Top 5x2 Hopes for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC Tracks

With Nintendo announcing that new tracks will be coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe starting in March, Keybug and I thought it could be interesting to develop a list of tracks that we'd like to see in this run of DLC. Both of us came up with five tracks separately, which is why you'll see some tracks twice. The only rule we had was that they had to be from the games listed in the announcement (not that it was a severe limitation, neither of us have much experience with the Arcade games). For convenience, we've also listed what game the track originally came from in brackets ("(7)" for example means the track came from Mario Kart 7). With that said:

Keybug's #5: Wuhu Loop (7)

For my list, I tried to focus on what the new mechanics in Mario Kart 8 could bring to these older tracks. An outlier in this would probably be Wuhu Loop (also known as Wuhu Island Loop), as there's not much that can be done with it when it comes to Anti Gravity. This circuit is, after all, a loop you're meant to jog in Wii Fit, and Mii's can't walk on the roof. One of the big things to help this track would probably be fixing its broken shortcut, but that should be a given. If you want to practice for the track, though, play Wii Fit. Get some exercise in.

Keybug's #4: Maple Treeway (Wii)

Maple Treeway is just an iconic track to drive through, and there isn't much to improve on it. Sure, you could add anti-gravity to sections of the race, but that may ruin the track's simplicity. The only thing Mario Kart 8 can bring to this track is the HD visuals and audio, which I'd be absolutely ok with. So why fix what isn't broken?

Keybug's #3: Waluigi Pinball (DS)

 
The chaos that could come from anti-gravity in this track. Some say that Waluigi is a chaotic character by nature, and the speed you could get from anti-gravity in the main table and the ball track after the launch could give this a feeling similar to Baby Park. With the added speed, the pinballs themselves could also be given a speed boost, encouraging players to keep the momentum going or be crushed by the giant metal pinballs.

Keybug's #2: Kalimari Desert (64)

 
One of the ways Mario Kart Tour expands its tracklist is by remixing the tracks already in the game, adding new paths and obstacles. Kalimari Desert was always a track that could benefit from such a design, thanks to the train tracks being drivable but risky thanks to the train riding on them. Some people believe that the Tour original tracks could include some of the remixed versions as randomly selected layouts, like Excitebike Arena in Mario Kart 8. If that's true, something similar could work for Kalimari Desert. If that's not possible, making the train track a challenging but very rewarding shortcut, along with adding boosts on top of the train if you manage to land on it with the glider, could also help give this N64 classic some modern touch-ups.

Keybug's #1: Koopa Cape (Wii)

Koopa Cape is a beloved track from Mario Kart Wii and one where you could do one of a few things to bring it up to Mario Kart 8's features. For example, anti-Gravity along the track would be easy, a section in the pipe would be a great fit to keep the speed going, and one along the river could make that high-speed section even more intense. In Mario Kart 7, they cut the pipe in half and filled it with water, including a glider section right before the river. A mix of any or all of these would be interesting to see, but even if they play it safe and keep it close to what it was in Wii, there's still a lot of enjoyment to be found in it.
 
Blaster's #5. Bowser's Castle (Wii)

 
I'll admit there is a lot of bias with my list. While I have played most Mario Kart games (the only exceptions being Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart Super Circuit and Mario Kart Tour). Nostalgia, and me focusing more on courses already well made, rather than thinking about how new mechanics can be incorporated, is what made up my list. While Mario Kart 8's Bowser's castle does come close to dethroning this beast, there's something so satisfying about the half-pipe section with Mecha Bowser shooting fireballs at you, something thrilling about narrowly missing the fireballs as you go from one jump to the next that makes this track so memorable for me. Considering that 8 Deluxe already has three Rainbow Roads (something I would love to expand on, but more on that later), nothing is stopping them from adding in more Bowser's Castle tracks. Plus, it would be more engaging than remaking SNES and GBA Castle tracks.
 
Blaster's #4. DK Mountain/ DK Snowboard Cross (Double Dash/ Wii)

 
"But wouldn't these conflict with Mount Wario?" No, just because something is set on a mountain doesn't mean it'll clash with Mount Wario. While both these tracks are great already, I think Anti Gravity could add a lot to both. In the case of DK Mountain, it may help bring back its lost charm from Mario Kart Wii because while the weight in 8 is even heavier than Double Dash, the speed from Anti Gravity could help with the air time especially on the initial Alpine section of the mountain. On the other hand, it could also lead to some sabotaging, as both Mountain and Snowboard Cross are known for Mushroom based shortcuts over pits; getting an Anti-Grav speed boost right before they make the jump could throw opponents off, giving you the advantage.

Blaster's #3. Maple Treeway (Wii)

 
This is a track I'm torn on because if the theory of these tracks being ported from Mario Kart Tour is true, then this could be a very disappointing track. I love the look of Maple Treeway, both the Wii and 7 versions of the track look great for the hardware, and there's something so relaxing about driving around a tree in Autumn. It has the potential to look gorgeous on the Switch, especially if Wild Woods is anything to go by. However, from what we've seen of Wave 1, the tracks look like a downgrade compared to the details of the first 48 tracks. Perhaps these are still Work in Progress textures, but I could be setting myself up for disappointment if it's indicative of what's to come. Hopefully, we see a return of the rope bridge, and I find it more entertaining than a glider section.

Blaster's #2. Rainbow Road (Wii/ 7)

 
I can't choose between these two. It was pretty hard to narrow it down to five tracks (Sorry, Wuhu Mountain Loop and Airship Fortress), but trying to pick out of these two was impossible for me. I love both tracks for different reasons. They're excellent tracks, just like a good Rainbow Road should be. The deceptively hard turns on the Wii version, driving on and around planets in 7, the beautiful music for both of them, there's very little separating these two in terms of quality, and seeing what can be done for them in 8 Deluxe just makes me more excited for these new DLC packs.

