Top Ten Biggest Surprises

[Koopaul]

We all made predictions before Brawl came out. With Sakurai's blog, there were moments when we weren't surprised to see something put in the game. Where as other times we were like "that was unexpected" and then there were times when the shock just made us shit ourselves.

What are your Top Ten most unexpected things that were in Brawl. They don't have to be from Sakurai's blog, they can even be from the first trailer. Just arrange them from one to ten. One being, "what a surprise" and Ten being "HOLY CRAP"

Here's mine:

10. SAMURAI GOROH AN ASSIST TROPHY:
What, I totally knew he would be a character! No? That was a surprise, he was a perfect character right?

9. OVERALLS WARIO:
I didn't expect to see Wario in another outfit. But when you think about it, it's not that surprising. But still, alternate costumes! Imagine what other characters might have! Alas, only Wario had this feature.

8. ASSIST TROPHIES:
Helpers you could summon on stage? It's been done with Pokemon, so it wasn't that hard to imagine them doing it with other Nintendo characters. But still, I did not see that one coming.

7. STAGE BUILDER:
I had this idea y'know. But I wasn't betting my money on it. I thought there wouldn't be enough time to do something like this, or it would be too complicated. But lo-and-behold!

6. POKEMON TRAINER:
What an unexpected character! never would I have predicted such an addition. Why the very idea of having him a playable character was arguable at that time of prediction. But there he was, packed with all his Pokemon, and the idea was quite clear, and quite clever.

5. FINAL SMASHES:
When Mario first pulled out that Finale, I was dumbstruck. A super-duper special move? How wonderful! I had once dreamed of the idea long ago, but I never thought they'd go through with it.

4. R.O.B:
With ROB already an enemy in Adventure mode I wasn't expecting him to get any more of a role than that. Then I heard the rumor that he was a playable character. It can't be true right? But it was! Wasn't the most pleased with his addition, but it certainly shocked me more than any other character... Almost.

3. SUBSPACE EMISSARY:
Did not expect to see such a dedicated Adventure Mode this time. The cutscenes, the full fledged levels and bosses. When they first teased us with that story mode my mind filled with all sorts of possibilities.

2. THE ANNOUNCEMENT:
I was so shocked and histerical when they showed us that trailer. I honestly wasn't expecting to see such a game that E3, but there it was at the last minute! Almost in tears, I didn't know what to do. What a surprise!

1. THIRD-PARTY INCLUSION:
Who could have guessed Snake was going to be thrown in there? When I first saw that trailer, I was like, "You gotta be freak'n kidding me! This can't be real!" But what was more exciting was that Sakurai said there would be other 3rd Party characters as well.



I didn't add Sonic to my list because after Sakurai announced Third-Parties, I KNEW Sonic would be in. If no one else. I bet all my chips on that one, and won.


So what are yours?

[nocturnal YL]

Here are mine:

10, Removal of Red Shell:
I understand why they killed 7 characters (or 5 or 4) and 21 stages (or 19) out of the last game, but RED SHELLS!? In terms of multiplayer, Brawl is just too easy. And having less item panic does contribute to this.

9, Funky RNG:
You see, having three same Pokémon at the same time isn't quite the thing I expected. This is no Fire Emblem, but random number generation is always something important. And I'm surprised, in a negative way, that the RNG doesn't work well in this game.

8, Assist Trophies:
I used to think Poké Balls are so unfair that they contains only Pokémon. But wasn't able to think of a solution to this. And now here this is.

7, Dragoon:
You see, I didn't expect an item would take you out of the stage and perform non-sidescrolling actions. And that requires collecting. I used to think the HUD couldn't handle that much graphics.

6, Zero Suit Samus:
I just couldn't think of a "second" Metroid character. A generic Space Pirate or a hunter from the DS game, maybe, but I didn't think Zerio Suit Samus would fit in. Zero Mission, after all, was an old game - but not old enough to be called "classic".

5, Supspace Emissiary:
Yeah. A grand-scale subgame with all the cutscenes and whatnot. Remember the weekend we spent speculating what the "This World" thing is supposed to be? Adventure was one option, but we weren't so sure by then.

4, Third party inclusion:
Kind of shocking, so to speak. Although after hearing Sakurai's explanation I just thought this isn't too much of a big news.

3, Final Smash:
Just when I thought all moves are assigned to each and every button, this "new type of attack" pops out.

2, Meta Knight and Dedede. Halberd as well.
Not much of a "big" surprise in terms of expectancy, but these are the reasons for me to bother to buy Brawl. People kept telling me they expect Dedede and I keep counter with "Kirby isn't THAT big to have 3 chcaracters included". I lost. They won. And Sakurai won.

