Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS

[Krazy4Krash]

Think I'll continue posting this week's daily pics at the rate they come. They're bringing consistent information and explanations, and I like it.

Pic of the day. The Levin sword and tomes are Robin's life lines. The Levin sword can be activated by using smash attacks--you can even activate these moves in midair! However, just like in the original game, the Levin sword can be used only a limited number of times before it breaks, at which point it takes some time to regenerate. When the Levin sword is unavailable, Robin fights using the bronze sword.

The way Robin launches Arcfire is kind of crazy—he or she calls down a bolt of flame from above, then launches a pillar of fire! By the way, Robin’s tome changes with each special attack.

Strikes me as stimulating and manageable.

Regarding the CoroCoro news, I have to say I'm extremely speculative. They are infamous among Smashers for stating a similar assertion before Brawl came out, because all that was in the magazine was the special moves for all the starters plus Snake and Sonic, which were all known to exist already thanks to the Brawl Dojo. The Google translation does indeed say "the character of all the stages of all" (all characters and stages), which is what the tabloid sites are jumping on, but some native speakers clarify it as a mini-guidebook/strategy guide for the revealed characters and stages or something.

I'm indifferent either way. If we get all the characters and stages, great. If not, no worries, we'll find out when the game releases in Japan less than a month later. We still don't know what's to happen concerning other reveals between now and when the magazine is issued, anyway. There's bound to be a Nintendo Direct around the same time, as well, where we're practically guaranteed to have somebody revealed there (whether veteran or not). I'll be waiting this one out without hyping up something that hasn't come from Sakurai's mouth.

 

[JuicieJ]

No, they'll only technically play differently. In high-level play, yeah, you'll see some differences in strategies, but a clone is still a clone. The kind of thing you're describing is Wolf, which is a pseudo-clone -- a character that is inspired by another, but has very obvious differences, even in casual play.

For example, Wolf's Up-B has almost no windup, whereas Fox & Falco's have lengthy ones -- not to mention Wolf's hits multiple times and has an incredible knockback at the end. Wolf's Side-B goes at an angle and is sweet-spotted, whereas Fox & Falco's go straight and have no sweet spot. Hell, Wolf's Landmaster even lasts a shorter amount of time and is noticeably more powerful than Fox & Falco's. These kinds of differences are what Lucina could have had, but instead, Sakurai opted for the easy way out.

Lucina will probably wind up being a character somewhere in-between Marth & Roy due to her blade having an even spread with damage, which will create only mild differences. Honestly, I wish Sakurai HAD gone with Chrom and made him a sort-of cross between Marth & Ike. That would have been awesome, but nope. We got Marth clone #2.

 

[selicyc]

I'm still clinging onto hope that Shulk is going to make it in. But with the reveal of Robin, I've lost all hope that Issac will become a playable character. Perhaps he'll come back as an assist trophy again.

Robin's battle shtick has me jazzed and legitimately excited to use them. It's really cool to have some magic representation from the FE universe and just more magic users in general. Not only that, but weapon durability in Smash sounds really cool and adds a nice strategic edge. Playing as them is going to be dope.

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Don't feel like talking about clones much, but I still want to address this real briefly (though I don't know who it is I'm agreeing with).

Lucina will be considered a clone depending on how many of her animations are recycled from Marth, regardless of any mechanic or physical changes. The gap between clone and semi-clone is disputable and dependent on ones opinion, however what has been blatantly copied-pasted is not. "Influence" is nothing when talking on the technical levels clones can be measured. For example, Dr. Mario, Young Link, Falco and Roy share every single attack animation as their counterparts in Melee. Ganondorf and Pichu have one or two unique attacks, but are clones all the same. Luigi is what I consider to be a semi-clone in Melee, as I can think of at least half a dozen attacks that don't resemble the looks of Mario's at all. I have no problems with this.

Brawl refined clones to an astronomical degree, to the point where there are none, no dispute. Ganondorf, Falco and Toon Link (from Young Link) were luigified to the levels of Luigi himself in terms of straight-up ripped moves, who himself is as distinct as ever. Lucas is so radically different from Ness I'd hesitate to even call him a semi-clone. As for Wolf, he isn't cloned or semi-cloned at all, and I'm quite frankly sick of reading so. That's like saying Ike is a clone. The only move that is glaringly ripped from Fox is the Landmaster, but that's not enough to consider anything. Captain Falcon and Samus share dash attacks and up tilts, and they're not anything of each other.

