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

(+) Yeah! (+)

I think my issues with Byleth come from the fact that Robin was a LOT more organic of a way of doing it. Robin had the benefit of their game actually being out during Smash 4's development, he had years of figuring out what to do with him. I don't entirely love Robin, but I think it's a more fulfilling way of handling what was then a trend with Fire Emblem rather than a massive, budding problem, Byleth just has better unga bunga buttons that are more satisfying, and I'll freely admit those are important, but I'd rather have the pieces of Byleth put on complete movesets than the weird mishmash of a character we ended up with. I do think, if they trim FE down (and they should), Marth/Ike/Robin is a solid core, you can rotate out another classic lord to fulfill Roy/Chrom/Lucina's function (or just pick one, all three do that moveset fine), and then give the new FE character some of what Byleth's got, but hyper-focus on one weapon. I like Amir and Blaiddyd a lot more than I like Byleth.

Will throw out more perhaps later tonight or tomorrow morning, busy night of pretending I'm an authority on Donkey Kong lore and scriptwriting ahead, really glad to see my disdain for Corrin isn't entirely unfounded on "ew gross game with rapidly fluxuating gameplay quality".

I recently tried out Corrin for a hot minute because I love the anime swordsmen gameplay archetype in Smash and MKLeo made him look kinda fun. Quickly re-confirmed that, no, I would rather be playing literally anyone else in Smash Ultimate who has a sword.

Toon Link

Pokemon Trainer

Alph - Pikmin 3

I have never played Pikmin 3. However, I assume that it is a video game that is enjoyable, as I played both Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 and both of those were enjoyable. I also assume Alph has some semblance of character. I am even led to believe that the multi captain set-up of Pikmin 3 allows for clever strategic decision making and care of your Pikmin as you delegate tasks. These things would, with absolute certainty, make Pikmin 3 his best playable appearance.

Best Smash Appearance: None - Alph (and by extension, Olimar) are, by far, my least favorite designs in all of Smash Bros. Not only do I find their implementation bad, not only do I find them frustrating to fight and relatively unfun to play compared to others in their archetype, not only do I find that they betray their personalities, but I think their appearance in Smash has actively damaged the perception and reputation of the Pikmin series. The main conceit of Pikmin is the weight of responsibility - you have to escape a planet or plunder its resources so that you (or you entire colony or planet) dont die/become bankrupt. To do this, you must organize the native Pikmin, glad to follow you, to perform tasks together that they could never accomplish individually. With time, they grow stronger, evolve to grow more capable, can do more tasks, can be delegated to do multiple tasks, and any time that you recklessly toss them at an enemy, it is a disaster. Pikmin need to be ordered around strategically, carefully, and utilize their individual strengths together in order to overcome tasks, or else the crushing weight of dozens of dead Pikmin will haunt Olimar AND have the gameplay repercussion of needing to rebuild your army, something that is a toll on the player in later games and actively wastes a resource that is in short supply in the first.

The Pikmin captains fail spectacularly to convey any of this within Smash Bros. While Pikmin do still flower and bloom, this is such a forgotten mechanic that its basically treated as an easter egg, Pikmin are the most disposable minions possible in Smash, more than Advance Wars soldiers, even more than Luma. They are pitiful projectiles that are made to be distractions to get some extra chip damage, then slain. They are extended hitboxes sent out to die. There is no rhyme or reason for Olimars attacks; there is an optimal Alph playstyle out there, he will be played in that style, and whatever Pikmin you happen to pluck are tools to service that playstyle. The strategic elements of Pikmin - the stage control that they could very easily provide, Hell, that Snake can do with one button and zero thought - are entirely eliminated, the strategic elements have been greatly simplified with the Pikmins numerical reduction since Brawl (which, to be fair, the strategy was have six), there is no weight to a lost Pikmin as plucking one takes no time, and I have never met a single person who has been happy fighting Alph or Olimar. These are unfun characters who rely on basic, uninteresting puppets with basic set-ups that have no strong hook to allure new players, and also lack the depth of other characters with similar mechanics. Alph is perhaps one of the most shafted characters in all of Smash, joining as an alternate skin to a character who had, for the past decade, been best represented by watching Captain Falcon kill all his friends and being okay with it because he was losing against that Giant ROB anyway. Alph was not just dead on arrival, he was rotting. Gut it, burn it, leave nothing, and remake it anew. F

Wario - Wario Land: Shake It!

I think there are two solid directions that you can take with Wario. First, you could be a fan of his playstyle up to Wario Land 3, very slow and methodical, very anti-Mario. Where Mario defeats enemies and gains momentum by stomping on their head, Wario takes every last one and uses them for all theyre worth, tossing them about, beating them up for extra money, just abusing the system as best he can. And, in return, the world HATES Wario, looking to bully him right back and give him as many silly and stupid status conditions as it can muster, making for methodical experiences that play out very much akin to slapstick comedy: Wario walks into a field of rakes until he catches a rake in his teeth and uses it to beat the other rakes to death. Of these, I really love Wario Land 2s dedication to secret exits based less on level design cues and more on contextual clues - sleeping through his own first level is a VERY Wario thing to do. However, I do prefer the athletic approach that went into his later games - 4, World, and Shake It, specifically. Here, Wario plays more toward his circus strongman athleticism, still getting beaten and battered by the world around him plenty, but having more traditional platforming levels with some beat em up and exploration elements mixed in. I do prefer this approach to the original Wario Land approach, but I see both as very valid interpretations of the character. Shake It, though, is where I think it starts getting really fun. Wario is an immaculately animated character, every little animation giving him just that extra bit of oomph in everything he does. The earthquake punch is an incredibly fun on-command move to both puzzle through various labyrinths with and smash everything in your path, and led to one of the most fun bits of Youtube interactivity with the collapsing video player. And most importantly, this game masters Wario Land 4s concept of running back through a level under a time limit. Wario often shoots out of cannons to start a charge back through a stage hes beaten, destroying everything in his path, ruining the level that he just spent so much time combing through in one final mad dash to get away with his loot. It is a delightfully rude and disrespectful time that gives Wario fantastic setpiece moments to compliment his funny moment-to-moment gameplay. And I only wish the series continued from here - what a great direction to go in, a shame it didnt sell too well. Ah well, WarioWares fun.

Mario Baseball Profile: Wario - In Mario Superstar Baseball, Warios a weird character. His special is the Liar Ball, which sends a pop fly to the outfield. However, the ball splits into two right before impact with the ground - catch the regular ball and Warios out, catch his decoy garlic, and Wario gets a guaranteed double at minimum. Wait to be safe and Wario is gonna get to first base no matter what. Its a 50/50 that gets completely suppressed by Yoshi, whose tongue catch can be used on reaction from the center of the two ball split to always catch and get Wario out. Its a weird hail mary play that will at least always score a runner off of third on a sacrifice fly but thats what Warios built for anyway. Wario is a power hitter who can just baaarely hit Home Runs, probably being the weakest character who can be thought of to often knock it out of the park. This used to be a great detriment to him, and put him in direct competition with Pianta, another large-bodied character who just barely had enough power to knock it out of the park who also plays Warios preferred position, 2nd Base. A fierce debate raged over who was the better 2nd Baseman - Wario has an ability called Sliding Catch that lets him accelerate into dives, giving him fantastic range to catch grounders and fly balls, but Pianta has a naturally big body that doesnt make him THAT much worse than Wario, and has the Laser Beam ability that turbos the ball to home plate to tag a runner out at home. Ultimately, Pianta won the war with Wario, and Bad Mario was temporarily considered to be a worse character than Daisy, who was rising in the meta until Waluigi came into prominence as a 1st Baseman, giving him even more consistency for throwing runners out at first with his chem partner, and making up for his weakness just by Waluigi being there - Waluigi ALSO has laser beam, after all. Additionally, Wario had chemistry with Boo, who sees EVERY game as an undisputed Top 6 character and the best pitcher, giving Wario two chemistry partners to turn his home run chances from possible to likely if both are on-base. Wario is now a character who should see every game and opens up teambuilding possibilities via his presence, and is no longer merely a defensive presence due to Waluigi shifting around him.

