Before I get into characters, stages, items, and enemies, there are a few overall elements that I'd like to see included in future installments of Smash Bros.
1. Alternate Costumes
Super Smash Bros. Brawl did a good job of differentiating the clone characters, making them "semi-clones." But there are some characters who are so similar that they would might as well embrace the sameness. Dr. Mario is the key example of an unnecessary clone character. Why not just give Mario an extra costume to wear? Alternate costumes would be like advanced palette swaps, allowing aesthetic variations of our favorite characters. Not every character necessarily needs an extra costume, but it would be a fun way to bring in some more Nintendo references/characters without the need for extra memory for fighters. We saw that it could be done with Wario's distinct regular and WarioWare outfits.
2. Classic and All-Star Modes Combined
The 1-Player Mode from Super Smash Bros. was split into four gameplay methods in Melee. Event Mode allowed for brief, unique fights and Adventure Mode offered a loose story structured around the Nintendo franchises, but Classic and All-Star gave us virtually the same experience. Each one was a series of battles, with Classic offering random battles in an organized format while All-Star offers the chance to fight all characters. I feel that Classic is the least interesting of the modes and would be better meshed with All-Star. Since All-Star is usually unlocked once all characters are unveiled, the new 1-Player Mode should build as each new character is unlocked.
3. The Best of Melee and Brawl's Adventure Modes
Here's what the Subspace Emissary Mode from Brawl did well:
- Boss battles
- Beautiful cutscenes that moved the story along
- It gave us the opportunity to play as multiple characters throughout the story.
- It provided unique pairings and groupings of characters to allow for interactions that only Smash Bros. could provide (like Meta Knight teaming with with the Fire Emblem heroes or Samus rescuing Pikachu).
- It gave us a neutral world that suggested elements of past video games (desert level, forest level, ice level, etc.).
Here's what it did wrong:
- It relied too heavily on side-scrolling when Smash Bros. fighting physics aren't built for that kind of action.
- It had too many new (and bland) enemies and bosses, rather than highlighting the many enemies from other Nintendo franchises (only the Mario universe had representatives, save for a couple bosses).
- Too many characters are silent protagonists, meaning that, unless a character was intentionally quirky (King Dedede, Wario, Luigi), they just came off as "stoic." And having dozens of stoic characters is boring.
- It made trophy collecting a chore.
- It had little replay value, especially since it forces you to back track through everything via the "Great Maze" section.
Here's what it could have used from Melee.
- Locations and enemies from Nintendo games, establishing that all of these universes are connected (like when Samus escapes an exploding Zebes and we end up on Kirby's Pop Star).
- Unique challenges specific to each franchise.
- The return of Giant DK and Metal Mario, the mini bosses of Super Smash Bros. Let's see how they fit into the story.
- Alternate endings/battles. There were moments where, depending on the difficulty setting or speed in which certain tasks were accomplished, extra battles would be unlocked. And the Peach/Zelda choice in Brawl doesn't count.
- A Battlefield battle with unique enemies. I think incorporating Tabuu's army into one or two battles would have made their inclusion a lot more palatable.
4. The Return of Personalized Target Tests
Brawl only gave us 5 Target Tests as opposed to one per character. I liked the original Target Tests as it forced you to use each character's unique abilities to solve the challenge and it also provided them with a fun extra stage that resembled their past games. The Ice Climbers' Target Test was the best, in that it faithfully recreated an original Ice Climber level, but others, like Mario's Donkey-Kong-inspired level, were neat homages as well.
5. Downloadable and Customizable Content
With the recent Smash Bros. Direct rumor, and the fact that the next games will be on both WiiU and the 3DS, I expect to see some form of bonus material that can be added later into the games (in the form of characters, stages, or single-player "chapters," as the rumor states). Plus, the hacking community has made glorious alterations of existing characters and stages. It would be need to make this a functional feature in the game and then allow others to trade their creations, allowing us to play as characters that may not actually be officially included in the game.
This is just my brief wishlist, and I shall discuss some of these elements in depth later, but I'm frankly curious to see what the creators come up with on their own. Up next, an in depth look at the playable elements of the Smash Bros. universe.
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