The Retro Report

Since Melee’s inclusion of the Ice Climbers and Mr. Game and Watch, retro characters have been the subject of much speculation. While most don’t seem to mind their inclusion, some encourage the addition of more and some are incredibly against it – some even to the point of wishing that the Ice Climbers, Game and Watch, R.O.B. and Pit are cut from the next Super Smash Brothers.

First, let’s reinforce exactly which characters are “retro” characters. The retro characters that are still in the game are Mr. Game and Watch, Pit, Ice Climbers, and R.O.B.. Dr. Mario was cut from the Brawl roster presumably because of him being a second clone to Mario, though there are other possibilities–not that the reasoning particularly matters.

Retro characters are generally included to represent Nintendo’s past (hence the rest of the cast represents Nintendo’s present, or even future). Mr. Game and Watch, for example, has been very important to the history of Nintendo. The Game and Watch series was Nintendo’s first attempt at a “video game”, and the series enjoyed great success, having an eleven year run. Not only is the character recognizable to all of those who consider themselves ‘old-school’ gamers, but he fits the bill of what a retro representative in Smash should be – popular back in the day, good sales, and a fanbase.

The Ice Climbers also fit the bill of a good retro representative – popular, good sales, and a fanbase. Not to mention the large amount of popularity they have garnered simply by appearing in Smash Bros.. While some may argue that before Melee, very few people had heard of them, and so they’re not necessarily the best/most iconic choice for a retro character, that argument doesn’t have much weight since…well, they have already been picked, and have shown up in two successive games in the series now.

Pit was one of the original characters announced for Brawl, and Kid Icarus fans everywhere couldn’t have been happier. Also, a number of people who had never even heard of Pit were beginning to pay attention to the character. He also follows the rules of being a ‘good’ retro Smash character – he has popularity, his first game had good sales (his second adventure was overshadowed by other Game Boy releases), and a fanbase. There are also many rumors circling around the internet about a new Kid Icarus game. With all this in mind, Pit doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

R.O.B. is the odd man out, so to speak. He never really had much of a fanbase and only received good sales because he came with the console (R.O.B. was an accessory included with the first several retail distributions of the Nintendo Entertainment System in America). He was popular but not in a good way – most gamers just knew what R.O.B. was, and didn’t like him for any particular reason. That the two (only two!) games R.O.B. was compatible with (Stack-Up and Gyromite) are infamous for their mediocrity doesn’t help. Of course, he could be following a precedent set by Mr. Game and Watch, who is the sole representative for the Game and Watch series. Essentially, he is representative of an entire console. This is where R.O.B.’s inclusion could have come from. He could be seen as the representative of the NES hardware itself, and by extension, every videogame on the console.

Could this mean that we’re likely to see another hardware representative in SSB4, possibly somebody like Diskun (the mascot for the Japanese-only Famicom Disk System)? While we’re betting no, it’s still a possibility. However, all this doesn’t change the fact that of the existing retro characters, R.O.B. seems the most likely character to be cut, though that’s not saying much.

So, what about the retro characters that are likely to be added in the future? The two who most consider to most likely are Little Mac from Punch-Out!! and the Balloon Fighter from Balloon Fight.

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Little Mac has always been a favorite of Nintendo fans and is from a series that many consider to be one of the best from Nintendo’s early years. Of course, he may not considered ‘retro’ anymore by Nintendo, due to a remake of Punch-Out!! coming out for the Wii. But for this writing, he’s going to be classified as a retro character due to the new game being a remake, and not actually a new game.

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Balloon Fighter is less of an obvious choice. Though it is hard to imagine how his moveset would work, his popularity as an icon of the NES days cannot be denied. His series has seen success across the NES and Game Boy, as well as a number of re-releases on later systems and cameos in a large number of Nintendo games (including Smash Bros.), and was one of Nintendo’s more successful arcade games. The inclusion of Balloon Fighter would be a reference to Nintendo’s early days as an arcade developer, before they entered the home console market.

In addition, it seems as though Balloon Fighter was, at one point in time, actually a planned character for a Super Smash Bros. game. Specifically for Melee, as a retro representative of the NES era.

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These are the two retro characters that are considered to be more likely for Smash. Of course, Little Mac may not be seen in a retro light anymore by Nintendo, so this might either help or hinder his chances for Smash. Balloon Fighter remains a strong candidate if only for his representation of Nintendo’s arcade days.

Arguments

There are some arguments against retro characters, the most predominant of which is ‘they just don’t deserve it as much as X character.’ Of course, this is debatable and the people who say this usually don’t understand the inclusion of these characters in Smash. Retro characters were meant to be the ultimate form of fanservice. They please the old school Nintendo gamers and show newer gamers what the Nintendo of old was like. They weren’t meant to overshadow any topical characters – for all we know Sakurai considers them more of a priority! All said, retro characters are only in for the reason that Smash was created – fanservice.

[Google Translate] / [Balloon Fighter in Melee]

– SkylerOcon

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