Super Smash Bros. Roster Outlook Part 4

In part four of our look at the new Super Smash Bros. we delve into three returning characters.

While the information on the new Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS trickles in, we already know a large portion of the roster. With 29 characters revealed at this point, we split this feature into multiple parts and cover what we know about each character as we inch closer to the release of the new Smash Bros. game. Take a look at part one, two, and three, as well as in-depth looks at Mega Man and Little Mac if you haven’t already. This part of the feature covers the returning characters who saw significant change.

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Captain Olimar

Most of the returning characters in the new Smash Brothers game have seen very little change from their previous incarnations. However, Captain Olimar and his Pikmin are one of the few characters to see some changes. Not only will he need to be played differently now, some of the changes are fairly negative. For a character who was very strong in Brawl, some Olimar players are rightfully worried about how the character will fair against the rest of the cast now that he’s been nerfed.

The biggest change to the Captain is that he can only have three Pikmin out at a time. In Brawl, he was able to have up to six Pikmin out at a time. To help compensate for this reduction, the Pikmin are now pulled out in a specific order (red > yellow > blue > white > purple > red). In Brawl, the Pikmin that Olimar pulled were random aside from a higher chance of getting certain Pikmin when plucked on specific terrain. Now that Olimar players will know which Pikmin will be plucked next, it’s much easier to obtain the best Pikmin for the situation, and better strategies can be developed.

Olimar’s last big change is his recovery special. Instead of a Pikmin rope, he now uses winged Pikmin to hover back to land. While at first this would seem like an improvement, the number of Pikmin Olimar is currently using will weigh him down during the recovery. If he has all three Pikmin, it’s far more difficult for Olimar to move vertically and get back to land. Because of this, it’s best to dispose of all Pikmin as soon as you activate his recovery, which means you’ll be virtually defenseless when you reach land.

Pit

Pit is one of the few returning characters to see considerable change. Most of the changes made to Pit’s arsenal will impact high-level tournament play more so than casual free-for-all play, but everyone will have to play Pit a bit differently now. First and foremost, Pit’s up special has been changed so he can no longer glide. At a casual level this may not be all that drastic, but for competitive players, this means “wingdashing” (an advanced movement option for Pit), is now completely gone. This will likely have a drastic impact on Pit’s overall mobility in the new game.

To help make up for the nerf, Pit gained a dashing uppercut that has at least one hit of super armor. This means that Pit can go through an opposing player’s attack and still execute the dashing uppercut. Any time a character has an attack with super armor, it forces opponents to play more cautiously because at any point in time, Pit could blast through an attack. At the same time, smart opponents can bait the super armor attack, evade it and punish accordingly. At the very least, this adds a new mind game to Pit’s strategic play.

Pit’s new recovery attack seems to be one of the best in the game, as he covers quite a bit of distance with it. However, he lost the extended range of his arrow projectile attack. It no longer reaches all the way across the smaller stages. But even with various downgrades, a few of Pit’s attacks have better speed, and the super armor alone should really mix things up.

Zero Suit Samus

While you could always start a match as Zero Suit Samus instead of normal Samus, in the past, Samus would transform into Zero Suit Samus after using her Final Smash. Now it’s been changed, as all character transformations were removed from the new Smash Brothers game. This means when you pick Samus, you will play as her for the entire match, and Zero Suit Samus has her own character select box to make her easily selectable.

In the past, Zero Suit Samus has been a bit weaker in terms of overall power. The developers went out of their way to increase her damage, and one of the ways they’re doing this is with the addition of jet boots. This changes a good number of her attacks to give them more power and speed, which makes her one of the most significantly changed returning characters (from a normal attack standpoint). Her Plasma Whip remains the same, but her recovery seems to be improved and she even has an attack that works as a reflector. At least that’s what it looks like from the footage we’ve seen. Hopefully we’ll get a better look at the new Zero Suit Samus at E3.


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Author
Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.