LogFAQs > #900466222

Samus
Last Contest: 2013
Last Game: Metroid: Samus Returns (2017), Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016)

It's been 8 years since the disaster we call "Other M." Samus has had some Smash games and some bad spinoffs since then, but what really shows how much people love her is that Nintendo slapped a "Samus Returns" in the title of her new game. Either that or they want people to stop calling her "Metroid."

Are there any other examples of that? Media where the character's name becomes the title. You've got First Blood becoming Rambo: First Blood Part II and you've got the Tomb Raider movies being called Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Am I missing anything else obvious?

Back on subject: Samus is Samus, even in 2010 when she was hot off the heels of Other M, people still loved her unconditionally. It wasn't Sonic 06 or anything, Samus was still cool, and she was sure to have a proper game and a return to form eventually, right?

Right?

Well it didn't matter much as in 2013 she managed to comfortably beat out Mega Man and Red in a match that I'm sure was caked in a dozen levels of SFF and LFF that we can't begin to break down, and she made a showing out of absolutely demolishing Tifa and L-Block. She didn't do great against Snake or Draven but that's probably because so much weight was being thrown behind Snake just to give him a shot at stopping the LoL machine.

So where does Samus go from here? It doesn't seem like absence did any damage to her, if anything, her fanbase has become so outspoken and vocal about her absence that they've basically deified her.

Whenever something like Federation Force was released, Nintendo would be the villains and Samus would be the innocent victim. Which... is true, because Samus is not a real person and doesn't make her own games (although the same logic does not seem to apply to Sonic. Do people think Sonic is on SEGA's board and decides to make his own games shitty? Is Alex Kidd on the same board and tells people that nobody wants an Alex Kidd game? What reality do we live in?).

We've finally got Metroid Prime 4 and we got a 3DS remake that people wouldn't shut up about for like two weeks straight so "absence" is no longer an issue. We also have another Smash to look forward to, and if more footage gets shown at E3 it'll probably give her an additional boost.

It's safe to say Samus will be a huge threat in this upcoming contest. Let's hope Bacon puts her on a path where she gets to meet either Snake or Cloud again.

Ken Masters
Last Contest: 2010
Last Game: Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (2018), Street Fighter IV Championship Edition (2017), Street Fighter V (2016)

Ken has one major problem: He's not Ryu. Maybe in canon he's arguably stronger than Ryu but he's still the 2nd player character. He's "Red Ryu" to a lot of people. Ryu is just cooler and he gets to be in the center of the covers.

Street Fighter V was not well received by the FGC and Ken got a really polarizing makeover in it, so he's probably at the same strength or worse than he was in 2010 when he barely beat Wesker and got punked by the Dorf. I don't know if nostalgia would give him a boost because he's not Ryu.

Ken has potential to be good bracket filler but he didn't even make it into 2013, which says a lot about his fanbase. There's just so many better options in the SF roster. Ken is no Luigi.
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Is this Elite Beat Agents 2?