My final point is that people exaggerate the importance of special moves when discussing clones way too much. Did you know Kirby and Jigglypuff share a dozen attacks in the original Super Smash Bros.? None of these are special moves, they are semi-clones of each other regardless. I'm willing to bet this was a strong reason Jigglypuff was put in the game in the first place. Swinging back to the main subject, I'm confident the same applies to Lucina. She wouldn't be in the game as her own slot if she wasn't a clone.

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

I'm a bit late, but I was absolutely thrilled that Lucina and Robin were announced. I actually wasn't keeping up with Smash or too much internet-related for the past few weeks, so it took my by complete surprise that they had that beautiful cut-scene decked out and ready to go, on a Monday no less (Mondays SUCK for me, it was a pleasant surprise).

Awakening is in my top 5 games of all time, no joke. That game engrossed me like no other, and I absolutely couldn't put it down for days after I bought it. I was originally expecting Chrom to replace Ike and be the lone Fire Emblem rep next to Marth, and since I'm such a huge fan of Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn, I was super excited to see Ike make a return anyway (Mario and Ike were my too mains in Brawl). And then on top of that, we get two characters from Awakening? Sign me up. Lucina was the one Awakening character I was hoping for, and she seemed like a perfect candidate since Sakurai wants more females, and Lucina is an excellent fighter. Robin is a great sucker-punch addition, as I didn't see him being in Smash at all. Although it does irk me slightly to have his default appearance (I grew on my own, personal Avatar design in Awakening), it's just so awesome to see Fire Emblem get FOUR characters.

No, really, FE is one of my favorite game series ever. I was scared to death that it was dead after Radiant Dawn. Man, it's just so awesome that it's back in full force now.

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Famitsu has new scans with information on Robin, Lucina and Captain Falcon. They're in the spoiler below:

Spoiler

Quickly running down a list of information; Lucina has the same special moves as Marth, though it reiterates the damage deal-out of her blade is consistent throughout and does not emphasise the tip like Marth. Her mask can be toggled on or off at the menu, and during gameplay with one of her taunts. The mask is also used to signify Kirby's copy ability. Captain Falcon has the same special moves as Brawl and there is nothing new to speak of.

Robin has two pages dedicated to him/her. Here is a list of copied information because I'm lazy.

Robin's Forward Smash
This move strikes your opponent with Robin's Thunder Sword. However, as you can only use Robin's Thunder Sword attacks a certain number of times, once you've run out of uses, this attack will hit with a regular bronze sword instead.

Forward air attack
When performing this move, if you were to smash the analog stick in the forward direction, Robin will attack with his Thunder Sword for additional electric damage. But like all of Robin's Thunder Sword attacks, you can only use the improved version a finite number of times.

Down+B: Nosferatu
Purple-black smog in the shape of a snake appears right in front of Robin when this move is used. If your opponent is hit by it, he or she will be "cursed" by the spell. When a cursed opponent is hit, Robin's health meter will recover. What's also interesting is that if the cursed opponent is struck from the back, the amount of health Robin recovers will be larger.

Neutral B: Thunder
Hitting the button once will activate a charging period for Robin's Thunder spell, and hitting it again will cast it. The amount of time Robin charges will determine the version of the spell cast (Thunder, Elthunder, Giga Thunder, or Tron).

While charging, you can also hit the shield button to cancel the move and store the charge -- the next time you hit the B button, Robin will resume charging from wherever you left off previously.

Up+B: Elwind
When this special move is performed in the air, Robin produces two green projectiles that he sends flying downwards, which simultaneously propels him upwards. However, you can only use this move a limited number of times. Once you've exceeded the number of uses, Robin will not produce the projectiles or jump higher.

Side+B: Giga Fire
Robin produces a projectile that flies diagonally downwards. When the projectile comes into contat with the stage, an opponent, or an item, it will generate a pillar of fire that spreads upwards, and deal area damage to anyone nearby.

