Czario
Rightful ruler of the kingdom of Russia!
- MarioWiki
- Luigi 64DD
So, I decided to make a ranking for the newcomers in Smash based on how much I think they are good additions to Smash. Even though I am using a tier list format, this has nothing to do with how well the characters play, just to what degree I think they are good additions to Smash. Also, keep in mind that I am allowing some personal bias, though I'm mostly looking at them by merits such as fan popularity, what they bring to the series, and other stuff like that. I know this is kind of similar to SonicMario's thread, but that's kind of his own thing and I wanted this to be more visible.
Key:
Great Tier: An excellent addition; it feels so right for this character to be in and it feels like they really earned it. It might have even been a big mistake had they not included them.
Very Good Tier: A very solid pick; this character had quite a lot of reasons to be in and is a very good choice, although it wouldn't have been that bad if they weren't in.
Good Tier: A satisfactory addition; this character has a relatively small amount of reasons compared to the higher tiers and isn't all that important, but is still a good addition that makes sense and is worthy of approval.
Meh Tier: A mediocre pick; this character feels unnecessary. There may some reasons in support of them, but I feel like there were many better choices and that this addition was kind of lame.
Bad Tier: A terrible pick; this character had no reason to be in it and should never have been added. (This is very rare. In fact, spoiler alert: Ultimate doesn't have any of these!)
Unranked Tier: This character is unranked because it is so off-the-wall that my brain cannot process it and my feelings are so mixed that it cannot be ranked. (I think you can guess which character is going here.)
Alright, here it is:
Great Tier - 1.
2.
3.
(1. Ridley, 2. Inkling, 3. King K. Rool)
Very Good Tier - 4.
5.
(4. Simon, 5. Dark Samus)
Good Tier - 6.
7.
8.
9.
(6. Isabelle, 7. Ken, 8. Richter, 9. Chrom)
Meh Tier - 10.
11.
(10. Incineroar, 11. Daisy)
Bad Tier - None!
Unranked Tier - ?.
(?. Piranha Plant)
Analysis:
Ridley - He has a ton of pros: he was perhaps the most requested character ever, he adds another villain to the roster (which there are few of), he gave the Metroid series more much-needed representation, and he's another heavy character (which there are also very few of).
Inkling - They represent one of Nintendo's newest IPs, which is extremely popular and already becoming one of Nintendo's big franchises. Also, this character got lots of requests, though since it was so guaranteed to happen, it wasn't talked about as much as others.
King K. Rool - He may not be very relevant to Nintendo in general anymore, but he was a very, very highly requested character, one of the most requested characters in the Smash ballot. Furthermore, he gives more representation to the DK series, he also adds another villain to the roster, and adds yet another heavy character.
Simon - He's a classic character from a famous third-party series. He has history with Nintendo, as his games on the NES are classic to that console. Also, he's a pretty unique fighter and is a new third-party rep.
Dark Samus - She gives even more representation to the Metroid series, she adds yet another villain to the roster, and she was a pretty commonly requested echo fighter.
Isabelle - Her addition gives Animal Crossing some more representation, she's a fairly popular character, and she is unique because she looks like she can't fight and yet she does almost by accident. She isn't the most important addition since she isn't that significant of a Nintendo character, but she is still a good addition.
Ken - He's a perfect fit for being an echo, he adds another character for Street Fighter, and he is a pretty well-known character, even if he wasn't requested that much prior to the leaks.
Richter - He isn't as well-known as Simon and has less history with Nintendo, but he makes a good echo fighter for Simon and is still a reasonably significant character in gaming.
Chrom - Fire Emblem didn't need anymore characters, especially not another sword-wielder from Awakening, but Chrom was requested fairly often as an echo and pretty frequently even before echoes existed. That fact makes him a good addition, even if he is one of the least important ones.
Incineroar - Even though representing the 7th gen of Pokemon is a noble goal and felt kind of guaranteed, it doesn't feel as important for Ultimate because of the small pool of newcomers and focus on fan requests. To be fair, a lot of people did want a 7th gen Pokemon, but Incineroar is just another fire-type Pokemon, and many (including myself) would have preferred a Pokemon that brings a new Pokemon type to Smash, such as Deciducye.
Daisy - Daisy is not that significant of a character in general and was requested by a relatively small group of people; there were several Mario characters that were more heavily requested. Of course, Daisy is an echo and therefore easier to make then most of those, but most of the other echos have more reason to be in it than Daisy. However, I will say that my personal bias affects my view of this character more than others, so I understand if you think differently about her inclusion.
Piranha Plant - This character defies all norms, so I can't even rank it. Part of me wants to say it shouldn't be in Smash because it is so insignificant and there were better choices, but it is such a crazy unique idea with an unusual playstyle that I also feel like it was a good choice. My feelings are mixed, and honestly this character defies so many rules that it can't even be ranked with the rest of the characters.
