Thoughts on: If third party franchises were limited to assist trophies and spirits (formerly trophies).

[kaithehedgefox]

Smash was originally Mario's Nintendo-all star platform fighting series, but since Brawl, 3rd party playable characters have been allowed. Unexpectedly, the inclusion of Sonic and Snake, triggered a chain reaction that lead to more 3rd party superstars, such as Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Simon, getting into Smash.

3rd party franchises have also been represented with assist trophies, spirits, (formerly trophies) and so on. But what would happen if 3rd party franchise representation was limited to only assist trophies and spirits?

Would it be much better to only have 3rd party assist trophies and spirits, no stages, no playable characters, no bosses, no mii fighter costumes, etc.

 

[Sari]

Would it be much better to only have 3rd party assist trophies and spirits, no stages, no playable characters, no bosses, no mii fighter costumes, etc.

No, if there were no playable third parties then we couldn't have Mario fight against characters like Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Solid Snake, Ryu, and Cloud Strife. Having playable third parties allows for a ton of amazing crossovers and serves as a way to get people hooked onto other series.

 

[Orlando BCN]

Restricting 3rd party characters to nonplayable roles kills the whole “dream crossover” aspect of Smash, don’t you think?

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Short answer: No. It wouldn't be better.

Long answer: Smash, like most games, evolved as time went on. It went from the "Mario centric fighting game with a few other characters" to full blown "Dream crossover of hall of fame video game characters". If it hadn't been for Snake Smash would've never evolved. It would've never been the dream crossover game it is now and wouldn't be as big a deal as it is now. Smash is now a cultural phenomenon because of the third parties. We can finally settle the debate of could Sonic beat Mario, could Pac-Man beat Mega Man, could Link beat Cloud, can Snake beat Ryu, that we all had on the playground when we were young for ourselves.

Smash is bigger, better, and more profitable BECAUSE the characters are playable. If they weren't and were just assists it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Gyrom8]

Wouldn't like that

I'm a bit of a purist in terms of 3rd party inclusions and wouldn't want it coming at the expense of 1st party stuff, but Smash has definitely benefited from third party fighters: the idea of Solid Snake fighting against a singing marshmallow and a guy that exists in two dimensions is ludicrous and is a huge part of Smash's appeal for me

The variety in Nintendo franchises can only go so far (many have a cutesy cartoony aesthetic), so a lot would be lost through not having playable third party fighters

 

[Deleted member]

It would honestly be a bit of a waste to get permission to use Third-Party content, just so they can copy and paste a PNG.

 

[CrusherMania1592]

Nope


Not only would it kill the possibility of dream crossovers for fighters, it would also not help them in their iconic moments. Series like Megaman wouldn't be as popular again had it wasn't for Smash

 

[nirvanafan]

I mean maybe i would be okay with it for a huge reboot or spinoff with a really small roster if they wanted to focus on nintendo characters but i would still want them back asap

 

[kaithehedgefox]

No, if there were no playable third parties then we couldn't have Mario fight against characters like Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Solid Snake, Ryu, and Cloud Strife. Having playable third parties allows for a ton of amazing crossovers and serves as a way to get people hooked onto other series.

If 3rd parties were limited to assist trophies and spirits, and formerly trophies, then Sonic, Mega Man, Pac Man, Ryu, Simon wouldn't be able to be playable. Instead they would all be assist trophies just to represent their respective franchises.

 

[Sari]

If 3rd parties were limited to assist trophies and spirits, and formerly trophies, then Sonic, Mega Man, Pac Man, Ryu, Simon wouldn't be able to be playable. Instead they would all be assist trophies just to represent their respective franchises.

I know...

You asked if it would be better if there were no playable third party characters. I responded by saying that it wouldn't since we wouldn't be able to have so many cool matchups.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

Limiting third parties? Terrible idea, if you ask me and most people with common sense. I only see downsides with no upsides whatsoever.

"Hey guys! We have Sonic, Pacman and Megaman in Smash! Not playable though, but still, please get excited!"

You know what helps makes a pizza delicious? What if we take out just that? The salami, ham, mushrooms, cheese, tomato sauce and leave only the bread. Wouldn't it be so much better? I mean, not really, but congrats you are now the sucker who will eat bread instead of pizza.

Excluding content like that is wrong. And bad. There should be a new stronger word for that, like badwrong. Or, badong. Yes...
Excluding content like that is badong.

