Lord_Brand

It's more that you can create interesting scenarios and make it so that each playable character matters in the stories where they appear. Instead of randomly inserting turnips, talking flowers, and pink dogs with zero bearing on the plot whatsoever, you can write interesting characters who fit into the game's world. A game with numerous story paths and unique party combinations is loads more replayable than a game that gives us half-meaningful choices exactly twice (and in both those cases, the outcome is ultimately the same anyway). Yes, that reason being Kato felt like pushing messages that we were seeing all over the place at the time anyway. Racism = bad, environmentalism = good. We get it. What we didn't get was a fully-baked game with a fully-fleshed out cast and a plot that was enjoyable to follow. Ah, forgot Water Dragon Isle being all dried up in Another World yet overflowing with water in Home World. Given that the difference is ten years, there's only so much they could change about locations like Mt. Pyre or Isle of the Damned. Another issue I've discovered:

Two examples come to my mind: The first is Mr. Sandman in Punch-Out!! for Wii. I had so much trouble with his pattern in the simulation that I started sneaking in jabs and baiting his attacks, and amazingly enough, that worked. The second was Demise in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Took me multiple tries to beat that fight, and again, I got fed up and started fighting more aggressively, getting in hits and perfect guarding as necessary.

Hmm, that's a good question! My instinct says yes they would, though it'd be interesting if there was a rival for each of the "classes". But then there's the question of which types each would pick. I guess one would pick the same as you? Or maybe the series gives us a choice of more than two protagonists for the first time. Maybe you pick your trainer's "class" and your starter evolves to match them? Then your rivals are pulled from the remaining two class pools. Or, if we want to go even further beyond, there are always three boys and three girls, one of whom you're playing, and so their respective types and classes are determined by which Trainer and Starter you pick. For example... You pick the male Fighter Trainer. You choose the Fire Starter. The Male Mage picks the Water starter. The Male Thief picks the Grass Starter. The Female Fighter picks the Water starter. The Female Mage picks the Grass starter. The Female Thief picks the Fire starter.

What would be really neat is if they introduced some new spin on the starters mechanically, like branching evolution paths that give your starters access to different secondary types. Say, that fighter/mage/thief model I've suggested before. Grass Fighter: Grass/Rock Mage: Grass/Fairy Thief: Grass/Poison Fire Fighter: Fire/Steel Mage: Fire/Ghost Thief: Fire/Flying Water Fighter: Water/Fighting Mage: Water/Psychic Thief: Water/Dark

But doesn't that still make them doubly weak to their default weakness? XD At least it gives them a chance to fight back, though, since Ground > Rock > Ice > Ground. An interesting setup, to be sure! @Shanty Pete's 1st Mate What if they had a new cycle of starters who are dual-type from the get-go? Yes, they'd still be Grass/Fire/Water, but they could also represent a new cycle, and maybe ease players into the concept of Starter cycles that aren't Grass/Fire/Water? Just to drive the point further, the other types could be their primary types.

Grass/Ice, Fire/Rock, and Water/Ground would be neat. Probably not gonna happen for Gen IX, but they'd be novel combinations for starters.

Only problem is, that would disrupt the cycle by making it so none of the three are weak to each other anymore.

Sprigatito, simply because I love kitties.

A re-release of TTYD would help. They did bring the original Paper Mario back on the NSOEP (for what that's worth), so that's a start.

Granted, one of those temporarily replaces the lead white innate and later becomes unavailable for the rest of the game, while the other permanently leaves the party unless you exploit a little trick with the Chrono Cross. At least Korcha has the fishing and boatman jobs to tie him to water. Doesn't change the fact he's one of the game's worst characters that isn't a walking plant or a skeleton, but his innate does make sense. I agree that some characters feel like they should have been a different innate. I feel Norris could have been white, Viper could have been black, and Karsh could have been red.

There's also the fact "blue blood" is a term associated with royalty. Considering blue innates in Chrono Cross include girl next door Leena, wannabe hero Pierre, rock star Nikki, and bratty girl Marcy, you've got some legitimate arguments (though at least Nikki and Marcy's cases can be justified by their parentage). I've changed Marth, Lucina, K. Rool, and for that matter Duck Hunt over to blue. I also moved Sonic to green.