Overall, I think Smash Ultimate's roster additions were quite solid. It wasn't overflowing with amazing choices like some expected, but it had a good number of excellent additions, a lot of good ones, and only a small number of lame choices. Therefore, I am quite satisfied with the newcomer selection, and that combined with the return of every veteran makes Ultimate have an excellent roster in my opinion.
I would love to see other people's tier lists, so please make your own tier list if you so desire (though you don't have to put as much effort into it as I did :P).
Key:
Great Tier: An excellent addition; it feels so right for this character to be in and it feels like they really earned it. It might have even been a big mistake had they not included them.
Very Good Tier: A very solid pick; this character had quite a lot of reasons to be in and is a very good choice, although it wouldn't have been that bad if they weren't in.
Good Tier: A satisfactory addition; this character has a relatively small amount of reasons compared to the higher tiers and isn't all that important, but is still a good addition that makes sense and is worthy of approval.
Meh Tier: A mediocre pick; this character feels unnecessary. There may some reasons in support of them, but I feel like there were many better choices and that this addition was kind of lame.
Bad Tier: A terrible pick; this character had no reason to be in it and should never have been added. (This is very rare. In fact, spoiler alert: Ultimate doesn't have any of these!)
Unranked Tier: This character is unranked because it is so off-the-wall that my brain cannot process it and my feelings are so mixed that it cannot be ranked. (I think you can guess which character is going here.)
Alright, here it is:
Great Tier - 1.
Very Good Tier - 4.
Good Tier - 6.
Meh Tier - 10.
Bad Tier - None!
Unranked Tier - ?.
Analysis:
Ridley - He has a ton of pros: he was perhaps the most requested character ever, he adds another villain to the roster (which there are few of), he gave the Metroid series more much-needed representation, and he's another heavy character (which there are also very few of).
Inkling - They represent one of Nintendo's newest IPs, which is extremely popular and already becoming one of Nintendo's big franchises. Also, this character got lots of requests, though since it was so guaranteed to happen, it wasn't talked about as much as others.
King K. Rool - He may not be very relevant to Nintendo in general anymore, but he was a very, very highly requested character, one of the most requested characters in the Smash ballot. Furthermore, he gives more representation to the DK series, he also adds another villain to the roster, and adds yet another heavy character.
Simon - He's a classic character from a famous third-party series. He has history with Nintendo, as his games on the NES are classic to that console. Also, he's a pretty unique fighter and is a new third-party rep.
Dark Samus - She gives even more representation to the Metroid series, she adds yet another villain to the roster, and she was a pretty commonly requested echo fighter.
Isabelle - Her addition gives Animal Crossing some more representation, she's a fairly popular character, and she is unique because she looks like she can't fight and yet she does almost by accident. She isn't the most important addition since she isn't that significant of a Nintendo character, but she is still a good addition.
Ken - He's a perfect fit for being an echo, he adds another character for Street Fighter, and he is a pretty well-known character, even if he wasn't requested that much prior to the leaks.
Richter - He isn't as well-known as Simon and has less history with Nintendo, but he makes a good echo fighter for Simon and is still a reasonably significant character in gaming.
Chrom - Fire Emblem didn't need anymore characters, especially not another sword-wielder from Awakening, but Chrom was requested fairly often as an echo and pretty frequently even before echoes existed. That fact makes him a good addition, even if he is one of the least important ones.
Incineroar - Even though representing the 7th gen of Pokemon is a noble goal and felt kind of guaranteed, it doesn't feel as important for Ultimate because of the small pool of newcomers and focus on fan requests. To be fair, a lot of people did want a 7th gen Pokemon, but Incineroar is just another fire-type Pokemon, and many (including myself) would have preferred a Pokemon that brings a new Pokemon type to Smash, such as Deciducye.
Daisy - Daisy is not that significant of a character in general and was requested by a relatively small group of people; there were several Mario characters that were more heavily requested. Of course, Daisy is an echo and therefore easier to make then most of those, but most of the other echos have more reason to be in it than Daisy. However, I will say that my personal bias affects my view of this character more than others, so I understand if you think differently about her inclusion.
Piranha Plant - This character defies all norms, so I can't even rank it. Part of me wants to say it shouldn't be in Smash because it is so insignificant and there were better choices, but it is such a crazy unique idea with an unusual playstyle that I also feel like it was a good choice. My feelings are mixed, and honestly this character defies so many rules that it can't even be ranked with the rest of the characters.
Overall, I think Smash Ultimate's roster additions were quite solid. It wasn't overflowing with amazing choices like some expected, but it had a good number of excellent additions, a lot of good ones, and only a small number of lame choices. Therefore, I am quite satisfied with the newcomer selection, and that combined with the return of every veteran makes Ultimate have an excellent roster in my opinion.
I would love to see other people's tier lists, so please make your own tier list if you so desire (though you don't have to put as much effort into it as I did :P).
