Okay, we give in. About 20 per cent of all the letters that we receive from readers are along the lines of "Wouldn't it be awesome if XXXX was in the next Smash Bros. game?" And when Fred recently posted a blog asking you lot who you'd most like to see appear in a fantasy Brawl sequel, you all went absolutely nuts. It's nearly 18 months after the game hit the shelves, and you're still utterly obsessed with Nintendo's masterclass in controlled chaos.
So, ever eager to please, here it is - the top ten gaming characters Team ONM would like to see in the next Smash Bros. game. Of course, whether or not they'll ever appear, or if indeed Nintendo will ever make another Smash Bros. game, is another matter entirely. At the Games Developer Conference last year, game director Masahiro Sakurai said: "The series has already had three iterations so I cannot say with one-hundred percent confidence that there won't be any additional Smash Bros. games ever. I'm really against the idea of merely creating a sequel that would add modes or increase the number of characters in the roster."
Still, everyone has got to dream, right? Not happy with who we've chosen? Let us know by commenting below...
Professor Layton Like Captain Olimar and his Pikmin, we'd like to see Layton take to the mean streets of the Smash Bros. universe with Luke by his side, who could chip in with a swift kick to the shins every now and then. Layton's fighting style would be as gentlemanly and fair as possible, of course - we imagine him sticking his dukes up, Queensbury rules-style, for most of the fight. And his lithe figure suggests to us that he'd have a Luigi-style high jump too.
Final Smash This is where that massive top hat of his comes into play. We'd like to see him reach into his trademark head-furniture and pull out the robot dog that you have to piece together in The Curious Village, which then legs it at your opponent and smashes them off the stage in a blaze of electricity. Solve that, sucker!
Little Mac Little Mac's boxing skills would transfer beautifully to the fast-paced world of Smash Bros. Armed with a flurry of punches (and a costume change in the form of his fetching pink tracksuit), our plucky young contender should fare well. Remember Balrog out of Street Fighter? We think Little Mac would play a lot like him, only less reliant on brute force - he'd be a lot more agile and have a range of special punches to utilise.
Final Smash Naturally, he'd turn into his alter-ego Giga Mac, just as he does in the two player mode of Punch-Out!! on the Wii. The camera would whizz around to the series' trademark third person view and then you'd wade in with a range of devastating uppercuts and hooks. Knock out!
Mii You can play as your Mii in Mario Kart, so why not Smash Bros. too? And as for moves, we've got loads of different games to choose from - your Mii could bash your opponent over the head with a Balance Board from Wii Fit, or deafen them with a parp of a trumpet from Wii Music. You could even mount the cow from the 'Charge!' game in Wii Play and barge your opponents off the stage. And how about a parachute from Wii Sports Resort coming to your rescue to help you glide back onto the stage when hit?
Final Smash It's got to be something from the latest Mii-friendly extravaganza, Wii Sports Resort for this one. A super powerful sword from swordplay? A ruddy great frisbee to lob at your opponent? A huge bowling ball? Perhaps most of all, we'd like to see the camera whizz around behind your character as your Mii pulls out the bow from archery and aims right for their adversary's noggin.
Toad Now that blue and yellow Toads are starring in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, it's about time everyone's favourite fungus-based humanoid assistant got his day in the sun in the next Smash Bros. game. His diminutive stature means that he'd be similar to Diddy Kong in terms of size and agility, but with limited reach. And seeing as his appearance is inspired by New Super Mario Bros Wii, lets chuck in the propellor and penguin suits as well!
Final Smash It's got to be something from that other Mario platformer where Toad is a playable character, Super Mario Bros. 2. Given his super-fast skills at plucking stuff from the ground in the NES classic, we'd like to see him stop to yank a huge POW block from the terrain and chuck it for a huge earth-shaking explosion.
Maxwell In the spirit of keeping the roster as contemporary as possible, how about a cameo from Scribblenauts star Maxwell? The mind-boggling range of things he can conjure in-game makes his potential attacks as varied as they are random. Whacking someone over the bonce with a plank? Using a jetpack to scrape back onto a stage at the last minute? Unleashing a ruddy great bear on your unsuspecting foes? The possibilities are almost endless!
