Thursday, October 1, 2020

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate x Minecraft Announced

Steve, Alex, Zombie and Enderman in Smash! 

I don't want to brag or anything, but I wrote this yesterday in my prediction:

It's also notable how there's the Minecraft Live 2020 stream this Saturday, which could be why Nintendo is doing a short announcement prematurely. Let's say it's really Steve, then Nintendo might want to use the virtual "Minecon" as a platform for additional advertisement. Get as many Minecraft fans on board with the news as possible...

Nailed it! Absolutely nailed it!

Well, to be fair, my initial theory was that there might be a delay happening because of the difficulties of coordinating with a 3rd party. Luckily, this wasn't the case and it's simply that the "Sakurai Presents" will be shown before Minecraft Live 2020, which makes a lot of sense.

And I couldn't possibly be any happier. I know I'm having an acquired taste here... and many people are outraged right now, especially after Byleth and Min Min. But I'm on the opposite side of things. The first four Challenger Packs didn't do anything for me. I didn't dislike any of them (except maybe Hero and Banjo a little) and I saw their value, but it simply wasn't from any games that I've enjoyed in the past. And because they were all 3rd party, they also didn't really do anything to represent the current Nintendo.

But I was in full support of Byleth, when he/she came out, and I've wanted a fighter from ARMS quite badly, where Min Min became my favorite DLC fighter and my second most used fighter in the game. And another "most wanted" of mine has been Minecraft since the start, where I've kept mentioning Minecraft in Smash for over two years now. I even came up with a Challenger Pack Concept in May of last year, which is pretty close to what we're getting here.

Well, we're also getting the Zombie and Enderman as playable alts next to Steve and Alex. And the Enderman has fully surprised me, because it's literally kind of a stretch (the originals are way bigger), but the Zombie makes a lot of sense, since they are basically just dead Steves.

It also shows perfectly the crazy moveset potential. People, who really didn't like the idea of Steve in Smash, usually went on and on about how he just could be a Mii costume... And sure, a DLC Mii costume is always a good solution for a character you really don't want (looking at you, Geno). Other people wanted Minecraft to be represented via a stage only, because they didn't feel like a fighter would be a good fit.

But the concept of building and crafting things really only can be translated via a fighter and the DLC fighters so far all have been crazy. The most conventional ones were probably Banjo and Byleth, but the others all had some crazy mechanics. And Steve / Alex / Zombie / Enderman will join the madness, they might even offer the craziest moveset so far.

It seems like you don't start with a weapon, but have to craft your tools by collecting materials. So, it probably will be a very defensive moveset and might not be for me, personally. But I thought the same about Min Min at first and I now love playing as her. Oh, and the Final Smash is the most disrespectful thing ever, I love it. Same with the victory animation, where he builds a house for no reason. That's some funny stuff.

And the stage looks absolutely magnificent. I've really enjoyed the Super Mario Maker stage, where you get to play a different stage each time you load it up. And the Minecraft stage will be similar, only with even more variety and good stuff.

But after the disappointment about Skull Kid, who I really was hoping for in the base game, it feels so good to get multiple characters I like in a row. The second Fighters Pass checked off two of my "most wanteds" from the starts and that's incredible. Now, if we're also getting another Zelda fighter, this will be the best timeline... If not, then there's always Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity for us.

Well, more on Saturday! Hype!

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