Here, as promised, is the twenty first 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 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.

Jigglypuff

No.



Jigglypuff = Epic Fail.

Lucas

Lucas is the Mother/Earthbound series’ new blood to the Smash series. Like Ness, I don’t really like Lucas at all. I find him annoying to play with and far too similar to Ness to be enjoyable (as Ness has always been one of my least favorite Smash combatants). But at least he is decidedly different.



Lucas may be as touchy in air and shitty for recovery as Ness, but I generally like his moves more so than Ness’. His neutral B is a freeze beam that can be controlled to an extent to freeze enemies. Good enough.

His Over+B move is a PK Fire, like Ness’, except Lucas’ moves completely horizontally and not at a downward sloping angle. It does explode at an angle, however. This can be good for catching opponents off guard who may jump to avoid it, only to have it explode toward them and make contact regardless.

His Down+B move is some form of “magnet,” which according to the Dojo can help heal you. In the heat of battle I never really used it and when I did I didn’t notice much of a healing factor. I guess if you use it often enough it could really change the tide of battle because your hit % would stay low, but I never managed to use it too effectively.

Lucas’ Up+B recovery move is like Ness’ wherein he launches a psychic attack that can be navigated with the control stick to hit Lucas and fire him back on the stage (in theory). The problem, like with Ness, is that you have to hit him at the correct angle. This may seem like a no brainer, but when enemies are flying around and you accidentally hit one in midair that jumped out toward you or fell with you, it becomes apparent how annoying of a move it is to pull off effectively. Missing by a slight portion of an angle and launching yourself sideways to miss be a foot or so sucks, too. Oh well.


Is that a pink snake in your pants or are you happy to see me?

Where Lucas really shines his wide array of psi-based standard A attacks. Many have extra PK-based power/reach to them that help him gain some good damage and KO potential. I like him just because he doesn’t use a bat, like Ness. Kid uses a stick, leaves and all. There’s nothing quite like scoring a KO with the hobo baton.

Lucas’ Final Smash is very much akin to Ness’, too. Instead of angled meteors crashing down on the stage, though, they come straight down, which I find makes them harder to avoid. I could often avoid the majority of Ness’ meteors, whereas Lucas’ are so close together because of their vertical orientation that I got hit by them far more often. Maybe it was just luck, though. Either way it’s a powerful screen-encompassing move that can score lots of damage and/or KOs.

Lucas = (Meh) Win. While I wholly despise playing him, I can see how he can be used effectively, to a degree. I personally think they could have completely done away with Ness and left Lucas to take the role of Mother/Earthbound rep alone. That would likely get too many people’s panties in a twist, however. Oh well.

Thanks for sticking through to the end! Stay tuned for my last secret bonus character that should have made the roster AND my finale/wrap-up article early next week as I reflect on the series as a whole and offer some final insights!

Or read my review of the game!

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

First Row:
Mario and DK
Link and Samus
Kirby and Fox
Pikachu and Marth
Mr Game & Watch

Second Row:
Luigi and Diddy Kong
Zelda/Sheik and Pit
Meta Knight and Falco
Pokemon Trainer
Ike and Snake

Third Row:
Peach and Yoshi
Ganondorf and Ice Climbers
Kind Dedede and Wolf
Lucario and Ness
Sonic plus BONUS Knuckles

Fourth Row:
Bowser and Wario
Toon Link and R.O.B.
Olimar and Captain Falcon

And my bonus characters who should have made the roster:

Mega Man
Bomberman
See Sonic's critique for Knuckles

Thanks for reading!