Smash Bros Character Checklist: The Animal Crossing Series

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If there were one Nintendo franchise that you would never expect to have payable fighters in Smash Bros, it’s probably Animal Crossing (Or maybe Wii Fit). The entire game series is about starting a new life in a cozy little town, and the smile-inducing super chill experience that comes with it. You pick fruit, you go fishing, you dig for fossils, you give gifts to your neighbors, you occasionally become the mayor, and you slowly climb your way out of the hole left behind by the crippling debt involved in paying off your loans.

Okay, so maybe that last part isn’t so cheerful and chill. But they rest of the game is just super casual fun for the whole family. So how do you take a game like Animal Crossing and squeeze playable fighters out of it? Well, the mad men behind Smash Bros found a way, and they did it TWICE.

Villager joined the fight in Super Smash Bros 4, bringing with him an arsenal of every day items to lay the hurt on his opponents. Twigs, umbrellas, shovels, bowling balls, you name it. If he could pick it up, he’d use it as a weapon. And his most impressive skill actually IS his ability to pick stuff up. Villager’s Pocket neutral special lets him store pretty much any item or projectile on his person, and then he can pull it out and toss it back at his foes whenever he wants. The kid can even pick up LIGHTNING and put it in his shorts. That’s pretty impressive.

In Smash Ultimate, the adorable aide to the mayor Isabelle joined the fray as well. She functions similarly to Villager, even sharing a few different skills. But she also brings her own unique flair of using regular objects to fight with, carrying mighty weapons such as party poppers, and fishing pole, and cheerleader pom-poms! Just don’t ever actually fight her. The Internet wouldn’t be too happy about that.

So with two already unexpected characters joining the Smash Bros rumble, what else could Animal Crossing possibly bring to the series? Coming up with another fighter seems next to impossible. But keep in mind, Animal Crossing sports a huge cast of different villagers and regular NPCs to choose from. Of all of those adorable animals, one of them would have to have SOME sort of potential for Smash.

The most popular character pick is usually the local shop owner and property dealer, Tom Nook. He’s a staple of the series, and one of its most recognizable characters. And admittedly, having him join the battle and hit you with a Final Smash the sells you a house or something would be pretty entertaining. But I think I may have come up with an even better character choice!

Just don’t hit the power button on your system while he’s around! He’ll get really angry if you do that! That’s right, it’s the most menacing of moles, the wildly talkative MR. RESETTI!

CharacterChecklistResetti

In the Animal Crossing games, if you were to turn your game off or hit the reset button without saving your progress first, you would be greeted by this grumpy mole the next time you played. At first, he would be fairly calm, thank you for purchasing the game, and warn you about not saving your progress. But for every time you turn off the power without saving, he keeps getting madder! And there’s no winning against his punishments of angry tirades.

In reality, Mr. Resetti does have a history with the Smash games already. He’s been a collectible trophy in several games, and he appeared as an Assist Trophy in Brawl. Though really, he didn’t to much assisting. He would sit on the stage and go into a long rant, blocking part of the fight with a large text box. He would even mimic the fighters in the battle, or unleash an explosive attack if you hit him enough! Even though it seems mostly like a pointless joke character, his rants could make for an effective distraction.

His assist functions were removed in Smash 4, but bringing him back to the series as a playable fighter would have him putting his rage to good use. After all, there isn’t much that’s more brutal than an angry person with a pickaxe. Maybe he could have a move that increases in power, depending on how much damage he takes. It could work similarly to Lucario’s aura mechanic, but be executed like Wario’s Down-B special (minus the farting). In fact, it could even be his rage explosion from Brawl! I think that could work out pretty well.

But just him getting angry to fight isn’t the only reason I’d like to see him playable. The other is that… well, he’s a mole! A subterranean fighter isn’t something we’ve seen in Smash Bros yet. An interesting special move would be him diving underground and digging forward, grabbing fighters he passes underneath them and sending them into a buried state. Heck, even his regular ducking animation could have him going underground, giving him a unique advantage in totally avoiding damage at times. Of course, doing that would leave him to prone moves that attack low or hit the ground, so attacks like Hand Slap could lead to trouble for Resetti.

How all that would work on any platform that isn’t solid ground, I don’t really know. Resetti would most likely just dig through his footing, rather than digging under it. But maybe that could make for an interesting mechanic as well, allowing him to make quick escapes if he needs to. It’s a thought, anyway.

For his Final Smash, why not another callback to Brawl? With an angry yell, Mr. Resetti traps his foes in a rant, albeit a fast-forwarded one from his usual speeches. They get a good talking down to, and Mr. Resetti’s words are so powerful that they send the opponents flying! It would be a hilarious attack to see in action, that’s for sure.