Blaster's #1. Waluigi Pinball (DS)

 

Predictable? Yes. Many people rank this track high on their lists of great Mario Kart tracks, and it's easy to see why. A Kart racing game, to me at least, is at its best when the tracks you can drive on go as far as they can on stylization, letting you move in and around things you never thought would be possible to drive on. For example, a road made entirely of light, a castle flooded with lava, through a giant Maple Tree, and in this case, inside a massive pinball table. Though I think this concept could be improved with a more chaotic pinball table, it doesn't change the fact that this is still a fun track to drive through, and the music used is without a doubt one of the best track themes in Mario Kart. Though I hear people calling the song used in the announcement trailer a remix of Coconut Mall, I struggle to hear it as, at best, it sounds like a cleaner version of the Wii song. Still, if the Mario Kart Band is off the table because of Covid, I would gladly take the Smash Bros remix of Waluigi Pinball. 

 
I want to quickly mention Wario Colosseum from Double Dash, as it's an honourable "sixth spot" that we both came up with, and once, we don't hear many people talk about it. While it's not a track that I've personally played, it looks like a fun track to drive through, and its potential in Anti-grav mode could make it even better. Time will tell if any of these do make it into the game, though.

Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion, The Crown Tundra: Trading one grind for another.

Though I wasn't expecting the Sword and Shield Expansion Passes to fix the main issues I had with Sword and Shield, it has become clear in hindsight they've chosen to double down problems that feel like they've been plaguing Pokemon since Generation 6. While Isle of Armor was ok for what it was, it didn't make me excited for the second half of the Expansion Pass, the Crown Tundra. 

Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion, Isle of Armor: How is SwSh 6 months later?

What was intended to be a short, simple review of a pretty short expansion turned out to be something a lot longer then I thought. Maybe I have been playing the series for too long... Well, before Min Min joins Smash and gives me another excuse to dump even more time into Smash's Spirits Mode (not that it needed more reasons to be the game I've put the most amount of time into on my Switch)

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore: I swear some of these concerts are using Black Magic.

And no, I don't mean the Blackmagic AV products (yes those are a thing).

Before getting started, I do have to make a quick announcement. Due to the state of the world right now, I've revived a Patreon account to try and ease the blow that is basically the world shutting down due to the Coronavirus. It has affected me pretty hard, due to my main work being Events Operations, so if you do enjoy the work that I do (which should be coming out more consistently due to all the extra free time I have), and you are in a position where you can help, please support me on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/mediaholics), and hopefully, the state of the world isn't like this for too long. If you start seeing an influx of older toys, older shows, movies, games, etc in the coming months from both sites, this is the reason why. Anyway...

Before the development of Fire Emblem Awakening, there have supposedly been talks over at Intelligent Systems on a potential Fire Emblem Game set in the modern world. Bringing the traditional combat system, but replacing swords, bows, and horses with more modern weapons and forms of combat. While some may argue that's what Advanced Wars is for, it turns out modern-day Fire Emblem would end up happening... by turning Fire Emblem into a Persona game. Not the most out-there crossover idea I've heard, as the combat systems between the two games, are similar enough to synergise well, but while this was originally pitched to the world as a crossover between Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei (of which Persona is a spin-off of), by the time people finally got to see the game, what we ended up seeing was... Persona 4 Lite guest staring Edgelord Chrom... The WiiU version of the game is something I purchased but didn't get much of a chance to play it as it was one of the few WiiU games that actually needed both the TV and the Gamepad screens, something that I found hard to explain to people who were used to me playing the WiiU by plugging in a set of headphones to the Gamepad and playing it like a giant Gameboy Advance. So when talk of a Switch port started circulating, I was interested, especially now that my knowledge and experience of Atlus games have grown to be more than just "What's a Persona?". Now that I can actually play it at my own pace, is it any good?

Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist; Link Evolution: It's time to constantly repeat this duel until you get the right draw!

As I mentioned in my Yu-Gi-Oh review, while the show was something I was interested in, when it was possible to keep up with it at least, the card game was not something I got very far in, simply due to no one at my school knowing how to play. While stuff like the life-sized Dual Disks was cool, the confusing rules of the Duelist Kingdom arc stuffed it for everyone (not to mention fake cards everywhere). Because of that, Yu-Gi-Oh didn't stick around for me like Pokemon did, it looked like it died, for the most part, tossed aside like other games that people called Pokemon Knock-Offs.

It wasn't until relatively recently when I looked into the series again that I found out that it was not only still going, but... let's just say the barrier for entry has gotten higher... I still knew how expensive of a hobby competitive card games like that could be, even with my reasonably cheap Psychic deck back during the Pokemon Generation 5 rule sets, and that price was nothing compared to what some decks cost in Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and even Magic the Gathering. So when I found out that a game for the Switch was coming out that had not only all the released cards at the time, but also allowed you to play iconic duels from all the shows? It had my interest, though it also came with its fair share of problems.

