Board 8 > ITT I Rate The Best Playable Appearance Of Every Smash Character

(+) Yeah! (+)

Sonic

Yeah the biggest thing is I wish Kirby was really incentivized to get and use the copy power of his opponents.

But base inhale is too useful as a command grab especially when you can only get a shitty neutral B

Diddy Kong - Donkey Kong Country 2

The gold standard to which 2D platforming characters should be held up to. Diddy Kong is near flawless in his execution - nimble, but clumsy, needing to hold a barrel in front of himself as he doesnt have the power to lift it over his head. Yet he turns even that into a strength, making him a lot safer than the more reckless Dixie and more confident Donkey. The cartwheel is a masterclass in burst movement, being a very safe option, but one that you have to be very cognizant of its range lest you run it out right in front of an enemy. And when you ram into an enemy and get your speed multiplied, ohhh that feels INCREDIBLE. Add in the roll jump, and Diddy has absolute mastery of whatever terrain is ahead of him, as long as youre moving forward, with purpose, and theres not a Zinger directly in your path. And then you couple that with the team-up moves added in DKC2, giving the pair of Diddy and Dixie so much confidence and flexibility to plunder every secret in a level as they toss each other around them. Diddy simultaneously feels like he should be able to dominate any level, but is vulnerable enough that losing him or Dixie makes the other feel so weak, at risk of dying to anything at any second. Its a brilliant combination of tension, exploration, and simple in the zone platforming, and its something that I dont feel any other 2D platformer has matched since. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was pretty damn good, though; not AS good as Diddy, but Diddy-adjacent.

Best Smash Appearance: Smash 4 - Its a shame, then, that none of that carries over into Smash. Diddy is a character who should always be moving forward, doubling down on his momentum to reach newer heights. Diddy in Smash is a character who sets up a banana and juggles it around, then looks to take some opportunist damage before running away and doing it again. If he were simply heehee, annoying monkey, this would work fine but hes an inexperienced, cocksure hero wanna-be who puts up an all-out offensive. Smash has an issue with a lot of its rushdown characters doubling as frustrating keepaway characters, Fox and Falcon somehow being the exceptions to the rule despite debuting first, and Diddy is no different. Whats frustrating is that there are ELEMENTS of Diddy within Diddys moveset - hes got the hat flip, his cartwheel is there in fashion but not function, his self-destructing popgun fits him perfectly but never happens, his jetpack being able to be swatted away is pretty great - but so much of what makes Diddy a character is sacrificed to make him a more accurate monkey. And even that seems like something that Smash team wants to get away from - Diddys been nerfed every single game since his introduction, and while Smash 4 successfully got him away from being COMPLETELY oppressive just tossing double nanners out everywhere, it accidentally made him way too good with universal system changes. Ultimate simply toning him down just doesnt DO anything to make him appealing, and the only real impression he left in the past decade before Ultimate was top tier, leaving him as a really forgettable part of the cast. Diddy isnt the most disappointed Ive been in a Smash Bros character, but hes one that I was VERY fond of before he was added to the roster and feel very little of why I loved him in this interpretation. Hes aces in Subspace cutscenes, though. Like, somehow THOSE nail him while his gameplay suffers. D-

Ridley - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

I THINK this is the only playable appearance of Ridley? I dont care to check if he had a brief cameo. In any case Im of two minds with Ridley. On one hand, he does a really solid job being a big, menacing brute, Space Pirate Rush is one of the most enjoyable moves in the game, and theres a great level of brutality to his moveset that captures his character very well. This is a dangerous alien species that only wants to kill you, and he sells that excellently. On the other hand, this playable version is also the worst version of Ridley thats been in Smash. As much as Brawl Ridley is just Dyna Blade but a dragon in function, it does sell the guy as a vicious force with absolute command of the skies. Ridley just feels gimped to play as in Ultimate in a similar way to Charizard, where he SHOULD have command of the air but doesnt because hes a heavy. The way his Up B is so limited, his lack of control, his general vulnerability with very small and precise hitboxes - WARIO feels more threatening in the air. BANJO feels like he has a better off-stage presence. Im not asking for him to be utterly dominant and never have to touch the ground, but in a world where Sora can effortlessly glide around off-stage, having the giant dragon feel so needlessly restricted seems VERY off. He feels more like a design mandate of make these ideas work for Ridley so he can be a unique heavy rather than coming out of Ridleys natural design, and I do think thats made him fall off drastically from his initial heavy demand; theres a reason why K. Rool ended up the more memorable of the two despite being a lower tier character! Theres some solid ideas and I love the melding of his Metroid 1, Super Metroid, and Other M designs here, like Ridley just LOOKS very good, but I find the guy really awkward in implementation. D

Mega Man - Mega Man 3

I think this is the most balanced Mega Man experience. None of the NES games really stuck the landing with the charge buster, and the slide just feels GREAT to use, gives Mega Man a mobility tool he desperately needed to spice up his gameplay. The eight Robot Master stages in MM3 are probably Mega Mans most consistently good set of stages, with the worst of them being kind of unmemorable and the best being great. The weapon variety leaves a lot to be desired, but hey, ones not TOO good to completely override all of the others for once! I mean, Shadow Blade IS good, but its not Metal Blades or even Quick Boomerang good. A shame that the Doc Robot and Wily Castle stages tank MM3 even harder than the Wily stages usually hurt a Mega Man game, but I really do enjoy the core Mega Man on display in this game.

Shoutouts to Mega Man 7, though. If Mega Mans base movement speed was just SLIGHTLY faster, itd have it, the guy feels surprisingly good to control throughout all of its stages and only really pales in comparison to the X games rather than in comparison to the rest of the classic series.

