Smashboards Mini-Recreates: The SSB Series Rosters

[Louie G.]

Job 18: Duster from Mother 3 (2006)

Art courtesy of Curiomatic's Mother 3 tribute.

By now Mother has been here from the beginning, didn't get a newcomer last game (unlike most of its contemporaries... everyone except Metroid for now) and is finally seeing a groundbreaking new title years in the making. Well, as we all know, Brawl blessed us with the addition of Lucas. Mother 3 is my favorite game and without his addition I wonder if I'd have ever been as motivated to play it. But as much as I appreciate that addition, part of me is curious what else could have been done here. After all, Ness and Lucas are pretty similar. What if, provided Ness returns, Smash felt more compelled to try something different than what we've already established? And loosened up a bit in contrast to its typical habit of simply choosing the main protagonist?

Enter Duster - a trained thief with a multitude of crafty tools. And he can play bass, which is rad. His wall staples can grant him a unique recovery option and wall cling, as well as operating as a couple sharp close range weapons. He's also a master of kicks, his default attack style in the game. His smoke bomb seems pretty self explanatory, perhaps something of a getaway tool or recovery? And other quirky tools such as his Hypno-Pendulum and Tickle Stick would make for interesting debuff moves. Not to mention... Rope Snake! Yeah, Duster is the actual user of Rope Snake in Mother 3. Lucas just borrows him for Smash.

Even though I love Lucas dearly, I think the Mother series has a wealth of amazing characters and fun, quirky fighting styles that simply adding another PSI kid won't do justice. Duster represents the average joe of Mother, someone who can't rely on magic and has to use his own wit and craftiness to keep up. And honestly, with the exclusion of Sheik and likely exclusion of Zero Suit Samus, we could use a quick character more seasoned in a traditional martial arts style / ninjutsu approach. I think he's got fantastic potential and is fulfilling a niche we haven't touched upon just yet. Let's give him a chance!

 

[darkvortex]

Ashley
Wario has been in since 64 here, and while he could be our Yoshi (or IRL Falcon) and never get a second pick, I think he has some great picks that could be chosen for a second rep. It's likely our Wario would be based more on Wario Land so why not give Warioware a rep. Ashley is a really popular character who'd have a fun gameplay style with all her spells. She could ride around on her broom, then fighters into frogs, and more.

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Job 18: Midna(Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 18: Chibi-Robo

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

Alice
I know we should probably get Ridley first but Metroid Prime Hunters just came out and it's possible they might want to push this guy considering how they seem to want him to be the new villain of the franchise if we go off the ending of Prime 3. He could have a cool moveset with his sword arm.

 

[nirvanafan]

Rachel (Advance Wars Dual Strike - 2005)

Here me out. Doesnt make any sense over Andy, Sami, or Nell now but back then there is some logic. Like how she is the sister of Nell & has a similar design to Andy kind of meshing 2 popular choices. Days of Ruin is probably out too late (2008) meaning a rep from Dual Strike would be logical (plus game didnt comletely overhaul cast as much giving it better connection to full series.

Nintendo Wars in general at this point has many entries spanning most Nintendo platforms & has seen decent success especially after going international right before its slightly (at the time) more popular sister series at Intelligent Systems Fire Emblem which is already on the roster.

 

[Northsouthmap]

View attachment 389713
Ashley
Wario has been in since 64 here, and while he could be our Yoshi (or IRL Falcon) and never get a second pick, I think he has some great picks that could be chosen for a second rep. It's likely our Wario would be based more on Wario Land so why not give Warioware a rep. Ashley is a really popular character who'd have a fun gameplay style with all her spells. She could ride around on her broom, then fighters into frogs, and more.

She first appeared in 2004, which makes her illegible

 

[Pupp135]

View attachment 389713
Ashley
Wario has been in since 64 here, and while he could be our Yoshi (or IRL Falcon) and never get a second pick, I think he has some great picks that could be chosen for a second rep. It's likely our Wario would be based more on Wario Land so why not give Warioware a rep. Ashley is a really popular character who'd have a fun gameplay style with all her spells. She could ride around on her broom, then fighters into frogs, and more.

