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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!

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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!

Smash Bros Character Checklist: The Earthbound Series

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Like most fans of the series, I’m always eagerly hopeful to hear more about the Earthbound series, also known as the Mother series, from Nintendo. Earthbound on the Super Nintendo is a fantastic, quirky, strange, and even emotional game. Some may call it overrated, but it’s by far one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played.

While the series only has three games under its belt and fans outside of Japan had been left wanting for more Earthbound content for a long time, the past few years have been good to the series. Earthbound finally got a digital re-release on the Wii U and New 3DS, as well as a spot in the SNES Classic Edition’s lineup of titles. And for the first time ever, the original Mother game, going under the new name Earthbound Beginnings, was given a official release overseas. It was 25 years late in its arrival, but a game series that great is worth waiting for!

And speaking of waiting, fans are STILL waiting for an official translation of Mother 3 to be given to us. Nintendo knows we want it, and they’ve known it for years. But we wait, and wait, and wait, and no official announcement seems to be coming. But I for one am willing to wait patiently, as I can get my Earthbound fix with the other two games, as well as regular content from the series in the Super Smash Bros titles.

Of course, Earthbound hero Ness was one of those characters in the original Smash Bros where I had no clue who he was at first. It wasn’t until many years later that I gained a true appreciation for the series. Once Lucas joined the Smash line up in Brawl, my knowledge of the series had grown, and it peaked my interest in playing as the Mother duo. Because of this, Lucas is now my secondary main fighter (right after Yoshi) in every Smash game he’s shown up in.

But then comes the subject of adding more Earthbound characters to the Smash Roster. The most obvious choice would be the Earthbound Beginnings protagonist Ninten. But making him an individual fighter from Ness and Lucas would be an issue, considering Lucas IS already a partial clone of Ness. Creating a third character that has the same kind of play style would be almost redundant, but making Ninten an Echo fighter of either of the existing Earthbound reps is always an option.

But what about picking a DIFFERENT character from Earthbound Beginnings? The game does have several other protagonists. There’s Lloyd, Ana, Teddy, and even Pippi. And while I’m sure any of them could make for an interesting inclusion in the Smash roster, I feel like none of them really have enough support and popularity behind them to include them as playable fighters. So if not any of the heroes, then who could be brought in to represent the first Mother game? Well… how about the main villain?

Coming from beyond the stars to take over the planet, its the cosmic destroyer Giygas!

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Okay, I’ll be completely honest. I have no idea how Giygas would play in Smash. I really have no conceivable idea of what his moveset could be. I don’t even really know what you would make him LOOK like. The guy doesn’t even have any official art of any kind, the sprite above being the only existing visual reference I know of. All I know is that I want this to happen so very badly.

Including Giygas in Smash would be a case of essentially having to build a character from the ground up, seeing that there’s very little to work off of from his source games. Much like Captain Falcon, the Ice Climbers, or the Duck Hunt Duo, what Giygas could end up doing in Smash would be almost completely original to the character.

Of course, you could pull some reference from the different PSI powers used in Earthbound, since Giygas is known to use them as well. But there is one other point of  interest for a moveset that could be drawn from: the Legendary Pokemon Mewtwo. It’s thought that Mewtwo was inspired by Giygas, specifically his form from Earthbound Beginnings. They do share some physical similarities, and they both have psychic powers of course. While I wouldn’t want Giygas to be an Echo Fighter of Mewtwo, it could be possible to draw some inspiration from how Mewtwo operates in Smash in order to create a playable Giygas.

But even if deciding a moveset for the character would prove to be difficult, there is one part of it that I absolutely know how it should work: his Final Smash.

Picture this: Giygas traps you with his PSI, and the screen starts to warp, morphing into the familiar black and red nightmare from the end of Earthbound. Then, a text box pops up on screen saying “You Cannot Grasp the True Form of Giygas’ Attack!”, and your fighter is then promptly erased from existence (or at least they would be at high damage).

That idea for a Final Smash is almost the sole reason that made me think of Giygas being a playable fighter. And it’s just so perfect, that I DESPERATELY want it to be a reality.

What do you think? Do you like my idea? Do you think I’ll get my wish? Or do you think my idea is about as likely as Mario being cut from Smash Bros all together? Let me know! But for now, Sparky is signing off. See you next time!