Localization fears.

[NinjaRygar]

There are a few fears that I have about the localization of the game. Some are probably nothing to worry about.... others.... I don't know....

1) Meta Knight
From what we heard so far, Meta Knight uses his voice from the Hoshi no Kaabii anime. Which is great. I loved his voice in that. In the localization for the anime by 4kids, Meta Knight spoke with a spanish accent. And this is what I fear happening. If Meta Knight actually speaks during win poses or cutscenes... I know he'll have his original japanese voice.... but they'll have no choice but to give him an English voice actor for the localization... probably the one from the anime.
I don't know about you, but I don't like his spanish accent. Call me crazy.... but I don't think it fits. Now, why do I think this is likely to happen?

-Marth and Roy got no localization for their voices, but that was their quirk. That was appropriate for them because Fire Emblem was never released in the US at that point. In other words, it was appropriate for Americans to have no idea what they were saying, because we had no idea who they were! Meta Knight's games have been released here.... and we're all familiar with him. So he would have to have his voice translated.
-HAL labs got 4kids to localize all the voices for their pokemon, including the playable character: Jigglypuff. I have no problems with that at all.... but it shows that if Meta Knight does speak actual lines of dialoge (which we know he's capable of doing).... they'll get 4kids to translate it.

So I'd say there's a good chance of him speaking with a spanish accent in Smash Brothers. You might tell me to just turn the language setting to japanese... but if he speaks in any FMVs, that won't work. Unless Meta Knight doesn't speak at all... and just plays the usual role of a Nintendo character and say nothing. But I know he's capable of speech, so it could happen.

2) Solid Snake
Pretty obvious that Snake should be played by David Hayter. But what if they can't get him for some reason? I'm really surprised they never bothered to translate the trailer for the US site.... could it be that Mr. Hayter is too busy to do voices anymore? It'll probably be him.... because if anybody else does the voice, it just won't feel like Snake at all. They wouldn't let that happen...... would they?
Since Snake has the potential to be Brawl's most talkative character... this is a big concern for me. It won't feel like Snake unless David Hayter does the voice.... and if you've played Metal Gear Solid, I know you agree.

3) Fox (and Falco)
One of the biggest things I disliked about Melee was the lack of localization for Fox and Falco. It's very annoying how they have different voices for their arwing conversations and for their playable appearances. I'm sure if the game wasn't rushed, they wouldn't allow this... but maybe they just don't care?
Starfox 64 was a talkative game... and while Fox hasn't had a consistant US voice actor... it would have still been nice for him to have a localized voice in Smash Brothers.
Falco was even worse. I know they at least bothered to remove his japanese taunt... but why couldn't they give him an appropriate English voice? It just doesn't seem like Falco to us English speaking users... and his taunt is lame. ("heh") Falco's personality is very fleshed out thanks to the Starfox series and it needs to be better represented in Smash Brothers. Don't half ass it this time guys.

I really appreciate the level of detail that's put into Smash Brother's cast... but I get annoyed when some of that detail is lost in the US version. We have nothing to worry about for Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, Wario, and many others, who don't really speak and have had the same consistant voice in both regions.... but it won't be fair if Fox, Falco, Snake or even Meta Knight don't get localized properly. (Though in Meta Knight's case I'm hoping they DON'T).

Those are my fears (so far). I'm sure Pokemon trainer will be handled well (Pokemon characters usually are except for Mewtwo but that didn't bother me too much) and Pit will probably be the Silent Protagonist type that Nintendo is so fond of. I'm not looking to start the whole "English vs Japanese voice argument" that pops up alot when talking about Soul Calibur or any anime in existance... this is Smash Brothers after all. I'm not a Japanese purist or an American purist either... voice quality differs depending on what you're talking about, I just don't want to lose out on this one. Again.

[Flip]

Pit is voiced by the VA from Case Closed (Detective Conan, I believe), so he WILL be talking in some fashion. Apparently Mewtwo, Marth, Roy, and GDorf had famous VAs in Melee as well. Can anybody back me up on this?

