We put together a substantial list of who we want for Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS earlier this year, but that was before we knew Namco Bandai is developing the game.
Smash Bros. steward Masahiro Sakurai recently said he wants to scale back the Smash Bros. cast. In an interview with IGN, Sakurai said, "I think Snake and Sonic joining were fantastic. It made many fans happy, and it broadened the Smash Bros arena. However, introducing more non-Nintendo characters willy-nilly will lose the focus of the game, so I also recognize the need to narrow it down." We disagree. Now that Namco Bandai is developing the game, we think several great options exist for expanding the roster outside of its comfort zone.
We know all the Nintendo standbys will be on hand, but these are the Namco Bandai characters and properties we'd like to see in the game.
Ridge Racer and Ace Combat
I group these two together because both games put you in control of vehicles, and that's what I want to control in Super Smash Bros. I want to play as an actual plane from Ace Combat or as one of the vehicles from Ridge Racer. Think it's an unreasonable request? Well, it has been done before.
Spock, Curious George, Popeye, Dilbert, Spawn, and Vin Diesel from The Fast and the Furious
Namco Bandai does not own the rights to any of these franchises or characters, but they have published games based around them. Basically, they know who to talk to, and could probably work out the details to make some magic happen. I would love to see a battle between Spock and Curious George, or The Man with the Yellow Hat. Spawn made his way into Soul Calibur, so why not another fighting franchise? Vin Diesel didn’t appear in The Fast and the Furious video game that Namco released for PlayStation 2, but that's just a minor detail. Those familiar with the history of Mario know that Donkey Kong began with the Popeye license in mind, so the two deserve a chance to fight. Also, Dilbert.
The Tales Series
Namco Bandai’s flagship role-playing series has hundreds of characters spread across a huge collection of games, so it's hard to pick just one. Since the GameCube entry Tales of Symphonia is a fan favorite, I'm going with the strong-headed orphan Lloyd Irving. His duel-sword fighting style makes him a formidable foe.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man made it into the arcade-only Mario Kart racing game Namco Bandai created, so his appearance in Smash Bros. would be the least surprising of all. Maybe he could incorporate some Kirby-like powers swallowing enemies left and right with his triangle shaped mouth.
The Prince and The King of Cosmos
Namco should only include these two if their sizes are accurately scaled to all the other fighters. The Prince should be a barely visible dot with incredible strength, and The King of All Cosmos should pretty much just be a giant foot, because that’s really all you would be able to see.
Read on for the possible resolution to one of video games' great rivalries.