It mainly has to do with what elements feel natural for each character. In Chrono Cross, white is the color of light and cosmic matter such as meteors, black is the color of gravity and death, red is the color of fire and lava, blue is the color of water and ice, yellow is the color of stone and electricity, and green is the color of plants and wind. Marth and Lucina have a strong tie to "holy" concepts such as Naga, while Mega Man's default weapon is powered by solar energy, thus I chose white as their innates. Unfortunately, Smash is currently light on fighters who are associated with water or ice and therefore blue by default. Trust me, I'd love for there to be more of them. Ruto or Mipha would be great candidates, as Smash is still sorely lacking in fish waifus anyway (not to mention if Spirits return, one of them would be a great choice of Spirit Fighter for Irenes). Truth be told, Sonic being blue innate is mostly a matter of him not having many better colors to pick, though his association with wind could make him green I suppose. Not every CC character is colored the same as their innate, after all. In fact, most aren't. Though some have a rather nebulous connection to their innate (What exactly is green about a painter? Especially one who wants money?). The current green fighters are: Yoshi Luigi Peach (originally white, but my bro convinced me to change her to green) Daisy (originally yellow, but my bro convinced me to change her to green) Young Link Ivysaur Olimar Toon Link Villager King K. Rool (originally black, but my bro convinced me to change him to green) Piranha Plant The current yellow fighters are: Donkey Kong Samus Pikachu Pichu Zero Suit Samus Wario Mii Gunner Pac-Man Duck Hunt Isabelle Banjo & Kazooie Min Min Odd that the green and yellow circles aren't showing up on your device. Have you tried checking whatemoji.org? That's where I got the colored circles. Maybe you can install an update that will allow you to see them?

The most obvious tell would be showcasing the partners that fans have long missed. In a prospective trailer, they could also show off Badges, Cooking, and the various Star Patrol robots who each have a star theme, making it loud and clear that this is the "true" sequel to TTYD. Everything you loved from the first two Paper Mario games is back, and better than ever! Additionally, the game could take digs at the "bad" Paper Mario games; for example, the nondescript Toads accompanying Mario and Luigi at the start of the game are a shot at Sticker Star and Color Splash for replacing the diverse cast of NPCs from the first two games with a bunch of generic, boring Toads. I was also thinking there could be collectible stickers that the game assures us aren't necessary for combat or to complete the game. Maybe a Toad NPC at one point grumbles about having to constantly color things and clean up confetti. Things could make cameos as objects in trash cans. If nothing else, the fact that the subtitle isn't referencing some kind of paper gimmick should be a sign that this isn't one of those Paper Mario games. A Paper Zelda does also sound quite fun, though Nintendo doesn't seem the sort to apply a particular theme to more than one of their series. The closest we've gotten is Kirby's Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Woolly World both having an "arts and crafts" aesthetic. But for what it's worth, I have suggested elsewhere a Zelda game themed on storybook fairy tales like Cinderella and Rapunzel, which could have a similar kind of aesthetic.

