Xbox Legends: An Xbox Smash Series From 2004 (Building 360 Sequels DLC)

[nirvanafan]

A couple threads (particularly by Qwerty UIOP & Tankman from Newgrounds) have tried the idea of an Xbox/Microsoft Smash competitor. They have been inactive & I wanted to revive the concept but with a twist. Seeing the success & potential Nintendo found with the Super Smash Bros. series, Microsoft has decided not only to make a competitor but to make it a flagship series alongside Halo right from the start with their 1st generation console.

This project takes inspiration from GamingFan1997's Smash Series remake thread as we go through generations with different series & characters coming & going which should hopefully produce something a little different from creating a normal modern crossover (It would be cool to see other iterations of this idea too with something like PS).

Below is a rough timeline for the series.

Spoiler: Xbox Legends (2004) Roster (16/16)

Roster image made by darkvortex

Spoiler: Xbox Legends (2004) Stages (18/18)

Stage image made by KneeOfJustice99

Spoiler: Xbox Legends (2004) Game Modes & Items

• Included Game Modes would be somewhere between Smash 64 & Melee.
• A major new mode would be Online Battles.
• Arcade mode is also noteworthy, The Boss is Clippy who also utilizes other Office Assistants in his moveset.
• 20 Items would be included. Below is sample of what would be included. Be sure to check out KneeOfJustice99's linked post for some great detailed descriptions for some of our items.
  1. Warthog (Halo)
  2. Overshield (Halo)
  3. ECM Mine (Perfect Dark)
  4. Playing Card (Solitaire)
  5. Shadow Doppelganger (Ninja Gaiden)
  6. At Least 1 Halo Gun
  7. At Least 1 Fable Sword
  8. At Least 1 Banjo Kazooie Magic Item

Spoiler: Xbox Legends 360 (09-12) Roster

Roster image made by darkvortex

DLC

1. Ayane
2. Crackdown Agent
3. Big Daddy
4. (DLC 4)
5. (DLC 5)
6. (DLC 6)
7. (DLC 7)

Spoiler: Xbox Legends 360 Stages (36/36)

All Stages Returning

1. Bowerstone (360, Fable)
2. Dashboard (360)
3. ARK Citadel (Halo)
4. Tattered Spire (Fable)
5. Banjoland (Banjo)
6. Washington DC (Age of Empires)
7. Jacinto Prison (Gears)
8. Enchanted Kingdom (Kameo)
9. Garden (Viva Pinata)
10. UltraTech Museum (Killer Instinct)
11. (Voodoo Vince)
12. (Blue Dragon)
13. Aperture Test Chamber (Portal)
14. Sky City Tokyo (Ninja Gaiden/Dead or Alive)
15. Forza Circuit (Forza)
16. Blood Gultch (Halo)
17. High Charity (Halo)
18. Chip's Challenge (Chip's Challenge)
19. (Crackdown)
20. (Bioshock)
21. DLC (# TBD)

Spoiler: Xbox Legends 360 Assists (27/27)

New to this game, work differently from Smash being selected before battle, tied to a button, & having a cooldown between uses (like Fraymakers)

1. Grunt (Halo)
2. Klungo (Banjo Kazooie)
3. Dark Queen (Battletoads)
4. Berri (Conker)
5. Kantus (Gears of War)
6. Theresa (Fable)
7. Zeus (Age of Empires/Mythology)
8. Maromaru (Blue Dragon)
9. Elvis (Perfect Dark)
10. Professor Pestor (Viva Pinata)
11. Kalus (Kameo)
12. Sabrewulf (Killer Instinct/Sabre Wulf)
13. Flint (Brute Force)
14. Crawdad Jimmy (Voodoo Vince)
15. Ghouly Amber (Grabbed by the Ghoulies)
16. Chell (Portal)
17. Rachel (Ninja Gaiden)
18. Zack (Dead or Alive)
19. Anna Grímsdóttir (Splinter Cell)
20. Munch (Oddworld)
21. Jetman (Jetpac)
22. Rabbid (Rayman/Rabbids)
23. Medic (Team Fortress)
24. Bomb Jack (Bomb Jack)
25. Toof (Whacked)
26. Tank (Left4Dead)
27. Hexic Cluster (Hexic)

