Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Stage Builder Ideas

When it comes to the modes and extras of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate other than the "Smash" mode, I only really care for one thing. Not Classic Mode, not All-Stars, not "Break the Targets", not an Adventure Mode and certainly not Smash Run or Smash Tour... But the Stage Builder!

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It used to be my favorite feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where I've spent many hours with building my own stages. It wasn't available in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS at all and it felt kind of lackluster in the Wii U version. The free-shape drawing was nice-to-have but rarely produced good results, while this came at the cost of many of the old stage parts and features.

Ideally, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will also have the "ultimate" Stage Builder by combining both versions. There is already a good reason to bring the pre-defined floors back and that is the lack of any touchscreen input in the Switch's docked mode. The free-shape drawing wouldn't work here at all and only would be accessible in the system's handheld mode, which is rather inconvenient. This might even be a reason, why Super Mario Maker hasn't appeared on Nintendo Switch yet.

In addition, it would be nice to have all of the old crazy features back, like drop blocks, ice blocks, conveyor belts, ice floors and ladders, even if you could make broken stages with them in the original. I don't care, I want all the goodness.

What both Stage Builders lacked, however, was a greater selection of backgrounds. The one in Brawl had three and the one on the Wii U had five, which never really helped with the diversity. The Stage Builders gave you access to all the music in the game, but why not all the backgrounds as well? Each stage now has Battlefield and Omega version, which requires them to have simpler, fixed backgrounds, which you could use in the Stage Builder... There would be over a hundred of different backgrounds to use! Imagine doing you own versions of Hyrule Castle, Skyloft or Norfair. It would be amazing!

So, I have high hopes for this feature, where I only can be disappointed... But let's see.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - DLC Ideas

Takahashi on Twitter announced that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be getting more updates in the future. The game did already get a couple of updates to patch things and to add support for new amiibo, video capture, Chinese and Korean languages, as well as Nintendo Labo.

So, when Takahashi says that it will get more updates in the future, it will probably be something along these lines, for example additional features for the new Nintendo Switch Online service.

The best case scenario would probably be some updates with smaller free DLC contents, like they did with the "Mario Kart 8 x Mercedenz Benz promotion" for the Wii U version of the game. Just with hopefully some cooler content.

But if we dream big, the game certainly has lots and lots of potential for additional DLC. I really enjoyed the Wii U game and certainly thought that the DLC was worth its money, but where they could have done so much more.

With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate coming, I also fantasized, how a "Mario Kart Ultimate" based on Mario Kart 8 probably would look like. Of course with not even a fifth of all possible retro courses available in Mario Kart 8, it would be tons of work to cover even half of it still. But you could always add more fan favorites, like N64 Kalimari Desert or NDS Airship Fortress.

And at least the game already has the majority of racers already available, where only few ones would be missing, many of them being quite obscure and large, like Wiggler, Honey Queen and Petey Piranha. This isn't counting the Arcade games, where you had Pac-Man and many other guest characters.

Anyway, I also had two major ideas for additional Mario Kart 8 DLC Packs, which I wanted to present here for the fun of it...

Donkey Kong Country x Mario Kart 8

• Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong
• New vehicle parts, including the DK Jumbo and Barrel Train
• Bongo Cup, includes GCN DK Mountain and a course based on Tropical Freeze
• 2 new Battle Mode course: Wii Funky Stadium and New Donk City

With Mario Kart 8 you had these promotional images, where you could see all the Koopalings driving next to each other or all the differently colored Yoshis. And I had the vision that they would do the same for the Kong family, where they could bring back both Diddy Kong and Funky Kong, while adding both Dixie and Cranky Kong. This way all the Kongs from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze would be playable in Mario Kart 8 as well.

For the same pack it also makes sense to bring back some past DK contents in Mario Kart games, like courses or vehicle parts. I chose the DK Jumbo, Barrel Train, DK Mountain and Funky Stadium, because they felt like the most prominent ones. Other possibilities would be the Rambi Rider, Wildlife, N64 DK's Jungle Parkway, NDS DK Pass and Wii DK Summit.

