ChronoBound
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
- 8,998
The confirmation of The Hero(es) of Dragon Quest and Banjo-Kazooie has brought the hype for Ultimate to heights not seen since the August 2018 Nintendo Direct. For both the Hero and Banjo-Kazooie there was much drama, and many ups and downs in regards to their “slots” (Square-Enix and Microsoft). Dragon Quest is a legendary franchise that has had a profound influence on the RPG genre, and one that actually has had a close relationship to most Nintendo consoles (NES/FC, SNES/SFC, DS, Wii, 3DS, and now the Switch). For Banjo-Kazooie, the two platformers of its series were considered a stand out among fans who grew up with a Nintendo 64.
Both of these characters are tied closely with Nintendo history. Dragon Quest had nine out of its eleven mainline installments debut on a Nintendo console, and Banjo-Kazooie is seen by many as a “lost” Nintendo character.
With their confirmations, the Square-Enix and Microsoft newcomer debate sagas/wars have finally drawn to a close.
Both of these characters are tied closely with Nintendo history. Dragon Quest had nine out of its eleven mainline installments debut on a Nintendo console, and Banjo-Kazooie is seen by many as a “lost” Nintendo character.
With their confirmations, the Square-Enix and Microsoft newcomer debate sagas/wars have finally drawn to a close.
Sore Losers and Sore Winners
There was much debate and mudslinging particularly between supporters of Banjo-Kazooie and Minecraft’s Steve. For both parties there is resentment despite the outcome. For the Hero it seems to mostly be by “rivals” vying for the Square-Enix slot, while a sizable portion of the Banjo-Kazooie fans seem to be “sore winners”.
For the Hero, there needs to be a realization that Dragon Quest despite not being as big as many other franchises in the West, is still incredibly important to gaming as a whole and has an important legacy to Nintendo consoles. Kingdom Hearts is a major franchise throughout the world, but the thing is, it is owned by Disney and that is whole other conundrum in terms of negotiation for usage of the franchise.
As for Geno, the fact is the character is a one-off side character from a single game released over 23 years ago. His title is even older than the original Kid Icarus was when Pit was confirmed in Brawl. Geno might be the textbook example of the Smash Bubble mindset, a character that is massively popular among those who talk about Smash Bros. character support online but is virtually unknown or obscure to those outside of it. While the Hero himself might not be well known either in the West, the Dragon Quest franchise is certainly more well known than Geno (it is primarily known as the classic JRPG franchise with Akira Toriyama/Dragon Ball character designs). Super Mario RPG is a great classic RPG, but Dragon Quest is a franchise with over 30 years of history that influenced gaming as a whole.
Out of all the possible Square-Enix choices, a Dragon Quest character was very much overdue. Kingdom Hearts although Square develops the titles, does not own the series. Dragon Quest is simply Square-Enix’s next biggest franchise. It has sold over 70 million copies. Dragon Quest is also important to Nintendo’s history, not just gaming as a whole. The Dragon Quest games were among the most critically acclaimed titles for the NES and SNES, and Dragon Quest had a major presence on the DS and 3DS.
Dragon Quests fans had also been pushing for the franchise’s inclusion in Smash Bros. for a very long time (though like with Castlevania fans, there was no agreement at all in regards to who or what should be used to represent the franchise). In many ways, Dragon Quest might be comparable to Mega Man and Castlevania as a franchise that has historically been tied to Ninendo’s consoles. Just as with Castlevania, it is miraculous this franchise has even made it into Smash Bros. considering the Western Smash Bubble rarely brought this franchise up. Regardless of how Dragon Quest finally made it into Smash Bros., whether through a strong desire from the Japanese side to the fanbase or Square-Enix wanting to make the series more popular internationally, it definitely deserved its place on the roster.
Using multiple heroes for the Dragon Quest series was a fitting choice to choose as to whom to represent the series. Dragon Quest XI, Dragon Quest IV, Dragon Quest VIII, and Dragon Quest III are all standout titles in the series in particular, and probably the most popular incarnations of the hero (with the only notable absence being V’s hero).
Hopefully, the Dragon Quest XI port will offer the opportunity for many individuals who are sour about the Hero and the Dragon Quest series to help discover the Dragon Quest series and discover just what its appeal is. Just like Fire Emblem before, perhaps the inclusion of Dragon Quest will help build the popularity to the franchise to the Western audience.
As for Banjo-Kazooie, it seems some of their fans are “sore winners”. I can understand being hurt by the constant insults by supporters of Minecraft and detractors in general, but there is no need for revenge at this point. You won. You got what you wanted all along. Your dreams have been realized. There is no need to be petty.
Also, keep in mind much of the Minecraft and Steve fans are far younger than many of you. Many are simply not mature, and to them it was amusing that grown men were obsessing over a “relic” from 20 years ago. So are you going to prove to them your childishness, or are you simply going to just forget them and appreciate what you gained?
For myself, I experienced similar detractors as a strong supporter for Ridley and Roy, especially the latter. I was constantly attacked for wanting a “crappy Marth clone”, “dumb advertisement”, “Fire Marth”. I was always told I was not a real Fire Emblem fan (even though I actually own physical copies of most of the Japan only Fire Emblem titles, and even played through them in Japanese). I was constantly insulted due to the fact I wanted a character that some of the loudest people in the Smash Bubble did not like (mostly because they saw him as an obstacle for their Fire Emblem character of choice getting in). Did I seek revenge or “payback” against those specific users once Roy was actually confirmed to return in Smash 4? No, I was just extremely thankful that a miracle even happened that Roy even ended up being DLC.
Appreciate the miracle that Banjo-Kazooie made it in. When you win, you do not need to make others feel bad just because they were a jerk to you along the way. Just as with Ridley and Roy, it is a miracle Banjo-Kazooie even happened. Their slot easily could have gone to Steve or even Master Chief. Besides, there are plenty of Steve and Minecraft fans who did not do anything to antagonize Banjo-Kazooie supporters.
Hopefully, with this, both detractors and supporters of these two characters will be able to move on and let bygones be bygones. It will take time to heal, but hopefully people will eventually accept the decisions made and events that transpired.
There was much debate and mudslinging particularly between supporters of Banjo-Kazooie and Minecraft’s Steve. For both parties there is resentment despite the outcome. For the Hero it seems to mostly be by “rivals” vying for the Square-Enix slot, while a sizable portion of the Banjo-Kazooie fans seem to be “sore winners”.
For the Hero, there needs to be a realization that Dragon Quest despite not being as big as many other franchises in the West, is still incredibly important to gaming as a whole and has an important legacy to Nintendo consoles. Kingdom Hearts is a major franchise throughout the world, but the thing is, it is owned by Disney and that is whole other conundrum in terms of negotiation for usage of the franchise.
As for Geno, the fact is the character is a one-off side character from a single game released over 23 years ago. His title is even older than the original Kid Icarus was when Pit was confirmed in Brawl. Geno might be the textbook example of the Smash Bubble mindset, a character that is massively popular among those who talk about Smash Bros. character support online but is virtually unknown or obscure to those outside of it. While the Hero himself might not be well known either in the West, the Dragon Quest franchise is certainly more well known than Geno (it is primarily known as the classic JRPG franchise with Akira Toriyama/Dragon Ball character designs). Super Mario RPG is a great classic RPG, but Dragon Quest is a franchise with over 30 years of history that influenced gaming as a whole.
Out of all the possible Square-Enix choices, a Dragon Quest character was very much overdue. Kingdom Hearts although Square develops the titles, does not own the series. Dragon Quest is simply Square-Enix’s next biggest franchise. It has sold over 70 million copies. Dragon Quest is also important to Nintendo’s history, not just gaming as a whole. The Dragon Quest games were among the most critically acclaimed titles for the NES and SNES, and Dragon Quest had a major presence on the DS and 3DS.
Dragon Quests fans had also been pushing for the franchise’s inclusion in Smash Bros. for a very long time (though like with Castlevania fans, there was no agreement at all in regards to who or what should be used to represent the franchise). In many ways, Dragon Quest might be comparable to Mega Man and Castlevania as a franchise that has historically been tied to Ninendo’s consoles. Just as with Castlevania, it is miraculous this franchise has even made it into Smash Bros. considering the Western Smash Bubble rarely brought this franchise up. Regardless of how Dragon Quest finally made it into Smash Bros., whether through a strong desire from the Japanese side to the fanbase or Square-Enix wanting to make the series more popular internationally, it definitely deserved its place on the roster.
Using multiple heroes for the Dragon Quest series was a fitting choice to choose as to whom to represent the series. Dragon Quest XI, Dragon Quest IV, Dragon Quest VIII, and Dragon Quest III are all standout titles in the series in particular, and probably the most popular incarnations of the hero (with the only notable absence being V’s hero).
Hopefully, the Dragon Quest XI port will offer the opportunity for many individuals who are sour about the Hero and the Dragon Quest series to help discover the Dragon Quest series and discover just what its appeal is. Just like Fire Emblem before, perhaps the inclusion of Dragon Quest will help build the popularity to the franchise to the Western audience.
As for Banjo-Kazooie, it seems some of their fans are “sore winners”. I can understand being hurt by the constant insults by supporters of Minecraft and detractors in general, but there is no need for revenge at this point. You won. You got what you wanted all along. Your dreams have been realized. There is no need to be petty.
Also, keep in mind much of the Minecraft and Steve fans are far younger than many of you. Many are simply not mature, and to them it was amusing that grown men were obsessing over a “relic” from 20 years ago. So are you going to prove to them your childishness, or are you simply going to just forget them and appreciate what you gained?
For myself, I experienced similar detractors as a strong supporter for Ridley and Roy, especially the latter. I was constantly attacked for wanting a “crappy Marth clone”, “dumb advertisement”, “Fire Marth”. I was always told I was not a real Fire Emblem fan (even though I actually own physical copies of most of the Japan only Fire Emblem titles, and even played through them in Japanese). I was constantly insulted due to the fact I wanted a character that some of the loudest people in the Smash Bubble did not like (mostly because they saw him as an obstacle for their Fire Emblem character of choice getting in). Did I seek revenge or “payback” against those specific users once Roy was actually confirmed to return in Smash 4? No, I was just extremely thankful that a miracle even happened that Roy even ended up being DLC.
