In Which Dave recaps Week #5

We are going to cure death. …Doubt it.

MT has a life? Welp, it looks like you’re stuck with little ol’ me in that case. I’ll try to handle the recap as best as I can, the timeframe for the posting of the recap will be Saturday night to anytime during Sunday. The cut-off time for sets is Saturday night, as it always has been. FA left some sets from last week unrecapped, so lets’ start with those.

First up is…a Majora set. Shit, I’m out.

Nah, just kidding. First set here is New Destroyman by Majora. The two function as a pair, one of them being player-controlled while the other acts as an NPC partner, meaning that FA will automatically hate it. However, Destroyman has a way of keeping his CPU ally in check, as the CPU ally will automatically react to his specials. He can also change the attack pattern of his CPU ally via down special, with the options of switching between an aggressive mode and a more teamwork-focused assisting mode. The two want to keep the opponent sandwiched between each other, the most notable example being the neutral special. The “aerials”, if you can even call them that, also serve this purpose quite well. The moveset received very little commentary outside Silver. While he praised the threesome-focused playstyle, he felt the “aerials” were a massive copout. Overall, he felt it was a enjoyable set that was brought down by awkward attacks and balance problems. Personally, I feel that the set was on-level with Majora’s Sceptile, though I probably would’ve ranked it over Sceptile had the “aerials” not been so wretched.

Chaos 0 by LegendofLink is yet another Sonic set by LoL, risky move there. Chaos stays true to his Sonic Adventure boss fight by having the only weakpoint on his entire body being his head, despite the majority of borrowed moves originating from the game in which Chaos’ was vulnerable to all attacks. Chaos is designed to fight against defensive characters thus, he is largely offensive. Chaos largely wants to push towards the foe, rather than having to chase them around the arena. Fortunately, he has a slew of options to keep the foe from getting past him, meaning he won’t have to chase the foe if he’s lucky. The set seemed to have a reaction opposite that of Sonic and Tails, receiving a fair amount of praise from those who commented it, though some seemed to feel that he could easily use his dash (which causes him to become a puddle, removing his head from his hurtbox) to stall. Despite this, Warlord had this at the top of his rankings until he ranked the Castlevania sets. I am of the opinion that this set is probably the definitive “defensive shut-down” set, even beating out my own Kraehe.

Afterward is…another Majora set. Garrick by Majora is an OC from that one fanfiction he wrote, the same one that spawned Emidius and his up special. Garrick wants to coat the stage in molten lava, his mechanic allows most of his attacks to be suited to making lava or reheating cooled lava. Garrick also specializes in swords, planting them in the stage or using them as projectiles against the opponent. He comes off as some sort of defensive character, yet, he is able to pressure the foe at the same time. The set’s reception was mixed, many attacked the set for being extremely rushed and having a distinct lack of flow. I felt that the concepts present here were much stronger than the rest of Majora’s sets, though the rushed execution brings the whole thing down. Clearly, we need to take this concept and execute it better, Hugo-style.

Following Garrick is another fire-based moveset: Fire Snake by n88_20– wait, what do you mean n88 didn’t make the random Bowser minion? Apparently, Fire Snake was made by Zook. Moving onto the actual moveset, the most notable thing about Fire Snake is his bizarre body, composed of multiple segments that each do lingering damage. Segments will be lost should their individual stamina be removed or if Fire Snake uses an attack that requires freak p– oh, right, fire points. His main goal here is to create more and more segments and catch the foe in their hitboxes, even going so far as to split into 2 different Fire Snakes to damage the foe even more or leaving segments on the stage. His bizarre movement also helps him out in this area, as well as allowing him to catch the foe with his small KO moves. The set got positive reception, the main criticism coming from no visual indication about Fire Snake’s frea-fire points. I feel that Fire Snake’s points could be tracked, but it might get a little overwhelming for the player. Still, I felt it was an enjoyable read.

Next was Zweilous by Illusive. It’s some MYM2 moveset for a pokemon. Next.