The idea is that Mario now operates with a team of three at a time: himself, the S.P.R., and whichever traditional Partner is active at the moment. In battle, the S.P.R. hovers above and between Mario and his other partner, forming a triangle of sorts. Yes, the other Star Patrol Robots are this game's equivalent of Star Spirits or Crystal Stars, complete with super moves being unlocked each time you acquire one. Originally, they were simply different parts of the one robot's armor, and each contained a Star Crystal (no, not a Crystal Star; the game would poke fun at the confusion), but I later decided to turn the armor parts into other robots, revisiting the original Paper Mario's concept of the seven stars having sentience. Thus, they combine Voltron-style. The traditional Tattle role of the Goomba would be moved to the S.P.R., yes, but that doesn't mean there couldn't still be a Goomba partner. Admittedly, it is tempting to give the majority of the utility roles to the S.P.R., but my intention is that she'd only gain four through her torso, arms, legs, and wings. The reason I shifted the Tattle ability and some others onto her is to spare players the annoyance of having to constantly switch partners to Tattle things, cross gaps, find hidden objects, etc. The Tattle ability is the biggest improvement, as you no longer have to switch to the Goomba partner every time you want to tattle something; now your Tattler is a full-time member of the party. I still intend for the field partners to have utility functions of their own. One example is the junior chef Sweet T., who is a playable counterpart to past chefs Tayce T. and Zess T. Upon attaining her Cooking License, Sweet T. can cook items anytime, anywhere outside of battle. The Goomba partner this time could function as a springboard of sorts, allowing Mario to jump higher. The Koopa Troopa partner could use her shell to protect Mario from hazards. There's a cloaking partner in the vein of Bow and Vivian, perhaps a Ninji or just another Boo. UPDATE: I fleshed out a good number of partner ideas in the first post. Here's the general plot outline I have in mind: At the start of the game, Mario and Luigi are wrapping up yet another of their "save Peach from Bowser" adventures. During their journey, they just so happened to have met some nondescript Toads along the way who joined them as partners (yes, this game takes jabs at SS, CS, and even TOK). While they fight their way through Bowser's lair, a different battle rages in the stars above as the Star Patrol, combined into a singular mech, engage the Empress' forces, including her space station which is preparing to fire upon the planet. While the Mario Bros. and their nameless Toad companions give Bowser his usual beatdown, the Star Patrol narrowly stop the space station from firing, causing it to explode and sending its Star Crystals falling down towards the planet below. Unfortunately, the Star Patrol are also broken apart by the blast, and they too fall to the planet. Mario, Luigi, and Toads defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach. They prepare to go home while the credits roll and shooting stars fall from the sky. But, the space station crashes through the credits and lands right on Bowser's castle, demolishing it and sending our heroes flying to distant lands. When Mario recovers from his own trip, he finds the head of a female robot partly buried in the ground, and after inspecting her, she regains consciousness and takes stock of her situation. After briefly freaking out over the loss of her comrades and body parts, she explains the situation to Mario, and learns from him that the space station's crash landing scattered him and his friends. She proposes that the two of them work together to find their friends, her missing parts, and to bring the Empress to justice before she can rebuild her space station. Mario can handle the fighting while the S.P.R. provides intel using her database. Mario agrees, and a new friendship forms. Meanwhile, Bowser regains consciousness and discovers his castle has been crushed to rubble by the space station, and angrily demands to know who's responsible. After interrogating a few of the Empress' henchmen, he meets the boss lady herself, who apologizes for the damage and explains to Bowser that her plans were thwarted by some goody-two shoes meddlers, causing her space station to crash onto his magnificent castle. She in turn proposes a partnership to Bowser; they can work together to find the Star Crystals that have been scattered across the planet and rebuild her space station as well as his castle. Bowser accepts the Empress' offer and they deploy their respective elites, the Koopalings and the Star Knights, to seek the Star Crystals. If they happen to encounter Mario or the Star Patrol, their orders are to eliminate them at all costs. Between chapters, the Koopalings and the Star Knights get little skits showing off their personality quirks as they seek the Star Crystals in a comedic parallel to Mario and the S.P.R.'s quest. Over the course of the game, the Empress develops a crush on Bowser, mirroring his own crush on Princess Peach. This proves to be the loose thread that leads to their partnership ultimately unraveling by story's end, as not only does Bowser basically friendzone the Empress when he finds out about her feelings for him (making her extremely envious of Peach), he outright calls off their alliance when he finds out the Empress intends to destroy his home planet with her space station (even though she's offering to let him govern one of the many other planets under her rule as a reward for his services to her). So, Bowser does end up turning against the main villain, just not right away. Heck, he might even end up lending a hand in the final battle. In the meantime though, I think it'd be neat if the Empress had a co-villain to bounce off of. I even just brainstormed a little exchange where she's having tea with Bowser and telling him a story about one of her more memorable moments... Empress: "...and then I told her 'No, I am your mother.' Oh, you should have seen the look on her face! Priceless! Of course, she quickly figured out that was impossible, but her reaction was SO worth it!" Bowser: "GAHAHAH! Classic!" Side quest would be more ideal. Perhaps something you can do between chapters? Say you recruit Sweet T. in Chapter 1; after clearing Chapter 3, the second part of her arc becomes available, allowing you to unlock her second combat skill (and perhaps the ability to mix two items together, assuming she doesn't learn that sooner). Then once Chapter 5 is complete, you can play through the final part of her story, allowing you to unlock her fourth and final skill. By the time Chapter 7 concludes, all of the partners' arc finales will be available. Much like the Koopalings and Star Knights, Luigi and Peach get their own vignettes in the game where the player takes control of them, and oftentimes they end up helping Mario out, either intentionally (mostly on Peach's part) or by complete accident (mostly Luigi, of course). Peach contacts Mario using her Mushroom smartphone and feeds him info on the location of the other members of the Star Patrol (as well as the movements of Bowser and the Empress' forces), though of course she gets captured again after Chapter 7 (but manages to help out during the finale, similar to Paper Mario 64). Luigi wanders into one misadventure after another, usually while just trying to find some food or a ride. His Mushroom phone broke thanks to his crash landing, so he's unable to contact Mario directly for most of the adventure (though he does perhaps get to send him mail delivered by a rather familiar Paratroopa postman). He finally gets a replacement and reunites with Mario between Chapters 7 and 8. As an aside, I was considering giving the extraterrestrial beings like the Star Patrol, the Empress, and the Star Knights 3D forms in contrast to the 2D planetary natives like Mario, Luigi, and Peach, to emphasize the former as otherworldly. Not unlike how the origami beings are 3D in TOK, but more in the cel-shaded style of TTYD like in the case of Hooktail, Magnus Von Grapple, and Cortez.