I'll start with the presentation, as mechanically, there's not much to talk about here, as it is the current rule set for the card game. Presentation sells these games based on collectable and competitive card games, and the presentation here is fine but very basic. The cards themselves look good, and UI implementations allowing for reading the card text makes it very easy (most of the time) to learn what a card does, at least when compared to the real cards, when some cards could have font smaller then this on a smaller then normal card for the sake of trying to explain it's paragraph long rules for its abilities. The presentation is lacking in many areas, with cutscenes represented by still portraits and dialogue boxes, with no voice acting to be seen (something I would have liked to have seen for the more important duelists, because I like hearing Kaiba going "You're a third rate duelist with a forth rate deck!"... It was in the mobile game...). On top of that, the duel fields look like basic JPG files with the duel mat put on top of it. Each image looks to change out based on what series you're playing, and what arc in that series it is, rather than the context of the show (either that or I'm misremembering the Shadow realm, last I checked it didn't have a nice happy meadow that looked exactly like the one I just fought Mai Vallentine in...). The music as well is completely forgettable, though grading when it came to hearing it repeat over and over again due to the fluctuating difficulty of the game.

Due to the nature of competitive card games, the difficulty of a match is all based on the luck of the draw. This carries over into Link Evolution as well, because if you get a bad draw, you may as well surrender and try again, because recovering is easier said then done (I wish I was kidding when I said I've been slaughtered by AI in 3 turns at times because I kept drawing cards I couldn't use yet). While it's nice to get a small number of prizes even if you lose, it gets tedious constantly repeating duels just to win a match and move on, it's the main reason why I haven't gone further then Yugi getting Slyther the Sky Dragon in Battle City (which, on a side note, going back to presentation, iconic monsters get a 3 second intro animation when they're summoned, but there are numerous monsters that you'd think would get the animation (like the Egyptian God cards), that don't for some reason.). While it is fun playing with both the story winner's deck and then having a reverse match where you can play with the other characters deck, some decks are hindered by the changed rules very heavily, to the point where it's better to use one of the premade structure decks based on different mechanics. A big example of this for me was Yugi vs Bandit Keith before Battle City, where Keith's deck was a complete pushover to fight as Yugi, and impossible to use when I was playing as Keith himself, due to the anime not having the tribute summon rules at the time. 

There are other parts to the presentation that I would have liked to see if they were in the game. An option to play using different rulesets would have been nice, and a good way to break up the gameplay a bit, while also giving a reason to make decks themed around rules like not needing to tribute summon monsters, or speed duelling like in the Mobile game. Going further, it would have been interesting to have other spin-off duelling styles like Team battles, Labyrinth battles and Dungeon Dice Monsters as options (can you tell I don't have much post GX experiences with Yu-Gi-Oh?). It would have helped with the presentation, as I'm happy to take a basic looking game that has a lot of features. 

I struggle to call this game bad. Objectively, it does what it set out to do with no major issues. But the big problems come from it doing what it set out to do, and not really doing anything else on top of it. It looks extremely basic, like a mobile game ported to consoles, but that in itself is kind of an insult because the mobile game has a better presentation then this game. The core itself is fine for the most part but compared to other video games based off of card games, even ones like Gwent when they were mini-games in Witcher 3, It just looks and feels bland. But at least there aren't any microtransactions using real money, because, with the number of duels you'll be playing and replaying, you can easily stock up on a lot of card packs. It's fine, but could have been a lot better.

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (Switch Port): Just as unpolished as ever

This is a follow up review to the original review of Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth. Link to the original: https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com/2017/02/digimon-story-cyber-sleuth-shes-had-her.html

While Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth was a game I enjoyed when playing it on the Playstation Vita, there were some glaring problems with it when it comes to the polish of the game. From localization errors to not making story event changes depending on the player characters gender, it gave the game an awkward charm to it that players will either like, or hate. As a quick follow up to that review though, the game has come out on the Switch, and has it made any improvements in that department?

Short answer, no. In fact, using patch 1.01, it's even worse, but in an amazing way that I am surprised did not get caught earlier on in development. There isn't much to add to the presentation, it looks and sounds as good as it did on the Vita, but thanks to the Switch's Sleep Mode, and the Digi bank, it is shocking how quickly you can get powerful Digimon as the game doesn't stop counting playtime while the console is in Sleep Mode. According to the in-game clock, I've put in over 114 hours and am barely into Chapter 3 (at time of writing). According to the console though, I've put in somewhere between 10 and 20 hours. In that time, I already have 15 Ultimate Level Digimon, most of them in the level 20s to 40s, purely by having the game running in sleep mode. I honestly struggle to call that a glitch because of how easy it is to catch and use. It's baffling to me that something like that wasn't caught before release, but considering as the game gives you several Mega level Digimon in the form of smaller versions of the Royal Knights for free, I can't help but wonder if it was intentional or not.

Presentation-wise though, this is still basically the same game, just with the extra DLC (not counting the Vita themes). Some of the visual problems are more obvious now, such as some stiff animations here and there, but it does look like the localization hasn't been improved either, as I did notice some odd word choices in cutscenes every now and then. The soundtrack is still good, and fitting for the game, but some parts of the game that I didn't do in the initial playthrough, such as the Digimon missing items in Kowloon are annoying to do and were probably worse to do on the Vita. Seriously, who's idea was it to put white sparkly things for items in a dungeon that has the primary colours of light blue and white?!

Is it worth a double-dip? That depends. For me, the main reason to get it was to get Hackers Memory, a prequel to the events of the story that I'm hoping to get a proper review of done sometime in the new year, as that game only came out to the PS4. It's a solid game to play on the go and being honest, most people reading this probably don't have a Vita around, and the better investment is to get a Switch (unless you're committed to PS4 Remote Play?). Worth a look if you can find it on sale at least, but that's without judging the second half of the package.

