Would You Kindly Send Us An Invite? Bioshock Protagonist for Smash Support Thread!

[Jomosensual]

So I finally just wrapped up the Bioshock collection on the Switch. All 3 games are absolutely magnificent and worth your time completely. Something I noticed as I moved through them though is that all 3 playable characters have fantastic moveset potential for Smash and with Bioshock being an iconic gacme series in the west, it feels like it has at least some shot at making the game. But if we're not just straight up taking a Big Daddy, which protag should get the invite? Well, let's talk about that.

NOTE: There will be spoilers mentioned so if you haven't played all 3 games yet either come back once you have or skip past the characters you don't know yet.


Bioshock - Jack

Pros:

1. He's the protagonist of the first game. Simply enough, that feels like an advantage for him. While being first isn't necessarily that Sakurai or Nintendo looks at to my knowledge. However, going with the first one does just feel more natural and as a more solid intro to the series as opposed to starting in the middle or end.
2. Of all the 3 characters I'm gonna talk about here, his moveset for sure feels like it would be the most basic. While this could be considered a con, for Jack I'd actually call it a pro since he's the lead of protagonist of the series, and in that spot it actually makes sense, sorta like an intro to Bioshock. Jack's moveset would consist of lots of shooting as his normal attacks and his specials would be made of plasmid attacks, perhaps some sort of wheel like how it works in the game. Final smash would likely be how he defeats Fontaine in the final boss battle with a swarm of little sisters attacking and draining the opponent.

Cons:

1. By far the biggest knock on him overall is the fact that his appearance is that of just a normal dude. While he's obviously not that once you get into the lore, they usually don't do that for the reveals. It wouldn't be that far out of line to be a bit down on his inclusion or not recognize him because of that(and the fact the series is a 1st person shoot of course). But yeah, of the 3 he's the one that's the most forgettable looking.
2. The music in the OST doesn't really stand out much. There's plenty of real music from the 30s-50s but unless I'm missing something 0 tracks from the over 1000 we have in Smash are licensed, non video game music. The rest of the music is standard tracks that fit the theme of the game. They're solid tracks, don't get me wrong, but not really anything iconic Sure, it's not impossible that maybe I missed a track that slipped to public domain and they could use that no issue but IDK if they actually would do that or not.

Bioshock 2 - Delta

Pros

1. Starting with the obvious one, he's a Big Daddy. With Big Daddies basically being the mascots of the game thats a huge checkmark in his favor.
2. He would be an extremely unique character overall. He'd play as a heavy character that mostly relies on ranged attacks. Closest character to that at the moment would be King K Rool. He'd be able to do that but also have some powerful up close attacks with his drill. Overall, not many characters would play close to him.
3. Non liscened music is a step up from 1. The big sisters theme is a good track and Eleanor's Lullaby feels like one of the more iconic tracks in the game although it would likely need a remake for Smash.

Cons

1. Balancing issues. While the moveset is really nice and unique, It feels like a character like him might be really hard to balance. I suppose they could make his jumps, aerials, and grabs suck.
2. While he is a Big Daddy, he's not of the more iconic designs. The main designs are the Alphas, Bouncers, and Rosie series of Big Daddies, while Delta is obviously a Delta. While I'm not sure that totally matters it's 100% a factor worth bringing up.

Bioshock Infinite - Booker DeWitt

Pros

1. Has the most recognizable appearance of the 3 with him being on the box art of Infinite, while the other 2 aren't really seen as much.
2. The best moveset potential of the 3 by possesing both guns and vigors(the same as plasmids) along with Elizabeth's ability to open tears and throw you items. He'd be very unique character to say the least and feels like the most exciting one to play as. Elizabeth's tears and assists would be a pretty unique mechanic to add to the game one that I feel like Sakurai would really enjoy programming.
3. Could also be considered a tag team character with Elizabeth, which is something we don't have many of in the game.
4. The soundtrack relies less on licensed music than the other 2 does. It also has more tracks that stand out better than the other 2 games do.

Cons

1. By far the biggest con is that Infinite is a bit of a venture away from the other 2 games. A lot of the terminology is different as well as the setting. While vigors are the same thing as plasmids, they're also not considering the abilities are still a bit different. Rapture feels a lot more iconic than Columbia does as well, and if this character is meant to rep the entire series then it makes more sense to pick a character who appears in the most iconic place in the game. Yes, I know there's a side story where Booker and Elizabeth go to Rapture but that's non cannon or a part of the main game.

Overall, there's a lot to like here as far as our 3 Bioshock protags go. For me at least I don't think any of them are clear favorites. If I had to go for one I think it would be Booker/Elizabeth. What do you all think though? Which of the 3 would be the most interesting to play as?

 

[GoodGrief741]

I support! I love me some BioShock, would make for a surprising but welcome addition to the Smash roster.

My favorite choice for a rep is Booker and Elizabeth, they're easily the most memorable protagonists and would make for a pretty unique duo with Elizabeth's tears. I'd be fine with the other 2 though.