IMPRESSIONS ON NEW ‘SUPER SMASH BROS.’ CHARACTERS

This past week, the new Super Smash Bros. game was finally shown to gamers all around the world, and with the reveal came three new characters: Villager, Mega Man and the Wii Fit Trainer. As someone who has been obsessively playing Smash Bros. since it first released on the Nintendo 64, I took it upon myself to analyze these characters based on the trailers and info revealed about them.

The Villager

SUMMARY

The first newly revealed character for the brawler title is Animal Crossing’s Villager. Since the Villager is a collector akin to his games, he uses the many different objects he has gathered. These items include a potted plant dropped onto foes as he’s running, an umbrella, fireworks, a slingshot for ranged attacks, a shovel to bury enemies in the ground and a bowling ball to drop on unsuspecting fighters above. The Villager can also pull weeds, but I’m not quite sure what the purpose of this move is. He also has the ability to grow trees, chop them down with his ax, and have the tree drop onto enemies. Whether or not the tree can also defend from other attacks is unclear yet. His recovery move seems to have him briefly wearing an outfit similar to Balloon Flight’s protagonist where has balloons tied around his back, allowing him to float his way back onto the stage. This is potentially made to where other enemies can pop his balloons to keep him from recovering. As a collector, he may also pick up in-game items by grabbing them and putting them in his pocket. This also includes projectiles such as Mario’s fire balls or Samus’ charge shot. Once the Villager has collected an object, such as Samus’ blast for example, he may use it against his opponents once in battle.


ANALYSIS

The Villager seems like a comedic and fun character to use while striking a good balance between overpowered and weak. Although I have (sadly) never played an Animal Crossing title, it seems the developers did a great job incorporating his characteristics from the game where they use many of the objects from his game. My main concern with the Villager is his ability to catch projectiles. I can understand the smaller things such as Mario’s fire balls or Samus’ missiles, but being able to catch Samus’ fully charged shot? It could possibly make him a little cheap to use since it also looked like a special (a move using the “B” button). It’s a great idea, but it all depends on what else he can catch using that move.

Mega Man

SUMMARY

With the design of his NES aesthetic, the most-asked-for character for the next Smash Bros., Mega Man, is finally joining the roster. As a result of his 8-bit look, Mega Man has old-school sound effects when he performs his moves. He is primarily a projectile fighter, but he can use close quarters moves. The Mega Upper, an upper cut originally seen in Marvel vs. Capcom, is an upper cut punch that launches enemies straight up into the air. Mega Man can also slide while running and use Top Spin where he rotates himself rapidly. His trusty dog R. Coil acts as Mega Man’s recovery move.

As a character who has receive many projectile power-ups throughout the course of his career, Mega Man will utilize the abilities he has acquired from fallen bosses to fight the best Nintendo has to offer. His default projectile is the Mega Buster, which can be used while he’s running or jumping. He can also use a the Charge Shot, which is a smash attack  (the main fighting moves used with the “A” button). The following are his different projectiles and power-ups from bosses.

  • Metal Blades – These, er, metal blades, can be thrown in eight directions. They can also be thrown on the ground and used as an item or get caught by other players for their own use.
  • Crash Bomber – Similar to the Sticky Bomb featured in Brawl, Mega Man can launch these onto an opponent where it will eventually explode. However, like the Sticky Bomb, you can attach it to other opponents.
  • Hard Knuckle – This is a meteor effect move, something many characters have where enemies can instantly send a person flying in a certain direction. This item launches Mega Man’s hand downward as he is falling.
  • Slash Claw/Flame Sword – Both are used in mid-air. If you’re in mid-air and someone is attacking you from behind, the Slash Claw is the move when you want to attack someone in the opposite direction whereas the Flame Sword is used in mid-air while facing someone.
  • Leaf Shield – When used, four leaves rotate around Mega Man to protect him from attacks, but its protective strength is unknown. The Leaf Shield may also be used as a projectile.
  • Spark Shock – This upper smash attack defends from opponents attacking from above while adding some shocking results.
  • Flame Blast –  This is Mega Man’s down smash attack where he shoots fire blasts to the ground to defend himself from his left and right sides.
  • Super Arms  – Simply put, this is his grab move.


ANALYSIS

As awesome as it is to see Mega Man join the Smash Bros. roster for the first time, judging by the trailers, Mega Man looks like he could be quite overpowered. No character in the series has had this many projectile moves before, so not only could this severely annoy players, but some of them seem too powerful as well. His jump by itself also seems ridiculous even without his recovery move. This is a guess based off what I have played in the series, but Top Spin may have the ability to deflect attacks, as many moves where characters hastily rotate something have the ability to deflect. But like I said, I am excited to see the Blue Bomber on the same screen as Mario, Link and all of the other Nintendo greats, but I am also questioning how powerful he is based on what we have seen in the trailers.

Wii Fit Trainer

SUMMARY

Last, but not least, and definitely the most random newly revealed character is the Wii Fit Trainer (WFT for short, but the reveal is more like a “WTF”) from Wii Fit series. WFT’s basic moves are based off of her exercises from Wii Fit. Her basic movements and jumps are graceful, quick and acrobatic. She also gives herself – and perhaps other players – health tips in the middle of battle. Assuming this is a special move based off the director video, WFT throws a soccer ball up and then smashes it to the ground at an angle. As another guess, her recovery move also has her hula-hooping her way up to a healthy status and back on the stage. Though they did not reveal the Villager’s or Mega Man’s Final Smash, the WFT’s was shown. She launches an array of colorful people in a variety of different poses featured in the Wii Fit games.


ANALYSIS

Although I’m not sure why she was not shown in the first trailer, I admittedly laughed really hard when they released the trailer featuring WFT. I would argue she is more random than Jigglypuff. Seriously. Who thought of this character?! Strangely, seeing in her in action has me curious as to how she will play. It seems like she will be a faster character with her gracefulness – and randomness. I think WFT has potential as a great character in Smash Bros.

Those are all of my thoughts on the new Smash Bros. characters. What do you think? Are you excited for the new characters? Do you think they all should have stayed in their respective games? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for future news on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.