Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Shinuto]

I've said this before, but I hope they change Sonic's victory theme to a better version of the Sonic 3 Act Clear theme. Like this one:

I'm tired of the orchestral one from 06.

 

[Zerp]

If another Sonic character joins the fight, which one would you prefer?
Metal Sonic, Shadow, Eggman, Knuckles, Amy Tails, Silver, or any other character? (Sorry to not be rude, but there are so many Sonic characters to list.)

ALL OF THEM

If Shadow's a Sonic clone: Dr. Eggman or Amy
If Shadow has a unique moveset and/or Sonic got reworked: Shadow

On that note, I think Aigis would make sense as a Persona 3 rep, especially considering she has an entire fighting game to pull moves from.

Yeah agreed, she's always felt like a character people sleep on to me. Don't think she's particularly likely but honestly not that unlikely either. Definitely the most likely Persona character who isn't from an upcoming Persona 6.

I've said this before, but I hope they change Sonic's victory theme to a better version of the Sonic 3 Act Clear theme. Like this one:

Speaking of that, I hope they give Sonic two new victory themes. A good one for any normal victory and... this for stock matches where Sonic wins by time-out:

Spoiler: The Victory Theme Ever

I think we are getting a Gen 9 pokemon in the next Smash but what makes people so sure it meowscarada? I remember people being so sure that decidueye was gonna be the starter they went with and they chose incineroar

People tend to guess that it's going to be whoever the most popular bipedal starter from the current gen is (which Meowscarada definitely is). And the community as a whole also generally speculates more on grass type starters than the other types because we only have Ivysaur so far. Annnnd Meowscarada's line is the one focused on the most in the current anime. I don't think Meowscarada's a shoe-in by any means (nor am I convinced it's necessarily the most likely Pokémon) but that's basically the gist of why people expect it.

 

[RileyXY1]

I really don't like the word replace when it comes to characters lol

P5 is still really big for Atlus, I have no reason to believe that if we get a second Persona character, Joker wouldn't just come back anyway. Like if you're gonna ask for another one anyway, you might as well ALSO get the veteran Persona character back, like what's the sense in not doing that lol

The main thing about Persona for me is that the Persona icon in Smash right now is the Phantom Thieves' insignia, so would they change the series icon to be more general or give a P3 character a unique icon?

This isn't a problem unique to Persona, as the Xenoblade icon is specific to the original game, although in that case at the time the series was first added to Smash the original Xenoblade game was all that existed. Although changing a series icon is something Smash has done before. In Brawl the Metal Gear icon was the FOXHOUND logo. It was changed in Ultimate to simply be an exclamation point instead.

 

[ninjahmos]

If either Kiryu or Ichiban ever get into Smash, they should get Yoko Shimomura to do a remix of Baka Mitai.

I'd also love to hear Smash remixes of MachineGun Kiss, 24-Hour Cinderella and Judgement -Shinpan-

 

[Perkilator]

The main thing about Persona for me is that the Persona icon in Smash right now is the Phantom Thieves' insignia, so would they change the series icon to be more general or give a P3 character a unique icon?

Actually, this is why I’d like to see unique symbols for each character, similar to how Mario Kart has unique emblems for each character.

