With Corrin and Bayonetta now added to the DLC roster for Super Smash Bros. 4, the game now has its complete roster. No more DLC announcements. These are the last ones for this game. Those fans that had someone in mind that they wanted to see make the Smash roster will have to wait to see who makes it in Smash 5 (after Sakurai takes a long break first. He’s earned it.).
When it came to the characters that made the roster for Smash 4, some people complained that some more representation was needed in different areas, whether they were asking for more female characters, more villains, more characters from a certain franchise, or whatever. To maximize a character’s chances of making it in the roster, it helps to be relevant around the time the game is being developed, so for some of these concerns, maybe some new games should be released.
For this article, I will list ten ideas for video games that, if made and released before the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. series, may allow for more or different characters to get a chance at the roster. Focus will mostly be on the upcoming NX home console and whatever their next portable console will be but there are a couple of Wii U entries here too.
1. Super Mario NX: Wart’s Castle
One of the games that everyone says Nintendo’s upcoming console, currently codenamed the NX, should get on or around launch is a new 3D Mario game. Some people say that Super Mario Galaxy 3 could be this game, but a lot of people are asking for a game more similar to Super Mario 64, with a large open hub world with secrets to uncover that can branch out into different levels to explore. To take this a step further, what if this game featured the prominent return of a character a lot of people have been asking to make a return for a long time? What if, instead of Bowser, the main villain in this game was Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2?
There have been some people online who have pointed out that a lot of the characters from Super Mario Bros. 2 have been seeing very few appearances in the Mario series. A new game would bring these characters back into prominence, even more so if that game was a launch window title for a new Nintendo console. The game could include SMB2 enemies like Phantos and Pidgits and the SMB2 bosses like Mouser and Tryclyde as area bosses, and at the end of the game the final boss is Wart, having crossed from the dream world into the waking world in a quest for power. The game could even take place at a new castle that Wart has taken as his new base of operations.
2. Donkey Kong NX
There are were a few franchises that Nintendo fans were underrepresented in Smash 4 and Donkey Kong was one of them. Several fans of the series were hoping to see Dixie Kong (a female character) or King K. Rool (the series’ main villain) added with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, but they were passed over. A new game in the series could help to assert that other characters in the series could be worth consideration for a Smash roster. This new game could be portrayed in two ways. The first is a 2D platformer similar to Donkey Kong Country 2, where Diddy and Dixie have to save Donkey Kong after he gets kidnapped by King K. Rool (or some other villain who could be given the spotlight). The second is a 3D platformer similar to Donkey Kong 64, where a villain threatens Kong Island and DK, Diddy, and a bunch of their friends have to stop this threat to their home.
3. The Legend of Zelda Wii U/NX
A new entry in the Legend of Zelda series is coming soon. What has everyone wondering though is if it will be a Wii U exclusive or will it also be available on the NX. Whatever it releases on, just like every other Zelda title to come since the N64 era, this game is likely to have a stand-out character that will grab everyone’s attention. With Shiek, Skull Kid, Vaati, Midna, Ghirahim, and more, whichever new character the new Zelda game gives us is likely to grab a lot of attention and likely to have a lot of people asking for their inclusion in Smash 5.
4. Metroid Prime Hunters 2
Metroid is another series that has a lot of people calling out how underrepresented it is in Smash. A problem here could be how the Metroid series has been handled in the past. While everyone loves Samus Aran and she is in no way a bad character (Other M aside), the series has focused so much on her that no one else is major enough to warrant an appearance outside the series. The only other major character from this series is Ridley and when it comes to Smash, Sakurai has stated that Ridley would be too big to accurately portray as a Smash fighter. Maybe that is what they are attempting with Federation Force, to give someone besides Samus the spotlight.
Another possible solution could lie in a sequel to the DS game Metroid Prime Hunters. While the game’s execution had some problems, it had an interesting concept. Gamers could play as not only Samus, but different bounty hunters as well, with their own unique sets of weapons. A sequel to this game on the NX or even Nintendo's new handheld could allow some different characters to rise to popularity, more so if they are given expanded stories and abilities from what they were given in the first Hunters game.
