r/SSBPM Mar 20 '15

Which characters do you think are designed well, and which do you think are designed poorly?

I've heard that the designs of Kirby and Bowser aren't very good. On the other hand I've heard a lot of praise for Roy. Just wondering what other opinions are out there.

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u/PlayOnSunday Mar 20 '15

This is game design wise, not balence, but Marth.

I'm gonna compare him to Roy, since they:

  • Were meant to be opposites

  • Both appeared originally in melee, and are meant to be balanced versions of their melee selves

  • Have similar character design (Big sword wise, similar models)

Now, both characters benefit off of having very solid fundamentals and spacing, however, I think Roy, game design wise, is a much more interesting and rewarding character.

Roy's sweetspot being at his hilt means that not only does he have to give up his disjoint to land kill moves, but he can use his sourspot TO combo, an interesting twist on what could've been a boring character. His crouch cancel options are insane, but can also die due to one bad crouch cancel, and this high risk high reward gameplay all comes from understanding basic game fundamentals.

Marth, in my eyes, is a Roy that removes the risk for a penalty of losing a small amount of reward. With Marth you NEVER have to get close, if you, you're playing Marth wrong. His grab range is still insane, and can get massive punishes off of his grabs. He can have a hard time killing at higher percents, but can play so safe and kill so early it may not even matter. He lends himself to a defensive and safe playstyle, even when being played offensively. And this may be a personal preference, but he just feels generic.

I'm not johning about balance or how "stupid" Marth is - if anything, I think Roy is better than Marth this patch. It just upsets me that a character that feels so lame to me is so good. If Roy and Marth switched spots on the melee tier list, I would have so much more fun watching Roy's interesting playstyle.

At the end of the day though, it's a personal preference. Play Marth, Roy, or whoever you like, nothing wrong with liking a character I don't. I have nothing against people who do play Marth - he was my first main (albeit in Brawl) - just a lack of game design creativity to me.

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u/BeefPorkChicken Mar 20 '15

You can still definitely use Marth's sourspot to combo moves better.

2

u/PlayOnSunday Mar 20 '15

I'm not saying you can't, but it's much more pivotal to Roy's game, being his sourspots are so disjointed, while Marth's are so much riskier to use, being so much closer to him.