Super Smash Bros.

[PLA]

^ Blaster by Blaster, Falco is a good mix of speed and actually having an impact.

[Hong]

I agree that Falco and Wolf are different enough from Fox. The only gripes I have are Wolf's Reflector and Falco's recovery are a little too similar to Fox's. The only characters who I feel are clone-ish are Toon Link, Luigi and Lucas. Luigi kind of has to be like his brother and he learns some new moves with every entry, so I'm okay with that. As for Toon Link and Lucas, we shall see.

I think what should, and will happen, is that some characters who are either "clones" or just another incarnation of the same character will be replaced with someone who has the same fighting style, but represents another character or franchise. For example: Impa (Skyward Sword) could replace Sheik, and given a proper down special. If Wii Fit Trainer has the same play style as Zero Suit Samus, it is possible she will be replaced as well.

In general it would be a good direction to represent a greater range of Nintendo, instead of having like two Samuses, two Links, two Zeldas, three space animals, etc. Even if they all sort of play differently. This isn't Street Fighter; no one wants like five shotos.

Falco's signature properties involve having a lot of vertical movement, whether it is his high initial jump or fast descent, backed up by a projectile that has a lot of control over the battlefield. It is not possible to replicate these characteristics with another Nintendo character. Personally I hope Ray MK or Isa Jo take away some of the qualities of R.O.B. and make an appearance.

[Hong]

I said it is a possibility, to express an example. That is far from an assumption.

They have different fighting styles, though they could play similarly. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a replacement, because a few of Zero Suit Samus's moves felt like bogus. On the other hand, she was in her zero suit in the concept art that was created before the game was in development, so it could either way.

[Hong]

I played Samus in Melee as well.

Two things broke Samus going into Brawl. The first being her missile attack was just absolutely wrecked. There is no way around this. Less spammy, almost no knockback, and sends the opponent upwards (to the point where they cover more ground by face-tanking instead of defending). In Melee, the smash missiles had good KO power. Which to me, was fair. As players got better, they learned how to defend against them, such as punching them as Ganondorf or swiping them out of the air with any of the swordsmen. Not to mention the multitude of reflectors.

The second straw that broke Samus's back was the fact that projectiles in Brawl are weaker across the board*. The stages are smaller, the characters are bigger (meaning less distance to travel), and everyone is so floaty that it makes it easier to close the gap via aerial movement... a rather promising proposition when everyone has unlimited airdodges.

I actually played Zero Suit Samus. Possibly my favourite character to play as in Brawl overall... if not Pit. But there was no denying a lot of her moves were just kind of random or useless. For example: you have little reason to use her forward smash over her forward B; something like that should have been a smash attack to begin with. I really enjoyed the stuns, though.

*Unless you are Falco or Snake

[PLA]

^ Whipflipninja was a fun playstyle.

[Hong]

I am not sure if any character in the series has brought as much satisfaction as Captain Falcon. In the first game, he had several, easy-to-perform combos that led to a fatal YES! or FALCON PUNCH. While it no longer works in Melee, the Gods gaveth to us the holy lightning knee, which is pretty awesome in its own right. I distinctly remember being able to knee someone, land, and run up to them so fast that I can knee them again before they even have control of their character.

[PLA]

^ Yes.

[CD-Man2021]

The Classic Holy Combo

[PLA]

^ That's almost a Shining Wizard.

[Wolkenritter]

[Hong]

More than the nerf of the knee and his now abysmal priority, what killed Falcon in Brawl is the immense reduction in hit-stun, allowing players to jump or air-dodge before follow up attacks. Meta Knight, Marth and Zero Suit Samus are some of the few characters who are capable of combos beyond a few strikes.

[PLA]

Praise the sun!

[Hong]

[CD-Man2021]

I just replayed through the Subspace Emissary. I rather enjoyed it but I can see why others wouldn't, especially with the Great Maze.

[Hong]