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!

Ten Games to Watch from E3 2017

Like previous years, the 2017 Electronic Entertainment Expo showed us several video games to look forward to in the near future and while some may complain about the presentations themselves (in some cases, rightfully so), the games were still present. Here, we’ll look at some of the games that grabbed the public’s attention. 

For this list, we’re focusing on games that were shown at the convention, and that we know a good deal about. While it’s good to know that Metroid Prime 4 and a new main series Pokemon game are coming to the Nintendo Switch, no one outside Nintendo’s circle knows much about them other than the fact that they exist.

Here are Ten Games to Watch from E3 2017.

1. Anthem

Most of EA’s press conference was a prime example of the fluff that gamers don’t like when watching E3 presentations. Not enough gameplay shown, too much extra stuff shown. Of the games that were shown, very few of them caught much attention, but one of the ones that did was the game Anthem. A new sci-fi title developed by BioWare, Anthem revolves around the Freelancers, a group of soldiers exploring a lush and dangerous new environment. The game looks to be a multiplayer co-op game where players can work together to fight monsters and bands of marauders while exploring the jungles of this new world.

2. Far Cry 5

After already stirring up some controversy before the show even began, more information was revealed about Ubisoft’s latest entry into this first-person shooter series. The game is set around the area of Hope County, Montana with the main antagonist of the game being a religious extremist preacher named Joseph Seed, who seeks to force everyone in the county to join his militaristic doomsday cult, Eden’s Gate. The player takes the role of a sheriff’s deputy assigned to arrest Seed after a previous attempt to take him down resulted in the deaths of several officers. Players can customize their appearance with a new custom character creator, the game will have several weapons to use (with an increased emphasis on close-quarters combat), and local people and wildlife (as seen in Far Cry Primal) can even be recruited to help your character.

3. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

After their partnerships with PlatinumGames, Koei Tecmo, and Namco Bandai working on Nintendo franchises, Nintendo is now letting Ubisoft take a crack at one of their franchises. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a turn-based strategy game and a crossover between Ubisoft’s Rabbids series and Nintendo’s Super Mario series. Players control Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and four Rabbids dressed like the four Mario characters as they go to stop a swarm of mischievous Rabbids from terrorizing the Mushroom Kingdom. With gameplay that has been compared to series like XCOM, the eight characters can move around the map, fighting enemies with different weapons, including laser cannons resembling the arm cannons used by characters like Samus, Mega Man, or the Mii Gunners from Smash 4. 

4. Monster Hunter: World

Capcom announced during the show that the latest entry in the Monster Hunter franchise would be coming to PS4 and Xbox One in early 2018 with a PC release sometime afterwards. (Sorry, Nintendo fans.) Players take the role of different hunters tasked with killing or capturing large monsters around the village they are staying at. To accomplish this all weapon types from previous game Monster Hunter Generations are available, along with some new equipment like ghillie suits and the grappling hook-like Slinger. The game is said to have large open environments with no loading screens between zones, four player co-op, and will allow players from Japan and Western regions to play together.

5. Destiny 2

After a lackluster launch, Bungie’s hybrid shooter-RPG Destiny has managed to gain traction as a worthwhile game. So, when a sequel was announced to be released in September 2017, a lot of people were actually looking forward to it. Like the original game, players can play both with and against each other in PvE (player vs. environment) and PvP (player vs. player) game modes. Players can also level up their characters by gaining experience points through combat, complete quests from NPCs to receive rewards or further the main story, and customize their character’s attributes, including species, gender, and skin color. Weapons and armor have also been reorganized in this new game, from Primary, Special, and Heavy weapons to Kinetic, Energy, and Power weapons.

No big overhauls here, but you know what they say about something that’s not broken.

6. Call of Duty: WWII

After a long period of setting their games in the modern era or the future, Activision is taking the Call of Duty series back to its roots by making a World War II game, with players will control soldiers from the Allied nations fighting against the Axis powers. Several mechanics are being changed with this installment. Health regeneration has been removed, so players must rely on the medics in their squad for health packs. They will also need their squad to provide extra ammunition, the unlimited sprint mechanic from previous games has been removed, and the campaign mode has no difficulty settings, with the game automatically set to “Hardcore Mode”. The game’s multiplayer also shows a back-to-basics approach with several features from previous games removed and more of a focus put on “boots-on-the-ground” combat. 

And yes, this game has a Zombies mode.

7. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

More information was shown about Capcom’s latest collaboration with Marvel Comics with their crossover fighting game series, including a new trailer. The game draws a lot more cues from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for their characters and story and several characters from the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy are included in the roster. Though notably, characters from X-Men or Fantastic Four are absent from the game. The story itself revolves around the heroes’ fight to defeat Ultron Sigma, a fusion of Ultron from Marvel Comics and Sigma from Capcom’s Mega Man X series, and looks to include a full story mode with cut scenes.

8. God of War

One of Sony’s biggest franchises, God of War, will soon be getting a new installment in the series and more was shown about this new game at this year’s show. Taking place after the events of God of War III, the setting has changed from one of Greek mythology to one of Norse mythology and series protagonist Kratos is now taking a second shot at raising a family, taking care of his new son Atreus. He will now have to fight against a new stable of monsters and warriors, while raising his son and trying to master the rage that has driven him for so many years. Kratos’s signature dual chain blades have been replaced with a magical battle axe and a folding shield and a button on the controller can be used to control Atreus to hep Kratos throughout the adventure.

9. Marvel’s Spider-Man

Developed by Insomniac Games as their first licensed game, this title is not tied to any movies or comics and is instead an original story set in the Spider-Man world. The game is an open-world action-adventure game where players will be able to fight criminals and super-villains as the web-slinger himself, traversing the city through different methods including parkour, web-swinging, and wall-crawling. At this point in the story, Peter Parker is close to graduating from college and has been Spider-Man for about eight years, so he’s gotten the hang of being a superhero by this point. But after defeating Kingpin at an early point in the story, a new gang called the Inner Demons starts taking over Kingpin’s turf and now Spider-Man must deal with this new threat.

There’s also a cameo in the E3 trailer from Miles Morales, but no word yet if he’s playable in any way.

10. Super Mario Odyssey

Finally, here is the game leading the charge for the Nintendo Switch. While this game was revealed earlier along with the early lineup of Nintendo Switch games, a new trailer was shown at E3 along with new gameplay and several new mechanics and worlds. The game is a 3D open-world adventure game, inspired by titles like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, where players can guide Mario through large expansive environments. The main driving mechanic in this game is Cappy, a ghost-like top hat creature that takes the form of Mario’s signature cap after it is seemingly destroyed. Mario can use Cappy to grab items, fight enemies, manipulate the environment, or even possess different enemies, objects, or characters and use their abilities for himself.

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Of course, this is far from a definitive list. Several games were shown at this year’s E3 and these were only a few of them. So, what do you think? Are you looking forward to any of these games? What games caught your eye at this year’s E3? Make your voice heard in the comments below and have fun gaming once these titles come out.

Thanks for coming!