User blog:BlurayOriginals/The Bluriginals Blogs Episode 3: Super Smash Bros. Predictions: Veterans Part 1

THE FOLLOWING EPISODE OF BLURIGINALS RRR WAS WRITTEN 5/12/14 AND AS SUCH, MAY BE SLIGHTLY OUTDATED. THANKS With E3 coming in close there’s little doubt we’ll be getting a/some new character reveal(s). Whether or not they’ll be veterans or newcomers is up to anyone’s guess. What isn’t up to guess anymore however is the release date with the 3DS version launching from anytime In June to September. We know the 3DS and Wii U are sharing a roster which means character slots are probably running short, and with 21 remaining veterans fighting for a slot in a roster already made of 30 characters, things are sure to get heated up. So today in celebration of SSB4, I’m going to countdown all 21 of our remaining veterans and see which ones I think have the best shot in this slowly concluding roster. Let’s Begin.

1.) Captain Falcon


Let’s start off strong, with the fire fisted Captain Douglas Jay Falcon. Being the only representative of his series certainly helps his chances of returning. Oh yeah, he’s also Captain friggin’ Falcon. One of the original 12 as well as an extremely popular smasher. He’s slightly held back by a lack of new installments since 2004 but I highly doubt that’ll stop this beloved veeteran. Samurai Goroh was even confirmed back in the Direct as an assist trophy. I think it’d be pretty weird to remove the main character but keep his rival at assist status. Of course there is (the extremely) week chance C.Falcon has joined Goroh as an assist trophy but we doubt the fierry falcon would flee from the fray to become assistance. Captain Falcon gets a solid 5/5; definitely returning.

Super Mario


Mario has had a total of 10 representatives (well, 6 if you don’t include spin-offs) and all of them (even Dr.Mario, after all he IS Mario) are important Nintendo characters who, brought their own charm/personality to Smash. 8/10 of the Mario roster is here, with only 2 left. Wario and Dr.Mario.

Let’s start with the more prominent/important of the two:

2.) Wario


Let’s see: a main Mario character (✓), with their own spin-off series (✓), who still appears frequently in Mario (✓) and is highly beloved among fans. Yeah, it’s pretty obvioux Wario was returning. 5/5.

3.) Dr.Mario


Now Dr.Mario is a bit different. He’s simply a minor alias of the main character, making it no surprise he was removed from Brawl. Had this been prior to October I’d be 90% sure he isn’t coming back. However things have changed since then and we’ve met two new challenger.



Or rather, what would’ve been challengers in Melee and Brawl turned into the long desired “alternate costume”. With this highly desired new feature, characters like Daisy, Dry Bowser and Dr.Mario can step into the ring, providing more depth and content whiel not interfering with the roster. With this in mind I give Dr.Mario a 3.5/5, and highly anticipate his return in some capacity.

The Legend of Zelda


Just like Mario, Zelda still has two remaining veterans. Just like Mario one is an important character (and antagonist) while the other is a minor clone/alter ego of the same character. Coincidentally, both series are part of Nintendo’s most powerful triad



So let’s structure them the same and start with the enemy character.

4.) Ganondorf


Since the release of Skyward Sword, the dark prince Ganondorf has been put under fire. Many people theorize Ghirahim will join or replace him. A surprising amount of people are expecting Ghirahim to replace him due to Ganondorf not doing anything in the series since Twilight Princess (in fact, other than Ocarina of Time 3D, Brawl WAS his last appearance). All I have to say to that is



Take a look at this.



Notice something? Other than debatebly Rosalina and Dr.Mario, everyone there is a main character of their respective franchise. Pokémon being the exception as its roster is based upon popularity and even then, all of its characters were relevant and prominent at the time of their inclusion (excluding Pokémon Trainer but you know, gotta give those Genwunners their fanservice). Next notice introduction order: Mario, Luigi, Peach + Bowser, Rosalina; Fox, Falco, Wolf; Donkey, Diddy; Link, Zelda + Ganondorf. Notice it yet? Main protagonists ALWAYS included first, normally succeeded by/added in addition with antagonists. Now who would you rather have.