Anyways, Meta Knight will keep his Japanese voice. I'm sure about that. He's more of the silent type, regardless.

As for Pokemon Trainer, likely he'll speak with Ash's voice. It'll be annoying, but it'd work I suppose. It's quick and easy.

Fox and Falco in Melee was pure laziness, I agree, but nowhere NEAR as lazy as Luigi. Make Charles Martinet do his goddamn voice this time. Luigi sounds sooo different from Mario. I hated that his grunts and such were just higher pitched Mario noises. THAT'S lazy.

[NinjaRygar]

Well... I'm not really sure about Pit, but I can't see him being a very talkative character. Either way, I'm not too concerned with his voice... as long as they don't make him end every sentence with "-icus" like in Captain N... I'll be fine.

I meant to rant about Luigi as well.... I completely agree with you. I would have mentioned it... but it's not an issue of localization, just pure lazyness. If it happens a 3rd time... I'll be legitmately pissed off. I have faith that Luigi will sound more like he should.... since he's been getting more and more spotlight these days than he was pre-melee.

[TV Eye]

I'm personally against voice acting. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. 4Kids kills all they touch. The voices on Pokemon now are horrendous. Kirby was just a horrible experience (Dedede with a Southern drawl? Who is he, Colonel Sanders?).

I also agree that Meta Knight's Spanish accent was also pretty bad. If they give Pokemon Trainer Ash's voice, they might as well track down the old voice actor. Sure it was a woman doing a boys voice, but you couldn't really tell. Now you can.

[Smashchu]

In all honesty, I could care less. Actually, I liked the voices of the Kirby anime. They seem to fit the characters, with more of a western point of view of course. Dedede's Texas accent(Southwern too, but I saw Texas) is more along the lines of an oil tycone. The idea is to relate him to a some who is rich, but also that is is greedy. Think of the rich texan from the Simpsons. Meta-Kngiths (which I really liked) was to make him mysterious. His voice was more related to that of Zorro. These characters never had anything close to a voice, so deciding one, let alone the right one, is long, hard, and a matter of opinion.

Luigi should have his actual voice. I didn't mind it, but I see what you guys are getting at.

[Spud]

smashchu2 said:

In all honesty, I could care less. Actually, I liked the voices of the Kirby anime. They seem to fit the characters, with more of a western point of view of course. Dedede's Texas accent(Southwern too, but I saw Texas) is more along the lines of an oil tycone. The idea is to relate him to a some who is rich, but also that is is greedy. Think of the rich texan from the Simpsons. Meta-Kngiths (which I really liked) was to make him mysterious. His voice was more related to that of Zorro. These characters never had anything close to a voice, so deciding one, let alone the right one, is long, hard, and a matter of opinion.

Luigi should have his actual voice. I didn't mind it, but I see what you guys are getting at.

I couldn't stand any of them. DeDeDe could be better off with a Midwest accent more similar to hoshii no kaabii. In case you haven't noticed we don't have that many penguins here in Texas. Meta should keep a Japanese voice even in English.

Luigi, needs his real voice. And get rid of that weird winning pose from melee, the one where he looks like a hot dog.

[Deleted]

I think he should keep that pose, Spud. That and Luigi Rocket make him more qwirky and goofy, which is a good thing if you want to make him distinct from Mario so much

[NinjaRygar]

smashchu2 said:

In all honesty, I could care less. Actually, I liked the voices of the Kirby anime. They seem to fit the characters, with more of a western point of view of course. Dedede's Texas accent(Southwern too, but I saw Texas) is more along the lines of an oil tycone. The idea is to relate him to a some who is rich, but also that is is greedy. Think of the rich texan from the Simpsons. Meta-Kngiths (which I really liked) was to make him mysterious. His voice was more related to that of Zorro. These characters never had anything close to a voice, so deciding one, let alone the right one, is long, hard, and a matter of opinion.

Luigi should have his actual voice. I didn't mind it, but I see what you guys are getting at.