Because Ashley technically debuted at the end of 2004, she is unfortunately ineligible

 

[darkvortex]

Gonna submit Lucas

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the nominations:

Pupp135 Ike
M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye Lucario
KneeOfJustice99 Piplup
Louie G. Duster
D darkvortex Lucas
Qwerty UIOP Midna
DragonRobotKing26 Chibi-Robo
TORNADO BUS DRIVER Sylux
nirvanafan Rachel

Vote for your three most wanted, where yours is not first.

1. Lucario
2. Ike
3. Lucas


Job 19: Vote for Your Three Most Wanted Veterans

Spoiler: Eligible Veterans

Mr. Game & Watch
Luigi
Princess Peach
Princess Daisy
Donkey Kong Jr.
Yoshi
Wario
Princess Zelda
Marth
Celica
Captain Falcon
Black Shadow
King Dedede
Fox
Falco
Ness
Meowth
Mewtwo
Pichu

1. Fox
2. Princess Zelda
3. Ness

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

1. Captain Falcon - Since we have more than one F-Zero fighter in this recreation, I think Falcon's earned his keep.
2. Marth - I could do without Celica if Ike gets in, but Marth has to stay.
3. Fox - If I recall correctly, we would have just gotten Star Fox Assault in 2005, meaning Fox McCloud would be relevant. In fact, how cool would it be to see him and Falcon compare their interpretations of James McCloud?

Honorable mentions to most of the Mario characters, Ness, King Dedede, and Princess Zelda. I'm sure all of these have a non-zero chance of returning anyway.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Lucario
2. Midna
3. Lucas

1. Captain Falcon
2. Peach
3. Marth

 

[BritishGuy54]

1. Ike
2. Lucario
3. Chibi-Robo

1. Marth
2. Peach
3. Fox

 

[Louie G.]

1. Ike
2. Duster
3. Lucario

Ike and Lucario are no brainers, and while I'd rather be a contrarian and go for something a little more out there... there's a reason they're the obvious choices. I'm going to continue to back Duster, because I really feel strongly that he'd be a great pick. I'll be a bit disappointed if we run the gambit of most Brawl newcomers and don't deviate on them even a little bit. Brawl selected its characters very well but certainly there's some opportunity for us to leave our fingerprints. That's the fun of it!

Honorable mentions, Midna is a good choice but not going to back her yet. We literally just got Ganondorf, so I'd save her for the back half of Brawl newcomers if anything. Piplup is pretty compelling too, but I do think Lucario is kind of THE Gen 4 pick and I wanna know what we're doing about Pokemon Trainer first. Also again, I love Lucas, but I'd rather us aim for something different.

1. Peach
2. Fox
3. Captain Falcon

Roster is a bit of a sausage fest right now with Samus as the sole exception, so I think Peach should be next up. As for Zelda, I just think Peach should be here first. All the other female characters are clones, I wonder if we'll improve on that this time. Fox and Captain Falcon are series mainstays that ought to be brought back sooner than later. Not bringing back Marth or Ness yet on the prospect that their series may be getting a newcomer this round.

 

[darkvortex]

1. Ike
2. Lucario
3. Duster

1. Fox
2. Captain Falcon
3. Peach

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Ike
2. Lucas
3. Lucario

1. Yoshi
2. Fox
3. Captain Falcon

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Chibi-Robo
2. Midna
3. Piplup

1. Luigi
2. Yoshi
3. Marth

 

[LoZ00]

Job #18:
1. Duster: I think that this is an ingenious addition. I agree that EarthBound definitely could use another representative, given how it's been in Smash since the very beginning and honestly I like this idea better than Lucas. His moveset potential also seems to be surprisingly vast, so yeah, he checks all the right boxes. I'll have Duster, please
2. Ike: ok, Ike is a must have in a game like this. He was the perfect addition in Brawl and I think he should come back in this timeline as well. The sooner the better, imo.
3. Piplup: and now for the completely biased pick. So, I think it might be safe to assume that I love Piplup and that assumption would be absolutely correct. He is a precious baby boy and I would love to have it in the game, but I can hardly see it as a top priority fighter, especially not one above Ike and Lucario (due to importance) or Duster and Chibi-Robo (due to their higher moveset potential). Still, I chose Piplup over Lucario and Chibi-Robo for the 3rd spot due to my enormous personal bias.

