It should be mentioned how his walk cycle has him looking left and right. In the original games they couldn’t have the characters face one way or the other due to the limitations of only one possible sprite in any given location. So to prevent characters from seemingly moonwalking at times, the sprites would do this waddle-stomp, and look both ways between frames, to keep ambiguity. Since the fourth game, Mr. G&W emulates the style when he walks.
Mr. Game & Watch’s run cycle always cracks me up whenever I see it. It’s just so ridiculous and nonsensical. The definition of a beautiful mess. I love it.
It's worth noting that Game and Watch is actually a full 3D model. They just squished him down to 2D after animating him, similar to what happens when any of the other 3D characters play on the Flat Zone stage. His extra grey outline is created through cel-shading.
That is true but he is exempt from lighting effects that other characters have. He'll always be a matte black. I think the main reason they did this is because of the photo mode that's been present since melee. When players move the camera to different angles, they didn't want him to just disappear because he's a 2D graphic, he's part of the snapshot too afterall.
Adding an outline =/= cel-shading. Cel-shading is _shading_ with flat shadows so as to replicate the look of 2d _cel_ animation. Mr. Game & Watch is an outlined un-shaded 3d model.
@Fu considering not everyone pays attention to these things, I'd say it's fine to highlight the simplicities first, especially seeing as Floyd has talked about more complex animation in the past.
I'd love to see a Little Mac animation analysis especially considering the Punch Out video from a while ago. There's quite an interesting contrast there I feel.
Please do Ryu next! Coming from a completely different fighting game system but still feel familiar to both Smash and SF players must've been quite the challenge!
I'm still excited about the inclusion of Mr. Game & Watch in Smash Bros games. It's such an obscure character and I love it partly because I grew up with Game & Watch games.
I picked him in ultimate because I liked how his character design was so different from the rest, and I literally just never stopped using him lol. He’s so nonsensical and I love it. He literally beats you with a chair in one of his attacks.
Please do Wii Fit Trainer. Her movement is so odd on some of her attacks. It's not what you brain would normally assume she would do in a fight and can make her somewhat unpredictable. I really want to see her movement and poses explained in detail.
It'd be great to see a side-by-side comparison with the two genders of trainers as well. They seem to differ from each other in tiny, subtle ways, but alas, I play on a 3DS and thus cannot accurately analyze these subtleties.
I love his walking animation because for one frame his head is turned to the other side. That's incredibly disorienting concept-wise but helps sell everything you said about his animation style. Awesome video!
An interesting fact: the model of Mr. Game & Watch is actually a 3D model, not sprites! His head and body is actually really round like Kirby, but the model is squashed in it's z-axis, so it appears flat! It still has a little bit of depth to it, but nothing you would notice! Just thought this would be interesting to some of you! :)
A lot of his model is controlled via bodygroups, (or the smash equivalent) also. I.E. his hammer attack swaps out his hands bodygroup for his hands holding the hammers
I'd like to see Ryu/Ken and how they transitioned between Street Fighter and Smash in the next episode. Or one of the double-characters like Ice Climbers or the Duck Hunt Duo.
In the same vein as Game and Watch, I'd love to see you cover Wario, actually. He's got a really similar stuttery exaggeration to his animations that might be interesting to contrast the differences on.
I’d love to see you talk on Peach. Everything about her style is effeminate but effective. I’m curious how they convey that very girly personality in a fighting game.
He's just a ball with feet and teeny lil stumps for arms! I'd love a video about how the animators handled his key poses and silhouette readability despite being just a ball. Maybe also see him compared to Jigglypuff who's also just a pink ball with stubs and how did the animators manage to make them feel distinct from each other.
There's another key element to Kirby's animation. Namely, when he uses the copied abilities from the enemies he swallows. Dan should talk about that too.
I'd love an episode on Kirby. The way the copied powers are adapted to be both clearly the original move, but also distinctly Kirby is really interesting. For example, Kirby's Falcon Punch manages to feel powerful despite having much less, well, _body_ to work with.
