What If ALL Smash Games Suffered Less and Rushed Development Time?

[MysticalGnocchi3264X]

All based off of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZqaT57cCUQ

Just before I jump into the rosters, a few things would be affected obviously, such as no third parties and rushed release dates (since that's the point of the topic), and some aspects of certain fighters would be dropped for something to align with rushed development. The roster would overall be way smaller (possibly triple the amount of Smash 64's roster).

Ultimate also likely wouldn't had existed if this happened to be the Smash timeline, though instead we'd get a "Deluxe" port of Smash 3DS/Wii U that combines all content from both of those games into the same package plus new content. On the bright side, it would likely see a 2017 release (the same year the Switch launched).

Believe it or not, I did comment how this would have worked for Melee in the video I linked above (from David V. Kimball).

GAMES:

Spoiler: 64 (1999)

ROSTER:

Mario
Donkey Kong
Link
Samus (would not have Zero Suit transformation)
Yoshi
Kirby
Fox
Pikachu
Luigi (clone of Mario)
Captain Falcon
Ness
Mewtwo

STAGES:

Battlefield
Final Destination
Peach's Castle
Kongo Jungle
Hyrule Castle
Planet Zebes
Super Happy Tree
Dream Land
FX Cruise
Pokémon Stadium
Mute City (would be like on Smash 3DS)
Onett (would be like from Smash Remix)

Spoiler: Melee (2001) (GameCube Launch Title)

ROSTER:

All of the Smash 64 cast, including the following newcomers:

Peach
Bowser
Zelda (would not have Sheik transformation)
King Dedede
Marth (would most (possibly) likely take from Link considering they're both swordsmen)
Ryota Hayami (added as a Captain Falcon clone (as clone characters usually save development time) to advertise Wave Race: Blue Storm)

STAGES:

Battlefield
Final Destination
Peach's Castle
Bowser's Castle
Kongo Jungle
Hyrule Temple
Planet Zebes
Yoshi's Story
Green Greens
Fountain of Dreams
Corneria
Pokémon Stadium
Mute City
Onett
Archanea
Dolphin Park

Spoiler: Brawl (late 2007)

ROSTER:

All of the Melee cast (including the 64 veterans), including the following newcomers:

Ganondorf (would not be another Captain Falcon clone)
Ridley
Meta Knight
Wolf (clone of Fox)
Pit
Geolyte (from Sakurai's DS game "Meteos")

STAGES:

Battlefield
Final Destination
Comet Observatory
Luigi's Mansion
Bowser's Castle
Kongo Jungle
100m
Bridge of Eldin
Norfair
Yoshi's Island (would be like the SSF2 stage)
Green Greens
Mt. Dedede
Halberd
Lylat Cruise
Pokémon Stadium
Port Town Aero Dive
Saturn Valley (would be like the SSF2 stage)
Archanea
Dolphin Park
Skyworld
a home stage for Geolyte

Spoiler: 3DS/Wii U (late 2013)

ROSTER:

All of the Brawl cast (including every veterans from the past games), including the following newcomers:

Diddy Kong
Tingle
Wario
Waddle Dee
Palutena
Olimar
Shulk (would not have Monado Arts)
Little Mac (would not have KO Meter)

STAGES:

Battlefield
Final Destination
Comet Observatory
Mario Circuit
Luigi's Mansion
Bowser's Castle
Tropical Freeze
100m
Skyloft
Clock Tower (would be like the SSF2 stage)
Pyrosphere
Yoshi's Island (would be like the SSF2 stage)
The Great Cave Offensive
Halberd
Orbital Gate Assault
Pokémon Stadium
Port Town Aero Dive
Saturn Valley (would be like the SSF2 stage)
Archanea
Coliseum
Dolphin Park
Skyworld
Palutena's Temple
a home stage for Geolyte
Gamer
Garden of Hope
Guar Plains
WVBA Ring

Spoiler: Deluxe (2017)

ROSTER:

All characters from every previous entry, including these following newcomers:

Isabelle
Inkling (would have unlimited ink to avoid certain mechanics revolving around it)
Spring Man (would not have selectable ARMS)
Takamaru

STAGES:

Battlefield
Final Destination
Peach's Castle
Mario Circuit
Comet Observatory
Luigi's Mansion
Bowser's Castle
Rainbow Road
Kongo Jungle
Tropical Freeze
100m
Hyrule Temple
Skyloft
Clock Tower (would be like the SSF2 stage)
Great Plateau Tower
Pyrosphere
Yoshi's Island (would be like the SSF2 stage)
The Great Cave Offensive
Halberd
FX Cruise
Orbital Gate Assault
Pokémon Stadium
Mute City 64
Port Town Aero Dive
Onett
Saturn Valley (would be like the SSF2 stage)
Archanea
Coliseum
Dolphin Park
Skyworld
Palutena's Temple
a home stage for Geolyte
Gamer
Garden of Hope
Guar Plains
WVBA Ring
Town & City
Moray Towers
Spring Stadium
Murasame Castle

 

[Depressed Gengar]

Why on earth is Mewtwo on a SSB64 roster that's supposed to be suffering from time constraints? Jigglypuff was a semi-clone of Kirby, so cutting her for someone completely unique would take more time, not less.

