Super Smash Bros.: A Retrospective Part VI: An Ultimatum

No need for a summary of the two year gap. Short version:
-I was mad
-I was pissed
-Fuck you
-I wasted money on that DLC
-Bleh

At that moment, I made it a rule not to buy an NX (Now the Switch) until I saw a new DKC title. Porting Tropical Freeze wasn't gonna cut it. E3 2017 showed nothing, business as usual, went on with life.

Fast forward to March 2018, a direct aired with the usual fare. Then this happened.

I was watching it late and went back to the beginning but midway the feed cut off and the Direct site broke the games into segments. So I was spoiled. Oh well. Everyone else was shitting themselves silly and dissecting the trailer. This also counts for the Inkling trailer as well. Big surprise there. On that note, Splatoon was a great game and proved you can do a new IP and have it become a major success if you just gave it the right amount of marketing. One IP I wanted them to market was Chibi-Robo. Don't you think that Chibi-Robo could have benefited from the Smash promotion better than Corrin?

Seems like it.

Fast forward to E3 2018, and this pops up halfway in Nintendo's presentation:

The fighters were shown by their number instead of just their series, Mario first and so on. Link now showcased his Breath of the Wild attire, also hinted at in the first teaser. Zelda also had a redesign, using a mix of her designs from A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds. Ganondorf had his Ocarina of Time design once more and Sheik pulled from Breath of the Wild's Sheikah outfit. A good way to show all of Zelda's games and not worry about a cohesive unification of designs.


But what started to sell me to the game was right after Pikachu appeared: The Ice Climbers returned after their unfortunate absence. Hooray. But wait, Pokemon Trainer too! But right after Cloud showed up, this appeared.

The one who started this whole mess.

Which meant exactly what it said: Everyone returned. EVERYONE. Pichu, Young Link, even Wolf. At fucking last. Seven years ago I called it and it happened. The mural at the end signified how I felt about this:

You see who else is there? One at a time. With some general rundowns on stuff we finally get to something new: Around the fifteen minute mark, we get to the most controversial part of Smash For: The desserts. Now labeled as Echo Fighters™. Suddenly, everyone was lapping them up and asking for more, the filthy slobs. But then comes the Assist Trophies. You can KO them and gain a point. And look who popped up.

Add insult to injury, his original designer died a day before.

Motherfucker. This was one of my picks way back in Brawl's day. Along with a few others at the time, this was looking a little bleak. Sukapon was also a hopeful rep now pushed to the corner. And to top things off, because everyone returned, this meant the amount of newcomers was low. Not good.


BUT THEN

Fucking Ridley. Hot damn. Mr. Never Ever himself. Now a fighter. Seems Sakurai had to go back on his word. Good. Serves him right. The internet exploded, the Smash Idiots now having lost their punching bag and the fans of the character enjoying a victory for once. I was excited for them as well, and for one good reason.

A brother from another mother, Ridley fans and K. Rool fans banded together when everyone was stepping on their feet and necks and finally after a four-year battle, one of our guys got in. So, what did that mean for the other? Well, everyone was mad and needed a new target to hit. So, who else but the next never ever after Ridley himself? It didn't help that Retro's Donkey Kong Country titles excluded the Kremlings and K. Rool and that Smash Run brought two of the Kremling drones back. It was pretty damning to say the least. But a year before Ultimate, Super Mario Odyssey had some streets and avenues named after characters from the DKC games, K. Rool having his own street as KROOL St. Cute, Mario gets to point out the king but not Tropical Freeze.

I stayed pessimistic and negative because I wasn't going to be stung again. I played with fire twice and I'm not going to be burned again. So fast forward to August and Sakurai gives a tweet. He mentions his eyes are red and at the night before the direct, someone made a mistake and called the Galaga Medley posted then as Bloody Tears, a track known from the Castlevania series. There was also a user from Gamefaqs called Vergeben at the time who 'leaked' Simon Belmont as a new character in Ultimate. Yawn. So, comes the day of reckoning.

In the beginning, we see the cinematic, confirming Simon Belmont as he appears in Dracula's Castle with Luigi running from the monsters within. Shocking. He appears and showcases his moves and suddenly midway comes Richter Belmont from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood as Simon's echo fighter. Or in this case, Simon is his echo fighter. Who knows. I get why Simon was added and my brother did play Castlevania back in the day. So, fair enough. The gate can't be closed anyway. Next, we get more echo fighters...and it's another fucking Fire Emblem character.

