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Time to get back to the basics - Retro NES "Black Box" characters support thread.

So, which ones do you favor in seeing in Smash as newcomers?

  • Balloon Fighter

  • Mach Rider

  • Urban Champion

  • Bubbles

  • Excitebike Racer

  • Mr. Stevenson

  • Professor Hector / Professor Vector

  • Thomas (Kung Fu)

  • Tamagon

  • A Pro Wrestling Fighter

  • Foreman Spike (Wrecking Crew)

  • Stanley the Bugman


Results are only viewable after voting.

Mr. Stevenson

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Black Box Madness



Ever since Melee, it was kind of a tradition to include a character exclusively from the NES Black Box collection in each Smash Brothers entry, with the Ice Climbers making in Melee, Pit in Brawl (then even getting his series revived), and lastly, the dog from Duck Hunt reaching Smash 4.
Sadly to retro fans, this tradition might have come to an end, seeing that no character from this category made it in Ultimate, so that's where this thread comes for.
I believe that these fellas do have alot of potential to become great and unique fighters, and most certainly deserve a comeback, and what better way than being a newcomer in Nintendo's huge crossover?

C8E6D004-8117-4222-B608-E5FA4592DB85.png


If you're interested, here are some of the individual support threads for these characters:

Balloon Fighter
Mach Rider
Urban Champion
Bubbles (Clu Clu Land)
Excitebiker (Excitebike)
Mr. Stevenson
Pro Wrestling Fighters
 
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Oddball

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If you're interested, here are some of the individual support threads for these characters:

Balloon Fighter
Mach Rider
Urban Champion
Bubbles (Clu Clu Land)
Excitebiker (Excitebike)
Mr. Stevenson
Here's the thread for the Pro Wrestlers. Amazon is actually one of my top picks.
Mach Rider and Urban Champion are right up there near the top.

I'm also fine with Gumshoe and Donkey Kong jr.

Thomas, I guess I'd be okay with, but there are better 8-bit brawlers... like Urban Champion! Or Billy Lee! Or those delightfully River City kids!
 
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Mr. Stevenson

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Here's the thread for the Pro Wrestlers. Amazon is actually one of my top picks.
Mach Rider and Urban Champion are right up there near the top.

I'm also fine with Gumshoe and Donkey Kong jr.

Thomas, I guess I'd be okay with, but there are better 8-bit brawlers... like Urban Champion! Or Billy Lee! Or those delightfully River City kids!
Amazon would be sick, I wonder if Nintendo would allow him to vomit acid tho.
Balloon Fighter, Urban Champion and of course, Mr. Stevenson are top picks for me. Mach Rider comes close too.

The only reason why I didn’t include Donkey Kong Jr. in the poll is because he isn’t really NES (Black Box) exclusive, since he also appeared in the original Mario Kart and Mario Tennis.
And I agree, Thomas is nice, but Urban Champion would probably make a better and more quirky fighter.
I’d also be fine with the chaps from Double Dragon and River City Ransom too.

I’m gonna add Starman and Amazon on the poll.
Question: Would you prefer if I included both on the same option, or separately?
 
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Oddball

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It your poll, but I think just saying "A ProWrestling Character" would probabaly fit better in this instance.
 

lordvaati

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Balloon Fighter.
I just feels best, especially knowing from whom he originated from.
Also we could even get Alice as an alt and/or Echo too.
 

Perkilator

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I made myself a Balloon Fighter moveset on another thread, so I support!
I've created a moveset for Balloon Fighter, so I support!

Who?: The Balloon Fighter is player 1 of the NES game Balloon Fight. It was originally released in 1984 for the arcades as Vs. Balloon Fight, and was ported to the NES less than two years later.

Importance to Nintendo: The Balloon Fighter was a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and so was the Flipper as well as an item. The fighter himself was considered to be playable in Melee, only to be dropped in favor of the Ice Climbers. The Flipper had not been an item since Melee. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, the original Balloon Fight game is a playable stage, and was eventually ported over to Ultimate.

Intro: Balloon Fighter inflates his two balloons posthaste and straps them to his back.

Stance/Idle 1: Balloon Fighter hops up from left to right very shortly.

Idle 2: Balloon Fighter floats in the air for a little bit.

Idle 3: Balloon Fighter nearly trips, floats up, and then gets back on the ground.

Notable Palette Swaps: Player 1, Player 2, Green Enemy, White Enemy, Alice, Urban Champion, Bubbles (Clu Clu Land), Mach Rider

Walk: Balloon Fighter skips and hops shortly up.

Dash: Balloon Fighter dashes with his balloons behind him, using them as brakes when he stops.

Damage: The death animation from Balloon Fight, with an altered version of the accompanying sound effect.

Jump: Balloon Fighter can jump up to seven times, at a relatively short height with each jump.

Crouch: The crouch an enemy does when they inflate their balloons.


Weapon of Choice: The Balloon Fighter is mostly physical, but uses his balloons as well.

