Top 10 Smash 3DS/Wii U Characters

Note: I know I promised a Samus entry...and it's still coming. That entry is gonna take some time and planning that frankly I don't have right now, and won't until I finish this semester. These top 10 articles can be done in like 30 minutes so they're way easier to crank out.

I have recently acquired Smash for the 3DS, and finally have had the chance to extensively try all of the 50+ playable characters. I thought it would be fun to talk about my 10 favorite fighters. Criteria I used to make my list include how much I like the game the character came from, how good I am with them, and how much fun they are to use. Let's get to it!

10. Wario

Not gonna lie, I sort of transiently forgot Wario was a character in Brawl. I knew he existed, but never thought to actually try him. I did so in the new game, and I'm pretty pleased. With a variety of unique specials and powerful smashes, he plays really well. Wario is usually my go-to character in Mario Kart and Party games, so it's only natural that I use him in Smash. 

9. Greninja

Honestly, Greninja is my worst character on this list. His moveset is underwhelming IMO, and he was really disappointing to me overall. The fact is, I love Pokemon games so much, I have to have a Pokemon that I use in Smash. Since Pikachu got nerfed so much, Greninja is unfortunately the best I can come up with. Maybe I'll get better with him.

8. Zero Suit Samus

Hey, we did get to talking about ZSS in this entry! Woo! Honestly, I'm definitely not an advocate of the supermodel-bodied interpretation of Samus (more on that another time), but at the end of the day, it is still Samus, and she is a really great character. Fast, lots of utility, and respectable Smash potential makes this one of my better fighters.

7. Little Mac

Little Mac was one of the first new characters I tried in Smash 4, and I was immediately hooked. His philosophy of crazy power + crazy speed + no vertical game is really interesting, and honestly suits me really well. Little Mac is the guy I go to if my goal is not to win a stock match, but to get the most KOs. And speaking of KOs, the power meter/KO mechanic is really cool and really satisfying if you can land it on multiple opponents.

6. Donkey Kong

One of the best changes that was generally implemented in the new Smash games was the increased viability of large characters. Wario is a somewhat-larger character and already made my top 10 list, and now DK is here too. DK is so much fun to use in this game, as virtually all of his moves feel crazy powerful, plus he is pretty dern quick for such a big guy. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well I did with DK the first time I tried him, and I can't wait to keep practicing to make DK one of my mains. 

5. Bowser Jr. 

I think Bowser Jr. has the most unique moveset out of all characters in Smash 4, with honorable mention to MegaMan and Duck Hunt (both of whom are in my top 15). The inclusion of the clown car was genius, giving the player an arsenal of boxing gloves, a giant tongue, drills, cannonballs, wind-up explosives, a kart, a buzzsaw, a fork....did I leave anything out? All of these tools are incredibly fun to implement for your foes' destruction, and it's really hard to get excited about characters that just punch and kick after you've used this guy.

4. Link

So Link is one of three characters who made this list based mainly on their source game. Who doesn't love Zelda games?? I'm definitely not the best with the Hero of Legend, but his arsenal of bombs, bow, boomerang, and clawshot, combined with fun swordplay that more closely resembles the source material than previous Smash games, make him a great character that I love to use. As a bonus, Link definitely has the best set of alternate costumes in the game. 

3. Yoshi

The heck was surprised out of me when I figured out that I was good with Yoshi. Honestly, I remember liking him in the original Smash Bros, and he's (she's?) really only gotten better since then. I don't really give a crap about any Yoshi games, but he's probably my best character overall, and the only character with which I've been able to beat All-Star on hard. Great balance between speed and power, and every move he has is useful, which is surprisingly rare in this series.  

2. Bowser

So I've already mentioned how much this version of Smash made me really like large characters, and Bowser is how I figured this fact out. For anyone that has ever played the Brawl mod, Project M, you know that they made Bowser a force to be reckoned with. Likewise, Smash 4 almost completely re-worked Bowser, and the end result can only be described as destructive. A great balance of moves that rack up damage quickly and some of the most powerful smash attacks this side of Ike, Bowser will get you lots of KOs. And I love KOs. Oh, and it takes more to make him flinch too, so you can easily charge up some of his more delayed moves. I'm not the world's biggest Mario fan, but I've always thought the Koopa King was a really well-designed character, so he brings the cool factor as well. Get ready to get dropkicked. 

