Super Smash Brothers 4 Ideas

Let's get creative!

This here would be a topic on ideas for the Super Smash Brothers series and, for convenience sakes, it would be contained in a hypothetical sequel to Brawl.

Now, why would this topic be made, even if Brawl came out? Uh, well, why not? Some characters people wanted didn't get into Brawl, and movesets are always cool. Some people thought that Brawl sucked a bit, and it needed some better mechanics (or fixed mechanics) to play better. Some people just like to improve a good thing, and there's nothing wrong with improvements with 0-risk, such as adding music. A few people could have been tearing their hair out when Sakurai said "we really thought of everything, didn't we?" on smashbros.com.

Anyhow, I have a few ideas of my own, some of them may suck, some of them may be good, who knows? The only way to find out is to show other people and see if they think it would be fun, which is what game design is all about.

Character Roster
As far as character roster goes, I'm of the camp that certain franchises deserve it more than others. As an example, some people may complain about there being essentially 6 Pokemon characters (Pika, Jiggs, Lucario, Charizard, Ivy, Squirtle), but think about it: Pokemon has sold over 186 million video games. The only franchise that beats Pokemon is Mario with 200 million, and Pokemon has existed for half as long. So, I think that Pokemon certainly deserves 6 representatives.

So, as far as my character roster would go, I do not wish to cut characters. Unfortunately, by the time of SSB4, we would be mostly scraping the "bottom of the barrel," as far as big names go, so this list seems a bit lacking.

My top wanted characters:
-K. Rool (to represent DK properly)
-Ridley (to represent Metroid properly)
-Black Shadow/Samurai Goroh (to rep F-Zero properly)
-Mewtwo (bring back Mewtwo!)
-Deoxys (to represent 3rd gen Pokemon)
-Stafy (new char, new franchise)
-Isaac (new char, new franchise)
-Little Mac
-Urban Champion (joke character with only two attacks)

If It were up to me, I would have maybe 30 characters in SSB4. Oh well.

Character Roster
As far as character roster goes, I'm of the camp that certain franchises deserve it more than others. As an example, some people may complain about there being essentially 6 Pokemon characters (Pika, Jiggs, Lucario, Charizard, Ivy, Squirtle), but think about it: Pokemon has sold over 186 million video games. The only franchise that beats Pokemon is Mario with 200 million, and Pokemon has existed for half as long. So, I think that Pokemon certainly deserves 6 representatives.

So, as far as my character roster would go, I do not wish to cut characters. Unfortunately, by the time of SSB4, we would be mostly scraping the "bottom of the barrel," as far as big names go, so this list seems a bit lacking.

My top wanted characters:
-K. Rool (to represent DK properly)
-Ridley (to represent Metroid properly)
-Black Shadow/Samurai Goroh (to rep F-Zero properly)
-Mewtwo (bring back Mewtwo!)
-Deoxys (to represent 3rd gen Pokemon)
-Stafy (new char, new franchise)
-Isaac (new char, new franchise)
-Little Mac
-Urban Champion (joke character with only two attacks)

If It were up to me, I would have maybe 30 characters in SSB4. Oh well.

Ground Attacks Getting Better
One of the best things about Smash is jumping around and the aerial game. However, in all the Smash games, aerial attacks are overpowered compared to ground attacks. Smashes are very rarely used as finishers, and don't get me started with tilts (except for certain characters, like Lucario and Snake).

An idea I had that sort of steals from Street Fighter IV was that while charging any Smash Attack, your character would have one hit's worth of super armor. This would be a very easy to implement and very easy to explain game mechanic; you can take one hit while charging a smash attack without flinching. You would still take damage. :-\

Tilts, on the other hand, seem sort of difficult to change. They should be fast but...they're not. They're not as fast as aerials without the power drop (seriously), and they're only marginally faster than smash attacks without the huge power boost. Maybe if tilts could be linked together somehow.

Smash Meter
This is the only huge change I that I came up with. Before you say that this is exactly like a super meter from other fighting games, let me say "No, it isn't exactly like them." This is much more strategic than a super meter, because Smash has huge strategy in recovering back to the stage.

The meter will go underneath the percentage. It would be divided into 8 parts, for very easy glancing. When full, it'll flash with the words "Smash!"

