You thought we were just going to stop at MK8? Clearly Nintendo weren’t, having opened up the flood gates of downloadable content to other games in their catalogue. Nintendo seem to have the right-ish idea of how to go about DLC, for the moment, with Mewtwo has already being confirmed as being available to owners of both versions of the game some time soon. Sakurai-sama has even stated that future DLC for the game is a possibility, which, naturally, we few fanboys here at GameCloud take as gospel. So what would we like to see come out of potential downloadable content in the future? Paddy and Lliam have some ideas…
I’m not the biggest fan of Mario in existence, there are lesser Nintendo characters that are far dearer to my heart than the mustachioed one. Even still, I feel like maybe Nintendo are neglecting their mascot and ignoring what his franchise is truly capable of. Mario’s had some pretty trippy adventures over the years and there have been some bizarre characters that would make neat additions to Smash’s colourful line up. Fat villains, skinny villains, ones that munch on rocks (there’s probably been at least one, right?), but Smash isn’t just about who can throw a punch or let fly a kick to the face. It’s about a clash of personalities, too, and those who enter the tourney have to really stand out. So when it comes to characters from the Mario universe that are so dazzlingly… “unique,” I almost instantly think of…
Booster
In my mind, there’s no stranger character in the Mario universe than Booster. In Super Mario RPG, this deranged, bearded, pseudo-monarch locks himself away in a tower and then tries to marry the first woman who falls into his lap. Literally, Peach falls from the sky and onto Boosters tower balcony, which in Boosters mind means that he’s been gifted a wife from the sky. So he looks the part and is sufficiently berko enough to enter a no-holds barred fighting tournament with anthropomorphic animals and Gods, but can he fight?
Booster was one of THE hardest fights in that entire game, powerful enough to completely flatten your team in just a few rounds and Lord help you if he KO’s your healer. Wario’s smash attack, where he winds up his arm and then throws out a giant fist, is taken from Booster’s arsenal of attacks. He could summon his Snifits to race onto the field and rush his enemy, stunning them so that Booster can get in a cheap shot. He could pull out any number of the various contraptions from around his tower to trap or launch opponents. The sky’s the limit for Booster’s prospects. Maybe for his Final Smash he’d just drag them off to Marrymore… ugh…
Booster Tower
Aside from the potential for some awesome, albeit creepy, NPC monsters to come flying out and slap fighters around, Booster’s Tower is home to enough crazy (possibly clinically?) happenings to make for a good Smash stage. You could have the portraits that hide the giant Chain Chomp out there for fighters to accidentally smash, each one carrying the possibility of unleashing their prisoner on the hapless character. Maybe there’d be a section that could allow fighters to run behind a screen, briefly transforming them into their original game appearances – it wouldn’t have to change how they fight, it would just look neat. It could all lead to a brief stint on one of the Tower’s many balcony’s where the two Clown Bosses fling you off, ending with a run down the hill while you’re chased by barrels and Snifits. Seriously, Nintendo – call me.
Remo Con Horde
I’m not a big fan of items in Smash, so I figured I’d go for one of the new additions to the franchise of which I’m much more fond – the Stage Bosses. Remo Con weren’t really bosses, they were puppet minions which ran about Boosters Tower and attacked Mario’s party. (Hee hee.) Even without that coveted boss status though, just look at these things. Ever had a nightmare about puppets? You will now.
These guys weren’t especially powerful and, in fact, wouldn’t even attack you on their own, but they still had ways of unsettling me as a player. Their general appearance is creepy enough, but these guys had an ability called “Eerie Jig” which could turn the fighters in your party into Scarecrows. Imagine you’re fighting with your friends in the level I described above. The setting is a little unusual, sure, but the bizarre happenings lend themselves to the light-hearted Smash chaos already going on. Suddenly the level stops on a dark level in the middle of Boosters tower and a troupe of these things come dancing out from the sides of the screens. Swinging their hammers around them as they creepily contort their limbs, they’ll transform any fighters they hit into Scarecrows before boogieing off screen.
I have mixed feelings about the Zelda stuff in Smash for Wii U and 3DS. I love Link’s moves in this one; the way his roll matches the Z-targeting back-flips he’s been doing for years, and his running attack matches that from almost every Zelda. On the other hand, Ganondorf and Toon Link are still pretty much just clones. Sure, Ganon’s slower, stronger renditions of Captain Falcon’s moves work as a character, but why not just let him use the sword he clearly has in some of his standard attack animations too?
Toon Link makes sense as a clone (seeing as he’s a different incarnation of the same dude), but I was hoping for some Wind Waker moves this time. If nothing else, it’d be a way to show off more of Link’s cool stuff there’s no room for in his move-set, right? A Deku Leaf up-special, an Iron Boots down-special (think Kirby’s), and a Skull Hammer forward-special that buries foes, not unlike DK’s. It writes itself!
Despite this and the absence of the Pirate Ship stage though, I was more disappointed by the lack of new Zelda stuff – apart from items. Yeah, Skyloft is a cool stage and Hyrule Temple’s back, but where are the new characters? No, separating Zelda and Sheik doesn’t count. We’ve got 9 Mario characters now (11 if you include the Kongs), so where the Hylians at? Well, they’re assist trophies, but they’d make awesome playable characters.
Midna & Wolf Link
I consider Midna to be one of the coolest Zelda characters. The Twilight Princess herself has moxie, she’s got weird hand-hair (beat Bayonetta to it), and she’s just super interesting to look at. In TP she rides on your back while you play as Wolf Link, so I think they’d make a nice team here – maybe they could give the Duck Hunt Duo a run for their money.
As far as combat prowess goes, there are only so many attacks a wolf is capable of – luckily there’s a weird other-worldly sprite on his back. Link could use he’s normal biting attacks from TP as well as his speedy lunge attack. He could even dig opponents into the ground; Villager gets away with it. Midna’s crazy twilight powers could handle the rest; what can’t you do with giant hands made out of hair? Probably most things, but I’m sure you could beat up some space foxes and 2D sausage-flingers. Maybe the final smash could involve Midna’s real form, or some of those weird lanky square head twilight monstrosities. Sakurai does seem to like Twilight Princess, after all.
Ghirahim
There are plenty of sword wielders in the Smash roster as is, but I’d like to make room for the flamboyant Demon Lord with attitude. His tongue waggling, diamond related antics were as entertaining as they were creepy in Skyward Sword, and I think he’s one of the more memorable non-Ganon Zelda baddies (no disrespect Zant or Vaati, you guys are cool too).
With a bit of extrapolation, his SS attacks could make up a pretty cool moveset. I’m thinking of it as floppy-Marth. He could teleport much like Zelda herself, shoot some diamonds out from his sword, and have several tongue-based taunts. What would make this character though, are his counters. Jumping on top of an opponent’s sword isn’t too viable for all fighters, but maybe they could work that into a jumpy head kick, sort of like Zero Suit Samus. The way Ghirahim catches Link’s sword in SS could totally work here though. Imagine a counter much like Ike or Little Mac’s, but Ghirahim catches the attack, forcing the attacker to mash a button to be released. Ghirahim could get a smash in while they’re stunned after breaking free, and others could get some punches in while the victim is locked in place. Make it happen Nintendo.
We’re not quite done yet, there’s still more DLC we want to see and a second part to this Smash edition of the series. Is there something you think should have been on here? Something you think that shouldn’t have been? Do you think we’re focusing on the wrong game altogether, like the plebs we are, and should be paying homage to another, much more worthy title? Let us know! You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook to show off your brilliance to the world (or maybe just the rest of Perth), or email us at info@gamecloud.net.au!
Lliam Ahearn
