Monday, January 15, 2018

10 Possible Nintendo Characters for Nintendo vs. Capcom




A long-requested topic for fighting game fans, especially with series like Super Smash Bros. and the Vs. Capcom games releasing to huge success, Nintendo vs. Capcom has been one of those dream games that a lot of people seem interested in. And with Nintendo’s new console, the Switch, selling hand over fist and Nintendo looking to keep the momentum going with plenty of new releases, this game will be sure to grab people’s attention.

Since a big part of the hype is seeing which characters make the roster, I’ve looked through the lists of Nintendo and Capcom’s franchises and come up with a few characters that may have a good chance of making it in. This is in the form of a list and not a full roster, because while some characters like Mario, Link, Mega Man, and Ryu are obvious inclusions, this will focus on some of the characters who are less obvious, but still stand a good chance. In addition, only one character per franchise.

Here are 10 Possible Nintendo Characters for Nintendo vs. Capcom

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10. King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country)

As a heavyweight character, a villain, and a character from the Donkey Kong Country series, King K. Rool is a highly requested character in Super Smash Bros. and the same could be said for the King of the Kremlins here. He can pull moves from a variety of his boss fights with Donkey Kong and if his Mii Fighter costume in Smash 4 was any indication, he could be used as a brawler character using a bunch of heay-hitting punches and kicks. He may have been absent from the more recent DKC games, but this would be a good opportunity to reintroduce this crazy crocodile.


9. Wolf O' Donnel (Star Fox) 

Yet another villainous character (or anti-villain to be more precise), Wolf O’Donnel would also bring something to the roster as another Star Fox rep, alongside Fox McCloud, who is already a popular (and kind of obvious) choice for any kind of Nintendo crossover. While his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl had him as a sort of semi-clone of Fox, a character this major could do with some differentiation. Maybe give him a laser rifle instead of a blaster or maybe give him a grenade or mine launcher. If Fox is light but quick, make Wolf slower but stronger. The developers can come up with something surely.


8.  Impa (The Legend of Zelda)


Something about the Legend of Zelda series is while every game takes place in a different version of Hyrule, each version always contains the three legacy characters, Link, Zelda, and Ganon, then builds a completely new cast around them. That’s probably why, in Smash Bros., fan favorite characters like Skull Kid, Midna, and Ghirahim are relegated to assist trophy status, while the characters to actually make the playable roster are versions of Link, versions of Zelda, and a version of Ganon. Aside from those, there is actually only one other character who has appeared in more than one game in the series.

While she has appeared as both an elderly figure of guidance and a young sword-swinging warrior serving as the princess’s bodyguard, Impa is definitely a series mainstay and is quite possibly a candidate for crossover inclusion.


 7. Decidueye (Pokemon)


When it comes to including Pokemon characters in a Nintendo crossover, the selections tend to be Pikachu and whichever Pokemon are currently popular with the fans. Charizard, Mewtwo, and Lucario have managed to stay consistently popular, which is why they’re usually in everything too. While I have my doubts about Pikachu making it into Nintendo vs. Capcom, with him being such a little guy, some other popular mons can still make the list. With Sun and Moon still relatively fresh on people’s minds and a certain grass and ghost owl making the roster for Pokken Tournament DX, Decidueye is a prime candidate for a good crossover fighting game, and with its archery skills and creative interpretation of its Grass-type moves, it can be like a Pokemon version of Hawkeye from Marvel vs. Capcom.


6. Kirby with Robobot Mech (Kirby)

I know Kirby may seem like one of those “of course Nintendo would include them” characters, but hear me out. I mentioned earlier that Pikachu might not make it in to NvC because he’s too little. Most of the time, tiny fighting game characters can be irritating to fight against. Not saying they can’t work, but characters are easier to fight against if they’re not small enough that most attacks fly right over their heads. With this in mind, Kirby being a canonically small character might have hurt his chances of getting in, but the 3DS game Kirby: Planet Robobot may have given him a work around. By using one of the mechs that he finds in the game, he’s essentially this game’s Tron Bonne. He can use the mech’s different functions and abilities as shown in that game for different moves, even possibly still using his regular copy abilities while piloting it.


