Smash Bros Character Checklist: The Mario Series

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I. Freaking. Love. Super Smash Bros. Ever since I first saw that glorious commercial for the original game on Nintendo 64, I knew I was in for something amazing. To this day, Super Smash Bros remains my favorite video game series, and each game just keeps getting better.

To many gamer’s surprise, Nintendo announced the return of the series on the Nintendo Switch almost out of nowhere the other day. Everyone knew it was going to happen at some point, but I don’t think anyone expected an announcement for a Smash Bros game to happen before E3. The trailer was just a small teaser, and didn’t tell us much, aside from the addition of the Splatoon Inklings to the character roster. But regardless, it was enough to get the hype train rolling once more, and get everyone speculating about who’s going to make the cut in Nintendo’s next huge crossover fighting game.

Topping the character roster from Super Smash Bros for 3DS and Super Smash Bros for Wii U will be no easy task. The duo of games, collectively known as Smash 4, had a huge 58 character roster, with 8 additional fighters being represented as alternate costumes for existing characters. Smash Bros for Switch promises to be gigantic, and everyone has their own thoughts on who’s going to be joining the fray. And of course, that includes me.

So I’m starting off what I’m calling the Smash Bros Character Checklist, where I talk about characters I would like to see join the battle! I’m going to be going through the existing represented Nintendo games, series by series, and discussing who I think from that series would make a good addition to the cast. These aren’t going to be detailed analyses of what the character’s complete move-sets would be or anything; just my general thoughts on what the characters would play like, and why I think they should be included in the game. And starting us off, of course, is the Mario series.

Now, the main series Mario titles already have plenty of representation in the Smash Bros titles. There’s Mario and his Doctor counterpart, his brother Luigi, the lovely Princess Peach, and Mario Galaxy’s Rosalina. We also can’t forget the big baddie Bowser and his son, Bowser Jr. If you count the fact that the seven Koopalings also serve as Bowser Jr’s alternate costumes, that brings the total Mario characters up to fourteen. I think most agree that the Mario series has plenty of representation at this point, so adding more characters almost seems a bit silly.

But… there’s someone missing, isn’t there? A main series Mario character, often playable in games, that isn’t among the other main characters? Why, it’s Toad of course! It seems strange to have every other Mario character under the sun, and not include one of the longest running characters in the series as a Smash fighter. Though there is the small problem that Toad serves as one of Princess Peach’s special moves. So why not make the playable Toad a different Toad? Make it… Captain Toad!

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Starting off as a minor supporting roll in Super Mario Galaxy, Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade grew into characters of their own. The sometimes cowardly treasure hunter is now a mainstay of the series, with his own title game that’s soon going to be re-released on the Nintendo Switch. He would be a perfect fit to represent his Toad brethren in a new Smash Bros!

Like other playable Toads before him, I envision Captain Toad as a quick character with a good deal of strength behind his attacks. Though he would most likely sport the poor jumping ability of other Toads as well. Considering he doesn’t have a jump button at all in his game, maybe he should invest in a smaller backpack for his Smash Bros debut?

He would be a lot like Little Mac in a way. But in order to differentiate him from the small-stature boxer, Captain Toad would sport an arsenal of tools from his treasure hunting expeditions. He would have his pickaxe handy for Smash Attacks, and he could even borrow Princess Peach’s vegetable-picking attack for his Down-B Special (perhaps he could occasionally unearth heavy treasures, instead of vegetables, in order to deal extra damage?). The Captain could even make use of his headlamp for a Neutral-B Special, charging the light up to temporarily blind his opponents.

His alternate costumes would be easy to come up with: give him colors representing the other members of the Toad Brigade! He could even have an alternate costume that turns him into Toadette, similar to the gender-swapped costumes of Robin, Corrin, and Wii Fit Trainer. That way you could have another character added to the game, without taking up a spot in the character roster. Plus it would add to the number of female characters in the game as a whole.

Overall, I think Captain Toad would be the perfect choice to fill in what feels like a large hole in the cast of Mario characters represented in Super Smash Bros. He can be a modern AND classic Nintendo character rolled into one! Here’s hoping the development team feels the same way as I do. I’d love to see him make it in!

So what does everyone else think of my choice? Would Captain Toad make a good Mario representative, or do you have another character in mind? I hear that Paper Mario is a popular choice, and there’s always characters like Princess Daisy and Waluigi (though would Waluigi count as a Wario series character? That’s something to think about…). Either way, tell me what you think! I’d love to hear fellow Smash-Fan’s thoughts on the matter!

I’m planning to continue the Smash Bros Character Checklist in the future, so be sure to look out for posts on other characters and franchises I think would be a perfect fit for Super Smash Bros!  Until then, keep on playing! Sparky is signing off for now.

New Video Series: Luigi’s Mansion “A-Rank Run”

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It’s October, the month of spooks and specters! So why not play a game about them? Here comes Luigi’s Mansion, and my quest to get a whole bunch of sparkly treasure! I’m aiming for an A-Rank at the end of the game!

Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel in order to stay up to date on the project! That’s all I have to say for now, though. Sparky is signing off for now!

New Video Series: Sonic Adventure DX “Choose Your Own Let’s Play”

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It’s been a little while since I’ve done something like this, but a short time ago I began uploading a new Let’s Play project! I’m playing through Sonic Adventure DX for the Nintendo Gamecube, but I’m trying something different with this: I’m calling it a Choose Your Own Let’s Play.