Spoiler: Xbox Legends 360 Game Modes & Items

• Comic book style character endings added to Arcade Mode
• Adventure Mode is somewhere between Melee & Subspace leaning on the Melee Side. Bosses are the below.
  • Gravemind (Halo)
  • Eyedol (Killer Instinct)
  • Mr. Patch (Banjo Kazooie)
  • Ragnarok (Mech Assault)
• All Co-op Modes & Leaderboards available online as a big selling point.
• Most modes from Brawl are here
  • No Chronicle or Masterpieces (although Minesweeper is a secret unlockable mini-game)
  • Stage Builder is added as a free update with more options than Brawl.
• New Items with a variety of different effects including Portal Gun & Weighted Companion Cube

Xbox Legends 3 - Xbox One (2015-2019)
Xbox Legends Ultimate - Xbox Series (2021+)

We will try to match Smash in terms of content, although we will be playing catchup but will hopefully close that gap with 360 DLC. We will be focusing on the Roster, Stages, & Assists. We will also talk about Modes & Items but how much will depend on general interest. Submittions will always be open if anyone wants to dive further into specifics with movesets, alts, music, etc. for entries they like but there is currently no intent to have dedicated jobs for these topics. Thread will normally be updated every weekday within approximately 24 hrs.

 

[nirvanafan]

Reserved

Will post 1st job tomorrow after we finish up my other current creation thread.

 

[SneakyLink]

Wanted to ask a clarification question before we begin.


Microsoft has made a ton of acquisitions since 2004. Would the acquisitions be fair game around the timeframe they were announced/finalized or would they have to wait a game? If so, a majority of them occurred during the Xbox One and Xbox Series eras, with a few key ones happening in the Xbox and 360 eras (for example, Rare).

For example, in 2019 Microsoft announced that Double Fine productions would be a Xbox first party studio. Assuming the timeframes listed above hold true, would this mean characters from say... Grim Fandango would be eligible for the Xbox One era or would they have to wait for the Xbox Series era?

 

[nirvanafan]

Wanted to ask a clarification question before we begin.


Microsoft has made a ton of acquisitions since 2004. Would the acquisitions be fair game around the timeframe they were announced/finalized or would they have to wait a game? If so, a majority of them occurred during the Xbox One and Xbox Series eras, with a few key ones happening in the Xbox and 360 eras (for example, Rare).

For example, in 2019 Microsoft announced that Double Fine productions would be a Xbox first party studio. Assuming the timeframes listed above hold true, would this mean characters from say... Grim Fandango would be eligible for the Xbox One era or would they have to wait for the Xbox Series era?

Good question, another really interesting case will be Activision - Blizzard. The timeframes provided are rough estimates of when the game may release & be supported during that will be narrowed down when we get there.

We will likely have 3rd party content. Personally I think we should try to include material from all pre-Bethesda buyouts in our 3rd entry, but I want to let everyone voice their opinion & vote on the matter when we get there.

Job 1 - Developer Discussion 1: Have a few topics we should address.

A - Roster Size: Smash currently has 20 unique fighters after starting with 12, i think going in between with 16 then doubling to 32 in our sequel seems like a feasible solution to help us catchup. (With modern knowledge this would only put us 7 spots behind Brawl which can be made up with 360 DLC).

B - 3rd Party Content: Nintendo was rumored to have considered adding Konami & Sega content to Melee. Should we try to beat them in adding 1 or 2 3rd party fighters?

C - Our project is currently titled Microsoft Melee as a response to Smash Melee. Should we keep that as our final title or are there any other ideas for a title. I would prefer to avoid the titles X-Bout & All-Star Beatdown to avoid confusion with other projects.

Spoiler: EDIT - List of Early Microsoft/Xbox Games

So everyone has an idea of what we are working with for our 1st game. Some smaller published games are missing since i could not find proof Microsoft owned the IP at that time.

