Fighting Game Characters in Smash(Discussion)

[TheGoodHoms]

I've been thinking a lot about what fighting game franchises could potentially join the roster of Smash Ultimate recently. Street Fighter has been a welcome addition to the roster, so why not let similar game franchises have some time in the limelight as well? I personally think Tekken and Mortal Kombat have the best chances because they're obviously the 2 biggest  fighting game franchises along side Street Fighter. However, Arc System Works has really made a name for itself recently so I'm hoping that means Guilty Gear could have a decent chance of showing up as well.

Edit: Poll Removed Due to Technical Difficulties

Edited June 6, 2019 by TheGoodHoms

[Stroud]

I mean Hayabusa is a character who is in a fighting game. Who I think has also a solid chance to be in the game.. Kasumi or Ayane would be nice, but I don't think for them to happen here...I kind of want to have at least 1 female with the remaining 4 characters...

I think Tekken is the most likely fighting game to get a character in smash. It just makes so much sense to me, as for Arc System, they got quite some push lately. And I wouldn't mind Sol, but the problem for me here is that there are still many gamers out there waiting to be surprised. And those would react like: who is this anime guy? 

The point is, we had Joker already as a good surprise. I think a certain type of gamers who also plays smash but is not too much into japanese games as others might be still need to be catered. Some of those already reacted strange to Joker, even if he is known well. We would think at least.

Therefore I think Tekken is a good compromise in that regards, because its so well known. But that is just how I see it.

[Fabulously Olivier]

I wouldn't want a Tekken rep. Maybe a Blazblue or Soul Calibur one, depending on the rep in question.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Other Fighting Game characters have immediate appeal since you don't have to think too hard how they would fight based on their source material. Just work out how they'd recover and what their Kirby Hat looks like and you can get to work on the project.  

But at the same time I'm not really interested in their inclusion, even in cases where I'm a fan of the character in question. All major fighting game franchises have crossovers, so they get this kind of spotlight way more than characters in other genres get. It almost seems boring. 

[TheGoodHoms]

10 hours ago, Stroud said:

I mean Hayabusa is a character who is in a fighting game. Who I think has also a solid chance to be in the game.. Kasumi or Ayane would be nice, but I don't think for them to happen here...I kind of want to have at least 1 female with the remaining 4 characters...

I think Tekken is the most likely fighting game to get a character in smash. It just makes so much sense to me, as for Arc System, they got quite some push lately. And I wouldn't mind Sol, but the problem for me here is that there are still many gamers out there waiting to be surprised. And those would react like: who is this anime guy? 

The point is, we had Joker already as a good surprise. I think a certain type of gamers who also plays smash but is not too much into japanese games as others might be still need to be catered. Some of those already reacted strange to Joker, even if he is known well. We would think at least.

Therefore I think Tekken is a good compromise in that regards, because its so well known. But that is just how I see it.

I agree with a lot of what you're saying here. Tekken easily has the best chances since it's pretty much the 2nd most recognizable fighting game behind Street Fighter and the fact that Namco is still co-developing Smash Bros it's a wonder why it hasn't already happened, what makes this even more interesting is that Heihachi was rumored to have been included in the initial plans for Smash 4, but was eventually cut from the roster. I also agree that while Arc System Works has really taken off recently, I still don't think it has the brand recognition for a game like Smash Bros, getting a Guilty Gear character is more something I would want rather than an actual prediction. If anything I'd actually say Blazblue is the more likely candidate thanks to the success of BBTAG, but even that is kind of a long shot all things considered.

If you wanted another left field play like Joker however, I think a Mortal Kombat character would have the best chances. The series's infamous gore would have to be toned down, but with Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch there's a big opportunity for cross promotion practically built into the inclusion. The series is also kinda important to video game history in it's own way, plus it's gotten fairly popular ever since the reboot in 2011, the only thing holding Mortal Kombat back is the fact that it's a distinctly American property and if there's one thing I know about Nintendo it's that the Japanese audience is always going to be their priority over us westerners(basically it's the reason why a Dragon Quest character is a total shoe-in for the DLC assuming Square Enix cooperates with Nintendo).

