I've been thinking a lot about smash's fighter pass newcomers, speculation, wishes, and most importantly Banjo and Kazooie finally making their smash debut. I wasn't very shocked personally, excited yes, but the character's popularity with fans gave me a sense of comfort that they would have a chance even if their franchise was long dormant. That's what really got me to think about Smash, specifically ultimate, and some of it's characters, and realize how much I had taken the roster for granted. I'd say a good percentage of the roster haven't starred in any more recent games. K. Rool is a good example of this being a character who got completely ditched in his series reboot but had been such a integral part of the trilogy of older less relevant games that fans of both Smash and DKC would demand his appearance as playable. Most fighters in this game are like museum pieces, they are displayed in this beautiful roster of iconic and memorable characters from gaming history and more importantly have are protected by a no-touch policy from a lot of the people who tainted their franchises (Such as how Banjo doesn't have has nuts and bolts redesign).
This museum of characters however is missing a few notable ones (Though you may be thinking of other gaming icons), Crash Bandicoot, Master Chief, Rayman, Doomguy, and Minecraft Steve and the Club Penguin penguin. Those last two were only memes though, no? Wrong, they both belong in a crossover of the most iconic video game franchises of all time. The only reason I created a account for smashboards, posted this essay, and acted like I was writing competently the entire time was to deliver Steve and the penguin from the meme hell they exist in. Steve has a number of other points for being a newcomer and this argument i'm making for iconic characters who aren't taken seriously applies to him completely, but it seems he atleast exists in the current realm of possibility which is why I'd rather focus on CP instead.
Club Penguin had seemingly fallen out of relevancy entirely and the only real relevance the game had in recent years was it's closure and its lame spin off/sequel that failed to appease fans of the original (Sounds familiar?). But during these declining years and brief period of interest I couldn't help but remember the time I spent playing the game during it's height, even when I had already left the game long ago. I have very recently been able to play Club Penguin again thanks to private servers and in doing so my conscious was finally reconnected with the game (I mostly realized how dated the game was). This tied back to some of that thinking I spoke of earlier, A less relevant character who meant a lot to the people who grew up with their game, it made me picture Banjo and K. Rool, as well numerous other character's and their journey to the roster thanks in part to fans and, more importantly, where my beloved penguin had been in all this with very little support for CP (Granted Banjo and K. Rool are much older).
So why does a rep from a poorly-aged cancelled flash children's web MMO belong in such a series as smash bros, well the answer is simple, all the hurtful adjectives I used to describe the game. Flash games, web MMOs, the distinctive stench of it's time are all very representative of a lot of what Club Penguin is and what it would mean for smash. A lot of people growing up in and around the early 2000's have fond memories of playing flash games at their school's computer lab, and of those games, Club Penguin was up their with some of the greats and maybe even was one of the greatest. When Club Penguin first introduced puffles in 2006 they had become a major selling point for the game and just a generally popular part of it, the success of these virtual pets had rippled into Club Penguin's declining years as Disney had tried to reintroduce newer puffles just to have a hope at reigniting the game and the puffles' general popularity only to never again live up to the CP's glory days they had no real part in making happen. Club Penguin is representative of an era as a whole, like how Pac-Man represents the age of arcades, CP represents I time a lot of young adults my age look back on through rose-tinted googles (CP only wanted to sell you memberships and Pac-Man was more interested in munching quarters). CP also being a online game is a pretty big bonus seeing as, unlike most online games of its time, failed to fall into similar trappings such as in-game advertising, and unlike most modern online games, had a very natural death that wasn't ushered in by some sort of oversight or egregious micro transactions. I also recall that awful article about why a Fortnite character would be perfect for Smash, and then I'm reminded how CP, being Fortnite's grand daddy, would have been a way more perfect character choice for that article.