This is an idea I had for a "true" sequel to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. A Paper Mario more in line with the classic titles that we have missed for so long. Just after Mario and Luigi wrap up yet another adventure to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, a space station crashes down on Bowser's castle, scattering Mario and his friends, and several shooting stars land in the far reaches of the planet. Mario finds the head of a robot who introduces herself as the leader of the Star Patrol, extraterrestrial robots dedicated to defending the cosmos, and explains that the shooting stars were in fact her comrades, who were scattered during a battle against an evil Empress to whom the space station belongs. Mario and the Star Patrol leader join forces to find his friends and her lost parts and comrades before the evil Empress can rebuild her space station with help from Bowser. Paper Mario & The Star Patrol evolves the gameplay seen in the original two Paper Mario games. Mario gathers a party of partners who join him in battle, he equips badges to improve his combat abilities, and he seeks out seven star-themed characters that each grant an amazing power before facing the villain in a showdown. But this time, there are some new exciting twists: In addition to the traditional partner, Mario is joined in battle by the Star Patrol robot, who starts out with the ability to Scan foes (replacing the Tattle ability seen in the original two games) and acquires additional abilities as you help rebuild her and gather her comrades. Mario's Item Bag is now expanded into two bags, one for healing items and one for attack items. You can find two upgrades for each over the course of the game, expanding their respective capacity from 10 to 15 and finally to 20. Partner upgrades are now tied to their personal story arcs, which play out over multiple chapters. Mario can now perform Combo Specials with his partners. Badges can now be combined into Super Badges, which in turn can be combined into Ultra Badges. Super Badges and Ultra Badges cost a little less BP than the Badges combined to craft them. Mario's Clothing, Hammer, and Shoes are now equipment slots unto themselves, collectively known as Gear. Clothing affects defense, Hammers and Shoes affect offense, and each can offer secondary effects. Cooking returns, and this time, you can earn a Cooking License that allows you to cook anytime, anywhere. Bon appetit! In addition to regular bosses, you get to become the giant Ultra Mario and battle similarly gigantic "Ultra Bosses"! Peach and Luigi get in on the fun with their own vignettes. Partner Ideas Star Patrol Robot The leader of the Star Patrol, a robot girl who's lost most of her body, reducing her to a floating head. At the outset, she can do little aside from scan locations, people, or enemies and give Mario info about them, but as the game progresses and she regains her missing parts, her capabilities expand to include grabbing distant items with her arms, giving Mario a lift up with her legs, and carrying Mario across gaps using her wings. In contrast to Mario's other partners who can be swapped out for one another, the SPR always accompanies him. Sweet T. A Toad girl who aspires to become a great chef like Tayce T., Zess T., and other inspirations. In battle, she fights using a frying pan and her skills are all related to cooking. Spice Up allows her to enhance and use a cooked item, adding a power up effect. All You Can Beat summons the audience themselves to storm the stage and trample foes in a frenzy to sample her now-renowned cooking. Koopalee A Koopa heroine who wears white and pink armor. She was formerly a member of the Power Troopas before they found a star-shaped crystal and were corrupted by its influence. She can protect Mario using her shell. Goombalini A Goomba acrobat from a circus. He rolls around on a ball that can be used to bounce high and cross water. Kamiki A female Magikoopa who can use her magic to conceal Mario. Boomer A Bob-omb experienced at spelunking and excavation. Obviously, his field skill is being able to blow stuff up. Boss Ideas The Power Troopas - A team of Koopa Troopas who used to be superheroes, but were corrupted by one of the Star Crystals, turning the white parts of their armor black. Their current members are Red Troopa, Blue Troopa, Green Troopa, and Yellow Troopa. Koopalee was formerly the Pink Troopa, and left the team rather than be corrupted. After defeating them in a direct battle, they call upon and pilot a mech named Megatroopa. Megatroopa - One of the game's early "Mega Bosses" that Mario faces in his new "Ultra Mario" form.

