Sprout

I'm typically not a fan of Battle Royale games for a number of reasons, some of which F-Zero 99 includes, but outside of such gripes I've been having a good ol' time just enjoying the ride. I hope that this game gets long-term support that goes beyond the content of the original SNES game, and that it's successful enough for Nintendo to consider more F-Zero games in the future. Also Golden Fox is pretty good. Please ignore that wonky looking 1 for Silence.

Knowing how much of a fan you were of the SNES version, seeing you as an opponent recently and repeatedly witnessing "Manolito ✘KO'd another victim" display on my screen was a terrifying time. [Audible panic noises as RedShell attempts another murder on my falling apart machine at the finish line] I did manage to win a Grand Prix when he wasn't in my lobby, though! (Having the player that was 30+ points ahead of me crashing out in the final race helped.)

Still pretty good, though. Layton is back baybee.

This is Maidahiro Sproukurai. Have you been watching Sakurai's YouTube channel? He tends to release a new video every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and today's video was all about- ...Huh. That's strange. It's Wednesday, and yet there hasn't been a new video upload. Don't you think that's a little strange? I think that's a little strange. At least I'll have a Nintendo Direct to watch today to make up for not getting a video from Sakurai, I suppose. ...Oh! Sorry, don't mind me! Just pondering things to myself. Don't worry, I'M FINISHED!

Lookin' forward to more Mario footy and have been listenin' to some of the old music recently, such as this one: ...But then I thought, "What if I added that song to it?" Ahh... I really shouldn't be allowed near computers...

Whoops forgot to react to things in a timely manner. I suppose I'll do some post thoughts since I popped in yesterday an' all. I'll get the negatives out of the way first, and attempt to cleanse the darkness that resides in my heart. Starting with the one people will probably find obvious: That ain't Wright! Less to do with Sora of course and more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a whole but, well, no matter how much of a big deal each new fighter addition is, you're not going to satisfy everyone. And now Ultimate is coming to an end. "Everyone" is here. So to know that after several years of hoping and wishing, that something you wanted may never be a part of what can be argued as one of the biggest celebrations of videogames - not even as a spirit - well, I can't say I'm not disappointed. Combined with other desired characters also not getting to fight, it almost feels like my wants didn't really matter, drowned out amongst all these huge franchises and incredibly loud fan followings. And I feel guilty that there's a part of me that feels that way, because what Ultimate has accomplished is a collaborative effort that's nothing short of phenomenal, with herculean amounts of work and dedication to make it all become a reality and attempt to satisfy as many people as possible, and yet despite this here I am years later still reeling from the words "Yup, it's him.". And I'm sincerely thankful that each and every fighter that has joined the battle has made a great number of people happy, including people I know personally. Furthermore, it's not like Ultimate never elicited a joyful reaction out of me, as there's plenty of stuff both new and returning that I'm very grateful for. But if you'll forgive me for the selfish thought, I wish I could have got to experience those ecstatic feelings that so many others have had with the inclusion of a series and character that I hold a deep affection for. ...Granted, if you were to ask Phoenix himself, he's probably quite happy that he won't be on the receiving end of whatever Smash can throw at him. Man gets enough violence his way in his own series, after all. What the Duck? Where's the Duck? And the mouse and whatever the heck Goofy is I dunno some kind of dog maybe what the hyuck. Now, I am someone who played the first Kingdom Hearts back when it originally released on PS2 and enjoyed it, because I was a child and I had my innocence and no idea what lied ahead. And despite Sora not being who I wanted, watching him soaring about like Peter Pan to Simple and Clean and shaking Mario's hand, that admittedly did hit some feels. But no matter how many mooks you throw at the series that talk about hearts or the light or the darkness or what have you, a big part of the series has always been, y'know, Disney properties. I think it's fair to say that many people knew, even those who wanted Sora, that getting Kingdom Hearts into Smash wouldn't be without compromise. You can see it from the allusion that there won't be a Sora amiibo, and that Kirby apparently is not allowed to wield the Keyblade, so has to make do with an elemental recreation. And most obviously, from the complete and entirely predictable lack of Disney content (with the exception of a keychain). As someone who has only really played the first Kingdom Hearts game I don't suppose my opinion carries much weight, but - putting aside the implication that it would open the Pandora's box that is non-videogame inclusions in Smash - if you can't include the Disney properties, then, in my opinion, you're not really capable of including Kingdom Hearts as a whole. That being said, to be clear, I don't really fault Smash for that. £50 for a Music Track. Look, temporarily locking promotional spirits behind save data from certain games is one thing, but I paid for this Fighters Pass, with all the characters, stages and music associated with it, so to lock some of a DLC stage's music behind owning a different game feels a tad annoying, especially because I like Dearly Beloved, damnit. Do I like it enough to spend money on a rhythm game I'm not particularly interested in? ...Maybe. Frick. ---------- Anyway, whilst I may be a grumpy old man yelling at cloud versions of PS2 games, I don't want to appear as if I'm one, so here's some more positive impressions, too. An Outstanding Job of translating Kingdom Hearts into Smash. Whilst I may have said that getting Kingdom Hearts into Smash required compromise and would have liked to have seen a little of the Disney side of things, please don't misunderstand and think I believe that what is there is bad. Because really, I think that they took what they were allowed to and absolutely delivered. Part of the reason people want their desired character to join the fight, is that when someone gets that invitation, it comes with the knowledge that Sakurai and everyone else working on Smash are putting in as much effort and care into the inclusion as possible. And whilst I don't find the move set particularly interesting, as said before, I've played the first Kingdom Hearts, and though my memories are faint, watching how Sora played and animated, it certainly gave me the impression that they had managed to successfully faithfully capture how Sora plays in Kingdom Hearts, and I imagine bigger fans of the series have a similar impression. People on the internet keep talking about Sakurai retiring, or wishing that he wouldn't work on the next Smash Bros., but whilst that day will inevitably come, I personally think that he should continue to work on the series for as long as he is willing to do so, because time and time again, this man has demonstrated how much he knows and cares about the franchises he gets to work on through Smash. Whenever Smash returns, should he return with it then I welcome him with open arms. And, y'know, if there's an Ultimate Deluxe in the future, if Kingdom Hearts is in, maybe add Cloud's Kingdom Hearts costume whilst you're at at. A Smashing Send Off. I believe the final trailer was successful in conveying what it wanted to. Not just that Sora is here, but that Ultimate has reached its end, and what an incredible celebration it has been. It's easy to forget, but since the start, Smash isn't necessarily the likes of Mario and Pikachu fighting, but action figures or trophies of them. They are a child's plaything. They. Are. All. TOOOYYYS! The characters coming to life and crossing over to engage in battle are the result of your imaginations running free. And once playtime is over, they return to their original form. And that's essentially how this final trailer opens. It's the end of the show, the fire that has burnt brightly from the first trailer has finally burnt out, and the lifelight of the figures fade with it as they all return to the darkness. And yet, one final flicker of the fire remains, one guiding light that is just enough to spark the life back into Mr. Nintendo, who after a brief moment of hesitation (because who wouldn't hesitate at the internet reactions he might bring), throws caution to the wind and his hand into the flame, to reawaken the light. And who better to bring light to chase away the darkness than the protagonist of the series that won't shut up about either (and I say that in the most complimentary way possible of course). And that final parting shot of the handshake as all those other fighters look on, under that rekindled Smash flame is really powerful. Regardless of how you feel about Sora, I don't think there are many characters in the world of videogames not in Smash that you could replace him with in that final image and have it carry quite the same weight. It really can't be stated enough, but Smash is such an incredible accomplishment. I have no idea what lies ahead for the series, but as for where it currently stands... I'd say Ultimate was a pretty fitting title. With the exception of the netcode. And whilst the final trailer is still fresh in your mind, you may as well give this another listen. ---------- Smash is huge, so there's a lot to talk about. It's possible I may more to say about it in the future, now that Ultimate is complete. But for now, this has been the rambling thoughts of Mr. Sproukurai.