The next thing posted was not a moveset, but rather, a stage made to accompany a dead moveset. This stage was Bikini Atoll by BKupa666. The stage is fairly generic, basically being Delfino Plaza’s island stage with a few changes. The first of which is additional room for water battles, fitting given the character choice. The other is a generic platform in the form of David Hasselhoff, who swims in and out on occasion, allowing characters to “ride the Hasselhoff!”. Disgustingly, Bigger Boot does not follow Hasselhoff around. After some minor speculation in the chat of who the set was for, Kupa revealed that the set was for the robotic shark from James and the Giant Peach.

Afterwards is Princess Kraehe by myself. The moveset was originally made on a deal with FA, though he backed out of his part so (TIPSY). Kraehe focuses on trap manipulation, even going so far as to create traps for the foe if they have none. When they have traps out, she converts them into her own and uses them against the foes, luring them towards the traps and whatnot. She also has obscuring smoke and some tricks to make the foe bleed out, which allows her to play a cruel game with the foe that has them tripping around in the darkness, avoiding their own traps as Kraehe attempts to pummel KO them. Kraehe received mixed reactions, a slightly positive one from Kibble and a slightly negative one from LoL, as well as a mixed Kat one. The main criticism was the tackiness of the bleeding effect as well as the obscuring smoke being somewhat generic.

Then comes Sayaka Miki by SirKibble, yet another set for an anime magical girl. The set is largely focused around, though it does have a few twists along the way to differentiate it from falling into MYM6. If Sayaka can execute several hits in a short amount of time, she enters a “berserk” mode that will gain a plethora of buffs that include reduced start/end lag and increased movement, among others. The set goes on and on with this blissful knowledge, only to reveal that she will be forced to stay in this mode after a certain amount of time, eventually losing a stock. This turns your perception of the set into a hit and run specialist rather than a superfast, broken comboer in an extremely Junahunian twist.  The set received massive praise from DM and LoL, both proclaiming that it was one of their favorites sets so far. FA liked the set, but had a few minor nitpicks with it. I’ve only skimmed it thus far, so I really can’t comment on it. (tipsy)

Without any coordination on his part, FA posted Kyoko Sakura, another magical girl from the same series as Sayaki. Kyoko mostly focuses on enlarging her already-massive spear, and impaling it into things. Sounds like her playstyle is just a summary of Jun’s chat presence. All jokes aside, Kyoko wants to make the size of her spear even longer, increasing the hitbox to compensate for her otherwise underpowered state. She can also change the shape of the spear, as well as transforming it into a chain. All of these serve to make her a competent threat combined with her versatility, which can easily allow her to dominate those cocky foes of her’s. The reaction to Kyoko was positive, Kibble, Kat and LoL all liked it. Alebit, they felt the set could have been a bit more simplistic.

Breaking the Magical Girl chain comes a leftover from the Koopalings Movement, Iggy Koopa by MasterWarlord. Iggy primarily focuses around the manipulation of his Chain Chomp, pushing it around via chariot to pursue foes and allowing him to camp as he moves, in addition to using his smashes to have a small degree of control. He can also toss his wand about, turning it into a separate hitbox that Iggy can manipulate wherever he is, using it as a damage-racker and potential staller against foes. Also, it looks like MW’s MYM11 trend is chains/ropes, since Iggy features an entire separate grab-game devoted to manipulation of the Chain Chomp’s chain. The set received praise from those who commented it, hailing MW’s ability to not fall into Tutankoopa territory with Chain Chomp manipulation, though it was attacked by FA for awkward chariot interactions.

