I’m a little late to laying out my predictions for this second round of fighters for Super Smash Bros, but I’m going to do it anyway.
Fighter 1: Arms Representation:
I wanted this before Smash came out, but the inclusion of an assist trophy shut down my expectations. I wouldn’t have predicted this before the announcement, but luckily there is still room for speculation. Arms launched with ten fighters. Since then the roster has increased to fifteen, though one is essentially a reskin of one from the base game. When combined with the vagueness of the revel and characters like Olimar, Alf, and Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, the amount of options for who is getting in is vast.
Each fighter in Arms has four different skin colors within Arms. This means without pulling color schemes from other sources, a single character from this game can cover four of the eight costumes. Combined with the way Alf exists as an alternative to Olimar, the one Arms fighter could be a pair of two fighters. If this is the case I think the representative will be Spring Man and Ribbon Girl. Both are the most generic fighters in the game so what makes them unique could be ignored without much lost. Considering that more effort is generally put into this new fighters I could see their abilities represented with Spring Man having increased grapple damage and Ribbon Girl having additional jumps.
Following the Bowser Jr logic, eight fighters could get in by making alternative colors all different characters. If this is the case then I believe the fighters included will be the game’s base roster with the exception of Master Mummy and Byte & Barq. The former is much more bulky than the others and Byte & Barq is two combatants at once.
So the question is how would Spring Man go from Assist trophy to fighter? Well the answer is Springtron. He is a fighter in Arms that was added in after launch that is essentially a robot version of Spring Man. It’d be an easy swap.
So who will be added to represent Arms? My hope is Ribbon Girl is included. She was my go to character in Arms and her ability being tied to jumps makes her an ideal fit. I think it could be just about any of the base game fighters though. I don’t think any of the post launch fighters will be playable. As for the stage I think the best choice would be Snake Park, though I wouldn’t mind Ribbon Ring. The gimmick of Snake Park is hovering platforms that when jumped onto by a fighter move with them until they jump off. In Arms this allows for more vertical combat where the battle is about controlling these platforms. In Smash this could be implemented to allow fighters to bring their ground based combat into the sky. There would certainly be quirks to work out, but it’s a unique setting with it’s skate park theme and it’s got an obvious gimmick. Ribbon Ring has a gimmick as well. It’s simply that the stage is made of destructible boxes. Pretty simple, but again interesting. The other stages are pretty simplistic or share similar themes with ones already in Smash.
Fighter 2: Mario Representative:
Yeah Mario has a lot of fighters in the game already. Even more if you consider how many other properties featured spun off of the popular plumber. This year is his 35th anniversary and if the rumor is true that Nintendo is going big, I think when the rumored range of Mario remasters comes out, likely in June, we will have a new character tied to Mario added to Smash.
So who will this be? I truly think it could be almost anything from any of the games. This could be Geno. This could be Lord Crump. This could be Wart. This could be Waluigi. This could be Fawful. A lot of these characters are from games I haven’t played. Therefore I don’t know what stage they’d bring or what colors their alternative attires would be. I do believe that we will have a character from a Mario game announced as a fighter before the end of 2020.
Fighter 3: Bethesda Representative:
Is this cheating? Probably, but I do believe that one of the fighters coming to Smash will represent a Bethesda franchise. There are only three characters I think have a shot here and of those, only two are realistic. The one that won’t make it is William “B.J.” Blazkowicz. His ties to fighting Nazis isn’t something that can be easily navigated around. The ones that have a shot are the iconic Doom Slayer from the famous and still relevant first person shooter franchise about slaying demons on Mars and in Hell. The other is the Dovahkiin, protagonist of 2011’s Elder Scrolls V, a game that is still played today.
I’ve talked about the Doom Slayer before. He is a character with a lot of history dating back to the 80s. While his games revolve around killing demons in hell in gory fashion, I think he could still work. Take the Gore away and it’s just dancing around the whole hell thing. A stage on Mars by a portal could work fine, though I could see a stage inspired by Eternal or the original working as well.
As for the Dovahkiin there are a plethora of shouts, spells, and weapons to pull from to create an interesting play style. I’d think that the special moves would all be shouts with the default being the classic Fus Roh Dah, because we need to hear Kirby say those words. The only thing I really struggle to think of is a recovery move. The Doom Slayer has his brand new grappling hook at worst. For the Dovahkiin I don’t know. For a stage there are many great locals. I think the coolest would be the “Throat of the World”. A simple layout with an occasional Dragon popping in with some breath. It could even be a traveling stage like Delfino where you travel up the mountain.
It’s likely only one will get in, but at worst I expect both to become Mii fighters.
Fighter 4: Another Microsoft Representative:
With Banjo and Kazooie joining in the last fighter pass, I think there is a good chance we get another. That being said it won’t be another Rare character with a history on Nintendo. That will only happen if Rare Replay in some form is coming to the Nintendo Switch, in which case I’ll be Conker, Joanna Dark, or in the off chance they bring the Xbox 360 games to, Kameo. No the character will be either Master Chief, or an Olimar and Alf style implementation of Steve and Amy, the mascots of Minecraft. Screw it I’ll talk about all of them.