Way back in the early 2000s, I used to think Conker's Bad Fur Day was a sequel to Twelve Tales: Conker 64. Then I learned TTC64 was reconfigured into CBFD, and shortly after that Rare had been bought out by Microsoft. Needless to say, I was bitterly disappointed. To this day, I lament that Rare made the decision to turn their cute, fun-looking platformer game about a squirrel and his chipmunk girlfriend into a cynical, disgusting mockery. I used to blame Microsoft for that, but later came to terms with the fact Rare made that decision years before the buyout - and may in fact have contributed to Nintendo deciding to sell off their share. Rare gave up on their colorful world full of spirit and bastardized their own creation just because some critics dared to call their squirrel game "just another kiddy mascot platformer". CBFD may be the crowning example of "a game everyone likes to rave about that I really hate", because for me it represents Rare's fall from glory, not to mention everything I hate about "gritty" video games and video game critics.

As I clarified above: So to wit, the only things that actually affect the Field are: Elements and Techs selected from Serge or another CC fighter's Element Grid Element items that any fighter can pick up and use. There's strategic merit to using off-color Elements against foes who are not weak to your innate. For example, a red or blue fighter might want to grab a green Element to attack a yellow fighter with, as that will deal more damage to the yellow fighter than an Element of any other color. Indeed, that's often a recommended strategy in Chrono Cross, as that allows you to hit an enemy with a spell they're weak to while avoiding the double-edged sword of being weak to them in turn. This holds especially true for boss fights. To be fair, many matchups are already inherently lopsided, with many characters having different attributes like weight, jump height, movement speed, range, recoveries, etc. Furthermore, Innates apply symmetrically; two characters of opposing innates deal a little extra damage to each other while two characters of the same innate deal a little less, so there really isn't an inherent advantage or disadvantage; it's more like a double-edged sword. The difference isn't huge, let's say to the tune of ±0.1; in other words, an attack that normally deals 10% damage instead deals 11% to the opposite innate or 9% to the same. With innates in effect, Mario and Bowser deal 0.9× damage to each other since both are red. With innates in effect, Charizard and Greninja deal 1.1× damage to each other since one is red and the other is blue. The color of Elements are checked separately from that of the user and the target; an off-color user can use an Element on a target of a color opposite the Element but not the user and still deal more damage. To incentivize attacking with different colors of Elements, the Element's color provides a bigger modifier when the target is the opposite or same color versus when the Element and the user are the opposite or same. If Charizard uses Uplift on Ivysaur, Uplift will deal 1.2× damage since Uplift and Ivysaur are opposite colors. If Pikachu uses Uplift on Squirtle, Uplift will deal 1.1× damage since Pikachu and Uplift are the same color. If Pikachu uses Uplift on Ivysaur, Uplift will deal 1.3× damage since Pikachu and Uplift are both the opposite color of Ivysaur. If Pikachu uses Bushwhacker on Squirtle, Bushwhacker will deal 0.9× damage since Pikachu and Bushwhacker are opposite colors. If Pikachu uses Aqua Beam on Squirtle, Aqua Beam will deal 0.8× damage since Aqua Beam and Squirtle are the same color. If Pikachu uses Uplift on Pichu, Uplift will deal 0.9× damage since Pikachu, Uplift, and Pichu are all the same color. If Pikachu uses Bushwhacker on Pichu, Bushwhacker will deal 1.1× damage since Bushwhacker is the opposite color of both Pikachu and Pichu. The Field effect can modify this further, perhaps adding 0.1 to the modifier per instance of color. A field with one solid color would add 0.3 to the modifier, making for a total modifier of 1.6 or 0.4. That 10% damage attack now deals 16% to opposite or 4% to same. Of course, in practice the Field will seldom be one solid color; more likely, you'll have two or even three different colors in there at a time, with opposites acting against each other. A field that's red, white, and blue will give +0.1 to white attacks and -0.1 to black attacks while red and blue remain at base damage. At any rate, Innates only appear if Serge or another theoretical Chrono Cross character is one of the fighters or when battling on the Chrono Cross stage. Otherwise, they do not appear nor affect the game at all.