I originally imagined this as a free DLC update for the Wii U, which only had the four new racers and maybe some kart parts. But of course there is the potential for more additions in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, especially with the Battle Mode.

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Kirby x Mario Kart 8

• Kirby, King Dedede and Birdo
• New vehicle parts
• Dream Cup, includes NDS Waluigi Pinball and a Dream Land course
• 2 new Battle Mode courses, including N64 Block Fort

For Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U they had this trailer, where Kirby landed on the Rainbow Road and then was surrounded by Mario Kart racers. When I first saw this, I thought that they would add Kirby to Mario Kart 8 via additional DLC... And this idea sticked around. Coming from another Nintendo Jump'n'Run series, he would match the Mario Kart aesthetics and fit in rather well, certainly a lot more than Link.

Birdo is probably one of the more popular characters still missing in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, besides Diddy Kong, so he/she/it sneaks in with this pack as well. In addition, I felt like Block Fort is a must have for any Battle Mode, while Waluigi Pinball would be a good course for the gravity feature. Since Kirby had a pinball game with Kirby's Pinball Land on the GameBoy, including this course in the "Dream Cup" would also be a nod to that.

Lady Maud Design Concept Art

While skipping through Hyrule Encyclopedia, I noticed something interesting. They put some concept art for the character Lady Maud from Tri Force Heroes on page 307, which I hadn't seen before:

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Wow! Look at that sexy witch! I wish that they would have gone with that design, instead of the old fashion hag. It would have been so much better for the character.

If I had to rank all Zelda villains, Lady Maud would be rock bottom. With a giant margin between her and whoever might be second-to-last. She is an absolute joke character and you can't take her seriously at all, where she made a silly story even sillier, instead of posing as an actual threat.

Now, if they had used a femme fatale like the young witch in the above concept art, it would have been so much interesting. She could have been an actual rival to Princess Styla, where she wants to be the most beautiful girl in all the lands, similar to the Queen in Snow White, just that the above witch would have actual potential with her youth and beauty.

Plus, the Zelda series could have used a villain like that. We have Cia in Hyrule Warriors, but that's not canon, while I would have been looking forward to playing as Maud in the next installment, if she were anything like in the above concept art... Who would like to play as the actual Lady Maud, which made it into the final game? I bet no one!

Well, too bad...

Zelda Encyclopedia: Errors, Oddities and Contradictions

What a book! I've spent the majority of this Saturday's afternoon with sitting on my balcony, skipping through the The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, probably the most extensive work in Dark Horse's Goddess Collection. Much like Arts & Artifacts provided an amazing visual journey through the entire Zelda series prior to Breath of the Wild, it's nice to have this comprehensive collection of information about all the games in the old timelines with Encyclopedia.

I do enjoy having this clean cut created by the 30th Anniversary of Zelda, where everything was coming together once again in these books, before Breath of the Wild created a massive milestone afterwards, essentially starting a new era for Zelda. Well, Breath of the Wild is so expansive, it probably could fill its own book, where there's actually one with Master Works, which will be released in English later this year, also by Dark Horse.

That being said, with a book of this size (328 pages full of information), it is prone to errors. And while it bothers me to have small translation errors here and there, I'm more angered by the fact that the original writers "added their own interpretations and expanded upon the games' stories" seemingly without any supervision. This effectively makes this whole book "non-canon", as thorough as it might have been researched.

Some of these "own interpretations" feel like cheap fan theories, which shouldn't be part of such a book. With Hyrule Historia I was overall fine with what they had established as "facts", but the Encyclopedia went a little bit too far and might even contradict the games at times. I guess, I have to let to sink some of the information in, but here are some larger things of notice:

Oracle of Seasons & Ages in the Timeline

The changed / fixed the timeline placement of Oracles of Seasons & Ages to their own era after Link's Awakening. This is completely fine and it really can go either way. The ending of the Oracle games made it look like they were a prequel to Link's Awakening, where Link sets off in a boat that resembles the one from the intro, where he gets stranded on Koholint. And since Link's Awakening was always said to be a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, Hyrule Historia placed the Oracle games between the two classics.