Animal Crossing may be a strange series to give a third playable fighter to, especially since longer running represented Smash games still only have one or two fighters. But since Resetti could make for such a wildly different combatant, I would gladly welcome his inclusion!

So what do you think? Do you think I make some sense, or do I just sound like I’m rambling nonsense? Let me know in a comment! Until then though, Sparky is signing off for now! I’ll see you another time!

Smash Bros Character Checklist: The Kid Icarus Series

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Kid Icarus is a franchise that has its origins in the early days of Nintendo’s game consoles. It was released along side legendary names like Zelda and Metroid. The original NES title is one of the most classic games for the system, with one of the strangest reverse difficulty curves of any game I’ve ever played. The game begins wildly difficult, but then gets much easier as it goes on. It’s amazing what one or two power ups can help out with!

The game was popular enough to score a sequel on the Gameboy. But unlike Zelda and Metroid, the series faded into obscurity after that, barely receiving any form of mention from Nintendo for years to come. That is until series protagonist Pit became one of the first new fighters announced for Super Smash Bros Brawl.

While the character most likely came off as obscure for some, Pit’s place in Brawl seemed to help revitalize interest in the series. Eventually, the third Kid Icarus game came into existence over 20 years after the second. That third game was Kid Icarus: Uprising, interestingly developed by the Smash Bros creator himself, Masahiro Sakurai.

Uprising happens to be one of my favorite games on the 3DS. It added a whole new level of action and personality to the world and characters that the previous games were incapable of portraying. It’s an utterly fantastic experience, and I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to play it! Though I guess me gushing over how much I love Uprising isn’t what you’re here for, right? We’re here to talk about Smash!

Sakurai’s next major outing after Uprising was Super Smash Bros for 3DS and Wii U, and the Kid Icarus characters followed him to the new games. Goddess of Light Palutena became a playable fighter, and Pit received an Echo Fighter in the form of Dark Pit. But as far as Smash Bros Ultimate goes, there’s no new Kid Icarus fighters in the base game.

As far as who could be added to Smash, a lot of people are behind the inclusion of Medusa. She is, after all, the original villain of the original game, and could become either an original fighter or an Echo of Palutena. Personally, I was a big supporter of adding Magnus to the roster in Smash 4, even though he ended up as an assist trophy in that game. He is noticeably absent from his assist duties in Smash Ultimate, however. Perhaps this means he could be heading our way in the form of DLC? It’s something to be considered.

But I’m not going to be talking about either of these potential fighters. While they would both be great choices, and I would be excited to see either of them enter the fray, I thought of a Kid Icarus character that would make an even better addition!

It’s the God of Death himself, the villainous (and incredibly goofy) THANATOS!

CharacterChecklistThanatos

In the original Kid Icarus, Thanatos was nothing more than a throw-away enemy, portrayed as a big snake that took part in the final battle with Medusa. But in Uprising, he was re-imagined into the shape-shifting, genie-like form you see in the picture above (even though he was still a minor villain, in the grand scheme of things).

And yup, you read that correctly: He’s a shape-shifter. As in he can turn into whatever he wants. In the Kid Icarus games, he’s taken the form of the above mentioned snake, a bat, a sword, and a… foot? Yeah, a giant foot. And that’s just a few examples of Thanatos’ strength. Considering he can take the form of anything he desires, that can lead to limitless potential for a Smash Bros moveset!

He could take the form of other Kid Icarus villains and monsters in order to use their attacks, or change his limbs and body into any number of different weapons and objects. There’s really no end to how creative they could be when coming up with a fighting style for him. He’s a character that you could basically do whatever you want with, and no matter how goofy you make his attacks, it would fit his eccentric personality perfectly. Thanatos truly provides a chance to make a unique fighter like no other!

For his Final Smash, why not have him change into his original incarnation: a giant serpent that takes a bite out of the opposition! And seeing that he is the God of Death, it would make sense for this to potentially lead to a instant KO.

True, trying to find a satisfying way to make a character that can become ANYTHING might be trickier than it sounds. There’s so many directions you could take the character, it could be challenging to find the perfect balance of making him creative, fun to play as, and not overpowered. But all the same, I think he would be a perfect, unexpected entrant in the Smash series! Thanatos may not be a major threat in the Kid Icarus games themselves, but he certainly has the potential to become a fantastic Smash Bros combatant!

So whaddya think of my choice? Is Thanatos the perfect Kid Icarus entrant, or would you rather have a more notable character make an appearance? Be sure to let me know through a comment or two! I’d love to hear what you think.

But for now, that’s all from me. Sparky is signing off for now! I’ll catch you later.

The 64 Showcase: Hey You, Pikachu! and Super Smash Bros.

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It just occurred to me that I never made a post here for the last 64 Showcase I did, and I’ve posted another one since! So here’s a double feature: one for the new Pokemon, and one for the new Smash Bros!