So what is holding this character back, the humor I had mentioned earlier? I don't feel that to be entirely true as memes very well can bring a large backing to a character such as Waluigi, and that there are numerous other reasons (Such as some people not being as insane as I). The hardest pill to swallow, atleast for me, is Club Penguin only ever being exposed in the west and how Japan would be completely unfamiliar with anything related. Just being a western third party franchise is thorn in CP's side, the only time Nintendo had ever pulled out a western third party was Banjo, a character who is a pretty big deal in the community. Disney's ownership of the IP is probably one of the most intimidating aspects of hoping for Club Penguin in Smash, though I may be underestimating, think they may not be as big a roadblock as imagined. Disney has abandoned their game making divisions completely and left CP neglected so what does that really say about how much the IP really means to them, I believe the aforementioned dated-ness led to the game's natural death as it had served it's purpose. Their are also more popular Disney character's who starred in a some sort of game and are requested for smash, specifically Scrooge Mcduck (I don't know how to feel about this choice but understand it and would be completely shocked if it actually happened) and Sora (A character I don't hate but, in my opinion, is over requested and somewhat unrealistic, even more then Scrooge). Both these characters however aren't capable of what Club Penguin can do, stand on their own without Disney. Kingdom Hearts without Mickey, Goofy, and Donald is like Mortal Kombat without the blood and gore and Ducktales on NES isn't its own and will always tie back into the TV show its based on. Club Penguin however had existed without Disney during it's formative years, meaning none of the game's significant elements require licensing out any of Disney's multimedia franchises. Smash Bros is also about the history of console gaming so that's a point against CP.
I ultimately felt like I needed to write this, It's midnight and I'm almost done writing about my strange opinion on why a cartoon penguin belongs in Smash Bros, and as crazy as I probably sound to you and myself, I'm reminded of Banjo. For Banjo I have had a sense of reassurance for the character, that their would be people who would support him to the very end and that's a comfortable feeling to have. And then I'm reminded of the reaction of the Character's fans who had been waiting years after Banjo's announcement, crying tears of joy for all the years that had passed waiting for the character to receive his rightful place. A lot of people said Banjo was home, but was he really? Smash Bros hadn't created Banjo, Banjo was instead in a place where he belonged, among his former Nintendo family. I don't want to be 20 something like the Banjo fans who had been waiting since smash 64 for their character, and I fear if I never wrote this essay then I would die waiting for the CP penguin, a character who is a wildest dream of mine. I'm not going to call anyone to action, seeing as this is just a bunch of ramblings, but I hoped to atleast have someone take a passing glance and recognize Smash Bros and its fantastic roster, and Club Penguin and it's legacy. I do realize there is a small following for a CP rep but this could very well grow, or end here, or this lengthy essay somehow inspire to grow even more. No matter how doubtful I will wait and see, no matter how long, I'm stubborn like that.
This museum of characters however is missing a few notable ones (Though you may be thinking of other gaming icons), Crash Bandicoot, Master Chief, Rayman, Doomguy, and Minecraft Steve and the Club Penguin penguin. Those last two were only memes though, no? Wrong, they both belong in a crossover of the most iconic video game franchises of all time. The only reason I created a account for smashboards, posted this essay, and acted like I was writing competently the entire time was to deliver Steve and the penguin from the meme hell they exist in. Steve has a number of other points for being a newcomer and this argument i'm making for iconic characters who aren't taken seriously applies to him completely, but it seems he atleast exists in the current realm of possibility which is why I'd rather focus on CP instead.
Club Penguin had seemingly fallen out of relevancy entirely and the only real relevance the game had in recent years was it's closure and its lame spin off/sequel that failed to appease fans of the original (Sounds familiar?). But during these declining years and brief period of interest I couldn't help but remember the time I spent playing the game during it's height, even when I had already left the game long ago. I have very recently been able to play Club Penguin again thanks to private servers and in doing so my conscious was finally reconnected with the game (I mostly realized how dated the game was). This tied back to some of that thinking I spoke of earlier, A less relevant character who meant a lot to the people who grew up with their game, it made me picture Banjo and K. Rool, as well numerous other character's and their journey to the roster thanks in part to fans and, more importantly, where my beloved penguin had been in all this with very little support for CP (Granted Banjo and K. Rool are much older).