In the past, I've suggested Serge from Chrono Cross as a potential Smash fighter. Presumably, if he were to get in, he'd bring his game's most notable mechanics, the Innate and Element systems, with him. For those unfamiliar, Chrono Cross features six Innates that form three dualistic pairs of opposing elemental interactions: 🔴 Red and 🔵 Blue 🟡 Yellow and 🟢 Green ⚫ Black and ⚪ White Every single playable character, enemy, and spell in Chrono Cross is one of these six Innates (with one exception). Serge himself is white Innate and would feature an Element Grid with Elements of different colors allocated to it. What if the other Smash fighters also had Innates that would determine how effective particular Elements are against them? These are my choices, with some input from my brother: The Chrono Cross stage could feature Element items that anyone can pick up and use. A fighter whose color matches the Element they're using will deal more damage with it, while one of the opposite color will deal less damage. The CC stage could also feature a Field Effect mechanic that tracks the innates of the last three Elements and/or Techs used. In Chrono Cross, the Field Effect modifies how strong an attack or Element is based on what color each third of the Field is. If the Field is all white, then white attacks and Elements are stronger while Black attacks and Elements are weaker. In Smash, the Field Effect only tracks Elements (either those allocated to Serge's Element Grid or those available to any fighter in the form of an item) and Element Grid Techs; other Specials, including Serge's other three Specials (which are weaker but freely reusable versions of his Element Grid Techs), do not affect the Field. This all said, fighter Innates would of course only appear in battles with Serge, another Chrono Cross fighter, or on the Chrono Cross stage.

How about Bombchu or Deku Nuts? Or, better yet, Transformation Masks?

I recall that Sonic was considered for Melee, so he could have been included as the very first third party fighter in the franchise, which would have been quite a gesture from Nintendo due to his status as the mascot of their former rival SEGA. There are a few other characters, like King Dedede, Meta Knight, Wario, and Diddy Kong, who feel like they would have been fitting reps in Melee as well. The sword he's best known for is the "SpaceWorld Sword" due to its appearance in the SpaceWorld 2000 trailer that lives on in legend to this day. But what does Falco being a bird offer gameplay-wise? If all they wanted was a clone, I think Wolf would have been a cooler and more novel inclusion, especially since he shows up in the opening video. And Krystal not only would have been novel for being one of the then-few female fighters but again would have served a distinct purpose to promote Adventures. Just to be clear, I'm not against Falco being in Smash, I just feel like Wolf and Krystal would have been better inclusions to prioritize first.

I could see maybe 3-4 new fighters on top of Dr. Mario and Pichu being swapped out and Ganondorf getting a more distinct moveset. Given the chance, I'd probably swap Falco out for Wolf, or maybe even Krystal to promote Star Fox Adventures.