Best Smash Appearance: Brawl - I had such high hopes for Wario. Hes such a fun character, exaggerating all the worst aspects of Mario and putting them into the forefront, a gross reflection of machismo taken to its most self-indulgent. I do not think there is another Smash Bros character whose portrayal has hurt them as much as Wario. Olimar & Alph people dont know have personalities, thats pretty rough. Byleth didnt get anything from their game and was essentially a response to trends rather than a character, thats no fun. Wario? Wario had years of established character, and all of it got hyper focused into making him zany, jerky, and random, and boiled his personality down to the farting man. It cannot be stated how much the Wario Waft has overtaken Warios general perception - hes gross and liked the smell of his own gas before, but so much of Wario revolved around this one feature that he was passed over in NSMBWii as wed have to add a farting mechanic for Wario. Wario ceases to be a bully, a strongman, a greedy idiot who will break his body in whatever way to get a quick buck - hes just lost his mind. Every animation from a character known for goofy cartoon animations becomes a jerky mess that seems to be missing frames whenever he moves. Hell, the guy couldnt even keep his Shoulder Bash, his signature attack, for all three games he appears in, losing it in Smash 4 for uh some reason, I guess. It is an absolute shame, there are great things about Wario. Brawl committed to his animation style a bit harder than the other games and it looks not great, but it commits to the look well. Hes got a bunch of moves that mirror Mario but have more exaggerated elements to make him look like a Mario tryhard. Hes got some of the best body breaking in the game with his enlarging fists and head on attacks that put a ton of emphasis on everything. Bike and Chomp are legitimately super fun moves. Wario-Man used to be the most fun Final Smash in the game before the universal FS changes in Ultimate ruined it. I do not hate the pieces of Warios kit - if you gave it to someone who isnt Wario, Id say its pretty good, even. Could use some work, but might be a solid B. But man I wanted to play Wario so badly. And I still do. Because this isnt Wario, and its hurt my ability to experience the guy in other games by what its done to him. This is more personal than other ones, but F

Dixie Kong - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddys Kong Quest

Look back to the Diddy write-up, as a lot of my thoughts on him also apply to Dixie. However, Dixie also has the advantage of being one of the most generous but fair player 2 characters in a platformer. Looking at contemporaries like Tails, a lot of the difficulty of platforming is removed with the addition of flight - you dont really have to interact with the hardest part of the stage youre on, you can just coast off and find the power-ups you need. Dixie is merely a buffer; you still have to actually beat the level, you still have to do the platforming, if you glide forward blindly, you will die. But she allows you to relax a bit, carefully guide your Kong to the right spot to jump off of an enemy, properly time a cycle for a disappearing platform, and once you know a stage, lets you skip large swaths of level youve already accomplished by gliding right over it. Shes also excellent in DKC3, and I love that shes grown past the need for Crankys approval unlike DK and Diddy, taking this vacation for herself and ascending to heaven for her accomplishments, but I like her as Diddys compliment more than I like her as Kiddys. Both of the DKC2 playable characters feel like equal partners, bringing strengths and weaknesses and complimenting each other. Dixie DEFINITELY feels like Kiddys babysitter in DKC3, which is very intentional but yknow, not as fun as sending the ghost of a man you killed to Hell with your boyfriend.

Mario Baseball Profile: Dixie Kong - Dixie is the 3rd best pitcher in the game, behind Boo and nearly tied with her boyfriend, Diddy. As there are only two teams playing each other in baseball and pitchers only get fatigued if you give up 7 runs with them, (which is possible and a valid strategy, but damn you gotta hit good to make it happen) you would think this means that Dixie gets chased out of the meta. But surprisingly, both Diddy and Dixie are just about equally relevant. Both Dixie and Diddy have chemistry with Donkey Kong and each other, with Diddys other chem partners being irrelevant. Diddy has a unique boomerang ball super, a pop fly that curves at an odd angle thats difficult for non-Yoshi fielders to catch and can net him a guaranteed single, but its worse than DKs that does a similar thing. Dixies super is irrelevant, but in exchange, she has a far more consistent singles bat. Dixie has slightly lower power and trajectory than Diddy, meaning that she hits the ball into No Mans Land territory with better contact, and with bad contact, hits dribblers that are less likely to double play than Diddys overall mediocre-at-best batting. This makes Diddy have a higher reward potential than Dixie, which tends to make him a better choice as an optimal Diddy will have a higher yield, but does not remove Dixie from the meta at all due to her better consistency. Plus she does her spin attack from DKC2 whenever she throws a charge pitch, and thats adorable.

Dillon - Dillons Rolling Western

Ive never been able to play Dillons series, is it particularly good? Ill admit that I do like Tower Defense style games, but the third-person perspective always has me wary. Im someone who gets nervous when they cant get to their units engaged in combat in time in a Dynasty Warriors game waaaay too much, so the behind-the-back perspective compared to the top-down is usually a death sentence for me. In any case, Dillon works well, he does what youd expect an armadillo to do, has a cool design, and represents a neat part of Nintendos more modern history thats getting obliterated from purchaseability fairly soon. So that part sucks but, yknow. Trade off.

Pretty much agree on Wario and Olimar, for the reasons stated. Even as an immature teenager I thought the way they characterized Wario in Smash was lame.

Wario Land was one of my important fundamental series growing up (WL2 was basically my introduction to "outside" games from what I was previously familiar with before getting a Game Boy) so I felt that writeup. I've been feeling that same pain since Brawl came out.

Never played Dillon, either.

Squidling Girl/Boy

Boo

Hammer Bro - Mario Superstar Baseball

Honestly both Strikers Charged and Superstar Baseball are amazing performances for Hammer Bro. Hammers undoubtedly the best sidekick in Charged, as his deke is slam a giant hammer down, giving him a solid dodge and great offensive presence. And his power shot is just concuss Kritter with hammers, which gives him a no skill required free goal if it lands. Hes just simple and easy! Superstar Baseball, Hammer Bro is designed to do one thing and one thing only: hit home runs. He shares a unique battling style with only Toadsworth and Donkey Kong, where almost the entirety of his bat is a sweet spot, but its much smaller than other bats, meaning that either hes gonna hit the ball deep, or hes gonna swing through, no questions. This is coupled with the fact that hes probably the third-best home run hitter in the game behind Bowser and Petey, and might actually be more consistent than Petey as he is far less likely to foul out or hit pop flies. This is complimented by his excellent chemistry tree, by which I mean he has chemistry with Bowser. Bowser is FAR too dangerous to pitch to most of the time, with the idea of walking him to 1st being much, MUCH safer than taking the risk of throwing him out. If Hammer Bro is directly after Bowser in the line-up, with the chemistry boost thats guaranteed from Bowser being on-base, you are now pitching to a second Bowser. He isnt QUITE as good as Bowsers ridiculously long bat, but letting someone draft Bowser-Bro-any other heavy gives them the most devastating home run core possible in the game, like, there is nothing else that can remotely compete. Even Hammer Bros variants are great, Boomerang Bro having a unique curved trajectory on his balls that makes them foul more often, but make it nearly impossible to rob with wall jump and gives the character a viable slap hit. Fire Bro lowers the trajectory of the ball in exchange for more power, turning him from a home run hitter into Pianta+. Fire Bro usually isnt worth trading out Hammer or Boomer, but the former two are constantly in contention with each other. In exchange for an unprecedented at-the-plate threat, Hammer Bro has absolutely zero defensive utility - hes your catcher if you didnt draft Petey, not because hes good there, but to hide him from having to play any position where his mediocre everything would cost a run. It says a lot how GOOD his batting is that hes still considered a top tier character in the game in spite of that. Hammer Bro does exactly one thing, it just happens to be the best thing in the game he could possibly specialize in.

Dr. Wily - Mega Mans Soccer

There is something absolutely delightful about Dr. Wily hating Mega Man so much, he.invents a robot suit specifically so that he can outperform military-grade combat robots at sports. Works a tad better for me than him getting really into racecars for playable appearances, at least, and the Wily Field theme is actually really great. I like Wily a whole lot as a character, sort of being a far more tame and sane alternative to Dr. Eggman - Wily is all ego searching for praise while Eggman actually wants to murder people and fulfill his funny theme park ambitions. This gets coupled with the old design the robot masters contest with Wily asking children for all over the world to help him foil Mega Man with diabolical designs. Its an oddly wholesome image that gets kids to think about game design in neat ways, I really like it. Wilys a pretty fabulous Assist Trophy in Smash, picking the MM7 Capsule for all of the suffering its caused was a brilliant move, and having him with the begging for mercy animation when you bust the pod is such a good touch that I cant help but love. The actual Assist Trophy functions really well, those energy balls havent gotten any less annoying to deal with and he doesnt completely warp a match around his presence like Tiki or someone. Just all-around good stuff from the good doctor.