The only good thing about that segment.

But next, came Dark Samus. While a good pick, it doesn't get to use any of its phazon moves. Echoes are definitely a step down from the clones in Melee. Speed, power, range, there were clear differences in their stats. Here, you get one or two minor changes and that's it. And you can even stack them if they bother you that much. Next, they showed off some stages and finally the one stage I come to love just for that oh-so catchy theme: New Donk City. Some of the 3DS stages like Magicant come back better than ever. I really hated the split from both the Wii U game and 3DS. Stage Morph is also interesting and can be used with ALL stages, same with eight-player Smash, a niggling little nitpick I had with the last game.

Then came some Pokemon (Shout out to Ditto) and assist trophies once more.

I had a nice chortle when I saw this. But then this showed up:

A massive sight of relief, but also a very damning hint of what was to come. And also, Rathalos from Monster Hunter was both a boss and an assist. And the Moon from Majora's Mask. A would-be hint?

Tsk.

So the direct ended with a teaser for what would be a singleplayer mode. And then it closes out.





Alright, enough of the bullshit. You know what's coming. So let's break it down. The rumbles right when he closed out confused the fuck out of me.

Then came the montage of characters. Okay. What's going on here?




Then DK's mouth appeared.

I couldn't believe it. I was literally clutched like a kid at a candy store. The rumbles made me think, this is it. Then the silhouette appeared.

Yep, that's him.

But not before a brief stint of Dedede taunting and laughing, a very meta representation of Smash and the overall process of things leading up to this point. And then....

Victory.

We finally came home. A decade of despair and obscurity came to an end. The biggest request for Smash at the time finally made it. I was screaming and shouting with joy the entire time. I still smile to this day seeing the trailer.

I really didn't know what was going on, but a rewatch showcased it all:
-The montage of 'rivals'
-The Klaptrap being one of King K. Rool's lowly minions, perfect for the Assist Trophy lineup
-The DKC music playing and the little skit with the Banana Gun

And how about Dedede? Literally Sakurai getting one last laugh before adding a character he probably didn't want to add in, but knew and saw the overwhelmingly large support he garnered. But even then, Sakurai tries to keep true to the details of the characters on the roster:

Man, look at him. He just oozes personality but that animal dash, a nice contrast to Donkey Kong himself. And while you can't really see it, he does have a tail. And to top it off, a theory I had about the original design was just that: His golden 'belly' was actually armor. Here, you also have a mix of the Rare design and the Paon design. But the best part about this reveal:

Look at that detail, his armor is blemished, his cape is tattered, he's got scars from countless battles, the dude made one of the biggest comebacks of the year, all in two minutes of camera time. Everyone was going apeshit over this. EVERYONE. You couldn't not like it. Two fandoms got their character and laughed at everyone who doubted them. It was a great feeling. And plus, this awful render can be put to rest.

Two years of looking at this shit. Ugh.

But back to K. Rool, his moveset is everything I hoped it to be: Helicopter pack, yes. Blunderbuss, yes. Crown throw, yes.

A counter? Why? Some say it's to showcase how in Donkey Kong Country, you couldn't roll into him and you couldn't jump on him until he threw the crown. Well, okay. I came back to my old home at the DKVine and everyone was of course excited. I was more or less sold on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and yes, I was going to skip the game and NOT buy a Switch if King K. Rool didn't get in. I'm only playing Ultimate out of obligation and yes, Smash is fun but the disproportionate representation of certain series turned me off. I make it a rule to play as him almost every other time because I wanted him that bad. And the fact that it took a suggestion box to get him in says a lot.

"I referred to the Smash Ballot when selecting characters this time, and King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong series was one who received a ton of votes."

Sweet justice. Bayonetta* was the ballot winner, my ass. As with all newcomers, King K. Rool got a surge of art and a lot of bandwagoners too, but that's okay. I'm glad he can enjoy his newfound glory with Bowser and Ganondorf and people especially now with the game's release see him for what he is. And on that note, the next part of this retrospective will put things into perspective. With K. Rool in, things can only get better, right?

Right???