 

[MysticalGnocchi3264X]

Why on earth is Mewtwo on a SSB64 roster that's supposed to be suffering from time constraints? Jigglypuff was a semi-clone of Kirby, so cutting her for someone completely unique would take more time, not less.

Let's just assume Smash 64 wasn't affected by this timeline. Besides, I'm not that heavily attached to the ideas of Jigglypuff in Smash.

 

[Pupp135]

For this, I’ll increase the limits and include third parties as Snake was a part of Brawl’s original plan, and Brawl without a delay is technically a shortened development time.

Spoiler: 64: Fall 1998

I’m also shortening 64’s development time to keep in line with the development period.
I don’t see a reason to leave out any of the starters despite Yoshi being an honorary Mario character and Metroid being irrelevant compared to other franchises.
Falcon stays as he’s probably easier to develop than Ness or Marth, and making Wario a Mario semiclone feels redundant.
Luigi and Falcon are the secret fighters, but Luigi takes Jigglypuff’s requirement.
Stages:
Mushroom Kingdom
Kongo Jungle
Hyrule Castle
Brinstar (Zebes Renamed)
Super Happy Tree
Green Greens (Dream Land renamed)
Great Fox (Sector Z renamed)
Saffron City
I’d assume that the 1P game stages would still need to be locked behind 1P game, and I can only do 8 starting stages.

Spoiler: Melee (I guess gamecube’s launch or start in 2001)

I used davidvkimball ’s video as a guide, but I replaced the 17th fighter with two clones as I assume that clones could still sneak in.
Bowser led the poll.
I added Marth as introducing Fire Emblem to the west sounds like a good idea.
Ness joins because I would’ve considered adding Lucas for Earthbound 64 promotion, but it gets cancelled, and I could use Lucas’s moveset for Ness.
Mewtwo was a major request, and Pokemania was huge.
For the remaining fighters, I struggled on who to pick. If I was going with obvious picks, I would’ve gone with Peach and Ganondorf, but Zelda and Ice Climbers’ gimmicks seem cool. In the end, I went with Peach and Ganondorf as I don’t know if I’d be able to implement Zelda and Ice Climbers’ gimmicks with a reduced timeframe.
For clones, I’ll just say Dr. Mario and Falco because their proportions are the closest to the base character, and Roy was decided as one of the latter clones.
For unlocks, I’ll go with Mewtwo, the clones, Marth, and Captain Falcon.
Stages:
Peach’s Castle
Bowser’s Castle
Kongo Falls
Temple
Clock Tower
Crateria
Archanea
Mute City
Yoshi’s Island
Fountain of Dreams
Halberd
Venom
Onett
Pokemon Stadium
Icicle Mountain
Final Destination
Battlefield
Metal Cavern
Brinstar
Dream Land
Great Fox
Saffron City
The unlockable stages would be Mute City, the series originals, and the 64 ones.

Spoiler: Brawl (Fall 2007)