Best Smash Appearance: Smash 4 - Mega Man is the most disappointing Smash character for me. I dont think hes the worst Smash character, I think there are a couple that just do not work and have damaged their brands almost irreparably, but Mega Man has the most potential thats come crashing down. There is so much love and dedication put into Mega Man having a 1:1 look with his NES sprites; they even gave him the stanky leg, THATS attention to detail! His Robot Master weapons are adapted smartly to give him a flexible moveset, Hard Knuckle feels GREAT to use as a spike especially, and hes got one of the coolest looking Final Smashes in the business before the cinematic FS got overplayed to Hell. But the moment that you start playing him that aint Mega Man. It controls like Mega Man, it looks like Mega Man, but if you play Mega Man in Smash like you play a Mega Man game, you die. That feeling of rushing down an enemy to get as many shots in as possible, carefully jumping and sliding, thinking of when to launch your Charge Buster. Gone in favor of an intensely heavy zoning playstyle and, for whatever reason, item drop combos. I do not mind Smash characters finding new inspiration in their movesets to give them a new sense of identity - Incineroar does that fabulously, for instance, I dont WANT to see what the Smash version of an intimidate user is. But Mega Man is so, so intensely dedicated to his roots that it comes at the cost of everything else about the character. Imagine if Ryu was translated into Smash exactly as he is, but his playstyle revolved around running through his hadokens, which increased his air speed so he was better at keepaway. That is what the current adaptation of Mega Man feels like to me; the corpse of the Mega Man series revived from the dead, wearing its face, having its basic functions, but none of the heart or feel of the character. Smash 4 alleviated this somewhat with custom moves, which is an amazing fit for Mega Man, but with that stripped away from the Blue Bomber, hes just there as this weird zoner who doesnt feel very Mega Man. Easily my least favorite fighting game interpretation of the character. F

How you feel about Mega Man is kinda how I feel about the Belmonts. "I'll just play this like I play Castlevania games" lmao no you won't

Toad (he's part of Peach's moveset)

Ganondorf - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Had a Hell of a time deciding between Ultimate and Melee for Ganon. As a kid, Melee Ganondorf was unquestionably the strongest character in all of Smash Bros. I mean, he can do 50% damage in a single Up Smash! Thats just pure numbers! The lack of effects and hitstun in general for Melee also really sells his power - one moment youre there, on-stage, and the instant a Warlock Punch so much as grazes your body, youre in another zip code. And dead. But the dunks he gets with Flame Choke, how good his redone Ocarina look is, all of the moves he stole from Ike and Cloud - I mean, if youre gonna steal someones sword, might as well take from the best! Ganondorf is just pure unga bunga, throw out the strong hitbox and watch things die, and everything about him sans his throws screams that from the heavens. Who needs basic strategy and fundamentals when you have power?

Which leads to the eternal problem of Ganondorf mostly being based off of a race car driver. This moveset would be killer on Black Shadow or someone, but considering the amount of options that Ganondorf has? The fact that he takes most inspiration from a Space World 2000 tech demo than ANY of his actual appearances is kind of pitiful. Now, truth be told, I actually prefer this version of Ganondorf to anything you could give him properly - if you give this moveset to Black Shadow and make a real Ganondorf, theres no chance in Hell I stick with the Gerudo King, Im in love with hitting things hard with zero brain cells - but the only thing that this moveset really accomplishes for Ganon is establishing he really strong. If he wasnt so ridiculously tuned to that degree, hed be awful at actually representing himself but damn it, they made the guy just too damn fun to use for me to hate him. Could he use some reflavoring? Sure, give him his big touchdown punch, let him use his lethal tummyache magic he uses on the Deku Tree and Jabu Jabu or whatever so he can do chip damage in between the big hits hes only gonna land once in a blue moon, change the general look of things a lot. But damn it, he nails his feel so good. C+

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Hyrule Warriors - I mean, its this or what, Diablo 3? With that said, I do really like Mufasa Ganondorf - its a cool, bold design that we havent seen before and accentuates the beastly, and Musou is a great environment for him to go ham in. I really appreciate giving the man his trident, too - like, thats the Ganon weapon, he SHOULD have it! Not really all that much to elaborate on, he does the power aspect of his character real good in the power fantasy game. Big shock.

Sonic - Sonic Robo Blast 2

As usual, the best Sonic games are fangames.

https://www.srb2.org/

Sonics speed has been a hard thing to properly capture in games, as the character has to manage two very specific feelings at the same time: mastery and BRRRR VROOM VROOM GO FAST. The latter of those is easy to capture, and it feels good and Sonic does it very nice and cinematically. I think Generations handles it the best, where no matter which route you go on, the natural automation of the stage gives you the illusion that youre always doing something and getting easy S-Ranks just by going fast; your speed feels good for little effort. Mastery, always going for that high path to maintain your speed, is something that Sonic struggles with constantly. None of the Genesis games get him to fully maintain his sense of speed through their entire runs (hi Metropolis, Marble Garden, Sandopolis even though I secretly like it), but those few stages that really GET what Sonic is all about makes the whole process feel like its worth it. Sonic Mania then comes the closest with this, adding the drop dash for great bursts of speed, levels designed to keep Sonic running, very few pits to stop him, that really neatly designed final act with the four branching paths that challenge an aspect of Sonics momentum in a different way is super rad. Its really good!

But Sonic Robo Blast 2 is something special. For the uninitiated, this is a Sonic 3D platformer created in the Doom II engine thats been worked on since 1998. And tying Sonic to a linear z-axis, controlling what direction he moves in with the mouse? Actually brilliant. It gives Sonic the kind of lead-with-your-nose control of a vehicle, letting him still turn and handle very well, but not on a dime with a really floaty jump like the adventure games. This makes the act of just running forward with Sonic feel really, really good, and leads to a LOT less situations where Sonic ends up dangling at the edge of a cliff because hes run around like a headless chicken trying to find his footing. This is amplified by the speed thok - the games answer to the homing attack, where Sonic will burst forward in the air in whatever direction the camera is facing. This gives the player an instant change in momentum to Sonics speed whenever they want, perfectly controlled in whatever direction they want, but with far less of a margin for error than the homing attack would allow for. It makes all stages feel a lot more freeform and purposeful, Sonic in full control and ready to absolutely shred stages - if youre good enough to keep up, that is. Thats the key to Sonic for me - being able to make him feel rewarding to play, instantly bringing him up to max speed, but being hard enough that you WILL be punished if you cant handle the threats ahead. Its an incredibly elegant solution on how to bring the 2D gameplay feel into the third dimension, and I absolutely love it. Plus, if you have Tails with you, damn is that gay INVALUABLE in a 3D space. And its, by far, the best Metal Sonic race Ive ever had, so it gets tons of extra points for that.

do love Adventure 2, though. Bounce Bracelet is a stupid fun item, and I find a surprising amount of Sonics speed stages to be really, really good with no caveats. Thats a good run from him!