5. Pokken Tournament
Pokemon is one of Nintendo’s largest series, both figuratively and literally with about 700+ creatures at this point, and that shows with Smash 4 having six Pokemon characters in its playable roster. The popularity of a certain Pokemon plays a large factor in their chances at making the Smash roster and, while the anime surely does a lot for a character’s image, another thing that could help is a fighting game specifically for Pokemon characters.
With Pokken Tournament soon to be released for home consoles, we get to see Pokemon battles Tekken-style, especially with Namco Bandai as the developers. Players not only get to see different Pokemon in matches, but also how their moves can be applied in ways that the main series games don’t show. Not only could this boost some monsters’ popularity, but also affect how their moves are portrayed if they make it into a game like Smash.
6. F-Zero NX
With only one character in the Smash roster with Captain Falcon and no new games in the series in a very long time, F-Zero is not only one of the most underrepresented franchises in Smash, but in Nintendo in general. It may not be a stretch to say that a lot of people know Captain Falcon more as a Super Smash Brothers character than an F-Zero character. The best fix to this problem would be to create a new game in the series and the debut of a new console would be a good opportunity to re-introduce gamers to this long-dormant franchise.
Not only that but the same kinds of abilities that the Super Smash Bros. games gave to Captain Falcon could also potentially given to other characters in this series. A re-imagining of the F-Zero series could potentially make it as an over-the-top, adrenaline fueled, sci-fi racer, where everyone important has super-fast racing machines and outrageously crazy attacks.
7. Fire Emblem: Warriors Across Time
This entry isn’t so much about adding new characters as it is narrowing down who and how many to focus on, because Fire Emblem now has six characters in its part of the Smash roster. This suggestion isn’t so much a new Fire Emblem game as it is a spin-off game like Hyrule Warriors. Giving Fire Emblem the Dynasty Warriors treatment like The Legend of Zelda got would bring in characters from across the series from the classic games to the modern era. From there, developers might be able to focus on which characters would seem popular enough to bring back into Smash.
8. A returning old or obscure IP
This one isn't so much a specific game as it is a general idea, but it is worth mentioning.
Nintendo has a large roster of IPs available for their use and to add some more variety to their roster, a very good thing to do would be to revive one of their older IPs and bring it into the modern era. Kid Icarus got that treatment and most of the people that played it agree that it was a great game. Not only was Pit given new abilities and equipment and a nuanced personality, but the series was also given a new world to explore and new characters like Viridi, Magnus, and Hades. A revival of an old series like Ice Climber, Mysterious Murasame Castle, StarTropics, or any other lesser known or classic titles, would open up whole new series to use and update their characters in the process.
This could also apply to more recent obscure games as well, like Dillon’s Rolling Western, Disaster: Day of Crisis, and Code Name S.T.E.A.M. A major game in these or other series for either consoles or handhelds would give Nintendo a reason to introduce a different IP into the Smash roster.
9. A new original IP
Speaking of different IPs, while it would help Nintendo to revive one of their old or obscure IPs, creating a completely new one wouldn’t hurt either. It’s become sort of a running joke online to say that Nintendo only has three or four titles that they regularly use, and some of the people that make those jokes want to see Nintendo make, not necessarily new gameplay styles, but new worlds with new characters and deep stories. Though the two could go hand in hand, it’s the latter that they’re paying more attention to. What kinds of games the public wants Nintendo to make is a topic for another day, but as far as Smash is concerned, it could only benefit from having a new property to explore.
10. Nintendo vs. Capcom
This is technically a third-party game, but since pretty much half of the game is Nintendo content, it counts here. The amount of fan-made rosters you can find online for a Nintendo vs. Capcom fighting game show that a lot of people want this to happen. Seeing Nintendo’s all-star roster against Capcom’s all-star roster, while potentially bringing back some obscure characters from both companies, would only drum up a lot of publicity for both developers. As far as Smash goes, this game could give Nintendo’s characters (and Capcom’s characters that cross over into Smash) new attacks, new interpretations of old attacks, and new personalities.
These were only ten out of a lot of potential suggestions, so what do you think? What game do you think should be released before Smash 5 to make it the best Smash game yet?
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