Notable mentions to Lucario and Chibi-Robo (as I said during Piplup's segment) and Rachel. I think an Advance Wars character would be super neat, but I still can't see Rachel beating any of the original AW characters, especially Nell, Andy, or Sami.


Job #19:
1. Princess Peach: yeah, she is a shoo-in and she should be revealed as soon as possible. She is also a female fighter, which is something we're currently kind of lacking.
2. Luigi: I think what they did for Smash for, which is revealing the four core Mario characters (Mario, Bowser, Peach, and Luigi) very soon made a lot of sense, considering how all four of them are shoo-ins. Nobody expects Luigi to miss the fray and honestly it's still super weird to me how he has been a starter only in Smash for.
3. Marth: his importance in this Smash timeline is even higher than the one he has in our own, so he seems like a nice high priority pick to me. He also fits somewhat well with the "heroes-vs-villains" theme that our Brawl seems to be shaping into.

 

[nirvanafan]

Chibi Robo
Rachel
Sylux

Fox
G&W
Marth

 

[TheLastMaverickHunter]

Chibi-Robo
Sylux
Lucario

Luigi
Captain Falcon
Fox

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

1. Ike
2. Lucario
3. Lucas

1. Fox
2. Captain Falcon
3. Peach

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the votes

Spoiler: Newcomers

Ike 19
Lucario 15
Piplup 2
Duster 6
Lucas 5
Midna 4
Chibi-Robo 10
Sylux 3
Rachel 2

Ike and Lucario are the next newcomers.

Spoiler: Eligible Veterans

Mr. Game & Watch 2
Luigi 8
Princess Peach 12
Princess Daisy
Donkey Kong Jr.
Yoshi 5
Wario
Princess Zelda 2
Marth 9
Celica
Captain Falcon 14
Black Shadow
King Dedede
Fox 19
Falco
Ness 1
Meowth
Mewtwo
Pichu

Fox and Captain Falcon are the next veterans.

Job 20: Submit a Character from A Nintendo Franchise on our Alternate Melee/Brawl Roster

Spoiler: Eligible Franchises

Game & Watch
Super Mario
Donkey Kong
Yoshi
Wario
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Kid Icarus
Fire Emblem
F-Zero
Kirby
Star Fox
Mother
Pokemon
Pikmin

I really think that Pokemon Trainer’s gimmick is cool, so I’ll nominate them without the stamina mechanic.

 

[BritishGuy54]

Job 20: Bowser Jr. (Super Mario)

At this point in time, Junior would have a radically different moveset compared to when he was introduced in 4.

He would mainly utilise assets from Sunshine and NSMBDS for now, making for an interesting alternative take on a character at a different point in time.

He can use his magic paintbrush, as well as throw projectiles (shells) at his opponents.

 

[TheLastMaverickHunter]

Diddy Kong; important enough as a character and likely to replace DK Jr

 

[Louie G.]

Job 20: Ridley

Samus is looking pretty lonely right now, and while I'm sure she doesn't want the company... I think Metroid has earned a second character. Between Brawl and Melee was actually a very fruitful span of time for the series. And with the emphasis on villains / rivals that we kicked off with, I think we ought to keep the train rolling with the next obvious step. Sure, Ridley didn't seem feasible to Sakurai at the time, but this is our chance to rewrite history after all. He was a great boss in Subspace, so I wouldn't mind him continuing to slot in for that role... but on paper he's a no-brainer addition like most other secondary characters from major series at this point (Diddy Kong, MK & Dedede, etc).

