At long last, the roster for Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS is complete. New characters like Cloud from Final Fantasy VII have arrived, and Bayonetta will soon be on the way along with a character nobody asked for.
That character is Corrin. Never heard of him/her? That's because the character is the protagonist from Fire Emblem Fates, a game that is releasing in February for North America.
With such bombshell announcements like Cloud, Bayonetta and Ryu, to have yet another Fire Emblem character make up what will likely be the game's final piece of DLC is disappointing. It's not disappointing because Corrin is an uninteresting character, or that Fire Emblem isn't a great game series. It's disappointing because Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS is filled with Fire Emblem characters already, roster slots that would be far better used for other iconic Nintendo characters.
The latest Super Smash Bros. has 58 playable characters, the most for the franchise to date. Out of those 58 characters, dozens of Nintendo franchises (or characters who appeared on Nintendo consoles) are featured: Metroid, Star Fox, Street Fighter, Pokemon and many, many more.
But break down the numbers further and you'll find something interesting. Mario, far and away Nintendo's most popular and iconic franchise, has eight playable characters included. Nintendo's two other major franchises, The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon, have five and six respectively.
Fire Emblem, on the other hand? Fire Emblem has six. Fire Emblem has more than Legend of Zelda and the same amount of characters represented as Pokemon, despite being nowhere near as popular as either two of those franchises.
Why? Part of it likely comes down to business on Nintendo's part. Lucina, a character that plays much like fan-favorite Marth, comes from Fire Emblem Awakening, one of Nintendo's most well-reviewed titles on the Nintendo 3DS. The same applies to Robin. It's likely the reason for Corrin's addition as well. Adding the character to the game around the same time of Fire Emblem Fates' North American release raises awareness about the game, and those who enjoy playing the character in Smash Bros. may be more inclined to give the latest Fire Emblem a try.
This wouldn't be too frustrating if three of the six Fire Emblem characters weren't remarkably similar. Hardcore fans can pick apart the differences for days, but their movesets are all tweaked variations of the same formula. To casual players, two of the Fire Emblem characters are practically skins for Marth.
It's disappointing that the Smash Bros. with the biggest roster in the franchise's history (and the first one to include DLC fighters post-release) doesn't include more fan favorites or additional characters from under represented franchises. Where is King K. Rool? Waluigi? Zero? Knuckles? What happened to Snake? Or Ice Climbers, who appeared in the previous two Smash Bros.entries but are missing in action in the new game? Instead, two of the game's seven DLC characters are from Fire Emblem.
You may be getting the impression that I'm not a fan of Nintendo's turn-based franchise. That couldn't be further from the truth. I've adored Fire Emblem since the game first arrived on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, in part, admittedly, because I was exposed to Marth in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Since then I've played every North American Fire Emblem game. I have the special edition of Fire Emblem Fates pre-ordered, and it will likely be the only game I play on my 3DS for months after it releases. Fire Emblem is one of my favorite Nintendo franchises.
But that doesn't excuse the fact that Nintendo's all-star brawler is supposed to feature just that: all-stars. Ike, a character from a Fire Emblem game few in North America ever played? He hardly qualifies. Corrin, from a Fire Emblem game North American gamers have yet to play? Does all-star really fit the bill? Marth earns his place for being the character that started it all, and Lucina and Robin earn theirs by coming from the most widely played and successful Fire Emblem to date, but the remaining characters from the franchise would have been better off left on the cutting room floor.
Any hope of new characters is now gone, as Nintendo has confirmed that Cloud, Bayonetta and Corrin are indeed the last DLC characters for Super Smash Bros Wii U/3DS. This is the roster fans will have to live with until the next Super Smash Bros. is released. Given the six year gap between Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Smash Wii U/3DS, the wait is likely to be a long one.
By cutting down on the needlessly high number of characters from Fire Emblem, a number that is disproportionate to the franchise's popularity, the dream characters of more than a few players might have been realized. Instead, those dreaming of getting the chance to fight as Waluigi will have to wait until Nintendo tries their hand at Super Smash Bros. again, letting out a quiet sigh every time they are hit by a sword counter for the thousandth time.
