Training Mode!

I started today with a rough patch. My game disc was sticky with a dried brown liquid that I assumed was Coca-Cola. So I spent a good few minutes cleaning my disc before it was readable by my Wii. What a nice way to start!

Itsa Me!

I figured a good place to start out was to test each character in training mode. I am using my brother’s memory card, and he has already unlocked all of the characters in this game. I spent 5 or so minutes testing out each one. Here are my thoughts on the characters and the likelihood that I will be using them frequently. I chose “Final Destination” as my stage for training, because it is the most basic stage.

Mario: As I expected, Mario tends to be pretty easy to use and is well rounded. His attacks are average in strength and speed, he has a normal jumping ability, a few long range attacks, but nothing exceptional. When he whips out his projectile reflecting cape, I think he is temporarily trying to become a matador. I would probably not use him often.

Luigi: Luigi’s set of skills is very similar to Mario’s, except he has more speed, better reach and better aerial attacks. Again, he is not a character that would be my first choice.

Peach: This princess has pretty weak attacks in general. Her floating ability makes her better in aerial combat, but I find her difficult to use effectively. Somehow, I don’t think radishes count as projectiles in real life. And her using toad as a human shield, that is pretty cold for royalty to be doing to her servants.

Bowser: This one is a powerhouse. He can do ridiculous amounts of damage with each attack. He is, however, extremely slow. Compare his level of slowness to swimming in molasses. That and, due to his large size, he is easy to hit with any type of projectile. But the extreme amounts of damage he deals out makes him a pretty decent character.

Donkey Kong: This monkey plays very much like a slightly faster, weaker Bowser. He is also very large, has a good reach, and deals a fair bit of damage. He is a bit too weak to make up for how slow he is. His ability to play bongos should have no use in a fighting game.

Diddy Kong: This little monkey is very much faster than his other monkey friend. I personally find his controls very confusing, and his special jump to be next to useless. I think I need to practice more with this character before I like him. Also, like Peach, food is not weaponry. A gun that shoots peanuts is not particularly useful against an enemy shooting missiles.

Yoshi: I found Yoshi to be a terrible character. I find him quite slow to attack but fast running, and his attacks are too weak to make up for it. I hate that Yoshi doesn’t have a triple jump because, as a beginner, I rely very heavily on that to keep myself from falling off the stage’s edge. His digestive system is amazing. A human requires about 8 hours to digest a meal, but he swallows opponents and lays them in eggs in under a second. I would rarely use him.

Wario: Wario’s gameplay is hilarious. I love his stop motion type of movement and how comical his special attacks are. But as for playability, he’s quite slow and has terrible reach. Farting and summoning motorcycles are among the attacks in his arsenal. I would play him just to laugh at his attacks.

Link: I may have a slightly biased opinion about Link. In the little time I have played this game, I played often as Toon Link. And I find Link to be inferior in speed and skill. He is decent all around, but a little too slow for my liking. He has a great variety of attacks, but I would choose Toon Link over regular Link anytime.

Zelda/Sheik: This was a fun character to try out, because Zelda can transform from one character to another with basically opposite features! Princess Zelda is a moderate speed powerhouse which I was not expecting at all! Sheik is her alter ego that is ridiculously fast but weak. Both are very fun to play as, and both have great variety. I will probably be using her a fair bit.

Ganondorf: So. Very. Slow. He seems almost useless because of this problem. He is immensely powerful, but he is far too slow to be useful in any situation. If Bowser is swimming in molasses, Ganondorf is swimming in molasses with no limbs.

Toon Link: One of my favorites! He is basically just a faster, floaty, generally better version of Link. I very much enjoy using him.

Samus/Zero Suit Samus: Regular Samus seems like the kind of character that would be awesome once I get used to her attacks. She is quite slow, but I think that is to be expected because she is covered in a thick shield of metal armor. Her roll is obscenely slow, and her power is moderate. Zero Suit Samus is quite different. She is far faster, but a bit weaker. I think I would prefer to use Zero Suit Samus, but it’s not quite that simple. To use her, you start out playing as Samus and you have to activate a Smash Ball to transform into Zero Suit Samus. It isn’t a very good idea to rely on that, so I don’t know how often I would choose Samus…

Pit: Pit reminds me of Link. He has a fairly similar move set, but one thing that really sets him apart is that he can fly. Not float, he can FLY. And I mean he can fly under entire stages. He moves quite fast, with moderate strength. I think I will be spending a fair bit of time improving with this character.

Ice Climbers: I almost feel like I’m cheating using the Ice Climbers. I have two characters at once. Not like Zelda or Samus where I can transform, but literally I am fighting using two characters at once. Note the “s” in “Ice Climbers”. They’re a bit on the slow side, but the fact that there are two of them dealing damage makes up for it easily. Every time I used a smash attack, it was like two smash attacks! Why have I never tried using them before?

R.O.B.: This robot makes me think of Wall-E. Unsurpisingly, he is of average speed but is pretty powerful. I’m sure the jet engines have helped him out a bit in that department. He can fly about as far as Pit, which I was definitely not expecting. His hovering is slightly harder to control, but the height attainable is just amazing. I will be using him often.

Kirby: Kirby is always fun to use. He is of normal speed and strength, has an ability to jump multiple times, and has some interesting attacks. He can suck opponents into his mouth, then he changes into a pink puffy version of that character. Or he just stays as himself, but in cosplay. He can then use one of that character’s attacks. I don’t really like his aerial attacks, I find them too slow to be useful. I would use Kirby more for entertainment value than for actual usefulness.

