How Smash Brothers Effects Fandoms

The beauty of Smash Bros. is in how it brings all of Nintendo’s many different series and franchises together. Smash Bros. makes possible for fans of Nintendo’s big franchises (Mario, Zelda, Pokemon) to discover and have a taste of many of Nintendo’s lesser series and allow for them to become fans of series they might otherwise never have played. This is true. When Smash Bros. was released, most people knew most of the cast with a few exceptions (Samus, Ness, and Captain Falcon). However, what the original Smash Bros. did was let fans of these series cross-polinate and discover a piece to series that they never played before. For example, after the release of Smash Bros., massive interest in Metroid and Mother increased, and a new generation of fans for these two franchises was born despite the last game in their series having been released 4 or 5 years ago at the time of Smash Bros 64’s release. I myself was interested in F-Zero due to Falcon’s appearance in the original, which made me curious enough to rent F-Zero X, and which after playing, made me a big fan of the series.

Although Melee only added only two new series the playable roster (Ice Climber although is technically counted as a series in Smash, it is simply a standalone game), its affects on creating a new generation of fans for gamers who never played their respective series prior to Smash Bros. was no less profound. The popularity of Fire Emblem and Game&Watch increased dramatically after the release of Melee (particularly with Fire Emblem in the West). Many people cite the popularity of Marth and Roy in Melee as the main reason as to why it Fire Emblem was finally brought over from Japan. Fire Emblem might have never been released outside Japan had it not been for the inclusion of Marth and Roy in Melee. Even myself became a fan of Fire Emblem due the inclusion of the Fire Emblem duo (for me it was Roy). I would probably have never of become a fan of Fire Emblem, let alone pick up a single game of it, had it not been for me maining Roy in Melee. I also bought Ice Climber-e for the e-reader since I was curious to see what the game of odd duo from Melee was like (however, I soon discovered how much of a sub-par game it was, good thing it was only five dollars). I also bought Dr. Mario for the NES due to Dr. Mario (and I liked it unlike Ice Climber).

Brawl continued a little bit better than Melee and added six new series as opposed Melee’s three. However, most of these series were very popular (Sonic and Metal Gear), or quite popular (Wario and Pikmin). Many people purchased Kid Icarus off of the Virtual Console thanks to Pit’s inclusion as well as increasing clamor for a new game in the series. Interest in many of Nintendo’s lesser series also increased a bit thanks to the Assist Trophies (particularly Little Mac, Stafy, Ray, Isaac, and Saki). However, I can say that Brawl had the least impact in my interest of Nintendo series that I never played compared to Melee and Smash 64. I personally feel that a playable character and a stage are needed in order for the played to grow an attachment to a character to a series in which they never played and make that attachment grow to a point in which the player’s interest will be piqued enough to try out the series in which that particular character hails from.

-ChronoBound

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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