I think they have the Wright idea.

I cannot be restrained, and my mind cannot be fathomed. Case in point: Fighting every spirit battle in the game, that is certainly pushing the limits of sensibility. But I implore you, if you wish to remain human, to keep your sanity intact, then this is as far as you should go. Because past this point is where only fools dare to tread. Do not cross that line. _________________________________ So anyway I crossed that line about a year ago and this is what the score currently looks like if you defeat every spirit battle without using spirits yourself. But for really and for truly, do not do this. Only madness lies beyond the line. You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself. Heh heh hee hee heeEEeeEEeeEEeeEEeeEE~

Let's say your theory about preferences for suits is true. But if that's the case, if you were observing properly, you'd have noticed Kazuya's alternate outfit. 0 (Maybe you were too distracted by the topless version to notice...) Topless Kazuya, suited up Kazuya, he's covering all the horny bases! It's a horny home-ruuuuuun! This was definitely the best way to start the top of a new page.

I can't believe my boy Phoenix Wright got passed over for his evil, topless counterpart in Smash. Curse you horny gamers. "An attorney? Pfft. Fists speak louder than words." ...This is fine. Phoenix Wright is actually going to close things out as Challenger Pack 11, because after all these trailers involving Nintendo characters getting murdered and invitations getting stolen, someone is gonna be in need of an attorney. He's gonna cross-examine Kirby, the lone survivor.

It was a callback. (2:36 if it doesn't embed properly). I expect better from you(r memory).

Well I think we'll have to have another attempt when more people are around and connections are more stable, but I'd say it went about as chaotically as intended, pals. I did have one or two other themes in my noggin, but I'll save those thoughts for another time perhaps, possibly after Glen-I's return. Tonight I decided to be the host, but as mentioned, me being the substitute host probably isn't ideal, so I hope people here can figure out who should take up those duties. Back in my day we just did this stuff on the fly!

Hmm, I'm wondering if a different host might be the answer. If anybody wants to try to be the host in my place they can copy the rules above and make a new arena if they wish.

I'm noticing a few connection issues when RedShell is participating, but I'm wondering whether the issue is on my end or not. I'd like to check my connection, so, expect a new arena code in a moment. EDIT: Let's try again. 1DFL7 is the new arena ID. Password remains 8038.

The arena is live! Since I don't believe I have every regular on my friend list, and going into the home menu to accept friend requests might break the arena, as a slight change of plans the arena is now a public arena. So just look for the Arena ID 1DFL7. Password is 8038.