Conker is one I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about before. While Bad Fur Day is rated M, there is enough content to build a clean moveset. The only real question is how much material referencing movies can they get away with. I think Conker is probably the second most desired character from Rare after the Bear and Bird, but I just don’t think he’s that relevant anymore. Sure a lot of characters coming to Smash aren’t that relevant, but this isn’t one I expect a lot would miss if he never arrived.
Joanna Dark is interesting. I forget which YouTube video I heard it from but their were brief and short lived talks about getting Bond in Smash after Goldeneye. Obviously that didn’t happen, but a Perfect Dark item snuck into Melee in the form of the cloaking device. With rumors of a new game in the works for the next Xbox, Smash might be a cool way to reintroduce her to the world. I really don’t have much to say here. I’m not a massive fan of the franchise having no real love for that era of shooters. I just think that she’d be an interesting pull, but her relevance would be tied to the existence of not just a new game, but a port of Rare Replay.
Kameo and Perfect Dark, well it’s prequel, share an interesting history. Both were developed across GameCube and the original Xbox before launching with the Xbox 360. Discounting Perfect Dark’s XBLA port, neither have had a game since. That means that Kameo hasn’t had a game in 15 years. It’s not relevant to gamers and if I’m being honest had pretty much no chance of getting it’s starring lead into Smash, but in the scenario where Rare Replay with the Xbox 360 titles comes to Switch, Kameo would make a great WTF fighter.
Kameo is an elf who has the power to summon and inhabit ten different elemental creatures. Alongside Banjo and Kazooie back in the day, Kameo is a character I had made up a moveset for. That being said I’m sure Sakurai could do better than me. I can only remember about half of these creatures, but having a fighter who literally changes their entire body with different attacks would be awesome. As for a stage I’m not sure. It’s been awhile since I’ve played the game, but it’s got plenty of colorful environments to choose from.
Master Chief I think is more likely than a Rare representative, and if the Master Chief Collection or even a Halo game comes to Switch I think Master Chef is all but confirmed. The Spartan soldier is the Mario of Xbox which makes him a great choice for the eyes he’ll draw alone. In addition to that he’s got weapons and skills from across the entire Halo series which while not Mario sized, is roughly the size of Metroid.
The stage is a tough choice, but I think if they’re trying to represent Halo it needs to be set on or around one of the Halo rings. Ideally from the first game. That being said there a plenty of iconic locals to pick from.
Steve and Amy are fighters I want. While I’m not a fan of Minecraft combat, it certainly has enough mechanics to flesh out a moveset for a character. Minecraft has plenty of tools, blocks, and mobs that a clever and quirky moveset could be made up. I think the hardest part of these characters is the final smash and the stage.
Fighter 5: A Grass Type Starter Pokémon’s Final Stage form a currently unrepresented generation:
I don’t want this, but it feels inevitable. Despite the fact that there is no precedent for a new Pokémon fighter as DLC, or feels inevitable. With Charizard rejoining Squirtle and Ivysaur, Incineroar stepped in to take his place as a solo Fire representative. Greninja represents the Water typing, but there is no Grass starter representative. This really feels like a whole that needs filling. There are currently three unrepresented generations of Pokémon in the Smash roster. I’m going to go from worst to best on Sceptile, Serperior, and Rillaboom.
Rillaboom seems like the most likely choice at first glance. He fills the grass shaped hole, looks like he could kick some butt, and yeah, he seems popular. I haven’t played generation 8, or 7, and I barely touched 6, but Rillaboom’s biggest weaknesses in terms of joining the roster is that one of Smash’s original 8 fighters, and arguably one of it’s most iconic, is also a big ass gorilla with a pair of bongos. Well her hung up the bongos in this game, but you get the picture. He is ground already covered. If generation 8 is represented, it won’t be this Pokémon.
Serperior isn’t an obvious pick, and in fact until I looked at the unrepresented generations I never even thought of this snake as a fighter, but it’s the kind of strange fighter I could see Sakurai loving to take on the challenge of adapting. It’s a fighter without arms. While it certainly has attacks in the Pokémon series, it’d be an interesting choice to have a fighter that doesn’t play like any other. Grabs as bites, and nothing can fall back on punches and kicks.
