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 Frost's Rankings: The Cast of Super Smash Bros. (Complete) 
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Pokemon Ranger
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*growl*...I hate snake. I can't fight with him, and he's my punching bag. How is he second tier, and how is meta knight first?!?!?!?

(that's right, I growled at you.)

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Thu Oct 14, 2010 5:07 pm
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Dragon Tamer
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I quite don't like Snake (in Brawl) because I'm not so good with him. I realize that that isn't much of a good reason to dislike him, but I just don't.

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Thu Oct 14, 2010 5:59 pm
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Pokemon Master
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Meta Knight and Snake are that high in the tier system because they are good. Snake is a heavyweight that cannot be KO'd easily in the right player, and in another right player Meta Knight is the same. There are these things called combos which Snake and Meta Knight users know how to implement, and Meta Knight's are near impossible to break if in the correct hands. Yes I do know other characters can use combos but not on the level of Snake and Meta Knight. I couldn't find a single picture but...

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Snake in his leopard print I call gay bar Snake, because you know he looks like he wants to take you to a gay bar in his leopard print. But I will agree with you on the fact that he is pretty hot.

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Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:16 pm
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Ace Trainer
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Boom! Olimar in the top 12. Sweet, I'm wondering what he'll get. I love the little dude, and his pikmin.It's so fun to mess ppl up with him since they think he stinks, but in the right hands he will destroy you. He'll mess you up! ;)

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Thu Oct 14, 2010 7:19 pm
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Gym Leader
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When I play with Pokemon Trainer, Squirtle is ALWAYS the Pokemon I choose. I rarely change it, and when I do, is usually to Charizard, mostly because of LOL CHARIZARD FLAPS HIS WINGS AND FFFFFFLY. Squirtle has the best moveset, in my opinion, and it's the funniest and most adorable of the Pokemon trio.

Fox is, by far, the best out of the Star Fox trio. I think he moves faster than Falco and Wolf. The only Star Fox game I ever played was for the SNES, so I don't know many other characters, but I have heard of Crystal, and I do agree she deserved to be there instead of Falco (since Wolf is the villain, I guess he could stay). They really need more female fighters in SSB's roster. It's funny, but I do like how the Star Fox characters look in SSBB, even though I think they could've worked on the fur a little, like they did on Diddy Kong. Oh yeah, and Fox (and the entire Star Fox cast) gets points for being a furfag.

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Wed Oct 27, 2010 4:52 am
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Gym Leader
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Galar wrote:
When I play with Pokemon Trainer, Squirtle is ALWAYS the Pokemon I choose.

Funny, for me it's usually Ivysaur. I love his Up Smash attack; huge and powerful burst from his flower that usually sends people flying. His aerial attacks are actually really good and better than Charizard's imo, despite Charizard being the part Flying type. :o

Galar wrote:
It's funny, but I do like how the Star Fox characters look in SSBB, even though I think they could've worked on the fur a little, like they did on Diddy Kong.

I like the design too; I'm glad they went with the Star Fox: Command (the most recent Star Fox game) art style. I just wish they would've had Krystal instead of Wolf, and that Falco had a different Final Smash (his physical attacks with the A button are pretty different from Fox's now).

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Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:05 pm
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12. Yoshi
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Game(s): Vanilla, Brawl, Melee; Tier: 6th out of 12; 21st out of 26; 29th out of 38
What do I think of this character in his original series?: I actually used to DESPISE Yoshi, as I thought he was the most annoying, overrated character of the entire Mario series. Seriously, people all over the Internet declare their love for Yoshi and how awesome he is even though he tends to suck in every game you can play as him? Over time, though, my stance toward Yoshi softened and then even came full circle to appreciation. Yoshi is a happy, cute and lovable character and he does actually kick ass in his platforming games. Plus, I find it hilarious that so many macho video gamer guys love them some Yoshi when it's a singing, squealing dinosaur who lays eggs and is associated with fruit and rainbows. SMW2 has always been one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, too, although Yoshi's Story was a horrendous follow-up.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: From day one, Yoshi always seemed pathetically weak in the Smash series to me, although I think a big part of that was because, in the first game, you fight thirty horrifically nerfed Yoshi bots as part of the campaign mode. Either way, Yoshi's fighting style has never really done much for me, since he seems a little weird and difficult to control, especially with his lack of a third jump necessitating a HUGE flailing second jump. Still, he's always been my savior in the Home Run Contest thanks to being able to spam his Flutter Kick aerial move for over 100% damage on Sandbag.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: As one of Nintendo's main stars, you bet your life that they nailed Yoshi's Smash implementation. His ability to eat enemies and then lay eggs with them inside is here, along with his flutter kick, egg toss and Ground Pound from Super Mario World 2. Yet, at the same time, I think they were a tad too straightforward with Yoshi's moveset, because there were a few cool power that he had in his older games that would have been cool to see in Smash, like his abilities to spit watermelon seeds, blow fire and ice, or turn into helicopters, trains and submarines, all of which originated from SMW2. Any one of these moves would have been FAR better than his lame current Side Special, which has him turn HIMSELF into an egg and steamroll the opposition. Meh. However, I was happy to see that they incorporated his SMW1 abilities into his Final Smash in Brawl.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Make no mistake - Mario may have more name recognition by virtue of being the main, titular protagonist, but Yoshi ALWAYS has been the most popular character in the Mario series since his introduction. Yoshi was so popular that he was able to carry his OWN titles without the Mario Brothers, and I guess that's why the Yoshi series is considered a separate entity in the Smashverse. Either way, being the most popular character of Nintendo's flagship series meant that Yoshi's inclusion from day one is non-contestable.

Overall Rating: B+. Despite my former hatred, I've come to recognize Yoshi as an enjoyable, classic video gaming icon. However, his Smash implementation could be a little better in terms of tight control, and to be honest I don't really like his Melee design for the same reasons I don't like the Star Fox characters' designs in Melee and Brawl.