Spoiler: Veterans

• Mario: The “M” on his cap
• Luigi: The “L” on his cap
• Peach: Her crown
• Daisy: A flower
• Rosalina & Luma: A stylized Grand Star
• Bowser, Bowser Jr. & the Koopalings: Their respective face symbols
• Wario: The “W” on his cap
• Yoshi: An egg
• Donkey Kong: The “DK” on his tie
• Diddy Kong: Two stars with borders around them
• King K. Rool: A crocodile skull with crossbones (based on the Kremling Krew emblem)
• Link: The Triforce
• Zelda: The Royal Crest (albeit without the Triforce)
• Ganondorf: The Crest of the Gerudo
• Samus: Screw Attack (based on its appearance on the Metroid Prime logo)
• Ridley: A stylized depiction of his statue from Zero Mission
• Kirby: A Warp Star
• Meta Knight: The stylized “M” on his left shoulder pad
• King Dedede: The V-sign on his back
• Fox: The Star Fox team emblem
• Pikachu: A Poké Ball
• Charizard: The TCG Fire energy symbol
• Jigglypuff: A microphone surrounded by stylized graffiti
• Mewtwo: The TCG Psychic energy symbol
• Lucario: Rumble Badge
• Greninja: The TCG Water energy symbol
• Incineroar: The Battle Royal symbol
• Ness: The planet used as an “O” in the “MOTHER” logo
• Captain Falcon: The falcon crest on Captain Falcon’s helmet
• Ice Climbers: An eggplant
• Marth: Falchion
• Ike: Crest of Crimea
• Lucina: Brand of the Exalt
• Byleth: Crest of Flames
• Mr. Game & Watch: A character ringing a bell
• Pit: The Palutena Bow
• Dark Pit: Symbol for the Forces of Nature
• Palutena: The holy light symbol behind her in her Smash renders
• Olimar: A Pikmin’s flower
• R.O.B.: A gyro
• Villager: A leaf with a hole in it
• Isabelle: A bag of Bells
• Little Mac: A boxing glove
• Shulk: The Monado
• Pyra / Mythra: A Core Crystal
• Duck Hunt: The stylized duck
• Inkling: The stylized Inkling squid
• Min Min: Her symbol from ARMS
• Sonic: The Sonic Team logo
• Mega Man: His helmet as seen in the 30th anniversary logo
• PAC-MAN: His original 8-bit sprite
• Ryu: The stylized Capcom logo seen in some of their crossover fighters
• Ken: His unique Hadoken with his palms facing outwards
• Cloud: The meteor drawing
• Bayonetta: The Umbran Watch symbol
• Simon: The Belmont family crest
• Joker: The Phantom Thief logo
• Hero: Erdrick’s emblem
• Banjo & Kazooie: A Jiggy
• Terry: A tilted star
• Steve: A Creeper’s face
• Kazuya: The Devil Gene symbol
• Sora: A crown

Spoiler: Hypothetical newcomers

• Waluigi: The “Γ” on his cap
• Toad: A Mushroom
• Dixie Kong: The “DX” on her Buddy Barrel
• Skull Kid: Majora’s Mask
• Raven Beak: The Mawkin Tribe symbol
• Bandana Waddle Dee: His icon from Star Allies
• Meowscarada: The TCG Grass energy symbol
• Alear: Lythos’ emblem
• Tom Nook: The tanuki used as the “Nook Miles” symbol
• Noah: The Kevesi symbol
• Mio: The Agnian symbol
• Octoling: A stylized Octoling octopus
• Officer Howard: The police star symbol
• Ring Fit Trainee: A stylized depiction of the Ring’s face
• Shadow: The Black Arms symbol
• Chun-Li: A stylized depiction of her spiked bracelets
• Alucard: Dracula’s Castle
• Aigis: The Gekkoukan High School emblem
• Crash Bandicoot: The stylized “C” from the Titans games

 

[ninjahmos]

Actually, this is why I’d like to see unique symbols for each character, similar to how Mario Kart has unique emblems for each character.