Toon Link: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I dont think Wind Waker actually has the best Zelda combat anymore, but it sure does sell its combat better than any other Zelda game. The way Link feels so lithe due to his small frame, the fluidity and motion of his jumping attacks, the sound effects every time he lands a blow creating a natural momentum to combat - when youre wailing on enemies, the game does everything in its power to make you feel like an expert swordsman. Item set is also really great in this game, the Deku Leaf being a fun multi-purpose tool that would go on to inspire the sailcloths insane versatility, Skull Hammer being a great visual upgrade from the oddly small Megaton from Ocarina, the Boomerang gains a lot of versatility and is just always fun to use in 3D Zelda, Sailing is a hit-or-miss process, but as someone who gets a rush of serotonin filling out the map so that the Walk Armor in SotN gets stronger, Im alright with the down time to get to cute objectives that are relatively fun up until the Triforce Hunt. Its not like Toon Link has much competition - the DS games are fine but wild and kinda clunky departures, Minish Cap is aggressively yeah this is fine, Triforce Heroes I just remembered existed - but Wind Wakers a fine template with really high highs that make controlling the character distinct from other incarnations.

Best Smash Appearance: Brawl - The more Link changes, the more Toon Link stays the same. I understand the point and purpose of Toon Link, hes a popular and distinct enough incarnation of the character and I appreciate that were not still calling him Cel-da and can instead make jokes about his ability to attack your opponents life points directly if they control no Toon monsters on their side of the field. But MAN does he feel redundant. There is a unique floatiness to Toon Link that sets him apart from his taller counterpart and makes him feel even less congruous with his debut game. Wind Waker Toon Link is a very in-your-face kind of character, constantly dodging and weaving. Smash Toon Link is a camper with odd set-ups that work sometimes. I do appreciate that later Smash games gave him more unique animations, but those are also kind of worse? Like hes now singular slashes instead of a lot of multi-slashes, taking him even further away from his initial design. Like, I cant think of many less satisfying to land finishers than Toon Links forward smash - it just kind of ends halfway through a full swing with no fanfare. But I could understand, with how much theyre evolving Link, if TL was here to preserve a legacy playstyle for the character but then Young Link exists and does that infinitely better. The feel of Melee Link is more accurately captured with Yink than ANYTHING is captured with Tink. And thats not to mention how pitiful his moveset really is when you consider all of the unique possibilities his own adventures and weapons offer him! Toon Link is a character who hasnt had a reason to exist since Brawl, and really does deserve better. He does have that victory animation where he tries to catch a pig, though. Thats cute. D-

Pokemon Trainer - Pokemon Legends: Arceus

I really dont like the narrative progression of the Pokemon series. Basically trying to become a super-athlete and gaining the abilities to stomp out injustice where you see it was fine, a noble goal, combines the child superhero fantasy with the child super-athlete fantasy, be the very best, gotta catch em all, Blue is a dick. But slowly, you stop becoming every kids power fantasy and start becoming a very generic RPG chosen one. Your heart is what speaks to Suicune, your purity letting it choose you as a potential master. You hear Dialga and Palkas cries, and they respect your power enough to bend a knee to you and allow you to capture them. You are the chosen one who gets to save an alternate dimension from the evil Deoxys meteor and fly with Mega Rayquaza into space. Whatever the Hell that stuff with Rose is in Sword and Shield just stopping the actual fun part of the game so we can have Apocalyptomon come through the sky. I miss when Pokemon was a straightforward, personal narrative, rather than one of massive stakes and gravitation. You can still tell an effective story without saving the world mixed in there, its fine! My only major exceptions are Black and White, where clearly a ton of gravitas was being placed on the story so a tone shift befitted the direction of save da world, and Colosseum, where youre a defected evil team member and thus get a different starting point than you want to be the very best, but also have you heard of the ULTRA BEASTS?!

Anyway, all that is to say that Legends Arceus just isekais you into ancient times and that sets up you being special a lot better because gods just screwing with you via your smartphone. Plus, like its the game where you actually play as the trainer for more than overworld navigation. Youre running around having stand battles trying to get out of the way of the collateral damage and help your Pokemon overcome any challenge more directly than simply ordering them around. It actually feels good to control the Pokemon Trainer. Nice!

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - I mean, theres one game where they actually function, and one game where they dont. The one where they function wins. I wont go into the individual Pokemon here compared to the high concept, but needless to say, thank you for fixing Ivysaur and making her fun to play as. Pokemon Trainer is a great high concept of a character, a three-in-one with playstyles befitting different stages of a match both offensively and defensively, trying to make the best decisions possible to defeat foes. And its done SO much better than either Zelda/Sheik or Pyra/Mythra, and I dont even think the latter does it badly! Pokemon Trainer takes the high concept and rolls with it incredibly well, to the point where people clamor for trainers from other regions to get the same treatment and get more Pokemon represented. Thats a successful design; if they sucked, we wouldnt have that! Each of the Pokemon fulfills their role very well, the ebb and flow of tossing different ones out is good, being able to change in the air is a godsend that allows the character to have actual options and flexibility.. yeah! Its just very nicely done! A

Inkling - Splatoon

Somehow Ive never gotten around to playing Splatoon 2. Im sure its good, but I just missed the boat on its launch and the drop of the Octo Expansion and had other stuff to pursue, and now the third games coming along. But in any case, consider this write-up to be praise of the simple act of movement in the Splatoon series. The ability to turn into a squid and make strategic retreats or blitzkreig approaches as long as you have territory control feels fantastic, getting you right back into a game after a respawn and making you feel like you have options and outs to the classic my opponent ganked me now Im dead feel. However, its one that you and your opponent are constantly giving and taking from, removing the defensive effectiveness of the technique the more you spray and pray around them until youre finally caught. The moment to moment gameplay of Splatoon is fabulous, shooting feeling utterly fantastic and mixing in with its movement system so perfectly and naturally that it takes standout shooters like Titanfall to match it in sheer mobility options. I dont think it translates nearly as well to single-player challenges, I find those pretty rote and simple when you could get some real Neon White/Mirrors Edge type stuff out of it instead of whatever Salmon Runs supposed to be. But man, what a great gameplay base.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - Inklings good. I find myself having surprisingly little to say about the character - they feel good to play, they function good, ink isnt presented in a way that combos with mobility so Im a bit disappointed but I understand the trade-off they were going for, they have a shield special which annoys me that every amateur Smash concept designer demands should be a universal mechanic for all characters. Inkling is just aggressively good as a character design but I think what gets me about them is that theres not a satisfying finisher for the character. Their Smash Attacks feel very incidental in the damage they deal, hitting someone in the face with a giant paintbrush lacking the impact of other kill moves. Their Up Air is a good kill, but lacks the impact or flourish of other fancy finishing strikes. I know its not impossible to mix the kind of streetwise finesse and satisfying kills together - Jokers in the game and does it well and Ive PLAYED as Eddy Gordo, I know how good it can feel - but Inkling just seems to seal stocks as a matter of course rather than as something they build up to. I know Im spending a lot of time griping about Inkling when my feel is generally positive, but all they do well just feels fairly obvious and yeah, its a good base for a Smash Bros character, it just never goes beyond good and that bugs me. B

Boo - Mario Superstar Baseball

First off, I dont think theres a single appearance of Boo that isnt great. This guy is ALWAYS fun to play as, be it in Mario Party, Tennis, Golf, Baseball, or Strikers. Always having the tricky classification gives him this constant unique niche thats fun to play around with, and even in his non-playable appearances, he makes a huge impact in Kart, Party, and even stuff like Super Mario Bros Deluxe. Boos a standout Mario character and really deserves to be celebrated as such.

Boo is the undoubted best pitcher in Mario Superstar Baseball. He has the highest base pitching stat in the game, tied with Waluigi, but throws the ball slightly slower than Wah. This gives him curveballs that are just outright impossible to throw in reality, letting him dominate the plate however he would like to mix up opponents. You WILL see Boo every game, and while Diddy, Dixie, Waluigi, and occasionally Goomba as a rogue choice, whichever team has Boo will have a slight advantage. On top of that, all of Boos competition for pitchers have bats that are alright, but require skill and finesse to land singles. Boo is one of the best singles hitters in the game, possessing the hidden ability that makes his balls have a curved trajectory when he hits them, shared only between himself, King Boo, and Boomerang Bro. While the latter two are power hitters that utilize the ability to steal wacky home runs, Boo is dedicated to hitting the ball into no mans land, right at the foul line and letting it roll over, giving him almost guaranteed singles and very likely doubles. And on top of that, if he happens to give up seven runs, he has the Super Jump ability, letting him play the corner bases well as he nabs high foul balls out of the air. And considering that Waluigi is an excellent 1st Baseman and Boo has chemistry with Wario, who often compliments Waluigi on 1st base, a Wario/Waluigi/Boo core can very effectively lock the right infield down and ensure that pitching is never a problem. Boo is a benefit to every single team hes on, with his only limitations being that he cannot swing a game on his own; he is here solely to provide the most consistency and reliability out of any character in the game.