5. Takamaru (Mysterious Murasame Castle)

Of course, one of the best things about crossover rosters is seeing some surprise new characters. Be they from new franchises or classics, these are some of the best things you can see come out of an idea like this. While Nintendo has a lot of classic franchises they can pull from, there is one that they’ve been teasing western gamers with without giving it to us. Okay, several actually, but the one being focused on here is Mysterious Murasame Castle. It was a top-down adventure games for the NES, like The Legend of Zelda, and its main hero was a shuriken-throwing samurai named Takamaru. While not a lot of western gamers know about this franchise incorporating its name character into a large-scale crossover could ignite more demand for the series. 

It worked for Fire Emblem in Smash Bros. Melee; who’s to say it can’t happen again?


4. Dr. Coyle (ARMS)

Though very good cases can be made for representing older franchises in a crossover, they can also be made for incorporating newer series as well, since they are currently relevant and can tie in to the studio’s current projects. After Splatoon, the motion-control fighting game ARMS is Nintendo’s newest big(-ish) IP. The characters in this would fit well in a Capcom fighting game (Dhalsim anyone?), but while seeing Spring Man or Ribbon Girl enter the roster would be good, a compelling case could be made for who is apparently the main antagonist of the story, the rad scientist, Dr. Coyle. Her signature ARMS can give her unique attacks, she can hover and turn invisible, and she can even use the boss character Hedlok (her creation by the way) to triple the attacks she can throw. She’s also responsible for creating a lot of the things seen in the series, from events to other characters.


3. Chrom (Fire Emblem)

Fire Emblem has come a long way since it first can to the West in Smash Bros. At one point, Nintendo was considering killing off the series, but then Fire Emblem Awakening came along and it was like the lightning strike in Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. This is now one of Nintendo’s biggest series, big enough for it to get six characters in Super Smash Bros. 4 and its own Dynasty Warriors style spin-off game. This series is sure to be represented If Nintendo vs. Capcom becomes a reality and while several characters from the series could deserve a spot, Chrom is one of the most deserving. Not only is he a fan favorite character who has made appearances outside the Fire Emblem games, but he was also a main character in the game that arguably revived the series. That’s a strong case for NvC roster inclusion.


2. Inkling (Splatoon)

Splatoon is one of Nintendo’s most recent smash hit series that showed that you can have all the fun of a shooter while dialing down the violence. Since then, the game’s playable avatars, the Inklings, have been big hit characters among gamers. So, including an Inkling in the roster for NvC would make sense. Alternate colors of costumes could be matched to the different ink colors of the game and they could even use several different weapons from the regular guns to chargers, rollers, Splatlings, and more, and that’s not even getting into the sub-weapons. The possibilities are endless.


1. Dimentio (Paper Mario)

This is a list about the Nintendo side of a Nintendo vs. Capcom roster, so it’s probably a given that a Mario character would make the list somewhere, but even this series can have room for some surprises. Most people gravitate towards the staple characters of the Mario series when figuring out who to include in rosters like this and in fact, most of this part of the roster is likely to contain staple characters. Mario himself is guaranteed to make it in. But for a less obvious character, Dimentio from the Paper Mario RPGs would make for a big surprise villain character. In Super Paper Mario, he was shown to be insanely powerful, like a Mario version of Kefka or Bill Cipher and he also had a quirky personality that helped to make him stand out in that game and make his actions seem just a little bit creepier.

And if the developers need a Story Mode explanation for why these characters are all meeting each other and fighting, Dimentio manipulating portals to and from realms provides an effective excuse.

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Of course, these are just ten characters that would make interesting inclusions for a roster like this. Who would you like to see in Nintendo vs. Capcom? How excited would you be if Nintendo vs. Capcom was announced? Make your voice heard in the comments below and check back for when I post the companion to this article, discussing 10 possible Capcom characters for this would-be game. 

Thanks for stopping by!



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