Spoiler: Veterans

• Mario: The “M” on his cap
• Luigi: The “L” on his cap
• Peach: Her crown
• Daisy: A flower
• Rosalina & Luma: A stylized Grand Star
• Bowser, Bowser Jr. & the Koopalings: Their respective face symbols
• Wario: The “W” on his cap
• Yoshi: An egg
• Donkey Kong: The “DK” on his tie
• Diddy Kong: Two stars with borders around them
• King K. Rool: A crocodile skull with crossbones (based on the Kremling Krew emblem)
• Link: The Triforce
• Zelda: The Royal Crest (albeit without the Triforce)
• Ganondorf: The Crest of the Gerudo
• Samus: Screw Attack (based on its appearance on the Metroid Prime logo)
• Ridley: A stylized depiction of his statue from Zero Mission
• Kirby: A Warp Star
• Meta Knight: The stylized “M” on his left shoulder pad
• King Dedede: The V-sign on his back
• Fox: The Star Fox team emblem
• Pikachu: A Poké Ball
• Charizard: The TCG Fire energy symbol
• Jigglypuff: A microphone surrounded by stylized graffiti
• Mewtwo: The TCG Psychic energy symbol
• Lucario: Rumble Badge
• Greninja: The TCG Water energy symbol
• Incineroar: The Battle Royal symbol
• Ness: The planet used as an “O” in the “MOTHER” logo
• Captain Falcon: The falcon crest on Captain Falcon’s helmet
• Ice Climbers: An eggplant
• Marth: Falchion
• Ike: Crest of Crimea
• Lucina: Brand of the Exalt
• Byleth: Crest of Flames
• Mr. Game & Watch: A character ringing a bell
• Pit: The Palutena Bow
• Dark Pit: Symbol for the Forces of Nature
• Palutena: The holy light symbol behind her in her Smash renders
• Olimar: A Pikmin’s flower
• R.O.B.: A gyro
• Villager: A leaf with a hole in it
• Isabelle: A bag of Bells
• Little Mac: A boxing glove
• Shulk: The Monado
• Pyra / Mythra: A Core Crystal
• Duck Hunt: The stylized duck
• Inkling: The stylized Inkling squid
• Min Min: Her symbol from ARMS
• Sonic: The Sonic Team logo
• Mega Man: His helmet as seen in the 30th anniversary logo
• PAC-MAN: His original 8-bit sprite
• Ryu: The stylized Capcom logo seen in some of their crossover fighters
• Ken: His unique Hadoken with his palms facing outwards
• Cloud: The meteor drawing
• Bayonetta: The Umbran Watch symbol
• Simon: The Belmont family crest
• Joker: The Phantom Thief logo
• Hero: Erdrick’s emblem
• Banjo & Kazooie: A Jiggy
• Terry: A tilted star
• Steve: A Creeper’s face
• Kazuya: The Devil Gene symbol
• Sora: A crown

Spoiler: Hypothetical newcomers

• Waluigi: The “Γ” on his cap
• Toad: A Mushroom
• Dixie Kong: The “DX” on her Buddy Barrel
• Skull Kid: Majora’s Mask
• Raven Beak: The Mawkin Tribe symbol
• Bandana Waddle Dee: His icon from Star Allies
• Meowscarada: The TCG Grass energy symbol
• Alear: Lythos’ emblem
• Tom Nook: The tanuki used as the “Nook Miles” symbol
• Noah: The Kevesi symbol
• Mio: The Agnian symbol
• Octoling: A stylized Octoling octopus
• Officer Howard: The police star symbol
• Ring Fit Trainee: A stylized depiction of the Ring’s face
• Shadow: The Black Arms symbol
• Chun-Li: A stylized depiction of her spiked bracelets
• Alucard: Dracula’s Castle
• Aigis: The Gekkoukan High School emblem
• Crash Bandicoot: The stylized “C” from the Titans games

In that case, should each character have their own unique victory theme?

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

This isn't a problem unique to Persona, as the Xenoblade icon is specific to the original game, although in that case at the time the series was first added to Smash the original Xenoblade game was all that existed. Although changing a series icon is something Smash has done before. In Brawl the Metal Gear icon was the FOXHOUND logo. It was changed in Ultimate to simply be an exclamation point instead.

I mean yes, but the Monado is still relevant to the series as a whole, since Shulk basically appears in all three main games (plus in 2, Malos uses attacks like Monado Eater), they're all somewhat connected, and even in X the Monado appears as Lin's hair clip, which is an obviously small role but it does still appear.

Beyond P5 and its extended media, when exactly will the Phantom Thieves be a major element? Because SEES and the Investigation Team have cameos in future games, but they're not like a super intricate part of the world or tied to the plot narratively, and I imagine the Phantom Thieves won't be either as cameos in Persona 6 lol

 

[Shinuto]

I just don't want Meowscarasa because the anime always promotes one of them alongside the MC of the anime which means they always get more promotion and eyes on them then non starters and it's an unfair advantage smash wise

 

[Wonder Smash]

I mean...

The first six Contra games (three mainline, three spin-offs, up to Hard Corps), which was the era where the IP was by far the most popular, had a combined sales total of about 4 million units. Cuphead sold six million units before even getting ported to the PS4. Contra has a strong legacy, but it's incredibly easy to see that Cuphead is demonstrably more popular.

But the indie scene was taking off during that time too, so that definitely played a part in its popularity.

Also, Contra selling 4 million units was by the end of 1996. Are you going by how much was sold from almost 30 years ago?

Still, no matter how popular Cuphead is, it shouldn't take priority over Contra because of it, especially since it just made a comeback.