Luigi (Baseball)

Zero Suit Samus

piranha plant

Young Link

Starfy

Roy

Bandanna Waddle Dee

Yellow Devil

Where is this Mario Superstar Baseball draft league and how do I join?

Shulk - Xenoblade Chronicles (original Wii version)
The Definitive Edition gets bonus points for being HD, but I honestly have never liked the art style for Shulk's face in it. Wii Shulk has the fidelity of an early PS2 character model, but at the same time he has more personality, looking more like the nerd he is rather than a stereotypical JRPG main character. This is overall a small thing. but Shulk is one of my favorite game characters so I reserve the right to be picky.

In either version of the game though, he's fantastic. Shulk is a perfect example of how to make a likable JRPG protagonist. He's smart, empathetic, mature, and has one of the absolute best voice acting performances I've heard in any game. If every JRPG protagonist was as good as Shulk, I think the genre as a whole would have a better reputation than it does. It's a shame that Adam Howden hasn't been able to fully replicate the Shulk voice since; his VA in Xenoblade X, Xenoblade 2, and Smash Ultimate has always felt a little off.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate
Shulk was the character I was hyped for in Smash 4. When I finally sat down and got to play him, I was...not quite underwhelmed, but a little confused? For the record, Shulk is one of the most inventive additions to Smash in the last two games. His Monado Arts allowing him to change his movement properties makes him unlike any other character. Despite being a relative unknown at the time, Shulk completely sidestepped the typical Anime Swordsman complaints by being wholly unique.

With that said, I don't think that interpretation is quite accurate. Shulk's gameplay in Xenoblade is only tangentially based on buffs. For the most part, he's a fairly squishy assassin type character who deals out tons of damage and exploits weaknesses while being able to create big shields in a pinch. Smash focused on the few property-changing abilities in Shulk's repertoire and added two Smash-original ones. The end result is probably more unique, but I can't help but feel like this was a Byleth situation, where they wanted to focus more on diversifying their anime swordsman portfolio than being strictly accurate. Which I guess is fair.

A bigger complaint for me is that this is the second time that Sakurai added major character I wanted and made them extremely slow. Shulk has the literal worst frame data in Smash Ultimate, but he's not at all that slow in Xenoblade. Same thing happened to Ike in Brawl, whose highest stat in Path of Radiance is literally Speed. I guess that Sakurai feels more comfortable taking liberties with less-known characters, but the result is me struggling with their frame 10+ options for 14 years.

I've mostly been voicing complaints so far, but when all is said and done, Shulk is fun to play in Smash. Difficult, and kind of awkward sometimes, but the variety of interesting gameplay he offers on a second-to-second basis is crazy high. Smash 4 Shulk would've been score lower due to being bad and the Monado Arts being on such an activation delay, but Ultimate buffed him, adjusted his Monado Arts to be more extreme, and added the instant Monado Art wheel, which finally made him a complete package. I have misgivings about his interpretation, but there's only so low I'm going to score a character that is both fun and unique. B

One side note I forgot to mention: it genuinely bugs me that Shulk, who can canonically see the future, and comes from a game where changing the future is a major gameplay mechanic, has one of the worst counters in Smash Ultimate.

swirIdude posted...

Where is this Mario Superstar Baseball draft league and how do I join?

https://www.youtube.com/c/DingerCity

This is mostly where I learned about it after I made a (somewhat inaccurate but still fairly good) vid on Superstar Baseball myself. They have a link to their discord, are directly connected with the guys who make Project Rio (the modded version of the game with netplay, the ability to select multiple color variants of characters per game, and other QOL changes like manual fielder switching), plus resources for learning it. Probably the best place I could recommend someone start learning the game.

Mario Baseball Profile: Luigi

Luigi is Mario but worse. Thats been the general consensus on the character. Every team needs a character with the Wall Jump ability - something that lets you jump off of the back fence and intercept home runs - in right field, which is marginally shorter than the left field wall and where most home run hitters tend to wanna launch em. There are six characters with Wall Jump in the game: Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Bowser Jr., and Toadette. Mario absolutely will see every game, so youd think Luigi would be his counterpart on the opposite team in a Boo Vs Diddy kind of dichotomy. However, Toadette is tied with Yoshi as the fastest character in the game, and while her bat is stinky garbage, she also possesses the Sliding Catch ability and, due to her giant head, is one of the tallest characters in the game. This makes Toadette the far better defensive option by a wide margin, even if Luigi is a better singles bat. Additionally, Luigi and Toadette both have poor chemistry with Bowser, awarding his team less special-granting Team Stars at the start of the game (starting team stars are based on average chem rating with your captain). But Bowser Jr has a maxed out chemistry stat with his papa AND has wall jump, and as the current meta requires Bowser to be your captain if you draft him in an attempt to nerf how overwhelmingly powerful Bowser is, this leaves Luigi as a niche pick amongst three viable options (the babies have never been viable and never will be). This is reduced further, again, with the resurgence of Waluigi; Luigi has negative chemistry with him, and Waluigis premiere position is 1st base. The anti-chemistry bonus has a chance of applying every time Luigi tries to throw to first with Wah on, and considering you would ONLY play Luigi in right field you can see the problem. And Luigi even also has Super Jump! He could be a decent first base with a Mario RF/Daisy 2B/Luigi 1B setup, but Waluigi has successfully knocked his rival out of prominence almost incidentally in clawing back to relevance. You can make Luigi work, and he actually has a place as a niche captain option, as his properly timed grounder fireball special can almost guarantee a single when hit properly. But hes entirely a comfort pick character; you dont pick Luigi trying to make the optimal team, you pick Luigi because hes just good enough to be relevant and you like Luigi. Hes certainly unique, but hes weirdly outclassed.

Zero Suit Samus - Metroid: Zero Mission

Of all the moments of vulnerability in the Metroid series, I think Chozodia is, by far, the best of them. Samus getting shot down, left only with her mobility in her Zero Suit, is a great gameplay hook. and the mechanics of Metroid work surprisingly well in a stealth context, as Fusion proved. Turning the Space Pirates that youve been mindlessly blasting through all games into legitimate threats puts into perspective just how powerful Samus is compared to a regular human, and the way the ruins are built, asking you to complete platforming challenges while maintaining stealth, the run of trying to escape the pirates when you get caught, is a perfect follow-up to the Tourian escape sequence - youve platformed under pressure in a sprint, now do it in a marathon. ZSS provides perfect context for just how GOOD it feels to be Samus Aran, and when you get your suit back and the chozo upgrades come in and you demolish everything in your path, ohhh man. The power trip you get in Zero Mission just cant be beat. And then you get the best escape sequence in the series to cap it off with that damn garbage robot who never moves fast enough blocking your way. Man, Zero Mission is so good.

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - ZSS is a stupid idea for a character in Smash, just as a concept. Shes specifically supposed to be in a weakened state to emphasize how strong Samus is, having less tools and needing to adapt through avoidance alone. Putting her into a fighting game is like making Wheelchair Cloud or Post-Microwave Snake or Naked Link their own playable character; you CAN do it, but thats entirely missing the point of the character. And its frustrating, because ZSS is, by far, the best playing character Metroids got. Her gameplan makes sense, her combo routes are enjoyable to go through, shes got a fantastic feeling defensive option with the flippy kick, and most importantly, she gets the movement of Metroid down far better than any other character from that series. The sort of unparalleled air control, zigzagging your way to just the right spot, using clever movement tricks to avoid enemies and get to just the right spot - thats the sort of flexibility embodied by the Metroid series, and ZSS has got it. Is she essentially a Smash-original character ever since she got the gogo boots? Yeah, shes ceased to be any sort of representation of her Zero Mission design outside of a vague reference with the paralyzer. Id call her unnecessary and stupid, but base Samus is so bad at actually being Samus that ZSS feels like a much more cohesive Metroid rep. Do I think you could give this shell to, like, any kick-based character? Yeah, toss this onto Jody Summers or retrofit some of these moves onto Juri or whatever and not much changes. But theres nothing quite like that feeling in Subspace Emissary where Samus finally gets her suit back, appears proud and powerful next to Pikachu, and you immediately realize youre playing a much worse character. C