11. Zero Suit Samus
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Game(s): Brawl; Tier: 13th out of 38
What do I think of this character in her original series?: Saving the actual analysis of Samus as a character for her true entry, which is still upcoming, it's been a Metroid series staple since day one to be able to earn the chance to see Samus unmasked and outside of her Power Suit, depending on how quickly the player completes her games. Since the Metroid series' revival in 2002, Nintendo has been far more liberal in their portrayal of civilian Samus, with each new incarnation of her looking more and more like a supermodel with form fitting clothes, all leading to the creation of Zero Suit Samus in Metroid: Zero Mission, the Game Boy Advance remake of the original Metroid.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: Like Dr. Mario before her, Zero Suit Samus is kind of an anomaly in the cast of the Smash series because she's not truly a separate character, but rather an alternate costume of a character who was already present in the Smash universe. However, unlike Dr. Mario, Zero Suit Samus has a completely different moveset from her neutral form. Unlike Zelda/Sheik or Pokemon Trainer's ability to switch at will, however, Zero Suit Samus only appears if Samus can get her hands on the Smash Ball, which is a nice nod to her original series in that you can't just see unmasked Samus by default, but rather have to earn the privilege. Also, with her incredibly obvious T&A, there's no doubt that ZSS was added to the cast of Brawl to provide eye candy that far outranks Nana the Ice Climber or either Nintendo Princess.

How well did this character transition from her original series to Smash?: I've really only played two Metroid games, namely Super Metroid and the first Metroid Prime, and both of those predated the creation of Zero Suit Samus. A quick glance through ZSS's moveset on Smashwiki says that her special moves are still based on her in-game abilities, so I'm satisfied with that. More interesting to me are the battle differences between Zero Suit and Power Suit Samus. ZSS is understandably faster but weaker than her regular incarnation, and she gains access to a kickass plasma whip for good measure, so she's still pretty badass in my book.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: The Metroid series has definitely earned additional coverage in the Smash series. Unfortunately, because the series is light on major characters, the creators were stuck in a box in terms of adding more Metroid characters. While this does NOT excuse the exclusion of Ridley as a new character WHATSOEVER, especially when factoring in Sakurai's bullshit excuse of Ridley being "too big" to be added to the series, as if Smash hasn't played hard and loose with the sizes of its characters before (sup Bowser and Captain Olimar), Zero Suit Samus is an acceptable alternative in that she technically adds a "second" Metroid character to the mix without being a lame clone. However, the fact that Metroid still only has one character entry into the Smash series while Kirby, Fire Emblem and Star Fox have THREE and Mother has TWO is simultaneously a sad joke and extremely telling of Smash's pro-Japan slant. Because, in terms of notoriety, Metroid is easily the #4 Nintendo franchise outside of Japan.

Overall Rating: B+. Samus is awesome, and eye candy is awesome, but mixing the two is kind of an insult to the ground that Samus was originally intended to break. She also doesn't make the top ten because she's only a costume change for regular Samus, who IS in the top ten anyway. Still, she can have fun looking hot with her male counterpart Snake.

10. Lucario
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Game(s): Brawl; Tier: 12th out of 38
What do I think of this character in his original series?: As with the other Pokemon characters in the Smash series, I've already shared my thoughts about Lucario in my Pokemon ranking thread. Despite originally finding Lucario to be a lame Suicune/Raikou rehash when it was first revealed (p.s. lol at that), he definitely grew on me over time with his cultural design and interesting connection to Aura, which is extremely reminiscent of the Street Fighter series' Hadouken. Lucario ended up being a top 75 Pokemon in my ranking thread and, out of a field of 512 possible candidates, I'd say that means I like him pretty well.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: The number one question we as Pokemon fans all had in regards to Brawl was "Which Pokemon will they add to the roster?" Would they add a Pokemon from Hoenn, Sinnoh or both? Would it be Blaziken, Gardevoir or Lucario? The end results were quite underwhelming as NO Hoenn Pokemon were added, the series' only Johto Pokemon was dropped, and three more Kanto Pokemon got shoved into the mix. However, the silver lining (for me) was Lucario's addition as the sole Sinnoh representative after his presence was unintentionally spoiled from a gameplay video of the Sticker book. People also accused Smash Lucario of being a Mewtwo rehash, which is lame because Lucario doesn't suck, has several properties that Mewtwo didn't and they basically only had their one neutral move in common, just like Mewtwo and Samus did.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: It only took three installments, but finally a Fighting-type Pokemon has joined the cast of (not truly a) fighting game Super Smash Bros. Seriously, you'd think having a Fighting Pokemon in a game that involves Nintendo characters beating each other up were like trying to cure cancer or something. Like the other Pokemon characters, Lucario retains his simplified graphic design, which is kind of a shame because I bet his fur would look awesome if Donkey and Diddy Kong were any indication.

I love that all of Lucario's Special moves are based on moves that he learns in the Pokemon games, including his trademark move Aura Sphere, although I do wish he got a Steel-type move and I was also pretty disappointed that his Final Smash was something completely made up for Brawl. He's a fully evolved Pokemon, so why not give him Hyper Beam or something? Damn. The other thing that makes Lucario unique is that his moves change properties as he takes damage due to his Aura, which is a GREAT way to distinguish a character in Brawl while using an aspect from his original series. Lucario's Brawl implementation was an A+ overall.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Absolutely. Sorry to all of you haters who have been inflicted with Lucarealousy and claim that Lucario is "overrated" Image just because it was the lead role in a movie or whatever, but Lucario was one of Diamond and Pearl's few new ~breakout stars~, especially when people were so busy bitching about how there were so many Legendaries and new evolutions/pre-evolutions of older Pokemon in DP. Lucario was neither one of those, and he was also one of the few Pokemon with a fighting style that lends itself well to the series.

Overall Rating: A-. If you recall my Pokemon rankings, you might find it odd that Lucario is already out on the Smash list while Pikachu and Jigglypuff are still in, despite Lucario being higher than both of them on the Pokemon list. This is because I've never actually used Brawl Lucario myself, and therefore I had to penalize him by taking him out here. Especially because the people who are left are all either characters who I mained in the older games, or are characters who I appreciate more as characters.

The final nine: Mario, Peach, Bowser, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Samus, Kirby, Ice Climbers and Captain Olimar.

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Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:22 pm
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Pokemon Master
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I'm glad this made a comeback!!! When I play SSB, I usually play as either Yoshi or Bowser, simply because they're my two favorite characters. Yoshi is indeed a cute little dino; however, I haven't played any of his "mainstream" (non-super smash bros, or mario sports) games for some reason, so I didn't know about all his other awesome powers. I remember in Super Mario Sunshine, he changed colors based off of the fruit he ate, though. So yes, I agree wholeheartedly that he should've gotten some better moves, but hey, it is what it is.