The meter fills up like any other super meter. Non-combo hits without getting hit and blocked hits, etc. There's always danger in trying to fill your meter; you can get hit between those non-combo hits (since they're not combos), and if you block too much, you can get your shield broken. Hopefully, this meter will fill a little less than once every life or so. (let's say 5 times over the span of 4 lives).

When it is full, you can initiate a quick button combo (special attack, then push A while doing the special attack) to activate a Special Smash. These Special Smashes are "saved" and can be used later on by using the same button combo. The meter will drain by anything from one quarter to half, so it can be filled up somewhat easily again.

As an example, let's use Mario:

Neutral Special Smash: Super Flame. When you push B, then tap A right afterward, Mario will "cancel" his fireball and begin flashing red and the smash meter will drain by a quarter. Tap A very quickly to charge Mario up (you can still move around while doing this and attack normally). Next time you push B and A, Mario can shoot off multiple Fireballs in machine gun fashion, depending on how much you charged him up beforehand.

Over Special Smash: Super Cape. When you push over and B, then tap A right afterward, Mario will "cancel" his attack and his cape will remain out and the smash meter will drain by half. The next time you tap over B and A, Mario will use the power and gain the ability to glide, just like a gliding character.

Downward Special Smash: Second FLUDD. When you push down B and tap A right afterward, Mario will "cancel" the FLUDD and will start to flash silver and stay out, while the meter drains by a quarter. If you push down B and tap A again, Mario will blast out a full tank of water instantly. This can chain into another FLUDD shot.

Upward Special Smash: Super Interrupt Punch. When you push upward B and tap A right afterward, Mario will cancel the Super Jump Punch, and the meter will drain by half. If you tap upward B and tap A again, Mario will instantly use the Super Jump Punch, even if he's taking hitstun. This can actually chain from one Super Jump Punch, and can chain into another Super Jump Punch.

Also Best character to add :Geno

It would be pretty fun to play as Geno.
I want something from Animal Crossing besides just a stage and assist trophy. I want to play as a resident of Smashville! You could swing your axe around as a main attack. Bury pitfalls to catch opponents in. You'd pick fruit to throw at people, and use your fishing pole to recover.

Originally Posted by nintend06

It would be pretty fun to play as Geno.
I want something from Animal Crossing besides just a stage and assist trophy. I want to play as a resident of Smashville! You could swing your axe around as a main attack. Bury pitfalls to catch opponents in. You'd pick fruit to throw at people, and use your fishing pole to recover.

I have a "Villager" moveset...

The Deku Tree. He'll jump on his enemies with his amazing timber attack.

I'm serious.

No, I'm actually not serious. Hmm, I don't really know...

Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Pokemon have been overrepresented in past games, they need to tone them down.

Metroid, Fire Emblem, and Mother have been underrepresented, they need to make them more relevant.

Introduction of new characters, specifically from Golden Sun, Punch-out, etc.

and please, please, PLEASE, if something similar to the Subspace Emissaries, don't show favoritism to any one character/series (Kirby, I'm looking at you!)

Originally Posted by Moronic Rascal

Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Pokemon have been overrepresented in past games, they need to tone them down.

Metroid, Fire Emblem, and Mother have been underrepresented, they need to make them more relevant.

Mario
-200 million games sold
-huge cultural impact
-Has been around for 28 years (7 million games a year)

Pokemon
-180 million games sold
-huge cultural impact
-Has been around for 13 years (14 million games sold a year)
-Fastest selling gaming fanchise EVER

Zelda
-52 million games sold
-Has had good cultural impact
-Has been around for 23 years (2 mil per year)

DK
-48 million games sold
-Bigger cultural impact than Zelda
-28 years (1.7 mil per year)

Kirby
-30 million games sold
-Has had good cultural impact (in Japan)
-17 years (1.7 mil per year)

Metroid
-13 million games sold
-23 years (.56 mil games per year)

F-Zero
-5 million games sold
-Some cultural impact (in Japan)
-19 years (.26 mil games year)

Fire Emblem
-2.5 million
-Some cultural impact (in Japan)
-19 years

Mother
-Less than 1 million games sold
-20 years

If anything, Fire Emblem and Mother are OVERrepped.

Mario and Pokemon deserve as many characters as they want.

DK is the series most underrepped if you really think about it; 2 characters vs. Zelda's 5, and they are comparable series.