The Legend of Zelda; Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch version):

While it is always nice to shake-up established franchises from time to time, a big problem with that is the fans that prefer what the IP was before it happened. This can be for any number of reasons (some debatably more valid than others), but in terms of games, a common one is the gameplay style. To me, an example of this was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and while I won't say it's a bad game, I'm personally not a fan of Open World Games like it, games that feel like giant sandboxes that try to have something resembling a story, but it's so easy to be sidetracked that you forget what the main plot was until it's over. While I don't believe Breath of the Wild is exactly like it, other games like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, a lot of Ubisoft's generic open-world games, and other games in that vein do fall into that category. Games like that feel like they don't have a clear focus, at least to me.

So, when the next Zelda game that was revealed turned out to be more traditional, thanks to it being a remake of an older game, I was excited, especially as I'd never played the original Link's Awakening. However, one big question was hanging over it and continues to hang over it. "Is it worth the price tag?" It is, after all, a remake of a Game Boy game, a system not known for its large games. Without going further, the easiest way to answer that would be "How much do you want a traditional Zelda game?"

Super Mario Maker 2: When the be all end all 2D Mario game turns out to not be the be all end all 2D Mario game

Apologies for the random week-long absence. The Tech Games Fest 2019 took more out of me then I thought it would, and the planned review, Persona Q2, needs a bit more work before it's ready. In the meantime though, there is a quick thing that could get it's time in the spotlight, and one that did get a good amount of play at TGF (though not while attendees were around), Super Mario Maker 2, the switch release of Super Mario Maker with more building tools, along with other new features (for better or for worse).

Opinion Piece: Things I'd like to see in Pokemon Generation 8 (and beyond)

Ahh, the start of a new Pokemon generation. A new location, new characters, new Pokemon, new features, returning features, cut features, it is an exciting time to be a Pokemon fan. While many will speculate on what's going to come to Pokemon Sword and Shield, analyze the trailers to death, go to war to decide if Gyms were better or Island Trials were better, and cry for an Open World game once Generation 9 comes in a few years, I'd like to take a step back, to talk about things that I either hear some people talk about, or no one talks about at all. I wouldn't call many of these ideas small ideas, but certainly lesser appreciated ideas. Do I think all of these are ever going to be a real thing in the games? Probably not. Do I hope all of these become realised ideas? Absolutely! So come with me dear reader as we indulge the one part of my brain that many people think I should have chosen for a career path, and probably would have if I enjoyed, and didn't such at, coding. These are in no particular order, that's why this isn't a Top X List.

It should be noted that the images used in this post are themed to their points, as such some might seem weird at first.

Mediaholics Review: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

Link to video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8hjmLUmjfg

Everyone might be in the game, but we couldn't quite get everyone for the review. Ehh, at least it's the usual two.

Link to the *ahem* "interesting" competitive ruleset: https://twitter.com/ScrubQuotesX/status/1088711432655405056

DCember Prologue; Lego DC Supervillains:Well, at least I'm not smelling corporate bias?

It is no secret that I hated Lego Marvel Superheroes 2. I personally found it a slog to go through, the DLC was broken, the over world wasn’t fun to travel through, the levels got shorter as I went through, and even at the 100% mark, I never really felt satisfied with the experience. I got so mad at the experience that I was genuinely considering not getting another one, and became extremely cynical towards DC Super villains. Against my better judgement, I picked up DC Super villains thinking that, at the very least, it would be a good review for this week, seeing as most of, if not all of next month’s content is going to be focused on DC. Was I wrong to be so overly cautious? In a word: No. It’s times like this when I’m glad I don’t do number scores or submit reviews to Metacritic and the like, because I’d probably piss someone off at WB for this, not that it matters, I don’t get review copies, and any ad space they may get here is through Google, not me.

Super Mario Party: Making friendships by ruining them one friend at a time.

Many believe that the best of friends are forged when people go through the hardest situations. While no game can come close to that kind of experience on its own, the closest would have to be Mario Party. What might look like a harmless party game, can quickly turn into one of the most cutthroat competitive games you can play in a group. Why? Minigames, and Power stars. That being said though, get a good group of people together, and these games can be some of the best games to play together. While there was a quality shift, especially during the Wii and into the Wii U, Super Mario Party boasts as being a return to form for the series. How well does it pull it off though?

Kirby Star Allies: Let's do the Odyssey... wait, wrong game...

Kirby's had a bad habit with console appearances, hasn't he? It's quite hit and miss depending on if he's in the mood. We had Kirby 64 for the Nintendo 64, but no main series title for the Gamecube. We got both Epic Yarn and... ugh... Kirby's Adventure Wii... (yeah, the US got a better name for that one, being Return to Dreamland), but nothing for the WiiU. To be fair I wouldn't want a game on that system either if we're going purely by console sales. Now we come to the Switch, where we get a game in the system's second year on the market? I guess that goes to show the power of a system that sells more units in one year then its predecessor did in its lifetime. I'll always try to find time for Kirby, so let's see what his newest adventure has in store for him.

Opinion Piece: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and the talk on Echo fighters

Ever since its reveal in E3 a few weeks ago (at time of writing), the Smash community has been set ablaze with the news of a new game, and the chances of new characters to come. While I could do a list on new fighters I want to see, there isn't really anything I could add to previous posts I've done on the matter, so just look at those, they should all be tagged with Smash bros like this post (if I did my job right, there have been times where I forgot to add tags to posts). Instead, I'm going to focus on the topic a lot of people are talking about, Echo Fighters, the "clones without being clones" coming to Ultimate. Because I hate myself, instead of going through and listing just characters I want to see, I'm going to go through every single character coming to the game (as of 29/6/2018), and see what they could get as an Echo fighter, or as a costume (bear in mind I haven't seen everything that came from E3, including all the individual off-screen recordings of gameplay so I don't know what all the costumes are going to be). I'll also be tackling some Echo Fighter ideas I've seen others talk about, and giving my views on them now that I've had time to think about them. This order is going to be the same order as what's on the site by default and does leave out confirmed Echo Fighters (Daisy, Lucina, Dark Pit), we do not need Echos of Echos. So come into this inevitable flame war I'll be entering, share your views on the list, just try and keep things civil (I know these posts don't get comments often, I share them to other sites that do). These aren't going to be overly detailed, just due to the fact that there are 62 characters to go into.