In that case, I guess it's only reasonable that I volunteer for room creation responsibilities for tonight. Lemme just escort the old host outta here first. To those wanting to play Super Smash Bombers tonight, I will open a friends arena at 9PM UK time with the password 8038 (its... it's like "BOMB" if you flip the 3 over). If there's anybody who doesn't have me on their friend list, then if you can't find me through people you've previously played with, my friend code is SW-5317-1484-9701 (username is Maidens). Be there.

As a fellow Bomberman fan, noticing the recent mentions has made me think a theme night is in order. After all, those blocky buggers aren't the only ones deserving of recognition from the 9.0 update. So, to belatedly (as is often the case with the likes of me) celebrate the release of the Bomberman Mii Fighter costume, I've decided to momentarily emerge from the shadows in order to make an attempt to blow apart any regular scheduled Smash session you may have planned, and present you with this explosive ruleset to try out. Don't worry, it'll be a blast! So get fire up'd for: Yep, it's him. …Think I've exhausted my puns for now. Hope none of them bombed. This ruleset I'm proposing limits the items available to a select few that bear similarities to certain bombs from the Bomberman series. I could probably be the host myself if I made it a public arena, but since all the regulars have @Glen-i on their friend list, I'll just share the ruleset here for his sake so he can do the hosting as usual. That's right, I came in here, wrote some demands, and then told someone else to do the work for me. I am very good at this. Style: Time Time Limit: 3:00 FS Meter: Off (the stars of the show tonight are the bombs, after all) Stage Hazards: On Item Frequency: High Items: Containers, Fake Smash Ball, Bomber, Smart Bomb, X-Bomb Fake Smash Balls form an X-shaped explosion like the X-Bomb, but their unpredictable movement is somewhat reminiscent of the bouncy Rubber Bombs you can find in numerous Bomberman games. Bombers feature a skull design on them, which is something it shares with another bomb you'll find in multiple Bomberman games, the Dangerous Bomb. Unlike most bombs, these ones have a square-shaped blast, making them quite, well, dangerous. Smart Bombs bring forth a blast that quickly expands in size. This is similar to how bombs behaved in Bomberman 64, as well as the special large bombs you could use in Saturn Bomberman Fight!!. Containers are also included to boost the amount of bombs that'll turn up (items could do with a "Very High" setting if you ask me), but unfortunately you can't choose specific containers in item select, which means all items considered containers are present. This includes the Grass item, which sadly won't actually give you anything if you choose to pluck it under this ruleset. You're free to pluck it anyway, but just know that the only reward you'll receive for doing so is the satisfaction that you helped with the gardening. I don't have any character restrictions in mind, but if those who have made that hefty 70p investment choose to use Mii Bomber, maybe say in advance what colour Bomberman you'd be usin' (I gots dibs on White Bomber). No stage restrictions either, but keep in mind that larger stages aren't particularly ideal. My personal favourites with this ruleset are probably Wily Castle, King of Fighters Arena and Spring Stadium, but I could also list dozens of other stages I enjoyed if I wanted to, so you should really give a whole bunch a try. Should this spontaneous proposal be accepted, then I hope people can enjoy a slightly different way to play Smash than they're used to. ...Wait, it's Bonfire Night tonight! Wow, this lined up better than I expected.