F-Zero deserves maybe one rep, but at least as many as Fire Emblem and more than freaking Mother.

Originally Posted by TheBattler

DK is the series most underrepped if you really think about it; 2 characters vs. Zelda's 5, and they are comparable series.

Yeah, but the Donkey Kong series died when Rare was bought by Microsoft. And don't try to tell me the music and racing games count.

ok, how's this for the roster, since apparently all that matters is how well the game sold.

Mario
Luigi
Bowser
Peach
Daisy
Wario
Waluigi
Yoshi
Toad
Toadette
Rosalina
Petey Piranha
King Boo

Link
Zelda
Ganondorf
Vaati
Moblin
other baddies i'm too lazy to post

Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Trixie Kong
Tiny Kong
Lanky Kong
What's-her-face Kong
Muscle-guy Kong
And that other one who sells the guns
Cranky Kong

Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Squirtle/Ivysaur/Charizard
Mewtwo
Other pokemanz i don't care about

And cut the rest of the cast, since they haven't sold as many games as Nintendo's top franchises. And we might as well just rename the series "Mario and Friends" since that's what it obviously is.

Wee, another Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon spin-off.

Originally Posted by nintend06

I want something from Animal Crossing besides just a stage and assist trophy.

Aside from a stage (Smashville) and an assist trophy (Mr. Resetti), there's also an item (Pitfall) and lots of music from the series. I hope when you said you wanted something more from Animal Crossing that you only meant a character, because in Brawl, the series gets almost everything but a playable character.

Originally Posted by CWP

Aside from a stage (Smashville) and an assist trophy (Mr. Resetti), there's also an item (Pitfall) and lots of music from the series. I hope when you said you wanted something more from Animal Crossing that you only meant a character, because in Brawl, the series gets almost everything but a playable character.

Oh, you know what I mean! You can also say the same about trophies and stickers.

Originally Posted by Moronic Rascal

ok, how's this for the roster, since apparently all that matters is how well the game sold.

*groan* You both did not understand NOR want to understand what I said.

Mario
Luigi
Bowser
Peach
Daisy
Wario
Waluigi
Yoshi
Toad
Toadette
Rosalina
Petey Piranha
King Boo

Link
Zelda
Ganondorf
Vaati
Moblin
other baddies i'm too lazy to post

Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Trixie Kong
Tiny Kong
Lanky Kong
What's-her-face Kong
Muscle-guy Kong
And that other one who sells the guns
Cranky Kong

Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Squirtle/Ivysaur/Charizard
Mewtwo
Other pokemanz i don't care about

And cut the rest of the cast, since they haven't sold as many games as Nintendo's top franchises. And we might as well just rename the series "Mario and Friends" since that's what it obviously is.

Wee, another Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon spin-off.

*facepalm*

Wow.

You know what, there's an alternative to your idea; we can be NOT dumb, and hold to three principles:

1) This game is about Nintendo's BEST fighting each other
2) The more characters in a fighting game, the harder to balance
3) Major franchises deserve at last one character.

MOTHER/EarthBound was horribly underrepped in Brawl.

- NO music from MOTHER 2/EarthBound. Not a single song.

- Nothing from MOTHER but stickers and music.

- Every trophy is of something in Brawl. Unlike Melee, where Paula, Jeff, Poo, and a Starman had trophies. And none of them had massive spoilers.

Originally Posted by TheBattler

*groan* You both did not understand NOR want to understand what I said.

orly? I think the one who is not understanding is you, my dearest friend.

you said, and i quote:

"If anything, Fire Emblem and Mother are OVERrepped.

Mario and Pokemon deserve as many characters as they want.

DK is the series most underrepped if you really think about it; 2 characters vs. Zelda's 5, and they are comparable series.

F-Zero deserves maybe one rep, but at least as many as Fire Emblem and more than freaking Mother."

to me, that sounds as if you're saying that representation in a cross-over fighting game depends exclusively on the amount of games sold. basically, all you've said is that the more recognizable the character is, the more it deserves to be in the game.

And i'm not saying that there should be thousands of Mother and Fire Emblem characters, or to be everywhere in the game. after all, most nintendo players will prefer having a more memorable character over an obscure one.

but they are admittedly underrepresented compared to say, Super Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Pokemon. the major series have at least 4 playable characters each, at least 2 stages, who-knows how many songs, and oodles of trophies and stickers. Mother has what, 2 characters and 2 stages, limited song list? and Fire Emblem has 2 characters and 1 stage, limited song list?

