For those of you who have made The Box a staple in your morning routine, you will have already become familiar with the intensive tryouts.
In order to enlighten those who are unfamiliar, over a year ago I posted some predictions and assessments about which of Nintendo’s finest would make it through the rigorous process of being selected for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Boot camp for these characters was difficult, and subjected them to an examination of potential moves and fighting styles in order to see who could take it, and who would be taking the long road home.
At the time, very little had been announced about the game. In fact, the director had not even been asked to become the director yet, if you can believe that. The Wii was not even called the Wii. Things were different then.
Now, however, the game has begun to take form. We have witnessed some exciting developments, but we are still a good distance away from the late 2007 release. Details about stages, characters, and online capabilities still trickle in day-by-day. In my initial assessment, I was 40% accurate in regards to character predictions: Wario and Pit both were rated five stars based on likelihood and compatibility, and - lo and behold - they are included in the cast of characters. Metaknight and Snake came out of left field though. I did not believe Kirby was popular enough to warrant two characters in Super Smash Bros., and Snake belongs to Konami (read: not Nintendo). As for Zero Suit Samus, it has been rumoured that this is merely an alteration of regular Samus. That is to say, she only becomes Zero Suit Samus under certain conditions.
Despite all of this, some of my other predictions still have the potential to be accurate, since the entire roster has yet to be announced. Some characters will be new; others, redesigns. As some are added, others may get cut. It all depends. But, if we assume they have at least as many characters as Melee, we know that there are fifteen spaces left.
So, roll up your sleeves and prepare to dive in. There are many hopefuls, but not all of them are up to the test. I intend to analyse potential characters - old and new - to see who will make it into the final cut of the game. And I will end the post with my complete roster prediction, and we will see how see how close I am in the Fall of ‘07.
The Tryouts “˜07 Day One - Day Two - Day Three - Day Four - Day Five - Final Roster The Rejects
Currently Confirmed Characters
The characters that have been confirmed are pictured above, in the order of their confirmation. Mario, Link, Pikachu, Kirby and Fox are series regulars, and are set to be available right out of the gate. Regular Samus may also be available as well, since the conditions in which her Zero Suit manifests itself are still unconfirmed. Snake, Metaknight, Wario and Pit are all new additions to the cast, and they may or may not be available from the start. Snake has been confirmed as an unlockable character.
- Not all characters from Super Smash Bros. Melee will make it into Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
- Non-Nintendo characters will be limited to 2-3 (including Snake), and all will be unlockable.
- Non-Nintendo characters must have appeared on a Nintendo system at some point.
- The cast will not include a majority of Japan-only characters, although it is still a possibility that Japanese-only characters will make an appearance in order to boost their popularity. e.g. The inclusion of Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee increased the popularity of Fire Emblem in North America.
- All of the characters will be announced before the release of the game.
Ranking System
All characters will be ranked on a scale of zero to five mushrooms as seen below:
Returning Champions
Not counting those already confirmed, there are twenty characters from the original Super Smash Bros. games that are eligible for a return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Let’s take a look to see what candidates we have here:
The first combatant to come in for his examination is our good friend Mario M.D. While the good doctor is perfectly capable of entertaining gamers with his addictive Tetris-style puzzle games, he does not have the testicular fortitude to tough it out in the Super Smash Bros. arena. When he debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee, he played the painful part of a padding character (that was almost alliterative). To elaborate, his moves were mere carbon copies of Plumber Mario, known to his fans simply as Mario.
Due to the lack of uniqueness presented in the character, and the fact that we only need one Mario, I think Dr. Mario is not going to make the cut. Besides, with his ailing limp and addiction to Vicodin, I doubt he would have truly had any fun anyway. Looks like it is back to checking people for gonorrhea. Sorry Doc.
Mario’s younger brother, Luigi, made his debut in the arcade game Mario Bros. If you are not familiar with the game of his origins, you should be. It has been re-released in different formats over twenty times, so you should be able to find it somewhere. You may even be sitting on a copy right now.
Anyway, Luigi was originally introduced as a color palette swap for Mario (in order to distinguish Player One from Player Two). Since his humble begininngs, he has evolved into so much more. Although he has yet to star in his own successful game (Luigi’s Mansion and Mario is Missing do not count), he still makes an appearance every time Mario and friends decide to engage in some sort of recreational sport, or traipse about on a colossal game board.
He has been featured in both Super Smash Bros. titles to date as an unlockable character on both occasions. His abilities - as usual - are a mimicry of his brother Mario’s skills. However, Luigi does have his own distinct skills that set him apart from his brother as well. While Dr. Mario is unlikely to return because he is a copy, Luigi (also a mimic) is guaranteed to make a return. Why? Because he is freakin’ Luigi. And if that does not warrant his inclusion in Super Smash Bros., while Solid Snake makes the cut, well…then we should all just turn in our green hats and weep for the future.