Basic Attacks:
Jab: Balloon Fighter bumps forward similar to how he pushes forward to pop balloons in the original game (4%, nonexistent knockback)
Forward+A: Balloon Fighter bobs his balloons in front of him (6%, small knockback)
Down+A: Balloon Fighter pumps down a balloon pump and lets air out (5%, small knockback)
Up+A: Balloon Fighter rubs his balloons together very briefly, letting out a small electric shock (8%, small knockback)

Air+A: Balloon Fighter shoots out small bubbles from his mouth (6%, small knockback)
Air Forward+A: Balloon Fighter swings forward (8%, OK knockback)
Air Back + A: Balloon Fighter swings backwards (8%, OK knockback)
Air Up+A: Balloon Fighter spins his balloons together to create a slightly bigger electric shockwave (11%, OK knockback)
Air Down+A: Balloon Fighter lets air out of his balloons and drops down (14% with a meteor effect, medium knockback)

Dash Attack: Balloon Fighter flaps his arms as he floats forward (9%, OK knockback)
Edge Attack: Balloon Fighter lets a little bit of air out and dashes forward, pushing enemies out of the way (no damage, OK knockback)


Smash Moves:
Forward+A: Balloon Fighter tries to stop a Flipper, only to be caught by it (15%, medium knockback)
Up+A: Balloon Fighter charges electricity by rubbing his balloons together, only to be shocked back (18%, medium knockback)
Down+A: Balloon Fighter rubs his balloons together, and slams them on the ground (17%, medium knockback)

Grabs:
Neutral: Balloon Fighter grabs with both hands
Grab+punch: Balloon Fighter headbutted the opponent (3%)
Forwards+Throw: Balloon Fighter traps the opponent in a bubble and sends them forward (4%)
Down+Throw: Balloon Fighter spins on the opponent's chest (18%, small knockback)
Back+Throw: Balloon Fighter turns into a Flipper and sends the opponent backwards (9-11%, OK knockback)
Up+Throw: Balloon Fighter whacks his balloons together and shocks the opponent (13%, OK knockback)

Special Moves:

B : Spark; Balloon Fighter rubs his balloons together to charge electricity. At small charge, the spark goes a short distance and disappears (5%, small knockback). At medium charge, the spark homes in on a random opponent and zaps them (10%, small knockback). At full charge, the spark travels toward the direction Balloon Fighter is facing until it hits, and zaps multiple times (4% each, 20% total; medium knockback).
B + Forwards : Flipper; Balloon Fighter throws a Flipper a set distance like a boomerang (9-11%, OK knockback). If the control stick is flicked backwards, it will come back automatically (13%, OK knockback). When Balloon Fighter crouches, the Flipper stays in place.
B + Up : Inflate; Balloon Fighter inflates his balloons as he flies up. This increases the height of your normal jumping, but if you let them inflate for too long, they'll pop. Luckily, you have a parachute that can steer you horizontally so you don't fall.
B + Down : Balloon Rush; Balloon Fighter lets a good amount of air out of his balloons and charges into enemies (17%, OK knockback). Of course, you'll need to inflate the balloons again if you want to properly jump, as your jump height will be almost nonexistent when your balloons are deflated.

Final Smash: The Fish; a giant stream appears and Balloon Fighter flies away as fast as he can. A giant fish jumps up and eats anyone in its way (22%) and spits them out towards the other side of the screen (34%, far knockback)

Gimmick: The amount of air left in your balloons is indicated by their size. If there's too little air, they'll be small. If there's too much air, they'll be big (and pop, as mentioned earlier).


Taunts:

1: The balloons come off, but Balloon Fighter jumps up and straps them back on.
2: Balloon Fighter swings back and forth as if he's on swings.
1+2: Balloon Fighter does a twirl around with the balloons on his back.

Winposes:

1: Balloon Fighter is asleep, but then wakes up realizing he's floating away and tries to get back on the ground.
2: Balloon Fighter inflates his balloons to the max, only for them to pop so hard he gets pushed back by the air.
3: Balloon Fighter floats past an array of balloons, smiling in amazement.

Icon: The balloons used for the Balloon Fight stage.

Boxing Ring Title: An NES Pop Star

Victory Music: A combination of the victory themes for normal stages and bonus stages.

Kirby Hat: Balloon Fighter's helmet.
 

Mr. Stevenson

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Messages
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Yay everyone has, at least, one vote now!! :)

Balloon Fighter.
I just feels best, especially knowing from whom he originated from.
Also we could even get Alice as an alt and/or Echo too.
I agree! Balloon Fighter really seems like the best option for Ultimate’s retro pick, and Villager’s Up B really shouldn’t have any interference in that.

He even had an icon for his series, back in Smash 4, despite not being a playable character:
F016CF52-AE72-436E-99C0-EF880E957FAD.jpeg
 

Mr. Stevenson

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Messages
735
Mach Rider is easily my most wanted retro character. She looks so awesome and looks like she would really be fun to play. Plus her theme is sick:
Great choice! But is the character really a “she”?
I never understood if that was confirmed or not.