Best Smash Appearance: Brawl - The one where he says youre too slow was the best one because he said youre too slow! Like, do I have to tell you Sonic is bad in Smash? Because hes bad in Smash. Hes a ball, he does the ball things, some of the ball moves are fun but others are not, he has the spring, thats a legitimately nice move I really like that one, and he has a really bad Final Smash. Outside of going fast and being Sonic-flavored, theres not a single thing that Sonic does as a fighting game character that Captain Falcon doesnt do better. Like, both are capable of running away and being a coward, but Falcon players are encouraged to go for the knee and stuff and Sonic players seem to be allergic to following up and fighting unless theyre REALLY in the mood. Im sure its not hard at all to imagine a ton of other things Sonic could be doing, or SHOULD be doing, or what references he could pull out or how to change his momentum to be more in line with his games or what quips he could constantly be spouting out. But hes not, hes flavorless, and I really think hes only picked because hes Sonic, of course people are going to choose to play as him, Sonic fans have the guy in their hearts forever. I picked DK in multiple games where he sucked just because hes my guy, Im SURE Sonic fans have it worse! Its insanely cool that hes here. Please, let him do something more than being here. F

Toad - Super Mario 3D World + Bpwsers Fury

The Bowsers Fury version in specific because all the characters got a universal speed boost. This takes Toad from the only character that feels good to speedrun levels with to OH MY GOD HES SO FAST I LOVE HIM. Toad is able to be absolutely ridiculous in Bowsers Fury, zooming off the screen faster than the game can keep up with him at times, and its an utterly exhilarating feeling. I refuse to beat Champions Road as anyone but Toad, as trying with anybody else just feels disingenuous - that weird diaper man is a MASTER of platforming, he is going to DESTROY this weird space challenge by trucking through it as fast as possible. I cannot go back to other characters after trying Toad; he has ruined me. He is too good. I miss when he used to say Im the best! all the time, though, that was such a funny catchphrase.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Hes throws now! Thats cool! I think that fits the guy a lot more than releasing a weird toxic cloud equal to the pain hes inflicted? I also think theyre probably the worst part of Peachs moveset, its cool that hes there, but NOW he decides to be effective? My man, you have THE most losing record when it comes to defending ANYTHING. D

Otacon

Kamekguy posted...

Plus, if you have Tails with you, damn is that gay INVALUABLE in a 3D space.

wow

Sora

Ganondorf is a funny case because a lot of people want him to have a more true-to-games moveset, but I guarantee they would find him less fun if he was changed. As he is now, Ganondorf is like, THE most popular character among casuals. Would be a lot of buyer's remorse if it happened I think.

Captain Falcon

Ultimate Ganondorf is acceptable IMO, I wanted him to have a sword and he got one. He feels a lot more distinct from Captain Falcon now even if the actual changes from Melee/Brawl/4 don't amount to much.

They should put blue pig Ganon in the game though. Then you can have a character that actually does Ganon stuff like spin a trident and use magic.

Otacon - Metal Gear Solid 4

I... THINK this is Otacon's only playable appearance if you count piloting the Mk II and Mk III? Like they didn't add him to MGO or anything. Otacon's pretty the most consistent "soap opera" character in all of Metal Gear, somehow always having a new personal crisis to overcome that his previous character development left him totally unequipped to handle. From making cool weapons for others because he loves mecha to contributing to world safety on his own terms to accepting that he contributes to others' lives emotionally and going out of his way to help them to finally becoming a person who can stand up without someone else's support and instead choose to support others, the dude goes from a fractured idea of a person into someone who's actually whole. And I find that really neat, Otacon's always one of the more memorable vocal performances in the series with his naive enthusiasm always giving way to tremendous vulnerability. Makes him very easy to root for in a Charlie Brown kind of way, and every time the football gets pulled away from him (see: any time he cares about a woman), you know it's coming, but you feel bad every time.

Sora - Kingdom Hearts II

Theres a really careful balance to be had between Soras various appearances. Kingdom Hearts is probably the most freeform of Soras appearances, but thats mostly due to less focused combat that only suggests the intensity of future brawls. Kingdom Hearts III feels really good in its best moments, but theres a lot of automation, especially with the Magic Kingdom Specials thrown directly into the combat, which always feel obtrusive in a way Duck Flare doesnt quite reach. KHII was the gold standard for the decade and change it took for KH3 to come out, and I still think it is. Its still a very unga bunga, hit X until you hit triangle and heal or dodge as you wait for Donalds MP to refill, but its got a really nice flow to it. New forms naturally lead into one another to change up the gameplay through the progression of the game, bosses are filled with gimmicks that require use of various spells or other features that would be otherwise lost in a pure aggro playthrough, and Soras defensive options are opened up neatly as bosses get harder and necessitate their use. Its just really well considered pacing through and through, with a fantastic reward at the end with the data fights to really flex. With that said, I havent played anything of KH3 after its initial release, so if that changes things thats good!

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Yeah the Peter Pan vibes are really strong with this one. You can REALLY tell how much DLC shine Sora got, the way he animates and flips around, heck the way he gets the RHYTHM of Kingdom Hearts combat right with exaggerated hitstun, is insane. Getting the feel of zipping around with reaction commands in just Soras base movement was clearly a priority, and while I dont like playing around with it that much, the attention to detail in pure feel is insane. Hes got a lot of moves that truly feel unique to him, his down air especially having this fantastic sense of gravity that makes it so much more enjoyable to use than other stall and fall moves. This is probably as strong of a solo Sora moveset as one could ask for, with all the bells and whistles attached but it feels really weird for Mr. My Friends Are My Power to not have any friends. I know Donald and Goofy are impossibilities, but their presence is GREATLY missed in Soras kit, and even in spite of them, no reference to Riku or Kairi, even just in signature keyblade attacks from one or the other, feels like something is missing to me. I think Sora is about as good as he could possibly be given the legal limitations that were obviously put on the character. But it aint Kingdom Hearts without friendship in my face, and while I like whats here plenty, theres a lot of what could have been. Plus Im not a fan of the wacky counter. B+

Also as an aside, Sora has the worst Classic Mode. Like, of any Smash game, of any route,, period. That Mr. Game & Watch fight is just miserable.

Captain Falcon - EVERYTHING BUT BRAWL

https://youtu.be/VtfymGyrxkQ

Here is a 30 minute video I made on why Captain Falcon is so good, how everything he does builds to this identity of pushing yourself to the most extreme limit possible. It has Waluigi hitting a Peoples Elbow on Proto Man, Kamen Rider, and Captain Falcon ending terrorism and religion through racing in it, so I think its a good video. Please like and subscribe and ring the bell or whatever, idk, WWE claimed it so I don't get ad revenue from this one anymore. I just love the video.