2001
Halo
Project Gotham Racing
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
2002
NBA Inside Drive 2002
RalliSport Challenge
NFL Fever 2003
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
NBA Inside Drive 2003
Inside Pitch 2003
MechAssault
2003
Brute Force
Midtown Madness 3
NFL Fever 2004
NBA Inside Drive 2004
Amped 2
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Xbox Music Mixer
Links 2004
Project Gotham Racing 2
NHL Rivals 2004
Magatama
2004
RalliSport Challenge 2
Fable
Halo 2
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
Windows Series
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Age of Mythology
MechWarrior
Freelancer
Rise of Nations
Hexic
Zoo Tycoon
Major Published
Dead or Alive 3
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Shenmue II
Ninja Gaiden (2004)
OutRun 2
Various Rare IP (know Banjo had some gba games around this time)
Windows Included Games (Solitaire, Minesweeper, 3D Pinball, etc)

 

[darkvortex]

16 with 32 in a a sequel sounds fine

honestly I feel like a n Xbox roster at this point in time would need to go for third party characters but there should only be a select few and they should be from games tied to the platform

I feel like it should have "xbox" or " x" in the title somewhere

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #001:
A: Honestly, I think 16 with 32 in a sequel would be awesome! Especially given 16 is 2³ - as in, 2 cubed. Like an Xbox. But also it just feels like a fairly reasonable way of doing things.

B: Yes and no. On the one hand, at this point in time, an Xbox roster would kinda need that added boost. At the same time, though, I do think it'd be worth looking through some of Microsoft's own history of game releases prior to this point for some picks that might make sense before just jumping on the third-party train, because with Xbox rosters, it can become very easy for them to feel oversaturated with them. Maybe like, a maximum of 6 third-party characters in a 16-character roster might work?

C: Honestly, I think it kind of depends what we're going for. If this is pretty specific to Xbox then I suppose you could go heavier with the "X" branding overall compared to, say, if it's supposed to also be released for PC in the same era. Though, I'd suggest that the name itself would also kind of depend on how cartoony we want this to look. "Xboxing" could work as a goofy pick

 

[MartianSnake]

Good question, another really interesting case will be Activision - Blizzard. The timeframes provided are rough estimates of when the game may release & be supported during that will be narrowed down when we get there.

We will likely have 3rd party content. Personally I think we should try to include material from all pre-Bethesda buyouts in our 3rd entry, but I want to let everyone voice their opinion & vote on the matter when we get there.

Job 1 - Developer Discussion 1: Have a few topics we should address.

A - Roster Size: Smash currently has 20 unique fighters after starting with 12, i think going in between with 16 then doubling to 32 in our sequel seems like a feasible solution to help us catchup. (With modern knowledge this would only put us 7 spots behind Brawl which can be made up with 360 DLC).

B - 3rd Party Content: Nintendo was rumored to have considered adding Konami & Sega content to Melee. Should we try to beat them in adding 1 or 2 3rd party fighters?

C - Our project is currently titled Microsoft Melee as a response to Smash Melee. Should we keep that as our final title or are there any other ideas for a title. I would prefer to avoid the titles X-Bout & All-Star Beatdown to avoid confusion with other projects.

Spoiler: EDIT - List of Early Microsoft/Xbox Games

So everyone has an idea of what we are working with for our 1st game. Some smaller published games are missing since i could not find proof Microsoft owned the IP at that time.

2001
Halo
Project Gotham Racing
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
2002
NBA Inside Drive 2002
RalliSport Challenge
NFL Fever 2003
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
NBA Inside Drive 2003
Inside Pitch 2003
MechAssault
2003
Brute Force
Midtown Madness 3
NFL Fever 2004
NBA Inside Drive 2004
Amped 2
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Xbox Music Mixer
Links 2004
Project Gotham Racing 2
NHL Rivals 2004
Magatama
2004
RalliSport Challenge 2
Fable
Halo 2
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
Windows Series
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Age of Mythology
MechWarrior
Freelancer
Rise of Nations
Hexic
Zoo Tycoon
Major Published
Dead or Alive 3
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Shenmue II
Ninja Gaiden (2004)
OutRun 2
Various Rare IP (know Banjo had some gba games around this time)

Don't forget games like Solitaire in that windows category

 

[nirvanafan]

Don't forget games like Solitaire in that windows category

Added, there are likely others missing since I mostly focused on Microsoft releases across the board from 2001-2004.