On Lucario, I am one of the ones who thought he was a little too similar to Mewtwo. But I wasn't aware of the fact that his charge-ball thingy changes with the amount of damage he takes; something I'll have to play around with later. However, I did think that Lucario is every bit as cool as Mewtwo (plus he's BLUE, which is my favorite color, lol), so I wasn't upset or anything with it. Lucario's final smash never really made sense to me, either, though. If they do another Super Smash Bros. (which is probable, since there would be a lot of people to buy it) they'll probably kick him out to put in Zoroark or something, so w/e, I guess.

I'm kinda surprised that the Ice Climbers made it to the top nine/ten. I never really liked them or played as them, but I'm looking forward to reading your logic for that.

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Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:35 pm
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Pokemon Ranger
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I always liked Smash Bros Yoshi. I recall a sleep over that I went to, and me and my friend were playing Melee. I picked Yoshi randomly and discovered that I could eat my friend and poop him out as an egg. While he was an egg I would kick him and then put him back in the egg when he got out. I would repeat until he was at an insanely high % (somewhere like 317. XD) and kick him out. A few times I was near a ledge due to an insane beating and I ate him and pooped him out over the ledge. He went berserk afterwards. XD
On another note, go Kirby!

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Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:42 pm
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I'm randomly reviving this because I just realized that I never actually finished it and only had three updates left until it was done. So, yeah.

09. Samus
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Game(s): Vanilla, Melee, Brawl; Tier: 12th out of 12; 11th out of 26; 34th out of 38
What do I think of this character in her original series?: Long before female video game heroines had become a cool new fad, an androgynous cyborg was the star of the first Metroid game in 1988, with the instruction manual specifically using male pronouns when addressing Samus. This, of course, was Nintendo flat-out LYING to preserve the twist ending of Samus actually being a woman. Samus definitely deserves high praise for breaking ground in terms of female stereotypes; before discovering the truth, many gamers easily assumed that, if a human at all, Samus was a dude, because the heavily armored action hero with big guns, bombs and lasers never had been an attractive, badass chick before.

Hell, the only female playable mainstream video game character who predates Samus, as far as I know, is Ms. Pac-Man, who isn't even human, and certainly wasn't armed to the teeth with explosive toys. And Samus actually has more complexity than the average Nintendo hero, as games have fleshed out her backstory as her being the only survivor of a destroyed space colony who was infused with Chozo blood and wears her various suits to grant her abilities. She becomes a bounty hunter who exterminates most of the Metroid race, yet also serves as a mother figure toward one of the last surviving Metroid in Super Metroid. She even gets to talk in multiple Metroid games, so in other words, she's basically everything I want/need from a video game lead. Complex, original, and badass. It's a shame that Nintendo has played up Samus as a sexy model-type more recently because it kind of objectifies her as a woman when the whole point of her sex in the first place was to make people question gender stereotypes.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: When I first played the original Smash, I hated Samus because she came off as nothing more than a boring robot to me. I had never played (or even heard of) any Metroid games, and I didn't even know Samus's true sex. Even when I found out that said boring robot had a gender, and was therefore the only female character in SSB, I still didn't like her because she didn't look like a woman externally. By the time Melee came out, however, I ~got~ the appeal of Samus as a character and she was one of my secondaries in Melee because I always appreciate chicks who kick ass. I was actually surprised to see that she was dead last in the SSB tiers, since I remember a lot of people hyping the Samus/Ness team in the original game. She definitely improved in Melee and was a pretty well-rounded character in terms of abilities in that game; I wonder how she got so nerfed in Brawl? I also brought up ZSS in the last update, and I'm glad that Samus does get to fight unmasked in Smash.

How well did this character transition from her original series to Smash?: Either way, a lot of Samus's abilities from the Metroid games made the transition to Smash as her special and grappling moves, which of course makes me happy. The Screw Attack, Missiles, Charge Shot and Bomb attacks have basically appeared in every Metroid game to date, and the Bomb special even features Samus in her ball form, which is another of the series' calling cards. In Melee, Samus also got a unique grappling hook ability to help her cling onto cliffs, which again originates from one of Samus's abilities in Metroid, using the grappling beam to swing across chasms. While her special moves are all based on her most obvious abilities, I do wish she could have had her ice beam as a special since that would have been pretty awesome.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: While Samus is an awesome character who is completely deserving of praise, I think her being included in the original Smash Bros. was sort of a push since there were so many other, more popular characters from series that were already covered in SSB who got snubbed over her. You have to remember that when SSB came out, the Metroid series was in limbo with no N64 game, a Game Boy game that barely anybody played, and Super Metroid being the only truly notable game of a franchise that had three titles. However, with the dual release of Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime in 2002, the series has been on fire ever since, to the point that I'd say Samus is #4 in the Nintendo hierarchy, at least in western countries, after Mario, Pokemon and Zelda in that order, so Samus's inclusion in the later games is definitely warranted.

Overall Rating: A-. I love Samus for being a strong woman and a character who I did use a lot in SSBM. However, the characters that I've ranked above her are ones that I simply enjoy more than her, either in Smash or in their original series.

08. Pikachu
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Game(s): Vanilla, Melee, Brawl; Tier: 1st out of 12; 12th out of 26; 9th out of 38
What do I think of this character in his original series?: If you remember my original Pokemon ranking thread, Pikachu was just outside of my top 200, and I did my best to argue why Pikachu does a great job as the series mascot, appealing equally to boys and girls, and that very few Pokemon could do its job as well as Pikachu does. Spoilers: I still think all of these things. If anything, those feelings have increased since my original ranking thread, and especially in the face of this "Pikachu is overrated" meme which is just so INCORRECT. The next time you're about to call Pikachu overrated, please stop and consider that just about everyone over the age of, oh, 6 years old or so hates Pikachu for being "overrated."