 

[PlasmaDam]

I'm genuinely excited to see the fake leaks people come up with.Im still baffled by the grinch leak

 

[duchess-olive]

You know who I’d like to see? Amazon Pandora.

 

[RileyXY1]

When it comes to Pokémon, it's simply down to what Sakurai thinks has the best potential moveset. He only chose Incineroar because he really wanted to have a pro wrestling inspired moveset in the game. He might see potential in something else. So I don't think that it's guaranteed to be Meowscarada considering how Sakurai picked the last couple new Pokémon fighters.

 

[Wario Bros.]

In terms of Pokémon newcomers, I really want something original.

No starters, no trainers, no Pikachu clones.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

The Cuphead/Contra comparison is a tricky one because the former has sold more than the latter, but the gaming market is also much bigger in the current era now than it was in the 80s and early 90s so it could be argued the latter's sales were still quite impressive relatively. Contra was a genuinely pioneering run and gun game series and is arguably the franchise most associated with one of the most button sequences in gaming history (the Konami code). As a result, it's hard and possibly too early to say that culturally/historically Cuphead will mean more, even though its art style is one of the striking in video game (let alone indie) history. Either one would have a real case to be made in Smash, even if the Japanese origins of Contra might technically make it easier to get in SSB.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Pokemon also depends heavily on when the next Smash is actually being developed, specifically if the 2021/2022 project plan is Smash, which I've been more dubious on lately, or something else. If that was Smash, then it's almost certainly a Gen 9 Pokemon, if it wasn't Smash, I feel like it's going to be a Gen 10 Pokemon, meaning we haven't met the Pokemon we'll be getting yet.

Basically, if that project plan isn't Smash, speculation is experiencing a full-circle moment that reminds me of the Victini vs Zoroark debate during pre-Smash 4 that ended up being Greninja lol

 

[ninjahmos]

I think it was a missed opportunity for them to include Dark Samus' theme along with her.

 

[Zerp]

The most likely Pokémon is Shaymin simply because I will it to be so. You know what they say, mind over matter. It'll totally work guys trust me.
This feels like cheating but I'd argue the most likely Gen 9 Pokémon is actually Scream Tail. They're not likely to happen without another Gen 9 mon making it in, but because they'd be a Puff clone it's easy for them to be a bonus after ANY gen 9 newcomer. Meowscarada gets in? I'd give Scream Tail like a 30% chance of joining. Tinkaton gets in? Ditto. Quaquaval, Ogerpon, Koraidon/Miraidon? You get the idea.

And the thing is, I don't think any individual Pokémon in gen 9 truly has a high chance of being "the one". So Scream Tail being an echo and leeching off all of their collective chances beats out everyone else in probability.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I mean yes, but the Monado is still relevant to the series as a whole, since Shulk basically appears in all three main games (plus in 2, Malos uses attacks like Monado Eater), they're all somewhat connected, and even in X the Monado appears as Lin's hair clip, which is an obviously small role but it does still appear.

Beyond P5 and its extended media, when exactly will the Phantom Thieves be a major element? Because SEES and the Investigation Team have cameos in future games, but they're not like a super intricate part of the world or tied to the plot narratively, and I imagine the Phantom Thieves won't be either as cameos in Persona 6 lol

If a Persona 6 ever gets made i assume the most we'll see about P5's cast is a poster of Ann as a model and an advertisement for Haru's restaurant, similar to the P4 cameos in P5

The most likely Pokémon is Shaymin simply because I will it to be so. You know what they say, mind over matter. It'll totally work guys trust me.
This feels like cheating but I'd argue the most likely Gen 9 Pokémon is actually Scream Tail. They're not likely to happen without another Gen 9 mon making it in, but because they'd be a Puff clone it's easy for them to be a bonus after ANY gen 9 newcomer. Meowscarada gets in? I'd give Scream Tail like a 30% chance of joining. Tinkaton gets in? Ditto. Quaquaval, Ogerpon, Koraidon/Miraidon? You get the idea.

And the thing is, I don't think any individual Pokémon in gen 9 truly has a high chance of being "the one". So Scream Tail being an echo and leeching off all of their collective chances beats out everyone else in probability.

This is probable scenario, then they can spend the actual full development time on a gen 10 Pokemon we haven't seen yet

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

I think the Flurry Rush would make a better Final Smash since you can just use it as a reskinned Triforce Slash.