So that leaves Sceptile. Generation 3’s Forest Pokémon. It’s got a final smash covered by it’s Mega Evolution and it’s no stranger to fighting games having been in Pokkén Tournament as a fast and agile fighter. Despite all of that I personally think he’s the best fit because of his move pool. While I’m actively against new fighters with a counter for a downward special, I think Sceptile is the one exception I’d make. False Swipe serving as a counter makes sense. I see it going one of two ways. On the one hand it is a basic counter that deals damage. To make it special, have it cause no damage. Instead the damage the attack countered would of caused is used to calculate the length of the resulting stun effect. It’d be interesting to have a move pause the battle like that. It’s perfect for turning the tide of the battle and forces those fighting against it to think twice before going for a hard hitting move. While I generally think Grass Type Pokémon suck, this green Geecko was the exception. As for a new stage I could see a number of locals from Hoenn being added, but screw it bring back Pokefloats. Use new models if you must. It doesn’t even have to be remotely the same, but Pokéfloats is a stage I do miss. If it’s going to be an original stage I’d lean towards Fortree City. It’s not the most iconic local, but it’s treehouse nature would make for interesting layouts. Add in the local flying type gym and you could reasonably move to route 119 or 120 on either side. Both are varied in terrain and feature notable structure a. The former with the weather institute and the latter Registeel’s cave.
Fighter 6: A Notable Indie Character:
This is my boldest prediction, and to be fair I can only really think of one I’d want. To be fair there are a ton of independent videogames, and not a lot are particularly notable. There are some Independent Videogame characters in the game already. Shovel Knight and Dillion are assist trophies. Cuphead and Sans are Mii Costumes. There are also quite a few spirits in the game featuring independent characters.
All of these give off a general Nintendo vibe. Be it the franchise is inspired by Nintendo games or give off a certain vibe. Personally I can only think of one independent videogame character I’d want in Super Smash Bros and it is one that up until last year has launched every game in the franchise on a Nintendo platform. The studio is celebrating 30 years this year and had produced all manner of games, but I think if Smash gets one Independent representative, it should be Wayforward’s own half genie hero, Shantae.
Now my knowledge of Shantae is limited. My experience with the series is limited to roughly ten minutes with one of the ports on current consoles and Kick-starting and subsequently playing through her first HD adventure on PS4. While I never played the DLC, and certainly had some issues with the game, it’s a Metroidvania that I actually liked. The franchise started on the Gameboy Color and up until the entry launching on consoles at the end of the month, every game in the series has launched on a Nintendo platform. Despite my small experience with the series it’s obvious she has potential as a character.
For starters her stage would most likely be Scuttle Town. It’s the hub of most of her adventures and is a series staple. I expect Risky Boots, Shantae’s nemesis, to crash the stage in some form. The only real question is how it’ll be handled. There are many interpretations of the town across the series so I’m curious what elements I’m unaware of tbag would show up.
As for her moveset this is another character with magic, though it’s not necessarily used for ranged attacks. Shantae transforms into animals and uses their abilities. She does have some other spells at her disposal as well which are more optional, but transforming is a core mechanic of her most recent release available on a wide array of platforms. Also the hair whip is a must have attack. Her alternative costumes are more or less covered. Half genie hero has quite a few alternative costumes ranging from color changes to pajamas and bikinis. While the color swap is the most likely of those, her colorful friends offer up different color pallets to pull from, and I’m sure they’ll show up in the stage like we’ve seen with past stages. Also like Banjo Kazooie, the music in the series is phenomenal. Every track is great leaving a lot of wonderful tunes to smash to.
So why do I think she’ll get in? Well this one is more or less blind hope, but this is one of those cases where if there is a chance it will be taken. When the poll that helped decide what would become the roster for Super Smash Brothers Ultimate occurred back when the DlC for the previous game was being wrapped up, Wayforward pushed their leading lady. Obviously I voted for Banjo and Kazooie, but I slid her a vote too. Shantae may have just flirted with Apple via a timed exclusive window on iOS, but her history with the big N is undeniable. She is an iconic indie that has remained beloved over the years. There is plenty of games to pull from and her Spirit is already in the game. She may not be everyone’s first choice, but if I get one wish from a half genie, I wish she’d dance her way into Smash. I have her listed last here because I think if an independent videogame character is getting in, it’s going to close off this fighter pass. I think ending the pass with this will be unexpected in the right way.
An Honorable Mention:
This year Xbox Game pass got me to jump into a franchise I’ve only ever lightly dabbled in. It was rebooted and then later unrebooted, and with the franchise slowly coming to the Nintendo Switch, I think we can allow for one more Anime Swordsman, if only for the memes that will inevitably follow. If one of these predictions isn’t true, than I think the next most likely, and honestly probably more likely than some, choice would be Dante from Devil May Cry.
The Devil May Cry series is a game about stylishly slaying demons using a variety of weapons, and yes I think their is room for two demon slayers. While the Doom Marine is all about guns and his chainsaw, Dante uses a variety of bladed weapons. While he has some guns, the focus is on sword play. Combat is very similar to Bayonetta with combos pulling your does around the map. I’m far from a diehard fan of this franchise so I can’t really say what are the must have moves, attires, or even stages. A part of the reason I didn’t have him up higher. Talking about this character is less interesting because I have far less to say about him.
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