Appreciate the miracle that Banjo-Kazooie made it in. When you win, you do not need to make others feel bad just because they were a jerk to you along the way. Just as with Ridley and Roy, it is a miracle Banjo-Kazooie even happened. Their slot easily could have gone to Steve or even Master Chief. Besides, there are plenty of Steve and Minecraft fans who did not do anything to antagonize Banjo-Kazooie supporters.
Hopefully, with this, both detractors and supporters of these two characters will be able to move on and let bygones be bygones. It will take time to heal, but hopefully people will eventually accept the decisions made and events that transpired.
My Own Experiences with the Banjo-Kazooie Series
My history with Banjo-Kazooie goes back two decades. When I first played Banjo-Kazooie back in 1999, it was an extremely fun and charming title. It quickly ended up becoming among my favorite titles for the Nintendo 64 and that was very stiff competition (being up there at the time with the likes of Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, and Super Smash Bros.). The worlds had every theme you could think of. Beach, Swamp, Winter Wonderland, Spooky House, Desert, as well as several inventive takes like a world centered around a bio-mechanical creature (Clanker), the four seasons (Click Clock Wood), and an aging filthy boat (Rusty Bucket Bay). Super Mario 64 was magical and mysterious, but Banjo-Kazooie somehow managed to capture some of that feeling despite it treading much of the same ground that Super Mario 64 had shown two years earlier.
In particular the game left various clues about a grander adventure on the horizon. Sharkfood Island, the Ice Key in Wozza’s Cave, Gobi’s cryptic comment about Lava Land. It seemed that an even grander adventure was being prepared and clues and tidbits to it were scattered across the worlds that I had been exploring in Banjo-Kazooie. Just as Super Mario 64 before, I was feverish to get all the stars, er, Jiggies. I had to see just what the reward was for completing the game to full completion.
Finishing Banjo-Kazooie to full completion gave a “sneak peak” at Banjo-Tooie. It seemed somehow we would be able to revisit the same places we explored in Kazooie but access them. The Ice Key, the raised Sharkfood Island, and the sealed door in Gobi’s Valley. I had immense hype going into Tooie. It reminded me all over again of how Sonic & Knuckles connected with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and I thought with a much more powerful game console they could do even more with the “lock on” concept.
Banjo-Tooie alongside a possible Super Smash Bros. 2 was my most anticipated game at the beginning of the 2000’s. I was really excited to see what ideas they would have planned and meticulously explored the nooks and crannies to each Banjo-Kazooie world to see what secrets they possibly held for Tooie. The screenshots I saw of Tooie in Nintendo Power looked to push the Nintendo 64 even greater graphical heights than I had seen before.
I first played Banjo-Tooie in Christmas of 2000, and the game proved to be absolutely incredible. It had an even grander scope than Kazooie did, and it truly seemed like the sequel that Kazooie was hinting towards. The game was also far more difficult and tedious than Kazooie was, especially when getting all the Jiggies and Cheato Pages. However, there were various things nagging at me at the back of my mind. How did the secret areas in Kazooie intersect with Tooie?
As mentioned earlier, Tooie proved to be far more challenging than Kazooie. The game at many points was reminding me of Donkey Kong 64, and not in a good way. For Donkey Kong 64, I tried to get all the Golden Bananas but ultimately gave up when some proved to be simply too difficult for my much younger self to get (I ultimately was able to get all the Golden Bananas when I revisited the game in 2012), and the game as a whole proved to be very tedious and lacked a lot of the sort of “magic” that both Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie had.
While Tooie was very fun, and I was enjoying it more than Donkey Kong 64 and had a far grander scale than Kazooie did, something about the game felt different than Kazooie as I went further and further into it. The game seemed dark and cynical at times in comparison to Kazooie’s (mostly) happy-go-lucky world and characters. Tooie, upon retrospect, at times seemed like a PG rated Conker with its various innuendos. Tooie also reminded me more of Donkey Kong 64 than Super Mario 64 in terms of its tedium and atmosphere. It was a game too bloated for its own good. The multiplayer and various minigames did give the game more longevity than Kazooie though. However, in terms of the actual main game and journey, I feel Kazooie had far better design and heart to it than Tooie did.
As for the Ice Key and two “Mystery Eggs”, it turned out that they were simply found by smashing various hidden cartridges in the game, and it seemed as though there was not going to be any sort of interaction between Kazooie and Tooie like I had been anticipating. However, I still wondered if Tooie would make any hints to a future adventure like Kazooie had. Tooie was one of the two games I played the most in 2001 (the other being Paper Mario).
It was in 2001 also when I actually started to be involved in interaction on the internet. Prior to 2001, I would rarely go on the internet and even more rarely ever posted. I posted a few times on a Metroid forum here and there and would go on to IGN every week or so, but otherwise the internet was not a major part of my life. That started to change in 2001. I looked online for advice on how to overcome various challenges in Banjo-Tooie (such as those obnoxious Canary Mary races). I eventually came across a forum of Rare fans who were discussing what deeply intrigued me, the mystery behind the Ice Key and two Mystery Eggs.
I was absolutely fascinated by the rampant theories circulating online. At the center of the maelstrom was a peculiar minor NPC in Banjo-Tooie named Captain Blackeye. Captain Blackeye was very peculiar. Unlike nearly every NPC in the game, he had no role to give you in terms of leading you to a Jiggy or a Cheato Page. He simply made a bunch of cryptic comments about him having a dream and that a bear “stole his glory”, making a remark that Banjo looked like that bear. All Captain Blackeye did of consequence was give you two doubloons, of which is a pitiful amount when there is a maximum of 30, and two of them go unspent.
However, aside from his seeming lack of importance there was another thing peculiar to Captain Blackeye. In the room you find Captain Blackeye, there are various pictures that hang on the walls. One was simply of Treasure Trove Cove, but two others were what got many of the theories behind Captain Blackeye going. One of the three pictures on the wall was of the raised Sharkfood Island seen in the “preview” at the end of the 100% ending for Banjo-Kazooie, and another one of them was of the Pink Egg on top of the giant tree trunk inside the raised Sharkfood Island. This seemed like proof to many Banjo fans that there was definitely more to Captain Blackeye and the mystery of the Ice Key and Mystery Eggs.
Aside from the Pink Mystery Egg and raised Sharkfood Island pictures in Captain Blackeye’s room, there was another peculiar connection that this seemingly unimportant NPC had to the whole mystery. There were portraits of the character hanging around the Banjo-Kazooie world, Mad Monster Mansion.
Another piece of information that was known to fans that thought there was a deeper mystery at play was when fans used GameShark/Action Replay codes to be able to get the Ice Key in Banjo-Kazooie. Upon retrieving the Ice Key, there would be a new menu added in Banjo-Kazooie: Stop ‘n’ Swop. It was here that the mysteries and rumors surrounding Banjo-Kazooie eclipsed many of the other long standing Nintendo 64 standby rumors (being able to find/play as Luigi in Super Mario 64 and being able to find the Triforce in Ocarina of Time being the two most famous ones up until this point). There was now concrete evidence of a bigger mystery at play and that there was indeed an intention for there to be a connection between the two Banjo titles.
There was also another critical factor at play as opposed to prior cryptic mysteries and “playground rumors” that many games had throughout the 1990’s, the internet, particularly dedicated forums. Previously, gaming rumors and mysteries were spread via word of mouth and by gaming magazines. These often prolonged the life of the mysteries because the only way to debunk them was to investigate them yourself or know someone personally that debunked it. Even the internet helped proliferate gaming rumors (particularly finding the Triforce in Ocarina of Time and being able to catch Mew without a hacking device in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow), with random web pages and unverified “game cheats/codes” sites listing ways to do such things. Such examples were really infamous. I remember there being a cheat to find a purple Yoshi in Yoshi’s Story for years (I remember it involving finding all the coins in a level as one way to find him/her). Super Smash Bros. had quite a few itself (such as being able to play as Metal Mario, Master Hand, Raichu, and even Bowser).
However, the advent of the dedicated forum was a game changer. People that posted something had to be held accountable by their peers on the forum. Also, in regards to investigating things (such as Stop ‘n’ Swap), people could share their theories and ideas, and people would be able to express their own thoughts or criticism in regards to them. The advent of the forum was truly a game changer in regards to “playground rumors”.
With the various things surrounding the seemingly unimportant Captain Blackeye and the known existence of a feature called Stop ‘n’ Swop, it was up to Banjo fans to crack the mystery of just what it was. How could something so cryptic exist in the first place? One example is how throughout Banjo-Tooie in various forms, Gruntilda is shown with only one eye. The head statue entrance outside of Grunty’s lair in Tooie is missing an eye. The Gruntilda plushy in Pawno’s shop in Jolly Roger’s Lagoon is also missing an eye. This all culminates in the ending to Tooie where Gruntilda ends up losing an eye after the protagonists kick around her disembodied skull. This sort of subtle foreshadowing (or maybe it was merely a bunch of coincidences) gave credence to the possibility of there being a hidden way to access Stop ‘n’ Swop in Tooie.
There were also various other anomalies as well. One was the fact that there were only 90 Jiggies in Tooie in comparison to the 100 that Kazooie had. 90 seemed like an odd number to end Tooie at, as well as the fact, that the reward for getting all the Jiggies in Tooie is an underwhelming “character parade” movie. With both Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie there was a fulfilling reward for getting all the stars and Jiggies for each of those games, and even Donkey Kong 64 had an entertaining ending movie for getting all the Golden Bananas. All Tooie had was a boring montage video with a few seconds of footage of nearly every character in the game. It seemed to many Banjo fans with all the difficulty involved for getting everything in Tooie that there had to be more than that. There was also the fact that Gobi’s promise of going to “lava land” going back to Kazooie was actually followed up on in Tooie (where he finally reaches the lava/hot side to Hailfire Peaks).