But, this was always a controversy... Link and Zelda in the Oracle games looks much younger than in A Link to the Past, following the games' main artworks. And when Link and Zelda meet, the dialogues make it sound like they meet for the first time, with Zelda introducing herself. So, this never added up and it's probably a good thing that this was now changed in hindsight.

However, the English version states on page 19 that the hero in the Oracle games is the same one as from A Link to the Past... Which doesn't make any sense at all. Why would they put the games AFTER Link's Awakening, where Link's fate originally always was unknown, if not to make this a story of a new Link? But as far as I know, this is a translation mistake in the English version and the Japanese version states the opposite.

All the timeline diagrams also always put a gap between Link's Awakening and the Oracle games, which symbolizes a jump between different eras, which makes it quite clear that this is supposed to be a new Link and a new Zelda.

Termina Vanished

The Encyclopedia explains that Termina was created by Majora's Mask from the mind of the Skull Kid and that it ceased to exist, after the Hero left... Which doesn't seem to be the case in the game, because we saw the people celebrating, after Link had left. We also saw the Deku Butler mourning for his son in what should have been a part of the Lost Woods... But apparently it was all just another Koholint.

It feels like Nintendo just wanted to shut up the fans asking for another game taking place in Termina, but this kind of kills the mystery surrounding these lands... It does explain, how both Link and the Happy Mask Salesman disappear into thin air at the end of the game. But the thought that you can find your way to Termina through the Lost Woods was always exciting.

Geographical Guesses

Other than the fact that Termina apparently doesn't exist, the book also some controversies about Hyrule and the countries surrounding it.

It treats both Holodrum and Labrynna as some "parallel worlds", while we know that both Zelda and Impa travelled there from Hyrule. Characters from the Oracle games also travel between the two lands, so everything should be connected somehow, but not according to the Encyclopedia...

It doesn't get better with Hytopia, where the book downright states that it lies north of Hyrule, a fact that's coming out of nowhere and has no evidence whatsoever. To make things worse, it formulates the theory that the Northern Hyrule from Zelda II - The Adventure of Link might be, where Hytopia is located, because the people there are so "fashionable". What...?!

At least it acknowledges the fact that the southwest corner of the map from Zelda II is supposed to be the old Hyrule from the first game. But it then tries to make sense out of things by placing the first Hyrule at the foot of Death Mountain from A Link to the Past... I guess, you can see it that way and the Graveyard location does match, but it doesn't explain, how there's suddenly an ocean to the southeast.

So, the book tries to connect similar areas from different eras, where some of these connections are quite questionable. Another example would be Dragon Roost Island, where every fan would have guessed that this is actually Death Mountain from Ocarina of Time. But, no, apparently it's Zora's Fountain, simply because the Zora evolved into the Rito...

If they wanted to theorize about connections like that, they could have used the "Lost Woods" in Oracle of Seasons, where you can find the Master Sword in a Linked Game, as an indication that Holodrum is a neighboring country of Hyrule, instead of deeming it as some parallel world like Lorule.

The Noble Master Four Sword

Apropos Master Sword in the Oracle games... Now, this never made any sense and the Encyclopedia explains it with the Noble Sword receiving the Master Sword's powers. But this doesn't make any sense either, because you never upgrade the Noble Sword, you always get a new sword. And in one case you can even find the Noble or Master Sword on a pedestal in Holodrum's Lost Wood, which is very reminiscent of how you find the Master Sword in A Link to the Past...

At the same time the book states that you can "swap" the Four Sword in Four Swords with the Master Sword by unlocking it in A Link to the Past (page 131)... In reality the Four Sword gains a sword beam akin to the Master Sword, but it doesn't become the Master Sword. The unlockable ability is simply called "Master Sword", but you don't wield the Master Sword in the game. But apparently no one told this the the authors of this book...