1. Samus

For those of you who know me fairly well (which I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's all of you reading this blog...), I apologize. All of the #1s on my lists have been painfully obvious and probably no fun to guess at all. But Metroid is my jam more than any Nintendo game except Pokemon, and we've already established that I don't care for many Pokemon in Smash. Samus sucked in Brawl, but I tried to get good with her anyway. That really paid off when Smash 4 came out, because she played pretty much the same way but with slight buffs all around. Her custom moves allow for interesting rockets and bombs, and actually make the ScrewAttack worthy of its source material (okay maybe not...but it's certainly better than it has been in the past). Samus has a bunch of really cool colorations, all but one of which are based on a suit she wears in the various Metroid games. The Light Suit and Fusion Suit colorations are my personal favs. As an extra tidbit, my first ever exposure to Samus was in the original Smash Bros, so I have a special tie to the character as she appears in this series. 

There you go. As an ending note, I'm a sub-par Smash player, so just because I say a character is good or bad doesn't mean anything. Feel free to disagree with anything I say in the comments. Samus entry coming soon eventually! Deuces!  

Top 15 Video Games

Sup my non-readers. I have been going through somewhat of a video game phase lately, as opposed to the comic book phase I was in the last time I did a top something. It got me thinking about my unique perspective of favorite games, due to the systems I have owned over the years and the fact that I haven't played a lot of games that are largely popular. But first, some rules.

The Rules:

I will not put more than one game per franchise (lest this whole list be Pokemon, Star Wars, and Metroid), so you can assume a franchise-representing game will be my favorite game of the series. For the sake of this entry, all Star Wars, Metroid, Pokemon, and Zelda games are grouped together regardless of any other type of sub-series (so Prime games aren't separated from 2D Metroid games, etc.). I will list the system that I have the most experience playing the game on, and I will list honorable mentions in a given series if I feel that there is another game in that series that would have otherwise made this list. HERE WE GO.

15. Infamous (PS3)

One of the only PS3 games that I have played beginning to end, I really enjoyed this game. An original superhero created for the sole purpose of this game, Infamous incorporates sandbox-style play with a light side/dark side element, both key features on games farther down this list. I like this one marginally more than the sequel, mostly because of the New York-style of Empire City is more fun to explore than the New Orleans-based sandbox in 2. Both are solid games and Cole McGrath is an interesting enough character.

14. League of Legends (PC)

If I'm gonna be completely real, I kind of hate this game. The competitive nature of this game and myself are a bad combo, as I never feel like I am actually having fun while playing. The sole reason that this game is on the list is the endless hours of Friday night play with my college buds. I can't even remember what we did for fun as a group before we all started playing League. All sorts of inside jokes were born (Yuuung Terry) and fun was had indirectly through this game. Since graduation, I almost never play this game, but I often miss playing it in spite of itself. 

13. Crash Team Racing (PS1)

The PS1 was my second system ever, and as a 9 year old boy I naturally had every Crash Bandicoot game. The one I selected as my favorite, however, isn't even a main series game, but the Mario Kart knockoff. As a weird kid who didn't have an N64 growiing up, CTR was my only cart racer, and the only one that I ever got really good at. I have all sorts of fun memories playing this game with my neighborhood friends and even my siblings, so good memories help this game prevail. 

12. Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PS2)

I'm not very fond of fighting games in general, as anyone could gather while reading this list. The two fighting games that made the cut are very unconventional, and that's why I like them. Dragonball Z (the show) has a unique fighting style that cannot be captured by the traditional sideview used in fighting games. The Tenkaichi games switched to an over-the-shoulder view that caused gameplay to feel way more like actual DBZ. This made me quite a big fan of this game and earned it a spot on this list. Tenkaichi 2 and 3 are basically the same game, so I picked 3 just because it had a few more characters available to use.

