Your Smash RPG Party

My absolute favorite video game series of all time is Super Smash Bros. It’s just amazing. But my favorite genre of video game is actually the turn-based RPG. While the tactical nature of the Fire Emblem games is pretty legit, I just have a special place in my heart for party-based RPG like Final Fantasy X.

A little while ago I put a random caption on one of my photos in a blog post. I expressed just how awesome it would be to have a turn-based RPG with the characters from Smash. I can imagine it now- you’re going along a quest to take down the vile Master Hand, amassing a party along the way, taking out hordes of primids or other Smash goons. You’d even run into classic video game enemies such as Goombas or Badniks. It would probably even have a story similar to the Subspace Emissary.

As I sat there imagining just how amazing and fun this game would be to play, my thoughts then turned to the actual character that I’d use in the game. So, assuming that the parties have a size of five (larger than some RPGs, but kinda small for a cast of over 70 characters), who would I pick? Here are three different possibilities.

Once you’re done giving it a read, consider sending me your pick of your five characters for your party. It’d be fun.

Party Option One- Team Dem Fast Swords

This would probably be my first choice for a party in this RPG. Every RPG party needs balance. You need different types of damage, tanks, and fast utility characters. This may not be the most balanced group, but I love all the characters and I can totally imagine how they would work in game.  Here’s the group, starting first with the leader.

Link

Regular adult Link would make a great leader of an RPG party. He’d have some bulk to him, but would be adept at dealing a wide variety of damage from close range and long range. He would best serve alongside other characters of similar balance so that he could transition from tank to artillery fire regularly.

Chrom

That’s why he’d have Chrom alongside him. Being the second fastest character in this group, he’d potentially have the highest damage output. I imagine his sword techniques would get increasingly more damaging and flashy to watch. However, as the character in this party who has had the most experience in the leadership role (perhaps better suited for it than Link), I imagine he’d have a leadership skill tree where he could provide great buffs to the whole team.

Cloud

Cloud would serve alongside Link as the other tank, being able to switch in and out with Link regularly and perhaps hit enemies from far away with magic. I doubt I’d put much effort into it, but I’m sure that we’d get some Firaga and Thundaga up in here. Maybe he’d be super versatile, just like this next party member.

Robin

Every group needs a spell caster and few characters in Smash can rival Robin’s magical prowess. He’d likely have the ability to be a sword fighter, just like his originating game, but I wouldn’t use him that way. I’d be dealing magic damage from the back lines regularly, boosting that stat as much as possible. Originally I had him with a different group, but I couldn’t stand putting him with anybody other than Chrom. Sometimes you just need themes in your group. Unfortunately, the sword fighter theme for this group is broken up by the last guy.

Sonic

Part of me thinks that all RPG parties need a fast character to balance out the group, so the fast character for this group would definitely be Sonic. Sonic obviously would be all about hitting fast, hard, and often. I’d wager that, for an RPG, he’d have use to classic RPG speed-related spells, perhaps boosting evasion or the regular “haste” spell. Maybe he’d have a skill that collects rings when he attacks, giving the party more money.

 

So that’s probably the party I’d use on the first run-through. Maybe. The second party is pretty cool too. Oh, I’m not repeating any characters, by the way, in case that isn’t obvious.

Party Two- Team Blink and You’re Dead

When I was deciding the parties, I thought of three roles to fill- tank, mage, and speed. But since I mentioned a leader in the first entry, I guess I’d have to choose one for this one too. Hmm…. Let’s go with…

Lucina

You could totally imagine Lucina being a leader of a group, right? She’s all inspirational when she’s leading her future resistance. What would she be like in this RPG? I imagine she’d be pretty similar to Chrom, with a leadership skill tree. But maybe she’d have a skill to turn back time one turn? Time travel? Maybe that’d work better with Shulk. Oh well. She’d still be awesome.

Toon Link

If you thought regular Link was going to do ranged damage, you’re going to be blown away by the primarily squishy destructive power of Toon Link. He’d also have his Wind Waker to give him awesome abilities, such as the ability to cause an enemy to fight for you or give a speed boost to the party by giving them a tailwind.