1, The game itself:
Just what Koopaul said. A sudden, unannounced announcement of the game pops out of nowhere. I didn't pay much attention to conferences (by then it wasn't because I didn't bother to, but because I had other things to do), but I remember hearing the news when I thought E3's over.

[Flip]

In no particular order:

The announcement of the game
The original trailer featuring the five new members to the cast
Pit
Snake
Sonic
Stage Builder
My Music/Massive soundtrack
Olimar
Subspace Emissary
Wi-Fi

[Sqrt2]

10: Diddy Kong being playable

9: ROB being playable

8: That Sakurai actually came up with a DK stage that isn't set in the jungle.

7: My Music

6: Olimar being playable

5: That the final boss of the SSE isn't Master Hand

4. Stage Builder

3: Pit playable

2: Mario going from average to sub-par.

1: Fox having yet another clone

[Shrikeswind]

In no particular order...

FLUDD and the Nerfing of Mario
The Entry of Wolf O'Donnel
The Unnecessary Update of June 6
Solid Snake and the Arrival of the Third Party
Dragoon, the Three Part Air Ride Machine
The Incredible Assistance of Samurai Goroh
The Retreat of Weezing and the Legendaries
The Theft of the Armory
The Removal of Score for Style
The Summoning of the Landmasters

I enjoy dramatic titles. =P

[somemannerof]

There were many delightful surprises regarding Brawl (sometimes I'd stay awake for far too long just to catch the next Dojo update) but one thing stands out above all:

Sonic getting in.

I realize most people weren't surprised, but for someone who grew up with a Genesis (I didn't get into Nintendo until the N64), that video that announced him, where he ran up onto the screen, kicked the crap out of a bunch of enemies, and finally closed by doing the classic "finger wag" and speeding off: it all made me feel like a kid again, I was so giddy.

[Arcadenik]

No particular order but...

1. Snake and Sonic, I never expected third party characters... and I was very opposed to Sonic's inclusion even though a part of me knew Sonic would get in after Snake was confirmed

2. Zero Suit Samus, I remember suggesting playing as Samus without her suit just like the "Justin Bailey" password way back when I was posting on Nsider (circa 2003)

3. Pokemon Trainer, I never expected Red would be playable because they never fought and always used their Pokemon to fight - I find it ironic that the very argument against Red's inclusion is exactly how Pokemon Trainer works in Brawl LOL

4. Lucas is in and Ness is still in, especially when I was so sure Ness wouldn't come back after reading what Sakurai said about planning to replace Ness with Lucas in Melee

5. Devil AT, when I saw him I exclaimed "OMG!" - I never expected any Devil World references would be in North America's Brawl when Tamagon's trophy was removed from North America's Melee.

6. Wolf gets in over Krystal and is yet another Fox clone , I was disappointed that Falco was still Fox's clone but when I saw that Wolf is also Fox's clone, I got upset that we don't have a Star Fox character with an original moveset like Krystal could have had - ironically, Wolf became my favorite Star Fox character to play

7. Smashville is in but with no playable Animal Crossing character - when I saw this stage, I was shocked and was so sure that we would have either Tom Nook or at least a human character... but I was disappointed that there's no playable Animal Crossing character but eventually I got over it.

8. R.O.B. is playable, I never expected him to be playable when R.O.B. were confirmed to be some of the Subspace Emissary enemies and I didn't expect that a peripheral would be playable.

9. Toon Link is playable. I was a big supporter of WW Link becoming playable in spite of some people saying cel-shaded graphics won't fit with Brawl's realistic graphics.

10. Mewtwo is removed and replaced with Lucario. I expected Dr. Mario, Pichu, and Roy removed but I also expected Mewtwo to stay because he was one of the most original characters in Melee and I was surprised that Mewtwo got replaced with Lucario.

[Deleted]

Y'all are way to sensitive to the whole "clone" thing. XD At this point it's hardly that so much as characters having similar special moves. Keep in mind that in Melee, the clone characters had a completely identical moveset to their original counterparts set apart only by their power. Even the animations were the same. With Brawl, that has mostly been fixed - only Toon Link and Ganondorf really feel like repeat offenders. Falco, Wolf, Lucas, to an extent Lucario (who people would accuse of being a "clone" of Mewtwo), and Luigi have similar special moves to Fox, Ness, Mewtwo and Mario, but their smash moves are animated differently. To me, the thought of clone characters is passe, because it's not exactly like less effort went into their creation. And nobody give me any of that "Luigified" crap, because that's just people trying to self-justify the fact that Luigi was not a clone like the others, even though he fit the same mold. ;D

That being said, you'll probably find me a hypocrite for my #10 surprise, so pay attention to what I actually post, mmkay? And these, like others have said, are in no particular order.