Considering Flurry Rush is purely a defensive option, it would be really weird for it to be a Final Smash.

 

[Garteam]

I actually like Meowscrada. I think a Vaudevillian Magician based around tricks and deception has a lot of potential. I also know "we need a grass starter" is kind of a meme, but it is generally my favourite type for starters and is a pretty underutilized theme in Smash. So, I don't care.

I can understand being frustrated that an anthromorphized, dark-type starter with a job-based theme and prominence in the anime is getting in for the third time in a row. But hey, that's Pokémon. Marketing will always limit the options to a certain extent.

 

[Opossum]

But the indie scene was taking off during that time too, so that definitely played a part in its popularity.

Also, Contra selling 4 million units was by the end of 1996. Are you going by how much was sold from almost 30 years ago?

Still, no matter how popular Cuphead is, it shouldn't take priority over Contra because of it, especially since it just made a comeback.

I used that as a cutoff point for Contra because sales after that point were small to the point of being basically meaningless. The sales dropped off a cliff afterwards, as shown by the fact that sales numbers post-Hard Corps don't even seem to exist, save for Hard Corps Uprising failing to even sell 100k copies and Operation Galuga apparently only selling 20k copies on Steam. The series completely fell off sales-wise after the NES/SNES/Genesis era.

"The indie scene taking off during the time" doesn't change the fact that Cuphead sold significantly more with one game than Contra did as a franchise in a much smaller amount of time.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Considering Flurry Rush is purely a defensive option, it would be really weird for it to be a Final Smash.

I think Flurry Rush would work as a super in a traditional fighting game (since some characters have counter supers), but yeah it'd be weird as a Final Smash.

And I didn't mention this earlier because the convo moved on, but while the Ancient Arrow does one shot non-boss enemies, it's still just... Link shooting a single arrow at someone. Like you can pretty much buy them one at a time at a certain point in BotW for 90 Rupees and four materials, and they technically don't even exist in TotK unless you use your meld ability to combine an arrow and an Ancient Blade.

I just think there are much flashier things Link could be doing most likely.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Shadow would be the ideal second Sonic character, but if I had to choose a person one beyond that, it'd be Rouge. She's one of my favorites. Metal Sonic would be my favorite other choice. Due to how designs work, Shadow would be able to easily be an Echo, Metal Sonic a clone/semi-clone, and Rouge unique.

 

[Wonder Smash]

I used that as a cutoff point for Contra because sales after that point were small to the point of being basically meaningless. The sales dropped off a cliff afterwards, as shown by the fact that sales numbers post-Hard Corps don't even seem to exist, save for Hard Corps Uprising failing to even sell 100k copies and Operation Galuga apparently only selling 20k copies on Steam. The series completely fell off sales-wise after the NES/SNES/Genesis era.

"The indie scene taking off during the time" doesn't change the fact that Cuphead sold significantly more with one game than Contra did as a franchise in a much smaller amount of time.

In other words, there's nothing current to go by to say that Cuphead sold more than the whole Contra franchise.

However, when the sale numbers are that close and they're that many years apart, using them to say which one is more popular is kind of pointless in that situation.

 

[ninjahmos]

OK, I think we may have discussed this before, but I still have to ask…

Do you guys think Ridley is here to stay for the next game after his inclusion in Ultimate, or will he potentially go back to being a boss?

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

OK, I think we may have discussed this before, but I still have to ask…

Do you guys think Ridley is here to stay for the next game after his inclusion in Ultimate, or will he potentially go back to being a boss?

Ridley is absolutely here to stay. The Metroid franchise's most recurring character after Samus herself, AND he was a super popular request?

Frankly, Ridley is most likely a mainstay from this point on if I had to guess.

 

[fogbadge]

OK, I think we may have discussed this before, but I still have to ask…

Do you guys think Ridley is here to stay for the next game after his inclusion in Ultimate, or will he potentially go back to being a boss?

don’t really see any reason why not. not any likely ones at least

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

I think we are getting a Gen 9 pokemon in the next Smash but what makes people so sure it meowscarada? I remember people being so sure that decidueye was gonna be the starter they went with and they chose incineroar

Short hand? Literally because Greninja and Incineroar happened.

