opening cinematic dropped on youtube
I was practically so disappointed seeing this 2 days ago LOL. Just where did all that edgy and frantic energy from the last 2 intros went?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!!??!!?!
Honestly though, rewatching the intro again and again, I honestly really dig it. As said here already it's certainly not as frantic as the last 2 intros were(Which I don't even know how the hell you can try to beat Charge's intro), but I really like what was shown. Looking past Mario and Bowser jumping out of the portals(Which I do find funny), I love the utilization of squash and stretch and it generally looks smooth, like the actual game itself. It honestly looks the best out of all the intros, which makes sense given the year this is made in, and is overall animated well. I know some people feel it's too floaty and slow which I fully understand and agree to an extent, but I think it also does add some weight into the characters. Like with Bowser's walk run before he gets hit by the bomb, you could feel how heavy he is with his steps. Another thing I really love is that everyone actually does get tocshine a bit here,
- Mario starting things out and ending with the mega strike
- Luigi initially getting tackled on, but eventually steals the ball from Bowser by the end and passes it to his bro
- Peach using a Bomb Omb at Bowser
- Toad kicking the ball around Rosalina
- Bowser unfortunately gets the shorter end of the stick here, but he does kick Donkey Kong which leads to getting the ball again. He also tries to do a mega strike before Luigi steals the ball
- Rosalina having a decision moment, and then tackles Luigi to the electric fence
- Yoshi doing some dribble moves and then passes it to Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong tackling Mario and Toad as well as doing a megastrike
It really feels like everyone doesn't go to waste here in some form. I know the previous intros did do this, but there were times I felt they could've done a bit more(Daisy didn't even do anything in the Charged intro besides the montage at the end LOL). I guess this is what happens when you have less characters to focus on, which is a bummer since I was looking forward to how Wario and Waluigi act in this. I also really liked the music found here, with a remix of the Strikers Charged leitmotif and an original leitmotif to boot. It gets me pumped to experience the game, which isn't even out yet.
I think the main issues with the intro is just how slow it feels then what it is expected with it being smoother than the previous intros, and it only takes place during
one match rather than multiple matches, which once again causes the pacing issue. Overall though, I still like the intro and while it will definitely NEVER beat Strikers Charged or even the first game's intro, it's still certainly a win in my book.