There existed a multitude of rumors and theories behind what could be the possible places to which the Stop ‘n’ Swop quest could be initiated and possibly things that the quest might involve. One idea was that perhaps the bear that Captain Blackeye was referring to was not Banjo but rather his father. Speculation on this was fuelled by a comment made by Lord Fak Fak, the boss fought in Jolly Roger’s Lagoon (the same world where Captain Blackeye is found), that he claims to know Banjo’s (though it could also possibly be Kazooie’s) father. Another possible connection involving Banjo’s family possibly being involved was Tooty (a major NPC in Kazooie) being nearly completely absent in Tooie, with her only appearances being a picture inside Banjo’s house and her appearance on the side of a milk carton in Cloud Cuckooland with the text “missing”.
There were even more strange anomalies still. When playing Tower of Tragedy, a “speaking head icon” not seen in the game would make an appearance on rare occasions. This was the infamous “devil Bottles”. Basically, it was an icon of Bottles as a devil or orange/red demon. Again, there were various theories about what this possibly meant especially considering that Bottles was restored back to life at the end of Tooie. Many concluded it was a dead end in regards to the Stop ‘n’ Swop mystery due to the possible story issue behind Bottles being resolved, but others believed there was more to it. It was later found that there was actually intended to be an extra mode in Banjo-Tooie called “Bottles Revenge” where a devil version of Bottles could possess enemies and a person with a second controller could control them. Interestingly enough, this mode is fully playable through Action Replay/GameShark but a bit buggy.
Another idea about the link between games was similar doors found in Rusty Bucket Bay and the Quagmire area in the overworld to Banjo-Tooie. There was a belief that Stop ‘n’ Swop might be involved in linking the areas together since the doors looked similar to one another and both places being grimy industrial areas.
Unfortunately, due to being so long ago (this was all back in 2001), I forgot many of the other theories or leads about Stop ‘n’ Swop. I was not a major player in the Banjo/Stop ‘n’ Swop community but I was a regular participant. I was quite young back then and I was more inquisitive than anything else. I would merely provide my own thoughts on ideas or theories provided by others and sometimes offer a bit of my own ideas.
Throughout 2001, this Rare focused game forum (I forgot the name to it, but I do not think it was Rare Witch Project), was where I would regularly post. Of course I would not post often, since I did not have my own computer back then, and I would have to share a single computer with the rest of my family so it would probably be only a few posts a week. I would regularly check for any leads or interesting theories regarding the Stop ‘n’ Swop mystery.
However, as 2001 grinded on, I became increasingly skeptical about anything substantive being found for a multitude of reasons. One was the cliquish nature of the forums and false info being fed out of those cliques. A group of users would pretend they knew more about Stop ‘n’ Swop than the rest of the forum did, but would refuse to disclose to the others what they actually knew. They would throw bread crumbs to the rest of us, which was nothing but fake leads.
One fake bread crumb that I remember was involving the aquatic part to Jolly Roger’s Lagoon. There was a sound glitch that was activated when you entered first person mode as the submarine (or maybe it was when you were just in first person mode underwater), where you hear a beep or a chirp when going to different areas underwater. According to the insider clique this beeping/chirping when going to different areas would get louder as you got closer to the area necessary to set in motion the events leading to the quest to activate Stop ‘n’ Swop. Needless to say, I tried this only to become frustrated when it became clear there was no change in volume for the sound anomaly when going to different areas. There was a mix of users repeating what I had noticed, but what frustrated me was other users saying they noticed an increase of volume. Was it a just a placebo effect, or was there really something they were finding? In actuality the case was it was either a placebo effect or that these users were lying to perpetuate a lie.
Another fake lead was that there was additional area behind the rocks in the ruined inside to Gruntilda’s Lair in Tooie. Basically, the way to view the extra area was to shoot a Clockwork Kazooie Egg at the right angle in which case you could explore the additional area as Clockwork Kazooie. Apparently the additional area was not accessible, but showed there was some sort of door there, presumably only fully accessible through the means of Stop ‘n’ Swop. Many believed this allowed you to explore the entirety of Grunty’s Lair and even the Banjo-Kazooie worlds. Supporters of this idea pointed to Pokemon Gold/Silver to which the entire Kanto region was able to be accessed after finishing the Johto league. Needless to say, this theory hyped many people. I tried for hours to get Clockwork Kazooie to get behind the rocks and see just what was there. Needless to say, I had no success. Again, there were users saying quite a few things. Some were saying, like myself, they had no success because there was no way to get behind there with Clockwork Kazooie. Some others said they noticed that there is nothing behind the rocks, while others said they did see something. These sorts of lies and false leads made me want to visit the Rare forums less and less.
There was also the matter that as I got further along in Tooie I became more and more fatigued with the game (the same thing that happened with Donkey Kong 64). I was ultimately able to get all the Jiggies in Tooie back in the day though (2001 or 2002), but I remember the game becoming more frustrating than fun at parts towards the end of getting all the Jiggies and this put me in a mood for not being “hungry for more” like I felt when I had finished Banjo-Kazooie completely.
Another point that gradually drove me away from Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation was my focus with other titles, notably Paper Mario and Majora’s Mask. Both of those games eventually ended up capturing my imagination far more than Banjo-Tooie did, and both ended up being among my Top 5 favorite games for the Nintendo 64 in general even eclipsing the predecessor Banjo-Kazooie in the enjoyment factor.
The last factor to mention might be the most critical one as I “swopped” one speculation topic for another. At E3 2001, not only were two new Metroid games unveiled (the one thing I had been really hoping for throughout the late 1990’s), but also a sequel to Super Smash Bros. I had long been daydreaming of a sequel to one of my favorite Nintendo 64 titles, and the unveil to it well exceeded my expectations. Moreover, there was a particular aspect to the unveil trailer that was the impetus for me to become a part of the character support and speculation Smash Bros. community. Samus being shown fighting Ridley was seen as a hint that Ridley could very well be a newcomer for Smash Bros. 2, now given the name Melee.
I registered on GameFAQs in July to give my support to Ridley and various other characters, as well as offer my speculation on just what the full roster could be. As with my involvement in the Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation, I was not at the forefront of it but I was a regular participant. I primarily made posts supporting Ridley and offering ideas on just what characters could be on the roster. There were just as much drama and contentious debates in those days as well. Whether Jigglypuff and/or Luigi would be cut, whether trophies shown on the Japanese Melee website were deconfirmations, and whether there truly were only five more characters left to the game’s roster (the five question mark boxes on the character selection screen), these were just some of the great questions argued by the pre-Melee speculation scene.
A combination of these factors made me lose interest in Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation. Eventually, I believe in late 2001, the codes to get the Ice Key, the Pink Mystery Egg, the Blue Mystery Egg, as well as additional unknown Mystery Eggs were posted online. I naturally was very hyped about this, and it really re-invigorated my interest in Stop ‘n’ Swop again for a month. However, it soon dissipated again through two major factors.
One was the realization that if the Ice Key and Mystery Eggs truly did serve a purpose between the two Banjo titles, that Rare was on borrowed time to come forth to reveal it, especially considering that the 64 generation was ending and they were on the cusp of becoming owned by a prospective new console rival to Nintendo, Microsoft. Since the codes had been found, why did not Rare just get the ball rolling and explain things if there was an intended final world to Tooie that involved “swopping” the Ice Key and the Mystery Eggs. Even the fact that fans had found these codes and that they were not officially released by Nintendo or Rare (they were later posted in an issue of Nintendo Power though) was something that made me believe that Stop ‘n’ Swop simply was a scrapped concept by Rare that somehow they could not get to work.
The second major factor to which the dropping of the Stop ‘n’ Swop codes did not manage to rekindle my interest in speculation for it for long was hype for the impending release of Melee. There were genuine leaks going around for the title starting in mid October, and they were truly wild. Pichu? Another Mario? Another Link? Falco and not Wolf? Who are Marth and Roy? Just what the heck is Mr. Game & Watch (I knew what Game & Watch games were due to the Game & Watch Gallery series being among my favorite game series at the time, but I had no idea what a Mr. Game & Watch would entail). It was incredibly interesting. However, as bizarre (and disappointing at the time) as the final roster was shown to be, my hype for Melee was higher than ever. Every day I thought and daydreamed about playing the follow up to one of my favorite Nintendo 64 titles, which I would not get to do so until Christmas Eve of 2001.
I got Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi’s Mansion, and Pikmin as my first GameCube titles for Christmas in 2001. With the advent of the GameCube, my attention on Nintendo 64 titles was vastly depreciated. Sure I would revisit Banjo-Tooie to play mini-games or Paper Mario for its various sidequests, but my attention and interest was mostly in the GameCube and Game Boy Advance from that point on. The exception to this was Majora’s Mask which I continued to play extensively throughout 2002.
I did not feel “hungry” for an additional Banjo-Kazooie title after I completely finished Tooie. I felt the same sort of thing after I had gotten most of the Golden Bananas in Donkey Kong 64, fatigue. Similarly, I had lost most of my interest in Donkey Kong as a series after Donkey Kong 64. There were new series that managed to take the place of Banjo and Donkey Kong in terms of my personal interest. Super Smash Bros. was now one of my favorite franchises. Melee even though its final roster disappointed me at the time, ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time and vastly eclipsed the original in every way possible. The Legend of Zelda had also similarly become one of my favorite franchises as I did all the sidequests in Ocarina of Time, and played much more of A Link To The Past and Majora’s Mask. F-Zero was another franchise that joined Metroid, Super Mario, Super Smash Bros., and The Legend of Zelda as one of my favorites. F-Zero and F-Zero X I played for the first time in 1999 and 2000, and they became some of my favorite racing games of all time. With Maximum Velocity released on the Game Boy Advance in 2001, F-Zero was a franchise that highly relevant and special to me in the early 2000’s.
I no longer cared about the mystery behind Stop ‘n’ Swop going forward. Banjo-Kazooie was still among my favorite Nintendo 64 games (with only Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Paper Mario clearly exceeding it). I also considered Tooie a good game, and the title to possibly be within my Top 10 favorite games for the Nintendo 64 (though at the lower end).