Hello, everyone, It is I, Mr. Sproukurai. A couple of weeks ago I noticed on the Switch's News Channel that there was a contest to make the best screenshot in Smash using Min Min as the theme, followed by a second snapshot contest the week after with no set theme. I figured that I would give it a go and try to win me that £50 eShop credit, and spent my free time over the past couple of weeks taking a bunch of photos. I thought I would share them here too on the off chance someone might enjoy them. I took... quite a few, so apologies in advance to any mobile users. At least I restrained myself and left the descriptions tweet-sized for you! Week One: Min Min Sluuurp! This snap uses Piranha Plant's side special to appear as if it's slurping on Min Min's noodle arm. A common technique I used in these snaps was to play in team battle so that attacks wouldn't hit fighters I was taking snaps with. Superspicy Curry provides Min Min's pained face. Dragon got your Tongue? What I originally had in mind was Yoshi's tongue and the Dragon ARM's "tongue" touching, but when taking things one frame at a time, I encountered this situation which looked far better, so I ended up using it instead. Go! MegaPac-ARM! I wanted to "create" an ARM, and turned to Pac-Man due to his similarity to the Megawatt ARM. Pac-Man's side taunt has a single frame where he's missing his arms and legs, which was great for the purpose of this image. Wouldn't you like to use this in ARMS, too? Go! MegaWakkARM! This was the originally intended version of the ARM I desired to create. Min Min is standing a little further back compared to the previous snap because she's using the Ramram ARM, which has detached and is flying off camera. Had I used the Megawatt it would appear in his mouth. I choose you! Mechazard! I hope its power cord is long enough... Min Min has taken a Super Mushroom for this snap, because otherwise her Dragon ARM wouldn't be able to cover Charizard's head. Charizard has grabbed a Smash Ball to make itself look more intimidating. With those flashes in Mechazard's "mouth", what do you think its true face is? Dragon vs Dragon This was taken within the Rayquaza spirit battle to make it easier to get photo opportunities with Rayquaza. Still, trying to take a photo whilst fending off a CPU Ridley was a pain. Strong winds are in effect in this spirit battle, which made for a nice bonus visual. Year of the Rat 2020: A Tiny Tag Along Did you remember about Munchie in Eight's pocket? To get Min Min at eye level with Munchie, I had to have someone perform a footstool jump on her. The fact that she makes a face that alludes curiosity was a fortunate bonus. Year of the Rat 2020: Resting Rodents. Min Min is just waking up in this snap, thus explaining her expression and position. The bubbles coming from Pikachu and Pichu could just as easily be interpreted as coming from the Dragon ARM's nostrils. Don't you hate it when your arm falls asleep on you? That's quite a reach. This can't happen of course, but because of the stage I think it makes you believe it could for a moment. I took this in tourney mode, which allows you to have fighters that use the same outfit in the same match. That allowed me to use Min Min's dragon arm transformation here. You're your own worst enemy. Once again tourney mode was used so I could use Min Min's dragon arm transformation for this snap. Min Min is using her ability to use both her ARMS at once to turn around to face the Dragon ARM, and Superspicy Curry is used again to give her a shocked looking expression. Nooo! Such range does not belong in this world! Richter is standing on a platform to the right of the stage, whilst Min Min is positioned to the left of the stage. Thanks to Wii Fit Studio's mirrors, she looks like she's directly behind him, or perhaps a mental image. Don't feel too bad, Richter! Your range is still not bad! Mega Man's Mega-What?! This time, I wanted the appearance of someone other than Min Min using an ARM. Mega Man was perfect thanks to his Mega Buster and ability to use the techniques of others in his games. Min Min's pose is the result of her slipping on a Banana Peel. Balance is the Key When you think or martial arts, one image you may think of is that of someone balancing on a tall and thin object or structure. Thankfully Garden of Hope provided me with such a structure for this snap. I'm also glad I could include Min Min's ramen buddies Kirby and Falcon here. The Snake that's a Rope and the Dragon that's an ARM I thought that the Dragon ARM and Lucas' Rope Snake shared a few similarities, so figured I'd make a snap including them both. Getting the distance between Lucas and Min Min just right so I could get as much of Rope Snake in the shot as possible without Lucas' arm took some time. Hey, name's Rope Snake. Lemme guess: Dragon Strap? During the process of taking the previous snap, I remembered the dragon on Min Min's back, and thought Rope Snake attempting to interact with it under the impression that it too was sentient would be amusing. The fighters are giant here, allowing me to get "closer" to them. Da na na naaa~! ...Am I doing this right? Min Min takes on the classic pose from the Zelda series by holding a Special Flag above her head. For the chest, Kirby's down special attack was used. The chest didn't actually cover the entire Special Flag, so I had to angle the camera in such a way to hide it from view. Da na na naaa~! Ahh, so that's how you do it. This version has Min Min pull up some Grass to create the same pose, but with a freshly plucked Heart Container instead. Min Min's hat reminded me of Link, which was the inspiration for this and the previous snap. Naturally, I simply had to include a Link in at least one of them. Whoa... The Sandbags in Smash are... so cute! Upon looking at Min Min holding Sandbag, it almost looked as if she was hugging it. One portion of Superspicy Curry to make her blush and this image is the result. Sandbag is certainly cute, and if Nintendo were to release Sandbag plushies, I think I'd want to give one a hug, too. C'mon, Mac, this distance is nothing! What is Doc even teaching you?! This snap came about when coming up with ways to force Mac to fight from a distance whilst training with Min Min. New Donk City Hall was great not only for its long falls, but also its similarity to New York, where Little Mac can often be seen training with his coach, Doc Louis. I want my item! I wanted a snap involving the ARMS Drone, but my initial idea of Snake riding it didn't pan out, so strapped for time, I settled for a snap of Min Min giving it a good thwack. I guess it is what you do to the poor thing in ARMS, but I feel the snap kinda lacks creativity... Ah, so that's where you were all hiding. I wanted a snap with the ARMS Mii Fighter costumes, but I wanted it to look like it was actually the fighters from ARMS. This was the solution I came up with. Min Min's head is smaller than a Mii Fighter, so I had her chow down on a Super Mushroom to minimise the difference. The Ramen Bomber "The Ramen Bomber" is the title given to Min Min in ARMS as well as on the Boxing Ring stage, and I wanted to create a snap that as evocative of that title. I decided on a snap with her dancing elegantly through an explosion (which was fittingly provided by a