New Smash Bros?

[Jeffhog]

Man, I really hope Sonic stays...

[Diogenes]

If they're going to have any third party characters, it's hard to think of one more meaningful than Sonic. And Sega and Nintendo are still chummy enough to pump out those Olympics games. So I'd say he's in pretty good shape to stick around.

I'm more worried that this is even further decreasing the chances of Megaman getting in.

[Marcello]

To me it's more important that Snake stays in. He was fun to play, and I'd love some more Codec calls.

[Johnny Boy]

There's no doubt in my mind Sonic is staying. I'm a bit doubtful about snake unless Kojima "practically begs" for him to be in Smash Bros 4.

[Winston]

I loved Snake in Brawl, I really hope he makes it back in. Snake, Sonic and Luigi are the only ones I want to see return....and maybe Wario too, the rest I don't really care about. Sonic has a higher chance of returning then Snake though. I still want to see both return, but I really don't think Snake will be there again.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Winston

[Milo]

and when you lose, they taunt and say "My body was ready."

[Winston]

With pelvic thrusts, like Waluigi.

[WarioBone]

I made a huge topic on playable Miis before I got ban'd over at Nsider2. Essentially, Miis = More customizable Emerl.

[Gregzilla]

That quote from Sakurai gives me a bit more hope that Snake and Sonic will return, but I'm still not 100% assured they will. Sonic definitely has a better chance than Snake. I'd love Sonic to come back, but I'm okay with Snake being a one-time thing.

So it sounds like the basic gameplay isn't going to change too drastically, which is fine by me. Some slight tweaks is all the Brawl gameplay needs in my opinion.

Also, there is no other game in the world as much as SSB4 that I really, REALLY want custom soundtrack support. I'm sure the soundtrack will be phenomenal, but putting your own songs as battle music would be the best thing ever.

[Chaos Warp]

I sorely hope one of the minor tweaks is the removal of random tripping. Even if they keep everything else casual ala Brawl, they have to remove this. It's no fun for hardcore and casual players alike.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Chaos Warp

[Gregzilla]

Yeah, tripping was an idiotic addition. Granted, I think it's acceptable if they keep tripping with the banana peel, but tripping at random for no reason has to go.

Oh, also, there's one other thing I think they should get rid of: Master Hand. I know he's been with Smash since the original, but.......it's a fucking hand. I'm sure they could think of a more interesting boss than a hand. Tabuu, too. They should take more inspiration from the vast array of Nintendo history when designing the original bosses. Hell, I wouldn't mind if they didn't even put original bosses. I personally play Smash to see familiar faces. For instance, I loved fighting Ridley and Porky in SSE, but I didn't give a shit about Duon or Galleom.

[-Robin-]

The Master Hand is the essence of the actual player himself; it was heavily alluded to in the first Smash, with MS constructing the Smash stage and pulling out a character doll in the opening. Take away Master Hand, and you take away that sense of connection between reality and fantasy.

Random tripping is odd, but if it's relegated to only icy stages, from attacks that would make sense to trip you up like the tip of Sonic's Down Tilt, and Banana peels, then it's fine.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Bobbyjosh

[Gregzilla]

The Master Hand is the essence of the actual player himself; it was heavily alluded to in the first Smash, with MS constructing the Smash stage and pulling out a character doll in the opening. Take away Master Hand, and you take away that sense of connection between reality and fantasy.

I don't play Smash for a sense of connection between reality and fantasy, I play Smash to make Pikachu whack Princess Peach with a baseball bat on a spaceship.

That, and it's a fucking hand.

[Diogenes]

Master Hand is awesome. He, and the "story" of SSB64, is the perfect representation of the spirit behind the game.

Besides, he is a part of Nintendo's history at this point.

[Xenos]

I don't play Smash for a sense of connection between reality and fantasy, I play Smash to make Pikachu whack Princess Peach with a baseball bat on a spaceship.

That, and it's a fucking hand.

A fucking hand is perfectly normal for Smash Bros.

It's a giant floating hand that somehow has a voice and access to extremely powerful magic.

Meet his brother! Crazy Hand. He's had too much coffee, also has a maniacal laugh, and has access to extremely powerful magic.

Pretty cool if you ask me. It adds more uncanny to it.

[Carbo]

Despite Master Hand just being a hand and not having that much of a consequential role to the appeal behind the game, I dunno. His mere presence in the games (mostly the first two) was rather undeniable and the crossover aspect seems a lot more viable because of it. He gives the characters a reason to co-exist with a valid justification for them to battle, but also has the characters contain enough self-aware reverence to their individual beings that allows them in-universe to rebel and act according to their own M.O's.

It'd kind of be like removing Sauron from Lord of The Rings. A rather extreme example, I'm aware, but the principle is mostly the same. He's the guy behind the scenes making all of it make sense, except in this series' case it's easy to build your own interpretations of the concept. It's thanks to the way the game is built up that so many cutscenes in SSE stayed memorable and worked without having the overbearing crossover influences interfere with the interactions, because let's face it - on paper, crossing over Mario with something like Metroid just kind of doesn't work.