But the tl;dw version is that Captain Falcon is absolutely pitch-perfect at encapsulating everything that F-Zero is about. Falcon in F-Zero is a very balanced pilot, one able to handle most tracks with an easy enough learning curve that players will both be able to stay competitive in the race and not fall off the track and die too often. However, because of his merely average boost, hes also not a racer that will often pull out in front and dominate the competition, making him a daredevil that constantly ensures close races where hell likely have just enough left in the tank to clench out a win. In Smash Bros, he combines the language of superheroes from both east and west - taking look inspiration from Tim Burtons Batman and Judge Dredd and moveset inspiration from tokusatsu - and mixes it in with the momentum of F-Zero to create a character that embodies all the series is about. Everything from his slow turn speed to insane dash game represents the feel of controlling a car, every move he does a flash or representation of the boost as he bursts forward, and the Falcon Punch being the show-stopping centerpiece that is always impractical, always stupid, but has the ol pro wrestling razzle dazzle on it. Falcon is a character that should be incredibly lame, and some players do tend to play him lame, but he has all of the tools to make you WANT to go for hype. And all this on a character with no gimmicks or frills other than hit you really hard and fast; no disjoints, no projectiles, no stage control. Falcon ensures that he gets a fair fight with everyone on the cast, and when you beat someone with Falcon, there is absolutely no doubt that they were outplayed. Falcon is so inherently good at showing off all of the fun things about Smash Bros gameplay while simultaneously being cool race car man that the series would not be the same without him. Captain Falcon is undoubtedly bigger than F-Zero, and in a sense, Captain Falcon IS Smash Bros. Any of his appearances fall under this category and could be his best (except Brawl, Brawl Falcon is mid at best), but I do love the dynamism he brings to Melee as the best of its high-risk, high-reward powerhouses. Falcon is designed to be a crowd pleaser. And he does it flawlessly no matter what game hes in. S

Bowser

imo, Falcon is an S in Melee and a B in 64/Smash 4/Ultimate. There was something special about Melee's physics momentum + Falcon's moveset + The Knee. He's still fun in other games but the magic was never fully replicated.

Meta Knight

Petey Piranha

Ice Climbers

Master Hand

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-

Petey Piranha - Mario Superstar Baseball

Look Im gonna be honest, these second-tier Mario characters? Its gonna be Superstar Baseball unless theyre only okay in it, in which case itll probably be Strikers Charged. Anyway, Petey is in invaluable top tier character, either the 2nd or 3rd best in the game, behind only Bowser and maybe Donkey Kong. Petey has maximum batting power, but has a weaker bat spread than Bowser, meaning that he needs good contact to easily hit a homer instead of Bowsers if it makes contact theres a 90% chance its going over the fence. He has chemistry with King Boo, Donkey Kong, and Birdo, three characters who will guaranteed see every single game unless you hate winning. But most importantly, he has the strongest throwing arm in the game, maxed out at 100. For reference, the next-strongest arm has an 80 throwing stat. This makes Petey the best catcher in the game by an indescribable amount; every single team benefits from having Petey on their team, as he basically shuts down the concept of stealing with anything but the fastest characters on his own. Additionally, Dnokey Kong has the Laser Beam ability, which increases his throwing speed by 30% when he throws balls to home, which stacks with his chemistry boost with Petey, making him the second-safest throw to home base (and the only practical one) in the entire game. HOWEVER, Petey is balanced by his negative chemistry tree, which causes fielders to occasionally make errors if they throw to a character they dont like. Petey has negative chemistry with almost all of the heroes, most relevantly Daisy who plays a good infield, but also has negative with one of the most important infield presences in the game: Pianta. Pianta is the unquestioned best second baseman in the game, having a great arm, being a huge body with a great slide and the laser beam ability, making him both the ideal cutoff and the best option for denying grounders. However, if hes teamed up with Petey, this can cause errors at the most critical of times, preventing the most oppressive team of a DK/Pianta infield from being as successful as it could be. Petey is a crazy character and is always a fun threat behind the plate. Play Superstar Baseball its way better than it should be.

Ice Climbers - Super Smash Bros Ultimate? Maybe?

This is the game where the Ice Climbers are not boiled down to the ability to land a grab. And thats really neat, desync combos with the Icies are some of the coolest things to see. But the opportunity cost to figuring out the Ice Climbers is so, so vast compared to playing any other character. I really like the potential that the Ice Climbers possess, having two characters support each other in tandem and literally propping each other up to stay in the fight is great. They have a totally unique feel that Rosalina and Luma can only pretend to reach, and folks were right to be upset when they were excluded from Smash 4; theres something conceptually tantalizing about the duo. Its just a matter of if players are able to discover tech that makes the most out of the two, and its not quite there yet. I do wish they had more moves where one directly supports the other, like one tossing snowballs for the other to shoot off of their hammer or something. Theres more to be done here, but I feel like its also up to players to further discover what cool things can be done with these guys. Is four years too late for the meta to develop for them? I dont want to say so considering how much tech was discovered late in Melees life, but I want to say the window is closing. Except this to go up or down depending on how Ultimates lifecycle goes. C+

Best Non-Smash Appearance: WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgame$ - Its shorter than Ice Climber. I want to take a moment to discuss how bad the jump feels in Ice Climber. Any sort of horizontal momentum feels like a cruel joke that will only sometimes grace you on a whim. Donkey Kong Jr. feels like aerobic gymnastics compared to how inflexible Ice Climber is. The difficulty from the game comes entirely from how stiff jumping is. You will bonk your head. You will fall. You will die. It will feel bad. And the WarioWare three second version somehow feels ten times better than the entire game of Ice Climber.

Smash Ultimate spoilers follow. Which sounds like a silly thing, but still.

Master Hand -Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Yeah, so that one moment, huh? Felt INSANELY good. I know Master Hand is selectable through an easy glitch in Melee, and somehow thats way more accessible than this penultimate moment in World of Light, seriously why cant you do that fight easily on command. But theres few things that Smash Bros can really do, in its current state, to surprise. Everything is about the pomp and circumstance of the announcements; what Smash IS means a lot more than what Smash DOES. This was one of the few cards Smash had left to throw out, and damn was it well played after twenty years of build-up. Great choices of moves, even though its essentially a glorified multi-man melee, damn does it feel good to finally get inside the glove. Also, best appearance is definitely Smash 3DSs classic mode as a boss, the multi-layered fight to get to the Master Core without the nonsense of Master Fortress, hes got great variety in his moves, the kraft singles actually killed me the first time I encountered them, man, beating that at max difficulty as Little Mac was a fun mistake.