Bomber item). Mini Min Min The caption came before the snap for this one. The taunting Ken and Terry are both using a Max Brass spirit to make them super giant, whilst Min Min has been hit by a Lightning Bolt to make her tiny. Positioning them all just right before transformations wore off took many tries! Week Two: Anything Goes Hiii~! In the process of setting up this snap, I realised that there is a cooldown period before you're allowed to reenter a pipe (this also applies to the pipes that can appear in Pictochat 2). Kinda defeats the fun of the stage if you ask me, but I understand why it was made this way. You wouldn't know a good game if you were in it! We never had any of this fancy 3-D stuff! Oh no, we had to survive on what we had! And what little we did have, we were happy with! I'm using a giant Mii Fighter (wearing a Monkey Suit and Vince's Hat) to depict Cranky Kong. Truth be told, I secretly wanted Cranky in Ultimate... That's one cool bear, over there I had a different version of this snap with Banjo using his polar bear alternate colours, but I felt it made for an image with too much white in it, so stuck with the bear and bird's usual look for some added colour. Hmm... maybe the Polar Bear and Condor should team up, too... Uwahhh! Since when did you have those?! A leftover Sandbag idea from when I was creating snaps themed on Min Min, that makes use of Snake's unique grab. I imagine Snake has some trouble employing a chokehold on something which doesn't have a neck, but it looks like Sandbag is enjoying whatever he's doing here. Mother's behind me? Don't be ridiculous, I've been VERY quiet. Now let me return to beating my Balloon Fight high score... I wanted to use the Gamer stage to take a snap or two, though it was a bit of a pain trying to get a version of the stage with the game device. The Artist minigame in Game & Wario got a lot of play time with my family, but Gamer was certainly one of the standout solo minigames. Red & Blue I thought of using Charmander on Saffron City as well, but ultimately decided on a snap with the two Pokémon that appeared on the boxart of the first Pokémon games. Pokémon Red & Blue remain very dear to me, so I was very grateful that Pokémon Trainer returned in Ultimate. That's a nice pot you got there. It would be a shame if something happened to it... Another snap inspired by a classic part of The Legend of Zelda: smashing pots that clearly do not belong to you. I went through a lot of stages when trying to get Link to look as dark as possible with the shadow filter. If you can't guess, this was taken on Unova Pokémon League. Argh! This Headache is DeDeDetestable! ...To be honest, this was actually taken in 2019, but I figured I would throw it in anyway. I remember having to be quick to hit pause, as you can't alter the camera angle of finishing blows when they initially land, so it had to be done the very moment afterwards. Gooray! Another Goosom Buddy to Play With! Another snap making use of a Mii Fighter without actually showing the Mii Fighter. This time it was a giant Mii Brawler with a Slime Hat. I really like the jiggling this hat can do, but, uh, more so when playing the game and less so when trying to take pictures... Stay still! GYAAAHHH! Don't surprise me like that! I really wanted to take a snap with a boss. I opted for Marx as he has the best facial expressions of the bosses. The extra sparkles Isabelle has is due to the Great Autoheal effect of the Celebi spirit. She's going to need it, since Marx is firing his laser one frame later! This is Snake. I think I may have been spotted. Another snap with 5-Volt, this time with Snake as her soon-to-be victim. If this picture made you curious, then, no, the box doesn't save Snake from her intimidating glare. Such tactics may work against professional soldiers, but never against a mother who wants you to go to bed. The Class of Smash are quite a handful... One of them doesn't even know how to read! An idea that developed from Pit's "I never learned how to read!" line. Because I needed Robin's tomes, this is the only snap where there are five characters involved. That said, I only needed to control three simultaneously. Joker in particular was hard to position for this one. We Dreamed of Creating the World's Strongest Pokémon... and we Succeeded. The opening scenes of Pokémon: The First Movie was the basis of this snap. I wanted to do one last snap with some characters clipping, and who doesn't enjoy giving someone a Kirby head? Kinda reminds me of the old days when Mewtwo was depicted with unnaturally large head... Kindred Spirits A simple snap taken on the WarioWare, Inc. stage. Wish I could play this up by saying how I only had seconds to take the snap due to the nature of microgames, but compared to snaps that require a single frame, this was easy. But easy is good! It requires far less effort from me! Gotcha this time An idea that made use of Snake's butterfly-shaped C3 explosive. Not too happy with this one personally, but in the end it was the best I could think of. I sure wound up using Snake and the Animal Crossing characters a lot for week two... And speaking of characters I used a lot- This crude image... does it depict a destroyer of worlds? Or an ally to the stars? This is a combination of Kirby with Mr. Game & Watch's copy ability and one of Pictochat 2's transformations. Considering the stage has 20+ transformations, the night transformation has four versions, and the full moon only appears for a short moment, this took a while to take. No one knows from whence he came, only that he has existed for aeons, unchanging and unrelenting. Perpetually roaming the cosmos, he has finally arrived. And now, he has begun to feel. To desire. To think. Within the void, there lurks… a Soul! I tried to use Smash's shock filter here, which inverts colours. Following from the previous snap, I decided on using Game & Watch Kirby again, inspired by the final boss fight from Kirby Star Allies. Did anyone else beat him in The Ultimate Choice on Soul Melter EX difficulty? I beat him using four Ricks. May the Goddess of Light Shine Upon You For the final snap, Final Destination was the only fitting choice. If you're wondering how Pit is enveloped in a beam of light, the answer is that it's coming not from the Goddess of Light, but one of Crazy Hand's attacks. Pit should probably be getting out of the way of that... ...And that's it ! I didn't wind up making a winning entry in the end, but overall, I'd say I enjoyed spending time coming up with ideas for these contests. I used to take a lot of snapshots back in the Smash Bros. Brawl days, so dedicating time to do so once more felt somewhat nostalgic, and was a nice reminder that Smash can be more than just a fighting game. That said, as enjoyable as it was, it was also rather exhausting taking so many snapshots in the span of two weeks, so I probably won't be doing it again anytime soon (unless someone wants to give me fifty quid), but I hope you liked something from this collection nonetheless. Here's four more I took last year to finish off this post, based on the theme of movie posters. Bonus: A Smashing Movie Poster . "It ain't over til it's over." Two Brothers, Two Genres: Superhero Two Brothers, Two Genres: Horror "Thanks for the adventure."