What do I think of this character in Smash?: Since the original Smash lacked readily apparent female characters, my typical stance of "pick the chick" in fighting-esque games couldn't apply to SSB. Therefore, since it was the late 90's and I was a raging Pokefan, Pikachu became my main in the original game. I actually found Pikachu hard to use in fights against human players, and picked somebody else (who happens to be coming up next in this ranking). Like with Samus's bottom tiering, I'm actually STUNNED that Pikachu is the top tier character of vanilla, and my best guess is because Thunder was pretty broken. After Melee added some chicks to the series, I really didn't feel much need to continue using Pikachu, and I even ditched him as my Pokemon of choice for Jigglypuff. I'm again surprised and kind of happy that Pikachu has such a strong tiering in Brawl, though.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: Smash hits a lot of the right notes with Pikachu even though I have some issues. For example, the name "Thunder Jolt" for Pikachu's neutral special attack should CLEARLY be "Thundershock." And while I can't fault the down special for being "Thunder," I think most people associate Pikachu with Thunderbolt due to the anime. Pikachu's up special being Quick Attack and his Final Smash being Volt Tackle are both good, and I love that his alternate costumes include props such as Red's cap. Skull Bash is pretty annoying as a special move, though, since the Special moves should be ones that a Pokemon learns naturally (unless there's a special circumstance, like what I'm about to bring up), and Pikachu can't even learn Skull Bash after RBY when it stopped being a TM. I'd actually be really happy if they ditched Skull Bash for Iron Tail in the next Smash game, making Pikachu's special moves and Final Smash an homage to the moveset of Ash's Pikachu just like Red's was in HGSS.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Are you kidding me? The original Super Smash Bros. was released in the height of Pokemon's fad period and I wouldn't be surprised if Pikachu's presence alone sold an extra million copies or so of the original game. Pikachu's inclusion is pretty much the biggest "no duh" after Mario's to me, especially because Pokemon probably makes Nintendo more money than any of their other franchises, despite Mario being the sentimental #1.

Overall Rating: A-. My love for Pikachu is actually growing strong over time, and I'm a fan of Pikachu in the Smash series, too, since he was my main in the original. However, like Samus, the characters above him mean more to me for one reason or another, particularly Jigglypuff who I like more as a Pokemon and a Smash character in general.

07. Mario P. Mario
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Game(s): Vanilla, Melee, Brawl; Tier: 5th out of 12; 13th out of 26; 31st out of 38
What do I think of this character in his original series?: In the 1990's, there were two types of people: Mario people and Sonic people. Despite having a Sega Genesis for five years before I had a Super Nintendo, I was a Mario person through and through, believing Mario to have the better games, the better TV show, and the better characters. Even while playing Sonic, I did it while thinking "Super Mario World is so much cooler than this, I wish I could be playing that instead. ;_;" Mario's illustrious video game career has had him doing everything from saving chicks to racing karts to having parties to playing golf, tennis, baseball and soccer to even being the damsel in distress for his girl and his brother to rescue. My favorite of Mario's many alter egos is actually as an RPG hero, since SMRPG, Paper Mario and Paper Mario 2 are all amazing games, and Mario's character traits in those games (including pantomiming around his inability to talk) are great.

Mario as a character is bland by design, always being the all-around average character to appeal to beginners. However, unlike other Nintendo blocks of wood like Link or Red, Mario has just enough established character traits to remain interesting. We know he's a plumber, we know he likes to sleep and eat (because he's "fat" even though in more recent games he really isn't), he seems constantly upbeat, and the speculation on whether or not he and Peach are an item is always fun times. He's also extremely quotable since his games are peppered with just enough exclamations like "It's-a me, Mario!" and "So long, King Bowser!" to make them memorable. It actually pisses me off that Mario doesn't get his due nearly as much as he should. He singlehandedly saved THE ENTIRE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY after garbage like ET on the Atari nearly killed it, and yet he's never been able to defeat Link in GameFAQ's popularity contests. Seriously, guys, that burns me like nothing else. Have a little respect for the god of video games.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: Mario was actually the character that I found easier to use in human fights in the original Smash, and I guess you could say that he was my secondary main in that game as a result. Because he's easy to use, he was also one of the top five characters that I used the most in Melee. His tier placements in the first two games reflects his status as the all-arounder character, but I'm shocked at how horribly low he is in Brawl, and I definitely hope he gets buffed in the fourth Smash game because he's Mario and he deserves it.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: In his own spinoff games, Mario always slips into the role of the guy who is average, as he's never too strong, weak, fast nor slow compared to the other characters, and that's more or less upheld in Smash. I do like that they've not been afraid to update Mario's moveset over the games, first adding his cape from Super Mario World in Melee, and then dropping the Tornado Punch to incorporate FLUDD in Brawl. Since I liked Mario Sunshine, AND FLUDD, the latter was definitely a welcome change to me, particularly since two of Mario's Special Moves in Melee were SMW-based. My main complaint about Mario's transition to Smash is that just about ALL of his awesome power-ups are ignored in Smash. Sure, Fire and Cape Mario are represented through special moves, and there are Mushroom and Metal item power-ups, but where's the Raccoon, Tanooki, Frog, Bee, Wing and Invisible Marios? Hell, even Kuribo's Shoe! There's SO much more they could do!

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Is the Pope a Catholic?


Overall Rating: A-. Mario will forever be my childhood hero. However, even in his own series, he is slightly boring (though some people probably overrate how boring he is) and I think he's the least important to me of the Mario/Bowser/Peach trifecta. I like the four other non-Mario characters more than him for various reasons, usually because I played as them more in Melee.

Top six: Bowser, Peach, Jigglypuff, Olimar, Kirby, Ice Climbers.

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Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:04 pm
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O_O this made a comeback. Awesome.

I'm really happy that Bowser made it to the top 6; him and Yoshi were my faves in SSBM. Pit is more my style in Brawl, but that's alright. Reading your entry for Samus was definitely interesting; I never really thought too hard about how much more they're reverting to stereotypes recently with her. I can't remember when I found out Samus was female, though... I think it was after Metroid Prime >_>

Also, Pikachu is a real cool guy. He beats up Team Rocket and doesn't afraid of anything. is freaking amazing. Anybody who hates him can go rot :O

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Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:39 am
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Don't get me wrong, Samus is NOWHERE near being the worst offender when it comes to stereotypical or fanservicey video game chicks, and the fact that she's pretty doesn't bother me - I thought she was in Super Metroid, and she still is. It's a good message to tell girls that they can be strong and beautiful simultaneously.

But on an aesthetic level, Samus actually had a pretty defined body in Super Metroid, as you might expect from somebody who has to support a power suit with built-in weapons; in Brawl she's clearly not muscular and even has just the right amount of feminine shapeliness. She also had dirty blonde hair instead of platinum blonde. The toned body and darker hair made her look more like a badass who happened to be pretty, and now she's more like a pretty girl who happens to be a badass.