A - everyone seems on board with the purposal so our roster count is finalized at 16, then 32 in the sequel.

B - general consensus seems to be yes, we will likely dive into some earlier Microsoft gaming history, at this point it doesnt seem any different from adding Rare characters as for both many ip have not been on Xbox yet, but will likely in the future. 3rd party fighters will probably be between 2-6 with a focus on connection to Xbox, will dive into further specifics after we figure some of our 1st party lineup out.

C - I agree we should include X/Xbox branding in the title, where we may release on pc & include pre-Xbox material i feel like the long term goal would be for the series to focus on Xbox itself. I like KneeOfJustice99's suggestion of XBoxing.

Job 2 - To continue Part C of our previous discussion we will allow more name suggestions as well discuss artstyle & a windows port of the game.

Personally i kind of imagined a similar artstyle to Smash but am open to other ideas like a more cartoony style.

For Windows ports i think the 1st game & Ultimate would have one although the next 2 entries can be debated.

Job 3 - Nominate a Microsoft Owned Gaming Character for the Roster. Master Chief is automatically in. Remember its 2004 so any new or later aquired ip are ineligible.

Spoiler: List of Early Microsoft/Xbox Games

So everyone has an idea of what we are working with for our 1st game. Some smaller published games are missing since i could not find proof Microsoft owned the IP at that time.

2001
Halo
Project Gotham Racing
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding

2002
NBA Inside Drive 2002
RalliSport Challenge
NFL Fever 2003
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
NBA Inside Drive 2003
Inside Pitch 2003
MechAssault

2003
Brute Force
Midtown Madness 3
NFL Fever 2004
NBA Inside Drive 2004
Amped 2
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Xbox Music Mixer
Links 2004
Project Gotham Racing 2
NHL Rivals 2004
Magatama

2004
RalliSport Challenge 2
Fable
Halo 2
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf

Windows Series
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Age of Mythology
MechWarrior
Freelancer
Rise of Nations
Hexic
Zoo Tycoon

Various Rare IP (know Banjo had some gba games around this time)
Windows Included Games (Solitaire, Minesweeper, 3D Pinball, etc)

My nominee is Zoo Keeper (Zoo Tycoon)

Big series & a personal favorite of mine growing up. Could be an interesting fighter utilizing different zoo attractions & assistance from animals.

 

[darkvortex]

Hero of Oakvale (Fable)
A fairly new IP at the time but I think it'd be one they'd be likely to go for. He'd be our Link. A swordsman \ magic user. It'd be cool to work the games mechanics into his moveset

 

[MartianSnake]

Submitting Banjo & Kazooie

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #002:
Seems as I don't have a good idea, I'll go with Xboxing for the lols. That said, I do think it might suit well to go for a more serious look akin to Melee's considering the branding of the Xbox at the time and that this is like, direct competition.

Job #003:
Character Name: Blinx
Character Origin: Blinx: The Time Sweeper (2002)

As much as I think he's a really weird pick in modern Xbox rosters, they were really trying to make Blinx a thing at around this time - and it'd also work as good cross-promotion for the recently released sequel. That said, he does actually have a decent amount of moveset potential - given his weapon of choice is a vacuum cleaner, there's tons of potential for how he could use that even beyond the elements of time control that he could include (like making clones of himself, countering attacks, or even freezing time as a Final Smash of some kind.)

 

[MartianSnake]

Job 2 name submission:

Xbox Legends

 

[Mamboo07]

Job 3: Cooper

First Appearance: Grabbed by the Ghoulies (2003)

Humorous and entertaining, but highly unsuccessful sales-wise.