Young Link - The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask

Depending on what you consider Young Link to be, this could be a number of appearances. Like, if the Oracle games have a Young Link, he might qualify, I do love Oracle of Seasons. Same with any of the games in LttPs vein. But if were focusing specifically on the Young Link who is the Hero of Time, then yeah, Majoras Mask by quite a lot. Young Link was actually the first character I ever really hated controlling as a kid - I got to that part with the fences leading to the Kokiri Sword and was very concerned that I could not jump over them. I openly asked, whats wrong with his knees?, and after seeing him jump off of a cliff edge, discovered that he COULD jump, but simply chose not to. Based on this information, I decided that Ocarina was a bad game sometime in the middle of the Deku Tree and went back to Banjo-Kazooie, a decision I have not once regretted. Deku Link, though? Love that little guy, his spin attack feels great to use, makes total sense why hes so limited, gliding and pond skipping provide for great mobility puzzles. Goron Link? Love rolling around with that guy, big lug, fantastic. Zora Link? Kinda neutered in 3D, but man oh man does swimming with him feel GREAT in 64. Majoras Mask takes the base of Link - who truly only felt good in combat in OoT - and experiments with him in various ways to make him an incredibly flexible character. Most of the masks add onto this, as does the flexibility of most of your weapons and power-ups being optional, dungeon items regulated to simple arrow upgrades. Majora does an amazing job creating a sense of discovery based on the growth of your character, the more you put back into the world giving you a greater reward, culminating in the Fierce Deity just taking Majora over his knee and spanking the demon to death. Its one of the best ways Zeldas managed to marry narrative and gameplay, and deserves praise for not just being great, but turning me, specifically, around on 3D Zelda. Still ruined Ocarina for myself, but hey! Majora really great!

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - I love the design of Young Link they went with in Ultimate. True, its just Melee Young Link, but thats exactly the point. The feel of the character is so close to how a Melee character operates in physics and snappy aerials that it ends up being a proper homage to that bygone time. Is Young Link still annoying because of his oppressive projectile game leading to the same Up B finisher every single time? Yeah, but like, you fish for that optimal string in Melee, thats how it works when youre playing an out-of-meta character or Falco. Yink feels neat and novel in a way that fellow Melee transplants Dr. Mario, Roy, and Pichu dont, not changing himself up in any way, just stubbornly adhering to his roots and changing his playstyle only to make sure he feels even closer to the general vibe of the game hes homaging. Does this cut down on the inherent potential of the character? Oh yeah, Id much rather all that stuff I said about Majora be represented in Young Links moveset, there is an inherent cap to how far his novelty as a nostalgia character can take him. But insofar as just its the old Link you love, but more action? I like him fine. B-

Starfy - The Legendary Starfy

This is the only Starfy game Ive played. I know the 3rd one has Wario in it, is that the good one? Anyway, I really liked my time with Starfy, its a cute little game that does the most to make swimming controls really fun and fluid while not being challenging on any level. But it has this really neat sense of charm to it with the little mini-interviews it gives characters and codexes and just the little smatterings of character. It reminds me of the good parts of those mid-2000s Kirby games, the ones that werent very good compared to the rest of the series, but were cozy times and filled with little bits of personality. A shame none of that comes across in Smash, Starfy basically being the Goldeen of Assist Trophies. I think him swimming around the screen pushing people out of the way, basically constantly going GET DOWN MR PRESIDENT could be really fun. But nah, just spin and be useless. I think there are more amusing joke characters out there (Glass Joe, for instance), Starfy really deserves better than well hes trying.

Roy - Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Roys so strange. His actual personality does not fit his aggressive Smash Bros playstyle at all, the confident and cocky reverse hilt style totally opposite to the finding-confidence-in-himself prince looking to live up to his father, Eliwoods, legacy. The fiery, powerful blade of Roy wanting to constantly toss himself into danger was made up for Smash wholesale, the character made to be a reverse-Marth with only some pieces of concept art to base him off of, and hey, hes red, fire is red! Fire effects whoo! And when he was brought back for Smash 4 well regular Roy sucks, so they doubled down on those explosive elements to make a hyper-offense character who feels really, really great to play, sacrificing his own safety for a chance to hit an opponent with an almost assuredly lethal combo. As such, Roy does not represent Fire Emblem, his character, or his series at all, but still follows the natural evolution of a fighting game character in a way that ultimately makes him fulfilling to play. Do I think he should ever come back? Nnnoooo, I think the Awakening Lords fit his playstyle a lot better personality-wise, even though he feels better to play than both of them. Roy is in a weird position where he is too good for his own good, too enjoyable to properly represent the character that he is, but still too close to the other Fire Emblem characters that he doesnt get to stand out like Ike or Ganondorf. This is a moveset that could do wonders on another character, so much focus has gone into making it feel great but just transplanting it onto someone would feel like theyre just a Roy surrogate rather than their own character, despite Roy only really existing in this form IN the Smash Bros series! Kinda screwed themselves with a good design, here. C-

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Fire Emblem Heroes - Well it sure as Hell aint Sword of Seals, thats for sure! Miserable game where you have to drag Roys worthless ass through every single stage so he can cap it and be done with it, all the while being one of the most miserably underpowered lords in the entire series. The whole game is an escort mission centered around him, safe to say he weighs the entire game down and is lucky that the novelty of playable brigand carried me through (love you, Gonzales). Heroes Ive never liked any incarnation of Roy Ive pulled. But he was playable. So thats a step up!

Piranha Plant - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Amazing how we have almost ten Mario characters in the game, more than that if you count Wario and Yoshi (I dont believe in people who include DK in that), and the best character is a potted plant. Piranha Plant is such a dumb idea for a character, but theyre so much fun. Everything from the little feet it has at the bottom of the plant to the super extend-o vine to the way it bobbles its head awkwardly for attacks shows just how much fun they had designing this character, and gives the little sprout so much of a cheeky just doing his best kind of personality. References are on-point, including that damn Ptooie spike ball translating as one of the most fun projectiles in the game, you being in full control of one of the more annoying Mario 3 obstacles in the most fun of ways. Piranha Plant takes the lessons learned from ROB at a conceptual level and applies them to a character who can both naturally emote better than a faceless automaton and has more to pull from with all the variants and boss versions and RPG attacks. And all of that somehow combined into a very easy to understand and cohesive trapping moveset. It barely even matters if theyre good; Piranha Plant passes the simple eye test of I can play this character at a base level and have a good time with some bullshit. Its about as good of a joke character choice as you can get, a Jigglypuff in concept rather than design, and thats neat. It elevates the plant above where it could possibly be and puts it in the conversation as a character. Well done. A+

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Mario Party 3 - The undisputed king of Duel Mode. Has enough attack power to instantly kill any partner other than Whomp, randomly finding dice blocks to increase your move is busted to let you constantly trek through the board to get the 10 coin bonus from passing Go. Undoubtedly the best starting partner in the game, puts Waluigi in a class of his own and DK having a good match-up against PP is the only reason why hes not the worst starter in Duel Mode (poor Wario). He ruins every board except Blowhard just by being on it but Duel Mode boards other than Blowhard are pretty crap anyway, universally, so its cool. Loses to Boo in the econ game, but ultimately does more damage to Boos controller in the long run and forces Boo into a defensive position, so its still the champ.

Bandanna Waddle Dee - Kirby Star Allies

Spear isnt actually in Star Allies, leaving Bandee as the only user of the ability and actually making him far more unique than Meta Knight or King Dedede surrounding him. Bandana Dee is an exceptionally fun character to toss into Ultimate Choice runs, the elements coming off of his spear giving him a ton of flexibility, the way that wind curves his spear toss to hit diagonal enemies or how lightning rains down from the Waddle Copter especially being a blast to utilize. Im really happy to see Bandee whenever he shows up, and am glad hes taken up the role as Kirbys Tails or Diddy Kong surrogate. Hes a charming character who really nicely represents the themes of Kirby, of anyone being able to be a hero with optimism and positivity and reach the potential they hold inside themselves. I know a lot of people are discouraged by Goomba with a hat joining Smash, and those people are dumb because theyd find any reason for a character they dont like joining. Im sick of arguments like no moveset potential existing when we have like 20 swordsmen with different feels, a potted plant, and a childrens toy who can only move their arms up and down slowly to pick up tops that only work half of the time. The point of Smash is to take these characters and translate the elements that fans love into a fighting game, to better express that to a mass market. I think Bandana Waddle Dee is more than worth that.

