LogFAQs > #967819420

Wii Fit Trainer - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Wii Fit is allllmost there as a character. I appreciate the out of left field pull, that level of unexpectedness combined with the no, that makes sense, Wii Fit sold a ton of copies factor makes the trainer a deep cut thats exactly memeable and recognizable enough to not be too easily dismissed. Having the female trainer as the base also does wonders - I think theyre the only character with a selectable gender who defaults as female - really allows for a nice establishing of their character. Anyway, Wii Fit Trainer is essentially a haha defies expectations joke, and I think they do a pretty decent job of it. Like, they have really weird hitboxes because of the dedication to making them hit so many yoga poses, and they give the character a ton of aerial mobility to make those moves actually hittable. And its neat and goofy and works but for whatever reason, I dont think its all that cohesive? Which is weird, of course its not, its using fitness moves and attempting to make some form of cohesion between them. But I feel like there should be a stronger dedication to fitness with Wii Fit Trainer, and thats only really gotten with Sun Salutations self-healing and Deep Breathing, which are veeery surface level interpretations of fitness being good for you. THIS is the character that I think should have the Monado Arts - if you manage to do a full set of moves, youre all stretched out and get a buff. The focus should be on how doing your routine makes you real buff and tough for the actual fight, and instead its mostly just shooting soccer balls at people? And Headers a funny move, dont get me wrong, but I feel like WFT is a joke character where they just told a basic joke without thinking it through, especially compared to Plant and Jigglypuff, Theres not really anything bad with her, and she has the funniest crawl in the game, but I dunno, I want more. B-

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Wii Fit - I dont THINK the trainer is playable in Wii Fit, but I am impressed that she got in before the balance board. One of my favorite bits of characterization is the balance board reacting when you step on it, and if youre heavy it will audibly strain. Like thats so MEAN, why are you bullying the people who probably would find Wii Fit most helpful? Hilarious.

Ring Fit Adventurer - Ring Fit Adventure

And immediately, Wii Fit is antiquated, Ring Fit Adventure is a MUCH more fun time and far more effective at achieving its goals. The conceit of Ring Fits combat is simple - you have different types of exercises that match up with different elements, and you fight color-coded enemies like Pokemon. It would be a stupidly boring game if it were just a straight-up RPG but what I love about Ring Fit is that your own, physical body is your mana. Playing optimally is incredibly difficult - if a boss is weak to a specific element, not only cant you do the same exercise consecutively so that you dont throw your muscles out of whack, but you HAVE to push yourself with a more demanding exercise so that you outpace their damage, or else settle for a more defensive strategy so you wait for your muscles to recharge. Additionally, the games difficulty slider actually makes encounters easier by increasing the amount of reps you have to do to successfully complete a move. It ups your maximum damage for every attack, meaning that you can face bosses at lower levels with less equipment, in exchange for the actual process of fighting them being more difficult. If youre exercising optimally, your hair gets set on fire, which is such a simple but fun visual indicator of being in the zone and just man, so much of Ring Fit is so well considered, deconstructing an RPG and turning the basic process of attacking and adventuring into the most intensive part of the game. Brilliant design, Dragaux deserves to be in more games, what a great bully.

The Prince of Sabl - For The Frog The Bell Tolls

Its wild to me that this game came out in 1992. Its such a thorough deconstruction of the Zelda formula at a time where the Zelda formula barely existed, a fun little joke game that relies more on wit and basic problem solving than anything extreme yet it has way more brutal platforming than Links Awakening would ever come out with. Its so much fun having an incompetent, haughty protagonist who tries to find away around all of his problems and buy out anyone whod end up as an obstacle to him - Bell Tolls always has this wit about it, looking to subvert expectations in fun ways. Really, it combines some of the best aspects of Zelda, adventure games of the era, and puzzle games like Adventures of Lolo to make a product that feels very un-Nintendo, especially in its early era. The Prince is actually one of the assist trophies that Id love to see promoted to a full playable character. I love his current incarnation as a cartoon fight cloud, but imagining that as a special move, dragging other players in and forcing them to mash so that they can escape a self-destructive command grab, or bribing opponents to go easy on you - that sounds like such a fun, stupidly chaotic character. Definitely who Id support for the next retro rep.