My Predictions (and Hopes) for Super Smash Bros. (Switch)

Super Smash Brothers is one of the world's most successful and ambitious franchises, taking from everything that makes Nintendo tick and creating an exciting, unique fighting game. Earlier this year, a new iteration of that game was announced for the Nintendo Switch, bringing a new wave of speculation and hopeful thinking through the Smash community, as well as the gaming community as a whole. From people wanting previous versions of characters to come back, to people hoping for triple-A main characters to cameo, everyone seems to have their own hopes and predictions for who's going to be in the new roster. Down below, you'll se what I consider to be my 'predictions', educated guesses as to what characters will be added to the game based on Nintendo's, and SSB's, history. And, beyond that, you'll see my wishful thinking, characters that will probably never show up, but I'd still like to see them anyway. I'll try to apply sound logic to both, so bear with me. Here, are my predictions for characters to be joining the roster of the new Super Smash Brothers:


1) Ripley (Metroid Franchise)
Over the course of Super Smash Bros' history, Nintendo has continued to increase the number of characters that each Franchise has, with Mario being joined by Princess Peach and Rosalina and Luma, for example. Pokemon has a six Pokemon on the Roster as of Smash for WiiU/3DS, but one of the fan-favorite Franchises is still waiting for their space-faring, Metroid-busting Samus Aran gets an ally- or, rather, an antagonist. Enter Ripley, arguably the most popular of Metroid enemies, save perhaps Mother Brain. With most flying or floating characters in the franchise being light on their feet, Ripley would bring a new terror to the skies of Smash, using his large wings to stay in the air, his sharp claws to bring the pain, and his tough armor to make sure he's safe. In contrast, or as a weakness of sorts, he'd be weaker on the ground, potentially having to take hops to deal truly devastating damage, and moving slower on the ground that he does in the air.


2) Rabbids (Rabbids Franchise)
If there is one persistent, ambitious game ever made apart from Super Smash Bros, it's probably Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Not managed in any way by Nintendo, this crossover between the Mario franchise and the Rabbids franchise added a new tactical shooter game to Nintendo's already vast array of games, and as such, it cannot stay out of the roster. A Rabbid, presumably Spawny, would bring mayhem to the battlefield, using abilities from all over the Rabbids franchise to disrupt other players in their well-timed combos. The Rabbid could even be a more hectic, bouncing about at full speed, firing at enemies from long range in a more Kingdom Battle sort of way. In the end, the possibilities with the Rabbids are as endless as their universe, and their universe is endless. Almost too endless.


3) Spring Man/Ribbon Girl (ARMS)
One of Nintendo's newest additions to their roster of games is ARMS, a 3D arena fighter debuting on the Nintendo Switch. Featuring Spring Man and Ribbon Girl on it's every game art, it only makes sense that they would join the roster. Not only do they have their own fighting game, making them an obvious choice for another fighting game, but they could work as a more springly and long-reaching character, something of a long-range Little Mac, which would put the heat to the characters that look down on melee-focused characters. And, just like the previous two entries, these characters would have speed and aerial movement on their side, though they'd probably be lighter than most other melee-focused characters, mostly due to their springiness.


4) Princess Zelda (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
Even though a Zelda is already present in the previous versions of the game, there's been a visible attempt to make similar characters be from different places, such as replaying Young Link with Toon Link. Sheik and Zelda were split into two characters, but I believe that Zelda will be further separated from that Sheik by being turned into 'BotW Zelda'. Not only was that Zelda the best Zelda so far, bar Petra, it grants a whole slew of magic-based powers to her that the original Zelda just had. After all, the original Zelda's powers were mostly made-up, while the Zelda from Breath of the Wild is evidently powerful enough to stay in combat against Ganon for a hundred years. Beyond that, she could be given certain abilities to reflect her servants, though those abilities will probably be given to Link, as he's the Breath of the Wild version of him. Though, there IS a possibility they create a 'Mario' scenario, where every Zelda is the same Zelda, and this one has all of their abilities gathered into one, with the rest of the Zelda being aesthetic changes instead. I'm thinking the former one, though.


5) Detective Pikachu (Detective Pikachu)
One of the most surprising games that Nintendo has announced in recent history is arguably Detective Pikachu. The titular character is apparently a talking Pikachu that goes around solving mysteries and drinking coffee, apparently. I'm guessing he'll- they'll?- be joining the roster of Nintendo's finest in hopes of boosting interest in an already fringe game and potential future franchise, which is even further reinforced by the fact that there's apparently a movie in the making, staring Ryan Reynolds. (Yes, the man that's bringing Deadpool to life is going to voice a Pikachu. In a Live-Action movie. Which will be an Action Mystery movie.) Amazingly confusing news aside, this character would fit as Pikachu's answer to Doctor Mario, becoming a slower, less electrifying version of the yellow rodent, perhaps even using his new intellect to fight with more unique techniques. That'd be quite interesting, specially if his fighting style becomes something of Smash's version of Phoenix Wright in Marvel Vs. Capcom.