Yellow Devil - Unplayable

As far as I can tell, you cant select Yellow Devil in Power Fighters or Battle & Chase, so I dont think hes ever been playable? Anyway, for the Whispy Woods of the Mega Man series Yellow Devils okay? Like his gimmick isnt so much wow cool tree so much as it is wow slow pattern to dodge. And theres something endearing about cheesing the game to beat him the first time, but I feel like hes sort of been run into the ground to the point where hes just not very interesting unless hes abusing sprite flicker to make one of his Mega Man 3 attacks nearly unavoidable. Also he actively ruins Wily Castle as a stage to play on. He interrupts the battle so frequently and makes it all about him in a very prolonged sequence thats never really fun to go through. Like, Metal Face can be avoided, Pyrosphere Ridley is a unique novelty that you play the stage for, Dark Emperor honestly doesnt interfere that much outside of giving stat boosts, 5-Volt in Gamer is a hilariously fun obstacle you enjoy letting the stage revolve around. Yellow Devil is just there. Sucking the fun out of the game, ruining the honestly interesting shifting platform layout of Wily Castle, leaving it as another generic FD variant with hazards off. Sucks, a lot of the Mega Man remixes are great, (Guts Man, Snake Man, Top Man, and Napalm Man I especially like) but no one will pick this stage so they rarely get heard.

Redead

Dry Bones (Baseball)

Pichu

Tingle

Kamekguy posted...

But theres nothing quite like that feeling in Subspace Emissary where Samus finally gets her suit back, appears proud and powerful next to Pikachu, and you immediately realize youre playing a much worse character. C

God this is so real.

Kamekguy posted...

Yellow Devil is just there. Sucking the fun out of the game, ruining the honestly interesting shifting platform layout of Wily Castle, leaving it as another generic FD variant with hazards off.

This too. Hazard switch was a great change but I wish you could choose which hazards specifically.

Love the exasperating permeating that Roy writeup. It hit the nail on the head.

Kamekguy posted...

I know a lot of people are discouraged by Goomba with a hat joining Smash

Hey, I love Bandana Waddle Dee, but Goombario in Smash would rule on a whole other level.

Falco

I saw who Roy was in Fire Emblem Heroes and said "who the fuck are you??"

Yoshi, please and ty.

Redead - Unplayable

Right? Im not crazy and you can possess one in a game or something? Uh, anyway, these guys exist for that one OH GOD moment in Hyrule Castle Town when you think Ganons made everyone into dried tree-zombies or something, but then its revealed nah, all the people are fine, these are totally incidental, naturally occurring dried tree-zombies Ganondorf made to prank Link, which actually raises more questions and is less relieving. They also have EXCEPTIONAL sound design, from the scream to the little scuttling sounds they make as they cling onto Links body and give him a hug, just delightfully creepy little things. I do greatly prefer the Ocarina design to the Wind Waker design - something about them having no eyes and the sunken infinity of the void in their skulls is infinitely more disturbing. I miss when they stuffed enemies in Crates in Smash, having a Redead show up in the middle of a fight in Temple felt like a weird glitch, but was totally intentional and just the coolest thing. Or just let me spawn Smash Run enemies in select stages, would make Great Cave Offensive a Hell of a lot more interesting.

Dry Bones - Mario Superstar Baseball

To just briefly note Dry Bones in non-Baseball appearances, both of his karts in DS are really cool, hes got a good and interesting personal dice block in Super Mario Party, and the Magic Orb that he has access to in Mario Party 7 is probably second only to the Flower Orb in terms of power.

Dry Bones is an almost perfectly average character in Superstar Baseball - a little slow, but otherwise middle of the road at just about everything. His only ability is Sliding Catch, the most common in the game, but his poor speed and small hitbox makes him a poor fielder, with his ability making him merely adequate. Dry Bones should not be in the conversation for fieldability but there are a few weird traits about them that all add up to him going in and out of the meta. He has chemistry with Bowser, and as Bowser IS the meta, giving him chem boosts is always a good thing, especially since Dry Bones is one of a few characters who wants to use Star Hits. Characters who cannot be captains (not a plumber, princess, Kong but not Dixie, dinosaur, or Koopa royal) dont have access to unique supers, but do have access to generic star hits. In some characters green-colored variants (or is Toadsworth or Magikoopa), they can use the Line Drive Star Hit, likely the strongest of the Star Hits, as if it lands, it practically guarantees runners get batted in from second. However, its also very prone to getting double played if not hit correctly, making it a big risk/reward resource burn. Green Dry Bones finds himself as the second most reliable hitter without a star out of the Line Drive hitters, behind Toadsworth, arguably even with Magikoopa, and ahead of Green Paratroopa and Green Noki (anyone else with Line Drive is not meta relevant for Line Drive). This makes him a reliable battery for the Bowser team. However, two discovers shook up the Dry Bones meta. The first was the Falcon Pop - a specific technique that could be used with the Pop Fly Star Hit that, if hit when jammed, would guarantee the ball lands in the gap every single time, ensuring a single. Most Red character variants had access to this, but Red Dry Bones was surprisingly slightly too strong to use it as consistently as others, being slightly better at batting than other Dry Bones variants and letting Falcon Pop attempts be caught more easily. This increased competition, as now the previously irrelevant Koopa Troopa, who also has chemistry with Bowser, was now potentially recruitable, as was Red Shy Guy, who doesnt have chemistry with Bowser, but was the best generic popper in the game. At the same time, a secret stat was discovered that only applies to Dry Bones and Bowser: the Cursed Ball. For some reason, if Bowser or Dry Bones are pitching, the power of the batters swing will be very slightly reduced on contact, allowing the two to nullify some chem boosts and deny home runs. Bowser has absolutely crap curve on his pitches, but Dry Bones is a fairly decent backup pitcher, giving him a weird, completely unique niche as a closer. Dry Bones is currently in a weird spot where what he does is fulfilled by other characters, but he does everything a little bit well and provides enough unique options that he could fill an 8 or 9 slot on a team fairly easily, especially a Bowser team. Definitely a cool tech choice. And the Red variant looks like Dark Bones from TTYD which is rad as Hell.

Pichu - Super Smash Bros. Melee

Man, I love Pichu in Smash. If you wanted to make a statement in Melee, you absolutely went Pichu, beating your opponent with a character that was very clearly bad, very clearly among the easiest to beat in the entire game, but you managed anyway. Pichus got the perfect combination of impossible cuteness and surprising strength that lets him stand out from his contemporaries, and attacks like his Skull Bash thats much more likely to knock him out than his opponent as he goes rocketing off is great character. Ultimate gives the little guy the most adorable hats in the world as alternate costumes, love my Team Aqua and notch-eared Pichu alts, and that scream he does when unleashing his Final Smash? Like damn, nothing else in the game is that impassioned. I love everything about Pichus character which makes the fact that hes redundant in a way no other character is really unfortunate. The issue with Pichu is that hes a niche version of a character thats already fulfilling a niche. Pikachu is a tiny speedster of a character, weaving through attacks and getting in quick combos while being infuriating to hit. Pichu is a tiny speedster of a character, weaving through attacks and getting in quick combos while being infuriating to hit. I know they have different combo trees, but the fundamental philosophy behind the two is the same; one of them is gonna be better, one of them is gonna be worse, and whichever one ends up worse at the end of the day is going to be left in the dust as everyone who would play this type of character gravitates toward the better one. This is oddly something that wouldnt happen with Raichu - having a slower, stronger Pikachu variant is different enough from Pikachus core feel that Raichu would have to differentiate itself more as a matter of course. Pichu just doesnt do enough different from Pikachu to really carve out its niche. Its easy to imagine possibilities for the little mouse - Nuzzle to paralyze foes or otherwise sacrificing more from its self-damaging ways to hamper foes is the obvious one - but as-is with reality, man. I love Pichu a lot more than Pikachu. I think he nails characterization. I wish he could get out of Pikas shadow. C+

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Pokemon Stadium 2 - I dont think that Pichu was available before Pikachu until Sun and Moon? Thats a real shame. At least Stadium 2 has a mini-game where it can electrocute itself horribly to its little hearts content and the Little Cup where it can actually have a chance to shine. And its real cute! You dont need it to be much more than real cute. As an aside, Pokemon Stadium 2 should be considered the best Pokemon game. If Sonic 3 & Knuckles can count as a video game, Pokemon Stadium 2 w/Dodrio Game Boy Tower and a copy of Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Gold/Silver should also count as a video game. Its the same principle!