Yeah. It’s to no surprise I think Ganondorf is coming back, 5/5. Besides, I’m pretty sure that during Brawl’s release people may have thought Zant was replacing Ganondorf and while it’s different this time with Ganon not Ganon jacking in Skyward Sword we highly doubt that a one-off baddy will be replacing the main antagonist of the franchise.

5.) Young Link


Sadly, unlike Dr.Mario I can’t say I feel as strong about Young Link’s chances of returning. Where Dr.Mario is a costume Young Link is a strange entity. He walks a line between Link and Toon Link, not tall enough to be an alternate for Link but with a such a similar build that he can’t be Toon Link. For those who don’t know video game characters’ models have skeletons. These skeletons are normally specifically delegated to one character. If you notice in Wii Fit the male trainer clearly has a bigger build that the female trainer but they’ve been changed to be nearly identical as if they have to redo the character’s skeleton, they have to redo all the animations and hitboxes and at that point you might as well call it another character. I’m not sure if alt costumes can be different from their base characters and as such I can’t give Young Link more than a ⅖. Although, he does have relevance on his side due to Ocarina of Time 3D’s release and Gerudo Valley’s presence on 3DS version. We can only wait for now...only time will tell…

i have no regrets

Ice Climber


The retro trio: The Ice Climbers, Mr.G&W and R.O.B. Technically there’s 4 of them but whatever. Let’s start with Ice Climbers.

6.) Ice Climbers


Oh Ice Climbers. Since day 1 everyone has claimed SSB4 as you death date. For those who don’t know during E3 2013 Sakurai stated him and his team were having trouble implementing Ice Climbers styled characters. Roll the clip!



Now this many come off as an attempt to not directly say “we’re having trouble programming Popo & Nana” and it mary very well be. However, the way Sakurai words it implies three possible options
 * Case 1- We’re having trouble programming Popo & Nana but are wording it in a way as not to reveal them.
 * Case 2- We have other Ice Climber style characters planned
 * Case 3- By Ice Climber style characters, we’re referring to Olimar and Rosalina

Number 2 isn’t relevant here but I had to mention it (hint hint). However #3 does shed some light on Popo and Nana’s sitch.

If Ice Climbers styled characters is referring to Olimar and Rosalina then I believe Popo and Nana are safe. Where Olimar doesn’t help as Pikmin are basically living and walking status inducing projectiles (no offense, I still love you Pikmin XOXOXOXO) Rosalina does. Rosalina & Luma are a much more complex team than Popo and Nana. Where the Climbers simply copy each other Luma is an entirely different character with an entirely different movesent than Rosalina, not to mention Luma can stray away from Rosalina and fight on his own. I’m no programmer but I think duplication would be much easier than making two different fighters.

Of course if it is simply case 1 I doubt Sora and Namco Bandai would be held back by such a thing. The Ice Climbers are Meleelanders and help represent part of Nintendo’s retro era and as we’ve seen, Sakurai and team LOVE representing Nintendo history. The polar bear’s appearance in Smash Run does help their chances, like Falcon and Goroh. They could also do something similar to transformations and remove Nana complettely making her an alt costume for Popo or vice versa. With Rosalina’s inclusion though, I don’t expect the climbers to be going anywhere. ⅗.

7.) Mr.Game & Watch


Not much holding this guy back. He’s retro, debuted in Melee and his appearance in Smash period is in dedication to Gunpei Yokoi a person who helped form Nintendo into the giant it is today. I don’t really see the digital dueler going anywhere. ⅘.

8.) R.O.B


R.O.B is a bit of a strange character. As we all know since Melee every game has introduced an unexpected wildcard character. Melee introduced the extremely retro G&W. Brawl introduced the peripheral that helped advertise the NES as a toy, R.O.B. Wii U and 3DS introduced the health instructor from the extremely casually marketed Wii Fit. Mr.Game & Watch seemed to be a one-offer included for laughs/tributes but it’s obvious Sakurai and the team value them as smashers as made evident with his return in Brawl. Whether Mr.Game & Watch returned for Gunpei or because he’s become a classic smasher, we don’t know. Regardless he’s a high valued smasher where as R.O.B….has this one off sort of feeling. I’ll give R.O.B a ⅗, I think he’ll get the Game & Watch treatment. After all, he and Mario DID help saving the gaming industry.

