We few, we happy, we Smash Bros. in arms.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNK-zBscUUk

I had a theory that Windy Hill looked cliched as any Sonic locale could possibly be for the purpose of Smash Bros., but hesitated on account that it'd be dismissed as tenuous. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

No all we need is bomberman.

[Jingles]

Uhhhhh... fingernails?

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Yeah, the more time passes the more I realize I'm kinda disappointed in his look overall, especially contrasted with Megs, there. The Archie comics had it right with the MM characters standing a good head taller than the Sonic characters, and now it's reversed. It's kinda bizzare?

It's almost enough to make you wish they didn't hew so close to MM's NES sprite.

[G.Silver]

Uhhhhh... fingernails?

I'd like to think that it's a placeholder, like they just slapped some generic human hands there as a time saver. Is what I'd like to think, anyway...

[Rob-Bert]

Aside from Mega Man and the obvious simple ones like Villager, Pikachu and Kirby, damn near everybody's model has some sort of bizarre quirk. DK, Bowser, Peach, etc.

[Malchik]

Aside from Mega Man and the obvious simple ones like Villager, Pikachu and Kirby, damn near everybody's model has some sort of bizarre quirk. DK, Bowser, Peach, etc.

Such as?

[Rob-Bert]

- Mario's face looks really stiff.
- Peach's face looks really stiff and her nose looks comically small compared to the previous two games.
- Everything about the way Bowser looks and animates is stiff.
- DK looks like a rubber doll with fake hair, and his mouth is duck-shaped.
- Samus now looks like her waxy Other M model (this was mentioned by Sakurai)
- Toon Link oddly has realistic textures on his tunic.
- Mega Man looks dead inside.
- Yoga Lady looks dead inside too.
- Luigi looks strangely angry this time.
- Fox looks like a stop-motion model with synthetic coat fur.
- Olimar doesn't look too bad, but that whistle on his helmet looks kinda intrusive.
- Sonic's face looks like it did on his SADX and Sonix Heroes render, Nike teeth and all.

[Neo]

Maybe you should just have your corneas extracted.

[Malchik]

Or Nintendo has finally realized people will buy their IPs regardless and started cutting corners.

[Rob-Bert]

I did kinda get the sense that Sakurai himself cares about it a lot less this time. He's probably tired as hell of Smash Bros.

[FlashTHD]

Because we all know there's a surefire correlation between "Sakurai is tired of this" and "DK's mouth is duck-shaped".

[Dr. BUGMAN]

- Mega Man looks dead inside.

he's a robot

[Malchik]

- Mega Man looks dead inside.

he's a robot

But he has HEART!

[G.Silver]

- Mega Man looks dead inside.

he's a robot

But he has HEART!

WHOSE HEART??

[Esrever]

I love how Megaman looks, personally.

Smash always puts its particular spin on each character; even core cast members like Mario and Link. Their design takes may not be everyone's bag, but they certainly aren't lazy. They reek of effort. (In the case of Sonic's fingernails, maybe too much effort.)

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Still, holy fucking shit! I was expecting Rockman since the third party embargo was lifted (I mean, seriously, he wasn't just born on a Nintendo system; more than a few of his games WERE KILLER APPS FOR ITS FIRST MAJOR SYSTEM; He's THE third party character), but I was half-expecting X, Trigger, or -- gag -- .Exe (actually a "Greatest Five"-esque Final Smash would be most welcome). And here's hoping that Blues, and not Forte, is the assist trophy.

Effin' Called it! (.exe is taller than X!?)

Elec Man is his assist trophy, though. But fuck yeah, Spark Man's theme (my fav)!

Charizard is a beast. Guess those others were just holding it back.

The less said about Zero Suit Samus having laser high-heels the better.

[FlashTHD]

I like to think he makes those shirukens out of the tears of Mewtwo fans.

[Yami CJMErl]

The only thing that even mildly disappointed me is that it seems Ridley is still relegated to "too-big boss character" status again (well, that and waiting super long for the Wii U version), but everything else looks SUPER HYPE.

[Rob-Bert]

You never know. The fact that they still have yet to show us Ridley or even mention him by name is kinda fishy.

[Neo]

The less said about Zero Suit Samus having laser high-heels the better.

I don't get this. I haven't played a lot of Metroid games, so I just took them as Portal-esque jump boots. She is, after all, just a human when she doesn't have her armor suit on. Why is a pair of shoes such a point of contention?

[Dr. BUGMAN]

First off, I'm not using Portal as a point of comparison, because I'm not familiar with that franchise. But looking through the protagonist's gallary at Giantbomb, I kinda wince at the thought of her having to land from considerable heights with those on. And suitless Samus is supposed to be a fleet-of-foot sprinter. High-heels are inimical to atheletic activity and putting realistic female characters in them makes no damned sense outside outmodded gender expectations. It just feels like they're* just trying to make her an even more shameless sex kitten than she's been in Other M, to say nothing of the slow descent since Zero Mission.

Putting her into a form-fitting body sock had at least the fig leaf of practicality to it. Had they looked like, say the rocket shoes from the Mario movie, it'd be different.

*I assume (hope, really) this addition is an injunction from Yoshio Sakamoto, and not Sakurai's idea.

Changing gears, I like that Frog Ninja. I was indifferent at first, but it feels in milieu with TMNT and Battletoads; something absurd as it is cool. The fact that it uses its tongue as a scarf means it can't, paradoxically, be anything but tongue-firmly-in-cheek. The days of angst-ridden lab-grown ultimate life-forms seems to thankfully be ending.

[G.Silver]

Looks like heels made their first appearance in Other M: http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Zero_Suit

That said the heels for Smash Bros are so ridiculous that "sex kitten" is pretty much the last association I would have made.

[Crowbar]

The days of angst-ridden lab-grown ultimate life-forms seems to thankfully be ending.

They keep those for the legendaries, Greninja's just a starter final evolution.

Everything I've seen so far is pleasing, but ultimately I only want the physics to be like Melee and not like Brawl (and bring back directional air dodge, though I'm not holding my breath for that).

[Jingles]

Poisonally, I think the game looks great! The new characters all look really fun to play as, especially Greninja. It's like if Strider were in Smash Bros! Villager & Wii Fit Trainer look nice too, and Mega Man's final smash is giving me heart palpitations.

But man, Zero Suit Samus has really gotten voluptuous since we saw her in Brawl. Is she running around with D-cups in Metroid games? I don't know anything about Metroid, but that can't be practical for a ... space... warrior? Alien hunter? Thing?

[Neo]

But man, Zero Suit Samus has really gotten voluptuous since we saw her in Brawl. Is she running around with D-cups in Metroid games? I don't know anything about Metroid, but that can't be practical for a ... space... warrior? Alien hunter? Thing?

She's also supposed to be over 6 feet tall and around 200 pounds, so I probably wouldn't expect her to just be naturally nimble or anything. Girl puts in work.