About The Next Super Smash Bros
The Switch 2 has been announced. That means the there's probably going to be another Super Smash Bros game in development if it isn't already. You don't have to look far for rumors and speculation about what characters will make an appearance.
I was watching Game Maker's Toolkit's video on How a Super Smash Bros. Fighter is Designed today, and I was reminded of the fact that Sakurai chose to include Wolf instead of Krystal in Super Smash Bros Brawl to save on time (see 4:31 in the video).
It's important to remember that game development is a huge endeavor that takes a lot of hard work by many people, especially on a game series as large and popular as Super Smash Bros. Sakurai has said the next game in the series would have to reduce the size of the character roster, as what they did with Ultimate was the limit of what was feasible. That's probably realistic. 89 characters is an absurd number given how unique the characters are, even excluding Echo Fighters.
To that end, I would like to propose an idea to think about. If we're going to have to reduce the number of characters, why not have a meta-theme of "Sideline"? There are tons of characters from popular series that are sidekicks, secondary characters, or less-common variants on popular characters, or characters who ALMOST made it into Smash Bros, but didn't quite make the cut. Keep the core characters, Mario, Link, Samus, Fox, Pikachu, and the like, reducing the main characters down to 10 to 12 representatives of their series. Then, the rest of the roster of maybe 40-50 characters could be filled with fighters who have never fought in a Smash Bros game before.
Obviously, Krystal would be my pick. But it's crazy that Paper Mario has never appeared as a fighter given how unique his moveset could be. Geno would be a popular choice, as would Waluigi. Skull Kid from Zelda could be there. Isaac from Golden Sun would make for an interesting fighter. There would be room for new third party characters too, like Shantae, Shadow the Hedgehog, or even Master Chief.
What do you think? There's no avoiding controversy no matter what happens, and I do think it's reasonable to reduce the roster. Since you can't please all the fans of existing fighters by whittling down the list, why not bite the bullet and provide the most room for new faces as possible?
That's my idea anyway. What do you think? And besides Krystal, what other characters would you like to see in Smash Bros that have never been a fighter before?
Comments
That’s honestly very disheartening to learn that they were possibly considering Krystal, but ended up giving her the axe due to time constraints… As much as I love wolf, I think she would have been great.
I used to watch the new fighter reveals videos with great enthusiasm at first, but as they went on, my excitement in them waned and I started tuning into them just for morbid curiosity rather than actually learning who was coming next. …. Like when Terry Bogart was revealed, I remember thinking: “hmmm, I vaguely remember him from the arcade game that used to sit in the Walmart vestibule back in 1993 when I was a kid… Wonder why they picked him…”
If I were to share my personal new fighter choices, I would definitely pick Krystal and Waluigi, and as for third party inclusions…. Spyro and Crash Bandicoot would be pretty cool as well.
Now, if Sakurai was actually serious in his recent interview with putting “real life historical characters” in it… (God I hope he’s joking) Then we need Bob Ross… His final smash could be some sort of “Happy little trees” power move.
If there could be a Paper Mario character, I would like to see Vivian. I don’t know if she’d make a good fighter, but I just like her. Paper Mario himself could appear, like how there’s Link/Toon Link, but another Mario Clone wouldn’t be fun imo.
I so want Krystal from Star Fox playable in Smash at long last, able to show never before used by her staff moves.
Also Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown and Krystal and Haohmaru should share their reveal trailer.
Ryo Sakazaki, third SNK playable rep in Smash.
Shantae from Shantae.
I want Urbosa from Breath of the Wild.
Ethel from Xenoblade 3
Elma from Xenoblade X
Hyde from Under Night In-Birth
Alex from Street Fighter
M. Bison from Street Fighter
Jin Kazama, echo of Kazuya with a different in moves.
Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon
Assist Trophies:
Wolfgang Krauser
Billy Kane
Amy Rose
Lee Pai Long from Art of Fighting
Genjuro Kibagami from Samurai Shodown
General Scales
Ibuki from Street Fighter
Puppet Master from Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Gussun from Gussun Oyoyo
Fiona from Xenoblade
Gordeau from under Night In-Birth
Vega (Claw) from Street Fighter
Reno from Final Fantasy
Jessica from Dragon Quest
Chin Taimei from Double Dragon
i don’t know anymore, i’ll just be suprise whomever nintendo or sakurai chooses to put in but if it turn up like “smash bros. ultimate” – i’ll skip the game, since it loss it’s fun factor since it has that randomize meteor smash and cpu ai is mostly a camper sitting at the edge and just spamming it’s projectile at you.