LogFAQs > #967378592

Mr. Game & Watch - Greenhouse

Technically Mr. Game & Watch is a Smash exclusive character - the individual protags of the Game & Watch games are just random dudes, unless you wanna say that Mr. Game & Watch starred in games called "Mario Bombs Away" and "Zelda", and his only actual appearance as "Mr. Game & Watch" in a Game and Watch game is Gallery 4. But that's not interesting.

Anyway, Greenhouse is the best Game & Watch. Takes very solid games like Egg and Manhole and elevates them to a more active element. The former games are a great test of reflexes, but are generally passive - you're waiting for the egg to fall or the man to need a cover, makes them very slow to start. Greenhouse has you actively going after those plants and allows for great split-second decision making - do I leave the plant to maybe get hurt by the bug to get the one further away, or do I take care of it now? It skips the 'slow start' issue and isn't TOO janky. Good stuff.

Best Smash Appearance: Smash 4 - It took until Smash 4 to really get Game & Watch right. Melee and Brawl were a bunch of fun ideas that never really came together outside of fishing for 9's, but 3DS and Wii U let Game and Watch's kit come together for a weirdly cohesive hit-and-run glass cannon. Ultimate I think gets him a bit overcentralized with Fire into Key - I love his aesthetic changes, but I miss having the credit card as an approach option instead of bomb as yet another running away tool. Still, funny little guy, always happy to see him. A-

Link - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I really want to put Oracle of Seasons here. It's my favorite 2D version of Link, I really prefer top-down Zelda to 3D Zelda, he's got a really fun set of items in that game (magnetic glove just needs better sound design and it's an all-timer of an item along with Roc's Cape) and I love the heavier emphasis on combat. But, ultimately, Breath of the Wild solves so many issues with Link on a base level that it's uncanny. Zelda is a game of limitations - you can go to these few areas with your limited toolset, then you get an item which lets you comb all those old areas to get new things with. It's a very enjoyable loop, but it makes Link feel pretty limited as a protagonist, more a collection of items than a character. Breath of the Wild does an amazing job at making Link feel like he matters as a protag. EVERYTHING that you see is conquerable - between your stamina, sailcloth, and Sheikah Slate, you have all the tools you need at any given time to bust traversal wide open. It's up to you, then, to figure out how to use your resources to overcome challenges, rather than which key opens which hole. And if you don't feel capable or find the task too great, you can always grind up shrines or find equipment to make it more manageable, growth directly tied to your stamina meter going up to show how experienced you are. It is a FABULOUS design that finally untethers Link from his bag of tricks and makes him the daring explorer, plundering Hyrule for all of its secrets, that he's always portrayed as. It's a shame he only really has the Lionels to test his combat prowess on in a meaningful way (Bokoblins, Blights, and the big boys are just not engaging), but that's more a criticism of BotW's enemy design than Link. The base of this character is SO GOOD, and if BotW's sequel delivers in a meaningful way, it's got a great chance to shine.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Link probably gets the award for "most improved" out of any Smash character. It feels like, since the beginning, they've wanted to make him a set-up character, cleverly using his items to tie together into big brain combos. Attempts like the Gale Boomerang were tossed in, but it never really clicked until Ultimate. The trigger bombs finally let Link actually use tools to solve puzzles (see: limiting movement or having creative set-ups) and finally BE Link in a Smash game. This is a design I'd love to see continue evolve - you have enough Links to always have a "classic" playstyle, have fun with it and see how you can make a more interesting variant! Already the best foot forward he's had in decades. A-

Wolf - Star Fox Assault

Multiplayer Wolf go brrrrrrrr. Assault's multiplayer is big, dumb fun, and Wolf is the secret character you unlock at the end with max stats in everything. And damn he just SPRINTS across battlefields to look everything and kill everyone. He feels like playing a shooter with all the cheats enabled, and showdowns with him as everyone desperately tries to throw rockets at you and he just weaves through them is the most brainless, incredible fun. The moment in the Assault storyline where you ride on the wing of the Wolfen while flying through a destroyed Corneria to fight a borg'd up General Pepper is also incredible, I wish Star Fox would do more cool sci-fi set pieces like that rather than trying to retread 64's ground. 64 worked BECAUSE it was a bunch of cool sci-fi set pieces, not because the path it took was iconic on its own!

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Both of Wolf's Smash designs are great. You've got the almost unfinished design he has in Brawl, which feels weird and janky but in a lot of unique ways that no other character in series history plays like (that forward smash I will miss every day), and then you have 'feral spacie' in Ultimate. And I think Ulti Wolf feels REALLY great, probably a more solid 'all around' character than Mario's stubby limbs make up for! Everything feels dynamic, he weaves through platforms insanely well, all of his moves feel like they have the right amount of oomph, his personality is on-point. If I had to pick a 'generically good Smash Bros character' who just kind of excels in every area for every other design to branch off of, Wolf would probably be it. You play him, you get it, everything feels great. A