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06. Bowser Koopa
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Game(s): Melee, Brawl; Tier: 24th out of 26; 32nd out of 38
What do I think of this character in his original series?: Out of the Mario/Peach/Bowser trifecta who form the core of every Mario game, Bowser is easily the most complex character of those three. Why? Because he's dimensional. In some games he's a stereotypical cackling villain, sure. But in other games, particularly Super Mario RPG, he's revealed to have a sparkling wit and even writes haikus in his spare time. The Paper Mario series tuned down Bowser's intelligence in favor of making him a dumber, more comic relief-type figure, but he still did that role well too. "I am Bowser, King of Businessmen! Fear my accounting!" from the second Paper Mario game remains one of my random favorite video game quotes.

He was said to practice black magic in the original SMB1, and while that role has been retconned into Kamek/Kammie, Bowser still has a ton of awesome inventions to help him fight Mario. The Bowser Balloon, anyone? Bowser also has a good amount of intrigue behind him. For example, why does he kidnap Peach so much (in the Paper Mario series, it IS because he has a crush on her)? Who is the mother of the Koopalings? Of Bowser Jr.? Do they have the same mother? Most of all, I enjoy Bowser's determination; it doesn't matter how many times Mario beats him: he always comes back bigger and better, making the Mario vs. Bowser rivalry my favorite of all video games. If I had to pick one, Bowser is probably also my favorite video game villain. Villains in video games tends to either be undeveloped and cliche (like in most Nintendo games) or developed and melodramatic (like most RPG lead villains). Bowser, thanks to his longevity, has evolved to avoid both of those categories.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: It's really a testament to Bowser's awesomeness that I used him a lot in Melee. Why? Because the slow, powerful characters in fighting-esque games have NEVER been my thing (until recently where Zangief has become one of my favorite Street Fighters). I much prefer fast, light and weak characters, so getting used to Bowser's bulky, heavy, SLOW fighting style was a challenge to my younger self. I do love that, unlike Pokemon, the Smash series isn't afraid to add texturing to the Mario cast, giving great detail to Bowser's fine red hair, smooth shell, bone-like spikes and scaly body. Bowser in the Smash series is actually the coolest looking form of Bowser for my money. Oh, but his size in Smash is all sorts of fucked up. In SM64, he's about three times the size of Mario, and in Mario Sunshine, he's like a million times bigger than Mario, but in Smash he's just a bit bigger than Mario and Peach. This is why I don't buy the "we didn't put Ridley in Brawl because he's too big" argument at all.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: Believe it or not, most of Bowser's special moves originate from actual Mario games! His Flamethrower is pretty obvious, since he's shown to have firebreathing ability ever since his first appearance in Super Mario Bros. But his Bowser Bomb down special is a direct reference to his method of attacking in Super Mario Bros. 3, and best of all his Drill Claw special is based on one of his weapons from Mario RPG in name and animation. Now, granted, the Whirling Fortress was something that they just kind of made up, and as a way to return to the stage, it doesn't have particularly great vertical distance; if I were in charge of the Smash series, I'd probably drop that in favor of the Super Mario World Bowser clown balloon. And while I don't mind Giga Bowser being his Final Smash, I do kind of wish they worked in something that referenced the Mario games. Like Bowser's final Magic spell in SMRPG, the Bowser Crush.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Bowser is another one of those cases where the question isn't "Does he deserve to be in Smash?" than "Why did it take until the second game to add him to Smash?" Truth be told, I thought the original game was sort of missing something by not having Bowser. I get that the first game focused entirely on Nintendo's heroes, but DK was at one point a villain to Mario, and DK's presence felt strange considering Bowser's absence. Especially because, in Mario spinoff games, Bowser always fills the slowest, most powerful character role instead of DK.

Overall Rating: A. Bowser is one of my favorite video game characters and really, that fact alone basically propelled him this high into my rankings. I've tried using him in Smash, but he's not really my cup of tea, beyond picking him just because he's Bowser.


05. Captain Olimar
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Game(s): Brawl; Tier: 8th out of 38.
What do I think of this character in his original series?: As Nintendo's token real-time strategy game, the Pikmin series debuted on the Gamecube back in 2001, releasing two games to date (and I want my third one already!). In the first game, you control Olimar, a space pilot from Planet Hocotate, who crash lands on Earth and befriends the Red, Yellow and Blue Pikmin, using them to collect the broken parts of his spaceship, named the Dolphin, before Olimar's 30-day climate suit fails and Earth's oxygenated atmosphere (which is poisonous to those from Olimar's planet) kills him. In the sequel, Olimar's employer has run up $10,000 worth of debt, causing debt collectors to repossess the Dolphin as soon as Olimar gets home, and Olimar's boss, Satcho, sends him back to the Pikmin planet with another employee, Louie, so that they can collect treasure to bail the company out. It's on this trek that he meets the Purple and White Pikmin.

Now, in the first game, Olimar played a fairly straight Star Trek-like role of a space captain in strange land, but we did learn some valuable personal details about him, including the members of his family. He names the Pikmin after carrots on his planet, and even comments on their nemesis, the Bulborbs, resembling his family dog. He feels great responsibility over the survival of the Pikmin series, and he also refuses to leave the Pikmin planet without gifts that his son and daughter gave him, which shows that he's noble if not slightly touched in the head. The second Pikmin game has Olimar writing a Bestiary of the creatures on the Pikmin planet, and it makes him one of the few Nintendo heroes with not only a lot of dialogue, but also a sort of dry, sarcastic personality, which I kind of adore.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: Truth be told, the day I saw Olimar confirmed on the Smash Dojo was the single most exciting day of Brawl's pre-release period. I was such of a fan of the Pikmin series that I was thrilled that Olimar was getting enough recognition to be included in Smash. And I'm actually really surprised that Olimar is rated so high in the Brawl tiers, since it seems like the general consensus among players is that he's hard as hell to use properly. And, yes, while I've heard all of the warnings about Olimar being a bitch to use, I still don't care and would probably play as him if I ever get Brawl, just because I'm such a fan of him and his series. Like Bowser, Olimar is another reason why I scoff at the "Ridley was too big" argument because they completely screwed with Olimar's size in Smash as well. In the Pikmin instruction manual, it flat out tells us that Olimar is about as big as an American quarter, yet the Smash series has him at roughly the same size of everyone else.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: In the Pikmin series, Olimar himself only has one true "attack": a wussy punch that serves as his regular A attack in Smash. But, thankfully, the Pikmin are around to do his bidding, and Smash was smart enough to include them. His Up special references how you can use the C-stick to make the Pikmin form a line, his neutral special references the way Olimar plucks new Pikmin sprouts from the ground, his down special shows his whistling commands to recall Pikmin, and his left/right Special shows how he tosses Pikmin at enemies in the Pikmin series. Surprisingly, even the details of the Pikmin themselves are retained in Brawl, from including all five colors and showing how they all have different elemental affinities, walking speeds, weights and attack strength.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Olimar was one of the few new first-party stars to emerge from the Gamecube era of Nintendo's history, and was probably the one who made the most sense to crossover into a fighting-esque game, as fun as it would be to have an Animal Crossing character who smacks people with bug nets. Factor in Pikmin being a personal project of Nintendo's president and it was pretty logical that Olimar was added in Brawl.