Anyway, he would fight with punches and kicks, guns that fire a stream of Holy Water, cloves of garlic, and soda cans (does a lot of explosive damage, period).

(Part of what makes brawling as Cooper so satisfying is that most of his normal punches and kick take out the supernatural monstrosities he confronts if he's skilled enough)

He can also throw wine bottles, hamburgers, toilet paper, and flowerpots as projectiles with up to six shots of each, as well as finding and using numerous other, larger single shot throwables.

In other words, punching, kicking and using many objects as improvised weapons while using a modest amount of flair.

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Name Submission: Microsoft X-Treme

Job 3: Brutus(Brute Force)

 

[nirvanafan]

Job 3 - Voting on 1st Fighters & Series Title

A - Fighter Nominees
Zoo Keeper (nirvanafan)
Hero of Oakvale (darkvortex)
Banjo & Kazooie (MartianSnake)
Blinx (KneeOfJustice99)
Cooper (Mamboo007)
Brutus (Qwerty UIOP)

Vote for your Top 4, yours 2nd or lower, Top 4 overall will he added.

1 Blinx
2 Cooper
3 Hero of Oakvale
4 Brutus

Decided to focus on the Xbox brand with my votes, honestly all great choices & hope we can get all nominees in this 1st game.

B - Series Title Nominees
Microsoft X Melee (nirvanafan)
XBoxing (KneeOfJustice99)
Xbox Legends (MartianSnake)
Microsoft X-Treme (Qwerty UIOP)

Vote for your Top 2, yours 2nd or lower, highest votes will become the title of our series.

1 XBoxing
2 Microsoft X Melee

 

[Mamboo07]

Fighters

1. Banjo-Kazooie
2. Blinx
3. Hero
4. Zookeeper

Titles

1. Xboxing
2. Xbox Legends

 

[MartianSnake]

Fighter vote:
1. Blinx
2. Hero of Oakvale
3. Zoo Keeper
4. Banjo & Kazooie

Name vote:
1. Microsoft X Melee
2. Xbox Legends

 

[darkvortex]

1. Blinx
2. Hero of Oakvale
3. Brutus
4. Banjo & Kazooie

1. Xboxing
2. Xbox Legends

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Banjo and Kazooie
2. Hero
3. Blinx
4. Brutus

1. Xbox Legends
2. Microsoft X-Melee

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Fighters:

1. Hero of Oakvale
2. Brutus
3. Zoo Keeper
4. Cooper

Titles:

1. X-Treme
2. Xbox Legends

 

[nirvanafan]

Results

Fighter
1Blinx17
1 Hero of Oakvale17
3Banjo & Kazooie 10
4Brutus7
5Zoo Keeper5
6Cooper4

Top 4 have been added to roster.

Title
1 XBoxing 6
1 Xbox Legends 6
3 Microsoft X Melee 4
4 Microsoft X-Treme 2

Currently based on ranking from previous voting, the tiebreaker would look like this.

XBoxing (nirvanafan, Mamboo007, darkvortex)

Xbox Legends (MartianSnake, Qwerty UIOP, KneeOfJustice99)

Removing my vote makes Xbox Legends the winner.

Job 4 - Submit a fighter from Rare or from a Microsoft IP that hasnt left Windows yet.

Spoiler: Examples

Windows
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Age of Empires/Mythology
MechWarrior
Freelancer
Rise of Nations
Hexic
Zoo Tycoon
Windows Included Games (Solitaire, Minesweeper, 3D Pinball, etc)
Etc.

Rare
Conker
Perfect Dark
Killer Instinct
Battletoads
Jet Force Gemini
Blast Corps
Etc.

My nominee is

Hexic Cluster

Created by the same guy as Tetris (Alexey Pajitnov). Imagine it working similar to the Tetris Person concept ive seen a few times for smash. Will default as a humanoid Cluster & utilize various puzzle mechanics.