Due to the length of the post, the only images I've included are the official renders for the characters in the game, as an easy way to find a character you really want to know about. For more information on the extra characters I talk about, I recommend looking up their information on your own accord, as you might find something new and interesting to play if you like the sound of them.

1. Mario

It sucks that I have to start on a boring note, because the more I think about it, the more I don't see Mario getting an Echo fighter. The two I've heard thrown around the most are Fire Mario (because apparently that outfit's missing from Mario's alt costumes), and Paper Mario. To get the easy one out of the way first, no. Fire Mario's not going to be an Echo for Mario. What could they possibly do for it, especially when the one thing Fire Mario can do, throw fireballs, is in Mario's regular move set? Do I think its weird that those colours are missing from his alternate costumes? Yes, but it's not because he's going to be an Echo fighter.

Paper Mario though... I get it, I get the logic behind it, I get the passion behind it. Fans love the Paper Mario series, and while it would be better than nothing, Paper Mario is such a unique series that I don't think an Echo Fighter would work for the character. Does that mean he's going to get his own move set? I don't know, but I do think its rather unlikely. We already have 8 (according to the site) designated Super Mario representatives, and that's not including all of Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes, and the franchises loosely connected to Mario being Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Yoshi and Wario. That's the main reason why I'm struggling to see Paper Mario making the cut. Would he be fun to play? Yes, absolutely, and would be a nice representative of the Mario RPG games. I would like to be proven wrong, but for now, I consider him "really unlikely, borderline impossible".

2. Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong's a weird case because there's a fighter I think would likely be his move set, with only one drastic, non-cosmetic change being needed. But at the same time, there's one I would rather see be the Echo fighter, even if it wouldn't make much sense.  Who do I think would be the DK Echo? Funkey Kong. It's the closest match to DK's body so the strong punches would make the most sense, and the Up Special could be changed to incorporate his surfboard, akin to the Switch version of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. Who would I rather see as the Echo? Cranky Kong, as he's considered to be the original Donkey Kong from the arcade machines, and it would be nice to have him in the game, see where DK got his skills. The problem is that due to the design of Cranky Kong, it is such a stretch of the imagination that its almost impossible to see this actually becoming a reality. It's a shame really.

3. Link

"Hasn't he got enough clones already?" Though all jokes aside, this is another where I doubt we'll see an Echo of him. Toon Link and Young Link already basically fit that role, it's not needed. The best I could come up with was Dark Link, and that can easily just be a costume.

4. Samus

Finally, one I could actually see as a possibility, so long as the two aren't relegated to Assist Trophies. Either Dark Samus, with the major change being a minor poisoning effect its attacks have thanks to Phazon, or the SA-X from Metroid Fusion, which would not only bring Samus's more iconic Super Metroid/ Metroid Prime look back, but could easily have a Final Smash being a Power Bomb. No one would complain because A. It gets more Metroid representatives into the game and B. both of these are clones of Samus anyway, it fits their character portrayals in Metroid Prime 2 and 3 for Dark Samus, and Metroid Fusion for the SA-X.

5. Yoshi

A lot of people say that this is the way to bring in Birdo, but by the looks of it (I haven't spent a lot of time in Mario 2 USA), there are too many differences to be considered as a potential clone. What makes it worse is that any Yoshi clone one could think of... is just another Yoshi. Maybe Yarn Yoshi? Have the eggs replaced with yarn balls that could have a catching effect to stun enemies? That's the best I've got at least.

6. Kirby

Aside from the fact that Kirby has the same problem as Yoshi, Kirby's already hard enough to develop thanks to the copy ability. We don't need a Kirby clone. That being said, Bandanna Dee as a unique playable character I'd be all for, and a thing as innocent and pure as Bandanna Dee should not be relegated to an Echo fighter. Stop trying to force it to be one you monsters!

7. Fox

You know that joke I said about Link? The same thing applies here. I could see James McCloud as an alternate costume for Fox though... granted, there'd need to be some work done so that he doesn't just look like Fox with Pilot Sunglasses (I forget the name of that type of Sunglasses). Just, please, don't use that model from F-Zero GX.

8. Pikachu

This could honestly go to any of the Pikachu clones Game Freak has ever made (except Mimikyu). However, why not use the ones that might have almost gotten into Brawl, assuming those file names are accurate. Plusle and Minum. This would be one of those "Kinda sorta Echo fighters" like Dr Mario, Young/ Toon Link, etc as while they could have Pikachu's move set, the individual damage output would be halved and the two would play like Ice Climbers. Plus the Final Smash could be them using Helping Hand on a Legendary Electric Type Pokemon for a supercharged Thunder. You can't deny that it wouldn't be cool.

9. Luigi

The main one I've been hearing for Luigi is Mr L, a persona he adopted in Super Paper Mario thanks to being brainwashed by, I wanna say the main villain? I haven't played Super Paper Mario yet. However, that statement should give away my views on Mr L, in that I think he works better as a costume for Luigi rather than an Echo of Luigi. It should be said though that for any of these costume ideas that are alternate characters, I personally view them in the same way as Alph for Olimar, and the Koopalings for Bowser Jr, and that they have a unique announcer sound effect for them saying their names, Mr L being one of them.