Kat and Ana

Little mac

K. Rool

Kat & Ana - WarioWare Gold

Split Screen is one of the most simple but effective WarioWare modes theyve ever devised. Having one microgame start one one screen whilst one is wrapping up on the other, leaving no break between them, creates this great division of attention on your peripheral vision thats honestly a preferable alternative to a lot of WarioWares marathon modes. So many of those devolve into repetition and well I suck at this one so Ill lose a hit when it comes up, otherwise this is free. By never letting your attention waver, you never reach that state, always engaged in the process of back-and-forth gaming. And using the duo as the hosts for the mode just makes sense, glad they got the call instead of Dribble & Spitz or the volt family.

Little Mac - Mike Tysons Punch-Out!!

So the only reason I have something resembling a poorly performing part-time job on Youtube is because of Mike Tysons Punch-Out. I may be a little biased, but Im rather fond of the game! Theres something so simple yet so addictive turning whats essentially a reaction-test puzzle game into a sporting event, learning basic patterns that are often very repeatable, but constant tests of attention and reflexes to execute. Its a very difficult game not to get; when you lose to Piston Honda (and you very likely will lose to Piston Honda on the first go-round), youll know if the game is for you or not, and if it is, damn its fantastic. While I love the Wii remake and do think its a richer well to draw from, I think there are two major elements that make the NES classic a better showing for Little Mac, specifically. The first is his size - Punch-Out Wii puts him at a much more manageable height so that his model could reasonably reach the boxers hes supposed to be punching. NES Mac is PITIFULLY small, dwarfed by every progressively bigger body you come up against, making foes like Bald Bull and Soda Popinski look like impossible to slay giants the first time you lay eyes on them. Sells the David Vs Goliath story in that kind of awe-inspiring Shadow of the Colossus sort of way, just with more machismo and better controls. The second is the presence of Mike Tyson himself. There is a huge difference between fighting Mr. Sandman or Mr. Dream, scary cartoon boxer who youre told is the best and is a really tough video game character, and Mike Tyson, legitimate unbeatable super-athlete with his real-world reputation tossed directly into the video game. Tyson acts just like his real-life counterpart, going for a lightning fast first-round KO where every single one of his dynamite punches lead to an instant knockdown. Tyson is able to build up an aura of intimidation that cant be captured by just video games alone, taking his real-life prestige and weaponizing it as the difficulty is cranked up as high as can be and he sends players tumbling back to the mat. You COULDNT beat Mike Tyson; after all your training, he sent you packing in 10 seconds flat on your first attempt. But Mac gives you the tools you need to find that one in a million chance, to study him, and to finally win. And that sort of triumph is something that may have been lost to time as Tysons reputation has yknow, changed a lot. But Mac captured lightning in a bottle there, and as quickly as it faded, damn did those sparks burn bright.

Best Smash Appearance: Smash 4 - Man the For Glory era was something else. Little Mac is outright a character that I think does not work in Smash Bros - just platforming around him prevents the character from playing the game. All of his mechanics are done better by either Kazuya or Terry, he outright is missing half of his moveset, and he fundamentally misunderstands what it means to be Little Mac. Throwing out big, meaty hitboxes that power through poorly-timed attack attempts - those are the bosses of Punch-Out, not its protagonist. Little Mac encourages his opponents to weave defensively, dodge his punch then counter-punch, and thats yknow, really backwards! Macs gameplay identity leans a lot more into his Super Punch-Out design, based around maintaining his momentum without getting hit in order to unleash a super-charged star punch, which I SUPPOSE is fair - the NES Punch-Out only worked as it did because the technically-limited Famicom couldnt emulate the arcade games, so itd be possible to see it as a weird prototype for the REAL arcade Punch-Out experience - but is also backwards in celebrating why people love Little Mac and the Punch-Out series. I dont think Mac is unfun to play as, but I do think that there are better characters who outclass him at every single gimmick he wants to bring forward, and as DLC has been released, his place in the roster has simply become invalidated. I want him back, I love Punch-Out and wanted so badly to main him before the release of Smash 4, but I want him completely redone. Also making Doc randomly show up as a taunt? Criminal, that man has more charisma than most of the Smash cast combined, he does not deserve to be restrained. F

King K. Rool - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

https://youtu.be/iEwnsrxygJQ

I have wanted K. Rool in Smash ever since I saw that Smash 64 had unlockable characters. For some reason, the three that I settled on being my dream picks (knowing that Jigglypuff was one of them) were Bowser, King K. Rool, and Gengar for some reason. Seeing K. Rool only grow less and less relevant, along with the Donkey Kong franchise as a whole, for decades was a disheartening process. This guy was MY final boss, not the first one I beat, (all love to Marx and Bowser) but the first one that, on his own, was an hours-long challenge. In all three DKC games, even; I never even beat Kaptain K. Rool as a young kid he was so impossibly hard! So even as his name was batted around as a potential fan favorite and he was thrown a bone as a Mii Costume, my expectation for Ultimate was MAYBE hed be thrown a bone as an Assist Trophy. And then Klaptrap was revealed as an AT and, instead of intuiting something better, my heart sank as he couldnt even get a cameo role.

And then in that same presentation he was revealed to be playable. So, uh, there is no way for me to be unbiased here, but K. Rool is my favorite Smash Bros character design. Its one thing to want a character for years and years (hi Little Mac, Banjo), its another for him to exceed your expectations, dethrone your main of nearly two decades, and reinvigorate the conversation around the character from dead to the guy at the fast food restaurant recognizes him on my t-shirt.