The full explanation:

The Smash fandom has a very bad habit of deciding the "most likely" addition for Pokémon based around the last new addition(s).

Zoroark was heavily propped up after Brawl because of being a movie star headlining for a movie that was before their debut Generation, just like Lucario.
And when Generation 6 was rolling around and there was no real equivalent in that regard to Lucario and Zoroark, people were stumped at who was "likely". Some even entertained the idea that Mewtwo would be our "Generation 6 rep" over the Mega Mewtwo Y form (originally "Awakened Mewtwo") simply because Mewtwo was a movie star headlining a film with its new form before the Generation said form would be featured in. And then Greninja happened, which threw people for a loop.

Sceptile immediately got a major push right the **** out of nowhere once solo Charizard and Greninja got revealed. Why? Because Charizard was a fully evolved Fire starter and Greninja was a fully evolved Water starter, so of course we were going to get Sceptile to complete the set as a fully evolved Grass starter. Especially with Generation 3 remakes being inevitable.

Then when that didn't happen and Sun and Moon were revealed, Sceptile was cast aside in favor of "Rowlet final evolution" for the same reasoning. To the point that when Decidueye was made public, it took over the majority of speculation for Pokémon like it was a done deal. And then Incineroar happened instead.

Similar story in the beginning with Sword and Shield, which had "Grookey final evolution" being locked in before the public reveal of it. And for a hot minute, Rillaboom was set to take over speculation....until Cinderace "support" snuffed it out, using the logic that Greninja and Incineroar were "shilled" so obviously the one that would be DLC for Ultimate would be the current "shilled starter" in Cinderace and treating it as "inevitable" as Thanos, whether they actually wanted the rabbit or just were fearmongering after Byleth dropped. And then not only did we not get Cinderace, but Generation 8 was skipped entirely for DLC.

History repeats as "Sprigatito final evolution" was once again the early choice well before any public reveal, then skyrocketed after Meowscarada's reveal while combining the Sceptile/Decidueye/Rillaboom logic (Grass starter) with the Cinderace logic (shill starter), treating the green cat as an inevitability now.

The fandom falls into the same exact tunnel vision pitfall every time and never learns anything from it.

 

[Opossum]

In other words, there's nothing current to go by to say that Cuphead sold more than the whole Contra franchise.

However, when the sale numbers are that close and they're that many years apart, using them to say which one is more popular is kind of pointless in that situation.

You're missing the point really badly here, so I'll drop this now to save the page space.

 

[BrawlX10]

I really don't like the word replace when it comes to characters lol

P5 is still really big for Atlus, I have no reason to believe that if we get a second Persona character, Joker wouldn't just come back anyway. Like if you're gonna ask for another one anyway, you might as well ALSO get the veteran Persona character back, like what's the sense in not doing that lol

The main thing about Persona for me is that the Persona icon in Smash right now is the Phantom Thieves' insignia, so would they change the series icon to be more general or give a P3 character a unique icon?

Nah, they'll probably just keep the phantom thieves insingnia.
The DQ series symbol doesn't really rep DQ4 and DQ8, but it's still used.
The FE series symbol doesnt really rep Path of Radiance, but it's still used.

 

[Wonder Smash]

You're missing the point really badly here, so I'll drop this now to save the page space.

Look, you don't need to use me as an excuse just to say you don't want to continue the conversation (you ignoring certain things played a big part in that). If you don't want to continue, then just say it and leave it at that. It's not hard.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Nah, they'll probably just keep the phantom thieves insingnia.
The DQ series symbol doesn't really rep DQ4 and DQ8, but it's still used.
The FE series symbol doesnt really rep Path of Radiance, but it's still used.

That logic only works when you're talking about additional content.

Yeah, the Falchion doesn't reflect Ike, but we weren't in a position where Ike is present without Marth, who is reflected by the symbol when he was introduced in Melee.

The symbol for DQ doesn't reflect 4 or 8, but it does reflect 3 and 11, which were the two main picks for the Hero while the other two were extras.

Having the symbol for Persona remain reflective of Persona 5....while removing the Persona 5 content that was the cornerstone of the series representation to begin with is completely off.

 

[BrawlX10]

When it comes to Pokémon, it's simply down to what Sakurai thinks has the best potential moveset. He only chose Incineroar because he really wanted to have a pro wrestling inspired moveset in the game. He might see potential in something else. So I don't think that it's guaranteed to be Meowscarada considering how Sakurai picked the last couple new Pokémon fighters.