Finally, we’ve reached the star of this recap! It’s the King of Awesome, himself: The Great and Terrible Bowser by some loser named BKupa666, bwa ha ha! That’s largely what you’ll be seeing a lot of throughout this moveset, as it is written in a well-characterized first person format, which I personally feel is better than JJJ’s. The set reeks of Bowser’s character, acting as a gigantic tribute to the character to the point where almost every move has an origin from one of his many appearances. Enough gushing over the presentation, though. Bowser wants to create pits in the stage, SMB3-style before shoving his foe down through the bottom of them. Bowser has a plethora of means to accomplish this, such as clawing himself to side of his pits, burying the foes or even shoving his own Clown Copter straight at them. However, just like in the games, Bowser’s own incompetence can easily lead to his downfall if he isn’t careful. The set also features a 3v1 boss mode, where Bowser takes the fight straight to his own home turf, forcing the foes to fight in his classic castle. The moveset received praise for the character and presentation, as well as his unique take on pits. Others were less enthusiastic, such as LoL, who cited the overuse of impaling moves. In case it was obvious by my overwhelmingly positive coverage, Bowser is my favorite set in the contest thus far.

Last, but certainly not least is Reznor by- le’gasp, MarthTrinity. Two generic Bowser minions not by n88? I’m losing my mind. Anyway, Reznor fights just as he does in his SMW appearance, bringing the giant wheel to the fight with him. Reznor also brings his buddies out in an attempt to overwhelm the foe, these combined with his stage-destroying fireballs allows Reznor to make his foe’s life a living hell. Really, though, Reznor wants to force the foe onto he and his buddies’ wheel, destroying the stage in order to accomplish this. Reznor’s melee competence is revealed on the wheel, where he can attack the foe up close and gang up on them with his buddies, even spinning the wheel in order to get them off it. This set was posted just this morning in honor of MT’s birthday, and has yet to recieve any comments. C’mon, guys, give him this one present.

Well, sets are recapped. Guess it’s over, right?

Hahahaha…WRONG.

Seeing all the minis have been crap thus far and we clearly need more of them, I’ll be posting one new stage in the recap each week. Of course, I’ve missed a few weeks, so I’m just going to post 2 extra stages this week. (TIPSY)

THE GANGSTER HIDEOUT

Nothing's impossible to Duck Twacy!

The Gangster Hideout is about 3 Battlefield Platforms long, and has an incredibly high ceiling in addition to a very low bottom, so as to accommodate those pit characters we’ve been seeing so much of lately. The stage is completely enclosed, with two exceptions: the Ganon-sized mousehole on the left wall leads to a blast zone. There is also a closet door on the right wall, which can be destroyed by dealing 20% damage to it. Once it is destroyed, it will lead to a blast zone.

While this seems largely generic, one thing stands out: the footprints that appear all across the room, on every wall. Walking along these footprints will cause characters to walk up the walls the footprints walk on, in addition to being able to hang upside down due to the footprints on the ceiling. Jumping against wall or ceiling footprints while holding the jump button causes you to come up to them as well. Jumping off the footprints will cause you to regain normal gravity. Basically, it works just like it does in that delightful little cartoon that you should’ve seen by now.

There is also a lamp on the ceiling, about as wide as Bowser and as tall as Pikachu. Dealing 20% damage to it will cause it to fall to the ground at the speed of the Ice Climber’s stall and fall, dragging any foes caught under it along for the ride, pitfalling them if they make it down to the stage.

Character Strategy – Bowser: Bowser benefits highly from The Gangster Hideout, the mousehole is the only way to get any real KOs at the start of the match, meaning Bowser can predict his foe’s movement quite nicely and avoid this. If they decide to destroy the closet door, Bowser can easily knock them away with his plethora of powerful moves. What Bowser really benefits from, however, is the footprints. Bowser can use the footprints to create his pits wherever he wants, easily creating them on walls or even the ceiling, changing up his gameplan quite a bit. Of course, if Bowser feels like going the traditional pit-in-the-floor route, the high blast ceiling allows him to gain some altitude, and the lamp can pitfall foes or drag them into a pit quite nicely.

Music:

Powerhouse

Acme Factory

Rowdy Rumble

Smooth Criminal Orchestra

Mystic Cave Zone

Don Pianta

Godfather’s Waltz

Alleys and Gullies

GASTON’S TAVERN

No one starts fantastic bar fights like Gaston!