...

Did I make my point clear?

 

[Perkilator]

Seriously, no offense, but I’m not sure you were ever wise with your topics. Having 4th-parties in as cameos is bad enough, but relegating 3rd-parties to that role?! I seriously think you should take a breather and rethink these kinds of topics.

 

[osby]

If 3rd parties were limited to assist trophies and spirits, and formerly trophies, then Sonic, Mega Man, Pac Man, Ryu, Simon wouldn't be able to be playable. Instead they would all be assist trophies just to represent their respective franchises.

So what benefit this will do? It's just a downgrade in every way. Third party content in Smash isn't solely added to represent companies.

 

[kaithehedgefox]

So what benefit this will do? It's just a downgrade in every way. Third party content in Smash isn't solely added to represent companies.

It may be a downgrade, but the only (semi-)benefit it would do is that it would have prevented the aforementioned pandora's box from happening in the first place.

It has been stated that the roster is almost near its capacity. And 3rd party superstars are taking away some spots for certain obscure/iconic Nintendo characters. In fact, i'm fine with having third party franchises in Smash.

Having 4th-parties in as cameos is bad enough, but relegating 3rd-parties to that role?! I seriously think you should take a breather and rethink these kinds of topics.

If we can have third party franchises in Smash, why can't we have fourth party franchises that have had significant videogame history in Smash, but only limiting it to assist trophies and spirits.

 

[Opossum]

It may be a downgrade, but the only (semi-)benefit it would do is that it would have prevented the aforementioned pandora's box from happening in the first place.

It has been stated that the roster is almost near its capacity. And 3rd party superstars are taking away some spots for certain obscure/iconic Nintendo characters. In fact, i'm fine with having third party franchises in Smash.

Pretty much every iconic Nintendo character is already in, besides like, Toad and Waluigi. And obscure Nintendo characters shouldn't boot out third party superstars. Who the hell would care that Mokka from Magical Starsign got in if it came at the expense of Pac-Man, Simon, and Sonic?

If we can have third party franchises in Smash, why can't we have fourth party franchises that have had significant videogame history in Smash, but only limiting it to assist trophies and spirits.

Because the focus is on video game characters. Characters from other forms of media break the cohesion of the theming.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

It may be a downgrade

It is.

Glad we are on the same page.

Well, time to wrap up this train wre- um, thread.

*credits roll*

 

[Perkilator]

It is.

Glad we are on the same page.

Well, time to wrap up this thread.

*credits roll*

Seriously, I feel like this guy is one of those people who see the worlds as black and white.

 

[DarthEnderX]

But what would happen if 3rd party franchise representation was limited to only assist trophies and spirits?

It would suck super hard?

 

[Mogisthelioma]

While I have some reservations on third parties, this would be a terrible idea.

PR wise you're going to piss off everyone who enjoys those third party games.

Business wise you'll stop attracting everyone who plays by those icons and sales will collapse.

It may be a downgrade, but the only (semi-)benefit it would do is that it would have prevented the aforementioned pandora's box from happening in the first place.

It has been stated that the roster is almost near its capacity. And 3rd party superstars are taking away some spots for certain obscure/iconic Nintendo characters. In fact, i'm fine with having third party franchises in Smash.

No, the "Pandora's Box" analogy comes from the idea of adding 4th party IP in the game, not having lots of third parties. I've never heard someone say the roster has had a capacity at all, and if it does we're close to hitting it. They can add as many fighters as they choose. If you look at some peoples' dream rosters, they can have well over 100 fighters in them.

 

[MacDaddyNook]

To be honest. the well of viable Nintendo characters to include is nearly dried up. Outside of the umpteenth Pokemon or Mario character, there aren't very many well-known First-Party faces that could drum up as much excitement as those from outside the company, with many household names yet to be included.

Removing iconic and beloved, not to mention very fun to play as, non-Nintendo characters for the likes of Toad or some one-shot Japan-exclusive would be a massive downgrade to pretty much anyone who plays Smash. There's a reason why these characters are so beloved, in and out of Smash, and dropping them for a chance some no-name Nintendo character could have two seconds in the spotlight would do nothing but hurt the series.

I'm not dumping on any characters and have my share of obscure picks, but let's be honest, outside of some hyper-dedicated Nintendo purists, nobody would like the decision to remove Third-Party content.