This is Mr. Sproukurai. Yes, I returned! And with a rather pleasing result, as far as my personal wishes are concerned.Which are also apparently Mr. Yabuki's wishes. I still remember how he absolutely styled on the winner of the ARMS Open Invitational as Min Min at E3 a few years ago, and I'm glad to hear he's still fond of the character to the point where he would tell Sakurai to use her for Smash. As thankful as I am, I still probably wouldn't eat any noodles he's been swimming around in, though... Anyway, it's a little late, but as promised, it's time for some self reflection on those predictions I made. @Glen-i has apparently already delivered judgement, but I figured I'd still offer my input. It's been a while since you've had to suffer a lengthy post of mine, so, enjoy? Or don't. Read what ya wanna read, pal. Fighter Prediction Results: Win Win! As expected, the first three alternate colours are the same alternate colours she uses in ARMS. Win Win! This was actually the main reason why I thought there would only be one fighter from ARMS. Whilst they all look like they perform the same, each fighter has their own unique traits, and as strong as the cast of ARMS is, it would have been a shame to strip them of their abilities just to cram more of them in. That being said, I admittedly expected the dragon transformation to last for as long as she isn't hit, rather than it having what I assume to be some sort of time limit. Not a completely faithful implementation, but I'll chalk it up to balance reasons. Win Win! I actually didn't expect you to be able to change ARMS on the fly, but to use specific ARMS for specific moves (I did expect the left ARM to always be the Dragon ARM, however, because she needed an ARM that could feasibly hold onto items or ledges at all times). Whilst everyone in ARMS is capable of using any of the ARMS, in my view the signature ARMS are part of that character. Min Mixed. It looks like Glen-i considered this correct, but that's because he misread "charge" as "change". In ARMS, players can charge their ARMS in order to power them up and add additional attributes to them for a few seconds. However, in Smash, these charged punches only appear in Min Min's forward smash attack and attacks from her Dragon ARM when her left arm is transformed.So whilst charged punches are in the game, they aren't quite as heavily implemented as I anticipated. Min Mixed. I'm being rather generous by saying it was mixed considering I was mostly off the mark, but I was at least correct that Rush is used. Just as a Final Smash instead with no Rush Gauge involved. It's somewhat of a shame, but considering the trade-off was having access to three variations of several attacks at any time, I think I'll survive. Giving her access to what would essentially be almost like a second Final Smash arguably would have been a bit much in hindsight. Mino No... I thought that this was such a certainty because you can grab both on the ground and in the air in ARMS, but instead it's just her regular grab (with comparatively shorter reach). Min Mixed. Again, I consider myself being rather generous here. Firing her Dragon ARM laser is possible with standard special, but she can do so much more. And unlike my claim, she fully extends her arm before the laser fires. I'm not even really sure the laser counts as a projectile, since you probably can't reflect it. Mino No... Whilst I knew a tether recovery for the up special was a very real possibility, I was somewhat hoping they'd go a different route considering two DLC fighters already make use of tether recoveries.That said, I like that the up special is different when used on the ground. It could prove useful to follow enemies extremely high up in the air. As a side note, I did somehow guess Ganondorf getting a new chest cavity. I guess Min Min prefers Ganondorf's Twilight Princess look. Min Mixed. Well it is a Rush attack, and it is cinematic, but there's no Hedlok involved. After further thought, Hedlok would probably be better suited were it in a Final Smash for Max Brass or Dr. Coyle instead. In any case, with six other ARMS fighters joining the action for this Final Smash I guess you could say that seven heads and 14 ARMS are better than two heads and 6 ARMS. I know it might look strange but I assure you that the numbers there are correct. Win Win! By the way, as I was trying to speak about an ARMS fighter in a general sense, I didn't really to go into specifics about how I thought Min Min's kicks would come into play, but the upward and downward attacks, as well as dash attack, were about what I expected. The Street Fighter styled tap or hold for different versions of jab attack came as a nice surprise, though. Kinda wish they implemented that into her forward and back air attacks as well, in order to include additional kick attacks directly from ARMS, with the forward air kick being a meteor smash like Snake's. Win Win! It bears repeating, but having three different versions of several moves, each with their own unique trajectories is pretty impressive. You can kind of understand how it took them so long to complete development of this fighter. Win Win! Well, not so much a win win if you're a Belmont... By the way, did you know that if you hit a wall with one of the Belmont whip attacks, that the whip will flail against the wall and it's hitbox will be cancelled, causing it to deal no damage at all? The whip was probably made that way so that you couldn't attack through walls, but for the whip to deal no damage as a result is somewhat tragic. Luckily for Min Min, she likely won't have this problem. Win Win! Doesn't appear to be quite as quick as when holding the Daybreak, but you can certainly walk and jump, just like in ARMS. Generally speaking, they've done a very good job of implementing most of the core mechanics of ARMS into Smash. Win Win! I certainly wasn't expecting that she'd be able to punch in both left and right directions, so that's a happy case of going beyond my expectations. With this, Min Min can cover the entire length of Final Destination with her punches! Min Mixed. Ahh, my win win streak is over. It looks like Glen-i said I was wrong on this one, but I'd argue that that isn't completely accurate. Whilst you can't disable Min Min's ARMS, what remains true is that it appears that Min Min won't be hurt if you hit her ARMS whilst she's extending them. So if you space your attacks well, you'll be safe from harm. I thought that disabling ARMS would be implemented as a way to balance the fighter's long reach in order to stop it from being too safe, but I guess they didn't see the need to go that far. Stage/Music Prediction Results: This is not the stage I chose personally. Mino No... Spring Stadium was my second choice, but I was a big fan of Sky Arena's aesthetic, and I figured Spring Stadium would end up being too similar to Boxing Ring. The reason for thinking that way is that I assumed that the ARMS stage would have more of a literal adaptation in Smash, and that's because I have the imagination of a brick. Luckily for everyone, I am not working on Smash, and my first impressions of this adaptation of Spring Stadium are pretty solid. I'm looking forward to giving it a try. Min Mixed. Correct that the ARMS Drone would appear to drop items, and that you could attack it to make it release said items, just wrong about the items being specifically from ARMS. Perhaps it's for the best... the thought of Isabelle being able to pocket a Fire or Shock Bomb is scary... Mino No... I'm honestly surprised that this wasn't the case, considering every single DLC stage prior to this one had these sort of cameos. They even have the models for some of them in Min Min's Final Smash! They may appear on a monitor in the background, but I was expecting a bit more than that. At least the stadium is packed full of supporters. If you look closely, you'll see they even have the Smash logo on their shirts. Win Win! Music from every stage in ARMS (including a couple of "boss" tracks that play when fighting on Sky Arena in Grand Prix mode), as well as the main theme, with only a couple of remixed tracks. Unlike my prediction about background cameos, this safe bet was actually in my favour. Misc Prediction Results: Mino No... Whilst I feel a little sorry that Biff was left out, with the way that the trailer played out, his commentary would have probably been detrimental to it, so I'm glad to have been wrong on this one. And speaking of the trailer, it sure was a great one! I'd put it up there with Robin's & Lucina's trailer for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U. There's something about having both a character a lot of people are expecting to join Smash getting snubbed and the presence of Captain Falcon being... well, Captain Falcon, that seems to be a winning combination for Smash trailers, and I for one am all for it. Min Mixed. More amiibo confirmed to be coming is great (except for your wallet), but it was explicitly stated that there's no guarantee that all remaining DLC fighters will receive amiibo. I do hope all four heroes are announced at somepoint, instead of just the one we saw today. Just think of how tiny Munchie would look! ...I wonder how problematic Min Min's ARMS will be if she gets an amiibo. Win Win! I'm Team Marie, so naturally Marie of the Squid Sisters was one of the characters I wanted in Ultimate. I pictured her with a moveset centred around Splat Chargers (with the occasional appearance of the Splat Brella perhaps), but her chance as a fighter has clearly come and gone (if she ever had a chance to begin with, that is). If there's another Smash game in the future, we'll have to see how the future of Splatoon is developing at the time when considering any newcomers from that series. In anycase, unless you're a fan of Heihachi, it looks like fans of third party franchises can collectively breath a sigh of relief for now! ...But there's five more Challenger Packs to go and a rogue Spirit Event could happen at any time. ----- So there we have it. It seems like I don't have what it takes to try and lie my way into looking like a reputable Smash Bros. leaker for five minutes of internet fame, but at least it appears I was fairly on the money in regards to how a fighter from ARMS would function in Smash. I feel like I may be patting myself on the back a bit much here, but oh well. ARMS was a game I enjoyed playing during the Switch's launch year, so I took quite an interest in pondering how someone from this game would function when the Smash announcement came around. And as mentioned, Min Min was my favourite character from it's great cast of characters, so once I saw Captain Falcon and Kirby slurping on noodles I was smiling from beginning to end. I'm looking forward to taking up ARMS again in Smash and trying her out for myself at the end of the month! 好吃! Captain Falcon, I know it's been a long time since your last game, but have you really fallen on such hard times that you needed a new job to pay the bills?