Tingle - Ripened Tingles Ballon Trip of Love

Honestly, Tingle is my choice for next Zelda rep. Yeah, hes a gross little imp man who isnt cool like all the other Zelda characters, but he has the ability to make for a bunch of really fun moveset ideas, actually appears in multiple Zelda games in prominent roles, and theres something in my heart that is screaming to beat others with Tingle of all characters. In any case, Tingles had a surprising amount of playable appearances! From the Tingle Tuner in Wind Waker giving him a bad co-op mode if you love buying Nintendo peripherals like you know you do to his Hyrule Warriors appearance being fun and over-the-top if hard to actually play to Rosy Rupeeland seeing him pay off a bunch of thugs to fight his battles for him in an evolution of For Frogs The Bell Tolls. However Ballon Trip of Love sees Tingle going through a dating sim slash adventure game where he is so horrendously ugly, he has to do various chores to make up for how horrendously ugly he is, then win dating sim sequences to swoon women to eventually go to a ball with him. The entire game is also a parody of The Wizard of Oz, complete with idiot scarecrow, killer android Tin Woman, and just the lion, the lions just the lion nothing changed there. So, yknow. Thats the best appearance, thats the one. I miss Tingle as an Assist Trophy terribly, what a fun, useless man.

Falco - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Lo, the face of oppression is nigh. Find peace in the grace of shorthop laser, or be done in by thy same sung pistol, Falco has always been a character that Ive gone wow youre well considered for the most part. I hate you. Something about the sheer oppression his laser offered through Melee and Brawl nullifying half of the casts approach options just by existing has put me off from ever wanting to touch the guy, but in spite of that, I do find him a really dynamic character to watch. His super high jump is a great gimmick to give him a solid contrast from Fox while still keeping the dogfighter air superiority fighting style intact. I like the changes theyve given him over the years to better reflect his riskier but flashier dogfighting style and personality, and they finally didnt have him go PERSONALLY I PREFER THE AIR and then he dumps something called a LANDmaster on you. I did always find it funny how you could booster people off the top with Falcos Landmaster jump - definitely the best of the three tanks just for that feature alone, incidental KOs from weak pushes are always funny. I appreciate how many of Falcos moves show off the aerodynamics of his arwing, so many of them featuring various rolls and spins that honestly better emulate the vehicle than Fox or Wolfs moveset. All the pieces are there for him, but I dunno, I dont feel like they totally come together? Like Melee hes fox with stunning lasers which gives him a whole different feel, Brawl hes oh damn a double shot, Smash 4 hes bad, and Ultimate hes improved, but it feels like we still havent quite discovered what his playstyle is yet because his first two appearances were SO laser-heavy? I want to see the Falco meta develop more, this has the potential to be a really sick character, and hes a spacie so hes naturally got his fundamentals down, but man. Weird guy. A-

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Star Fox Assault - Falco really does his NPC appearances better than his playable ones. Only showing you shortcuts and alternate paths if you impress him with fancy flying, his constant griping and bragging, coming in to save the day at the end of Star Fox Adventures - Falco is designed to be a wingman and he fulfills that role really well. As an interchangeable pilot in the Star Fox cast, hes totally fine. I do like that hes shown as an equal to Fox in Star Fox 2, essentially the Luigi of the game but I also dont like Star Fox 2 very much and think yeah, probably a reason it didnt come out. Star Fox controls good, so Falco controls good, and I will reiterate that Assault has a really fun, nonsense multiplayer mode.

Yoshi - Super Mario World 2: Yoshis Island

Its astounding how consistently good the Yoshi series is when it comes to controls. The games vary wildly in actual quality, but that often comes down to level design, difficulty, and how much they lean into their gimmicks. There are some highs and lows thrown about each game - Baby DK is a blast, for instance, while Baby Wario is nightmarishly dull and spotty to control - but overall, the core established by Yoshis Island still makes for one of the most fun and playful platformers out there. Yoshis Egg Throw is one of the most nuanced moves of its era, turning every single piece of level geometry into a surface to reflect an egg off of. Players are rewarded for this, as turning their eggs red after bouncing it off enough stuff (but not TOO much to break them) turn them into Red Eggs, which explode into stars upon hitting an enemy, which helps the player achieve 100% more easily. The hover jump lets the player make death-defying leaps and even better enables them to get into the right position to launch eggs, mixing the two techniques together to turn a low-risk maneuver into some of the most high-risk, dynamic, skill-based platforming youll see out there. The combo of tongue, toss, and flutter makes Yoshi an absolute standout as a protagonist, but the amount of leeway Baby Mario leaves him in taking damage from enemies and the flutter jump letting him avoid pits still makes Yoshi an incredibly approachable character to newcomers. And THEN you toss in the transformations and fun little gimmicks like skiing and theres such a whimsey to Yoshi that you always want to see what he can tackle next. Hell, you can kill a boss before a boss cutscene entirely based around just how flexible Yoshi is as a character! An absolutely gargantuan effort for the SNES, Yoshi is a delight of a character and has been for years, they just have never stuck him into something as consistently good as Yoshis Island!

Mario Baseball Profile: Yoshi - Weve been talking in terms of best defensive characters before, saying that fielders like DK, Wario, Pianta, Toadette, Waluigi, and others are good. This is completely ignoring the elephant in the room, which is that Yoshi invalidates every single position other than pitcher and catcher simply by existing. Yoshi is not just the best defensive character in the game, he actively warps teambuilding around his presence in a way that only Bowser can match. Yoshis special ability, tongue catch, gives him the largest range for catching balls in the game by far, which is already really strong on similar characters like Birdo and Magikoopa. However, those two have low-to-mediocre speed. Yoshi is the fastest character in the game. Not only does this make him one of the only safe options to steal bases against a Petey catcher, but the combination of his techniques means that he can make catches that are not just impossible for the rest of the cast, but that no one else can even come close to. Opponent hits a line drive? Yoshi on shortstop mashes tongue and catches it before the cameras swapped to a field view. Perfectly placed pop into no mans land? Yoshi nabs it no problem and turns a guaranteed run into a double play. Foul ball? Yoshi on first grabs it straight out of the air without ever leaving the base, granting him a simultaneous double play. This is supposed to be balanced by bobbles, a mechanic that causes accidental errors on fielders. As a speed character, Yoshi has around an 11% chance of bobbling the ball every time he tries to catch it except the bobble pops the ball back up into the air. Yoshi has no problem tonguing up his own error, which causes all sorts of baserunning mindgames if you ever see Yoshi mess up. Yoshi can even tongue a ball that hes bobbled with his own tongue! The only flaw with Yoshi is that theres only one of him in the game - Yoshi is great at every position in the field, but you only get to choose to place him in one at a time. Generally Yoshi will find himself in left field, letting his speed and range shine the most and gobbling up anything in his path, while simultaneously nullifying the effectiveness of Diddys special and neutering Donkey Kongs as they tend to curve left. However, you will find players actively shifting their fielders around for the sake of placing Yoshi in a more advantageous position to counter a specific batter. And on top of that, Yoshis got a decent bat on par with Luigi and Dry Bones, and his special causes the ball to randomly bounce around three times in the infield as a hail mary, so hes not even a detriment to your batting lineup! Yoshi is an incredible character who can do EVERYTHING except actually win you the game. Yoshi lacks the threatening presence of Bowser, DK, Bro, Petey, or even King Boo or Birdo, and presents you with no counters to home run hits. Yoshi needs a team around him to actually get batters over the plate, but his defensive utility is absolutely unmatched.

Best Smash Appearance: Melee - Melee was the last time I felt something from Yoshi other than oh, Yoshis here! Still having his weird SNES dinosaur posture, having so many unique interactions with the cast due to his invincible double jump, Yoshi was weird and wacky and so interesting to see as his playstyle was so, so counter to the rest of the meta. Since his spine was corrected in Brawl, Im disappointed by just how there Yoshi is. Hes far less dynamic than his home series, his eggs probably being one of the most disappointing translations to Smash of any projectile save maybe the Charge Buster. Yoshi doesnt really feel like Yoshi, he feels like a Smash 64 template whos been tweaked bit by bit over the years until hes lost whats special about him. I dont feel any real animosity toward Yoshi, but this is the second game in a row where the conversation has been oh just wait until people get good with Yoshi, his fundamentals are SO strong. And then everyone gets bored of Yoshi and that never happens due to lack of interest. BUT THE POTENTIAL THO. Yoshi is fine, hes cute, but hes boring. If you quietly removed the character, it would probably take me a long while to even realize he was gone. And thats not something that should be happening for a character as prominent as Yoshi! C-

Mewtwo

Toadsworth (Baseball)