What does that mean exactly? Well, SADX is a game divided up into several character based stories. Normally, when you see this game uploaded, it would be uploaded in a specific order, character by character. But I’m uploading all of the character stories simultaneously, so you the viewer can choose what order you watch the series in!

My intention with this is to give the watcher the same freedom of choice as if they were playing the game themselves: picking and choosing what stories they experience when. It’s a concept I hope to expand upon with other games, and I hope it’s fun for the viewer, too!

So please, enjoy! I already have several videos up at the time of posting this. Big the Cat and E-102 “Gamma”‘s stories actually finished uploading today! They’re surprisingly shorter than I remember. But here’s the introduction video to the series! Be sure to check in on Youtube for further updates to the series, and more videos to come! Sparky is signing out for now!

 

A Call to Arms (Arms First Impressions)

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In the seemingly never ending wait for new content on the Nintendo Switch, there is shining light in the distance, just a couple weeks away: Arms is a Nintendo-made unique spin on the fighting-game genre. Every character has stretchy arms (or some equivalent) and they take each other on in the most intense style of boxing and tests of skill imaginable. And it comes complete with bombs, fire, ice, electricity, robot suits, mummies, laser-shooting-dragon-head attachments, and unidentifiable piles of goo with fists.

Over the past couple weekends, Nintendo has been running a special demo version of the game called the Arms Global Testpunch. Nintendo Switch users from all over were able to get a taste of the game, playing online against other players experiencing the game for the first time, myself included. So, I felt like it would be fun to voice my opinion on the whole thing! There was only so much players were allowed to experience, but the online sessions I did manage to jump in on were a lot of fun.

Let’s get started on this little analysis, shall we? I’ll divide up different subjects about the game, and lists the pros and cons I feel were presented in the demo.

  • Graphics and Music: 
    • Pro: This game looks really, really good. It’s nice and colorful, it runs smoothly, and the characters and stages all look unique and are a joy to see in motion. The music is equally great, and the main theme can stick in your head pretty easily (as a good main theme to a game should).
    • Con:  I can’t think of any major negative aspects I would think are important enough to bring up. Some of the character designs didn’t seem quite as good as others (I don’t really care much for Ribbon Girl or Helix design-wise), but that’s really a non-issue.
  • Gameplay and Control
    • Pro: Your basic Arms match is a one-on-one fight, you and an opponent in the ring together. The standard fighting game rules apply: knock your opponent’s health down to zero, and you win! And with unique character abilities and a bunch of different styles of weapons (called Arms, of course) you can attach to you stretchy limbs, finding the combination of fighter and tools that suits you best is an experience of its own. There’s also two-vs-two gameplay where you team up with a partner, and a boss battle mode of sorts where three players join forces to take down a baddie called Headlok (who is literally a giant metal head that locks himself onto another fighters body. Get it? Headlok?). But there’s also a target punching mode, volleyball, and a basketball game where you use your opponent as the ball. It’s a good variety, to say the least!
    • Pro: The game has multiple control modes, and the one mainly featured in the demo is what’s called the “Thumbs Up Grip” mode. You play holding each half of the Joycon controller in your two hands, and you play the game mostly through motion control. You dodge, block, and punch all through the movements of your hands, and it’s AWESOME. This is motion control done right, making you feel like a part of the game! Of course, if you’re looking for something more standard, there are normal controller options too. But I feel like the true way to play is by swing your own fists! It makes for a good workout that way, too!
    • Con: I’d say the main problem with the controls is that maybe the game can be a little TOO sensitive in Thumbs Up mode at times. Like I mentioned, your movement, defending, and fighting are all done through the motion control. In the heat of a fight, depending on how you move your hands or the direction you hold the controllers in, you could end up blocking or throwing out a grab when you didn’t mean to, and it could cost you the game. You have to pay veeeeery close attention to what your hands are doing. And when your adrenaline gets pumping in the middle of a fight, that’s not the easiest thing in the world. Perhaps a normal control style can be more suitable for this game? I suppose it depends on the player.
  • Online Play
    • Pro: A big issue with Nintendo games in the past is the sometimes shoddy online play. Even the recently released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is reportedly having issues. That being said, this doesn’t seem to be the case with Arms. The demo, after all, was online play only. And every motion of the controller, every button press, and every impact of my punches felt spot-on with no delay (not counting the occasional lagging connection with an opponent). Of course, this could change once the game is released and more people are playing online more regularly, but as it stands, Arms might be the best online experience for a Nintendo game to date.
    • Con: At least, it is the best when the game doesn’t randomly drop you. I had this strange issue where every 20 minutes or so, I would be given an error code and kicked out of the online lobby, even when I was in the middle of a fight. It could have been an issue with my internet, or maybe just an issue with the demo itself. And even when I did get kicked, I was able to jump right back online almost immediately with no problem. So I’m not sure what was up with that. I’d be interested to hear if other people experienced the same issue. Hopefully it doesn’t persist when the full game launches.

And that about covers my opinion on Arms so far! Overall, aside from the occasional oddity, it made a really good impression. Even if you didn’t manage to catch the demo periods, I would highly recommend picking up the full game when it launches on June 16th! I know I am.

Thank you for reading my little blurb on what could be Nintendo’s next smash-hit game. I would be well deserved for this to become a best seller for the system! Until next time, Sparky is signing off!

(I might even have a main fighter already! Mechanica is my jam!)