Overall Rating: A. The Pikmin series, and Captain Olimar, are both underrated and awesome. Seriously, I've never even used Olimar in Brawl, but I ranked him this high just because I like him and his series that much and because I was so happy to see him appear in Smash.

04. Popo and Nana, the Ice Climbers
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Game(s): Melee, Brawl; Tier: 8th out of 26; 7th out of 38

What do I think of these characters in their original series?: The Ice Climbers probably have the biggest gap between placement on my rankings versus video game relevance. Before the Smash series, they appeared in one title, Ice Climber, which was an NES launch title that was sort of the vertical version of Super Mario Bros. Playing the game years later, after SSBM, it's not hard to see why it was forgotten to the sands of time while Mario went on to become a cultural icon: the controls of the game were spastic as hell. Nana and Popo themselves have almost no backstory, and they seem to be climbing mountains to... collect vegetables, for some reason? There's also weird yeti creates trying to kill them, and we're not even sure if Popo and Nana are boyfriend/girlfriend or siblings.

What do I think of these characters in Smash?: The Ice Climbers are kind of a reverse situation of Captain Olimar, where I don't care about their original incarnations at all and my love for them comes exclusively from Smash. I think they're flatout adorable, with their chibi faces, brightly colored parkas, cutesy "YUP!" voices and high-five taunt and win animations. I also like that Melee and Brawl let you choose either Popo or Nana to be the "main" Ice Climber and, since Smash is so female-deprived in general, the Ice Climbers became one of my mains in Melee since I used the alternate colors with Nana as the main Ice Climber. <3 I'm also happy that they have such good tier placements in both games, even improving in their second appearance, since typically cute things are kind of jokey and terrible competitively.

How well did these characters transition from their original series to Smash?: Sakurai had a pretty tall order to transform these two nobodies into characters who can hold their own in the Smash series. About the only things that they could do in the original Ice Climber were to jump really high and to hit things with their hammers. Thankfully, they found a way to make the Ice Climbers unique characters: to pair them together as one unit, with one character human-controlled and the second being controlled by the computer to mimic the player, and it really worked. As long as both Ice Climbers are active, they have the largest vertical up special in the game, a reference to their high jumping abilities, and they can rack up damage quite easily. Being able to summon arctic winds from their hands is kind of a random special ability, but just about the only other thing that could have been imported from Ice Climber, the Freezie, was made into an item, so that icy wind blast was an okay substitute.

Did these characters deserve to be in the Smash series?: In terms of notoriety, of course not. How many people had even heard of Ice Climber before Melee was released? However, I don't mind that each Smash game has re-introduced one or two "classic" i.e. long-forgotten Nintendo characters and brought them to a whole new audience. The Ice Climbers were that choice for Melee, just like Ness was in the original and Pit was in Brawl. It's just a shame that Nintendo has done absolutely nothing with their momentum following their appearances in Smash. Surely they could make a better Ice Climber game these days?

Overall Rating: A. Like I said in the write-up, the Ice Climbers are a reverse situation of Captain Olimar, where I ranked them this high for their appearances in Smash, rather than what they were in their original series. They were one of my five most used characters in Melee, they're adorable, they fit the theme of my online username, and Nana added another female character to the Smash ranks. I love a lot of things about them in Smash, but I have to keep them out of the top three since it's like they basically don't exist outside of Smash.

The top three:
3. A cute, pink character.
2. A cute, pink character.
1. A cute, pink character.

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Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:34 am
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Kirby made it to the top three? Yaaay! Also, thanks for reviving this. It's good to have the last few characters rated.

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Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:22 pm
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Come on Jigglypuff, you can do this...

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Sun Nov 06, 2011 5:29 am
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If I were to rank those top three it'd be Jigglypuff, Peach, Kirby, so let's see how close I get. :lol:

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Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:29 am
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Sure, I might as well finish this after a year-plus of stalling.

BRONZE MEDAL: KIRBY
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Game(s): Vanilla, Melee and Brawl; Tier: 3rd out of 12; 25th out of 26; 19th out of 38

What do I think of this character in his original series?: My Kirby stanning is actually mostly a recent thing. Back in the day, I enjoyed a couple of Kirby games -- namely Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Dream Course for the Super Nintendo, despite the latter being a random spinoff that had nothing to the do with the traditional Kirby gameplay. I also really hated the only Gamecube Kirby game, Air Ride, for being a super simplified Mario Kart ripoff. And I did watch and enjoy a few episodes of Kirby's anime, where Kirby was mostly adorable and ate Dream Land's food until being summoned into battle as a kickass warrior to defeat the monster of the day. In hindsight, the last sentence only makes me wonder why it took me so long to start loving Kirby, since it's totally my flavor. Image Newer Kirby games like Squeak Squad and Epic Yarn look adorable but at the same time I don't really feel inspired to play them?

What do I think of this character in Smash?: The Smash series is actually what cemented my Kirby fandom. I didn't pay too much attention to him in the original game because I thought he was supposed to be the top tier character (lol) but I thought he was fun to use and I associated him with Kirbster for obvious reasons. It was during the brief period that I watched Kirby's anime that I started using him seriously in Melee, and god I love the orchestrated background music for Melee's Fountain of Dreams stage. Image Beyond that Kirby was actually pretty terrible in Melee, so much that he had to be buffed heavily just to become playable again in Brawl. While I never witnessed Brawl Kirby domination, I have gone back to the original game in recent years and Kirby is actually my favorite character to use against the computer for epic cuteness and kickass fighting ability (since Peach wasn't around and Jigglypuff's execution was still kind of half-baked in the original). Image And Kirby's "Hiiiii!" taunt is iconic, let's be real.

