LogFAQs > #967507280

Bowser Jr - Mario Strikers Charged

Juniors kind of a mid, off-meta pick in Baseball. Hes got an okay singles bat, can hit a home run if Bowsers on base but otherwise isnt a threat, (which isnt uncommon, Bowser gets walked all the time, but hes inferior to any of the Bros in that role) and he has Wall Jump so he can deny Home Runs sometimes but is the worst character in the game at doing it. Junior kind of does everything sub-par and is only really relevant for his chemistry with Bowser, making him a tech option if a Bowser captain drafts Birdo, who needs the team star bonus that good chemistry gives. So he gets the other real good Mario Sports game.

Strikers Charged gives the little guy so much attitude. Hes got the whole spoiled brat vibe down here, breakdancing when he enters the field, pretending to be intimidating like his dad, one of my favorite animations in the whole game is him kicking a goalpost in frustration and then realizing, ow thats metal, and hopping around in pain before pouting like hes not having fun anymore. Fabulous little bits of characterization there. His specials arent as strong as other captains at guaranteeing Mega Strikes - for some reason they gave Junior a banshees screech gimmick this game to represent childish wailing, fits his character well but the magic shrinky voice isnt as effective as the reverse-controls fart cloud or Daisy becoming a geomancer - but I think everything is neatly on-flavor. I think Juniors just a fun member of the cast, nicely balanced. A lot of games seem to be placing him in the Koopa Clown Car and making Juniors actual contribution incidental, and I kind of miss when he was an athletic little ninja shit kid.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Bowser Jr is kind of a perfect representation of a Mario boss. Hes got a bunch of predictable projectiles to throw out, has a bunch of well-telegraphed movement options, he even has a specific weak point with moves that hit Junior dealing more damage than those that hit the Clown Copter! All of the flavor is right with Junior except for that Final Smash. Dont get me wrong, it works just fine for Bowser Jr, a bit underwhelming in power and confusing as to what it actually does, but he is THE Mario Sunshine character, thats what he SHOULD be doing. The issue is that it doesnt work at all for any of his seven Koopaling alts, and none of his other moves reference Sunshine in the slightest. Just little things, like having his Gaddbrush instead of his hammer, or leaving icky paint-like goop behind when he uses the Clown Car as a Clown Kart, or having it vomit out goop instead of its weird tongue attack, would go a long way in solidifying that connection. Hell, it would do a lot to shore up his moveset, too - in focusing so much in being a Mario boss, Junior has a lot of moves that are just solid single hits with very few follow-ups. It fits the characterization great, but it devotes everything into this single interpretation of the character as a Mario boss rather than Bowser Jr except the Final Smash, again. I think the Koopaling alts are holding Junoir back from a more interesting take on this character, who could slow opponents to more easily hit them with his predictable traps, and Junior is likewise holding back the Koopalings from having a big, showy Final Smash that could reference the Mario 3 airships or any of their other heights. Whats here is still good, it still works and fulfills everything its setting out to do, but its merely great when devoting the design to either Junior or the Koopalings completely would make it excellent. B

Jigglypuff - Super Smash Bros. Melee

Jigglypuff is one of the best joke characters in fighting games. Like, its either her, Dan, or Neko-Arc, no one else comes close to the throne of perfect jokes.

Jigglypuff is a lot more subtle than the other two, though; shes a huge prank on all of the mechanics of Smash Bros. What, you want us to platform in your fighting game? Heres a character who never wants to touch the ground, ignoring stage layouts almost entirely. You have a unique shielding mechanic? Heres a character who takes her balloon inspirations to heart and pops if you guard break her, killing her instantly. Heres a move that puts you to sleep for an absurd amount of time, but if you hit it juuust right on an opponent, can kill them instantly hope they dont respawn too fast and punish you horribly! Here is the fastest movement option in the entire game on a character with absurdly bad walk speed. It is useless and can kill you, but its SO FAST! Jigglypuff is a character who looks at the fundamentals of Smash Bros and goes no thanks, doing her own thing. She doesnt care about being viable or being true to her character in the Pokemon series, all that matters is taking the simple joke of its a balloon and making it as ridiculously annoying to fight as possible. Jigglypuff does not change for anyone, only the systems of the Smash game around her changes, and if she HAPPENS to be good, then shes absolutely devastating. And if not, shes usually one of the worst in the game. The scale on which you grade Jigglypuff does not function like any other Smash character; she has a dedicated kit, and either it works, has really good advantage, or is awful, with impressively little middleground. I do like the changes Ultimate made to Sing, making it actually usable at a casual level for the first time in its life, but man. I never want Jigglypuff changed to be more accurate to Pokemon. I never want Jigglypuff taken out of Smash. Give me this toxic little gremlin forever. A

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Pokemon Gold/Silver - You can actually get Jigglypuff right at the very begging of Gold & Silver, right at that tail end of Route 46 that you have access to between New Bark and Cherrygrove. Jigglypuffs kind of a miserable Pokemon in RBY, only knowing Sing for the longest time and generally being inferior Clefairy in almost all regards. But Gold and Silver, oh man, Jigglypuff is awesome. Fast leveling rate means itll always stay competitive and potentially overleveled compared to everything around it. Johto has a big problem with elemental stones, but Sun and Moon stones are always the exception, giving Jigglypuff access to Wigglytuff nice and early. And best of all, Jigglypuff can learn all three of the elemental punches from the Goldenrod Department Store. This makes Jigglypuff invaluably flexible, even compared to other Normal types, as a swiss army knife special attacker who can also delve other strats as your team needs it. Defense Curl/Rollout is an option, Sing is always a great hail mary move that sets your team up for success, Body Slam and Headbutt are always great options that are very often on the table. I ended up soloing Lance with a Level 47 Wigglytuff solely using Sing strats and the right punches landed at the right time, and it felt AWESOME. Totally turned me around on using the Pokemon in-game, do recommend, waaaaay more fun than the Togepi option the game gives you for free.