From this point forward I wanna try and push for more characters outside of our reality, just for the sake of keeping this interesting and less predictable, but Ridley feels worthy of the attention and does provide a really big shakeup from the real deal. Pun partially intended.

I really think that Pokemon Trainer’s gimmick is cool, so I’ll nominate them without the stamina mechanic.

Before I decide whether or not to support Pokemon Trainer, I do want to ask - will this count as three characters like in reality? And if we pass on Pokemon Trainer, do we open up three extra slots instead? I mostly want to know what this addition hinges on, because it's certainly one of the most unique cases. Naturally it's a bit of a tougher sell if we're committing fully to three more characters instead of one.

 

[Pupp135]

Before I decide whether or not to support Pokemon Trainer, I do want to ask - will this count as three characters like in reality? And if we pass on Pokemon Trainer, do we open up three extra slots instead? I mostly want to know what this addition hinges on, because it's certainly one of the most unique cases. Naturally it's a bit of a tougher sell if we're committing fully to three more characters instead of one.

They’re treated as three fighters/slots like in the real one. I forgot to say this, but I’m curious on how we’d approach cuts in alternate SSB For if Pokemon Trainer and Ice Climbers are missing in alternate Brawl.

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Job 19: Giygas(Earthbound)

 

[Pupp135]

Job 19: Meta Knight(Kirby)

Please feel free to change your submission as Meta Knight is currently on the roster.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 20: Midna (The Legend of Zelda)

Midna is mounting and will use Wolf Link for move and attack,i don't want to explain because i'm bored

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

Job #20: Submit an Alternate Newcomer
I submit Kamek from the Yoshi series.

I think every other franchise has had some nomination for a newcomer except Yoshi. I'm going to rectify this by adding Kamek to the roster.

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Please feel free to change your submission as Meta Knight is currently on the roster.

O.K. I didn't know that.

 

[Northsouthmap]

Ashley (WarioWare)
One of the more popular characters in her series and highly requested for a second Wario rep.

 

[LoZ00]

Job #20: Krystal (Star Fox)

A new representative from the Star Fox series. Other than fitting the bill of being another fighter from an already represented series, she has a few upsides, in my opinion:
1. She comes from a series that hasn't received another fighter in Brawl already
2. She is a female fighter, which is something we're kind of lacking as of now (Samus is the only one confirmed so far, but I assume Peach and Zelda will return as well)
3. She isn't a newcomer we actually had in Brawl. I mean, it would be sort of disappointing if we only got real newcomers in this version of Brawl
4. She is the more unique choice from the Star Fox series
So yeah, I rest my case with these statements

 

[darkvortex]

Tetra
I would like to give the toon era some love since those games where popular and are pretty different but I didn't want to include another link. Yes I know Tetra is Zelda but I consider that different. She could have a fun pirate themed moveset

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

Diddy & Dixie
I know we have had solo Diddy submitted but this was an idea that they considered I'm free life and since we didn't add the Ice Climbers last time we still have room for a duo character. They would walk around together, and would be able to swap the leader in and out.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the nominations

Pupp135 Pokemon Trainer
BritishGuy54 Bowser Jr.
TheLastMaverickHunter Diddy Kong
Louie G. Ridley
Qwerty UIOP Giygas
DragonRobotKing26 Midna
M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye Kamek
Northsouthmap Ashley
LoZ00 Krystal
D darkvortex Tetra
TORNADO BUS DRIVER Diddy & Dixie Kong

Vote for your three most wanted, where yours is not first.

1. Diddy
2. Pokemon Trainer
3. Ashley

I feel like Diddy is inevitable, and Ashley helps add a girl to the roster, which is something that we’re severely lacking in given that Samus is the only one so far.

Job 21: Vote for Three Veterans to Return.