However, my history with the Banjo-Kazooie series did not end with Tooie. In Christmas of 2003, my family got Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge for the Game Boy Advance. I did not play the game though until sometime in 2004 due to being distracted by other games I had also received at the same time (such as Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and Mario Kart Double Dash, and later Metroid Zero Mission). However, when I finally did play Grunty’s Revenge, I was pleasantly surprised. It proved to be a very fun isometric 3D platformer. The worlds themselves recycled a lot of themes found in Kazooie and Tooie, but the game still proved to be quite enjoyable. It did not take me long to get all the Jiggies in Grunty’s Revenge as was the case for Kazooie and especially Tooie, but overall I enjoyed the game and it was fun to play. It was a nice little throw back to me to the very late 1990’s and very early years to the 2000’s. I fully recommend this game to any fans of the Banjo series, as it is very much worth your time to play, and it is a shame that more Banjo fans do not even know this game exists as it is the closest Banjo game to the 64 titles released after Tooie and is also a good title with its primary fault being that it is a short game.
As can be seen, I am a fan of Banjo-Kazooie and my history with the series goes back longer than many of the posters here have been alive. My involvement with Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation was the precursor to my involvement with Smash Bros. roster speculation. I wrote back in my comprehensive analysis of the Ultimate roster that among my few hopes for DLC was that Banjo-Kazooie would be among the characters for the Fighters Pass, and I am very happy to see that they have finally made the roster at long last.
My history with Banjo-Kazooie goes back two decades. When I first played Banjo-Kazooie back in 1999, it was an extremely fun and charming title. It quickly ended up becoming among my favorite titles for the Nintendo 64 and that was very stiff competition (being up there at the time with the likes of Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, and Super Smash Bros.). The worlds had every theme you could think of. Beach, Swamp, Winter Wonderland, Spooky House, Desert, as well as several inventive takes like a world centered around a bio-mechanical creature (Clanker), the four seasons (Click Clock Wood), and an aging filthy boat (Rusty Bucket Bay). Super Mario 64 was magical and mysterious, but Banjo-Kazooie somehow managed to capture some of that feeling despite it treading much of the same ground that Super Mario 64 had shown two years earlier.
In particular the game left various clues about a grander adventure on the horizon. Sharkfood Island, the Ice Key in Wozza’s Cave, Gobi’s cryptic comment about Lava Land. It seemed that an even grander adventure was being prepared and clues and tidbits to it were scattered across the worlds that I had been exploring in Banjo-Kazooie. Just as Super Mario 64 before, I was feverish to get all the stars, er, Jiggies. I had to see just what the reward was for completing the game to full completion.
Finishing Banjo-Kazooie to full completion gave a “sneak peak” at Banjo-Tooie. It seemed somehow we would be able to revisit the same places we explored in Kazooie but access them. The Ice Key, the raised Sharkfood Island, and the sealed door in Gobi’s Valley. I had immense hype going into Tooie. It reminded me all over again of how Sonic & Knuckles connected with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and I thought with a much more powerful game console they could do even more with the “lock on” concept.
Banjo-Tooie alongside a possible Super Smash Bros. 2 was my most anticipated game at the beginning of the 2000’s. I was really excited to see what ideas they would have planned and meticulously explored the nooks and crannies to each Banjo-Kazooie world to see what secrets they possibly held for Tooie. The screenshots I saw of Tooie in Nintendo Power looked to push the Nintendo 64 even greater graphical heights than I had seen before.
I first played Banjo-Tooie in Christmas of 2000, and the game proved to be absolutely incredible. It had an even grander scope than Kazooie did, and it truly seemed like the sequel that Kazooie was hinting towards. The game was also far more difficult and tedious than Kazooie was, especially when getting all the Jiggies and Cheato Pages. However, there were various things nagging at me at the back of my mind. How did the secret areas in Kazooie intersect with Tooie?
As mentioned earlier, Tooie proved to be far more challenging than Kazooie. The game at many points was reminding me of Donkey Kong 64, and not in a good way. For Donkey Kong 64, I tried to get all the Golden Bananas but ultimately gave up when some proved to be simply too difficult for my much younger self to get (I ultimately was able to get all the Golden Bananas when I revisited the game in 2012), and the game as a whole proved to be very tedious and lacked a lot of the sort of “magic” that both Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie had.
While Tooie was very fun, and I was enjoying it more than Donkey Kong 64 and had a far grander scale than Kazooie did, something about the game felt different than Kazooie as I went further and further into it. The game seemed dark and cynical at times in comparison to Kazooie’s (mostly) happy-go-lucky world and characters. Tooie, upon retrospect, at times seemed like a PG rated Conker with its various innuendos. Tooie also reminded me more of Donkey Kong 64 than Super Mario 64 in terms of its tedium and atmosphere. It was a game too bloated for its own good. The multiplayer and various minigames did give the game more longevity than Kazooie though. However, in terms of the actual main game and journey, I feel Kazooie had far better design and heart to it than Tooie did.
As for the Ice Key and two “Mystery Eggs”, it turned out that they were simply found by smashing various hidden cartridges in the game, and it seemed as though there was not going to be any sort of interaction between Kazooie and Tooie like I had been anticipating. However, I still wondered if Tooie would make any hints to a future adventure like Kazooie had. Tooie was one of the two games I played the most in 2001 (the other being Paper Mario).
It was in 2001 also when I actually started to be involved in interaction on the internet. Prior to 2001, I would rarely go on the internet and even more rarely ever posted. I posted a few times on a Metroid forum here and there and would go on to IGN every week or so, but otherwise the internet was not a major part of my life. That started to change in 2001. I looked online for advice on how to overcome various challenges in Banjo-Tooie (such as those obnoxious Canary Mary races). I eventually came across a forum of Rare fans who were discussing what deeply intrigued me, the mystery behind the Ice Key and two Mystery Eggs.
I was absolutely fascinated by the rampant theories circulating online. At the center of the maelstrom was a peculiar minor NPC in Banjo-Tooie named Captain Blackeye. Captain Blackeye was very peculiar. Unlike nearly every NPC in the game, he had no role to give you in terms of leading you to a Jiggy or a Cheato Page. He simply made a bunch of cryptic comments about him having a dream and that a bear “stole his glory”, making a remark that Banjo looked like that bear. All Captain Blackeye did of consequence was give you two doubloons, of which is a pitiful amount when there is a maximum of 30, and two of them go unspent.
However, aside from his seeming lack of importance there was another thing peculiar to Captain Blackeye. In the room you find Captain Blackeye, there are various pictures that hang on the walls. One was simply of Treasure Trove Cove, but two others were what got many of the theories behind Captain Blackeye going. One of the three pictures on the wall was of the raised Sharkfood Island seen in the “preview” at the end of the 100% ending for Banjo-Kazooie, and another one of them was of the Pink Egg on top of the giant tree trunk inside the raised Sharkfood Island. This seemed like proof to many Banjo fans that there was definitely more to Captain Blackeye and the mystery of the Ice Key and Mystery Eggs.
Aside from the Pink Mystery Egg and raised Sharkfood Island pictures in Captain Blackeye’s room, there was another peculiar connection that this seemingly unimportant NPC had to the whole mystery. There were portraits of the character hanging around the Banjo-Kazooie world, Mad Monster Mansion.
Another piece of information that was known to fans that thought there was a deeper mystery at play was when fans used GameShark/Action Replay codes to be able to get the Ice Key in Banjo-Kazooie. Upon retrieving the Ice Key, there would be a new menu added in Banjo-Kazooie: Stop ‘n’ Swop. It was here that the mysteries and rumors surrounding Banjo-Kazooie eclipsed many of the other long standing Nintendo 64 standby rumors (being able to find/play as Luigi in Super Mario 64 and being able to find the Triforce in Ocarina of Time being the two most famous ones up until this point). There was now concrete evidence of a bigger mystery at play and that there was indeed an intention for there to be a connection between the two Banjo titles.
There was also another critical factor at play as opposed to prior cryptic mysteries and “playground rumors” that many games had throughout the 1990’s, the internet, particularly dedicated forums. Previously, gaming rumors and mysteries were spread via word of mouth and by gaming magazines. These often prolonged the life of the mysteries because the only way to debunk them was to investigate them yourself or know someone personally that debunked it. Even the internet helped proliferate gaming rumors (particularly finding the Triforce in Ocarina of Time and being able to catch Mew without a hacking device in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow), with random web pages and unverified “game cheats/codes” sites listing ways to do such things. Such examples were really infamous. I remember there being a cheat to find a purple Yoshi in Yoshi’s Story for years (I remember it involving finding all the coins in a level as one way to find him/her). Super Smash Bros. had quite a few itself (such as being able to play as Metal Mario, Master Hand, Raichu, and even Bowser).
However, the advent of the dedicated forum was a game changer. People that posted something had to be held accountable by their peers on the forum. Also, in regards to investigating things (such as Stop ‘n’ Swap), people could share their theories and ideas, and people would be able to express their own thoughts or criticism in regards to them. The advent of the forum was truly a game changer in regards to “playground rumors”.
With the various things surrounding the seemingly unimportant Captain Blackeye and the known existence of a feature called Stop ‘n’ Swop, it was up to Banjo fans to crack the mystery of just what it was. How could something so cryptic exist in the first place? One example is how throughout Banjo-Tooie in various forms, Gruntilda is shown with only one eye. The head statue entrance outside of Grunty’s lair in Tooie is missing an eye. The Gruntilda plushy in Pawno’s shop in Jolly Roger’s Lagoon is also missing an eye. This all culminates in the ending to Tooie where Gruntilda ends up losing an eye after the protagonists kick around her disembodied skull. This sort of subtle foreshadowing (or maybe it was merely a bunch of coincidences) gave credence to the possibility of there being a hidden way to access Stop ‘n’ Swop in Tooie.