Luigi deserves to return to Super Smash Bros., and with any luck, he will. And, while we are at it, I seriously think Nintendo should consider giving Luigi his first, exclusive platforming adventure. Princess Peach has got one. Where’s the Luigi love?
Bowser - the King of Koopas - made his video game debut when he positioned himself on a poorly contructed bridge that spanned a lava flow. Since that day, he has spent two decades desperately trying to capture the Princess Peach and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. If he were not such a clumsy oaf, he and his Koopalings may have succeeded by now, but - alas - it appears that it is never meant to be.
Bowser was one of two characters top-rated characters to be included in Super Smash Bros. Melee. As it was the will of the people, Nintendo readily complied and included him in the famous brawler. He is a heavy-weight fighter, like Donkey Kong, which makes him relatively slow, incapable of jumping, and difficult to knock off the stage. When using Bowser, players are taking a risk. If you lack the skill to play as him, you have guaranteed your opponent a victory. If you are skilled, then you can dominate with some incredibly powerful maneuvers.
Ultimately, Bowser’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is debatable. On the one hand, gamers voted him in for Melee, and this interest should make Nintendo consider keeping him on the roster. On the other hand, Nintendo conducted a similar poll for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with Wario and Toad winning out overall. Since Bowser and Peach were absent from the current poll, it does not necessarily indicate that Wario and Toad are wanted more than Bowser and Peach. However, Nintendo may replace the previous year winners with the current year winners. If that is the case, Bowser may be absent from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with Wario taking his place. Considering that they are both villains, Wario may be deemed a suitable replacement.
While she was known as Princess Toadstool for almost a decade after her initial appearance, she is now more commonly referred to as Princess Peach. Royal leader of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach is not good at anything in particular, aside from being the victim of an occasional kidnapping, and playing tennis, baseball, or golf with her rich friends. Twice accused of bestiality, the young ‘Barbie doll’ like Princess is quite the tease. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, her upward kick gave her enemies a look at her lacy undergarments. How unladylike.
When considering Peach for a return to Super Smash Bros., it is important to consider the same criteria surrounding Bowser (as written above). Peach was the one of two characters to be voted into Super Smash Bros. Melee by a poll on Nintendo’s Japanese website. The same poll was brought back for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where Wario and Toad scored highest in regards to being the next lucky contestants.
So, what could happen? Will Peach be removed in favour of Toad? It does not seem as likely as replacing Bowser with Wario. They are both villains of Mario. But Peach and Toad are not love interests of Mario - despite what certain VGCats comics will tell you. When you take into account that Toad is actually one of Peach’s defensive moves, it seems that both cannot be featured.
But would they really replace Princess Peach with an insignificant Toad?
In my opinion, Peach’s absence from the Brawl is unlikely. The game creators have stated that they are trying to even things out as far as playability, and Peach is a prime character to attract the attention of new female gamers who want someone who is easy to control. Her excellent recovery (hovering & umbrella) ensure that she will always make it back onto the stage, and her newly released Super Princess Peach title for the DS gives the creators a wealth of new abilities to draw from.
The little dinosaur that could made his debut as a glorified method of transportation for Mario in the SNES title, Super Mario World. Now, like most of Mario’s friends, Yoshi is seen in every sports title and board game spin-off Nintendo can churn out. But, he has his own little career on the side. As the star of the Yoshi’s Island platformer games, and the Yoshi’s Cookie puzzlers, Yoshi seems to be making a substantial living for himself without significant involvement from Mario.
Due to the acclaim that his solo debut - Yoshi’s Island - garnered, Yoshi earned himself a spot in Super Smash Bros. not from being a Mario character, but by being a Yoshi’s series character. While he may be difficult to use for some, Yoshi is still an extremely useful character. Oftentimes, he can be a pain in the ass if you get turned into an egg at the edge of a stage. But we still love him.
Since he is a standout character with unique controls, a blossoming franchise all to himself, and an entrenched history with both Mario and Super Smash Bros., it is my opinion that Yoshi has a position reserved for him in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I wonder if they will have Baby Mario tag along on his back for some interesting power-ups/attacks.
This first post has gotten quite lengthy. Be sure to come back later for the continuation of this feature. We’ve got 14 more characters from Super Smash Bros. Melee before we even delve into the 30 or more potential candidates from other Nintendo franchises.
The Tryouts “˜07 Day One - Day Two - Day Three - Day Four - Day Five - Final Roster The Rejects