New Smash Bros. Game Thoughts

Characters? Assist Trophies? Combos? Stages?

The new Smash Bros. game doesn't have a set release date yet, but what has been revealed is that Sora Ltd. (one of the main developers of Brawl) with work with Namco Bandai on this new installment. I am excited.

Namco Bandai's recent fighting feats include Soul Calibur V and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, which were pretty damn good in my opinion. You can't argue that both of those franchises have a large amount of success, otherwise there probably wouldn't be five or more of each.

I think that with Namco Bandai near the head of this game, it could take a step more towards the Melee side of the series, where things are fast-paced, skill is more rewarded, and there is less of, "Hey! You just happened to hit that glowing thing by chance and now I'm dead!" Don't get me wrong, I like Brawl a lot, I just like the pacing of Melee's combat better. It seemed less clunky control-wise. They tried to put Brawl in with the other 'family friendly let's-play-all-together' games, but I never played any Smash game with my family, nor did I have an urge to. I played with people who were around my skill level who enjoyed the series for what it was.

So, are we talking a mainstream Namco character in this one? As obvious as the decision may seem, Pac-Man could actually be the perfect choice. I could see a Final Smash where he eats a power pellet and all other characters turn blue-ish, and Pac can just run into them, consume them, and their eyes go zigzagging off the screen. He has gloves, he can punch, he can have that wakka-wakka sound while he's moving, akin to Mr. Game & Watch's ticking steps.

And since the game is Nintendo, and Nintendo is all about delving into its past, they can pick and choose attacks from all those old Pac-Man games. Even though they might not be great (or even good), they still have unique things about them. I'm talking Professor Pac-Man, the Pac-Man World series, Super Pac-Man, and the like.

Who says he can't use that slingshot from Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures? Or don his Professor Pac-Man hat, glasses, and smack you with that stick? Or have the fairy from Pac-Land help you attack? Why not have the magic boots from Pac-Land as an item, which would give you many more jumps than normal? Or the fruit from mazes included in the other food percentage-reducing items? Or make any of the Pac-Man World maps a stage in itself? Or chuck that key from the maze right into somebody's face? As long as they don't ruin any new characters like they did Sonic. For such a push to have him, most of his moves are the same. Spin. Spin. Another spin. Nobody I know plays as Sonic. He could have been a cool character to use, too. Shame.

What about Assist Trophies? Holy crap, there are a million and one awesome things they could do. What's that? The Galaxians showed up and are all zooming and shooting down the screen? Dig Dug is running around the stage trying to pump up/explode other characters? The Pac-Man ghosts are zigzagging around the stage following players' paths? Why not make a stage with all Namco arcade classics cycling through, kind of like the WarioWare, Inc. stage from Brawl? Speculation is so much fun.

In the 1980's alone, Namco released over sixty games. Sixty. I'm sure not all of them were games to write home about, but there were definitely some treasures in there. Namco is one of the companies with a history of landmarks as big as Nintendo's, sometimes even bigger. And since the Smash Bros. series has a history of showcasing little-known gems (e.g. Ice Climbers, Pit, Captain Falcon, Ness etc.) by those who are younger or never go outside mainstream games, it seems like a perfect fit that many of those Namco games could find a resurgence in being known and appreciated. I know that everybody knows who Ness is now, but back when the N64 Smash Bros. came out? I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Oh, they made him just for this game. He's an original character." Or for Samus, "I think it's pronounced sa-moose." Or for Falcon, "I have no idea where he's from."

What if the Smash Bros. series got combos? If the developers could make it work well, it would be a huge addition to the series, and throw a completely new strategic element into the mix. Between N64 and Melee, there was a huge change. Between Melee and Brawl, not as big. They really need to pull out something new that will make a big impact for this one. For me, having connectivity between your Wii U and 3DS isn't enough.

I'm looking forward to you, new Smash Bros. game.