11. Megaman Legends (PS1)

So I know those of you hardcore Megaman fans are groaning that I put this wretched game on here, but again, my unique perspective gives this game a chance. This was the first and only Megaman game (if you want to call it that) I have ever been exposed to, and while it certainly deviated from traditional gameplay, I kind of dug it. There was a definite RPG aspect, and the 3D movement and combat were pretty smooth, IMO. The open world exploration was loads of fun for me, and the story wasn't half bad either. This game was given to me from a kid who rode the bus with me growing up, really as an afterthought. Who knew that it would eventually go on to be my favorite PS1 game. 

10. Sonic & Knuckles (Sega Genesis)

I mentioned that my second system was a PS1, but my very first system was the Sega Genesis. I had all sorts of games, ranging from the good to the downright infuriating (Toy Story). Obviously, the standout titles were the Sonic games. Sonic & Knuckles was always my favorite, as it finally let me play as the devious Knuckles, who had a few extra abilities. It also had an innovative feature which allowed one to plug in previous Sonic games on top of the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge, which would allow Knuckles to be a playable character in those games. 

9. Halo REACH (Xbox 360)

I'm not a huge fan of FPS games in general, but the Halo series has always been the exception. Halo Reach, believe it or not, was my first experience with Halo, and it remains my favorite to this day. Featuring a different campaign that didn't even feature Chief, and multiplayer that contained some of the best maps I've ever played in Halo, it is my humble opinion that this game was the peak of the franchise.

8. Smash 4 (Wii U/3DS)

Everybody loves Smash games for multiple reasons. It is another example of a remixed fighting game that doesn't use traditional fighting mechanics, it allows players to make characters from different universes fight, and is quite easy for anyone to pick up and play. The latest installment of this series has particularly impressed me, with incredible character balance and a variety of excellent features (i.e. Omega Stages). There are very few games that can bring people together quite like Smash can, and this truth ranks this game quite high on my list. 

7. Spider-Man 2 (Xbox/PS2)

Typically, games based on movies aren't that good. Spider-Man 2 is a glaring exception. To my limited knowledge, this was the first superhero game that was open world, and the hyper-accurate representation of Manhattan in this game is unbelievably fun to explore. Add to this incredible web-swinging mechanics and memorable boss fights (especially against Mysterio), and you have a genuinely fun game that I believe gives an accurate representation of what it is like to be Spider-Man living in NYC. Its influence on other games in the genre (like Infamous) are still seen to this day, which adds even more to the legend of this game. 

6. Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)

This game came with my Xbox, and I didn't know what they heck it was or what it was about. So I didn't play it for a while, and decided to come back to it later. Several years down the road, I decided to finally play through it, and this game blew my mind. One of the most pure fun games I have ever played, JSRF provides a completely overly-stylized skating platformer with a killer soundtrack. It's not the most challenging, intellectually stimulating, or most story-driven game on this list, but it does provide ear and eye candy with plently of laid-back replay value. Try this if you have never played it!

5. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube)

Honorable Mention: Twilight Princess

I'm not the most hardcore Zelda fan out there, but I do enjoy them as much as the next guy, so it is only natural that the series would make my personal top 5. Since I didn't grow up playing Link to the Past like a lot of you probably have, I really only have great love for the 3D Zelda games. It was hard to choose between my first Zelda game, Twilight Princess, and the one that I ultimately dubbed my favorite. It really came down to the unique environment presented in Wind Waker, and the cartoony, cell shaded visual style of the game. I wish it would have a few more dungeons, but the exploration aspect of this game more than made up for it.

4. Burnout: Revenge (Xbox)

When I was brainstorming games that would make the cut on this list, I really didn't think that Burnout would rank so high, but alas, the more I considered how wonderful this game is, the higher it ended up getting on my list. This game is both genre-defining and genre-breaking. Driving genuinely feels breakneck-fast (which is rarely a given in racing games), traffic can be plowed through and used as weapons, and you can even explode your wrecked car to take other rivals. With about a million cars to unlock, the single player holds up just as well as the multiplayer, with substantial challenge and a great soundtrack to make this game an absolute blast.

3. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube/Wii)

Honorable mention: Metroid Fusion

Given that my biggest crush (my wife notwithstanding) is Samus, this series had to make the cut. Seriously though, Metroid would be one of my favorite series even without such an attractively powerful protagonist. With one glaring exception, every game in this series is a masterpiece, so picking a favorite was tough. Fusion was really fun, as it's story driven deviation allowed the game to turn you from hunter to hunted, which was genuinely terrifying at times. But at the end of the day, the second installment of the Prime series takes the cake. This one is largely considered to be the most difficult Metroid game, due to puzzles taking advantage of two parallel dimensions and killer boss battles (we're all looking at you, Spider Ball Guardian!). Plus it gave Samus her sexiest suit ever (in this guy's opinion): the Light Suit. 

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC/Xbox)

Honorable mentions: Battlefront II, Jedi Academy

I've played more Star Wars games than any other franchise, and indeed my experience with these games is a large contribution to how much of a SW fan I am. There have been some wonderful Star Wars games over the years, such as the pick-up-and-play Battlefront games and the puzzle-filled shooters/lightsaber-ers in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. But hands down, the best Star Wars game is Knights of the Old Republic (Kotor). This game is genius on so many levels. Set thousands of years before the movies, this game gets all of the benefits of the amazing Star Wars universe without the risk of ever intersecting with a story people already know. The conversation-heavy RPG aspect and complete freedom of decision making makes this game probably the most immersive I've ever played. Add in two alternate endings, which wasn't very much of a thing before this game was made, and one of the biggest twists in gaming right smack-dab in the middle of the story, and you have nothing short of a masterpiece. What could possibly beat this game? Well, what popular series has conspicuously not been mentioned yet? I bet it's Pokemon. 

1. Pokemon Black Version (DS)

Honorable mentions: Pokemon Blue Version, Pokemon SoulSilver Version

I have more hours logged playing Pokemon games than any other game franchise ever, by a margin of hundreds of hours. No game has quite defined me as a person more than the ol' Pokemon. This franchise was destined to occupy the top spot on my list, but the game that I would choose as my favorite was not as clear-cut. To know how I came to this decision, here's a brief history of my experience with Pokemon games. 

I was in the thick of the Pokemon revolution we all remember when we were in grade school. I had Pokemon Blue version, and I played the heck out of it with all of my friends. I briefly dabbled in the Gen II games, but really lost interest before long. I didn't pick up Pokemon (outside of casual, nostalgia-driven playthroughs) until my sophomore year in college, when I got SoulSilver version, the Gen II remake. To me, this was a new way I could re-enjoy a game from my childhood. Playing SoulSilver rekindled my interest in the series,so I picked up Black Version, which changed me from a casual fan to a hardcore fan. In addition to the plethora of awesome new Pokemon (and a few lame ones), I started to discover that the mechanics of this game were much more polished and advanced than I remembered in Blue, and I gradually got into the competitive scene. Hundreds of hours later, Pokemon Black is definitely my favorite Pokemon experience. 

It's hard to discount Blue Version, which "started it all" and was very inventive. But in my option, Black took all of the elements that made Blue great, and expanded them for an audience that was older and more intelligent. What's really impressive is that, while the advanced mechanics can be employed for competitive play, it is still very possible to enjoy the game on the same level that we all enjoyed the originals. It's a game that achieves the tricky balance between being accessible to new & casual fans, and old & hardcore fans at the same time. That, and it gave us Pokemon like Galvantula, Volcarona, Haxorus, Hydreigon, Bisharp, Golurk, Reuniclus...and the list goes on. No question that this is my favorite game ever. 

Next Time...

I know the last few entries have been a little boring and simple. I wanted to let you know that I'm in the process of a new entry that I'll actually be proud of. It will be about fanservice & sexuality, and how they affect "strong" female characters. The two characters I'll be looking at as examples are Samus and Princess Leia. I've been thinking a lot about this concept after going to Comic Con, and after revisiting the atrocity that is Other M. Again, this is a sensitive and somewhat controversial topic, and I want to make sure I think through this thoroughly before I post my opinion. I think it will be a great post and will inspire you to think about this topic on your own.