There were also various other anomalies as well. One was the fact that there were only 90 Jiggies in Tooie in comparison to the 100 that Kazooie had. 90 seemed like an odd number to end Tooie at, as well as the fact, that the reward for getting all the Jiggies in Tooie is an underwhelming “character parade” movie. With both Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie there was a fulfilling reward for getting all the stars and Jiggies for each of those games, and even Donkey Kong 64 had an entertaining ending movie for getting all the Golden Bananas. All Tooie had was a boring montage video with a few seconds of footage of nearly every character in the game. It seemed to many Banjo fans with all the difficulty involved for getting everything in Tooie that there had to be more than that. There was also the fact that Gobi’s promise of going to “lava land” going back to Kazooie was actually followed up on in Tooie (where he finally reaches the lava/hot side to Hailfire Peaks).
There existed a multitude of rumors and theories behind what could be the possible places to which the Stop ‘n’ Swop quest could be initiated and possibly things that the quest might involve. One idea was that perhaps the bear that Captain Blackeye was referring to was not Banjo but rather his father. Speculation on this was fuelled by a comment made by Lord Fak Fak, the boss fought in Jolly Roger’s Lagoon (the same world where Captain Blackeye is found), that he claims to know Banjo’s (though it could also possibly be Kazooie’s) father. Another possible connection involving Banjo’s family possibly being involved was Tooty (a major NPC in Kazooie) being nearly completely absent in Tooie, with her only appearances being a picture inside Banjo’s house and her appearance on the side of a milk carton in Cloud Cuckooland with the text “missing”.
There were even more strange anomalies still. When playing Tower of Tragedy, a “speaking head icon” not seen in the game would make an appearance on rare occasions. This was the infamous “devil Bottles”. Basically, it was an icon of Bottles as a devil or orange/red demon. Again, there were various theories about what this possibly meant especially considering that Bottles was restored back to life at the end of Tooie. Many concluded it was a dead end in regards to the Stop ‘n’ Swop mystery due to the possible story issue behind Bottles being resolved, but others believed there was more to it. It was later found that there was actually intended to be an extra mode in Banjo-Tooie called “Bottles Revenge” where a devil version of Bottles could possess enemies and a person with a second controller could control them. Interestingly enough, this mode is fully playable through Action Replay/GameShark but a bit buggy.
Another idea about the link between games was similar doors found in Rusty Bucket Bay and the Quagmire area in the overworld to Banjo-Tooie. There was a belief that Stop ‘n’ Swop might be involved in linking the areas together since the doors looked similar to one another and both places being grimy industrial areas.
Unfortunately, due to being so long ago (this was all back in 2001), I forgot many of the other theories or leads about Stop ‘n’ Swop. I was not a major player in the Banjo/Stop ‘n’ Swop community but I was a regular participant. I was quite young back then and I was more inquisitive than anything else. I would merely provide my own thoughts on ideas or theories provided by others and sometimes offer a bit of my own ideas.
Throughout 2001, this Rare focused game forum (I forgot the name to it, but I do not think it was Rare Witch Project), was where I would regularly post. Of course I would not post often, since I did not have my own computer back then, and I would have to share a single computer with the rest of my family so it would probably be only a few posts a week. I would regularly check for any leads or interesting theories regarding the Stop ‘n’ Swop mystery.
However, as 2001 grinded on, I became increasingly skeptical about anything substantive being found for a multitude of reasons. One was the cliquish nature of the forums and false info being fed out of those cliques. A group of users would pretend they knew more about Stop ‘n’ Swop than the rest of the forum did, but would refuse to disclose to the others what they actually knew. They would throw bread crumbs to the rest of us, which was nothing but fake leads.
One fake bread crumb that I remember was involving the aquatic part to Jolly Roger’s Lagoon. There was a sound glitch that was activated when you entered first person mode as the submarine (or maybe it was when you were just in first person mode underwater), where you hear a beep or a chirp when going to different areas underwater. According to the insider clique this beeping/chirping when going to different areas would get louder as you got closer to the area necessary to set in motion the events leading to the quest to activate Stop ‘n’ Swop. Needless to say, I tried this only to become frustrated when it became clear there was no change in volume for the sound anomaly when going to different areas. There was a mix of users repeating what I had noticed, but what frustrated me was other users saying they noticed an increase of volume. Was it a just a placebo effect, or was there really something they were finding? In actuality the case was it was either a placebo effect or that these users were lying to perpetuate a lie.
Another fake lead was that there was additional area behind the rocks in the ruined inside to Gruntilda’s Lair in Tooie. Basically, the way to view the extra area was to shoot a Clockwork Kazooie Egg at the right angle in which case you could explore the additional area as Clockwork Kazooie. Apparently the additional area was not accessible, but showed there was some sort of door there, presumably only fully accessible through the means of Stop ‘n’ Swop. Many believed this allowed you to explore the entirety of Grunty’s Lair and even the Banjo-Kazooie worlds. Supporters of this idea pointed to Pokemon Gold/Silver to which the entire Kanto region was able to be accessed after finishing the Johto league. Needless to say, this theory hyped many people. I tried for hours to get Clockwork Kazooie to get behind the rocks and see just what was there. Needless to say, I had no success. Again, there were users saying quite a few things. Some were saying, like myself, they had no success because there was no way to get behind there with Clockwork Kazooie. Some others said they noticed that there is nothing behind the rocks, while others said they did see something. These sorts of lies and false leads made me want to visit the Rare forums less and less.
There was also the matter that as I got further along in Tooie I became more and more fatigued with the game (the same thing that happened with Donkey Kong 64). I was ultimately able to get all the Jiggies in Tooie back in the day though (2001 or 2002), but I remember the game becoming more frustrating than fun at parts towards the end of getting all the Jiggies and this put me in a mood for not being “hungry for more” like I felt when I had finished Banjo-Kazooie completely.
Another point that gradually drove me away from Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation was my focus with other titles, notably Paper Mario and Majora’s Mask. Both of those games eventually ended up capturing my imagination far more than Banjo-Tooie did, and both ended up being among my Top 5 favorite games for the Nintendo 64 in general even eclipsing the predecessor Banjo-Kazooie in the enjoyment factor.
The last factor to mention might be the most critical one as I “swopped” one speculation topic for another. At E3 2001, not only were two new Metroid games unveiled (the one thing I had been really hoping for throughout the late 1990’s), but also a sequel to Super Smash Bros. I had long been daydreaming of a sequel to one of my favorite Nintendo 64 titles, and the unveil to it well exceeded my expectations. Moreover, there was a particular aspect to the unveil trailer that was the impetus for me to become a part of the character support and speculation Smash Bros. community. Samus being shown fighting Ridley was seen as a hint that Ridley could very well be a newcomer for Smash Bros. 2, now given the name Melee.
I registered on GameFAQs in July to give my support to Ridley and various other characters, as well as offer my speculation on just what the full roster could be. As with my involvement in the Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation, I was not at the forefront of it but I was a regular participant. I primarily made posts supporting Ridley and offering ideas on just what characters could be on the roster. There were just as much drama and contentious debates in those days as well. Whether Jigglypuff and/or Luigi would be cut, whether trophies shown on the Japanese Melee website were deconfirmations, and whether there truly were only five more characters left to the game’s roster (the five question mark boxes on the character selection screen), these were just some of the great questions argued by the pre-Melee speculation scene.
A combination of these factors made me lose interest in Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation. Eventually, I believe in late 2001, the codes to get the Ice Key, the Pink Mystery Egg, the Blue Mystery Egg, as well as additional unknown Mystery Eggs were posted online. I naturally was very hyped about this, and it really re-invigorated my interest in Stop ‘n’ Swop again for a month. However, it soon dissipated again through two major factors.
One was the realization that if the Ice Key and Mystery Eggs truly did serve a purpose between the two Banjo titles, that Rare was on borrowed time to come forth to reveal it, especially considering that the 64 generation was ending and they were on the cusp of becoming owned by a prospective new console rival to Nintendo, Microsoft. Since the codes had been found, why did not Rare just get the ball rolling and explain things if there was an intended final world to Tooie that involved “swopping” the Ice Key and the Mystery Eggs. Even the fact that fans had found these codes and that they were not officially released by Nintendo or Rare (they were later posted in an issue of Nintendo Power though) was something that made me believe that Stop ‘n’ Swop simply was a scrapped concept by Rare that somehow they could not get to work.
The second major factor to which the dropping of the Stop ‘n’ Swop codes did not manage to rekindle my interest in speculation for it for long was hype for the impending release of Melee. There were genuine leaks going around for the title starting in mid October, and they were truly wild. Pichu? Another Mario? Another Link? Falco and not Wolf? Who are Marth and Roy? Just what the heck is Mr. Game & Watch (I knew what Game & Watch games were due to the Game & Watch Gallery series being among my favorite game series at the time, but I had no idea what a Mr. Game & Watch would entail). It was incredibly interesting. However, as bizarre (and disappointing at the time) as the final roster was shown to be, my hype for Melee was higher than ever. Every day I thought and daydreamed about playing the follow up to one of my favorite Nintendo 64 titles, which I would not get to do so until Christmas Eve of 2001.
I got Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi’s Mansion, and Pikmin as my first GameCube titles for Christmas in 2001. With the advent of the GameCube, my attention on Nintendo 64 titles was vastly depreciated. Sure I would revisit Banjo-Tooie to play mini-games or Paper Mario for its various sidequests, but my attention and interest was mostly in the GameCube and Game Boy Advance from that point on. The exception to this was Majora’s Mask which I continued to play extensively throughout 2002.
I did not feel “hungry” for an additional Banjo-Kazooie title after I completely finished Tooie. I felt the same sort of thing after I had gotten most of the Golden Bananas in Donkey Kong 64, fatigue. Similarly, I had lost most of my interest in Donkey Kong as a series after Donkey Kong 64. There were new series that managed to take the place of Banjo and Donkey Kong in terms of my personal interest. Super Smash Bros. was now one of my favorite franchises. Melee even though its final roster disappointed me at the time, ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time and vastly eclipsed the original in every way possible. The Legend of Zelda had also similarly become one of my favorite franchises as I did all the sidequests in Ocarina of Time, and played much more of A Link To The Past and Majora’s Mask. F-Zero was another franchise that joined Metroid, Super Mario, Super Smash Bros., and The Legend of Zelda as one of my favorites. F-Zero and F-Zero X I played for the first time in 1999 and 2000, and they became some of my favorite racing games of all time. With Maximum Velocity released on the Game Boy Advance in 2001, F-Zero was a franchise that highly relevant and special to me in the early 2000’s.
