Hello, one and all, and I hope you all had a vibrant Fourth of July! Lots of food, flags and (safe) explosions. Luckily, this was an equally explosive week for Smashing Saturdays! It had extra screenshots more than once, and focused primarily on costumes and new levels. While it had no new character reveals (*sniffle* poor Ness), I frankly don’t expect any more of those till right before or after release. So, that’s enough mulling things over.
Let’s get Smashing!
Monday started with these lovely screens relating to Smash Run. The first image is of Poppant, a foe who previously showed up in Brawl and harassed players. Now they will scamper about dropping items, as well. Second of all was the Iridescent Glint Beetle of Pikmin fame, which you can beat the tar out of for more gold. Have I mentioned how excited I am for Smash Run? The sheer variety of enemies and items intrigues me, which is good, considering I’ll probably spend the most time playing through that on single player mode.
Tuesday had this vibrant screen. In case you saw Link’s alternate tunic last week and worried costume swaps would be mere color swaps, worry no more. This pic aptly displays how different one player can look with new costumes. It opens up a wealth of possibilities for other players, as well. Anybody else wonder if Mario will don his doctor’s robes, or Fox will dress up like Falco? It opens the door for lots of fun visual possibilities!
Even Mii Fighters get costume swaps! This has me even more excited than the previous screen. Sakurai mentioned that it will change how the weapons they wield look, as well, but won’t affect their capabilities. That is still determined by your decisions. Which is good. Now my Mii Fighters can look extra classy as they destroy my foes.
*tries not to drool* I was obviously excited by this screen, given how much of a Mega Man fan I am. To truly do it justice, I have to incorporate Sakurai’s quote – “Mega Man.EXE and Mega Man Volnutt!! They only appear for a split second, but the modeling is so detailed. And if that’s the case…!” I admit, I was jumping for joy for a second when it seemed like another Mega Man might be playable. But it instead lead to this pic…
“…How can we not use it for trophy creation?! Today’s update is a rare mix of Wii U and 3DS images in the same post.” Darn. Still, double the Mega Man is always a good thing.
See? I told you there was a new level! Granted, we’ve seen this one before briefly, but now we have details. It is, fittingly, called the Pac-Maze, and is exclusive to the 3DS version of Smash Bros. By eating 100 pellets, you will make a power pellet appear with the same color as your Brawler. Eat that and guess what happens?
“If you eat a Power Pellet, the monsters will become vulnerable and you can defeat them just by touching them. An important point is that the monsters will become vulnerable only on your screen, which means that they can still damage your opponents!! This is one of the unique game features only possible in the 3DS version.” Fantastic. Any doubts I had about Pac-Man’s inclusion have officially faded away. He looks to bring a good deal of innovation and creativity to a game already flush with it. October 3 cannot get here soon enough!
But don’t go anywhere yet! I have a crazy Most Wanted Brawler written by yours truly for your reading pleasure! Stay tuned!
Most Wanted Brawler
JOSH: I have done lots of crazy ideas for Most Wanted Brawler, but perhaps few as crazy or creative as Tempo from the eShop wonder, HarmoKnight! The hardest part of this brain exercise was to work out how to incorporate the rhythm aspect of the game into a fighting series like Smash Bros. I mean, opponents aren’t going to wait around for Tempo to bop them to the beat, right? Wrong! See, the way I figure it, Tempo would still incorporate the rhythm with a gimmick similar to Little Mac’s KO Meter. If you keep attacking enemies with any Special and consistently don’t miss, your Rhythm meter goes up and you deal progressively more and more damage. The first time you miss (not counting hitting an enemy shield), it resets to the normal damage ratio.
But what of his Specials, you ask. Well, this was also complicated by the nature of the game. See, all Tempo does is jump and swing his staff to the rhythm. That’s enough for maybe two moves, but four? That’s a bit of a stretch. Or it would be, if not for the existence of Tempo’s allies – Tappy, Lyra and Tyko! I visualize them all lending a hand for three of Tempo’s four Special attacks. His main Neutral B Special, however, would be his Staff Swing. This would have more range than Tempo’s stubby little arms and legs, and would have the added benefit of being chargeable. Even better? A fully charged Swing would shatter enemy shields, briefly stunning foes!
For his Up B Recovery Special, Tempo would enlist the help of his floppy-eared friend, Tappy, for the Tappy Throw! The widdle bunny would hurl Tempo up at an angle with his long ears, allowing him to surprise unsuspecting foes with a well-timed bop to the head.
So far, Tempo is an up-close-and-personal Brawler, but for his Side B, Tempo would call in Lyra for a bit of projectile support. The Lyra Shot would have her appear in the background and unleash a fusillade of one to five arrows at wherever Tempo places the target. Pressing Side B summons the crosshairs in front of Tempo, and holding it longer places it farther away from where he’s facing. It would be a nasty and unpredictable attack.
Finally, rounding out his Specials would be Tempo’s Down B – the Tyko Drum! This would essentially be Tempo’s crowd control attack, useful for when he’s getting wailed on by foes. Tyko and his monkey friend would leap beside Tempo and start banging their drums for a few seconds, causing shockwaves that, unless blocked, knock foes over and paralyze them temporarily. This move would be especially helpful for keeping the Rhythm Meter flowing, keeping Tempo from missing that crucial attack.
But what of Tempo’s Final Smash, you say? Quite simply, it would be a combination of his previous attacks, and known as the Melodious Massacre! Tempo’s three allies would run rampant across the field, firing arrows, flinging foes and beating drums to deal damage. Meanwhile, Tempo is rendered invincible – with a catch. If his Rhythm meter is active, the invincibility lasts. But if he misses an attack, or if a foe does a well-timed dodge, the invincibility goes away! So that’s how I see Tempo being a playable Brawler. It might not be likely, but I’d love to see more 3DS eShop representation in the next Smash Bros. Here’s hoping Sakurai changes his tune sometime soon!