K. Rool emulates a video game boss fight perfectly; a ton of predictable, but incredibly strong moves from the front, but a ton of vulnerability in the back, with a bunch of periods where you cant damage the guy without being punished hard. Fighting as K. Rool as simple, a matter of getting out your options to overwhelm your opponent and smashing them with singularly crushing blows. Fighting against K. Rool is equally simple and engaging, taking advantage of any predictable behaviors and punishing him for days on end. Both sides get a ton out of the engagement, both know their roles immediately, and both sides get to have a fun-as-Hell time whenever theyre in the drivers seat. K. Rools got everything you could ever want from a heavy - power, armor, cheese, frustration, the ability to actually get out of disadvantage with neutral air, suffering so you can still complain that your character is a combo video showcase, tech chase situations where you just win if you guess right, one of the best and most fulfilling spikes in the game with his back air. Then you stack in his references to his boss fights, which are all clever and multi-faceted and work to enhance his playstyle rather than just being in there for the sake of references (the fact that he does his DKC3 flappy arms damage animation when entering freefall after his Up B is everything to me). And THEN, Smash gives him the special sauce it only gives to its best designs, and enhances his characterization. Things like the torn cape, having so many of his moves mirror Donkey Kongs in function (his forward and back airs are reversed versions of DKs, he has the same clap, his up and down airs have extra oomph compared to the big ape), actually getting to fire off the big dumb DK64 laser, adding a rap section to Gangplank Galleon just because DKs famous for rapping now - this tells the story of the villain who clawed his way back to relevancy just to one-up his nemesis one more time. This reinforces all the things fans of K. Rool love about him while inventing new fans. I know that I am going to be hyper-attentive to every little detail of this character, but he is such an absolute joy to play. Hes got that Ganondorf-like trait of you pick him up and you kill things with the personality of Dedede, the fundamental physicality of DK and Bowser, and enough of his own unique traits to set him apart. If I designed the character to appeal to me specifically, I would not make something this good. S

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Donkey Kong Barrel Blast - K. Rool uniformly sucks in all the other games hes playable in, which hurts quite a bit. Usually hes the minmaxed character; highest strength possible, lowest finesse. This makes him outright unplayable in DK King of Swing and the prototype version of Diddy Kong Pilot (also worth looking him up in that game, damn Rare had some zany voice clips for the Kongs in the 64 era and hearing K Rool scream WATCH IT, APE in the raspiest tone imaginable is some kind of freaky), and in Mario Super Sluggers hes kind of just another Bowser, who was nerfed to about a mid-tier level. Also Super Sluggers isnt as good as Superstar Baseball, way more automated, so thats a shame. Barrel Blast at least has the decency to make him a good character, above-average in everything, and yknow, I think Barrel Blast wouldve been pretty okay if it released with the bongos. Waggling around is annoying, but its a combo-based racing game where you choose where your turbo boost starts, then crash through obstacles around the course to maintain the boost while avoiding traps. When it feels good, it feels really good, the issue being only two or three courses end up feeling great! But I mean K. Rool is objectively the best Kremling in that game, and they have more fun item sets, so might as well?

Elec Man

Terry Bogard

Banjo

Knuckles the Echidna

Dr Kawashima

We need a new Mario Superstar Baseball but instead we just get Golf and Tennis over and over.

swirIdude posted...

We need a new Mario Superstar Baseball but instead we just get Golf and Tennis over and over.

Ain't that the truth

Would you want another baseball game if it just had the 'normal' art style?

Have any of the Mario Golf games included driveable Mario Golf Karts yet? Until they get that part of golf right, they should keep ignoring other sports.

in the last golf game, every character is their own golf cart

complete with hitting other players

Xeybozn posted...

Have any of the Mario Golf games included driveable Mario Golf Karts yet? Until they get that part of golf right, they should keep ignoring other sports.

I really thought this was going to be part of Speed Golf

I wish that Golf Super Rush was a little bigger than it was. It did a great job actually differentiating the characters, but just didn't have enough courses and the actual speed golf bit was just... kind of too divided between phases? Like I expected it to be a rush to get the ball in the hole, but it's still based on stroke play primarily. Having only two variants of that stadium mode, which could've been a great hook, was also kind of a downer. Just a lot of little things going wrong instead of 'big picture' misses like the recent Tennis games were.

Elec Man - Mega Man: Powered Up

I like the idea of Elec Man being vain and self-interested, its a fun turn for the character and plays off of him being Inafunes favorite really nicely. The Elec Beam is a fun power to toy with, by which I mean it is fun to just hit the button and not think sometimes. Thats kind of it, his appearance in Mega Man Soccer aint gonna challenge a full-fledged game appearance. I guess I can say how happy I am that hes gone in favor of the Wily Capsule? Felt wrong not to have Wily in the game, Hell, it STILL feels wrong not to have Eggman represented in any way, and I greatly prefer having the good doctor instead of an Inafune vanity pick. Glad to see Smash wash its hands of Inafune as much as possible.

Terry Bogard - Garou: Mark of the Wolves

Youd have me hard pressed to find an appearance of Terry I dont enjoy. He is the perfect middleground between traditional shoto and rushdown styles, having just enough of the basic tools needed to function as a defensive world warrior, but having a sense of style and an equal amount of moves that keeps him an exciting brawler. Terry is equally a fantastic unga bunga hit buttons character and a disciplined defensive character depending on his interpretation, and the dude just feels great. I also appreciate that KoF has had English voice acting for some time now, and fairly effective voiceover for a fighting game, but Terry is still here screaming AH YOU OKAY ROCKYOU like a crazy man, its great. Of all his appearances, I am a sucker for character progression via time jumps, so Garou speaks to me pretty deeply. Plus, introduction of Buster Wolf, unsafe as it is at first, have to greatly appreciate. Plus he plays a bit more defensively when hes older and Im a cowardly slow-brained player, so thats appreciated. But I dont think theres a single Terry appearance in standard Fatal Fury or KoF games that I wouldnt enjoy. Terry is just universally great.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Sakurai knew that a large amount of his playerbase would not know who Terry Bogard was. So he set out to create the coolest, most fun version of the character he possibly could and damn, he succeeded. Terry is an absolute blast to play at any level. As a standard kit, he just fits into Smash Bros. Ryu, Ken, and Kazuya do not feel right moving around in a platform fighter - they are incredibly dedicated recreations of their various systems, and they do an amazing job of it, but theyre very stiff and do not interact with the platforming mechanics of Smash well at all. Put them in Temple or on Pac-Land instead of a tournament legal stage, and youve lost something. Terry, though, feels completely functional as a Smash Bros fighter, something about the way he runs feeling like, yknow, an actual run rather than emulating a fighting game. You can play Terry like a standard Smash character up until 100% and everything wont be as optimal as it could be, but it could work. But then you add on the fighting game sauce on top, and he does that fantastically! Jab Jab Power Dunk is such a simple combo that even Smash players are able to input it, and is so inviting that the supposedly ARCANE art of motion inputs become something that players would actually want to learn. There are so many cute little details with him, from the dodge attack to losing his hat in stamina matches to being able to cancel his specials that really sell him as a special attraction. And then, the Go Sauce. I know a lot of people are critical of Go!! as a mechanic, but I love it. Terry isnt a weak character at base, but hes not exactly one that excels at recovery - put him in disadvantage, and he struggles hard. Go!! is a punishment for not sealing the deal with Terry early enough AND giving him enough stage control that he can perform his super specials. Power Geyser and Buster Wolf both necessitate Terry to have solid footing in order to use, and require forethought from the Terry player to properly use, thinking of set-ups so they can actually use the inputs rather than maneuvering around, something inherently more important to a platform fighter than any other 2D fighting game. Getting bodied by the AH YOU OKAY special or a high recovery eviscerated by the Geyser is both a reward for surviving so long for the Terry player and a punishment for Terrys opponent for failing to close it out, and its a LOT more generous to his opponents than One-Wing form, Arsene, or even aura! Terry fits the kinetic language of Smash Bros perfectly, feels great to his people with at a base level, and flows in a way that isnt nearly as obtrusive as the other fighting game characters. He would be perfect if he had a unique intro where Ken threw him his hat. Missing thats gonna dock you from perfection, buddy. A+