Pokemon Trainer

I’ll admit, I’m not sure how the three Pokemon aspect would work for a turn-based RPG. Maybe you’d have access to all the skills of all the Pokemon, but using a Squirtle skill would give you more speed and damage but less health? Basically constant stat changes. I’d primarily use him as a tank with Charizard’s fiery moves. Look, we’ve got varying damage types!

Zelda

Here comes our primary spell caster. What all could Zelda do in a fight? Well, I’m assuming that she’d have a lot of crowd controlling spells. She’s be able to inflict status effects like stuns and whatnot (who hasn’t been annoying by her neutral special?). She also seems to be able to do summons with that phantom armor, so maybe we could expand that more. Luckily, as a part of this team she doesn’t have to have as much damage diversity as the other mages. She’s got Pokemon Trainer to back her up.

Fox

Could you imagine just how much of a glass canon Fox would be in a Smash-related turn-based RPG? He’d have blaster skills, perhaps a defensive reflector skill, and tons of quick moves. He’d also be able to “summon” vehicles for quick damage, similar to Final Fantasy’s summons. We’ve got Landmasters and Arwings galore!

Yeah, that’s probably firmly my second choice. They sure do sound like a lot of fun, though, don’t they? Let’s look at selection three.

Party Three- Team Silence

Well, now we’re at a place where we’ve used up the majority of the characters that I play in Smash. Now we’re on to the leftovers, right? Well, in a way. But the mechanics of this game would be so incredibly different that exploring with different parties would be so much fun.

Young Link

Looks like Young Link has to be the leader of this group, mostly because he’s the only one that can really talk. I mean, I guess he’s a silent protagonist, but… you’ll see what I mean when we get to the rest of the cast. Anyway, what would primarily differentiate Young Link from the other Links is his massive use of masks. We’d get different mask skills that affect him or the entire party, such as his bunny hood providing a “haste” boost or his Goron mask making him a tanky Goron with all new abilities. He’d be a lot of fun.

Lucario

So, Lucario is my all around brawler. He may be a bit squishy, but he’d definitely have a Aura mechanic in this game as well. The lower his HP, the higher his damage output. I guess he could be the leader too considering he has been shown talking, though it seems more telepathic in nature. I don’t know. We’d make him very versatile with high magic stats for moves like Aura Sphere and Psychic, but a high attack stat for other regular offensive moves.

Donkey Kong

Now we’re on to our tank, probably the best tank of all of the characters I’ve selected so far. Of course he’d be an offensive powerhouse, but he’d also be a “bard” like character with the ability to play his drums for party boosts. His Donkey Punch would be a fun mechanic. Maybe it’d take a turn to charge up for 3X the damage, but he has to not be attacked for a turn. Give them a reason to attack the tank.

Ness

While I like Ness more than Zelda, he definitely made more sense for this team as its mage. He’d have a full arsenal of moves from his original game. Maybe his PK Flash would take two turns to charge up, but would attack the entire enemy team for 3X the damage, great for larger parties. Maybe he’d have a defensive stance to swing his baseball bat at ranged attacks? Too bad PK Fire couldn’t be as annoying.

P.S.- I guess Ness can talk to, but I think it’s possible that he can only say “OK!” Or maybe he can say anything as long as he says “PK” before.

Pikachu

Our speed character has to be Pikachu for this group. Sure, Ness has PK Thunder to give us some elemental damage, but Pikachu would fill out this team with a glass cannon nature filled with moves that either damage a ton or paralyze the opponent. I can also imagine his cuteness being a morale lifting factor, giving him skills to cheer  on his friends. Maybe we’d take a page out of Let’s Go and have him pick up extra items after fights.

A fun team, but definitely my third choice. Perhaps one of the most balanced, however.

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Conclusion

So, those are my teams. What about you? You’ve got five character slots to use up. Are you going to have a balanced team or just a team of your favorites? Think that my list is stupid? Feel free to let me know!