This is Mr. Sproukurai. Yes, I'm still alive! I'm here today to remind you that there is just under- ...until the Smash presentation goes live! Hm? Who would I like the fighter from ARMS to be? Well, if you want my personal preference, I'd have to go with this character! Yup, it's them. Min Min is my favourite character to use in ARMS, and her kicks and signature ARMS such as her laser firing Dragon ARM could make a pretty decent moveset in my opinion. Also her colour scheme reminds me of orange and lime Tic Tacs, which can only be a plus. I personally think it may be someone else, though. Of course, there's more to a presentation than just who the fighter is, so with one hour remaining, here are some last minute predictions from yours truly. ...I ended up writing more than I thought. But it could be fun to look back afterwards and see how on or off the mark I was. I'll go ahead and conclude this post with a link to the presentation so it's on the current page. I hope we can all look forward to whoever the fighter is. Unless it's someone other than Min Min, then I'm allowed to be upset. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh-oh-ohhhhh-oh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh-oh-ohhhhh-oh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh!

Less than an hour to go 'til closin' time, pals. Things appear to have slowed down, so if you were unable to sell earlier, or wanted to sell more, you should hopefully get in without too much hassle at this point.Dodo Code is still 03FLN. Mabe is now clooooosed. Sorry to those who wanted to explore by the way, but I figured it was for the best to fence everything but the shops off so people could just do their business and let the n-ext person in (and prevent RedShell from vandalising my noticeboard). In all honesty my island and house is a bit of a tip at the moment and the only visitor I have is Leif, so you weren't missing out on much anyways. Even then, it still turned out rather chaotic, so if another big spike happens in my town in future perhaps there can be a way to make this more organised next time.Maybe a dedicated Discord channel or something that people can queue/chat in "live". Also, thanks to those who gave tips and gave thanks here and whatnot. I know there were some folks both here and in-game mentionin' adding me as a Switch/New Horizons friend and stuff, but, uh, I couldn't tell who most people were just by their Animal Crossing name, so hit me with a notification here if you were intending on adding me, along with who you were if you wanted to do that for whatever reason.