Final Smash Again, given the amount of different objects and weapons Maxwell can use, it's a tough choice. Massive weapons are a little predictable, to be honest, so how about summoning the devil to lay the smackdown on your behalf? Or perhaps our favourite schlock horror film fare, a megalodon? Make this happen, Nintendo.
Animal Crossing Boy & Girl Although Animal Crossing is probably the least violent game in Nintendo history, we'd love to see Boy/Girl kick some ass and take some names in a Smash Bros. sequel. Forget collecting fossils and paying off your mortgage - we want to see Boy and Girl smash someone on the bonce with their shovels, or use their fishing rods to reel in another character from a distance in order to give them a proper pasting. If smaller dudes like Ness and Lucas can mix it with the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, then why not Boy and Girl?
Final Smash How about if the game read your Animal Crossing save game and rained down objects from your house onto your enemies? Or maybe (Just like Donkey Kong's bongo-based Final Smash) KK Slider could pop up to dispense some music-based damage? Or Resetti could appear and eviscerate the opposition with his furious temper? Or maybe Boy/Girl could just charm everyone into submission by just being so relentlessly nice all the time?
Giratina Brawl boasts Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Lucario and of course the Pokémon Trainer, but we think it's sorely lacking in terms of baddies. Where Melee had Mewtwo, for Brawl 2 step forward Origin forme Giratina, the cover star of Pokémon Platinum and biggest badboy of them all. What with being a Pokémon and all, it comes ready made with abilities and attacks that can slot straight into the Smash Bros. universe. Its impressive defence stats will make it a tough opponent to topple, and its ability to use Ghost, Dark, Psychic and Electrical attacks should make Giratina quite a contender.
Final Smash Seeing as Giratina is the only Pokémon to know the Shadow Force move, we reckon it's a no brainer to be used as its Final Smash. In Platinum, it allows Giratina to disappear, making it essentially invincible for one go, only to reappear and cause massive damage. With some dramatic pyrotechnics thrown in, we think it'd be a pretty spectacular finale to any battle.
Mega Man Mega Man's ticked all our boxes for inclusion in the next Smash Bros. game - heritage, classy character design and a handy excuse to stick in more of those retro stages that we love so much. From the zillion Mega Man games released since the original there's been plenty of different weapons - but frankly we only really remember the ones from (arguably) his finest hour, Mega Man 2. A great excuse to see the Crash Bomber and Atomic Fire weapons again.
Final Smash Our favourite Mega Man weapon by an absolute mile is Metal Blade. We raced through the rock-hard Mega Man 2 with relative ease after defeating Metal Man to obtain the thing in the NES original. Its powerful eight-way shot would cause real havoc on a Smash Bros. stage - imagine slicing Diddy Kong's smug little face clean off. Nice.
Phoenix Wright Phoenix Wright's series of justice 'em ups have got a dedicated following and as such he always gets a mention when 'who you'd like to see in Smash Bros.' lists get made. But how would this law-abiding chap get away with blatantly assaulting a load of other Nintendo characters, eh? Well, ignoring the legal implications for a moment, an 'interrogation stare' could be a long range beam attack, or ol' Wrighty could even literally 'throw the book at 'em', which could act just like like Yoshi or Link's bomb attacks.
Final Smash The series' famous "Objection!" catchphrase would be rubbish as a Final Smash as it's just a man saying words, but the Psyche Lock would be very cool. Covering his foe in chains with a cry of "Take That!", Phoenix could then smash through the chains and send his enemy flying off the stage. Now that's justice.
Travis Touchdown The wise-cracking otaku star of No More Heroes was recently touted as a future star of Smash Bros. by his creator Suda51, and we can see why. He's already sporting a weapon suspiciously similar to the lightsabres in Brawl, and would be similar in style to other sword-bearing characters like Link, Marth and Ike if he stepped up to the plate. But we think his love of wrestling and the impressive moves showcased in his debut game would also make him a handy character in close-up combat.
Final Smash Travis might be handy when it comes to a beam katana and a bit of grappling, but for the Final Smash we'd like to see him mount his trusty steed, the Schpeltiger, and mow down everything in his path. There's not much you can do when faced with an enormous rocket-powered motorbike blazing toward you, is there?