How well did this character transition from his original series to Smash?: Kirby's two main calling cards in his series are his unlimited floating ability and his ability to suck up an enemy and swallow them to inherit one of their powers. Like Shang Tsung or Rogue, Kirby fills the "clone" role of the Smash series, stealing an identifying feature and the neutral B special of his opponent after swallowing them. Naturally his floating had to be toned down in Smash, but that's understandable because in most Kirby games, he can float without limit, which would be broken in Smash, although six continuous puffs is still impressive. Many of Kirby's other moves originate from his copied abilities from his original series, including Fighter, Sword, Rock, Hammer, Fire, Ninja and Suplex Kirby being incorporated into his neutral A jabs, up, down and side special moves, dashing attack, up throw, and other throws, respectively.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: It's weird because back in the 90's I think most little kids could identify Kirby easily and knew of him, but I wouldn't say he was necessarily popular until the Smash series and Kirby 64 put him on the map in western countries. In Japan, Kirby has always been extremely popular, explaining why he received his own anime, and why his series has three inclusions in Brawl, although the director of the Smash series, Sakurai, also works on the Kirby games too. Despite this, I think Kirby was a big enough deal to be included in the original Smash, especially because it focused exclusively on Nintendo's hero characters. Plus, regardless of his popularity, he was certainly unique enough in his original series to provide a memorable character in Smash.

Overall Rating: A+. Although his tier placement goes up and down, Kirby remains one of the cutest, most unique fighters on the Smash roster and it's nice that such a BLIND YO FACE pink-colored puffball is still considered so badass to Smash fans. ^_^

SILVER MEDAL: JIGGLYPUFF
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Game(s): Vanilla, Melee and Brawl; Tier: 9th out of 12; 3rd out of 26; 36th out of 38

What do I think of this character in its original series?: I've already summarized my feelings about Jigglypuff in my Pokemon ranking thread. In short: I liked Jigglypuff for a time because it was so funny and memorable in the anime, then hated Jigglypuff for a time because it was associated with the admin Jigglypuff who I used to hate. Jiggz and I are cool now and my Jigglypuff love continues to snowball, in parts due its awesome evolution, extreme cuteness, and iconic roles in the anime and the Smash series.

What do I think of this character in Smash?: Jigglypuff was kind of a strange inclusion in the original game, at first glance seeming like a Kirby clone because of their similar color, body shape and horizontal recovery but also seemingly inferior because it had no true vertical recovery special like the other characters did. The fact that Rest, to a newcomer, seems like the most useless move ever in life also adds to the useless stigma. However, once Rest's true power is revealed, it becomes fun as hell, and Jigglypuff actually improved significantly in Melee with the addition of its Rollout special and tweaking of its other attacks, before it got catastrophically nerfed in Brawl, with Rest becoming useless for realsies and Jigglypuff having possibly the worst and most random Final Smash in the entire game. (And that's saying a lot in the "random" department thanks to Luigi and Peach's Final Smashes.)

How well did this character transition from its original series to Smash?: All of Jigglypuff's Special moves are among its natural level-up moves in the Pokemon video games: Pound, Sing, Rest and even Rollout. On one hand that's authentic because the Smash designers were clearly recreating Jigglypuff's role in the anime as the basic and boring Pokemon without any elemental powers who uses its voice to put people to sleep. Two problems with this: Sing sucks just as much in Smash as it does in the main series video games, and Jigglypuff is much, MUCH more versatile in the video games via TM compatibility than it is in either the anime OR the Smash series. However, I suppose they did add some spice to Jigglypuff's repeitoire via Rest, and I'm also glad they changed Pound to Jigglypuff's side special to let Rollout be the neutral one. Puff Up is absolutely horrible and I would have deleted it to have a modification of Hyper Voice as Jigglypuff's Final Smash in a heartbeat. WITHOUT QUESTION. One of Jigglypuff's alternate costumes in Brawl having Leaf's hat is a nice touch, too. Image

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: It's so weird to address this question because in 2012, Jigglypuff seems like the single most random Pokemon ever included as a main character in the Smash series, even including PICHU. Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Mewtwo, Lucario - all iconic. Pichu - a great marketing tool for the Pokemon series in general. Ivysaur - well, I guess they needed a middle evolution on Red's team. Jigglypuff - didn't it used to be on the anime a million years ago? I guess it's because over time Jigglypuff's status has slowly eroded away into nothing, but back when the original Smash was made, Jigglypuff was MASSIVELY popular and was said to be THE second most popular Pokemon behind Pikachu in Japan, which... how can one really argue Jigglypuff's inclusion if that were the case, even though it's probably barely within the top 100, maybe even top 200, most popular Pokemon today?

Overall Rating: A+. Out of all of the Pokemon included in the Smash series, Jigglypuff is my favorite to use in the Smash series itself and it's also my favorite of those Pokemon in general. It was actually even my second main character in my favorite Smash game of them all, Melee. Who was #1 you ask? Well, let's talk about her now:

GOLD MEDAL: PRINCESS PEACH
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Game(s): Melee and Brawl; Tier: 6th out of 26; 17th out of 38

What do I think of this character in her original series?: So when I was about 3 years old, we had an NES with only a few games, including USA's version of SMB2. My favorite character in that game, even as a young boy, was Princess Peach. I didn't care that she was a girl or a princess or that she wore pink and had cooties... she could fly (read: float due to her dress) and that made her so much more useful and cool compared to the other three male characters, even Mario. Image Believe it or not this instance of being easily impressed as a child has set the precedent of me picking the female character(s) in just about every single video game where one is playable... which, considering how much I love video games and female characters in them, is a defining personality of trait of mine that all traces back to Peach. Image Since the topic of declaring my Peach fandom doesn't have much opportunity to come up on a Pokemon forum, I'll let it be known: Peach is my favorite video game character OF ALL-TIMES and I'm not afraid to admit it!