I no longer cared about the mystery behind Stop ‘n’ Swop going forward. Banjo-Kazooie was still among my favorite Nintendo 64 games (with only Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Paper Mario clearly exceeding it). I also considered Tooie a good game, and the title to possibly be within my Top 10 favorite games for the Nintendo 64 (though at the lower end).
However, my history with the Banjo-Kazooie series did not end with Tooie. In Christmas of 2003, my family got Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge for the Game Boy Advance. I did not play the game though until sometime in 2004 due to being distracted by other games I had also received at the same time (such as Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and Mario Kart Double Dash, and later Metroid Zero Mission). However, when I finally did play Grunty’s Revenge, I was pleasantly surprised. It proved to be a very fun isometric 3D platformer. The worlds themselves recycled a lot of themes found in Kazooie and Tooie, but the game still proved to be quite enjoyable. It did not take me long to get all the Jiggies in Grunty’s Revenge as was the case for Kazooie and especially Tooie, but overall I enjoyed the game and it was fun to play. It was a nice little throw back to me to the very late 1990’s and very early years to the 2000’s. I fully recommend this game to any fans of the Banjo series, as it is very much worth your time to play, and it is a shame that more Banjo fans do not even know this game exists as it is the closest Banjo game to the 64 titles released after Tooie and is also a good title with its primary fault being that it is a short game.
As can be seen, I am a fan of Banjo-Kazooie and my history with the series goes back longer than many of the posters here have been alive. My involvement with Stop ‘n’ Swop speculation was the precursor to my involvement with Smash Bros. roster speculation. I wrote back in my comprehensive analysis of the Ultimate roster that among my few hopes for DLC was that Banjo-Kazooie would be among the characters for the Fighters Pass, and I am very happy to see that they have finally made the roster at long last.
Plea to Banjo-Kazooie/K. Rool Fans
After K. Rool’s confirmation, my expectation was that they would jump on to support Dixie Kong next. Instead most of them went on to support Banjo-Kazooie. Now that Banjo-Kazooie is confirmed, my hope is that most of you will support Dixie Kong. She is the last legendary Rare created character that is still not a part of the roster in Smash Bros. She was one of the main protagonists in two of the SNES’s Top 10 best selling games, and probably the first overtly female hero to star in a mega hit game.
There is a lot more that can be said of Dixie Kong’s merits. However, the point is regardless of whether you think she is “just echo or semi-clone material”, she definitely needs to be a part of Smash Bros. roster at this point in some form. I do not have the interest or passion left in me to push for her beyond the conclusion of the Fighters Pass (heck, I am very likely going to make less and less posts in her support topic as this year goes on). It will be up to fans like you to make it so that she might have the hope of some day being realized for Smash Bros.’s roster.
Dixie Kong has dramatically fallen in polls (now in the high 30’s and high 20’s), and there is no good excuse for it. Bandana Dee, another first party character, is usually within the Top 5 by comparison.
There is now another character for Rare fans to fight for. Dixie Kong! I know there are likely other Rare characters that are dear to your heart, but there are none left that are as important to Nintendo’s history and their franchise as a whole as Dixie Kong is.
I understand that many of you might be of the demographic that only grew up with a Nintendo 64 and thus never played the DKC trilogy (or at least not DKC2 and DKC3). If that is the case, there exists a multitude of ways to enjoy these masterpieces (3DS Virtual Console, Wii U Virtual Console). Heck, Tropical Freeze also really helps display the appeal of Dixie Kong.
She is a charming, endearing character, that has been overlooked for far too long. From Diddy Kong to K. Rool to Banjo-Kazooie, and now hopefully to Dixie Kong. My hope is that she will be the next character you champion in the 2020’s.
After K. Rool’s confirmation, my expectation was that they would jump on to support Dixie Kong next. Instead most of them went on to support Banjo-Kazooie. Now that Banjo-Kazooie is confirmed, my hope is that most of you will support Dixie Kong. She is the last legendary Rare created character that is still not a part of the roster in Smash Bros. She was one of the main protagonists in two of the SNES’s Top 10 best selling games, and probably the first overtly female hero to star in a mega hit game.
There is a lot more that can be said of Dixie Kong’s merits. However, the point is regardless of whether you think she is “just echo or semi-clone material”, she definitely needs to be a part of Smash Bros. roster at this point in some form. I do not have the interest or passion left in me to push for her beyond the conclusion of the Fighters Pass (heck, I am very likely going to make less and less posts in her support topic as this year goes on). It will be up to fans like you to make it so that she might have the hope of some day being realized for Smash Bros.’s roster.
Dixie Kong has dramatically fallen in polls (now in the high 30’s and high 20’s), and there is no good excuse for it. Bandana Dee, another first party character, is usually within the Top 5 by comparison.
There is now another character for Rare fans to fight for. Dixie Kong! I know there are likely other Rare characters that are dear to your heart, but there are none left that are as important to Nintendo’s history and their franchise as a whole as Dixie Kong is.
I understand that many of you might be of the demographic that only grew up with a Nintendo 64 and thus never played the DKC trilogy (or at least not DKC2 and DKC3). If that is the case, there exists a multitude of ways to enjoy these masterpieces (3DS Virtual Console, Wii U Virtual Console). Heck, Tropical Freeze also really helps display the appeal of Dixie Kong.
She is a charming, endearing character, that has been overlooked for far too long. From Diddy Kong to K. Rool to Banjo-Kazooie, and now hopefully to Dixie Kong. My hope is that she will be the next character you champion in the 2020’s.
Predictions for the Last Two Fighters Pass Characters
We are now in uncharted waters with both Erdrick (the Hero) and the Microsoft newcomer (Banjo-Kazooie) now known. Both of these characters had been hinted and rumored about even prior to Ultimate’s release. However, with both now out of the way, it opens almost a blank slate in terms of discussion and dreams for the remainder of the Fighters Pass.
I feel one of the two remaining Fighters Pass characters will be a Capcom character. There are plenty of popular gaming properties that Capcom owns that are not yet part of the roster, as well as being among the most highly requested third-party franchises for Smash Bros. Resident Evil (Leon, Jill, Chris), Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright), Monster Hunter (eponymous protagonist), Darkstalkers (Morrigan), and Devil May Cry (Dante) are just some of the big names that could be a massive attraction to a spot on the Fighters Pass.
It is integral to take a look at just how much content Capcom had in Ultimate’s base game alone. Mega Man had not only the most new remixes of any third-party franchise, but of any franchise in Ultimate. Ken was not only the only echo of a veteran third-party character, but he was also by far the most unique echo in Ultimate. Capcom was also only one of two companies to have a boss in Ultimate (Rathalos). In addition, of all the gym trainers in Ultimate, the only two that are third-party characters, are both Capcom characters (Zangief and Gravity Man). All this taken together, it would be very peculiar for Capcom not to have any DLC presence for Ultimate.
There is also the fact that Capcom had the most Mii costumes of any third-party in Smash 4, six in total. It would be very odd for Capcom not to be able to sell their Mii costumes of their popular characters again, especially for a title that is selling better than both versions of Smash 4.
However, in regards to who this Capcom character will be, I cannot ascertain specifically. They all have very strong points all in their favor. Heck, it could even be a surprising pick like Amateresu or Viewtiful Joe. Capcom simply has one of the strongest character catalogs outside of Nintendo. I feel pretty good on the prospects of there being a Capcom character for one of the two slots, but I am uncertain as to whom in particular the character will end up being.
As for the final slot, of the Fighters Pass, I feel it will either be a Bandai-Namco character or a third-party entirely new to Smash Bros. For Bandai-Namco, it seems pretty odd that the developer of Ultimate, would end up having only a single character as part of its roster. There are also quite a few popular Bandai-Namco properties that could be used such as Tekken, Tales, Soul Calibur, Xenosaga, Katamari Damacy, and Digimon. However, Bandai-Namco also had among the least Mii costumes as DLC in Smash 4 (with only Square-Enix having less), so it is definitely a possibility that not one of their properties ends up as being part of the Fighters Pass. As with a Capcom character, each of these Bandai-Namco properties have unique strong points that could make any one of them be selected.
As for a third-party entirely new to Smash Bros., there are quite a few that it could possibly be. Koei-Tecmo (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Musou), Nihon Falcom (Ys), SNK (King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown), Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Doom), and Ubisoft (Rayman, Rabbids, Assassin’s Creed) all are possibilities. There are a lot of major third-party publishers or legacy third-parties without any sort of character on the roster yet. It will really come down to just who Nintendo selected. It will be interesting to see. Unfortunately, I have little idea about which one is likely to be selected. Part of me thinks it would be Ubisoft or Bethesda, since those are major supporters of the Switch.
Personally, I think we are going to probably see additional modes added as DLC just like Stage Builder was added in. Most likely there will be the return of Home Run Contest. Maybe a few quality of life feature tweaks here and there.
One possibility, that might no longer be possible, is the addition of echoes (two or three of them) to fill out the character select screen when the roster is not stacked. However, I feel if they were going to happen, one of them would have been announced at E3. As it stands, I think they are very unlikely to happen.
We are now in uncharted waters with both Erdrick (the Hero) and the Microsoft newcomer (Banjo-Kazooie) now known. Both of these characters had been hinted and rumored about even prior to Ultimate’s release. However, with both now out of the way, it opens almost a blank slate in terms of discussion and dreams for the remainder of the Fighters Pass.
I feel one of the two remaining Fighters Pass characters will be a Capcom character. There are plenty of popular gaming properties that Capcom owns that are not yet part of the roster, as well as being among the most highly requested third-party franchises for Smash Bros. Resident Evil (Leon, Jill, Chris), Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright), Monster Hunter (eponymous protagonist), Darkstalkers (Morrigan), and Devil May Cry (Dante) are just some of the big names that could be a massive attraction to a spot on the Fighters Pass.