Banjo & Kazooie - Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie is a fantastic 3D platforming game that is bad at actually platforming. Thats not to say that it controls bad - far from it, I think its got one of the best cameras of the era that always tries to frame set pieces really nicely and allows for a lot less rigidity than Mario or DK do in the same era. But platforming is highly deprioritized in BK, with what would be a very traditional platforming area (the Rusty Bucket Bay Engine Room) often being decried as the worst area in the game. Banjo is, instead, a very relaxed platforming hero whos perfectly equipped for exploring. Banjo has VERY generous jumps with Kazooie, the combination of the Talon Trot and Feathery Flap allowing him to correct mistakes and flexibly handle almost any terrain. Going around Banjos worlds is more a matter of figuring out what moves in Banjos toolbox will solve puzzles, and trying to use his various defensive options and the limited honeycombs in each world to survive long enough to get all the music notes in one run (which is why Im a lot less of a fan of the 360 version that abolishes Note Score). Banjo is a great comfort game that tricks you into thinking its also a great platformer, and I say that with the game easily being in my Top 5 of all time! Theres something humble and cozy about controlling Banjo that has just enough kinetic appeal to not grow too boring, and levels in Kazooie are so compact yet so dense with sub-areas and things to collect that it always feels like Banjo is being tested, doing SOMETHING with his variety of abilities. Tooie is also great (add in a map and Id call it the best Metroid Prime game with how similar of exploration-based notes it touches on), but I find a lot of Banjos abilities introduced there slow the gameplay a lot and are often based around get this more limited character to this spot that would be easy for the duo to get to. Which is a fine enough mental challenge, but something about the simplicity and density of Kazooie numbs my mind and makes me indescribably happy. Gruntys Furnace Fun is also an all-timer of a boss fight, an absolutely perfect final test of how good you were at collecting stuff and remembering what you did helped along by the games tone making every little moment stand out even more.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - A lot of people seemed disappointed that Banjo wasnt hype to play as, and was very standard with only a little bit of DLC magic. And like yeah, thats how hes always been like, thats the game, my guy! Banjos always taken things at a very relaxed pace, always feeling good at a base level but needing to use his various tools in unique ways in order to succeed. And thats exactly what Banjo is; a heavier all-rounder with a few fun tools that give him crazy set-ups that casual players will never get a hold of! As much as I love the guy, I dont think his moveset impresses me but I dont necessarily find that a bad thing. Banjo feels like a character whos been here since Brawl, so comfortable and so familiar to play that it barely feels like it took him twenty years to join the series! Thats really the best place for Banjo, I think - comfortable, familiar, and with just enough stuff under the hood to let players really latch onto him. Hed fall into the same category as Pit or Wolf as yeah theyre just good and make sense if he wasnt the most immaculately animated character in the game. Both Banjo and Kazooie are a joy to see in motion, bringing forth a kind of lazy cartoon slapstick that the series was desperately missing. Their ledge animation is a joy, Breegull Bash speaks for itself as the best looking Forward Smash in the game, the amount of times the two give each other aside looks to reassure one another or check that theyre okay for mere frames is baffling for how small a detail it is - character-wise, there is no one better on the roster at wearing EVERYTHING the character is about right on their sleeve. Banjo continues to just feel good and comfortable to play, and thats more than enough for me. A

Knuckles the Echidna - Sonic Adventure 2

Now, I love Knuckles in Sonic & Knuckles. Fabulous exploring for secrets with him, stages are all oriented so he can get the most out of their terrain, feels great whenever you punch through a wall by ramming his face into it. I dont think Knuckles has ever felt bad to play unless the game hes in is unplayably bad, and even then, damn is he the most incomprehensible mess of physics implosions in Sonic 06. But theres something special about using Knuckles to glide over a huge 3D space, to go off of a big mountain and drill all the way to the bottom, hear that ORAORAORAORAORA RATS. There are few stages that are more fun to just exist in than Pumpkin Hill, and Knuckles feels amazing flying around it. None of the other stages quite live up to that height - Wild Canyons fine, Aquatic Mine is trash, Death Chamber is not a level its a form of torture, and Meteor Herd is also fine - but theres something that feels great about Knuckles in 3D that only the Adventure games really touched. The SA1 Emerald Hunts were way too short, though - I know they have a better radar but those levels were over in like two minutes tops each.

Dr. Kawashima - Brain Age: Test Your Brain In Minutes A Day!

Wow thats really the title, huh? Anyway, I dont think Kawashima is playable in any Brain Age titles, to my knowledge? Hes a lot less encouraging and cuddly than Dr. Lobe from Big Brain Academy and Professor Layton are, but hes an alright guy. Sometimes he turns into the devil. I definitely think that hes an interesting mascot, taking a real professor and making him a polygonal coach/antagonist, feel that he pulled that off a little better than Polygon Man, but not quite as good as Shinya Arino did in Retro Game Challenge. Man, you reminded me I havent watched Game Center CX in forever, I miss when translations for that show were more frequent. Anyway, uh Kawashimas good? He fulfills his role well and makes for a really interesting assist trophy, upper half of them for sure. Not sure what to add past that.