This pic by HAZBOMi is pretty close to the concept I had for a Fairy/Fighting type. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/46854925/

Been watching my bro play Chrono Cross lately. I'm thinking of starting a file of my own on there. Despite my numerous misgivings about the game, I do still enjoy its core Innate and Element-based gameplay. We've even been approaching the game more strategically, like by using Turn Elements to make certain characters hit harder or to reduce damage being dealt to them, or swapping out weaker Elements for stronger equivalents at every given level on the grid.

I kinda want to write out episode and season ideas for an anime based on my X remake series, now. Toughest part is figuring out how to cram 30 story missions including 24 Maverick bosses into a 26-episode season. Hmm...what about three mini-seasons of, say, 12 episodes each?

Switching suits on the fly in a manner akin to Biometals in Mega Man ZX could work. Just press a button, select a suit with a direction, and boom. I do agree that more sophisticated melee options would work well. I actually think there could be several good melee options. A simple blade that extends from Samus' arm cannon. She can use it to cut through, say, cables or wires in addition to hostile aliens. Of the three I'm suggesting, the blade hits the fastest and allows for the mot acrobatic combat. A powerfist that allows Samus to throw mighty punches and maybe use a dash punch or dropdown attack. Really, this would be the most intuitive melee addition to her arsenal; just make the hands she already has more powerful. The powerfist is of course the hardest-hitting but the slowest. A beam whip or perhaps extending claw that she can use to grab objects from a distance, basically an evolution of the Grapple Beam. The whipclaw has the best reach but the lowest attack strength, though it can be useful for pulling foes' weapons or shields out of their hands. As for different suits, I have some ideas: Assault Suit - Gives Samus bulkier armor and a Gatling Cannon that can fire beams or missiles at a high rate. She can also acquire a ballistic barrage module that allows her to fire a volley of missiles that will annihilate most foes in her path, at the cost of 10 missiles per shot. The Assault Suit is best for attacking large enemies or groups of enemies head-on, though her mobility is reduced thanks to the heavy armor. Shadow Suit - Allows Samus to cling to and climb along walls as well as cloak herself to evade detection. Samus' arm cannon is modified with a Beam Katar useful for close-range strikes. Wing Suit - This suit grants Samus the useful ability to glide, hover, and eventually fly through the air freely. To aid with aerial combat, the suit has a lock-on feature that allows Samus to aim her cannon directly at foes and to make her missiles seek out targets automatically. Marine Suit - A suit designed for traversing deep water. Like the Assault Suit, the Marine Suit features superior defense at the cost of reduced land mobility, though its offense capabilities are less emphasized in favor of superior underwater mobility, comparable to the Wing Suit's aerial mobility. The Marine Suit has an auto-lock system for beams and missiles, also similar to the Wing Suit. Blitz Suit - Samus' arm cannon is reconfigured into a Beam Blade used for quick melee strikes, though ranged attacks are still possible by charging. The Blitz Suit allows Samus to run, dash, and roll quickly, and to cloak herself with beam energy in order to tackle straight through foes. Shield Suit - Samus' arm cannon is reconfigured into a Beam Shield that can be thrown as a projectile which will return to Samus after being thrown. Modifications allow the Beam Shield to reflect projectiles or to convert them into life support energy. The Beam Shield can also combine with Samus' other Beam weapons such as the Ice Beam, Wave Beam, Plasma Beam, and Spazer or Wide Beam to alter its combat capabilities and utility. In Morph Ball mode, Samus is protected by a spherical forcefield know as the Ball Barrier. Claw Suit - Enhances Samus' physical strength, allowing her to push or lift heavy objects. Samus' arm cannon is reconfigured into a Wire Claw that allows her to grab objects from a distance and pull them toward her or her towards them. She can also deliver a mighty punch to smash breakable objects or hostile lifeforms. Tunnel Suit - Allows Samus to burrow through certain kinds of terrain using a Drill Arm. Like the Assault, Marine, and Claw Suits, the Drill Suit sports heavy armor that enhances defense at the cost of speed.