James’ 7 Dream Super Smash Bros. Fighters

Even if you’ve never enjoyed or even played a Super Smash Bros. game, you’ve likely got an opinion of which characters from gaming history should be included in the franchise-crossing fighter. Given the series’ status as a museum piece for Nintendo and gaming’s past (well, Japanese gaming’s past, at least), it practically demands debate over who should be included, even if it’s just to have adequate representation of an important game series or company.

As someone who has sunk hundreds of hours into the Smash series, Nintendo’s numerous franchises, and video games in general, I’ve been mentally curating a dream list of potential playable characters for years. Given that Nintendo has opened up a ballot for players to make suggestions on the inclusion of future fighters, now seems to be the perfect time to share my extremely nerdy (but very well reasoned) dream picks.

Blaze Fielding (Streets of Rage)

The side-scrolling beat-em-up was one of the most popular genres of all in the late 80s and early 90s so it’s a bit odd that it’s never really had any representation in Smash. With Nintendo already in bed with Sega, why not bring over someone from the Sonic factory’s signature brawler trilogy, Streets of Rage. Blaze was always my favourite character to play as in the series and is substantially more unique than the main protagonist Axel who was always an obvious clone of Final Fight’s Cody. Her athleticism and potential arsenal of weapons would make her a great fit for Smash, so if I had to pick one character from the series to be in Smash, it’d be her. The inclusion of a stage inspired by the games featuring some of Yuzo Koshiro’s legendary music would also be killer.

Potential Final Smash: Calling in a barrage of destruction from a police car as in the original Streets of Rage, or summoning Axel, Skate and company for some sort of team combo against her opponents.

Simon Belmont (Castlevania)

I’m not even a fan of the series but it feels almost imperative to have some sort of Castlevania representation in Smash Bros. going forward. Much revered in the 2D platforming space, almost like a cousin to Nintendo’s Metroid series, and synonymous for many with the 8 and 16-bit eras, it makes complete sense to bring one of its heroes to Smash. The Big N has previously worked with Konami to include Metal Gear’s Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so another collaboration seems feasible. The original Castlevania hero Simon Belmont and his signature whip would be an ideal choice and would perfectly accompany existing NES-era legends like Mega Man, Pit and Mario.

Potential Final Smash: Not sure on this one as, again, I’m not a Castlevania expert. Maybe summon in other members of the Belmont clan to whip his opponents good.

Ganon (The Legend of Zelda)

I know what you’re thinking and no, I didn’t forget that a form of this guy is already in Smash. That’s Ganondorf, the humanoid guise that The Legend of Zelda’s arch villain has mostly been seen as since 1998’s Ocarina of Time. I want to see him in his classic monstrous form; the hulking, bipedal pig-like beast that usually wields a giant trident. How much more epic would that be compared to the boring, bleached Captain Falcon clone that we have now?

Potential Final Smash: This is a tough call. He could either wield the Triforce of Power in a similar way that Link uses the Triforce in Courage in his Final Smash, or he could have use one of the many magic-based attacks seen in A Link to the Past or the original Zelda.

Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)

Out of all my dream picks, this is the one that’s the least likely to come true given how Nintendo would likely go against working with the American-based EA after the latter ostensibly turned its nose up at the former’s current platforms. A guy can dream though. Commander Shepard could come in the male and fem Shep varieties similar to Robin and other existing gender-swappable Smash characters and wield a range of moves from across the different available classes from the Mass Effect trilogy.

Potential Final Smash: An orbital bombardment from the Normandy, that charge-up melee move from Mass Effect 3, or perhaps a devastating biotic attack.

Chrono (Chrono Trigger)

If only one of Square Enix’s characters could make it into Smash as a playable fighter, most people would undoubtedly (and sadly) vote for Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife. However, my primary pick from Square’s back catalogue would be for Chrono Trigger’s mute protagonist, and not just because his game is far superior than FF VII (come at me, Internet). Chrono has a large pool of sword and magic-based moves to draw from, especially if you consider his double and triple tech team-up moves.

Potential Final Smash: Chrono could summon in the likes of Marle and Frog to launch a triple tech, fire off the nuke-like Luminare attack, or jump in the Epoch time ship and crash through his foes.

Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog)

While most people will acknowledge that Sega has sullied the Sonic franchise and everything associated with it since its 16-bit glory days, I’ve still got to put in a vote for a second character from the series. Blast me for my loyalty to a no-longer relevant series if you want, but you’ve got to admit that Knuckles makes sense as a Smash Bros fighter, even more so than the blue blur himself. His signature feature is his large, freakishly shaped fists which he uses to bash opponents and smash down walls. His move list almost creates itself from that alone.

Potential Final Smash: Although Sonic’s Final Smash sees him turning into the ‘super’ form, as the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds in series lore it makes sense that Knuckles would also do the same and fly through foes. Not very imaginative, but whatever.

A non-sword-based character (Fire Emblem)

Some people have bemoaned the fact there are four playable Fire Emblem characters in the latest Smash Bros., largely because they don’t regard the series as a top-tier one. To those people, I say it’s about time that the strategy-RPG franchise received such recognition given that it’s one of Nintendo’s oldest and best series. In fact, I want to see at least one more Fire Emblem character included in Smash, but someone vastly different from the mostly Marth clones we’ve had so far. We’ve got a magical-wielding class now through Robin, so how about a hulking armoured knight, a horseback unit, or even a pegasus knight? I’d love a character from an unrepresented fan favourite entry to be used, such as Sigurd from the SNES Fire Emblem 4, but it’s more likely that we’ll get someone from the upcoming 3DS game.

Potential Final Smash: That depends on the character class the chosen character belongs to, but if it’s a pegasus knight they could summon two fellow mounted riders units to do initiate the fabled Triangle Attack.