Dedede didn't bother me so much, because I can't really imagine what he SHOULD sound like in English. He's an overgrown baby, greedy, and just plain mean. Maybe the Yosemite Sam, Colonel Sanders voice was pushing it a bit though.
I think I would have liked Tim curry do his voice... he's done voices for alot of cartoon villains and always gives them a comical tone to them. Then there's Charlie Adler who can do alot of different voices.

Meta Knight though.... I just.... eh. The actor was fine, but the voice itself couldn't sound serious enough... which I thought was a problem because he was one of the very few serious characters in the show.

As for Luigi... I really hope they improve on him. Smash Brothers Melee Luigi is unlike any of his other appearances. He doesn't act like that in any other games.... goofy/random Luigi needs to dissapear.

[Game Guru]

Well it's a serious issue, but I expect only Fox (voiced by Jim Walker), Solid Snake (voiced by Peter Lurie if not David Hayter), Princess Peach (voiced by Nicole Mills), and Bowser (voiced by Eric Newsome) will be speaking much beyond grunts in Subspace Emissary. Zelda might get an English VA just for the Adventure Mode as well. Everyone else seems like a silent protagonist like Mario, Link, Samus or Pokemon Trainer, or stuck to grunts or their name like Yoshi, Pikachu, Kirby, and Donkey Kong

[Hiker of Games]

Unfortunately Wario and Luigi, while amusing, have really got the poor end of the stick. They don't have their moves based off their games... just designed to be humorous.

[Flip]

masamune said:

Unfortunately Wario and Luigi, while amusing, have really got the poor end of the stick. They don't have their moves based off their games... just designed to be humorous.

Pretty much :/

[Spud]

starfoxroy said:

I think he should keep that pose, Spud. That and Luigi Rocket make him more qwirky and goofy, which is a good thing if you want to make him distinct from Mario so much

The Luigi Rocket's fine but the animation for the Win Pose is just horrible, there is no movement at all any n00b at 3D programming could have done it. It's just pitiful.

[NinjaRygar]

I imagine Pokemon trainer will be a very talkative character in battle... probably saying things like "Squirtle, return!" or "Hang in there Charizard!" and stuff like that. Though I have no real idea... I imagine he won't be totally quiet.
His voice doesn't matter too much to me anyway... as long as it's not too annoying.

Luigi might get a total makeover... or at least that's what I'm hoping. And we still don't know all of Wario's moves... he could have some stuff based off the games. There's still hope for them. I'm really pulling for Luigi though... he deserves better. He acts like a fool in Melee... and that's not like him. He's often made a joke out of in Mario games like Paper Mario and M&L, but never like that. He should act more nervous, and cowardly.. and should HAVE HIS OWN VOICE.
I'm expecting a complete make-over... I hope they don't let me down.

[Dances in Undergarments]

Luigi's moves fit his personality perfectly - he's not a real hero, he's a goofy wannabe. Thats him.

[parrothead]

ninjarygar said:

-Marth and Roy got no localization for their voices, but that was their quirk. That was appropriate for them because Fire Emblem was never released in the US at that point. In other words, it was appropriate for Americans to have no idea what they were saying, because we had no idea who they were!

However, Fire Emblem was first known in America for it's anime that was based on the ones Marth starred in, because the Fire Emblem anime was released in America. And Marth did have an English voice, which he was voiced by Spike Spencer. Even though, Fire Emblem is actually a video game series, Marth's SSBM voice actor, Hikaru Midorikawa, was also his voice actor in the Japanese version of the anime.

I know the anime wasn't (and probably still isn't) really well known in America, but it's just like the comic in the SNES F-ZERO instruction booklet, because many people in America didn't care what the SNES F-ZERO's plot is all about, while most video game and movie rental stores (e.g. Blockbuster Video, Movie Gallery, etc.) threw away the instruction manuals of each game. When Captain Falcon entered the SSB series, many people said "Captain Falcon never did fight in the F-ZERO games before he appeared in the SSB series", which is incorrect.