5.5) Pikachu Libre (Pokken Tournament)
Though not a completely new entry (Since I already picked a potential Pikachu), I wanted to add this one to the list because Pokken Tournament is coming, or has already arrived, to the Switch. The only character in that game that gives off a more unique, I-belong-in-this-game is Pikachu Libre, as it seems to be a purely Pokken character. Personally, I've never played the game, but from what I've seen, the Pokemon in it use not-common fighting moves that don't exist in the core games themselves, allowing Pikachu Libre an array of moves that normal Pikachu (or, his Detective variation) wouldn't have, or wouldn't be able to do. I figured I'd squeeze Pikachu Libre here to avoid any potential issue in the future.


6) Lyndis (Fire Emblem Franchise)
With the advent of Fire Emblem characters onto the Smash scene, there's one character that's always surprised me for her absence. Lyndis, or Lyn for short, was the main character (Or, one of the main characters) of the second Fire Emblem game for the Game Boy Advance, called 'Fire Emblem' for us dumb Americans. It is Lyn who wields the Mani Katti and the Sol Katti, and once Promoted, earns the right to wield a bow, granting her the versatility that most other Fire Emblem Characters in Smash lack. She'd be the antithesis to Ike, zipping around the battlefield at Sonic-like speeds, slashing and hacking through enemies, maybe with lower damage output than other characters to counteract her speed? This one's a bit of a prediction, but it's also one of my biggest hopes for the franchise. (I may or may not LOVE Lyn.)






7) Black Shadow (F-Zero Franchise)
With the same logic as Ripley, let's look at another of Nintendo's best franchise that is incredibly neglected: F-Zero. The space-racing, machine-destroying simulator's main character, Captain Falcon, has been left on it's own atop the Smash stage, while newcomers like Olimar are, at least, given alternate characters for costumes. It's time to bring about the arrival of a new fighter from the roster of over-the-top Pilots, and my pick for that is Black Shadow. Working directly as Captain Falcon's antagonist, and looking like the perfect addition to stand next to Ganon and Bowser, what with the horns and clear demonic aspects. I don't know enough about the character to say what his fighting style might be like, but I'm sure it'd be pretty epic, considering Captain Falcon's awesome moves.



8) Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)
Smash is no stranger to promoting Nintendo's new releases or rarer franchises, even reviving previously-dead franchises, like Kid Icarus. With Xenoblade Chronicles 2 having been released just last year, it is fair to asume that XC2's protagonist, Rex, takes to the Smash stage in hopes of promoting the Xenoblade franchise at Shulk's side. With Nintendo's skill for making similar characters stand out from one another (With the exception of the Fire Emblem guys, seriously), Rex would be able to bring in another aspect of the Xenoblade universe into Smash, such as what seems to be his water-based abilities. Bear in mind, I've never played Xenoblade, so I can't quite say what his abilities are. He seems like a cool dude, though.


9) Rayman (Rayman Franchise)

With the proud crossover between Mario and Rabbids, it is a fair belief that Rayman joins the frey, after all, Rabbids originated from his games. He's already appeared as a trophy before, and the jump from trophy to fighter has been done before, by both Olimar and by Pit. And who wouldn't want Rayman to join the Smash roster, bringing in a stylish unpredictability to his fighting moves? His games are already side-scrolling platformers, after all! Though this might seem more like wish fulfillment, Ubisoft has proven that they're interested in a more friendly relationship with Nintendo, and a conjoined attempt at bringing Ubisoft's most non-realistic character into Nintendo's (Arguably) most prominent franchise would be a perfect solution.


10) Takamaru (The Mysterious Murasame Castle)
With every Smash game, we've had throwbacks to to old games, coming back to glory in a flare. We got Marth in Melee, Ice Climbers and Mr. Game & Watch in Brawl, and even got Duck Hunt in Smash4! I picked Takamaru to be the last potential recruit into the Smash squad because, to be honest, he seems to be a fan favorite that can actually make it. He'd be joining as the representative of 'The Mysterious Murasame Castle', and he'd be Smash 5's old game making a return.











There's my ten predictions, which are pretty much my hopes, as well. The only truly hopeful, yet improbable, choice would be Ice Climbers' return, probably with one of them being playable, rather than both. Either way, Smash is coming soon, and whatever characters are playable, we can expect a big blockbuster like all it's predecessors. What are YOUR predictions and hopes for Smash? Did anyone that I mentioned your hope, as well?