 

[Mamboo07]

Job 4: Battletoads

First Appearance: Battletoads (1991)

The three Battletoads, Rash, Pimple, and Zitz could be alternate costumes of one another, but if one had to be chosen, it would most likely be Rash.

The Battletoads have the ability to transform their bodies into a variety of different objects such as growing ram horns to headbutt, turning their fist into a giant hammer, and even transforming their entire bodies into a wrecking ball!

In addition to this, they can also pilot vehicles such as speeder bikes, jet packs, and hover crafts.

They also have a ton of potential to have a very unique moveset.

 

[darkvortex]

Joanna Dark
Perfect Dark is a pretty acclaimed series and has a game on the Xbox.

 

[MartianSnake]

Fighter Submission:

Deck of Cards (Windows Solitaire)

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Fighter: Arkantos(Age of Empires)

 

[Northsouthmap]

Conker the Squirrel
Iconic Rare character with upcoming remake at the time.

 

[nirvanafan]

Nominees
Hexic Cluster (nirvanafan)
Battletoads (Mamboo007)
Joanna Dark (darkvortex)
Deck of Cards (MartianSnake)
Arkantos (Qwerty UIOP)
Conker (Northsouthmap)

Vote for your Top 4, yours 2nd or lower, Top 4 overall will he added.

1 Conker
2 Hexic Cluster
3 Arkantos
4 Battletoads

 

[darkvortex]

1. Conker
2. Joanna
3. Arkantos
4. Battletoads


We don't need any more Rare reps after this but I think conker and joanna make a lot of sense at this point

 

[MartianSnake]

1. Joanna (we need a female fighter)
2. Battletoads (I feel like they're a bit more iconic than Conker)
3. Deck of Cards
4. Arkantos

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Conker
2. Battletoads
3. Arkantos
4. Joanna

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Joanna Dark
2. Conker
3. Battletoads
4. Arkantos

 

[nirvanafan]

Results

1Conker15
2Joanna Dark12
3Battletoads 10
4Arkantos 9
5Hexic Cluster 3
6Deck of Cards2

Top 4 have been added to the roster.

Job 5

Nominate a fighter from a Series already on the roster. Not a requirement but could be good opportunity to add more villain and/or female reps.

Eligible Series
Halo
Blinx
Fable
Banjo Kazooie
Brute Force
Conker
Perfect Dark
Battletoads
Age of (Empires)

I will nominate Gregg the Grim Reaper & dont laugh. Feel like a Grim Reaper fighter could be interesting plus hes one of my favorite characters from Conker & as Northsouthmap pointed out the series has an upcoming remake in development.

 

[SneakyLink]

My nomination:

Thel ‘Vadam

Otherwise known as the Arbiter from Halo

(I know this screenshot is from Halo 2 Anniversary, but it was the best shot I could find)

 

[darkvortex]

Jack of Blades
Villain of the original Fable. I think he could be a really cool swordsman style character. He's a very evil character, darker than most of the options we will likely include, which I think would translate to a very different kind of character!

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

For our next character, we should look to Rare

Where we'd find the archenemy of Bird and Bear

Job 5: Gruntilda Winkybunion(Banjo Kazooie)

 

[Northsouthmap]

Mumbo Jumbo
When picking a second rep for the series, it's him or green witch.

He would use magical powers and transformations.

 

[nirvanafan]

Nominees
Gregg (nirvanafan)
Arbiter (SneakyLink)
Jack of Blades (darkvortex)
Gruntilda (Qwerty UIOP)
Mumbo Jumbo (Northsouthmap)

Vote for your Top 3, yours 2nd or lower, Top 3 overall will be added.

1 Arbiter
2 Gruntilda
3 Gregg

 

[darkvortex]

1. Arbiter
2. Gruntilda
3. Jack

don't wanna fill the roster up with too many Rare reps and Gruntilda is a bigger pick than Gregg (I like Mumbo but we could use some more villains)

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Thel' Vadam
2. Gruntilda
3. Jack of Blades

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Arbiter
2. Jack of Blades
3. Gruntilda