**Sorry for the delay to the series. I'll make it up over the weekend. Been drinking too much lately.**

Here, as promised, is the fifteenth portion (including my review and bonus characters) of my in-depth Super Smash Bros. Brawl critique for Rorschach’s contest.

After writing this all out, I realized it is way too long for a single post. I’ll break it down into two characters at a time and release them over the course of the week so you can read who you like at your own leisure.

The following will detail my impressions and thoughts of every character in the second row of the final roster, two at a time. So, if you haven’t finished unlocking the entire roster, or have been living under a fucking rock for a couple months, don’t read any further. There may be a surprise or two mentioned herein. I’ll also offer up one or two suggestions for additional characters that I feel should have made the roster or deserve a spot in the next iteration. Enjoy.

King Dedede

I have been pleasantly surprised by King Dedede. While I don’t play with him too often, he’s a fun heavy to devote some time to. Being a heavy with such great jump/recovery ability sets him apart from the start. The fact he’s still a solid heavy hitter to boot is simply icing on the cake.


King Dedede.

Seeing as I haven’t played a Kirby game in years, I didn’t realize Dedede would have the same great jumping ability that Kirby has (or at least comparably so) because I didn’t know the character all that well. This was a nice surprise for me when I played with him the first time. On top of the best jump ability for a heavy, he also has a decent Up+B recovery move that manages to launch him pretty high vertically, which is great (not to mention it does some pretty good damage if you use it as an attack). It’s nice to have a heavy that’s as adept at staying in the fight as Dedede is.

The rest of his arsenal consists of a lamer version of Kirby’s swallow (neutral B) that doesn’t copy moves, but then again that’s more due to the character than anything else. A decent distance attack utilizing those little waddle dee things (Over+B) that can sometimes spawn an electrocuting dee or a big spikey one for some random damage fun.

My personal favorite is his Down+B rocket hammer swing, which can be charged for some pretty serious damage. There’s nothing like having a hammer to hit people in the face with when fighting. Unless that hammer is powered by a jet engine.


King of dededes.

The rest of Dedede’s standard A attacks consist of a series of hammer smashes and body check-type maneuvers, utilizing his massive size (much like his Up+B). His Smash Down+A spinning hammer attack is excellent decent for dealing crowd damage in a close quarters battle and can really clear out an area. It’s arguably spammable, but the need to really charge the smash to get the best use out of it kinda nerfs that idea. All in all, I like a guy that knows how to throw his weight around and get results.

The one thing I dislike about King Dedede is his Final Smash, wherein a fast-moving army of his little waddle dee followers floods the play area and rushes past everyone dealing some decent damage. Spikey thing are thrown in for extra damage potential, too. Theoretically the flood of dees is potentially devastating, but the randomness in it makes it less of a sure fire move than some other better FSs. Again, I don’t know the character well enough to come up with an alternative, so I just figure it’s the dev’s way of balancing out his other awesome qualities like jumping and hammer smacking.

King Dedede = Win. He’s one of the most unique heavies in the game and deserves some play time. He sometimes doesn’t have the all out power and finesse of other heavies (arguably such as Ike) but his unique ability to be a quality airborne fighter is unique to heavies and thus he deserves his roster spot.

Wolf

Not much can be said for Wolf that can’t be gleamed from playing with Fox or Flaco. He’s the third Star Fox clone, which is apparently a series without any unique characters whatsoever, since they all use the same basic movesets. Sure, his hits maybe timed differently or do varying levels of damage in comparison, but I always find myself using the Star Fox characters in essentially the same manner. In this way, Wolf just isn’t my first choice.


The Wolf.

Due to this fact, I prefer Falco way before Wolf. I do, however, like Wolf more than Fox simply because of my general distaste for speed-based characters. Wolf manages to slow down the moveset and do a little extra damage here and there, which is essentially more my play style.

His short-range damage pistol (neutral B) can stun opponents close enough to the claw on the end and then fire a solid shot which does most of its damage up close. This works almost like a shotgun blast, where it’s best to fire off at close range. I like shotguns. Therefore I like this move, haha.


Hungry like the wolf.

The other biggest change I’ve noticed is his Over+B dash attack goes at an upward angle and can deliver a nasty blow at the end when timed perfectly. I’ve only done it a few times properly, but it’s a good solid move. The fact it can also be used as a quicker recovery move if need be adds a layer of effectiveness to it that Falco and Fox lack.

His Down+B reflection move can be used like a mix between Falco and Fox’s reflector as well as Marth and Ike’s counter moves. Using it normally reflects like normal. But, if it’s timed right and an enemy attacks at close range as you use it you can stun them in a counter-type move. Decent enough, I just don’t find myself using it that often.

Wolf’s Final Smash is my least favorite of the Star Fox characters simply because it doesn’t last as long. It’s harder to pull of my dick maneuver of pushing people who land on the tank off the top of the screen. Technically I hear it’s more agile and powerful, but I never fire the cannon, instead preferring to jump up with it. Since it lasts a shorter amount of time I find it less effective. That may just be me, though.

Wolf = Win. The fact he’s better than his chief rival Fox is good enough to earn him a win. However, I simply feel as though at least ONE of the Star Fox characters deserves a unique moveset. Since I think Wolf SHOULD be Fox’s mirror image almost (he essentially is anyway) his copied moveset kinda makes sense. If they don’t decide to update Falco’s moveset next time, though, I don’t know if Wolf deserves another spot. We don’t need three such similar characters. Change one or get rid of one. Please.

Thanks for reading. Come back tomorrow for the critique of Lucario and Ness!

Or read my review of the game!

Or, if you need to catch up on old critiques try these:

Mario and DK
Link and Samus
Kirby and Fox
Pikachu and Marth
Mr Game & Watch
Luigi and Diddy Kong
Zelda/Sheik and Pit
Meta Knight and Falco
Pokemon Trainer
Ike and Snake
Peach and Yoshi
Ganondorf and Ice Climbers

And my bonus characters who should have made the roster:

Mega Man
Bomberman

Thanks for reading!