LogFAQs > #968930454

Unown - Pokemon 3: The Movie

I shouldnt have to say that Unown lacks any sort of hook on its own as a playable character. A collectable within a collectable, Unown is a functionally worthless Pokemon that only is particularly interesting as a group. Pokemon is a series focused on 1v1 encounters, so you will never actually see them as a group, instead you just get Hidden Power in a single flavor and watch at Unown proceeds to do absolutely nothing. Now, there are a lot of interesting things that CAN be done with Unown - Wishiwashi proves that group Pokemon are more than workable in an ability, Zygarde shows it with different distinct forms, and Magneton existed before Unown so I really have no idea why there isnt an Unown Swarm form that you get for completing the Unown Dex. Even if it just had four different versions of Hidden Power, that would at least be SOMETHING on a body thats potentially far beefier than the pathetic excuse Unown naturally has. And I say all this because the Unown Swarm is one of the most fascinating characters Pokemon has. Their Melee appearance does remove Beedrills gimmick, but something about the way Unown moves, the rapid fluxuating infinity of the various alphabetical pieces, is so great to look at. Plus unlike later Pokeball replacements, Beedrill to Unown is trading an anime reference for another anime reference, and it decides to trade it for one of the animes best. Millions of tiny entities from another dimension trying to understand the will of others, creating sentience beyond themselves, and simply trying to write stories and fulfill fantasies? AND giving James one of the best lines in the entire series (I havent seen this many strange letters since the last time I filed a personal ad is golden)? A lot of the more mysterious Pokemon get fully explored, but Unown remains incredibly etherial. Theyre their own, weird creation thats sort of just been forgotten about, never getting any sort of payoff or further lore. Unown is just there. And its cool and has a ton of potential. But everything they do with it is lame.

Lakitu - Paper Mario

To my knowledge, outside of Odyssey, Lakilester is the only playable Lakitu that retains its cloud? I can never get into generic Lakitu being playable in the Mario Kart series, he feels weirdly naked and unfinished just seeing him in a car. And he doesnt even throw Spiny Eggs, like, come on, at LEAST keep the theming consistent! Lakilister is actually a pretty fabulous party member in Paper Mario, mostly in how he interacts with the area boss, Huff N Puff. Most partners just completely shut down the area boss theyre fighting - Watt wrecks General Guy, Sushie makes Lava Piranha trivial, Bow makes Tubbas Heart well, actually beatable for most casual builds, that ones okay. But Lakilester has to use his low-damage AoE Spiny Storm to deal 1 damage to all of Huff N Puffs adds, clearing them without dealing more damage to the big guy and spawning more by smacking him too hard. Its not a self-explanatory mechanic at all, but gives Lakilester a unique niche as a screen clearer on the cheap for certain encounters. Considering how redundant a lot of Paper Marios partners can be, being one of the few who can stand out is really nice. He doesnt approach Bombette or Bow, of course, but hes solid and the slight movement speed increase he provides on the field is INCREDIBLY welcome.

Shovel Knight - Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope

Im actually very impressed by Shovel Knights implementation in Rivals of Aether. Being able to mix in the treasure hunting aspect of the game and tie it into the shop system is incredibly elegant. Im not super familiar with RoA as a whole, though, outside of the generally silly modding scene, so Shovel Knight classic it is! Shovel Knight does a fantastic job of tricking you into thinking NES games controlled a lot less rigidly than they actually did. Going back to DuckTales after playing Shovel Knight feels weird, Scrooge is simultaneously a lot stiffer when landing and a lot looser when flailing about in the air. But SK? He feels exactly like what you THINK those classics played like, just the right level of refinement and freedom while still requiring a bunch of precision. Im not nearly as high on Shovel Knight as most people - though I think Specter Knight has a fantastic base and I ADORE King of Cards, that ones everything I want - but the good game is good. Shovel Knight is able to combine ideas and feel from Mega Man, Castlevania, DuckTales, and other examples that arent as pronounced but are definitely tossed in there, and makes them into a free-flowing adventure that feels like a natural follow-up to the era rather than an homage trying to go REMEMBER THIS? like a ton of retro throwback titles. Plus I respect the huge amount of value in the Treasure Trove, like, damn thats some good value.

Richter Belmont - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

You could really go either way with Richters two major appearances. Symphony breaks what a Belmont can be and makes Richter one of the most unbelievably fun and powerful characters to trounce Draculas Castle with. The sheer velocity of his kicks, dashing around with no fear of anything in your path, a litany of screen nukes to melt bosses or anyone else with, Richter is an absolutely brilliant reward and secret for mastering Draculas Castle. This IS the most powerful Belmont, and you absolutely feel it. However damn is Rondo a great game. As simple of a maneuver as the backflip is for Richter, having a twitch reflex move to avoid bosses with, combined with the item crash to eat through guaranteed hits, lets the more complex array of boss movements in Rondo all have distinct counters. It makes for the Classicvania that I think has the most honest back-and-forth, a combination of perfectly learning patterns to counter them and reacting to boss tells and actions to get your way out of tricky situations, making for the most fulfilling classic Castlevania game of its type! I mean, yeah, you CAN just blow through the game with Maria and tell Dracula hes really mean by throwing birds in his face, but while Richter is significantly weaker than Maria, thats hardly because of any weakness of his own! Richter is a fabulous realization of Simons template taken to its fullest, then broken over his knee in future appearances.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - For all the nice things I have to say about Simon, they only somewhat extend to Richter. Having a crunchier, classicvania-style moveset obviously works for Simon, putting all the heft he can into lobbing those axes or doing some rapid chain strikes sells the barbarian warrior very nicely. That doesnt work quite as well for Richters more traditional anime protagonist trappings. While a lot of Richters moves are directly lifted from his games, and even originated by him, a lot of them lose their impact when they are SUCH downgrades from the actual techniques he shows in-game. This isnt something like repurposing an RPG attack to work in a fighter - if youve got a 1:1 reference to another action platformer, and that reference feels significantly worse, its gonna be a disappointment. While Simon feels enriched by his appearance in Smash, Richter feels gimped. And I still say this thinking that the Belmonts are really good overall, a fairly strong realization of the characters in a platform fighter. But Richter really is just here to give lip service to Simon, would have loved to see his more agile moves given greater focus. And put in the backflip B-