Man, I gotta say, I've made a few entries in the past two weeks which have been pretty rough. How am I supposed to narrow it down to just the top five characters from any franchise when so many franchises have a top twenty? Or thirty? This is even more difficult when you're looking at a company's entire pool of potential players. Fortunately, I got to cheat a bit thanks to some older franchises continuing on into the current day! Still, things got pretty hairy around here. Lolo and Lala stuck around this list right up to the bitter end, but they eventually got nudged off by our number one champ here. I can't imagine having to do this with the entire set of characters and a limit of just thirty or forty (actually, I can, and it would be heaven.)
So just who should return from the brink of time to grace out consoles in the near future? Let's take a look...
5. Balloon Fighter
Balloon Fighter's a pretty obvious and solid choice, so he'll be hanging out here at the bottom of the list. It's clear that Sakurai adores the character and actually went all the way into late production with him for Melee, but the Fighter got cut for supposed gravity issues. It's unsure if history was repeated when it came to Brawl, but what is certain is that Sakurai's love for Balloon Fight never waned, and the big fish made an appearance as a cameo in the Ice Climbers' Summit stage. This nameless warrior is actually one of the more mysterious Nintendo characters, without even trying to be. What exactly is he doing up there, hanging by a pair of threads? What's with the birds he's knocking out? Is he some kind of public safety officer? Nobody's quite sure, but everyone sure finds him charming! It wouldn't be any surprise at all if Mario's fashion consultant arrived to take part in the Smashing glory of Nintendo's ultra omega all-stars, and anything which could be said in support of this has been already explained by folks much cleverer than I. However, I still find myself clever, so have a taste of his potential move list!
4. Duck
Most people don't view the titular Duck as the most memorable member of the Duck Hunt cast, but without his role in the game, there'd be no game. Mercilessly shot away by the player, these ducks are actually just as cartoonish and expressive as the caustic canine who captures them. It might be difficult to imagine them at first, just a regular ol' duck flying around, but look at the logics of the game they come from. The dog routinely transforms his paws into hands, complete with thumbs, and supposedly manages to switch between quadrupedal and bipedal movement. It's clear that these characters exist in some kind of Looney Tunes land, and it isn't a stretch to imagine the Duck's wings morphing into Daffy Duck palms to scoop up weapons and grab edges. Personally, I'd be thrilled to have the purple pecker quacking about.
3. Mach Rider
I'll be honest, Excitebiker was almost on the list, but I thought two motorcyclists would be redundant. I know who the more popular choice will be, but I opted for the one who isn't exclusively defined by his wheels. Mach Rider here is a major bad ass, kind of a Robocop meets Ghost Rider type of guy. He's armed to the teeth and armored head-to-toe, and despite being one of the good guys, I'd like less to meet him in a dark alley than any of Nintendo's supposed villains. Even the great Ganon looks like a dancing clown compared to Mach Rider. His solid 80s Metal design combined with modern grit and a touch of Ninty magic, and we've got a real winner here. Hell, maybe now would be a good time to revive the character in general. Think about it, Nintendo. Mach Rides U. Come on guys. Give it a chance.
2. Bubbles
Few of might know Bubbles, the bizarre red fish who starred in Clu Clu Land and its remake, Clu Clu Land D, but she was one of the original NES heroes back in the day. I'm actually kind of surprised she hasn't crossed paths with Starfy considering the similar subject matter and settings, but hey what do I know? She has, however, abandoned her aquatic adventures to compete with Kong crew in jungle climbing competitions, having appeared as a guest in the GBA's Donkey Kong: King of Swing. Bubbles is an exceptionally bubbly character, and can bounce away from almost any surface, though she is susceptible to sharp and prickly things. That's okay, though, because she can combat such obstacles with a sonic blast capable of immobilizing her enemies. She isn't a particularly relevant character, even by my standards, but I love her dearly and feel that she's perfect Smash material. There's actually a lot of cool things which could be done with her spinning gimmick and, like Mach Rider, there's probably potential in current technology to at least give her a WiiWare Wiirelease.
1. Muddy Mole
Muddy Mole is by far the top classic Nintendo character I'd like to see show up in the next Super Smash Bros. title. He's an unlikely hero with a character design which is almost like a Monty Mole, so it would be pretty fun watching him come up against the Super Mario Bros.. Not to mention that his sole Game Boy outing is perhaps one of the coolest maze/dungeon games available and probably set most of the standards for any modern take on the genre, including plane-hopping. Muddy is a more than capable combatant with a penchant for bombs and huge rolling balls, and I can imagine a lot of cool combos coming out of his natural digging abilities and his small but useful arsenal. Really, if any character gets revived, I'm hoping Muddy here will manage to dig in under the face and make it clear that he's got what it takes to blow away the competition.
