LogFAQs > #967457049

Bowser - Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story

Fun fact, when I first got Bowsers Inside Story, I was sick with bronchitis. I proceeded to play it obsessively, and then was so bad at the Fawful Express fight where you have to blow into the mic, I passed out and made it worse. Neither the best nor the worst game to physically hurt me, but damn I hate that train!

Anyway, Bowsers always felt great to control in every non-Melee appearance. I think hes the most fun party member in SMRPG, mostly because hes one of two that doesnt totally trivialize the game, and doing a solo playthrough with him (from Booster Tower onward) is one of the most fun playthroughs of an RPG Ive done. Super Paper Mario he dumpsters everything in his path, Mario Party 10 he singlehandedly props the entire game on his back and doesnt quite salvage it, but damn he gives it a good effort. But man, Bowsers Inside Story hes so good that I never want to go back to controlling Mario and Luigi, who I usually greatly enjoy! Something about using Bowsers brute strength to carry his momentum with those overworld dash punches feels incredible, and combining that with his spike ball transformation later in the game makes overworld traversal insanely fun. He feels fantastic to use in battle, his moveset filled with fun mini-games and simple damn punching things feels really good, sold by some fantastic sprite animation and effects that bring out all of the cartoon power of the Koopa King. I do think hes a little TOO stupid in this game, I do like my jokes at Bowsers expense but BiS Bowser is willing to put way too many random things in his mouth for no reason, and deciding to have no self-preservation instinct so Mario and Luigi can constantly bring him back from the brink of death, but damn the Dark Bowser fight. Seriously one of the best setpiece battles in an RPG. The sequence where Bowser has to quicktime event his way through his entire damn army to smash his doppelganger in the face is, bar none, the coolest enemy phase technique the Mario series has ever done, and provides enough of a challenge to legitimately be threatening and feel GREAT to nail. And then the final Bowser Punch, screw Captain Falcon, THAT is the single most satisfying fist in all of Nintendos catalogue to land. BiS is a celebration of everything that Bowser is, and he does an amazing job of selling exactly why he deserves it every chance he gets. Except those Giant Bowser fights, those are only ok.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - I love the lore that Bowser was banned from amiibo tournaments for a good while because he was just too dummy good at the base mechanics of the game that other amiibo were like well hes just the strongest, guess Ill just die. I love the feeling of Bowser in Smash - he hits things, he does a ton of damage, oh god Fire Breath just did 40% how did that happen, and then people die. Ultimate finally got Bowser to the point where thats actually effective - hes gone from an absolutely worthless character in Melee past his get-up attack and grounded Up B to being a legit tournament threat not by changing up his character, but by slowly improving his tools until he became scary enough that he couldnt be ignored. I like to think of Smash Bros Bowser as Bowser as designed by Bowser; theres no goofy RPG or good dad to be seen, just a big brute whose strength and stubbornness alone will see him through, just as hed like to be seen. And do I miss some of those elements of him? Yeah, I think Bowsers a bit bestial in his taunts and mannerisms, even with Smash 4 correcting his posture. But I think if Bowser entered a fighting tournament, he WOULD just rely on punching people in the face and wouldnt resort to the Clown Car or goofy gadgets. I think a couple of his moves could be changed up a bit, reference some of his other abilities from other fights, give him THE PUNCH instead of the weird dropkick he got because of course Bowser is famous for his top rope diving kicks, but I really like the base of whats here. He doesnt need a major face lift, just polish and character work. And considering he was kinda just awful for two straight games, thats a HUGE improvement! B+

Meta Knight - Kirby: Planet Robobot

Meta Knightmare Returns is, by far, the best the Knightmare mode has ever been. Canonizing Galaxia Darkness, working through Robobots excellent stages, putting himself on par with the Robobot armor able to destroy trucks and steel walls with effortless sword strikes. Meta Knight fits the speedrunning framework so much better than Kirby, Dedede, or every helper from Star Allies I dunno man just do it. The combination of Sword and Wing gives him both incredible mobility tools and satisfying close-quarters combat, and his general power boost makes Sword not feel like the wet noodle it usually feels like in Kirbys hands! But man, the finale to Meta Knightmare Ultra is what really sets it apart. Testing Meta Knights abilities against a gauntlet of bosses complete unique to him, pushing him further with each one, obviously tanking your time if you die on the third and have to refight it.. its such a great cinematic experience the first time and feels perfectly tense for repeat playthroughs.

Best Smash Appearance: Brawl - Basically by default. We all know the story of Brawl Meta Knight, how he strangled the competitive scene in the crib before it could ever really grow legs because he was just always THERE, never for a second not being the best character in the game. He was rightfully drastically nerfed from there and hes kind of just been incomplete since? He lost the tools and links that made him so good, and in the process was left a character who just didnt function the way he should, instead just getting small bits of chip wherever possible. I think the team had no idea what to do with Meta Knight and just threw changes at a wall until they went yeah thats good, and then tossed him into the patch notes for every update to Ultimate and left him where he lies. I get that hes supposed to be this big time air combo character who can hyper-aggressively chase you off-stage but Sora does that significantly better in every way? Most of his moves have a really samey feel outside of Dimensional Cape, he still has the weird deep Brawl voice when both the anime and the games have taken a massive departure from that, they changed his final smash AFTER Robobot put it into the series and made it a real thing so Forgotten Land had to canonize the new Final Smash yeah my dudes just a mess. D-