Tinkaton and Gholdengo are overlooked picks as well, who says it has to be a starter?

I'm genuinely excited to see the fake leaks people come up with.Im still baffled by the grinch leak

The Ultimate era was honestly a hot mess with leaks and leakers in general, i remember at some point some dude leaked Katalina from Granblue Fantasy and plenty of people believed it....even though at the time Granblue Fantasy had no console games released and it was a 4 year old phone game that as far i know it had no western release. (Obviously, Granblue is a more sensible choice now in 2025 than it was back in 2018).
I'm honestly not sure if we'll get another Grinch Leak in Smash 6 era, i feel like after Ultimate's leak fiascos people are more warry of leakers and leaks.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

That logic only works when you're talking about additional content.

Yeah, the Falchion doesn't reflect Ike, but we weren't in a position where Ike is present without Marth, who is reflected by the symbol when he was introduced in Melee.

The symbol for DQ doesn't reflect 4 or 8, but it does reflect 3 and 11, which were the two main picks for the Hero while the other two were extras.

Having the symbol for Persona remain reflective of Persona 5....while removing the Persona 5 content that was the cornerstone of the series representation to begin with is completely off.

Also even though the series icon is technically supposed to be Falchion, Ike still has an important sword in Ragnell, so it can technically still work for him since the FE symbol is something as basic as a sword lol
And for Dragon Quest, the others don't have different series icons because they're alts.

I just think it'd be weird for a character like Aigis to have the Phantom Thief insignia as her series icon even if Joker does come back with her lol

 

[Watuna4343]

OK, I think we may have discussed this before, but I still have to ask…

Do you guys think Ridley is here to stay for the next game after his inclusion in Ultimate, or will he potentially go back to being a boss?

Oh Ridley isn't going anywhere. Out of all the Ultimate newcomers, even if we include echo fighters and DLCs and the likes, Ridley is like in the top 3 hardest locks alongside Inkling and Isabelle. Like I just think the culling would have to be unrealistically hard for the dev team to start considering dropping Ridley, a sure-fire veteran going into Smash 6

 

[Pupp135]

OK, I think we may have discussed this before, but I still have to ask…

Do you guys think Ridley is here to stay for the next game after his inclusion in Ultimate, or will he potentially go back to being a boss?

Just like the post above, Ridley is probably one of the Ultimate newcomers who I absolutely see as a mainstay going forward along with Inkling and Isabelle. I’m pretty sure the backlash would be large if Ridley gets dropped next game.

From the Nintendo side (third parties are a different can of worms), the only newcomers who I could see have a decent chance of being removed are Incinoroar (more of a toss up than a likely cut) and Piranha Plant, but I could also see Incinoroar staying if the fighter interests the developers enough.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

It actually does matter. They both had the same developers and Bayonetta is not an indie. They're basically like brother and sister series.

That's just proof of its popularity but not more than Contra's.

I still don’t see what Cuphead being an indie game matters, it seems like you’re suggesting indie games are inherently lesser.

What does Contra have to prove its popularity in comparison? It’s one of the pioneers of side scrolling run and gun games, the series has a sizable amount of titles, and the early games are iconic amongst hardcore gamers, beyond that what else can you say?

Contra lacks the massive casual audience Cuphead has, and the series has time and again failed to reach the levels of success the games from the late 80/early 90s did, which were successful, but nowhere near as successful as Cuphead.

If you want to say Contra had a bigger impact on gaming that’s one thing, but more popular? I don’t think so.

 

[Schnee117]

Konami magically summoning 2 million+ unreported Contra sales out of nowhere to beat Cuphead's pre-PS4 port sales

 

[PersonAngelo53]

Im so glad that between Sonic frontiers, Shadow Generations and Sonic movie 3 show that this franchise can be really cool.



They even have a victory theme they can rip for Shadow

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

And some of the animations here are perfect for his victory screens.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Konami magically summoning 2 million+ unreported Contra sales out of nowhere to beat Cuphead's pre-PS4 port sales

Konami will claim there were numerous series copies sold in the Middle East grey market despite the lack of evidence, leading to a public scandal naturally called the Iran-Contra Affair.