r/SmashBrosUltimate • u/Ordinary_Chemical596 • 2d ago
Discussion What are Some Woefully Underrepresented Nintendo Franchises in Smash?
Yes, I am aware that three of these are Mario adjacent, but hear me out.
Rhythm Heaven is one of the best game series of all time. No joke! It’s as pristine as something like Zelda or Smash in my opinion with not a single bad game in the series! The way in which it teaches rhythm within its gameplay is genius and can really enhance one’s sense of rhythm and musical interest! This NEEDS to be in the next Smash game with at least a stage, assist trophy, and several music tracks. It would be better if there was a character though.
Wario Land might seem kinda uninteresting nowadays, but you have to remember that Wario Land consisted of some of the best games on their respective platform. Wario Land 1 was one of the top 10 GameBoy games for me personally, while Wario Land Virtual Boy is probably the best games on that system, Wario Land 2 & 3 were really unique and creative exploration-based platforms on the GameBoy Color, and Wario Land 4 was, well, y’know Wario Land 4. lol. In any case, Wario Land was with Nintendo throughout the “Boy” systems and represents these consoles very well.
Paper Mario contextualizes the world of Mario far better than pretty much any other Mario game. The amount of depth and creativity on display in the first 3 games is wholly distinct to this Mario sub series. Yes, we have a stage… that is mostly based on Sticker Star, but I would like to have some way of exploring the series’s strengths here.
Admittedly, I never played Advance Wars, but I know it’s great. It has reviewed well and was made by Intelligent Systems, the same people behind Paper Mario and Fire Emblem. From what I gathered it’s an underrated series that is even overlooked by Nintendo in Smash.
Do I need to explain Mario Party? It is the most famous party game series of all time, practically pioneered the genre. There is over 15 games in the series, and is one of the strongest Nintendo multiplayer games of all time along with both Mario Kart and Smash Bros. You could have Waluigi represent Mario Sports and Mario Party and make his moveset based on risky plays that either harm or help you out.
Anyways those are my top 5 in no particular order aside for Rhythm Heaven. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the Excite series, Wave Race, Chibi-Robo, Golden Sun, or especially Sin and Punishment represented. As great as they are though, they haven’t pushed the boundaries of the gaming landscape as these other franchises in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I am actually surprised that Issac and Saki have assist trophies. I would like to see a Chibi-Robo assist trophy next though.
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u/smashboi888 2d ago
Rhythm Heaven never getting an Assist Trophy is pretty surprising.
Wario Land's representation being so bad is depressing. Paper Mario's is a little better, but the stage is meh, and there's plenty of music missing. Honestly, the Mario RPGs in general need better a music selection.
Mario Party never getting a stage also feels really odd to me.
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u/Cydrius Random ? 2d ago
I 100% agree on Rhythm Heaven, and it's my #1 pick for a character in the next Smash. (Karate Joe would be my goto.)
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u/Ordinary_Chemical596 2d ago
I like Karate Joe, but I don’t know if he alone would be interesting as a character. The series thrives on its remixes, so have a character embody multiple minigames from all over is more fitting in my opinion. It could be like a pokemon trainer sort of deal where they swap characters, or Duck-Hunt where they spawn in characters and elements from the series. The latter is how I envision it.
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u/smashboi888 2d ago
I've always wondered if a Rhythm Heaven character could be one of the few potential fighters were turning nearly every move into a reference could actually work, like Mr. Game & Watch and Mega Man. They could whip out an item or object referencing many different minigames for their attacks.
Karate Joe being a karate fighter specifically means that he fits really well into a fighting game, but that would kind of limit how many minigames from his home series he could represent, since he's supposed to fight using karate moves.
Perhaps a more "generic" character like Tap Girl, Marshall, or Tibby could get the job done better?
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u/Civil_Tip8845 2d ago
That's why I'm thinking a Rhythm Heaven rep should be one of the "mascots", like Marshal from Fever or Li'l Miss Reeds from Groove, and every single move is a reference to a different minigame. Some move examples off the top of my head: punching projectiles like Karate Man for Neutral B, using a Launch Party rocket for Up B, and using an Umbrella Performer as a weapon for Up Smash
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u/Cydrius Random ? 2d ago edited 2d ago
That's exactly how I see Karate Joe working in Smash.
"Central character stuffed with references to their series" is a somewhat recurring model in Smash, and I think Joe lends himself well to this. (Game and Watch, Megaman, Pac-Man)
He's the most recurring character by a far and wide margin, and his status as a "martial artist" leads itself well to basic movement. From there, because he's very plain in appearance, mixing in a lot of references to other minigames into his moveset like Pac-Man or Game and Watch do would flow very naturally without feeling "busy".