Worth noting also that the following passage is present on Lucina's page:

Originally Lucina was a Marth color variation because they're related characters. The have different names and voices but play the same, and would receive treatment similar to male/female WFT, Villager and Robin. However, while Lucina's fighting style is the same, she has different characteristics. Because there's only a small difference, she would be a convenient additional character. This made her a lucky newcomer pick.

There you go, she was originally an alternative of Marth, but ended up as her own slot because of even the minor differences.

 

[Deleted member 14134]

Couldn't help but notice all the characters with skin are mainly white with a few blue, orange and yellow if you count the Pokemon. Also there seems to be a deficit of female characters so far. This is why I say we start a petition to turn Mario into a tall, black, woman.

 

[JuicieJ]

A fan edit.

Holy ****, all of my yes. Sakurai, PLEASE make this happen! I would completely get over the fact that she's a Marth clone -- I'm dead serious.

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Full interview with Sakurai:

We've just announced two new characters who will be joining the fray in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. One is Robin, the avatar from Fire Emblem: Awakening, and the other is Lucina, a swordswoman who plays an important role in the same title. I'll skip over the details.

"What? Not Chrom!?" I suspect a lot of you will ask. Of course, Chrom is quite popular, being the protagonist of FE:A and all. However, I chose Robin and Lucina, and I will elaborate on my reasoning.

Robin appears in the game as a Tactician and functions much like a Mystic Knight (note: FF terminology, but equivalent to magic swordsman). I thought to utilize his all-around nature by assigning swordplay to his Smash attacks and magic tomes to his special attacks--that is, allow him to use magic.

His neutral special is thunder magic that grows stronger the larger you charge it. He uses fire magic for his side special, and wind magic for recovery as his up special. Although Robin doesn't use dark magic in FE:A, I decided to assign it as his down special. It isn't the first time I've given moves to a character that they don't use in their respective game in order to capture certain aspects of the original title.

I also implemented the system used in FE:A, in which tomes break after overuse. Likewise, I included a similar system for the Levin Sword, which breaks after a certain number of uses. However, both the tomes and the Levin Sword will quickly regenerate after a set period of time.

Lucina uses the same techniques as Marth, a fighter with whom I'm sure most of you are already familiar. I even went so far as to make their strength, speed, and special attacks almost identical.

However, what sets Lucina apart is the fact that the strength of her attacks is uniform along the blade. Marth's playstyle emulates the elegant swordplay of a fencer by dealing more damage when he strikes with the tip of his blade, but the damage Lucina deals is evened out. Thus, I think that Lucina will be much easier than Marth for novice players to play with.

I played all the way through FE:A and really wanted to include a character from that rich cast in Smash Bros. Naturally, I considered adding Chrom to the roster, but the decision wasn't easy by any means.

At the end of the day, Chrom would just end up being another plain-old sword-wielder like Marth and Ike. Compared with other characters, he lacks any unique characteristics.

Conversely, when the idea of including Robin came to mind, conceiving the character was so easy that I immediately saw how it would work. From standards to specials, grabs to throws, all aspects of his moveset just fell into place. Not only did he possess characteristics unlike other fighters, but he also captured the essence of the Fire Emblem series. It was perfect!

In the end, if a game isn't fun, then there's no point. Of course, it would be really easy to make a game by churning out a ton of similar characters, but that's not how I produce games.

Initially, I had considered including Lucina as one of Marth's alternate costumes. After all, she has a close relationship with him in FE:A. In such cases, even if two characters' names and voices differ, as long as they function the same way, I assign them as alternate costumes. The Wii Fit Trainers, Villagers, and Robin are examples of this setup.

However, even though Lucina shares her physical stats and techniques with Marth, the characteristics of their attacks differ. When two such similar characters function in an even slightly different manner, I give them a separate spot on the roster since that will affect battle records and whatnot. In that sense, you could say she was very lucky to join the fray!

And, just for the hell of it, this is today's daily pic:

Pic of the day. We have Nintendogs plus cats! How could we forget them!! Just FYI, there are about five dog breeds in this game. This was me, reporting from the 3DS-exclusive stage, Living Room.