Here it would have been correct to say that the Four Sword gained the powers of the Master Sword. The ingame icon for the ability even clearly shows the Four Sword shooting a sword beam, not the Master Sword.

The Dungeon List

The Encyclopedia comes with an extensive "Database" section, where they have a list of "all" the dungeons from all the games. But this one feels rather inconsistent. For starters, they've listed both the Pyramid of Power and the "Mountain Cave" as dungeons in A Link to the Past. Why?

You would think that they are simply being thorough, but it's really an exception. It doesn't list the Maku Path from Oracle of Ages, for example, which at least has a dungeon map screen and is certainly more of a dungeon than some normal caves. How's the "Mountain Cave" any different from other cave complexes in other Zelda games?

In Link's Awakening they list the Southern Face Shrine as a dungeon (that's three rooms), but not the Dream Shrine (that's four rooms). It also doesn't feature the Royal Crypt from The Minish Cap, even though that's an excellent mini-dungeon.

With mini-dungeons it seems to be quite a picky list overall, not featuring the optional ones from the N64 games. It does have the Cave of Ordeals and Cave of Shadows from Twilight Princess, but not the Savage Labyrinth from the Wind Waker, even though those are effectively the same dungeon concepts in the same size.

It lists the "Dark Realm" as a dungeon from Spirit Tracks (it's really not a dungeon, it's just Pac-Man rail tracks), but not the Lost at Sea Station dungeon, which was a huge homage to the Ocean King Temple.

It lists all 32 levels from Tri Force Heroes, plus the Den of Trials, but it doesn't have the Realm of Memories, nor the Hero's Trial from the Four Swords Anniversary Edition. Which leads us to the following point...

Four Swords Anniversary Edition as a Side Note

While the book goes thoroughly through all retail releases of the Zelda series, the enhanced digital-only release of Four Swords for the 25th Anniversary apparently isn't even "canon". It got put on the same page as the BS-X Zelda games, Link's Crossbow Training and the Twilight Princess Picross...

The book is mentioning that this new release has levels based on three past Zelda games, but it doesn't give a name and doesn't mention the Hero's Trial in any form, as if this never existed. It feels like the writers never got to play this version of the game and decided not to bother with it at all. Very disappointing. It would have been nice to read some explanations for both these areas or to at least have their existence acknowledged somehow.

"Minor" Mistakes

While I haven't read everything yet, I've noticed some obvious errors here and there (this list will be updated):

• The timeline page (11) claims that Ganon was part of the story from Four Swords, probably confusing things with Four Swords Adventures. Again, did the authors even play these games? Probably not.
• The Lorule pages (32 and 33) have a caption "Life in Hyrule", despite showing villagers wearing monster masks in Lorule.
• The Item Database lists the "Piece of Power" from Link's Awakening as a "Critical" (= main quest reward) item, while it's just a "Consumable" power-up. Someone probably confused it for the Triforce of Power here.
• ...

Got Zelda Encyclopedia

There it is. Dark Horse's Goddess Collection Trilogy is finally complete and the three books, Hyrule Historia, Arts & Artifacts and Encyclopedia, look very nicely next to each other. Points for consistency! This is also the main reason, why I didn't get the Deluxe Edition, though I liked the normal design better anyway.

But they certainly look nice together in a shelf.

Sadly, Aria Tanner (also known as GlitterBerri) isn't amongst the translators this time. She did a good job with Hyrule Historia and it was always good to know to have an actual fan standing behind the translation.

Anyway, I heard mixed things about the contents already. While the books look very consistent, the contents are not, retconning details from Hyrule Historia's timeline or making up details that sound like but fan theories. Yeah, no...

I will take a look at the book and share some thoughts later on!

Minecraft New 2DS XL Announced

Nintendo really wants you to buy a New Nintendo 2DS XL, it seems. Like the Hylian Shield Edition, the "Creeper Edition" is looking really nice.