I don't have any particular characters in mind, but I'd love to know if there are any Smash characters where you think they _didn't_ hit the mark. Where the animation is noticeably poorer than you would hope for, or conveys a different sense from what you'd expect of the character.
i LOVE mr game and watch. i love his origins, his weird little personality, the way he glances around the room when he walks like he has no idea whats going on, hes PERFECT. i dont care if hes usually low-ish tier i LOVE HIM and his animations are super interesting and endearing... im a sucker for this little dude
I think Wario could be interesting. They decided to give him really jerky animations and strange, unpredictable start-up on his moves. That could be fun to break down in detail.
I was kinda hoping you’d talk about how they were able to make his model move like that, cuz I’m pretty sure models always move fluidly, after all, you have to move them around, so he’d have to move normally since he’s a flattened 3D model… I guess I’ll never know…
I love that Mr. Game and Watch's dash attack and dodges have him disappear and reappear somewhere else like in the original Game and Watch games. I love this character.
Awesome video! I think R.O.B. could be an interesting choice to see how they gave what was essentially an inanimate object a sense of character. I'd be really interested to see what sort of animation techniques go into giving character to inanimate objects.
I’m 5 years late but this is a great video. To this day Mr. Game & Watch is one of the weirdest yet most ingenious ideas for a Smash Bros character. Sakurai made R.O.B. , Wii Fit and Duck Hunt into full characters just to respect Nintendo’s history yet I still think good ole G&W stand above them in terms of design philosophy. (Dunk Hunt is a close second though) Whoever came up with the idea whether it was someone else on the team, a higher up or Sakurai himself, I say kudos to them. A funny and weird idea executed brilliantly.
great video! The only thing I am sad that is not featured is a clip from those moveset swap videos showing that yes, mr game & watch IS a fully 3d model and can work with silk smooth animation and it is WEIRD as hell
I also really enjoy how his simple two/three-frame animation cycles can sometimes dupe the opponent; all of the other fighters "telegraph" their attacks in the sense that you can see exactly what move they're performing by how the animation looks, and, more importantly, how far through the move they are. With G&W that can be very difficult, and it can sometimes surprise, especially if you also do a charged attack.
I'd really like to see an animation analysis of Kirby, how his copy abilities convey the same attack as the fighters they're based on, while communicating the way Kirby moves differently due to his character/personality. I love these videos!
Game&Watch’s run cycle is actually SUPER faithful to the original games, if you’ve ever looked at the poses individually, a lot of them are widely different from another in pose, oftentimes also sporting an extremely different expression
If you compare the poses chosen for his dashing animation, his arm and leg positons match the ones found in the Manhole Game & Watch game! In fact, with his artistic style changed in Smash Ultimate, all his movement and attack frames are identical to those in the games they originated from (with some exceptions like his side tilt and down tilt)
When you really think about it, it's wild that the developers really even put the whole Game & Watch at all. It's such a creative idea, not only for a character, but the way he was handled in-game
IDK if you still look for Smash character suggestions here, but I was wondering if there was enough to talk about if you discussed animating weight/tension in a Smash character's animation. I guess specifically the first character to come to mind is Byleth. Their axe swings seem incredibly heavy, and their bow attack feels like they put a lot of effort into pulling the bow as tightly as they can. Now, as someone with little animation knowledge beyond what I already know and what I've learned from your videos, I'm not exactly sure if there is anything to talk about in a separate video that hasn't already been covered. But weight in general is incredibly important in telegraphing how strong a hit is in a fighting game, especially relative to weaker attacks (eg a jab vs a falcon punch). Maybe Captain Falcon would be a good choice instead of Byleth?