I wish Banjo was just a bit better, as his base kit is super fun to play. He doesn't need to go full DLC privilege, but it's hard to use him when he feels like he needs to work really hard for mediocre gains, or just resort to lame egg camping.

Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde

Excitebike

Fox

Chain Chomp

KamikazePotato posted...

or just resort to lame egg camping.

Yeah it seems most good banjo's do a lot of stalling with grenade stuff and breegull blaster setups which look a little lame to me.

Bowser Jr.

I like when Banjo players use egg as a conversion tool rather than a camping tool. Banjo flows really well from his projectile-focused state to his aggressive ones, and I do love seeing a great breegull blaster ladder set up because that move is HARD to optimize, but a lot of cautious Banjo play is just waiting for that moment. Which is a shame, because there is a middleground between that and "lolwonderwing", but Banjo's got so few reps you rarely ever see it.

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde - Pac-Man World Rally

Did you know Blinky is playable in a Mario Kart game? Both of the initial Mario Arcade Rally GP games have him playable. Just Blinky, though, the rest are totally screwed. In any case, I dont think Ive played a game with the ghosts playable, but I assume from looking at five minutes of gameplay of each that the Mario Kart knock-off is better than the Mario Party knock-off. Mostly because it has a character named Devil Pac-Man in it, and the Prince of all Cosmos. As Assist Trophies yeah this was absolutely the right call, having them mimic their ghost behaviors was a great attention to detail, the sound design of them speeding up at the end of the summon is a great attention to detail. It works well, its crowd-pleasing, and theres just a simple kind of satisfaction you see when you encounter the ghosts. More than Pac-Man himself, Id argue; the ghosts always keep up their end of the bargain as annoying obstacles to outwit, Pac-Mans got so many weird appearances that hes kinda worn out as far as mascots go.

Excitebike - Excitebots: Trick Racing

I mean, its no longer the bike, but Excitebots was such a fun little diversion. Excite Truck took some of the best aspects of series like Cruisn - most specifically the air time you get - and made it the major focus, always looking for ways for vehicles to get sick air. Excitebots looked at that concept and made it sillier, adding in mid-race mini-games like knocking down bowling pins or throwing a dart at a dartboard with a giant mechanical arm, and its stupid and silly, but damn is it fun. It allows the game to have a fantastic sense of identity as a more Tony Hawk flavored racing title, trying to make the most out of every corner and straightaway rather than merely taking them fast. Its a game that really only sells itself to smaller children from its concept, but damn is it a fun concept. As for Excitebike itself its fine? Like, I appreciate the track editor, thats a fun idea, and the technical innovations in screen scrolling it presented led directly to Super Mario Bros so its important as Hell, but I think I prefer Wrecking Crew when it comes to the make-your-own-level NES games. Never touched Excitebike 64 though, maybe that ones good.

Fox - Super Smash Bros. Melee

TORIYA. HAH. CMON. HIYAAAAH. Man, Foxs Melee sound design was immaculate. Its astounding that you can have a voice as iconic as Star Fox 64 Fox completely discarded in favor of a Japanese man screaming and STILL have it land so well, but Melee Fox managed it. What Fox lacks in pure references to his series, he makes up for with the spirit of his series being expressed through his movement. Something as simple as Foxs super high fall speed and general quickness makes him such a dynamic character, the way he effortlessly flows up and down the stage into pinpoint combos mirroring the thrill of controlling an Arwing. He cant get into the vehicle and shoot you down himself (until Ultimate at least), but hell gladly participate in a dogfight, giving you no quarter, able to pursue and maneuver in any which way to leave no breathing room as he shoots you down with repeated, quick strikes. Fox has always had a unique spot in any roster hes appeared in, a hyper-dynamic twist on traditional platforming where he just GOES, and its always been great. Foxs core design is probably the best out of the entire Smash 64 roster, and while Captain Falcon would capture his character just a biiiit better and The Knee is a much cooler finisher than Fox Up Smash ever could be, its telling that all of the characters modeled after Fox have felt fantastic. Melee has long since been a game defined by Fox and keeping up with his pace and thats really not a bad thing. Fox is great because hes intuitive, and while repetitive showings at tournaments may have dulled the excitement of seeing him in action, playing him and pulling off that kind of movement always feels fantastic. Innovation can be left to his crewmates if you wanna toss weapons or unique mechanics onto them - Fox stands out because hes the best damn pilot in the Lylat System, and that skill of movement and daredevil showmanship is what carries him through Smash, too. A+

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Star Fox 64 - To this day, scientists are unsure why rail shooters peaked in 1997. Though full games in the genre have come and gone that may outstrip Star Fox 64 in scope, control, and presentation, not a single one has made a level half as good as MacBeth from Star Fox 64. Is it that trains are just inherently better levels than other archetypes? Is it the added goal being tricky enough to accomplish and feeling like either youve fully mastered the level or noticed tricky bonus challenges out of the corner of your eye? Is it that you always feel engaged as you work toward a central goal the entire time? While all of these things are true, our findings only lead us to one solid conclusion: Star Fox 64 has one absolutely perfect level in it, and the rest of the game is pretty damn solid, too. For real, its just a damn good time with something to at least experiment with on every level, even if the Blue Marine and a couple of those Sector whatever missions are only alright. Theres nothing to distract from how good Fox feels in this game, its pure, fun shooting all the way through.

Chain Chomp: Mario Tennis Aces

Yknow that Rosalina write-up? Basically all the criticisms of Tennis Aces go here, but add in that Chain Chomp has blind spots that make him feel a bit worse than other characters because he doesnt have hands. But you dont care because hes Chain Chomp, like ARF ARF ARF, murderdog coming for you. Feels great, glad they put him in, was a great eyecatch character choice. As an Assist Trophy, hes fine does the exact same thing as Hammer Bro where hes purely zone control. And Thwomp, now that I think about it. If I had to pick one of the three, Id prefer it be Chain Chomp, but its weird how many of these generic Mario enemies they pull that all serve the same function of stand here and guard this spot, just some slightly worse than others. We coulda gotten at LEAST King Boo in here instead of Thwomp, if not someone actually interesting like Cranky Kong or the shopkeeper from Star Fox Adventures.

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