Super Smash Bros. All-Time Merit Ranking (Finale in Issue 194!)

1. Mega Man
2. Ridley
3. Bayonetta
4. Sora
5. Ice Climbers
 
ALL CHARACTERS LOCKED IN!

Captain Falcon and Mega Man will be featured in the July Shroom issue! Dedede will join Rob and Zero Suit Samus as non-Shroom sections here on the forums.

Captain Falcon 36
Mega Man 28
King Dedede 20
ROB 16
Zero Suit Samus 14
 
ZERO SUIT SAMUS
ZeroSuitSamus_SSBU.png

Fighter Number: 29
Fighter Group: Brawl Veterans
Franchise: Metroid
Game of Origin: Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance, 2004 (US/EU/JP)​

While Zero Suit Samus is an alternate form of a character that's already long been in the roster. It's one case where it feels it's a bit more respectable then say Dr. Mario or both of the younger links. She actually has a wholly different moveset from herself in the suit. She's more agile, if a bit lighter on the power output. Still, I think it's been a general trend that if you know how to use ZSS correctly, she often has far better results then when she has armor in competitive play. To some Metroid fans that might seem quite contradictory, as the suit is supposed to enhance Samus' ability in combat rather then nerf her. Though I suppose competitive Smash is a bit of a different beast then fighting dangerous species of aliens.

Zero Suit Samus also does help in making sure fans know that Samus is in fact a female character for those who never went far enough in a Metroid game or look up the series. As at least in terms of the pixelated versions of the suit it's not immediately obvious the character is female. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as armor is supposed to actually be effective rather then show what gender the soldier is. If you make armor specifically for highlighting what makes a man a man, or a woman a woman. You're doing it wrong.

Going back to the mention of Samus capabilities with and without her suit. That is of course not to say that she's supposed to be weak and powerless without her suit. Again, even without that suit she still has the years of training with the Chozo that made her super athletic. If the Smash Bros. characters had a gymnastics competition, Samus whether with or without her suit would perform quite well. And the actual debut of the skintight suit for Metroid: Zero Misson on the Game Boy Advance pretty much illustrates this as it is the first time you can play as Samus without her suit. The game still does want you to eventually get the suit as in this form Samus is more vulnerable to damage but it does give Samus some attributes that make up for some of that such as the aforementioned upgrade to agility.

I suppose we can't get to talking about ZSS without mentioning the… ahem… "fanservicey" aspect to the form's existence in Smash Bros. One that even Snake points out in the codec for her. ("Mei Ling! Samus took her clothes off!"). Hell, the name Zero Suit Samus sometimes can't help but get some particularly inclined people to imagine Samus with literally zero suit (Or rather, Birthday Suit Samus). That said, by now ZSS certainly isn't the most egregious example of that type of fan service in the Smash games what with Bayonetta, and not to mention both Pyra and Mythra. Still there is a decent amount of folks out there where the skintight suit is certainly a… turn on for.

But to bring this back to Samus as a character, the bulk of the merit credit will be going mostly to herself in her suit. This version will mostly get into an occasional part of the franchise since 2004. Though her uniqueness at least will put her above any other alternate version of characters for sure.

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As such, I shall put her above Toon Link but lower then Rosalina. As the space Princess has had many major appearances, where outside of Smash most of ZSS's appearances are either the beginning of the game, a small part of the game, or just incentives for good scores in more recent games.

1. Mario
2. Link
3. Donkey Kong
4. Kirby
5. Luigi
6. Wario
7. Bowser
8. Peach
9. Pac-Man
10. Diddy Kong
11. Banjo & Kazooie
12. King K. Rool
13. Mr. Game & Watch
14. Sonic the Hedgehog
15. Bowser Jr.
16. Olimar
17. Rosalina & Luma
18. Zero Suit Samus
19. Toon Link
20. Inkling
21. Snake
22. Shulk
23. Pit
24. Ness
25. Jigglypuff
26. Duck Hunt
27. Steve
28. Lucas
29. Mythra
30. Min Min
31. Byleth
32. Wii Fit Trainer
33. Chrom
34. Dr. Mario
35. Dark Pit
36. Piranha Plant
 
ROB & Dedede's sections will be coming sometime on the weekdays (And Mega Man & Captain Falcon is ready for the Shroom). But now is the time to begin the vote for the August issue.

Carry over points currently put the Mii Fighters and Ice Climbers on top. Though we have a 4 way tie in the 4th and 5th places.

Mii Fighters 18
Ice Climbers 16
Mewtwo 14
Ridley 12
Bayonetta 12
Pikachu 12
Robin 12
Sora 10
Simon Belmont 8
Little Mac 8
Ike 8
Wolf 8
Greninja 8
Pyra 8
Joker 6
Fox 4
Zelda 4
Ganondorf 4
Sheik 2
Marth 2
 
  1. Mii Fighters
  2. Sora
  3. Pikachu
  4. Zelda
  5. Villager

Thank you for reading.
 
ROB
ROB_SSBU.png

Fighter Number: 42
Fighter Group: Brawl Veterans
Franchise: Robotic Operating Buddy
Game of Origin: Gyromite (NES, 1985 (US/JP), 1986 (EU)​

Whenever we talk about the legacy of ROB, we always have to start with the infamous Video Game Crash of 1983. A point in history where Video games nearly became an obscure part of history, had the crash ended Video games as a viable entertainment industry. Video games might be looked back at more like a passing fad during the early 80s' in the same way that you hardly ever see Disco after the 70s. The crash was such a danger to Nintendo's future plans, that they had to somewhat come up with a clever pan to sort of disguise their games as something more then just another game. That's where ROB came in, where in 1985 they released what seemed to be a toy robot that was an accessory for the NES that was compatible to two games. Gyromite and Stack Up. Two relatively simple games, but having a toy beside you that seemed like it was doing actions for your game definitely was probably a cool little novelty for young people who used ROB.