It is integral to take a look at just how much content Capcom had in Ultimate’s base game alone. Mega Man had not only the most new remixes of any third-party franchise, but of any franchise in Ultimate. Ken was not only the only echo of a veteran third-party character, but he was also by far the most unique echo in Ultimate. Capcom was also only one of two companies to have a boss in Ultimate (Rathalos). In addition, of all the gym trainers in Ultimate, the only two that are third-party characters, are both Capcom characters (Zangief and Gravity Man). All this taken together, it would be very peculiar for Capcom not to have any DLC presence for Ultimate.
There is also the fact that Capcom had the most Mii costumes of any third-party in Smash 4, six in total. It would be very odd for Capcom not to be able to sell their Mii costumes of their popular characters again, especially for a title that is selling better than both versions of Smash 4.
However, in regards to who this Capcom character will be, I cannot ascertain specifically. They all have very strong points all in their favor. Heck, it could even be a surprising pick like Amateresu or Viewtiful Joe. Capcom simply has one of the strongest character catalogs outside of Nintendo. I feel pretty good on the prospects of there being a Capcom character for one of the two slots, but I am uncertain as to whom in particular the character will end up being.
As for the final slot, of the Fighters Pass, I feel it will either be a Bandai-Namco character or a third-party entirely new to Smash Bros. For Bandai-Namco, it seems pretty odd that the developer of Ultimate, would end up having only a single character as part of its roster. There are also quite a few popular Bandai-Namco properties that could be used such as Tekken, Tales, Soul Calibur, Xenosaga, Katamari Damacy, and Digimon. However, Bandai-Namco also had among the least Mii costumes as DLC in Smash 4 (with only Square-Enix having less), so it is definitely a possibility that not one of their properties ends up as being part of the Fighters Pass. As with a Capcom character, each of these Bandai-Namco properties have unique strong points that could make any one of them be selected.
As for a third-party entirely new to Smash Bros., there are quite a few that it could possibly be. Koei-Tecmo (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Musou), Nihon Falcom (Ys), SNK (King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown), Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Doom), and Ubisoft (Rayman, Rabbids, Assassin’s Creed) all are possibilities. There are a lot of major third-party publishers or legacy third-parties without any sort of character on the roster yet. It will really come down to just who Nintendo selected. It will be interesting to see. Unfortunately, I have little idea about which one is likely to be selected. Part of me thinks it would be Ubisoft or Bethesda, since those are major supporters of the Switch.
Personally, I think we are going to probably see additional modes added as DLC just like Stage Builder was added in. Most likely there will be the return of Home Run Contest. Maybe a few quality of life feature tweaks here and there.
One possibility, that might no longer be possible, is the addition of echoes (two or three of them) to fill out the character select screen when the roster is not stacked. However, I feel if they were going to happen, one of them would have been announced at E3. As it stands, I think they are very unlikely to happen.
Ultimate Continues to Live Up To Its Moniker
When I published my comprehensive analysis of Ultimate’s roster back in December last year, I fully intended for it to be my final major work I ever made for Smash Bros. speculation and analysis. Writing this massive analysis and various essays, just goes to show how unpredictable life can sometimes be.
A few days after I posted my comprehensive analysis of Ultimate’s roster, I finally played Ultimate itself. It was absolutely incredible. It has been years since I was as absorbed into a game as I was with Ultimate. Unlocking every single character throughout the history of the franchise was absolutely thrilling.
The World of Light was very enjoyable. I easily enjoyed it far more than the Subspace Emissary. There was actually one small touch that made me very, very happy to see within it which was using Pico’s spirit to activate the Wild Goose (Pico’s F-Zero machine) and being able to control it for the F-Zero themed section to World of Light. Pico is my favorite F-Zero character and one of my favorite lesser known Nintendo characters. Pico is a character that most likely will never be playable in Smash Bros., but even giving him a cameo role like that (where you can actually control his machine), was absolutely incredible to me. It was simply another miracle in Ultimate’s multitude of personal miracles.
I even managed to collect all of the spirits, and beat most of the challenges in Ultimate (the only ones left I have are starting World of Light on New Game+, getting an Adventure Skill, and getting all the Adventure Skills, which I plan to do when I decide to go through World of Light again on New Game+, as well as the online based challenges, which I am unable to do because I do not have a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online). I also managed to collect all of the music tracks.
The spirit selection is incredible and very comprehensive. While the trophies had nice little profiles in them, I have not personally cared for trophies since Melee (Melee is probably the only title where I liked looking at them and collecting them). Even obscure Super Famicom text adventures from 1999 were given a spirit. The spirit feature really helped to give just about every Nintendo franchise and game a shout out of some kind. The only omission that comes to mind are the StarTropics games.
In general, Ultimate was probably the most pleasant Smash Bros. installment to do everything for (Smash 64 had barely any unlockable content, just four playable characters, a single stage, the sound test, and the item switch). It was easily the most fun I had playing through Smash Bros. since Melee. By comparison, most of my memories of playing Brawl were about how frustrating many things were (getting trophies of all the enemies and especially bosses in Subspace Emissary with that cursed trophy stand, grinding for all the stickers, various absurdly difficult challenges like beating Boss Battles on Intense). Smash 4 3DS was more pleasant to get everything for than Brawl, but it was very grindy to get all the Mii equipment and various other things (Smash Run was quite fun though). I never played through Smash 4 Wii U because I never owned a Wii U.
Ultimate was my dream Smash Bros. title. Just as every journey has a beginning, it must come to an end as well. I am not sure at what specific point the journey will end in regards to my speculation, analysis, and character support, but I feel it will be over by the end of the Fighters Pass in February 2020 (assuming there are no more additional Fighters Passes).
However, it is to be said just how unpredictable things are. I never intended to return after the end of Smash 4 DLC. I expected the Switch installment to either be a port with all of Smash 4’s DLC and possibly a few veterans added like Ice Climbers and Wolf. If that did not happen, I expected Smash Bros. Switch to be something made well into the Switch’s life (like not released until 2020), and more or less follow the paradigm of Smash 4’s newcomers which is drawing out its newcomer selection from contemporary Nintendo software and a few big name third-party characters.
Ultimate ended up being something I would have deemed to be “too good to be true”. Even the echo selection “echoed” my sentiments about the good that could be derived from clone newcomers ten years ago. In many ways it seemed like a beautiful sendoff for those who had been following the series since the very beginning.
I have been posting much less this year, mostly just in the Dixie Kong support thread giving my ruminations on various topics pertaining to her. The infrequency has been picking up steam over the course of this year. With the confirmation of two newcomers at E3 2019, there might be a little to talk about speculation wise for a short time.
We shall see what happens. Keep in mind that Cloud was not revealed until November, five months after Ryu’s confirmation. Considering that Corrin and Bayonetta were revealed together, as were Hero and Banjo-Kazooie, perhaps Fighters Pass Character 4 and Fighters Pass Character 5 will also be confirmed together at the end of the year.
As a supporter of Dixie Kong, perhaps the one character left I personally really want to see as part of the roster for Smash Bros., I will try to get my essay in support of her done before the end of the year. To be honest, there is still a small part of me that hopes she could somehow be DLC. However, it would basically involve a set of miracles and stars aligning on par or exceeding what it took for Dark Samus to make it in.
It will be interesting to see what ultimately happens with the remainder of Ultimate’s DLC. The dreams of Banjo-Kazooie and Dragon Quest were finally realized. It will be interesting to see what other franchises finally make their debut in Smash Bros., and whether there exists any other plans for DLC outside of the Fighters Pass.
For as long as I can remember, there has been a desire for myself to know what lies ahead. To be able to see what is going to happen. Many here see myself as possessing prescient insight. As I have grown older, and hopefully wiser, I have come to the conclusion that while there are some things that can be ascertained, many things absolutely cannot.
Many dreams I thought would be realized have been dashed or destroyed in my life. Ultimate’s base roster, to me represented one of the few instances where something I absolutely could not have predicted ended up being something that exceeded my most optimistic expectations.
Life’s unpredictably can thus sometimes be a beautiful thing. The mystery box that is opened sometimes unveils something so beautiful that it is something you never thought you could ever have had in the first place.
I think most likely I will not have much to comment on or say beyond June. I think I will probably make posts more and more seldom in the Dixie Kong support thread before I finally post my essay in support of her before finally leaving entirely. I might make a post or two about whomever eventually ends up being confirmed for the last two slots for the Fighters Pass, but otherwise, I think this is most likely my last major work for the Smash Bros. community aside from my planned Dixie Kong support essay. I might also write something on the last two Fighters Pass characters if I feel motivated to do so or if there is a desire for me to do so.
It might be possible for whatever reason I simply never get the Dixie Kong essay done (I similarly promised a massive essay in reflection of the journey behind Roy’s return and support of his return that never got done, and I never did an Ultimate iteration of my Ultimate Character Analysis like I did for pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4 despite making promises to deliver one). If the Dixie Kong essay never gets completed, I apologize to any Dixie Kong fans that are disappointed with that and put their hopes in me to deliver a profound and moving case about her merits as a character in general and her worth to make it into Smash Bros. for fans who plan to champion her in the 2020’s.
We are now approaching the end of the decade. Much has changed in that time. At the beginning I was hoping for Ridley and Roy to be a part of the next game’s roster, and was met with twists and turns that made those dreams seem like they would not be realized.
Now, I am left only hoping for a character that most believed was likely for both Smash 4 and Ultimate. I leave the support of Dixie Kong though to whoever decides to champion her in the 2020’s. According to polls, she has basically collapsed (one poll had her ranked in the high 30’s, while another in the high 20’s). I fear that much of her fanbase has either aged out of the character support community or the Smash Bubble at this point simply does not care for her for whatever reason. Regardless, I do not feel the passion within me to champion her in the 2020’s. I am sorry, I simply do not. She is a great fantastic character, and one of my favorite Nintendo characters in general, but I simply do not feel like devoting hours upon hours of my time at this point in my life for online character support. However, there are incredible fans of her from what I have seen that are just as gifted and passionate as I was for Ridley and Roy. Even if those fans decide to move on as well, so be it. It is a disappointment to be sure, but I must remember just what Ultimate has given me (many miraculous inclusions), and the fact that there are many others who did not get much of their own dreams realized with this installment of Smash Bros. (or perhaps ever will). Moving on, in a way, is an expression of gratitude. I still hope Dixie Kong could still be DLC for Ultimate, but it would have to be the one of the greatest miracles yet (simply due to all the odds), and you can only win the lottery so many times.