Pokémon


Depending on if you count Mario and his spin-offs as one Pokémon has matched or long since surpassed the Mario franchise with a total of 9 (10, but we’ll get to that) characters. We already know that Pokémon not has enough characters to have a full 4P fight but would you believe they still has 6 remaining veterans.

This is gonna go into overtime (AKA part 2) so get ready.

Let’s start out by establishing this. If we count the series the way Sakurai likes us to, no series has ever exceeded 6 representatives. The series with 6 representatives was Pokémon in Brawl: Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Lucario, Squirtle, Ivysaur & Charizard. The problem however is that Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard were counted under one slot: Red’s (better known as Pokémon Trainer). With this in mind, Pokémon has already maxed out and filled the quota. Let’s think positively however and assume Pokémon will get 5 or 6 representatives (5 to match Mario and Zelda or 6 to match Brawl). That’s only one/two slots left with six remaining veterans and more potential newcomers (like Blaziken, Sceptile ETC) unless Pokémon is once again going to break the Smash mold, cuts and exclusions are going to have to be made.

Here we have the lowest member of the priority food chain, Pichu.

9.) Pichu


Pichu isn’t the most popular smasher, definitely the least popular Pokémon representative. In fact, next to Brawl Ganondorf he’s probably the least popular smasher. Period. Couple this with the fact his generation, aka his relevance ended 11 years ago and he’s in competition for slots against Jigglypuff and Mewtwo and you’re going to have a bad time. Yeah, it’s no secret that when it comes to the priority barrell Pichu is DEFINITELY at the bottom. “He could possibly be an alternate costume for Pikachu” the Pichu fans say. Pichu has fans? The problem is however that Pichu’s body type is a lot different from Pikachu’s and I doubt they’d be able to use Pikachu’s skeleton due to how much thicker he is. They’d have to make an entirely new skeleton for him and with that new animations and at that point you might as well call him a new character.

At the end of the day, Pichu is an unpopular, irrelevant character who’s stuck at the bottom against five more loved characters. That doesn’t even include potential newcomers. Pichu gets a ⅕.

Next up is Squirtle and Ivysaur who’re being paired together since I pretty much think the same of them

10.) & 11.) Squirtle and Ivysaur


The betrayal is real here. Originally with Red and Charizard they’ve long since been abandoned by their buddies, Red disappearing off the face of the Earth and Charizard flying solo in true Charizard fashion.



''He doesn’t even try. He’s just that cool.''

I wouldn’t count them out just yet though. LET’S TAKE A LOOK.

Squirtle and Ivysaur reside in a strange middle ground of the barrel. When the direct streamed and we learned transformation characters were gone I’m sure the first thing that came to many players’ minds was what was going to happen to Red and his Pokémon. They couldn’t possibly divide the Pokémon into their own separate characters.



Falcon: One to Eight Representatives!!!!

That’s just what you were thinking if you weren’t having a seizure from the pure awesomeness of the direct.

center|300px This girl watched the direct.

Most would whine about agree having 8 Pokémon would be too much pretty cool, but from what we’ve seen in the past, unrealistic. This would mean universally dreaded cuts would need to be made. Now if you know anything about Pokémon and their popularity, it was pretty obvious who’d come back.



''Charizard curbstomps your dreams. Don’t worry, Squirtle’s OK (for now, he’s getting curbstomped second.)''

If you don’t know, Charmander and his evolutions are the most popular of the Kanto starter trio. Charizard is one of the most popular Pokémon period. Squirtle and his evolutions while also popular, never reached Charizard’s level of championship. Bulbasaur and his evolutions not even close to Blastoise. No offense Bulbasaur fans but he’s obviously the buttmonkey starter of the gen.



If one of them had to be cut it’d be Ivysaur no questions. With them being so much less popular than Charizard (along with the fact they aren’t final evolutions, meaning no megalutions) and having much more popular (and sort of more relevant) competitors to deal with, Squirtle and Ivysaur’s chances aren’t too hot. But Charizard’s were.



No regrets on that pun.

I’m going to give Squirtle and Ivysaur a ⅖. They have stiff competition but I’m sure Sakurai and (Nam)co. know about the possible disappointment if they are excluded. Even still I think others come ahead of them on the priority scale.

That’s all for this half. Click this link to see the second part with the other three Pokémon, EarthBound and more.