5-Volt

Electrode

The Black Knight

Mewtwo - Pokemon Stadium

We dreamed of creating the worlds strongest Pokemon and we succeeded. There was nothing quite like Gen 1 Mewtwo when he came out. There were superbosses in games before, really strong opponents who required approaches totally different than regular fights. There were characters whose power was properly set-up by the game, whispers of their strength permeating through the adventure to build excitement and dread in finally fighting them. There were overpowered characters, like, Akuma existed by 96, an uncontested S-tier was not a new idea. But Mewtwo combined all of these - all the lore, all the stats, all the inherent advantages his game could give him, and all of the control of a player tampering with forces far beyond anything else the game could offer - and made for an unparalleled force. I cannot begin to state how cool Gen 1 Mewtwo was, a reward for becoming a Pokemon Master who wasnt just portrayed as the strongest Pokemon, he had the movepool, stats, and pedigree to make it real. This wasnt a Charizard or Dragonite whod fold easily to a random oyster, no - Mewtwo was the best, period, and youd have to throw out some rogue strategy or your own Mewtwo to even remotely get on his level. And with Pokemon being such a team-based game, but not to the point of baton chaining or otherwise superbuffing a single sweeper, this was a thrilling game of psychic cat and mouse, trying to take out your opponents MVP while preserving as many of your pieces as possible, figuring out when the best time to bring out your own would be. Stadiums changes just enhanced this, ensuring that a just put the whole team to sleep or ParaWrap strategy wouldnt totally invalidate Mewtwos presence after he secures his first kill, or fishing for Hyper Beam kills from Tauros; Mewtwo was even more powerful, even more dominant, Hell, he was a boss fight for a full team of 6 on his own in this game! Stadium was the absolute height of Mewtwos dominance, and everything about him reflected just how truly above the other 150 he was.

Best Smash Appearance: Smash 4 - So that aint Mewtwo in Smash! Mewtwo has a lot of interesting and fun tools - his back and up throws are great, and while his forward throw is underwhelming I will say its a neat concept. I love that he does not pick up items, he just has them float around as his brain does the literal heavy lifting. His neutral air, one of the coolest concepts for one in the game, fantastic. Thats, unfortunately, about where my praise for Mewtwo ends. The power that the character is known for is traded for a floaty, zigagging harassment style akin to the other psychic characters in the game, and Mewtwos actual demonstrations of psychic power outside of his up throw are less than inspiring. Its not that I necessarily think that Confusion and Disable are bad concepts for moves, but the way Mewtwo goes about executing them and the fact that they were likely taken because theyre the top two moves on Mewtwos Gen 1 learnset is less than inspiring. And on top of all of that, most of Mewtwos moves - all his normals and several of his aerials all focus around his pool noodle of a tail. Watch in awe as the most powerful Pokemon lightly bats you with his ass-arm while crossing his front-arms and pouting with the most grrr im angy expression he can muster. Mewtwos physicality takes precedent over his general abilities and characterization which is admittedly a tack taken for most Pokemon. And typically, it ends up pretty well for them! But not for Mewtwo. Smash 4 probably does the best job with him, ambiguous teleports and air dodges giving him an air of unpredictability, but man. Just comparing whats done with Sephiroth, or even Ganondorf when it comes to feeling afraid of approaching him, or leaving yourself open man, Mewtwos a whole bunch of lost potential. I do have really fond memories of going to sleepovers at different friends house to unlock Mewtwo on each of our individual memory cards, though. Real bonding experience. D


Toadsworth - Mario Superstar Baseball

I miss Toadsworth. He was just this neat presence to be in games, and was a great host for Mario Party 7. I miss having this chancellor of the kingdom role thats existed since Mario RPG and then just went away after the Mario & Luigi series died out.

Anyway, Toadsworth doesnt have a lot of advantages. His chemistry trees are irrelevant, supporting no one who can belt a homer and only Toadette out of meta characters, someone he should never be throwing to, realistically. Hes slow in the field, has a horribly slow throwing arm because he is very old, and while his pitching isnt bad, hes only ever gonna be a backup pitcher. The only thing the old man can really bring to the table is the most consistent singles bat in the entire game, and thats frankly all that he needs. Toadsworth has the same bat size as DK and the Bros, giving him the same he will get a good hit or whiff the ball usually dynamic that those two have. His strength is perfectly suited to hitting gappers, and in general, he can be seen as a very reliable body to get on base and extend plays. Toadsworth is ideal at any point in your lineup - the top to set up your power core, in the middle of the power core to better extend it, after your dead hitters so the top of your lineup has a good position. He even has the line drive star hit, one thats MUCH less prone to getting double played than the others because of Toadsworths great contact zone, letting him score runs when needed be! Toadsworth can be seen as a Hammer Bro with slightly more defensive versatility but a lot less offensive potential, but what he offers is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Hes not an absolute necessity to see every game depending on your team composition, but no team would be worse for sticking him in center. Also one of the few characters in the game who cant bobble at all, so thats nice!

5-Volt - WarioWare: Get It Together!

I mean, its technically her playable appearance. I like the constant reinforcement of her with a sleep theme, but man, shes awkward to control. Anyway, Game & Wario is a really fantastic game, and Gamer is a huge part of that. One of the things lost in translation with both the Smash Bros stage and the 3DS game is that you actively have to look at the Wii U gamepad to play microgames in order to continue the survival horror aspect of playing games too late and avoiding your mom catching you gaming in bed. Unlike the other two, your peripheral vision is absolutely shot while looking down at the gamepad, making you hyper-sensitive to every noise coming out of your TV. It claws at the edges of your imagination and makes you second-guess everything you hear, especially since every time you put your head under the covers, you get closer to falling asleep and failing. Its the combination of a universally understood childhood experience and the natural fun of a not-so-spooky horror trapping that makes Gamer an all-timer, and its amazing how well they managed to latch onto that concept and make it more fair for a Smash Bros stage. 5-Volt is one of the better stage hazards in all of Smash, and man I miss Game & Wario. Its totally untranslatable to the Switch so its trapped in Wii.U jail, but Gamer, Pirates, Fronks, Art, that one Miiverse game - all amazing little games that more than made the Jackboxification of WarioWare worth it for a fun little experiment.

Electrode - Pokemon Gold/Silver

In Gen 3, Electrode gets outsped by Ninjask, making him no longer the fastest common Pokemon out there. In Gen 1, him setting up screens is worthless. So I guess Gen 2 is really the only time he gets to be relevant and cool as the fastest Pokemon alive, so good for you for that brief, shining moment, Electrode! I dont think Electrode can ever really leave the Smash Bros series, hes such a fun Pokeball to toss out, Its very rare to get someone brave enough to actually throw him, that window is SO tight to accomplish it without blowing yourself up. but because you know its possible, theres always that inclination in your mind of what if. And that makes Electrode so much better as a stage control assist than others; you actively interact with him instead of just running away. With that said, Electrode will always have a place in my heart as the first Pokemon in the Pokerap. If someone cannot recite the rap up to Butterfree, they cannot hold a large place in my heart. Theres a hard cap that ends there at like, Social Link Rank 6 for me.

Black Knight - Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Man, the set-up of One Survives is so, so good. Micaiah is far from a capable lord surrogate, dealing good damage but being very frail and going down to a few good hits - a weakness that all Dawn Brigade members share. Isolating her is naturally going to make the player feel powerless BUT THEN THE BLACK KNIGHT COMES IN OUTTA NOWHERE. After having built him up for all of Path of Radiance, and STILL being tough to take down even with how strong of a Lord Ike is, being able to play as the legendary warrior, taking no damage from the pathetic soldiers surrounding him but trying to keep him close to Micaiah, is amazing. Its even more fun to use him as a damage sponge in later playthroughs by dequipping him and trying to make sure that Micaiah is safe and can pick off enemies for good XP! This is how you do a fun and flexible spectacle map in Fire Emblem. I have great praise for the Black Knight as a character in general, one of the few Fire Emblem characters who I think really gets at the heart of the core conflict of his game, gets the opportunity to grow, AND gets to show off as a unit or boss, A shame about his terminal weakness to hammers, but we still got the PoR fight to chew on. Black Knight is exactly what he should be as an assist trophy - a lumbering fortress of respect who crushes anyone near him, and tosses in the good ol Warp Powder to get the surprise drop on someone. Hes a less effective version of Bewear, but I prefer him to the pink bear thing - actually being able to resist him somewhat at the risk of taking a ton of damage is more interesting to me than the purely defensive play Bewear opens up. You should be able to adapt to an Assist Trophys presence, not simply be resigned to dying at their hands, and Black Knight does that amazingly. Id wish he were playable, he more than deserves it but Fire Emblem has enough representation problems as-is for me to be wishing for a big, clanky boy.

Edelgard

Birdo (Baseball)