This is a very exciting week for Smash fans! Sakurai has unveiled some really cool stuff, including a new Final Smash for a returning character and a fantastic new item, but that’s not all. Since a certain dinosaur was not revealed this week, as promised, I have a special Most Wanted Brawler to share with you. Finally, Friday’s screenshot was accompanied by a bombshell of a reveal that will segue into something hype-worthy next week.
Are you excited yet? I am! Let’s get Smashing!
Talk about a great way to start of the week! Take a gander at Luigi’s Final Smash pose. Anything look different? It should! Luigi has traded away his Negative Zone Final Smash for his trusty Poltergust vacuum! I am beyond tickled by this reveal. I’ve been discussing the issue of clone characters with staff and friends, saying again and again that I hope Luigi sports a new standard moveset revolving around the Poltergust. While that isn’t quite the case, I love him using his trusty ghost sucking vacuum to mess with his fellow Brawlers. I can’t think of a better tribute to the end of the Year of Luigi!
April 1st may have coincided with this screen, but I’m 99% positive this screen is legit, and not a prank by Sakurai. That said, I have to admit I have NO idea what game this stage is from. At first I thought this was from Fire Emblem: Awakening, but then thought it might have been from Kid Icarus: Uprising. Sakurai’s post didn’t clarify things any better – “This may look like a side-scrolling action game, but it’s actually one of the stages.” I can tell the side-scrolling part of the quote is a clue, but it just further confuses me, since neither of those games are side scrolling… This can join that one 3DS stage revealed forever ago that I still cannot place…
Remember when I mentioned how much I’m enjoying the new Zelda related items? This is further proof of why that is the case. I am a bit ashamed to admit I was not instantly familiar with this item, since I haven’t yet beaten Skyward Sword, but that’s not cause I hate the game; far from it. I just don’t have as much free time to play my Wii as I would like. That said, I’ll let Sakurai’s post explain how the item will work in Smash – “The Gust Bellows can blow opponents away with its powerful wind blasts. When someone drops it, though, the gusts run wild! Out of the new items, more than a few will be from The Legend of Zelda series. We’ll take the most interesting and straightforward ones and reformulate them to match the Smash Bros. world.” Sounds like fun to me.
This electrifying post shows that everyone’s favorite little rat bastard is up to his old tricks again. Poor Bowser. Sakurai loves using you as a whipping boy for posts like this. Sakurai also has some other cool things to say about the upgraded Thunder attack – “Pikachu’s Thunder now starts off with a thundercloud that deals a Meteor Smash! From left to right, you can see this combo starting with Pikachu throwing the opponent upward, Meteor Smashing with the lightning strike, and then directly attacking. Foes can dodge, of course, so the attack won’t hit consistently, but when it does, it sure feels good!” Sounds like the electric rat is even more of a force to be reckoned with now. Yay…
Animal Crossing gets even more love with the introduction of Isabelle to the game. It looks like she may be an Assist Trophy, though Sakurai doesn’t explicitly say so. Apparently she will be offering fresh fruit from her Town to Brawlers. Seriously. I can’t make that sort of thing up. But, more exciting than this post was the following which coincided with it. Get excited now –
“Congratulations on your appearance Isabelle! I also have another important announcement. On 4/8, at 3 PM PST (8/4 11 PM UK time), we’ll be airing a Super Smash Bros. Direct!! There will be all kinds of info about the new Smash Bros. games on this simultaneous global stream that will be delivered “directly” to you, so don’t miss it! You’ll be able to watch the stream from the official site (www.smashbros.com).”
Now THAT is news worthy of excitement! You can bet I’ll be covering that reveal in next week’s Smashing Saturdays with gusto! Hopefully a release date is just around the corner, or maybe Sakurai has a new Brawler to reveal? Either way, great news.
Now, I know Most Wanted Brawler isn’t as exciting as a Smash Direct, but I can assure you this one is worth sticking around for!
Most Wanted Brawler
Now hold on a moment. Bear with me, ’cause I know what you’re all thinking. “Josh, there is already a Yoshi in Smash Bros!” While this is certainly true, he is not the only Yoshi. Back in the long gone days of the SNES, another group of Yoshis banded together to reunite Baby Mario with his brother in Yoshi’s Island. Though there would be some similarities between these Yoshis and the Yoshi from Brawl, they would have distinct differences. One would be the hand-drawn, cartoony aesthetic, but the most significant would be the inclusion of Baby Mario. Thus, this Brawler would be called Yoshis and Baby Mario!
Another difference? These Yoshis don’t have their Egg Lay attack mapped to Neutral B, but instead to neutral A. Better yet, Baby Mario would be more than a hinderance this time around. With Down B, the Yoshis would hurl the tiny toddler like a bowling ball to another Yoshi. This could be an evasion move, but, if you want to separate the duo, you could do so by holding Down B instead of lightly pressing it. While apart, you control only the Baby, and have access to an entirely new moveset. Up B would put him in a bubble that slowly floats upward, popping when it connects with a foe and inflicting damage. Side B would have the toddler rush at foes, inflicting minor damage but knocking them back. Neutral B would have him cry piteously, stunning any foes nearby, and pressing Down B again would have him leap back onto his faithful steed.
While together, the Yoshis have access to a similar but more nasty Neutral B Egg Throw. Instead of getting various curved trajectories, by pressing B they would summon a target that bounces up and down, and pressing B again launches an straight shooting egg that ricochets off enemies multiple times, inflicting tons of damage. It wouldn’t be usable as a recovery aid, but would do more damage and would hit faster.
For their Side B, instead of the risky Egg Roll, the Yoshis would forcefully Push foes away from them. This sounds minor, and isn’t very powerful, but could be used for edge guarding. Occasionally, it could spike foes vertically down instead of pushing them back, serving as a nasty deterrent.
Most bizarre of all is the Up B recovery. Yoshi would vomit out a Goonie, and then grab hold of its feet as it slowly hovered upward. Combined with the hover kick, this would give Yoshis and Baby Mario much better air domination. But best of all is their Final Smash.
Upon hitting the Smash Ball, Baby Mario would don his yellow cape and transform into Super Baby Mario, rendering him invincible and incredibly fast. Meanwhile, as he dashes around causing havoc, the Yoshi would call his clan, and all five transform into one of the vehicle forms present in Yoshi’s Island. Foes would be lucky to avoid this onslaught of cuteness, akin to Olimar’s Final Smash. It might not be likely, but I would be very happy if this duo made their way to the next Smash.