Spoiler: Eligible Veterans

Mr. Game & Watch
Luigi
Princess Peach
Princess Daisy
Donkey Kong Jr.
Yoshi
Wario
Princess Zelda
Marth
Celica
Black Shadow
King Dedede
Falco
Ness
Meowth
Mewtwo
Pichu

1. Princess Zelda
2. Princess Peach
3. Ness

I’d like to round out the Melee E3 characters, and I just like Ness.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Ashley
2. Ridley
3. Diddy

1. Dedede
2. Marth
3. Wario

 

[BritishGuy54]

1. Diddy (Solo)
2. Pokémon Trainer
3. Ridley

1. Marth
2. Peach
3. King Dedede

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

1. Krystal
2. Diddy
3. Ashley

1. Peach
2. Zelda
3. Wario

 

[Louie G.]

1. Krystal - This is a really great call. Once upon a time Krystal was one of the most promising rising stars in Nintendo's arsenal, and Brawl was during her prime and followed a hot streak of new Star Fox titles. She was so popular that Sakurai had to comment on why she wasn't playable. Nowadays it's easy to lose sight of this, on account of Star Fox's relative dormancy and the series essentially abandoning Krystal altogether. But I like to think back to Brawl and a time where Krystal made all the sense in the world. It took us until Smash 4 with Palutena to get a proper staff wielder, so automatically she'd be very distinct. And we could use a unique female newcomer, to be honest.

2. Ridley - It's Ridley. What else is there to say? Had his size not been deemed an issue, he probably would have been playable in Brawl. Instead he got probably the most prominent role in the game outside of the playable roster. In an alternate reality version of the roster, it just feels natural to give into the desire to challenge Sakurai's claims of too bigness with some good old fashioned hindsight bias.

3. Diddy & Dixie - Diddy was one of the biggest no-brainer additions to Brawl, and I think I'm really down with this shakeup. We haven't added Ice Climbers or any sort of duo, stance change character yet and I think Diddy / Dixie kinda gets to the heart of both of those ideas. Both would always be on stage, the other would contribute with assists or for specific attacks, but you'd tag up for whoever is optimal in a given scenario like Pokemon Trainer. I was just talking yesterday about how Diddy Kong's moveset is a bit plain on its own - partnered up with Dixie, I think the two of them have a lot more flair. Diddy Kong is an inevitability, but I'd really like to see us try something different here.

Special Mentions:
Tetra - We just got Ganondorf, so I'd rather give it some time. Otherwise this one is a slam dunk IMO. Midna would be good too, but I've always really enjoyed the thought of Tetra having some pirate-y tools to play around with. And depending on whether or not we bring in Toon Link, I feel like those games are still worth representing in some fashion. Doubling up on Zelda iterations feels more justified than Links anyway, since Sheik / Tetra are kind of their own thing.

Bowser Jr - It's a good idea, and I'm really curious about how different his moveset would have been if he was added to this game instead. If it doesn't work out for him in these initial rounds, maybe there's even some potential for him to be a lower effort iterative character later like Toon Link / Wolf.

Pokemon Trainer - Not sure what to do with this yet. Pokemon Trainer is a really conceptually interesting idea, but I'm compelled by the idea of having a few extra slots freed up to do whatever we'd like with. Also, we just got Lucario so I'd prefer to wait this one out and see what happens.

Ashley - Not feeling it yet. Ask again once Smash 4 rolls around and I think my answer would change... feel like her stock rose exponentially around that time. Plus we haven't even brought back Wario yet.
---

Job 21:


I'm still content holding off on Marth for the time being to let Ike be the big man on campus for a moment. We could add Ness soon if we don't pull the trigger on a Mother 3 character, which I hope we eventually will. Otherwise these three are pretty major characters who can contribute to rounding out their series. Peach is top priority to bring more female characters onto the roster, while Wario and Dedede fill out some of the remaining rival characters. Zelda is an honorable mention here but I don't think she's going to struggle to find support either.