At the heart of every Mario game are three characters: Mario the hero and Bowser the villain are obvious, but Peach is the third, and therefore is more important than Luigi, Yoshi, Toad or whoever else, no matter how much fans of those other characters try to deny it. True, some people will just say "She's a damsel in distress who can't protect herself!" but without Peach, very few of the Mario games have an actual storyline purpose. Plus, about that whole useless damsel in distress thing? Peach has been playable outside of the Smash series in about fifty more official Nintendo games than Princess Zelda's zero, yet nobody gives Zelda shit for being worthless. With her God Tier appearances in games like SMB2, SMRPG, Mario Kart 64 and Melee under her belt, Peach also has the curious habit of being one of the best characters in the games where she IS playable, proving her haters wrong for doubting her. She was also the hero of her own fun game, Super Princess Peach, where she owns Bowser's forces through the powers of female emotion. Image

What do I think of this character in Smash?: When Melee came out, I was in this weird pseudo-feminist phase where I thought Peach was an insult to women everywhere for being a useless damsel in distress (O_O) and despite this she was still my main character in Melee, although I was using bad drugs and picking her for her Daisy alternate costume because I thought Nintendo telling me how Daisy was such a "tomboy" every six seconds made her look so much cooler than Peach. Thankfully over time I came to my senses and reverted to the classic Peach costume, utilizing my favorite strategy of picking Peach in four-way human battles and running the HELL away from the action because her aerial abilities are unmatched. Image Despite being light and kind of slow Peach is kind of the perfect character for a beginner because unless she gets knocked into the instant death zone, Peach can make it back to the stage no matter how far away she's hit.

It was kind of a surprise to me that Peach was so high tier in Melee. I think it was mostly because her down smash was so ridiculously broken and because her turnips were useful. Unsurprisingly I used Peach like a total newbie compared to the tourney-goers, as my favorite Peach attacks in Melee were the Peach Bomber (less famously used three years before SSBM by Rainbow Mika from Street Fighter Alpha 3, although it was the same exact move with the same exact name), her side smash for its comical violence, her forward+B mid-air crown slap attack because only Peach would think to smack somebody around with her royal trinkets Image, and of course HER TAUNT! If I had a dollar for everytime I've made Peach utter the phrase "Suh-weet~!" while twirling around and posing, I'd be one rich man. Also unsurprisingly, Peach's decent tiering in Melee meant that she had to be nerfed in Brawl. I picked Peach the one time I played Brawl and hated how much they changed her jumping/floating abilities compared to Melee. It was gross. :-/

How well did this character transition from her original series to Smash?: Smash Peach is mostly an amalgamation of SMB2 and SMRPG Peach. From SMB2, Peach inherits the ability to pull and throw turnips as well as the floating powers that made her the God Tier character of that game, granting her the greatest horizontal jumping distance of the series. In SMRPG, Peach's weapons included slapping gloves, a parasol and ultimately a frying pan, which were incorporated as her basic physicals, up special and side smash. The side smash also references Peach's playable roles in the Mario Golf and Tennis side series, and her neutral special attack references her general role as Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, with her Toad guardians being loyal and willing to take hits for their Princess but ultimately being worthless. Peach's taunts in Melee also nail her spinoff role as a cute, lovable and goofy ditz who is perfect for trolling other human players because the sound of her voice is so obnoxiously annoying. Image

The Peach Bomber special and the Peach Blossom Final Smash were ultimately made up for the series; the latter is particularly disappointing because it's a worthless Final Smash, and because offering the option of using any of Peach's four vibes from Super Princess Peach would have been a much cooler, varied and character-specific Final Smash. The Peach Bomber is comical in Melee for its unexplained explosion of butt fire, but I probably would have traded it in for any of Peach's other spells from Mario RPG or maybe even a Mario Kart reference. Also, I simply MUST mention how amazing Peach's dresses look in Melee and Smash, and it always disappointed me that Peach's first appearance on the Gamecube looked so incredibly intricate and detailed, and then later Gamecube and Wii games reverted back to the basic 3D Pokemon-esque graphics. :-/ Overall though they did a great job transitioning Nintendo's leading lady into the fighting arena, being true to her original character while also proving she's always had fighting ability.

Did this character deserve to be in the Smash series?: Like I've said throughout this thread, Peach is one of the top three most important characters of Nintendo's flagship series, and she was on the short list of characters to be included in the original game only to be cut at the last minute. If Nintendo weren't sticking to the iconic hero characters and if Luigi weren't an easily included clone character, I have no doubt that she would have been added to the original SSB before Luigi. Image Her addition to the sequels was kind of a no-brainer as well, since the original game was lacking in female star power and, with all due respect to Samus, Peach is kind of the Nintendo girl.

Overall Rating: A+. I already said it, but it bears repeating: Peach is my favorite video game character, and anybody who realistically thought I would rank Kirby or Jigglypuff above her just doesn't know me that well. I'd even go as far as saying that without Peach's appearance in SMB2 during my formative years, my views on women would be drastically different today? So I lurve Princess Peach Toadstool and in a game of Nintendo's all-stars she is the true one and only shining star to me. ^-^

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Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:08 am
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~ * UPDATE * ~

This year I've completed the NES versions of Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda (!!!). How has this changed these rankings? Not much at all, surprisingly.

Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser are the only Smash characters in SMB1, but the Mario cast has been a constant in my life for like 25 years now so beating a game that I've beaten before, only without warping or saving this time, obviously had little impact on my opinions of those characters. Samus is still a total badass goddess, however, and being able to play Metroid NES as Suitless Samus (!!!) after beating the game once was by far the highlight of the game and I wish Nintendo brought that idea back in sequels. (I also beat Super Metroid this year which is an amazing game and Samus's role in it, despite not talking once after the opening narration, was great.) Now for the new-to-me games...

I like Zelda the character a little more now but that's mostly because of Hyrule Warriors letting her be an epic sword-slashing heroine as Princess Zelda instead of as [insert alter ego of the game here]. On the brightside at least she doesn't look like a mutant potato in her first game like Peach did in SMB1. Link is still a total nothing and I don't think anything will ever change me regarding him as the most overrated video game "character" of all-time, but I like how he looks like he's having a seizure every time he picks up an item in LOZ1. Ganon's NES sprite was sad times and as a final boss he was nothing special (though after looking it up, this is mostly because I only had the foresight to use the Very Special Arrow the game conveniently gave me in the final dungeon).

Fire Emblem's storytelling for NES-era standards was pretty good but essentially ALL of the characters were pretty flat and my opinions on them basically break down into A) is the character female or male? or B) is the character sucky in battle or not? Because the answer to question A is "male," Marth is automatically at a disadvantage because I'm not making an expansive spreadsheet of every playable male character from every video game I've ever played right now. And the answer to B is "he's useful in the beginning, but then he hits a wall." Unfortunately, because he's basically REQUIRED to beat the final boss and I'd neglected my Marth throughout the entire second half of the game, I had to spend two hours grinding Marth up to level 20 from level 8 on the final map of Fire Emblem (thx endlessly spawning units).

In conclusion,


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Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:57 am
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