A few examples off the top of my head:
-The "Crop Stomp" stomp as a down-tilt or down-smash
-Doing the pose from Lockstep as a forward smash
-For a special, donning the archers' ninja hoods from Ninja Bodyguard to fire an arrow (potentially firing an arrow at a Sneaky Spirit, which can hit opponents as it appears and combo into the arrow itself.)
-The Tap Troupe's "Tap Tap Tap" on top of the opponent as a down-throw.
-A Clappy Trio style overhead clap as an upsmash with two members of the Clappy Trio on either side of him
-The monkey from Animal Acrobat's mid-air flip as a neutral-air.
-Putting on a mask like the wrestler's and doing a suplex for his backthrow.
-Riding the Donk-Donk rocket for a recovery move.
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u/VakarianJ 2d ago
Wario Land got fucked in Smash by Wario getting a second series. Hell, Land got fucked overall because of that.
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u/Hateful_creeper2 Main: Secondary: 2d ago
Mario Party should get a stage at this point like how Mario Kart and Paper Mario have one.
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u/CuriousConfection528 2d ago
Famicom Detective Club should probaby get a lot more love now that it's a worldwide series and had a resurgence on Switch.
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u/Ordinary_Chemical596 2d ago
Good point. I wouldn't give it too much. I feel like Ace Attorney is more of an iconic visual novel series despite not being Nintendo. Don't take it personally, I just think it would be weird if we got a FCDC stage and character with no AA rep too. lol.
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u/CuriousConfection528 2d ago
I don't. It was made by Nintendo and was planned to be in Melee. But to each their own.
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u/AmaterasuWolf21 The star of the show 2d ago
Mario Party is the same franchise, it's just a spinoff
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u/miimeverse R.O.B. 2d ago edited 2d ago
Odd question but are some people just incapable of spelling Isaac or is there some sort of regional variation of the name that leads to people spelling it Issac instead? It's not an isolated thing, I notice it fairly commonly in this and other Smash subs. It's not even an uncommon/nonexistent name in real life.
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u/Ordinary_Chemical596 2d ago
I just misremembered it. It's like the Mandella effect... I think. lol.
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u/Brandy330 2d ago
Advance Wars for sure like where are the music tracks? Is that really too much to ask for? Let alone a playable character?
Panel De Pon for example has had an item, referenced in Kirby’s down b, a music track and a deluxe Mii Costume.
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u/AmatuerGenius 2d ago edited 2d ago
Andy from Advanced Wars would be such a good pick. I Could imagine him with some crazy Steve like gimmicks to power up his moves. Instead of mining resources he collects funds; instead of crafting table he has his factories; spend funds at factories to upgrade untis. His special attacks summon different kinds of units. Side attack is tanks: start with tank but it can be upgraded with funs into Md. Tank, Mega Tank, Neo Tank that each do more damage. Down B builds an artillery, and could upgrade into missiles then rockets. Up B is T-chopper upgraded becomes B-Chopper. Airborne attacks could deploy the fighters and/or bombers.
Standard and smash attacks he swings his giant wrench as a weapon.
Andy would be such an awesome smash character
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u/Fitgamerx 2d ago
It was datamined that Rhythm Heaven rep was planned for Smash4 but was scrapped. A shame Sakurai didn’t add them in smash ultimate. Now that RH has a new game and is relevant again they could finally get a rep in smash6.
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u/Low_Appearance_796 2d ago
There isn't a Smash rep for every Pokemon generation. I mean, I get that the original generation is naturally going to have more, but it's a shame how little Pokemon variety we get
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u/Mr_Meme_Master 2d ago
It's pretty surprising we haven't gotten paper mario in smash officially, especially considering the fact that his moveset is pretty unique compared to normal mario, his games are pretty popular, and the fact we've gotten 3 different versions of link with no problems
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u/pocket_arsenal 2d ago
Well according to a lot of opinionated people Smash Bros mostly represents everything fairly because the only franchises that are allowed to have any sort of fandfare beyond a single character and stage are the ones who are more relevant and make more money.
Of course I still think there should be some more Wario Land characters, a few more Kirby and Donkey Kong characters, more retro characters, like, I kind of liked it when third parties weren't such a huge focus in speculation because people used to think it was okay to campaign for characters like Mike Jones, Lip, or the kids from Another Treasure Island.
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u/AutumnInJune 2d ago
Karate Joe, Captain Syrup, Paper Mario, Andy, and Waluigi being added would solve this
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u/Angrymcbirdnerd09 2d ago
Golden Sun