10// Ganondorf not having his own moveset: While I'm not upset by the fact that he's the same as he was in Melee, since I liked how he was, I had expected him to have a new array of moves involving that giant claymore he lugs around. And to please the Melee!Ganondorf fans, I'd have figured his old moves would be passed onto Black Shadow, who would be a fitting replacement as the Heavy Captain Falcon. It'd be the same thing as Fox becoming a lot lighter and faster from SSB to Melee, and Falco basically becoming the Melee incarnation of everything SSB!Fox had been.

9// On the playable character front: I figure I'll address all my shocks and grievances on the subject in one number here.

* I was surprised that Mewtwo had been cut, since I had expected Pichu to be replaced by a 4Gen Pokemon - which did wind up happening - but I didn't expect Pokemon Trainer to pop up like he did, either. I was kinda upset by it at first, and I wrongly took this frustration out on Lucario (again, he replaced Pichu as the "current generation mascot" player character, while Pokemon Trainer was the "significant 1Gen" character), but right now it's a pretty trivial thing. Especially given how it looks that Mewtwo was pretty close to inclusion anyway and was snipped for the sake of Wolf, who I enjoy enough to make up for Mewtwo's exclusion.

* While the lack of F-Zero love is not a surprise, I kinda figured the franchise would get at least one new character. *shrug*

* Ness coming back after Lucas had been announced; it was a safe bet, since Ness had been on the chopping block on Melee, and at the time I had bought into the whole "clone" thing. So this was a pleasant shock.

* Toon Link, Pokemon Trainer and Olimar are all awesome and came totally out of left field.

* DEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDE ;D

* Snake joining the Brawl was a really huge milestone; while I'd not played a Metal Gear game before and I find them difficult to the point of unplayability now, I still like Snake as a character and how unique they made him as a Brawler. It also broke the unspoken Tabuu taboo of 3rd Party content in the SSB games. But, why Snake and not Sonic? Well, Snake came first and set the precedent; from there, Sonic was a given and all you needed to do was wait for him. It was exciting, but not a surprise.

* On that note, I'd always figured Megaman was a shoe-in...guess not, though ;D Maybe next time!

8// The Subspace Emissary: It was really cool seeing a full, complete story mode where different characters across franchises crossed paths and interacted. I mean, it's sorta a "politics makes strange bedfellows" thing; in an effort to stop Tabuu from drawing the world into Subspace, you get to see awesome things like Falco beating Bowser in a fight, Captain Falcon's flamboyant personality clashing with Olimar's timid one, Dedede, Luigi and Ness - which is an absolutely cracked mish-mush of characters - trekking through subspace to rescue other Brawlers, and Fox, Falco, Snake, Lucario, Shiek and Peach fight off Duon. And did you know that if you neglect picking up any characters in subspace, your end team is Dedede, Luigi, Ness, Bowser, Kirby and Sonic? Again, totally cracked up, totally awesome.

7// My Music: I would have killed for this function in Melee, if it meant I could turn off the Mach Rider music. So being able to customize the songs that play on various stages is the best thing in the world ever, especially given how some of the songs really get under my skin, and how much bias I have towards some more than others. Having that level of control is awesome. I have Dream Chaser, King Dedede's Theme, Molgera Battle and Green Hill Zone cranked all the way to full, while the others are at most set to 20% ;D

But that's not to say there are some musical clunkers...Fever being on Pictochat while Chill is on FlatZone2, and Type A and Type B on Luigi's Mansion...those choices never made much sense to me, but what can you do, I suppose. XD

6// 3rd Party Content: To separate this from what I said above about Snake and Sonic, this came as a complete, FALCON PUNCH!-ing surprise. I mean, a FALCON PUNCH! to Wario's face for extreme jaw dynamics degree of FALCON PUNCH!. Snake being announced opened so many opportunities for Brawl and future installments of the game, and that prospect alone made SSB's potential grow exponentially.