The Tavern itself is about as wide as 1.5x Final Destinations, with a decently-sized blast ceiling. The majority of the fight does not take place in the tavern, however; the door to the tavern is constantly open, to the left is a snow-covered field about as wide as Battlefield with quite an impressively sized blast ceiling. Attacking in the snow causes snow to be flung about, dealing light flinching hits of 3%. You can’t access the roof of the Tavern, unfortunatly.

While the outside is barren with nothing to note, the inside of the Tavern is far more bustling. It’s cluttered with tables and stools, of which take knockback like any other character and are completely solid, dealing 10% to any soul unfortunate enough to be hit by them. Torches line the background as well, they are cosmetic unless hit with a fire attack, after which they start burning for 5 seconds, dealing containing hits of 5% to anyone hit by them. To the far right is a fireplace, contact with it deals 20% damage and high knockback, strictly to the left, likely to the outside of the tavern. Occasionally, three attractive women will appear at one of the tables, causing any male humanoid (or characters who would be attracted to human females) within 2 Battlefield Platforms to turn towards them and stop moving for 2 seconds, admiring their charms. They become immune for 5 seconds after escaping their grasp.

Character Strategy – Fire Snake: Fire Snake certainly benefits from the placing of the torches on these stages, his movement allows him to light the torches simply by moving forward. He cannot be damaged by the torch or the fireplace either, actually regaining a segment just by touching them. He can’t be attracted to the women, either.

Most notably, however, is what happens to tables and stools when he stands on them. He actually causes them to be set aflame, which makes them deal dragging hits of 5% to any foe they’re tossed at, meaning they can be dragged to the fireplace quite easily. More notably is what happens when he stands in the snow outside, he causes it to melt, which basically turns it into water that foes can trip on, easily being able to be flung offscreen for a KO if they run over them with any momentum. He will lose 1 segment for every second he stays in the water, however. Water will re-freeze after 5 seconds.

Music:

Gaston!

Me!

The Mob Song

Battle on the Tower

Aladdin vs Jafar

Twilight Thorn/Nobody Endurance

The Encounter

Intensive Gaston Unit

ARKHAM CITY

Welcome to the madhouse, Batman!

The stage takes place at night, meaning it can be quite difficult to make out characters and things on the stage at certain points in the match. Outside that little cosmetic effect, the stage is composed of a Final Destination-sized main platform, caged in by two buildings that tower about 2.5 Ganons above the main platform. These towers are about a Battlefield-wide in length, as well. Surprisingly, this stage is not-walled in, as jumping past the buildings can reveal that it is in-fact, in midair. All 3 parts of Arkham City are extremely tall, leaving plenty of room for tunnel characters to play their games.

Occasionally, a few goons will spawn from one of the doors in the two buildings. The goons usually come in packs of 4 and will be dressed in either Joker gear, Penguin gear, Riddler gear or Two-Face gear at random. This does nothing unless you’re playing as one of those characters, in which case they won’t attack you. The goons attempt to hit the nearest foe with generic punches dealing around 8% each, each goon has about 10% stamina that must be eliminated to knock them out.

Character Strategy: Princess Kraehe – Kraehe enjoys the somewhat closed-in environment of this stage just as she enjoys caging the foe in between two Raven Hills; camping on one of the two buildings makes it a helluva lot easier to spam raven feathers about, and the horizontal nature of the level means she can make a “path” covering the arena, meaning the foes are fucked if they attempt to leave the main platform. Outside that, Kraehe benefits from the night-time look of the stage, it can be so dark at points that her dtilt traps can easily blend in, meaning foes are likely to set traps without even knowing they have.

Goons don’t really pose much of a threat to Kraehe, considering her wide variety of options for dealing with them. Of course, they can be a benefit to her as well, as she can place some smoke down to not let the foes know about the goon’s location. Goons are a helluva lot better with pummels and such as well, as they won’t attempt to escape and you’ll gain HP from it, like when you pummel your Raven Knights.

Music:

Molossus

Arkham City Theme

I think you should do as he says.

What’s he doing here?

Bring Her Back To Me

It was The Joker

Joker’s Last Laugh

Birth of Penguin/Batman Theme