10. Ness

You can thank CJ for help on this one as... well you saw what I was able to do in Earthbound... Anyway, for both Ness and Lucas's Echo fighter (and at least one other I'll get to later). To make this work, swap the roles, have Ness as the Final Smash assist for... Paula.

11. Captain Falcon

The only character I could think of that isn't Samurai Goroh is Black Shadow, though the problem is that I don't know what could change about him to be an Echo, so I'm personally leaning closer and closer to an alternate costume. That's the problem with racing games as the source material for a fighter.

12. Jigglypuff

While I didn't say the obvious one for Pikachu, I will say the obvious one for Jigglypuff: Wigglytuff. Why? Because I'm a fan of the Mystery Dungeon series, and the Guildmaster deserves a place. There could be a few tweaks to the move set to make it more unique then just a bigger Jigglypuff, but I do think Wigglytuff has a place, especially if one of the taunts is it dancing with an apple on its head!

13. Peach

While Peach does already have an Echo in the form of Daisy, there is one other character I think could work with some tweaks to her move set. Yes, she's already in the game, but that didn't stop Toon Link in the Spirit Tracks stage. Of course, I speak of Pauline. The only problem is that she'll need quite a bit more work then a new head and a colour swap, but I think its entirely possible, especially if you draw inspiration from the items you could get in the original Donkey Kong.

14. Bowser

No Echo, just a costume. In this case, Dry Bowser. Not much more to say really.

15. Ice Climbers

I kinda blew this one already with Plusle and Minum, but the thing is that I don't know an Echo idea for the Ice Climbers. It doesn't help that they haven't had a game since the NES, but their move set is so unique that the only thing I can think of is "What if *insert character here* played like the Ice Climbers".

16. Shiek

The main character I could say for Shiek's Echo, Impa, I don't feel I could say anymore because of Hyrule Warriors. I don't want the main series Impa now, I want Hyrule Warriors Impa with the Giant Blade. That being said, could they use Shiek's moves on other ninja characters? They could, there isn't much about Shiek's move set that's unique to Shiek, there just no longer a Zelda character that could be her Echo. On the subject of Impa though, can we have either HW Impa or Lana? Those two basically design themselves!

17. Zelda

A lot of people call for Hilda, seeing as this is based on her Link to the Past/ Link Between Worlds design, but there is one that could work just as well, just with a darker tone for her moves. Twili Midna. It would be a nice way to get Midna playable, as Twili Midna is her true form. Change a few models, make a new Final Smash, give some new taunts, you're basically set.

18. Dr Mario

Another "No Echo, just costume", but I could see Dr Luigi as a costume for Dr Mario. Most of the work's already done as you can just merge the Dr Mario assets with Luigi.

19. Pichu

Considering as Pichu is already kind of a clone of Pikachu, there's not much to say. I will, however, say that one of its costumes should be the Ukulele Pichu from Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.

20. Falco

Falco is to Fox what Pichu is to Pikachu, and not worth going into. Feel free to consider this as an "I've got nothing"

21. Marth

We already have Lucina.

22. Young Link

The only thing I really have to say about Young Link is that I wish he had the Majora's Mask shield. Look, it's hard thinking of Echo fighters for fighters that are basically Echo fighters of someone else, why do you think I left off the explicit Echo fighters like Daisy and Lucina!

23. Ganondorf

Refer back to the second sentence in number 22. Would be nice to see alternate costumes based on his other reincarnations though (Wind Waker for example).

24. Mewtwo

There aren't too many Pokemon that could fit the role Mewtwo has in Smash without excessive reworking... but there is one that could work, but would need a lot of new animations and models. That pokemon being? Deoxys. They could even incorporate the different forms for animations. Normal forme for regular attacks and movement, Atack forme for Special, Smash and Final Smash moves, Defense forme for shield and grab, Speed forme for recovery. As for the Final Smash? Psycho Boost, Deoxys's signature move.

25. Roy

I do not want this character because of one thing related to the Fire Emblem franchise. But, to be fair, there is an Echo for Roy that would work. Eliwood, Roy's father from FE6 and FE7. Why do I not want him? As an extension and refining of the "2 many swords users!!" argument, I would like to see any more FE representatives that make it into Smash either have more distinct variety like Robin and Corrin or even better, use different weapons from FE's weapon triangle. I would like to see an Axe user, a Lance user, a pure dragon stone user maybe? There's more variety than just sword users!

26. Mr Game and Watch

As a character that represents all of the Game and Watch games, there's no real room to make an Echo of him unless you wanted to incorporate other games, in which case you're making a new fighter.

27. Meta Knight

A lot of the Echo fighter ideas I've seen for Meta Knight's Echo (being Galacta Knight, Dark Meta Knight, Morpho Knight and Blade Knight) I can't see going anywhere further than a proper costume for Meta Knight. Galacta Knight has the best chance thanks to the fact that he has a Lance and a Shield, but Sakurai has gone on record saying that he doesn't want to overexpose his franchise so I doubt we'll be seeing him. Would be cool though and worse case scenario, alt character costumes for Meta Knight.

28. Pit

We already have Pitoo.

29. Zero Suit Samus

The only character I could think of that could be a Zero Suit Samus Echo is Gandrayda, a bounty hunter from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. However considering her ability to shapeshift, I'd rather her as a unique fighter, there are more possibilities for her than just an Echo. There's no one really like Samus without her power armour though so it's a bit of a no-win situation.

30. Wario

Take away the farting powers, and I could see Mona being an interesting Echo for Wario, maybe bringing her closer to a "kinda sorta Echo" by incorporating some of her microgames from the Wario Ware series.