For this one, I’ll assume the delay never happens, which means that at least five or so characters are missing (this would at least have been Lucario, Sonic, and the post subspace fighters in the real game. Given that Ike and Rob’s codes are after Lucario, I’d probably say that they’d be missing too in this scenario). With my Melee roster reduced to 18, I’ll say that somewhere around 30 isn’t too far fetched (There were vacancies from clone Ganondorf and three of Zelda/Sheik/Ice Climbers/Mr. Game & Watch, but that development time could be used to bring in another newcomer or two).
For cuts, I’ll say that Dr. Mario and Mewtwo are cut like in the real timeline.
Snake was personally requested by Kojima, so I cannot see myself rejecting him.
At this point, I cannot refuse Wario, Diddy, Zelda, and Dedede.
I really like the idea of a playable Pokemon Trainer, but without a previous transforming fighter, I’d feel uncomfortable with the three in one gimmick. I’ll keep Charizard as it’s popular though.
I’d probably see myself trying to promote newer games, so Lucario, Ike, Olimar, and Lucas join.
I like the idea of retros for this game, and I’ll just say that Ice Climbers and Pit join as they seem like cool ideas.
Because he seems to have a critical role in Subspace, Meta Knight also joins.
I’ll just say Mewtwo, Dr. Mario, and Toon Link were cut for time constraints.
The unlocks would be Zelda, Marth, Captain Falcon, Meta Knight, Lucario, Falco, Ice Climbers, and Lucas.
In terms of Subspace roles, I think I can keep most of the things similar. Samus would start in her power suit. The Ancient Minister doesn’t fight after his reveal as R.O.B. Lucas would be on his own before defeating Charizard. The Game & Watch bugs never happen, and Zelda doesn’t turn into Sheik, and Kirby would interfere Tabuu at the end.
Stages (I’ll say 30 is fair)
Delfino Plaza
Luigi’s Mansion
Mario Circuit
25m
Oil Drum Alley
Flower Fields
Wario Ware
Bridge of Eldin
Pirate Ship
Frigate Orpheon
Serenes Forest
Big Blue
Dedede Castle
Corneria
New Pork City
Spear Pillar
Sky Pillar
Distant Spring
Smashville
Shadow Moses Island
Battlefield
Final Destination
Metal Cavern
Mushroom Kingdom
Brinstar
Temple
Fountain of Dreams
Great Fox
Pokemon Stadium
Icicle Mountain
Unlockable stages will be Sky Pillar, 25m, Bowser’s Castle, Big Blue, Smashville, Metal Cavern, Temple, Brinstar, and Icicle Mountain.

Spoiler: 3DS (Spring 2014) and WiiU (Summer 2014)

For this one, I’ll lower the base roster to 42, which would give me most newcomers except for Bowser Jr’s slot.
In terms of cuts, Ice Climbers, Lucas, and Snake are cut for similar reasons.
For newcomers, Villager, Miis, Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-Man are obvious.
Greninja stays for promotional reasons again.
I’ll keep Shulk just so I have a character from a new series.
Palutena was requested, and Kid Icarus: Uprising was new.
I still want an Awakening character, and Robin seems more interesting than Chrom.
Little Mac would be my next retro.
Mewtwo would be high priority after missing Brawl.
I want to say to add Ridley, but I also considered Rosalina and Little Mac. Because of the lack of development time, Rosalina joins as DLC.
Like with my other rosters, I cannot see clones being excluded. I went with the canon ones for convenience.
Unlockable fighters will be Rosalina, Ganondorf, Robin, Falco, Captain Falcon, Mewtwo, the clones, and third parties.
For DLC, I’ll just leave it to 5 slots.
For the first DLC fighter, I’ll go with Rosalina as she’d be the most difficult fighter to add.
Lucas returns.
I wanted to add a second Link in Brawl, so Toon Link should be easy enough to add.
Ryu and Cloud are prominent choices, so they stay.
For unlockable fighters, I’ll say that Robin, Falco, Captain Falcon, Mewtwo, Lucario, Shulk, Dr. Mario, Lucina, and Dark Pit are unlockable.
Because of time constraints, 8 player smash never happens unfortunately, and Iprobably wouldn’t add Smash Tour or Master Orders/Crazy Orders.

Spoiler: For Deluxe (2017)

Tidus(/)
I’d view this like Mario Kart 8 DX, and I’d probably just combine all the 3DS and Wii U content into one.
For convenience, Ice Climbers and Snake return
Newcomers would just be K. Rool, Ridley, Isabelle, and Inkling.
For echoes, I’d probably just add Chrom and Daisy.
DLC would probably have only one wave.
I’ll go with something like this:
Bowser Jr. as the bonus DLC fighter as he’s lower priority than the other newcomers, and people wanted him
Bayonetta‘s series does have strong relations with Nintendo, and she had votes.
Simon was a huge request.
If there is a Square Enix character, I’d prefer Tidus.
Tekken is huge, and Namco plays a big role in this, so Kazuya joins,
Pyra/Mythra join to promote Xenoblade 2, and the Rex duo thing just doesn’t work.
From this, the only characters that feel missing to me are Steve and Sora (I’d like to see Jigglypuff too, but just didn’t work out unfortunately).

 

[MysticalGnocchi3264X]

Updated my listings to add stages

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

why does smash 64 have more content

 

[MysticalGnocchi3264X]

why does smash 64 have more content

first game in the series, nuff said

 

[davidvkimball]

Fun discussion! I have a concept for a new video that's what would have happened if Smash 64 was released for GameCube as the first game in the series.

 

[MysticalGnocchi3264X]

Fun discussion! I have a concept for a new video that's what would have happened if Smash 64 was released for GameCube as the first game in the series.

Hello David!

Wasn’t very much expecting to see you here!

I do indeed also look forward to seeing that idea very soon!