Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 17:36:53 GMT -5
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[/size]That's right. This thread is wizzleing metal. And it's about F-Zero in Brawl! Who better to head this up than a humongous F-Zero nerd? That's right, I rock.
So...we don't have much to work with yet! The only solid, solid proof we have of anything is Samurai Goroh as an Assist Trophy. Captain Falcon is the only remaining Melee starter aside from Ness we haven't seen on the DOJO as a Playable Character (PC) yet, and there have been no F-Zero music, level or item updates.
But with Goroh overlooked--and Goroh being the second most notable F-Zero racer after Falcon himself--this means, if we're gonna see another playable F-Zero character at all, we'll have to look elsewhere.
Playability in Smash Bros. games seems to ride on a few key factors:
- The character in question must be combat ready
- The character in question must be relevant to the franchise he/she represents
- The character must be interesting to make or use
With these factors in mind, I'll take the forty-plus F-Zero characters from the main roster and boil it down to a select few who have a chance to make it. Note: I am only including racers that come from the main installments of the series (F-Zero, F-Zero X, F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX). (And no, Rick Wheeler doesn't count. He originates from the anime, so there's no reason to give him a chance. That'd be like putting in those yellow-n-green kids from the Kirby anime. Or Oogtar.) In numerical order, they are:
00// Deathborn
01// Mighty Gazelle
02// Jody Summer
03// Dr. Stewart
04// Baba
05//
06// Pico
07//
08// Octoman
09// Mr. EAD
10// James McCloud
11// Billy
12// Kate Allen
13// Zoda
14// Jack Levin
15// Bio-Rex
16// The Skull
17// Antonio Guster
18// Beastman
19// Leon
20// Super Arrow
21// Mrs. Arrow
22// Gomar & Shioh
23// Silver Neelson
24// Michael Chain
25// Blood Falcon
26// John Tanaka
27// Draq
28// Roger Buster
29// Dr. Clash
30// Black Shadow
31// Don Genie
32// Digi-Boy
33// Dai San Gen
34// Spade
35// Daigoroh
36// Princia
37// Lily
38// PJ
39// QQQ
40// Phoenix
Starting with the most basic property listed above, combat-readiness, we can eliminate several from the list right away: Dr. Stewart, Mr. EAD, Kate Allen, Jack Levin, The Skull, Leon, Gomar & Shioh, Silver Neelson, Roger Buster, Dr. Clash, Don Genie, Digi-Boy, Princia, PJ and QQQ all fall victim to just not being good fighters to begin with.
From here, we eliminate characters that are irrelevant to F-Zero as a whole; since SSB is supposed to be the Cream of the Crop when it comes to playables, you can't expect characters like Birdo or Zant to make the cut. So joining the characters above, the following just don't have enough baring on the F-Zero franchise to be worth looking into: Baba, Octoman, James McCloud, Billy, Zoda, Bio-Rex, Antonio Guster, Beastman, Super Arrow, Mrs. Arrow, Michael Chain, John Tanaka, Draq, Dai San Gen, Spade and Lily.
With the above cuts in mind, there are only a handful of characters left that could be regarded as potential playable characters. All that's left now are Deathborn, Mighty Gazelle, Jodi Summer, Pico, Blood Falcon, Black Shadow, Daigoroh and Phoenix. But from here, things only get murkier--because what makes a character interesting can't be as easily called as combat-readiness and relevance. Here's where I'll look deeper into the remaining characters to bes gauge their standings.
Deathborn: Supposedly the ultimate evil in the world of F-Zero, Deathborn is a heavyweight whose body is mostly robotic--a side-effect of reviving himself from death three times, wherein he trades biological body parts for mechanical ones. Serving as Black Shadow's superior and with probably the best car name in any F-Zero game--Dark Schneider--Deathborn intends to conquer the universe. However, very little is known about how he performs in combat, as his only known attack is to teleport himself or others.
Mighty Gazelle: Like Deathborn, the Gazelle was once a normal human who lost most of his body to mechanical parts. Being the most severely injured during an F-Zero Grand Prix that takes place between F-Zero and F-Zero X, he's revived as a cyborg thanks to Dr. Stewart. However, also like Deathborn, little is known about his means of attacking. Despite this, his body is shown to be less constricted than Deathborn's, with his limbs being able to move more freely, giving way to what could be a potentially interesting fighting style that might be remeniscent of Sukapon. He also apparently has the ability to transform...into a scooter. He's one of F-Zero's "Big Six" racers--the most important and recognized of the entire group, listed near the top of character select screens--alongside the original four and Jody Summer.
Jody Summer: A cop aligned with the Galactic Space Federation, Jody seems to share some kind of bond with Captain Falcon--but whether this is romantic or platonic is never mentioned. While as little about her personal fighting methods are known about her as the previous two racers, one could easily infer a rigid, almost militaristic style of fighting unseen by any other fighter due to her association with the GSF. She, like Gazelle, is one of the F-Zero "Big Six." She's also got the edge of being a ladytype, which might give her more points.
Pico: One of the "Big Six" and one of the four original racers, the turtle-like Pico is a renowned assassin who is as vicious as he his calculating. Said to be reckless and clever all at once, he would truly bring the "brawl" into Brawl, utilizing his twin pistols on occasion to blast down anyone in his way. He also was the cause for the large accident that nearly cost Mighty Gazelle his life.
Blood Falcon: Unfortunately, Blood Falcon has nothing going for him so far as interest goes. He is literally "the evil Captain Falcon"--he's done nothing to show otherwise. Since Brawl characters seem to have an "evil" color scheme now, it's likely Blood Falcon will remain as an alternate costume to the good Captain.
Black Shadow: Captain Falcon's chief rival after Samurai Goroh, Black Shadow's evilness is only outdone by Deathborn. A mountain of a man that dabbles in dark sciences, he created Blood Falcon for the soul purpose of antagonizing Captain Falcon. However even less can be inferred from his fighting style than from Deathborn, Gazelle or Jody, leaving him with little to work with.
Daigoroh: Daigoroh barely makes the cut past "relevant" due to being Samurai Goroh's son; this devil-child prodigy has been shown to have greater potential than his father in both racing and swordplay. With these in mind--and the fact that he is described as a "wild child" in his GX profile--Daigoroh seems like a safe bet in regards to playability. Perhaps what SEGA started is only being carried on by Nintendo, with Daigoroh growing to surpass his father. Also, he would be a representative of F-Zero GX, and is kind of a villain.
Phoenix: Like Daigoroh, Phoenix barely makes it past "relevant" due to the interesting scraps in his GX profile. Hailing from the current timeline's future, Phoenix is a policeman who was sent to the present in order to prevent an accident at an upcoming F-Zero race from re-writing time itself. Shown to have an uppercut move embued with whirlwind powers, Phoenix acts very much like a Super Sentai/Power Ranger...moreso than Captain Falcon, even.
Now, if I were a betting man...well, I'd say rooting for Black Shadow over the last few months was actually pretty dumb. Pico and Daigoroh actually look like the most promising candidates; however, with Samurai Goroh out of the picture, I doubt Pico himself would be worth keeping around as playable. So my best guess is that Daigoroh would be the one to be playable, if anyone else.[/color]