The Living Room was one of the first known stages on 3DS, since it appeared way back in screenshots and footage from E3 2013. It was not until the April Smash Brothers Direct we would see cats in the background. Sakurai himself is a big fan of cats.

 

[JuicieJ]

You hear that, guys? Chrom's not in the game because he'd be too much like Marth & Ike, but Lucina's perfectly okay even with her animations identical to Marth's! LOGIC!!

For the record, I don't care that she was going to be a Marth alt at first. The fact that Sakurai's reasoning for Chrom not being in the game is that he'd just be "another plain sword-wielder" makes his decision to add Lucina to the roster hypocritical.

 

[Reaca]

At least it's another female character added to the roster. Plus, she's not even close to the worst clone we've ever had. That honor goes to Dr. Mario/Pichu.

 

[JuicieJ]

At least it's another female character added to the roster. Plus, she's not even close to the worst clone we've ever had. That honor goes to Dr. Mario/Pichu.

Pointing out that something isn't as bad in comparison to something else doesn't make the original something any less frustrating.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

You hear that, guys? Chrom's not in the game because he'd be too much like Marth & Ike, but Lucina's perfectly okay even with her animations identical to Marth's! LOGIC!!

For the record, I don't care that she was going to be a Marth alt at first. The fact that Sakurai's reasoning for Chrom not being in the game is that he'd just be "another plain sword-wielder" makes his decision to add Lucina to the roster hypocritical.

Yeah, this is the exact same thing that went through my head as I read the interview. I'm going to be disappointed for a while about this Lucina clone deal.

 

[JuicieJ]

So get this. There's a fan-made Lucina for Brawl that provides a moveset inspired by, but nowhere near identical to Marth's, assuring that she's her own character. Let me repeat that: a MOD has more effort than an official character. She even has her fighting stance from Awakening. She's everything we could have had, but didn't get.

Chrom has been made (though currently unreleased), as well, and he appears more similar to Ike, though his moveset is very similar to Lucina's -- fitting, I suppose, given that he taught Lucina how to fight. Given how vastly different their weights are, though, they would certainly have different levels of power and require very different strategies, so it's probably like the relationship between Captain Falcon & Ganondorf in Brawl. He's looks pretty much exactly like what I thought he'd be were he to be his own character in Smash 4 -- a sort-of cross between Marth & Ike.

[video=youtube;rcdLeC9v_ww]https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_70504443&feature=iv&src_vid=YP6QwuDjQYs&v=rcdLeC9v_ww[/video]

This just irritates me. I don't think Sakurai understands that we would rather have "another plain-old sword-wielder" than a clone.

Then again, he did choose Robin over Chrom, which I am okay with... but still. I'd rather Lucina just not be in the game with Sakurai's reasoning for deciding against making Chrom playable.

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Chrom and Lucina have absolutely nothing to do with each other in why they were or weren't chosen, so no, it's not hypocritical. Lucina wasn't even probably "chosen". The decision was between Robin and Chrom as one Fire Emblem newcomer, and one only. Sakurai chose Robin, tough luck for Chrom. Lucina was planned to be an alt, but Sakurai said "stuff it, put her in a different slot". You can't ignore that fact, she's practically a bonus character from how she was handled from the start of development; she wouldn't be in the game if she wasn't a full clone. Free character. This doesn't apply to Chrom, he would have needed a new moveset built for him. Sakurai didn't want to do this, "just another sword user" and we already had our new Fire Emblem character.

---

Here's the final pic of the day in Week 57.

Pic of the day. Here's a Screen K.O. shot. There are also patterns where players will disappear into the sky for Star K.O.s, but as a match's time limit approaches, those K.O.s will not occur anymore.

The Screen KO now has characters slide against the glass of the camera, instead of simply tumbling downwards. This was evident in the demo build used in E3. Important to note that this post tells us regular Star KOs will not happen near the end of a match. Randomly doing a Star KO or Screen KO as a match concludes has been rather infamous in the past, in particular during Sudden Death, where a character will not register a KO because their oppponent was being Star KO'd.

Next week, I'll continue my usual routine of posting the week's daily pics on the respective Friday.