Can you add Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew to the list? I think he should be on it.
Sure thing! Although he’s a Mario character, he never really got revived, sadly. Oh well, might as well add Stanley the Bugman while I’m at it.

Oh, btw: is it possible to add Ayumi Tachibana to the vote list, or is this black box games specifically?
Yeah, sorry to break it to you, but the idea was really to go only for the characters that are exclusive to the NES black box series, and Ayumi Tachibana is Famicom exclusive. My apologies, once again.
 
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Perkilator

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Great choice! But is the character really a “she”?
I never understood if that was confirmed or not.



Sure thing! Although he’s a Mario character, he never really got revived, sadly. Oh well, might as well add Stanley the Bugman while I’m at it.



Yeah, sorry to break it to you, but the idea was really to go only for the characters that are exclusive to the NES black box series. My apologies, once again.
Okay, that’s fair. And by the way; yes, Mach Rider is a she.
 

Mr. Stevenson

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Messages
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Okay, that’s fair. And by the way; yes, Mach Rider is a she.
Can you give me the source that confirms that, please?

I do remember seeing a woman in the Arcade version, but I don’t think it was ever confirmed that she was Mach Rider himself/herself.
 
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Oddball

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Great choice! But is the character really a “she”?
I never understood if that was confirmed or not.
It's not.

The female character was only shown in the more obscure VS Mach Rider arcade game (which was just a slightly tweaked adaption of the NES game.). She isn't shown in the original game and nothing in the game says who she is.

There's no plot description in the manual or the game that states what gender Mach Rider is.
 

Perkilator

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It's not.

The female character was only shown in the more obscure VS Mach Rider arcade game (which was just a slightly tweaked adaption of the NES game.). She isn't shown in the original game and nothing in the game says who she is.

There's no plot description in the manual or the game that states what gender Mach Rider is.
Oh...then I guess I sorta made myself look like an idiot. Guess I should've been honest and said it was never confirmed.
 

Oddball

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Oh...then I guess I sorta made myself look like an idiot. Guess I should've been honest and said it was never confirmed.
It's okay. We all do stuff like that once in a while. I'm not going to hold it against you.

There's certainly some circumstantial evidence that Mach Rider is female.

However unless I'm mistaken, I belive the only time they ever officially mention Mach Rider's gender is in the melee trophy where Mach Rider is referred to as a male.
 

Arcadenik

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I would like to see new stages from the “Black Box” NES games.

So far we have...

Balloon Fight
Donkey Kong - 75m
Duck Hunt
Ice Climber - Summit
Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. - Mushroom Kingdom and Mushroomy Kingdom
Wrecking Crew

I would like to see these stages:

Clu Clu Land
Donkey Kong Jr.
Excitebike
Gyromite - R.O.B. needs his own stage
Pinball
 

Dreamking

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So many interesting choices and it was difficult to choose, especially since I wanted to select just one.

Balloon Fighter probably ranks as the most likely out of those listed to be the next playable retro character. I recall reading that Balloon Fighter was one of a number of characters to be considered to be playable before Ice Climbers were chosen. We have a stage and it has three music tracks.

My choice is Tamagon from Devil World, a game made by Miyamoto. I think Tamagon's look would be unique among the cast. Also, I've wanted Devil to be promoted for a while even though I can't think how he would play.

Personally, I'd rather see an Urban Champion stage more than a character. Do something like the Mushroom Kingdom and use the 3DS version as inspiration. The Urban Champion stage is 3D, but uses retro graphics. This would be a semi-scrolling stage like Port Town Aero Dive. The match begins in front of the first building and then after some seconds, the fight progresses to the front of the next building and so on before it repeats.
 

Mr. Stevenson

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It's not.

The female character was only shown in the more obscure VS Mach Rider arcade game (which was just a slightly tweaked adaption of the NES game.). She isn't shown in the original game and nothing in the game says who she is.

There's no plot description in the manual or the game that states what gender Mach Rider is.
I knew I wasn’t going bananas.

Oh and good eye! Can’t believe I never noticed that, so I guess the mystery of Mach Rider’s gender is solved, eh?
Or it could be just a simple mistake from Nintendo of America, idk.
BC4DA6BC-815F-40C5-B70F-82B8A11894DA.png


Honestly, since Samus already takes the role of a pretty girl behind the big badass armor, I kind of want Mach Rider to be a guy, for a change.
I wouldn’t mind at all if MR ended up being female, tho.

I would like to see new stages from the “Black Box” NES games.

So far we have...

Balloon Fight
Donkey Kong - 75m
Duck Hunt
Ice Climber - Summit
Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. - Mushroom Kingdom and Mushroomy Kingdom
Wrecking Crew

I would like to see these stages:

Clu Clu Land
Donkey Kong Jr.
Excitebike
Gyromite - R.O.B. needs his own stage
Pinball
I want a Gumshoe and Urban Champion stage.

It’s a big shame that there’s no Gumshoe content in any Smash game. Thankfully Urban Champion got to be acknowledged this time, but I feel like a stage based on his game definitely has potential, with angry people throwing vases at you from their windows, or the cops arriving to take you off stage, as stage hazards.
 
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