban Champion in Smash would operate in the same way, which would add layers of strategy; ie: Do you want to attack fast and furious, hoping to cause more damage before the Urban Champion tires? Do you want to hang back, and look for items you can use that won't decrease your stamina? Etc.

And his stage?
The urban storefronts, complete with empty manhole/sewers to replace a would-be stage ledge.

 

[fogbadge]

thats where youre wrong, i asked for him

 

[Wonks]

thats where youre wrong, i asked for him

 

[GoodGrief741]

I swear to God I’d already seen a thread for this guy.

Whatevs, I support.
Or do I?

 

[Wonks]

If I've overlooked something, I apologize. I searched and did not see it; it's possible I'm mistaken, and if so, this thread should be locked.

 

[fogbadge]

If I've overlooked something, I apologize. I searched and did not see it; it's possible I'm mistaken, and if so, this thread should be locked.

there was no sign of one in the directory i think youre ok

 

[Oddball]

I like the guy. I even included him when I made my Smash Roster, and since there is no actual 3D render of the guy done by anyone (and very VERY little fanart...)

Here's ... a cheap recolor.

I'm not sure about the haircut, and I'd prefer him to have long sleeves again, I do think Urban Champ should have a dirty worn out look.

 

[Wonks]

I like the guy. I even included him when I made my Smash Roster, and since there is no actual 3D render of the guy done by anyone (and very VERY little fanart...)

Here's ... a cheap recolor.

I'm not sure about the haircut, and I'd prefer him to have long sleeves again, I do think Urban Champ should have a dirty worn out look.

You're right that there's very little in the way of fan art on the game. I always pictured the Urban Champion fighter would be cartoony, so it's interesting to see a realistic take on on the character.

 

[Oddball]

You're right that there's very little in the way of fan art on the game. I always pictured the Urban Champion fighter would be cartoony, so it's interesting to see a realistic take on on the character.

Personally, I always pictured the character design as being super serious and his moves being somewhat cartoony.

 

[sman3579]

Apparently he was one of the retro characters considered for Melee along with Excite Biker and Balloon Fighter before ultimately going to Ice Climbers. Personally I would like to see the Urban Champion, he would be a cool retro representative, and he is from an actual fighting game so making a movies for him should be easy. Honestly I hope we get the Urban Champion, Excite Biker and Balloon Fighter. This is a Smash for the retro characters to take over!

 

[CannonStreak]

I'll support as well. I would love to play as the Urban Champion fighter in the next Smash Bros game.

 

[sman3579]

Down B - Flower Pot Drop: A disgruntled city-dweller appears from atop the screen and throws a potted plant below.
Up B - Fire Ladder: The fighter climbs up a fire escape ladder, having it drop down on any opponents once he's reached the pinnace.
Side B -- Manhole Throw: Will throw them like a flying disc at their opponent.
Neutral B -- Lightpost Swing: The Urban Champion will produce one, swing around it, and lay a kick to his opponent.
Final Smash -- Patrol Car: Upon grabbing the Smash Ball, the Urban Champion would act nonchalaunt as the patrol car pulls up, and a guilty opponent would trudge towards the car, which would usher them to the very far side of the stage.

This is actually a really well thought out move set for potential specials. Actually reading this makes me want him in the game even more.

 

[Wonks]

This is actually a really well thought out move set for potential specials. Actually reading this makes me want him in the game even more.

Thank you so much!

I didn't realize that he was considered for a retro character in Melee--that's really cool. Sakurai probably made a good call choosing the Ice Climbers (they're unique, cute, very unexpected, and beloved in Smash).

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Notice how there are two Urban Champion topics now.

This needs to be fixed.

 

[Mr.J]

Y'know I actually like his design, he kinda reminds me of those guys from River City Ransom.
And considering how much of an impact that game had on me during my childhood and how much I enjoyed it, I fully support this thread!

 

[Wonks]

Notice how there are two Urban Champion topics now.

This needs to be fixed.

Perhaps we could merge my thread into this one. I'd not have created mine should I have known this was in existence.

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

I would like if these two threads were merged.


https://smashboards.com/threads/urban-champion-the-fighter-nobody-asked-for.453996/

Megadoomer @Fuzzy Pickles!

 

[Megadoomer]

This is my first time merging two threads together, but I think it worked out okay. Let me know if there are any issues.

 

[Wonks]

This is my first time merging two threads together, but I think it worked out okay. Let me know if there are any issues.

Looks good to me.

 

[sman3579]

After playing the Urban Champion video game (3DS download game) I must say I think he would be a cool retro rep. Despite only having 2 real moves (light punch and heavy punch) it honestly isn’t that hard to envision a moveset for him. It would basically be the same thing as Little Mac, where he only really had a few actual punches in his game but they made an entire moveset for him. They could easily do it for the Urban Champion if they did it for Little Mac. The hardest part would probably be his specials but I’ve seen people come up with good specials for him (even on this thread) so I’m not worried. Here is to hoping the retro rep goes to the Urban Champion, Balloon Fighter or Excite Biker (I’d even take all 3).

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Urban Champion want: 0%

I hate his box art character design. His moveset seems boring to me.

Nominations:

FE Spear User x5

 

[fogbadge]

Urban Champion want: 0%

I hate his box art character design. His moveset seems boring to me.

Nominations:

FE Spear User x5

you aint in rtc

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

you aint in rtc

Thanks, I don't know how that happened.

 

[SEGAGameBoy]

Never played it before. I support!

 

[I Never Felt It Before]

I loved UC on my 3ds. I also loved how he played in Famicom fighters. So please, make this happen sakurai. I have priority with my old school characters +Don chan (I think don chan is "old school" enough tho). If Little mac would get an echo I could very well see UC being the one.


By the way

Does this guy have an official name?