I'd like an episode about all of the Fire Emblem protagonists in Smash, like : how do you make 90% blank characters (made for the player to fill in the original games) and still make them feel like themselve
that was really neat to see explained; it seems obvious, but I've never actually considered how many frames made up G&W's actual animations...really cool series, gonna binge watch the rest :)
I only noticed it in this video, but I love that his lack of transitional frames translates directly into his hitboxes and hurtboxes. His fire attack is the most obvious; the way he swings it should realistically go over his head and thus making being directly above him dangerous, like with Link's comparable slashes. But G&W doesn't have that frame in his animation, so that's a safe spot.
Can you do a video on how Smash is able to telegraph the game's controls with its animations? Like, how people can look at a brand new character and go, "Oh that must be his down + b.", "Oh, that's his up-tilt", etc. and be right with 95% accuracy?
He really is an odd character. A character that nobody would even ask for (since that's all smash fans care about these days) and yet, he's just really special. I personally love playing the little flat dude mostly for his animations alone. His new change of appearance for Ultimate makes things even better.
I think it would be a little interesting if you talked about the characters with an echo fighter counterpart, as well as semi-clones (Mario/Dr. Mario, Pikachu/Pichu, Toon Link/Young Link, Ness/Lucas, Villiger/Isabelle, etc.). I think it would be cool to see how animations, aesthetics and personality are able to make characters with very similar move set feel so distinct and unique (with the exceptions of Ken and Chrom, since they feel too different).
Game and Watch was one of the most interesting characters in Brawl to me as a child! Looking at this history and just how that was adapted into Smash is such a delight for this wacky fellow. Great vid 👍
I'd be interested in seeing an examination of a pair of mirror characters. (that is, characters who have nearly-identical movesets) Examples are: Mario and Luigi, Marth and Roy (Melee), Ganandorf and Captain Falcon, Pit and Dark Pit. It'd be really cool to see/hear how animators deal with characters who are given very similar animations, but are still different in a way that represents that character.
That was awesome! Played smash for a long time, but never really could put my finger on why G&W was so different. Close look at the animations really broadens the mind. Would love to see a Kirby episode. How to make a pink round ball move like everything else when it's copied something.
Late to this by a lot, but I'd like to see an analysis of Ridley next just because of the reason for him not being in Smash for so long was his body shape, and I'd like to see you analyze how they were able to make him work in Ultimate.
I bet several of those who voted for MGW were trying to troll Dan, and he delivered an even greater episode than usual. Kudos, Dan, I'm very proud of you.
I had Melee around the age of 7 and before, and so did my neighbors. One of the kids was already a teenager at the time and one day he had a bunch of his friends over and they were all playing melee. It was such a surreal experience. I have never been in the same room with another melee player, let alone nearly a dozen players older than me. To my surprise, they had more characters than I had. Wayyyy more. Characters I have never seen before, like Pichu, to name one. And that's when I saw it. One guy playing as Mr. Game & Watch. I was in awe at how different this character was from the rest. They let me play with them, but not as Mr. Game & Watch cause they were being mean and kept telling me that I can play as him if I beat Roy's target test. Anywayyyyys, I was already about 11 years old when I myself unlocked Mr. Game & Watch, and god, my heart was racing so damn fast as I was fighting him. At this time, there was no way for me to look up how to unlock him, so it honestly just happened one day by chance, after years of owning the game. Definitely my favorite character. Until I played Earthbound lmao I'm definitely gonna main Ness once I own Ultimate
Once the game comes out, it would be cool to look at the differences in animation between Peach and Daisy to learn how much personality can be added by making small adjustments.
I absolutely love G&W and have been maining him off and on since he was released. I know this probably pseudoscience but I always like to imagine being good with G&W could give you an advantage against human players because there's little to no anticipation in his movements. His move set is also ideal to my gameplay style - moves at an optimal speed, has an effective height and damage on up-smash, and hitting a 9 on side-smash is so rewarding. Love him!
Could you do a video on Ridley? Specifically about his silhouette? I dunno, it looks kinda... messy to me and I feel like that might have been the reason why it took a while to bring him into the game. He feels very compressed and hard to read and I’m suspecting maybe he could only be read more clearly when he was way bigger, hence Sakurai’s initial reasoning. I would love to see you examine this and tell me if I’m crazy or not!