So why does a rep from a poorly-aged cancelled flash children's web MMO belong in such a series as smash bros, well the answer is simple, all the hurtful adjectives I used to describe the game. Flash games, web MMOs, the distinctive stench of it's time are all very representative of a lot of what Club Penguin is and what it would mean for smash. A lot of people growing up in and around the early 2000's have fond memories of playing flash games at their school's computer lab, and of those games, Club Penguin was up their with some of the greats and maybe even was one of the greatest. When Club Penguin first introduced puffles in 2006 they had become a major selling point for the game and just a generally popular part of it, the success of these virtual pets had rippled into Club Penguin's declining years as Disney had tried to reintroduce newer puffles just to have a hope at reigniting the game and the puffles' general popularity only to never again live up to the CP's glory days they had no real part in making happen. Club Penguin is representative of an era as a whole, like how Pac-Man represents the age of arcades, CP represents I time a lot of young adults my age look back on through rose-tinted googles (CP only wanted to sell you memberships and Pac-Man was more interested in munching quarters). CP also being a online game is a pretty big bonus seeing as, unlike most online games of its time, failed to fall into similar trappings such as in-game advertising, and unlike most modern online games, had a very natural death that wasn't ushered in by some sort of oversight or egregious micro transactions. I also recall that awful article about why a Fortnite character would be perfect for Smash, and then I'm reminded how CP, being Fortnite's grand daddy, would have been a way more perfect character choice for that article.
So what is holding this character back, the humor I had mentioned earlier? I don't feel that to be entirely true as memes very well can bring a large backing to a character such as Waluigi, and that there are numerous other reasons (Such as some people not being as insane as I). The hardest pill to swallow, atleast for me, is Club Penguin only ever being exposed in the west and how Japan would be completely unfamiliar with anything related. Just being a western third party franchise is thorn in CP's side, the only time Nintendo had ever pulled out a western third party was Banjo, a character who is a pretty big deal in the community. Disney's ownership of the IP is probably one of the most intimidating aspects of hoping for Club Penguin in Smash, though I may be underestimating, think they may not be as big a roadblock as imagined. Disney has abandoned their game making divisions completely and left CP neglected so what does that really say about how much the IP really means to them, I believe the aforementioned dated-ness led to the game's natural death as it had served it's purpose. Their are also more popular Disney character's who starred in a some sort of game and are requested for smash, specifically Scrooge Mcduck (I don't know how to feel about this choice but understand it and would be completely shocked if it actually happened) and Sora (A character I don't hate but, in my opinion, is over requested and somewhat unrealistic, even more then Scrooge). Both these characters however aren't capable of what Club Penguin can do, stand on their own without Disney. Kingdom Hearts without Mickey, Goofy, and Donald is like Mortal Kombat without the blood and gore and Ducktales on NES isn't its own and will always tie back into the TV show its based on. Club Penguin however had existed without Disney during it's formative years, meaning none of the game's significant elements require licensing out any of Disney's multimedia franchises. Smash Bros is also about the history of console gaming so that's a point against CP.
I ultimately felt like I needed to write this, It's midnight and I'm almost done writing about my strange opinion on why a cartoon penguin belongs in Smash Bros, and as crazy as I probably sound to you and myself, I'm reminded of Banjo. For Banjo I have had a sense of reassurance for the character, that their would be people who would support him to the very end and that's a comfortable feeling to have. And then I'm reminded of the reaction of the Character's fans who had been waiting years after Banjo's announcement, crying tears of joy for all the years that had passed waiting for the character to receive his rightful place. A lot of people said Banjo was home, but was he really? Smash Bros hadn't created Banjo, Banjo was instead in a place where he belonged, among his former Nintendo family. I don't want to be 20 something like the Banjo fans who had been waiting since smash 64 for their character, and I fear if I never wrote this essay then I would die waiting for the CP penguin, a character who is a wildest dream of mine. I'm not going to call anyone to action, seeing as this is just a bunch of ramblings, but I hoped to atleast have someone take a passing glance and recognize Smash Bros and its fantastic roster, and Club Penguin and it's legacy. I do realize there is a small following for a CP rep but this could very well grow, or end here, or this lengthy essay somehow inspire to grow even more. No matter how doubtful I will wait and see, no matter how long, I'm stubborn like that.