I guess I forgot to mention so just to be clear, I do intend to keep the gates open until either closing time at 10pm UK time or until everyone has finished their trading (including if you decide you want to make an extra trip or two, or change your mind on how many turnips you wanted to sell), so if you're unable to get in immediately, just keep trying. And I'll let everyone know if the Dodo Code changes for whatever reason, too. "Looks like someone is on their way here!" and "Looks like someone's leaving." shall forever be ingrained into my memory.

Psst... Hi. You don't wanna sell at Kaepora_Gaebora's island. 'Cause my island is selling turnips for 539 bells. For now, the Dodo Code to visit Maidens' island of Mabe is 03FLN. (Sorry if I was too late to stop Aneres11 from selling I am bad at this oh goodness.)

Okay! Firstly, late response, but I had fun the other day, @RedShell. I think the Pikachu match was my favourite. Lay dem match GIFS on me, I can take it now. =P I'm also grumpy though because I didn't get to record my replays before the patch hit, so they're all gone... As for using Tourney Mode, after giving it a look over the weekend... it's hard to call, but there are drawbacks. Players can't choose whether matches are 1v1, free-for-alls or team battles. You can only have free-for-alls (the amount of players chosen depending on how successful the search for players is). To my knowledge, only one person per Wii U console can take part. That means people who share a console won't be able to both compete, which is a bit of a deal breaker for some n-e members. The majority of "win conditions" basically comes down to who has the most time to play. You can limit the amount of total matches a player can take part in, but this has it's own problems. Players could use all their matches playing against the same opponent/s, or a player could join but have nobody to play with because everybody else has played all of their matches. There is no way to monitor who is actively in the tournament at the time. Furthermore, given how active both Smash topics are, the amount of participants would likely be quite low, so players would probably be required to arrange their matches here... and if that's the case, then we may as well just arrange a tourney on n-e by ourselves. I'm not sure if using it for a "proper tourney/league" is the best idea, but it could be used somewhat effectively as a convenient meet up spot to play without needing to exchange friend codes and have multiple people host rooms, though we would still require some organisation on here to pull it off. Someone could create a Tourney at a set date that runs for, say, an hour. This tournament would be created about a week in advance with a password that will be shared on the forum (you could make it a friends only tourney instead, but that would require players to be friends with the tourney host). Players could join the tourney in the game (and can forfeit whenever they like beforehand if they can't make it any more), in addition to declaring themselves "IN" in the thread. Players could come online a few minutes before the tourney starts, and fight to get the most points or wins or whatever once it opens. This is basically a long version of what RedShell's last post said, because why write something as a sentence when you can write it as a convoluted paragraph! Doing it this way will make theme nights run more smoothly compared to several players opening rooms, adding each other on friend lists, etc., and the idea of not knowing who you're going up against each match could be exciting. But you're limited to free-for-alls, no 1v1s or team battles. Furthermore, if we don't get many members to sign up, players are probably going to get matched against the same people a lot (and even with many players, there will likely be times where some players are left hanging in the waiting room for lengthy periods of time, which of course is no fun). And again, I'm not sure we can ignore those who share a Wii U but both want to take part if the occasion arises... That said, nothing stopping people from playing outside these meet ups, especially if it isn't a proper league that keeps track of scores and such. What's most important though is getting members to play in the first place! Considering we can barely get enough people to play a four player game in this thread most of the time, and the super response so far, I think we'd have our work cut out for us. =P I haven't tried making a Tourney myself yet, but I was considering making a public one where people could try out the DLC stages without buying them. Perhaps if we could get members interested, it could serve as a trial run for the above method instead? I could also perhaps cut out Suzaku Castle and add Kongo Jungle 64 (and maybe Battlefield and Final Destination) to make it an N64 themed tourney. This post was faaarrr too long...

After taking another look at my mention list, I noticed that Jonnas' mentions for me haven't worked since the 12th of July. Also, when I quote his posts with tags after that date his tagged text looks like this: @[*URL=http://www.n-europe.com/forum/member.php?u=364]Cube[*/URL] But when I quote the last post he made on my mention list his tagged text looks like this: [*MENTION]Cube[*/MENTION] (minus the * for both) Jonnas, are you sure you didn't just... forget how to tag users, pal? =P