Besides it'd be rather one-sided for Nintendo to figure out a new villain that belongs to a specific series. At this point Master Hand is already a Nintendo character most people are aware of, and he's pretty much the perfect symbolic balance to represent the game.

[Gregzilla]

Eh, I guess. Don't get me wrong, fighting him was always cool, I just was never a fan of the extremely simple design. I like him in 64 when he appeared to literally manipulate the characters like dolls, and Crazy Hand was a nice addition for challenge-seekers. I just wouldn't be opposed to at least adding some more flare.

[Diogenes]

Simple designs aren't bad, y'know. And there's only so much you can do with the design of what is literally just a floating gloved hand.

[WarioBone]

I honestly thought he was Glover for the longest time when I was a kid.

[Gregzilla]

Well rather than change the design, perhaps they could just give him some more varied attacks. They've already given him stuff like shooting bullets with his fingers, directing lasers, rocketing off into the sky, etc. They should try and think of more stuff like that to add on to his current moveset.

[Eternal EX]

I'm pretty sure this has already been mentioned before but since Namco is working on SSB4, would a cameo from the cast of Soul calibur or Tekken seem weird?

[Carbo]

I'm pretty sure this has already been mentioned before but since Namco is working on SSB4, would a cameo from the cast of Soul calibur or Tekken seem weird?

http://dustycartridge.com/features/a-chat-with-tekken-series-director-katsuhiro-harada-part-2/

Obviously people are saying many things since we are developing the next Smash Bros. We’re very excited that Nintendo chose us, and most they likely did because Namco Bandai has a very good track record with fighting games such as the Tekken series. We have a lot of experience and knowledge regarding this particular genre, that’s probably one of the factors in their decision. That being said, although we’ll help provide support on technology and other things involved creating the game, I’m currently very focused on the Tekken series. Some people might say online that I’m going to be involved in the development process or not but that shouldn’t really be an issue because the game design is going to be handled by Masahiro Sakurai. So I don’t understand why there would be any worries there.

I mentioned in a past interview recently that the Tekken characters are something that maybe long time fans of the Smash Bros. series don’t really expect, so maybe they won’t be in there. The feedback was very mixed, there were 2 camps, one said “Harada, you’re very right, we don’t need the Tekken characters in Smash Bros, good job.” It’s nice that they agree with me but on the other hand, they themselves don’t exactly need Tekken characters in Smash Bros. so it’s kind of complex. Then there’s the other half were people saying “No you’re totally wrong, we want Tekken and Soul Calibur characters in the game otherwise why does it need to be developed be Namco Bandai” so there’s really two different sides and it’s difficult to choose one. Obviously I’m not going to say to Sakurai, “We want Tekken characters, please put it in” that’s not the case so people don’t have to worry about that. The sole decision will probably be made in a way that if more people want Tekken characters in it then Sakurai might choose to do so, if not then so be it.

I honestly don't see why Tekken or Soul Calibur characters are a thing that should happen. I already said it once but Sonic and Snake mostly pushed the envelope for what are viable third party characters; the former because of the long-lasting rivalry and the latter because of the sheer self-aware meta that arises because of Snake and his escapades that were included in Twin Snakes.

Tekken only has two minor games with Nintendo - one of which isn't even released yet - and Soul Calibur has absolutely nothing in there. If inclusions from those popped in it'd blur the line of heartfelt nostalgia bomb and run-of-the-mill cash grab, something which Battle Royale is kind of sort of doing.

[Sami]

Seeing as how it's Namco Bandai we're talking about, I think the Tales of series is a much better source for characters than Tekken. I just think they'd fit the overall cast much more than Tekken, of all things.

I just really hope they use Luke or Yuri instead of Lloyd because I seem to be one of the four people on this planet who can't stand Tales of Symphonia.

Edit: In terms of why I'd find them fitting; it's as simple as me thinking they'd feel right at home next to the Fire Emblem cast, really. Just look at their designs:

There are some differences in how they dress, sure, but they'd still be a much better pick then Tekken, at least.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Dissident

[Sean]

Master Hand is genius. Melee is the better game in every way, but I always like going back to SSB64 because it's the only game in the series that gives the feeling of a little kid using his imagination to make all of this stuff happen. Even the characters look like dolls due to the N64's limited graphics, it's kind of adorable and fitting.

[Diogenes]

Well rather than change the design, perhaps they could just give him some more varied attacks. They've already given him stuff like shooting bullets with his fingers, directing lasers, rocketing off into the sky, etc. They should try and think of more stuff like that to add on to his current moveset.

Well, what more do you want? He's got finger bullets, lasers, walkie-fingers and a flick, grab and crush, rocket punch, swats, probably more I'm forgetting, plus Crazy Hand has some unique moves and there's team-up attacks when both are there. Not that I'd mind a few new moves but he's already got some neat tricks.