With the turning of the decade, one chapter is about to end and a new one is beginning. Smash Bros. speculation and character support is now the only remaining front to which I write about anything online, and now even that is drawing to a close. I am not as passionate about anything game related as I used to be at the start of this decade. I am not sure what paths I will take from this point forward honestly. I have little idea what the future portends for my written word.
I know there are quite a few that appreciate reading my works. I am not sure how much of their praise is truly honest, but if it is, I am thankful for it. My care for the speculation community is the reason I even wrote this massive material that rivals the length of my Ridley confirmation essay. I hope it imparts a little worth and wisdom onto your souls as you move ahead in your lives. I think this could likely be my final profound work in the speculation community, and if it is, I think it is a good one to cap off on. As I said months ago, I do not know what direction the wind blows. I might return again, or this might truly be my final major notable work for the Smash Bros. character support and speculation scene. We are now approaching the end of the decade, and for much of us, one chapter is ending, and a new one is about to begin. Thank you to all of you that took the time and effort to read this topic and all of the essays in its entirety. I have gratitude for your appreciation, and I wish for your roster dreams to be realized just as mine have.
When I published my comprehensive analysis of Ultimate’s roster back in December last year, I fully intended for it to be my final major work I ever made for Smash Bros. speculation and analysis. Writing this massive analysis and various essays, just goes to show how unpredictable life can sometimes be.
A few days after I posted my comprehensive analysis of Ultimate’s roster, I finally played Ultimate itself. It was absolutely incredible. It has been years since I was as absorbed into a game as I was with Ultimate. Unlocking every single character throughout the history of the franchise was absolutely thrilling.
The World of Light was very enjoyable. I easily enjoyed it far more than the Subspace Emissary. There was actually one small touch that made me very, very happy to see within it which was using Pico’s spirit to activate the Wild Goose (Pico’s F-Zero machine) and being able to control it for the F-Zero themed section to World of Light. Pico is my favorite F-Zero character and one of my favorite lesser known Nintendo characters. Pico is a character that most likely will never be playable in Smash Bros., but even giving him a cameo role like that (where you can actually control his machine), was absolutely incredible to me. It was simply another miracle in Ultimate’s multitude of personal miracles.
I even managed to collect all of the spirits, and beat most of the challenges in Ultimate (the only ones left I have are starting World of Light on New Game+, getting an Adventure Skill, and getting all the Adventure Skills, which I plan to do when I decide to go through World of Light again on New Game+, as well as the online based challenges, which I am unable to do because I do not have a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online). I also managed to collect all of the music tracks.
The spirit selection is incredible and very comprehensive. While the trophies had nice little profiles in them, I have not personally cared for trophies since Melee (Melee is probably the only title where I liked looking at them and collecting them). Even obscure Super Famicom text adventures from 1999 were given a spirit. The spirit feature really helped to give just about every Nintendo franchise and game a shout out of some kind. The only omission that comes to mind are the StarTropics games.
In general, Ultimate was probably the most pleasant Smash Bros. installment to do everything for (Smash 64 had barely any unlockable content, just four playable characters, a single stage, the sound test, and the item switch). It was easily the most fun I had playing through Smash Bros. since Melee. By comparison, most of my memories of playing Brawl were about how frustrating many things were (getting trophies of all the enemies and especially bosses in Subspace Emissary with that cursed trophy stand, grinding for all the stickers, various absurdly difficult challenges like beating Boss Battles on Intense). Smash 4 3DS was more pleasant to get everything for than Brawl, but it was very grindy to get all the Mii equipment and various other things (Smash Run was quite fun though). I never played through Smash 4 Wii U because I never owned a Wii U.
Ultimate was my dream Smash Bros. title. Just as every journey has a beginning, it must come to an end as well. I am not sure at what specific point the journey will end in regards to my speculation, analysis, and character support, but I feel it will be over by the end of the Fighters Pass in February 2020 (assuming there are no more additional Fighters Passes).
However, it is to be said just how unpredictable things are. I never intended to return after the end of Smash 4 DLC. I expected the Switch installment to either be a port with all of Smash 4’s DLC and possibly a few veterans added like Ice Climbers and Wolf. If that did not happen, I expected Smash Bros. Switch to be something made well into the Switch’s life (like not released until 2020), and more or less follow the paradigm of Smash 4’s newcomers which is drawing out its newcomer selection from contemporary Nintendo software and a few big name third-party characters.
Ultimate ended up being something I would have deemed to be “too good to be true”. Even the echo selection “echoed” my sentiments about the good that could be derived from clone newcomers ten years ago. In many ways it seemed like a beautiful sendoff for those who had been following the series since the very beginning.
I have been posting much less this year, mostly just in the Dixie Kong support thread giving my ruminations on various topics pertaining to her. The infrequency has been picking up steam over the course of this year. With the confirmation of two newcomers at E3 2019, there might be a little to talk about speculation wise for a short time.
We shall see what happens. Keep in mind that Cloud was not revealed until November, five months after Ryu’s confirmation. Considering that Corrin and Bayonetta were revealed together, as were Hero and Banjo-Kazooie, perhaps Fighters Pass Character 4 and Fighters Pass Character 5 will also be confirmed together at the end of the year.
As a supporter of Dixie Kong, perhaps the one character left I personally really want to see as part of the roster for Smash Bros., I will try to get my essay in support of her done before the end of the year. To be honest, there is still a small part of me that hopes she could somehow be DLC. However, it would basically involve a set of miracles and stars aligning on par or exceeding what it took for Dark Samus to make it in.
It will be interesting to see what ultimately happens with the remainder of Ultimate’s DLC. The dreams of Banjo-Kazooie and Dragon Quest were finally realized. It will be interesting to see what other franchises finally make their debut in Smash Bros., and whether there exists any other plans for DLC outside of the Fighters Pass.
For as long as I can remember, there has been a desire for myself to know what lies ahead. To be able to see what is going to happen. Many here see myself as possessing prescient insight. As I have grown older, and hopefully wiser, I have come to the conclusion that while there are some things that can be ascertained, many things absolutely cannot.
Many dreams I thought would be realized have been dashed or destroyed in my life. Ultimate’s base roster, to me represented one of the few instances where something I absolutely could not have predicted ended up being something that exceeded my most optimistic expectations.
Life’s unpredictably can thus sometimes be a beautiful thing. The mystery box that is opened sometimes unveils something so beautiful that it is something you never thought you could ever have had in the first place.
I think most likely I will not have much to comment on or say beyond June. I think I will probably make posts more and more seldom in the Dixie Kong support thread before I finally post my essay in support of her before finally leaving entirely. I might make a post or two about whomever eventually ends up being confirmed for the last two slots for the Fighters Pass, but otherwise, I think this is most likely my last major work for the Smash Bros. community aside from my planned Dixie Kong support essay. I might also write something on the last two Fighters Pass characters if I feel motivated to do so or if there is a desire for me to do so.
It might be possible for whatever reason I simply never get the Dixie Kong essay done (I similarly promised a massive essay in reflection of the journey behind Roy’s return and support of his return that never got done, and I never did an Ultimate iteration of my Ultimate Character Analysis like I did for pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4 despite making promises to deliver one). If the Dixie Kong essay never gets completed, I apologize to any Dixie Kong fans that are disappointed with that and put their hopes in me to deliver a profound and moving case about her merits as a character in general and her worth to make it into Smash Bros. for fans who plan to champion her in the 2020’s.
We are now approaching the end of the decade. Much has changed in that time. At the beginning I was hoping for Ridley and Roy to be a part of the next game’s roster, and was met with twists and turns that made those dreams seem like they would not be realized.
Now, I am left only hoping for a character that most believed was likely for both Smash 4 and Ultimate. I leave the support of Dixie Kong though to whoever decides to champion her in the 2020’s. According to polls, she has basically collapsed (one poll had her ranked in the high 30’s, while another in the high 20’s). I fear that much of her fanbase has either aged out of the character support community or the Smash Bubble at this point simply does not care for her for whatever reason. Regardless, I do not feel the passion within me to champion her in the 2020’s. I am sorry, I simply do not. She is a great fantastic character, and one of my favorite Nintendo characters in general, but I simply do not feel like devoting hours upon hours of my time at this point in my life for online character support. However, there are incredible fans of her from what I have seen that are just as gifted and passionate as I was for Ridley and Roy. Even if those fans decide to move on as well, so be it. It is a disappointment to be sure, but I must remember just what Ultimate has given me (many miraculous inclusions), and the fact that there are many others who did not get much of their own dreams realized with this installment of Smash Bros. (or perhaps ever will). Moving on, in a way, is an expression of gratitude. I still hope Dixie Kong could still be DLC for Ultimate, but it would have to be the one of the greatest miracles yet (simply due to all the odds), and you can only win the lottery so many times.
With the turning of the decade, one chapter is about to end and a new one is beginning. Smash Bros. speculation and character support is now the only remaining front to which I write about anything online, and now even that is drawing to a close. I am not as passionate about anything game related as I used to be at the start of this decade. I am not sure what paths I will take from this point forward honestly. I have little idea what the future portends for my written word.
I know there are quite a few that appreciate reading my works. I am not sure how much of their praise is truly honest, but if it is, I am thankful for it. My care for the speculation community is the reason I even wrote this massive material that rivals the length of my Ridley confirmation essay. I hope it imparts a little worth and wisdom onto your souls as you move ahead in your lives. I think this could likely be my final profound work in the speculation community, and if it is, I think it is a good one to cap off on. As I said months ago, I do not know what direction the wind blows. I might return again, or this might truly be my final major notable work for the Smash Bros. character support and speculation scene. We are now approaching the end of the decade, and for much of us, one chapter is ending, and a new one is about to begin. Thank you to all of you that took the time and effort to read this topic and all of the essays in its entirety. I have gratitude for your appreciation, and I wish for your roster dreams to be realized just as mine have.
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