I used to be a big Minecraft fan back in the day. It was my most played game between 2012 and 2014 and I don't think any other "modern" game came as close to the iconic cult status of Nintendo as Minecraft did. And the Creeper is surely a front face for that.

But the main reason, why I'm posting this, is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! Such a cooperation makes it even more likely that there might some Minecraft representation in the game, like a stage. I would absolutely love to battle as Link or Samus in the Minecraft world, this would be truly amazing.

Of course there could be more than just that. "Steve" is an often suggested character and the potential is certainly there with the different Minecraft tools and weapons. He could use sword, bow or the pickaxe. He could fire Enderpearls for his Up Special and drop certain blocks as his Down Special. His Final Smash could involve lots of Dynamite or summoning a Wither.

Additionally, the Creeper would be a perfect candidate for an Assist Trophy, who chases one of your opponents and then goes "boom". There is so much potential with Minecraft in Smash, where I can only hope that this will be happening.

Nintendo 3DS Successor?

According to Nintendo's new president, Shuntaro Furukawa, they are considering the possibilities for a successor to the Nintendo 3DS (source). Well, this is only natural and it doesn't necessarily mean that there will be one. There are some pro and cons to this and I can see Nintendo's dilemma.

With the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U we had the issue of both systems cannibalizing each other with many similar games. As Zelda-fans we could basically be happy to have had completely unique experiences on both systems, but otherwise this was a big problem.

And the Nintendo Switch seemed like a solution: combine both handheld and home console in one system, where Nintendo can focus all their efforts, instead of dividing them. and if you can play games like Breath of the Wild on the go and on the big screen alike, why would you even want to invest in a dedicated handheld system? Well, the president says it himself:

The 3DS has certain advantages over the Switch such as ease of purchase and the like.

A major aspect, why Nintendo even might consider a Nintendo 3DS successor at this point, is the kids market, where the Switch might be out of touch. Nintendo 2DS systems were cheap and robust, perfect for younger players. The games were really not that cheap, though. And the kids market heavily shifted towards mobile devices with their simple touch controls and large amounts of free games. Six year olds get a Smartphone for their first day at school these days, not GameBoys.

And Nintendo is already targeting this market with mobile games like Super Mario Run and Mario Kart Tour. Of course the goal here is create awareness for Nintendo's own gaming devices, where you get the big Mario experiences with Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch. A solution might be offering a cheaper handheld-only version of the Switch later in its life time.

But the Nintendo 3DS still has another advantage, which the Switch doesn't have: its dual screen approach, where you can always use a touchscreen for input. You can't use the Switch's touchscreen in its docked mode, so there can't be any games relying on the touchscreen. While many Wii U titles successfully got ported to the Switch, most of them didn't require the touchscreen in the original. But there are games like Super Mario Maker, which really rely on that, where it's currently doubtful whether they get ported or not. And you also have this big library of Nintendo DS and 3DS games, where some games might simply not work on Switch at all.

Well, to be fair, a big part of the games didn't make much use of the two screens anyway. Mostly the second screen was just there for maps and inventories. This is even the case with all the Zelda titles, besides the occasional two-screen boss fight in the two Nintendo DS outings. But even these two games could effectively be ported to Smartphones, if Nintendo ever wanted to bring them back...

And this might even be, what Nintendo's 3DS successor could look like - a Smartphone, where you can attach a controller to play all kinds of games in the Nintendo DS style. You could use it like a normal phone and play some touch-only titles or you could use the controller for more advanced games.

It's not the most revolutionary idea, but it would successfully target today's kids market, while keeping the dual screen approach (as one big screen). They could even offer backwards compatibility to the Nintendo 3DS library, while offering remakes/remasters of the most popular Nintendo DS games. Of course Nintendo would need to partner up with some established Smartphone producer, because you wouldn't want them to produce their own phone UI, where it would be too limited to be a success.

But for now it would certainly be the best, if Nintendo focuses on the Switch and tries to become more familiar with today's mobile market at first.