[Hawkwing]

I could see Scorpion or Sub-Zero being added. While you can't have one without the other in a proper Mortal Kombat game, the Injustice series has shown that that doesn't necessarily have to be the case with DLC. I believe that Sub-Zero has a better chance than Scorpion, as several of his moves would be fitting in Smash Bros (Ice Ball is an obvious neutral special, Ice Klone could work both as a counter and as an offensive option, and Slide is an obvious side special, for example), and there aren't a whole lot of ice-based abilities in Smash in the first place, so he could bring something unique in that regard. Doesn't mean that Scorpion couldn't work in Smash, however (his spear is unique, they could implement his fire abilities in several different ways, and he can teleport).

Regardless of which one is chosen, the developers would have a number of options regarding costumes, being able to reference both other ninja in the series as well as the various outfits that Sub-Zero and Scorpion have worn over the years. And their final smashes could either reference their less gory fatalities, the Fatal Blows they have in MK11, and/or their special movies in Injustice, albeit with the violence heavily toned down. While Mortal Kombat doesn't really have any smash-like stages, I could see them choosing Shang Tsung's Island. It could work as a moving stage, with the platform flying to every location on the island, and Garo and Shang Tsung could work as stage bosses.

Killer Instinct is another Fighting game series I could see working in Smash, and it helps that Nintendo originally published the game before Rare was bought out. The combo mechanic would definitely appear in some fashion and the Ultra Combos would be an obvious choice for Final Smashes. Really, the biggest problem I see here is determining which character should get chosen, as all of them are unique with few similarities between each other, and I could see every single one of them working in Smash with some tweaking while also bringing something new to the table. Doesn't help that each character also has several valid reasons for why they should get in if one decides to go the "story-relevance/popularity/notability" route. The stages in the game also aren't the most smash-like, but a number of them have background elements that could be expanded upon if the stage was brought into Smash.

[NinjaMonkey]

On 6/6/2019 at 1:17 AM, TheGoodHoms said:

Mortal Kombat

The two things that Mortal Kombat is known for having are it's excessive violence and gore, so seeing a Mortal Kombat character in a game without either of those (such as Smash) just seems wrong to me.

Edited June 10, 2019 by NinjaMonkey

[Hawkwing]

4 minutes ago, NinjaMonkey said:

The two things that Mortal Kombat is known for having are it's excessive violence and gore, so seeing a Mortal Kombat character in a game without either of those (such as Smash) just seems wrong to me.

Scorpion appeared as a guest character in Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Sub-Zero and Raiden followed suit in Injustice 2. Even thought the Injustice games are definitely on the more violent end of the T rating, the MK characters managed to have special moves both new and old without resorting to gore. Granted, they were contested characters in those games, but that was more because other superheroes could have taken their place than anything else.

Considering that Bayonnetta was added and the game kept it's E10+ rating, it's not too unusual that a Mortal Kombat character could reference their home series with their attacks and special moves and the like without resorting to excessive violence and gore. Besides, considering the likes of Ridley attacks in the game, a Mortal Kombat character could still be brutal, just without reaching M-rated levels.

[TheGoodHoms]

13 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

Killer Instinct is another Fighting game series I could see working in Smash, and it helps that Nintendo originally published the game before Rare was bought out. The combo mechanic would definitely appear in some fashion and the Ultra Combos would be an obvious choice for Final Smashes.

Dude, Killer Instinct in Smash Bros. would be insanely awesome! My only concern would be that in terms of Microsoft owned characters a representative of KI is probably not a priority compared to Banjo Kazooie or Minecraft Steve, which is a shame really since KI is such a good game. I know I'd want it more than anything else Microsoft has. Also I agree with you in saying the hardest part about Killer Instinct is choosing who to represent the franchise, you could easily make the case for Jago, Saberwulf, Orchid, Fulgor, Cinder, and really most of the original game's roster in general.

13 hours ago, NinjaMonkey said:

The two things that Mortal Kombat is known for having are it's excessive violence and gore, so seeing a Mortal Kombat character in a game without either of those (such as Smash) just seems wrong to me.

Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker got toned down so I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to include Scorpion or Sub-Zero. Heck I would argue that the Bayonetta series is probably worse than Mortal Kombat in terms of explicit content. But let's not kid our selves here, deep down we all want MK characters in Smash Bros. just so we can fight to the theme song from the 90's Mortal Kombat movie.