Meta Knight: Kirby has been outdone. Meta Knight has about the same speed and strength, but Meta Knight’s attack speed is just ridiculous. No other character will have a chance to block or dodge his attacks. He can float just like Kirby can, but he is just too fast for Kirby to match up. Meta Knight is a solid character.

King Dedede: I had a really hard time with this character. His attacks are very slow, and not extremely powerful. I really can’t think of anything positive to say about him, besides the fact he can summon minions that will walk off the stage to their deaths, or he can suck them up like Kirby does. But he doesn’t have the same cosplay action, so that attack isn’t even entertaining anymore. I was disappointed.

Olimar: I’m not entirely sure how to use Olimar. He plucks the Pikmin, then he chucks the Pikmin. It is, however, very satisfying to watch an opponent being smothered by a horde of little squishy aliens. If he is about to fall to his death, the Pikmin save him by making a tether in a “Barrel-of-Monkeys” kind of way. I think I’ll need a lot of practice with him to use him effectively.

Fox: Fox is FAST. He runs fast, attacks fast, and has a very impressive range of attacks. I am very surprised I haven’t noticed how powerful he is earlier. Giving animals guns was obviously a good idea. I will definitely be investing some time in using him.

Falco: He is essentially the same as Fox. Falco is a bit slower and has a better jump, but so far I really see next to no difference in their attacks. Maybe birds with guns are equal to foxes with guns…

Wolf: He is similar to Fox, but he has a few visible differences. He is slower and stronger, with a similar set of attacks. His aerial attacks are more unpredictable, and his projectiles are slower. I would probably prefer using Fox.

Captain Falcon: Despite looking like he just popped a year’s worth of steroids, Captain Falcon is not that great a character. Running, he is very fast. His attacks are less so, and extremely obvious and easy to dodge. His aerial attacks are slow and weak too. I don’t think I would use him.

Pikachu: This little electrified mouse is very fun to use. He is fast in general, with moderate strength, decent jumping ability, and some pretty good aerial attacks. He doesn’t have any ridiculously outstanding abilities, but Pikachu is a pretty solid fighter.

Pokemon Trainer: Now, this one can switch between three pokemon. Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. Each has a different set of strengths. Squirtle is pretty fast and has does decent damage. Ivysaur is meant for long range attacks, and Charizard is just a heavyweight with a lot of power. The Pokemon Trainer has a lot of variety, but it takes a lot of time to change pokemon. I don’t think I will be using him often.

Lucario: This pokemon seems very difficult to use. His attacks are slow, but very powerful if timed right. I will try to figure out how to use him, but I’m not sure how much time I would devote to this character.

Jigglypuff: Like Kirby, she can do the multiple jumps and float. She is a little on the slow side, and her attacks are mostly pretty weak. She has one amazing move that is extremely hard to pull off: Rest. If she is directly on top of an enemy, it sends him flying and is a near instant kill. Not bad for a pink fluff ball. She is harder to use, so I won’t be using her often.

Marth: He is an amazing character in general. Marth is fast, powerful, and has a great set of attacks. The only downfall I have seen is his throwing ability. They are weaker than most. I will be using Marth a lot.

Ike: Ike is a very, VERY strong but slow character. His attacks are predictable for the most part, but many of them are intensely damaging if they connect. He would not be my first choice, but I would use him.

Ness: I personally find Ness extremely difficult to use. I cannot stand his recovery move, it is way too hard to use effectively. He is of average speed and strength, but I don’t like playing as Ness at all.

Lucas: Again, Lucus just seems like another Ness. He maybe have slightly more speed and strength, but I still hate his set of attacks.

Mr. Game and Watch: He was my personal favorite in the time that I’ve played this game. His attacks are very easy to learn, he is very fast, pretty strong, and just awesome in general. He also uses sausages as weapons. Food will never be useful in battle, but it will always be entertaining. I will probably continue to use him a lot because there are very few flaws in his gameplay.

Snake: He has definitely one of the more unique attacks of all the fighters. Most of Snake’s attacks are explosion based. He can plant mines, use homing missiles, or most famously, hide under a box. Really. I think Snake would be a great character because of his tricky tactics and power, but he is slow, especially in the air. I would like to try him out a bit more.

Sonic: This hedgehog is insanely fast. But that is really about all he has going for him. Sonic’s attacks are weak, and not exceptionally fast. His running speed is ridiculous. As soon as I started training mode, I ran clear off the stage because I wasn’t expecting him to run so fast! I think he would be unevenly matched against most characters. Damaging a character would be easy for Sonic, but he doesn’t have any solid finishing blows. I would not use him very often.

That was a long recap. But in summary…

My old favorite characters:

– Mr. Game and Watch

– Toon Link

Characters I want to try out more (because I had no idea they were AWESOME):

– Zelda/Sheik

– Pit

– Ice Climbers

– R.O.B.

– Meta Knight

– Fox

– Pikachu

– Marth

Characters I want to try out more (because they’re difficult to use):

– Samus

– Olimar

– Lucario

– Ike

– Ness

– Lucas

– Snake

The other characters seem very simple to use or completely hopeless. I will be practicing with the others, but I will place more emphasis on the characters listed above.

Picture Bibliography:

– (May 23, 2007). “Mario”. Smash Bros. DOJO!!

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/mario.html

(October 2, 2011).