31. Snake

Thankfully unlike a lot of the other characters, Snake's easy to find Echos for. Why? Because This Snake isn't the only Snake. Not to mention, thanks to how the games are handled, you could take any main character from the Metal Gear Solid series, and make them an Echo of Snake. Personally, I'd rather Big Boss... as in the real Big Boss, not Venom Snake... Look, as much as Konami might want to hide it, the MGS series is a series made by Kojima, which means its absolutely insane at times and to explain what the difference is between those two, or how all these characters are connected would take as long as me trying to explain the plot of Kingdom Hearts. Before I move onto Ike though. Give Snake his MGS 1 look (I expect it to be straight from the PS1!), and Old Snake looks from MGS4. If Big Boss is an Echo, Naked Snake look from MGS 3 as an alt!

32. Ike

A lot of people want Chrom as an Echo of Ike. It's something I heard back when 4 was dominating my news feed, and its something I'm hearing now. What I said about Roy and Eliwood applies here, and even more so because we don't need another Fire Emblem Awakening representative, let alone another sword user when there are plenty of other weapons.

33. Red... I mean "Pokemon Trainer"

With Leaf... Sorry "Female Pokemon Trainer"... actually no I'm going to call them Red and Leaf. Back on point, Leaf is in the game already, there's not much of a point to them getting an Echo. However, as with Ice Climbers, their gimmick could work for another trainer with three different pokemon. Do I think we're going to get that? No, I've seen the six alternate colours they're getting. Red gets outfits based on Gold, Lucas and Calem (Gen 2, 4, 6) and Leaf gets outfits based on May's Emerald look, Hilda and Moon's Ultra Sun/ Ultra Moon outfit (Gen 3, 5, 7). Would I like to see more trainers playable? Yes. Give me a playable L.T. Surge with his Voltorb Bazooka from the manga.

34. Diddy Kong

A lot of people call for Dixie Kong as Diddy's alt, the problem is that the two do play very differently in the DKC series, and with Dixie being one of the main Kong's now, she's more fitting of her own spot on the roster with a dedicated move set. Is there an Echo for Diddy? Not that I can think of, no.

35. Lucas

Like with Ness, this requires some shifting of characters. In this case, upgrading Kumatora to a playable with Lucas being in her Final Smash. In talks with CJ though, we both agreed that a newcomer in the form of Duster would be interesting to play as because there are Earthbound characters that don't use PK powers.

36. Sonic

I know I'm going to sound really hypocritical here as I was one of the people (in private) thinking Shadow could get upgraded. He still can, but out of all of the Sonic characters, there are two I'd rather see, either Tails or Blaze. Tails could have a stronger recovery then Sonic thanks to his ability to fly, maybe a stun ability using some of his gadgets in the battle to act as an electrical elemental, and for a Final Smash? What else? his FLICKY ARMY OF DEATH! form Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

As for Blaze, she already plays very similar to Sonic thanks to the Rush games, and the easiest way to distinguish the two? She has fire powers. Ad a burning effect to some of her punches and kicks, and maybe an ability to hover at the cost of a weaker recovery (in terms of height).

37. King Dedede

This one, like Meta Knight, I could see more as a costume option for Dedede instead of a full-blown Echo. Bonkers, the main enemy Kirby gets the Hammer ability in the games and the basis of Dedede's move set in the Kirby games.

38. Olimar

No Echos, but more alternate costumes like Alph for Louie, Brittany and Charlie... Maybe the President too for the fun of it.

39. Lucario

This is one I could see acting more like Pichu, in terms of how close of a clone it is. Encase that wasn't a giveaway though, Riolu. Just replace damage from electric attacks with damage from aura attacks.

40. R.O.B

Sorry R.O.B, no love for you as an Echo. Don't feel sad though, it makes you special, unique (shut up I like R.O.B in the games).

41. Toon Link

See the second line of Young Link.

42. Wolf

See Falco... however, there is an alternate costume that could work for him. Panther Caroso.

43. Villager

Animal Crossing is quite similar to Star Fox in terms of fighting game material, in that the most you can do is make one character and base everyone else around them (Oh shut up Falco and Wolf fans, you know I'm right!). On the plus side, it means picking an Echo fighter is pretty easy because I could throw a dart at a list of Animal Crossing Villagers and get a fighter... So, of course, I'm going to go the easy one and say, Isabelle. Like it or not, she is basically the franchise's mascot now, so if anyone was going to get an invite, it would be her.

44. Mega Man

Who could possibly be the Echo fighter for the Super Fighting Robot? Proto Man? Bass? X? Guts Man? How about someone you could do a lot too, someone who's closer to the Falco, Wolf, Toon Link and the like, giving a Mega Man moves with some more melee options, and potentially using some of the potentially scrapped alternate moves from Smash 4? Who is this heroic robot I speak of? Roll. No, I'm not kidding. Look, everyone's saying Proto Man or X, I wanted to give some variety. Besides, who doesn't like Roll?

45. Wii Fit Trainer

The best I could come up with is reskinning Wii Fit Trainer's move set to have an Echo as Party Phill... no, I don't blame you if you don't know who the heck I'm talking about, he's the announcer in Wii Party and Wii Party U. If you recognize him now, you know where I'm going with this, reskinning WFT's moves for a party theme, and potentially adding music based moves to reference Wii Music? I know I'm reaching here.

46. Rosalina and Luma

In terms of a Mario representative that could work with Rosalina and Luma's move set? I've got nothing. However, I have one idea I'll come back to later on. Hold that thought.

47. Little Mac

With all the potential fighters that could be added in with Little Mac's move set, there's one that a lot of people want to see, and one I agree with. Glass Joe. I would honestly laugh if he was just a worse Little Mac in every way.