There really has to be more representation from the less popular franchises. Not only to add variety and uniqueness to the game, but to help those franchises reach a wider audience, at least somewhat.

*facepalm*

Wow.

You know what, there's an alternative to your idea; we can be NOT dumb, and hold to three principles:

1) This game is about Nintendo's BEST fighting each other
2) The more characters in a fighting game, the harder to balance
3) Major franchises deserve at last one character.

it's called sarcasm. it sends its greetings.

1.) Best is a relative term.
2.) Indeed.
3.) I don't quite think you're getting my point. I'm not arguing playable characters, I'm arguing representation.

representation doesn't come only from playable characters. There are trophies, stickers, songs, items, etc. After all, this is a cross-over game from ALL the major franchises from Nintendo, not the Main Stars' Shining Glory Moment While the Others are Added as an Afterthought Game.

Example, the Subspace Emissaries. Which franchises got the most screen-time there? Mario, Kirby, and Zelda. Especially Kirby. When it comes to items, which franchises has the most in the game? Mario (by a landslide, btw), Zelda, Kirby. The most songs? Let me guess, Mario, Zelda, Kirby? And i'm pretty sure that it's the same in the trophies.

get the point? It all becomes about the "Big Three" and the others are added as an afterthought, just to appease the fans of those series. What I mean to say is that there is MORE to Nintendo than just Mario, Zelda, Kirby. Give the smaller franchises a chance to shine.

These kind of threads always turn into fights... Everyone butts heads and comments on other's statements, proving them wrong.. An added plus, the game doesn't even exist yet.

Well to add a little subject in this post, I think Geno would be good for SSB4.

Originally Posted by Emperor Ing

MOTHER/EarthBound was horribly underrepped in Brawl.

- NO music from MOTHER 2/EarthBound. Not a single song.

- Nothing from MOTHER but stickers and music.

- Every trophy is of something in Brawl. Unlike Melee, where Paula, Jeff, Poo, and a Starman had trophies. And none of them had massive spoilers.

If you put it like this, then yeah, I suppose you can say MOTHER was underepped.

Originally Posted by Moronic Rascal

orly? I think the one who is not understanding is you, my dearest friend.

you said, and i quote:

"If anything, Fire Emblem and Mother are OVERrepped.

Mario and Pokemon deserve as many characters as they want.

DK is the series most underrepped if you really think about it; 2 characters vs. Zelda's 5, and they are comparable series.

F-Zero deserves maybe one rep, but at least as many as Fire Emblem and more than freaking Mother."

to me, that sounds as if you're saying that representation in a cross-over fighting game depends exclusively on the amount of games sold. basically, all you've said is that the more recognizable the character is, the more it deserves to be in the game.

Yeah, duh.

And i'm not saying that there should be thousands of Mother and Fire Emblem characters, or to be everywhere in the game. after all, most nintendo players will prefer having a more memorable character over an obscure one.

but they are admittedly underrepresented compared to say, Super Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Pokemon. the major series have at least 4 playable characters each, at least 2 stages, who-knows how many songs, and oodles of trophies and stickers. Mother has what, 2 characters and 2 stages, limited song list? and Fire Emblem has 2 characters and 1 stage, limited song list?

There really has to be more representation from the less popular franchises. Not only to add variety and uniqueness to the game, but to help those franchises reach a wider audience, at least somewhat.

representation doesn't come only from playable characters. There are trophies, stickers, songs, items, etc. After all, this is a cross-over game from ALL the major franchises from Nintendo, not the Main Stars' Shining Glory Moment While the Others are Added as an Afterthought Game.

If you put it that way, then alright. We don't have any quarrel. I thought that you were talking to me in terms of character representation, which is what I addressed in my post. I apologize to you, then.

Originally Posted by TheBattler

If you put it that way, then alright. We don't have any quarrel. I thought that you were talking to me in terms of character representation, which is what I addressed in my post. I apologize to you, then.

well, to tell you the truth, i was kinda nasty on my previous posts, so i apologize too.



no hard feelings!

I wonder what Geno would be like as a character...

Geno is that scarecrow guy from Super Mario RPG, right?

Originally Posted by Xth

I wonder what Geno would be like as a character...

I have a Geno moveset...