That said, I think in some ways. And maybe I've even been guilty of this in the past, but attributing ROB as the very reason video games got out of the rut that was the Video Game Crash of 1983 might be a bit too generous at this point. As while yes it's likely true that in some small part the idea to make a half-toy, half-NES accessory got some amount of people interested in video games again. Do you know what came just about literally a month after ROB? None other then the first Super Mario Bros. I'm pretty sure we can attribute the true resurgence of video game culture to none other then the main man Mario himself. Who already has more then enough credit to have taken our #1 spot in this merit list permanently.

ROB's still a relatively interesting part of Nintendo history, but he might even pale in comparison to other characters related to NES accessories such as Duck Hunt. It's probably very likely that the lifetime sales of both Gyromite and Stack Up didn't hold a candle to either Duck Hunt and especially Super Mario Bros.. Hell, the cartridge that had both Duck Hunt and SMB1 on it on it's own probably outsold Gyromite and Stack Up combined. I think it's safe to say that it wasn't just disguising games as toys that ended the crash, but actually good, solid games that did so. The actual games that ROB was compatible weren't exactly up to par, so ROB served better as a novelty toy and/or a collector's item.

ROB then kinda dropped into obscurity too since the NES days were over. Before Brawl, he did get occasional cool appearances such as an unlockable driver in Mario Kart DS, and he made many appearances in WarioWare microgames including as a boss in the Smooth Moves Star Fox microgame. But it was Brawl that certainly made him perhaps his most major appearance before and since, as besides just being a newcomer. He actually had a huge role of it's story. As ROB is the ancient minister who serves Tabuu, but eventually rebels against him having had enough of sacrificing his fellow ROBs to the Subspace Bombs. It wouldn't even be too much of a stretch to consider the Subspace Emissary partly a 3rd game in ROB's series with how important he is to the plot. I won't actually do that of course, but given in Smash 4 and Ultimate he's just another Playable Character in those. It's true that Brawl is in fact ROB's most impactful appearance to date.

That said, a NES accessory that didn't even have the same appeal as others like the NES Zapper along with it taking many years to even get cameos again. Only taking the DS/Wii era to get fully playable appearances. ROB is as much a WTF retro character as Mr. Game & Watch and Duck Hunt were. The problem of course is ROB doesn't have the special note of being Nintendo's first dive into the world of video games nor the impressive sales numbers of Duck Hunt. it might even be hard to say he has more merit then many characters much younger then him.

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So in conclusion, I'm putting him above the likes of Min Min and Byleth who are still fairly new. Though they could very easily jump him retroactively in the future years should Three Houses continue to have an impact going forward and if ARMS gets a sequel. ROB is however also below Mythra despite being a part of Nintendo history for far longer as I think the Xenoblade franchise is at a point it transcends ROB's history.

1. Mario
2. Link
3. Donkey Kong
4. Kirby
5. Luigi
6. Wario
7. Bowser
8. Peach
9. Pac-Man
10. Diddy Kong
11. Banjo & Kazooie
12. King K. Rool
13. Mr. Game & Watch
14. Sonic the Hedgehog
15. Bowser Jr.
16. Olimar
17. Rosalina & Luma
18. Zero Suit Samus
19. Toon Link
20. Inkling
21. Snake
22. Shulk
23. Pit
24. Ness
25. Jigglypuff
26. Duck Hunt
27. Steve
28. Lucas
29. Mythra
30. ROB
31. Min Min
32. Byleth
33. Wii Fit Trainer
34. Chrom
35. Dr. Mario
36. Dark Pit
37. Piranha Plant
 
HALF WEEK WARNING

Mii Fighters and Mewtwo have slightly surged into the Top 2. Though what's most important currently is the 4 way tie for the 5th spot that locks in on Sunday. Ridley, Bayonetta, Pikachu, and Robin all are tied. Though if no votes change anything, Ridley will be locked in.

Mii Fighters 30
Mewtwo 22
Ice Climbers 16
Sora 16
Ridley 12
Bayonetta 12
Pikachu 12
Robin 12
Simon Belmont 8
Little Mac 8
Wolf 8
Greninja 8
Pyra 8
Zelda 8
Marth 8
Sheik 6
Ike 4
Fox 4
Ganondorf 4
Villager 2
 
KING DEDEDE
KingDededeSSBU.png

Fighter Number: 39
Fighter Group: Brawl Veterans
Franchise: Kirby
Game of Origin: Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy, 1992 (US/EU/JP)​

AH NEED A MONSTAH TO CLOBBAH DAT DERE KIRBY!

The greedy, chubby self-proclaimed king of Dream Land is certainly one of the most notable names of bosses in Nintendo's history. Even if he has something of a track record of hanging out and/or helping out Kirby in later games that makes Bowser's appearances in all the sports game seem normal in comparison. As it may be more so Dedede is more of an antagonist then a straight up villain. The Kirby: Right Back At Ya! Dedede I quoted up on the top might arguably be more evil then canon Dedede just for sending in the monster of the week after Kirby in most episodes.

Though perhaps one of the most fun facts about Dedede is the fact Masahiro Sakurai himself voices him in the series. He also voiced him in Kirby 64 too, but Smash-wise it's a neat quirk that a character not just created by S