48. Greninja

I've got nothing for an Echo, but I do have an idea for an alternate costume. It is now in the games, Ash Greninja. Granted, that could easily be either an alternate costume or a part of Greninja's Final Smash.

49, 50, 51. Mii Fighters

Yes, I am lumping all three of them together for this. No, I have nothing for an Echo of either of them. If they were to make a fourth type of Mii Fighter though, I'd love to see a Spellcaster Mii.

52. Palutena

A lot of people have been saying Viridi should be Palutena's Echo. I personally heavily disagree as I think she has a lot of potential as a unique fighter (Goddess of Nature after all, if you can't make a move set out of that, you have not played enough games with nature magic in them). That being said, if Viridi had to be an Echo fighter to make it into Smash, there is a character that could work better. Remember how I told you to hold on Rosalina and Luma for a bit? Viridi's why. Give Viridi a nature spirit companion, maybe add some extra moves in like a vine for a grab, some extra range as she uses a staff instead of a wand, there's more room for her as an Echo of Rosalina then there is as an Echo of Palutena (however I stand by the fact that she should be a unique fighter first and foremost)

So, if Viridi's Rosalina's Echo, who's Palutena's? Well, this is one I'm kinda surprised no one thought of first, Medusa. Replace the light effects with Darkness, maybe give her a stunning move based on the real-life myths of Medusa. She seems to fit a lot closer to an Echo of Palutena then Viridi does.

53. Pac-Man

You know exactly who I'm going to put here. I just don't think she'd be an Echo, but an alternate costume for Pac-Man. I just don't know how much they could change to make Ms Pac-Man different enough to justify an Echo (yes I am aware of how bad that sounds).

54. Robin

While originally I was going to say "I have nothing for Robin, because again, more variety in Fire emblem reps please", there was one thing I saw that convinced me of this pick. A Facebook reply from a man I'll just call Mathew (for the sake of privacy), detailing how Celica could be a nice Echo for Robin. There would need to be a number of changes made to make her an Echo, as she is more associated with fire magic then thunder, but I could see her as a fire equivalent of Robin, especially because she can use Elwind and Nosferatu (or so I've heard, I really need to play Shadows of Valentia). They could also swap out Robin's durability mechanic for something like Pichu's self-inflicting damage to make it closer resemble Gaiden, the game Shadows of Valentia is a remake of. I take no credit for this one as this was all him. Besides, a Three Houses character probably won't come until DLC (should it exist, I struggle to think of what DLC could add to an already massive game).

55. Shulk

I was given this as a challenge, to come up with an Echo for Shulk. I couldn't think of how to mould Rex and Pyra around Shulk's move set, nor a character from Xenoblade Chronicles X. The best I could come up with? Dunban, the user of the Monado before Shulk. Do I think this has a chance? Not a hope in hell, but it's the best I could come up with just because of how versatile the Monado as a weapon is.

56. Bowser Jr.

The only characters that could be Bowser Jr's move set are already using it, the Koopalings. Maybe Baby Bowser? But I personally feel that would be pointless just because of the Koopalings.

57. Duck Hunt Duo

Before anyone brings it up, that is what they're called in PAL versions of the game (the one I own), that's the name I'm going to call them. I do not want to see comments saying "But they're called Duck Hunt you moron!" On topic though, I've only heard one idea for an Echo for Duck Hunt Duo. Banjo and Kazooie. I do not agree with this, I think it would be a bad representation of the pair. I want to see the two of them in Smash, but not as an Echo of Duck Hunt Duo. That being said, an Echo based on the cat from Nintendogs and Cats would be funny to see.

58. Ryu

Another very, VERY easy one because of how many clones Ryu has in Street Fighter. While I'd like to see the clones as alternate costumes for Ryu, as an Echo? Can we have Guile, please? That might require a bit more work compared to someone like Ken, but still, it would be a nice change of pace.

59. Cloud

I, unfortunately, don't know enough about Final Fantasy to come up with someone as an Echo for Cloud, if it's even possible. I would like to see more Final Fantasy representation, I'm just not the person to ask about who should be the representation.

60. Corrin

If I remember my Fire Emblem Fates lore correctly, then theoretically, any of the siblings could work as an Echo of Corrin. That being said, I don't want to see the sibling, I've seen enough of the siblings. The only other character I could think of is Azura, but she would be better suited as either an Assist trophy or as a unique fighter (I just don't see Fates getting another representative in Smash).

61. Bayonetta

Almost forgot about this one somehow, but thankfully this one's an easy pick, Jeanne, who is basically the same as Bayonetta in terms of combat potential.  Side note, to the people complaining about Bayonetta in Smash, stop calling for her to be nerfed, its more productive to buff everyone else up.

62. Inkling

Another "no shit sherlock" pick for this one, Octoling. Doubt we'll see it though as the Inklings seem to be only based on Splatoon 1, and the Octo Expansion only released a few weeks ago, so if we're not even seeing Splatoon 2 content, what hope is there for Octo Expansion outside of maybe a trophy or two?

63. Ridley

Robo Ridley from Zero Mission? Maybe? Look, I tried my best here, the only Echo that had a chance at all already has the spot it was most likely to get, Meta Ridley as a costume.

And with that, I'm done. All 63 characters, and my best attempts at giving them either an Echo or a character change costume. I am not going to update this the moment a new fighter is announced. If you liked what I saw and want me to do other opinion pieces on Smash in the lead up to Ultimate's release, let me know. For now, I'm going to get to work on the review of Transmetal Optimus Primal for the Toybox.