…on the subject of some notable Pokemon trainers whose signature mons include potential semiclones there's Elesa with her Emolga (being based off Pikachu), and Cynthia with her Garchomp (possibly based off Charizard)
I’m kinda surprised we don’t get more “Jigglypuffs” in Smash - that is characters who are pretty unique, but are very simple and clearly borrow assets from existing characters. The Pokemon series basically can’t have too much representation and is just dripping with popular characters that could be included this way. Garchomp being built off Charizard is a good example. Blaziken is a crazy popular character that could justifiably steal its entire kit from Falcon and Ken. Gardevoir being built off Zelda might be a stretch, but I could see that as well.
I don’t personally
want to see the Pokemon roster more bloated than it already is, but I also feel like it’s low hanging fruit that I wouldn’t blame them for taking.
And I do think this could happen - Splatoon being a big enough series to justify the effort, these characters are some of the most popular new Nintendo icons of the last decade, but also due to Sakurai's seeming interest in doing this kind of team mechanic and promptly abandoning every attempt so far (Diddy / Dixie, Chorus Kids, Rex / Pyra). I think he'll crack the code soon enough.
You just now made me realize that Sakurai has tried a new duo / trio character every game since Melee…and it hasn’t worked out since Melee lol
I will say I’m quite lukewarm on the Squid Sisters idea. Mainly because there are other directions I’d prefer them to take for Splatoon content
and other fighters that I’d rather see utilize a music / rhythm mechanic. I’m sure I could come around to liking them if they were included, but it just doesn’t excite me.
So.. do you think this is Geno's time?
There’s hardly anything I can say that doesn’t echo what’s just been said. Nothing about Geno is normal. The most convenient thing about Mario characters is that just about
everybody recognizes
all of them no matter who you choose, but that doesn’t apply to Geno at all. It makes him not just feel like he has stiff competition, but like he isn’t even in the same league…because he isn’t.
And then you have Square. The company that owns Tifa, Crono, 2B. Gaming all-stars. Geno is relying so heavily on fan demand and “hopeful Sakurai bias,” which certainly
is there. And finally being relevant after so many years certainly is a huge boost in his favor, yet doesn’t magically remove him from the weird spot he occupies.
…But he stands out. He
really stands out. He is nothing like any other character ever added to Smash, or any character commonly requested for Smash and that’s always been part of the allure. Adding a character with so little importance, or relevance who has lived on purely because of how memorable he is and how cool he would be in Smash. His unique “lore” puts him in a very awkward spot, but also
his own spot.
Geno isn’t gonna be selected from a list of Mario characters or Square characters, but from the Geno list. It’s like a button sitting on Sakurai’s desk that he’s never gonna press because it’s just so out of left field, but he
has the button. It isn’t going anywhere. The Geno requests aren’t gonna stop and no one else is gonna “fill the void,” so he can press the button and finally put it to rest, or refuse to press it and just make it “out of sight out of mind.” All the Mii costume did was make it obvious that he has the button and with the remake it’s like the button is flashing red and staring him in the face. No one at Nintendo cares if he presses it. Square doesn’t care if he presses it. But it’s flashing red! Everybody’s watching! He has to press it!
I’m 50/50, but if I were a betting man, I’d say he presses the button.