5// Stage Selection: SO. MANY. LEVELS. And the ability to turn them off in random selection is still a blessing; I can't stand the big sprawley levels (New Pork City, Hyrule Temple and Sector Z in SSB) because it's so hard to see what's going on, so hitting the Random Stage button without having to dread winding up on one of the Sprawlers is a nice perk. There were a lot of positive and negative surprises: Mario Circuit, Luigi's Mansion and Port Town were all really exciting when they were announced, while I'm not too fond of some of the new courses and retro arenas (New Pork City and Temple again, Mario Bros., Corneria and Green Greens).

4// Assist Trophies and Bosses: This is the best solution for including a bunch of additional characters that either couldn't be made playable or weren't really worth the effort. A lot of people wanted Ridley, Jeff, Goroh and Gardevoir; they were huge runners in the SSBB poll back in the day, but for the most part they just didn't really have much leeway. (I still think Goroh is the exception to the rule, but again, the lack of F-Zero love is not a surprise). While I think the game could have benefited from more boss characters, since there were a lot of viable choices, their selection is pretty good as it stands.

Also, a lot of the assist trophies have set the stage for the future: if it weren't for Little Mac and Saki, we probably would not have Punch-Out! Wii and Sin & Punishment 2. I'm sure their sales numbers will boost their chances of becoming playable in the future.

3// LANDMASTER. I don't give a rat's ass that all three Star Fox characters use it as their Final Smash; this picture made me absolutely giddy because it looks so AWESOME. I'm just surprised that Peppy didn't jump out and start hollering during certain points of the match, but that's only because I'm so conditioned by the internet. ;D

2// How nice the character models look: One of my biggest gripes with Melee, especially a few years into it, was that all the characters looked too glossy, and how basic their color schemes were. It was like they didn't have enough shading, and the contrast had been set so high that it just looked poor-quality. It's definitely just a limitation of the hardware at the time, but looking at how intricate Brawl's models look, it's something I've really taken into account and appreciated.

1// Potential for future installments: Man, Brawl just opened so many doors; I can't wait to see where the franchise goes in the future. This game will certainly keep me occupied in the meanwhile, though. My hope is that the next SSB game will not only have heaps of new content, but will also serve as an anthology for all the games to come before; this includes all cut characters, as well as the stages and music from past games. One can dream.

// And the runner-up: "SAKURAIIIIIIIII": Shut the fuck up you whiny fanboys. (Not you guys, my fellow NinDBers. This is more fo a blanket statement to the group in question.) It's almost like you'd rather not have the game at all

[ness13]

10- Why does everybody pick there best character as sonic even if they dont know how to use him
9- Why the heck do wolf,fox,falco/link,toon link have the same final smash
8- Drowning at Pirate Ship
7- Pokemon Trainer only character worth cutting for next game
6- HD comes in the best on Pikmin stage
5- Isaac as a Assist Trophy not as character
4- Mike song in Japanese
3- To Many Stickers
2- Lucario Sucking
1- Electoplankton Stage

[TV Eye]

Apr 6, 2009 12:32:49 GMT -5 ness13 said:

7- Pokemon Trainer only character worth cutting for next game

What, what WHAT?!

[Spud]

Apr 6, 2009 13:12:23 GMT -5 TV Eye said:

Apr 6, 2009 12:32:49 GMT -5 ness13 said:

7- Pokemon Trainer only character worth cutting for next game

What, what WHAT?!

Yeah, I didn't get much from that either.

[Deleted]

Apr 6, 2009 12:32:49 GMT -5 ness13 said:

10- Why does everybody pick there best character as sonic even if they dont know how to use him
9- Why the heck do wolf,fox,falco/link,toon link have the same final smash
8- Drowning at Pirate Ship
7- Pokemon Trainer only character worth cutting for next game
6- HD comes in the best on Pikmin stage
5- Isaac as a Assist Trophy not as character
4- Mike song in Japanese
3- To Many Stickers
2- Lucario Sucking
1- Electoplankton Stage

Mar 30, 2009 10:38:29 GMT -5 @sgtmajorkururu said:

// And the runner-up: "SAKURAIIIIIIIII": Shut the fuck up you whiny fanboys. (Not you guys, my fellow NinDBers. This is more fo a blanket statement to the group in question.) It's almost like you'd rather not have the game at all

Sorry, it needed saying ;D

[Arcadenik]

LOL its top ten biggest surprises, not top ten biggest complaints.

[Shrikeswind]

Although that's not to say that you can't be negatively surprised, but #10, #9, #7, #6, #5, and #2 don't look like you were surprised so much as complaining, ness.

And to ensure I don't sound like I'm being a hypocrite, I was actually surprised on June 6. My reasoning can be summed up in three words: "That was it?"

[Arcadenik]

June 6? Was it the "you must recover" update or something?