Hopes for Smash Bros 4, post E3

Smash Bros 4 will be showcased for the first time at E3 this year and I’ve been trying to think of something to say about it that isn’t a wish list for characters. That’s not to say that there isn’t a considerable list in my head of characters I want to smash with and against, but everyone and their dog by now has done a video or article like that. So, let me just say this. I’m not overtly concerned about who’s new when it comes to Smash 4. They could include all eight Koopalings and a fistful of Pokemon for all I care.

What I’m looking for this time around is something new gameplay wise.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale showed us what Smash style fighters can look like shaken up. So imagine what Smash Bros could be like with the addition of another button. Maybe like a character trait button a la Injustice: Gods Among Us?

The following is a compilation of ideas, some of them are from a video many moons ago I made about ideas for Smash Bros 4. Some are little ideas for tweaks, others are not so little.

1, Alternate costumes; We first saw this with Wario in Brawl, as he had two separate skins, one from WarioWare, the other his classic ‘Anti-Mario’ outfit. Alternate skins are by no means a new thing, but in recent games like Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice, we’ve seen alternate voice packs and even some changes in animations with alternate costumes. Heck, in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, we’ve even seen skins that change one character to another (Zero to X), and even tribute outfits like Amaterasu’s Talbain skin.

We could conceivably get alternate skins from the previous three Smash games, in addition to lord knows how many different costumes each Smasher has worn over the years. You know darn well the Mario Sports games could provide more than a few. And we all know costume DLCs are like cash cows now so you know Nintendo’s going to get in on that.

Now that I think about it; how about Young Link as an alternate costume to Toon Link? Or Dr. Mario as an alternate for Mario? Speaking of which;

2, Customizable movesets; In Melee, Dr. Mario was a clone of Mario, that was stronger, heavier, slower and his pill projectiles went farther than Mario’s regular fireball. What if you could access those skills in regular Mario? Better yet, what if you could switch Mario’s FLUDD attack for something that didn’t take a second to charge and could actually damage the opponent?

Customizable movesets could offer not only another collectable item for you to strive for in Smash 4 (similar to trophies, stickers and CDs), they could add a whole new strategic element. Of course, some element of balance would be required so that you don’t end up getting a super powered opponent online. That way would even out the playing field.

Plus, why not add a customizable feature to each character? Like, changing which Pokemon the Pokemon Trainer uses? Or maybe giving Zero-Suit Samus a laser whip like she had in the earliest Brawl trailers? Or giving Bowser a dive kick? Well probably not that last one but hey it could be funny to watch!

3, No Chronicle; A list of almost every game Nintendo ever made – with no box art, no histories, no nothing. Get rid of it.

4, No Masterpieces; If you’re going to give us demos, give us ones that last more than ten minutes.

5, No more Trophy Stands in the Adventure Mode; They’re just too much of a hassle to use properly.

6, No more tripping. Just. No more Sakurai. End the madness.

7, Make unlocking things easier than they were in Brawl; I am not saying I want to be held by the hand as I unlock stuff but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life just trying to get all the trophies. And speaking of trophies…

8, Trophy representation; Thirty some Animal Crossing trophies. A handful of Yoshi’s Island and Game & Watch ones. Doesn’t make much sense to me.

9, No more clone fighters; Yes, Mario and Luigi are very similar but they are brothers. Captain Falcon and Ganondorf are not. Give Ganondorf a bloody sword and let the rest write itself.

10, Surprise crossovers; The more the merrier. In my PlayStation All-Stars write-up, I mentioned the idea of picking a character that’s not traditionally thought of as a video game character in the game. Like Batman for instance. He’s a comic book character. (Plus he’s a Western character so that would be interesting to see.) Plus, video makers like Chincherrinas have proven that almost any character can be applied to the Smash play style.

The main thing is that I want to be surprised, as much as I was surprised to see Sonic and Solid Snake in Brawl.

11, Create-A-Smasher; This is probably the most controversial of all the ideas but I for one would buy a Wii U or a 3DS now, conflict minerals and all, just to have it.

12, Create-An-Event; You can post your own event match online for others to fight through.

What will probably happen? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out at E3 this year.

Just one thing Nintendo; pick a release date and stick to it. And don’t spoil the entire game on a website before launch.