Hope you enjoy! Sparky is signing off for now!

Smash Bros Character Checklist: The Fire Emblem Series

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By this point, all of the characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate have been revealed. With a staggering 76 playable characters from across multiple game franchises, game genres, and game companies, this latest entry in the Smash Bros series is shaping up to be one of the best games ever. Not just one of the best games in the series, not just one of the best games on the Switch, and not just one of the best games from Nintendo. But one of the best games PERIOD.

Of course, the roller coaster ride of guessing who’s going to be in the game had to stop somewhere. And unfortunately I still have a few character wishes that have been left in the dust. But even though every character in the base game has been revealed, there is a silver lining: six DLC characters are currently in development, and only one of them has been revealed. That means there are still five mystery characters on the way, and the Character Checklist must continue!

And as we continue, we’re going to discuss the Fire Emblem franchise. The tactical RPG series has humble roots, remaining unknown to most gamers until Super Smash Bros Melee on the Gamecube. The games were exclusive to Japan for the longest time. But Melee brought protagonists Marth and Roy around the world and introduced Nintendo fans everywhere to the series.

From that point onward, Fire Emblem games began to see worldwide release (partly thanks to Melee, and partly thanks to the then recent success of the similar Wars series). The games continued to see representation in Smash Bros as well, with Ike being added to the third game, Super Smash Bros Brawl.

But while the series retained some popularity, it wasn’t nearly as successful as the likes of Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon. In fact, sales were poor enough that Fire Emblem as a whole was on the verge of being permanently retired at one point. The future was very uncertain for the franchise.

But then Fire Emblem Awakening happened.

Awakening was massively successful, and what was once meant to potentially be the final game in the series ended up reviving it. It’s the only Fire Emblem game to have more the one character representing it in Smash: echo fighters Lucina and Chrom hail from Awakening, as does the master tactician Robin.

Add in Fire Emblem Fates protagonist Corrin, and the series went from having a measly two characters representing it to SEVEN by Smash Ultimate. To put that into perspective, Nintendo giants Mario and Pokemon have nine and ten representatives respectively. And with the Zelda series only having six playable characters, Fire Emblem takes third place in number of characters on the Ultimate roster. Talk about a massive popularity boost!

It’s to the point that some Smash fans are getting sick of the number of Fire Emblem characters being included in Smash. And it’s understandable, to some degree: all of them are sword wielding fighters, a majority of them have a counter attack Down-B Special, and four of the seven share a base play style. They could be seen as unoriginal, throw-away character choices, with Robin and Corrin being the most unique out of the bunch.

So I wanted to think of a character that could be a another unique addition: a fighter with a lot of variety, that could make both Fire Emblem fans and Smash Bros fans happy. And honestly, it wasn’t easy. I only have three finished Fire Emblem games under my belt, so my experience with the series is slim. But I think I’ve come up with a good one!

It’s the Fire Emblem series’ one true recurring character, ANNA!

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Most Fire Emblem games have a unique cast of characters, with the exception of direct sequels and remakes. There really isn’t a consistent line up of heroes and villains like with Mario or Metroid. But Anna is a special case: she’s appeared in nearly every Fire Emblem title. Or at least, one of them has. Because as it turns out, there’s more than one! A whole crew of nearly identical sisters all with the same name. Having so many version of her to choose from makes a great opportunity for multiple costume choices!

While she was a non-playable character for a very long time, starting with Fire Emblem Awakening she became a recruitable unit for battle. She’s even since become one of the main characters in the story of Fire Emblem Heroes, commanding the Order of Heroes. Needless to say, she’s an important character in modern Fire Emblem, and also significant to the history of the series. She would make a perfect addition to the Smash Roster, and would no doubt please Fire Emblem fans with her inclusion.

But what would make her a good fighter? What would set her apart from the other Fire Emblem characters in Smash? For me, it all comes down to her weapons. Sure Anna has fought with a sword like so many other Fire Emblem representatives. But having multiple incarnations of the character means she’s used a multitude of tools as well. Anna has been shown to use a staves, bows, and an axes too. If you were to combine all of these weapons together, it would give you a jack-of-all-trades sort of fighter that would be completely unique to every other Fire Emblem character in Smash.

I imagine she would end up being an energetic fighter of many different talents, and I would love to see what the Smash team could come up with for that style of combat. And the best part would be her Final Smash: summoning in all her sisters from across the Fire Emblem series to deliver a massive beat down! That would be awesome to see.

So what do you think of my suggestion? Would Anna make a good addition to Smash, or would you rather see someone else take to the battlefield? Or maybe you would like Fire Emblem to make some room for other franchises? Let me know in a comment!

Till next time, Sparky is signing off! Here’s looking forward to finally playing Smash Ultimate soon!