I remember when I played brawl I was obsessed with the sonic series and ever since I unlocked him he was the only character younger me would play Along with game and watch. Ya out of every character and competition with sonic for my attention game and watch managed to do that. I guess I just found him funny and that’s still how I view him. Not to mention he kinda sticks out like a crushed thumb. I even still play those 2 in competitive ultimate along with lucario and hero
These are some really good, informative, well made videos. Even if I have always appreciated it, I've never stopped to think all that deeply about the animation that goes into games. I'm glad I found the channel and I look forward to future videos.
It’d be interesting to see you do a video on Wario, specifically on how his animations and moveset seem to take more inspiration from his spin-off games (WarioWare) than his mainline series (Wario Land/World).
I'm really loving this series so much! You're such a cool content creator. Being informative while also gushing about what you love. Awesome! I've nothin but good things to say about what I've seen from ya. Wanting to go into college for game design, videos like this are heavenly to me. Keep up the great work!
Wow, great episode. I'm amazed at how well you retell points that you've already touched upon or explained in depth in previous episodes and still make the information seem super fresh and interesting. You mix the old with the new information, brilliantly. Such a great teacher!
@Koswa You'll be surprised. I'm also an animator who also runs a video game animation channel this size, and I have to do it around my career and family, and I have a Patreon to help fund days I can take off to work on my videos. So yeah, I'd say he'd need it. Especially how TH-cam works for as revenue these days.
I know you're just talking about animation but I was kinda hoping you'd mention how gameandwatch has 3d model/z-axis despite only showing up as a 2d model
This is such a great channel. When I was young I dabbled in Pivot Stick Figure animator and was posting my animations on forums and stuff. I remember all the hours and days that went into animating a video that was just a few seconds long. It makes me appreciate great animation and this channel highlights that.
I feel like looking at Snake would be cool. He is very much based on a stealth game, and seeing how they made him work in smash would be super interesting!! Thanks!
I like how they made him move smoothly. Sure, that doesn't make him move like in the game and watch games but gameplay is far more important than aesthetics. Too bad they forgot about this when they designed inklings for Smash ultimate.
Another great video as always, Dan! Next time I'd be totally down for a video on either Little Mac (since we've already seen how much you adore that source material) or Ice Climbers!
Wonderful episode as always, Dan. I'm not an animator, but I love these glimpses into your world. It's fascinating! I'm still hoping for Cloud to get an episode!
What’s even more surprising is that Mr. Game & Watch was a last-minute addition to Melee, a game with an already short development cycle. It’s amazing how fast Sakurai made a movement that represented Game & Watch.
I have a question for Smash animation. For the character Isabelle, how do you animate a character for a fighting game that does not fight in their own game? Animal Crossing is not a fighting game at all. She is in town hall for for 98% of the time, and does not like even to tell people to leave town if the player wants someone to move out. Where do you start to animate moves for the most non-violent character brought into the Smash series?
I wish his dodge "animation" was based on that teleport-style movement. Even if that would make it quite powerful. Disorientating your opponent would fit the character, and other characters already teleport to dodge.
I would love to see you at some point take on the animation of Skullgirls! I absolutely adore the subtle details that the animators managed to cram in, and the hand drawn aesthetic just makes it that much more appealing, definitely some great stuff hidden there
I'd love to see a comparison between Zelda from Smash 4 to Ultimate. Just curious about your thoughts about the expressive animation improvements. Also tips on how that impacts the game
Good to see you created another episode of this series, I LOVE it brothah, keep it up! 💙 How about an episode explaining Hit Stun animations and how they convey impact, as well as the "Pain" animation on the characters?
I would absolutely love to see you analyzes the animations of Super Mario Strikers. (The bicycle kick especially.) Thanks for these awesome videos, they really are helpful to aspiring animations!
Another note that helps clarity: Game & Watch's mouth is only open during attacks. In movement and hits, it's always closed. Makes it really clear if he's attacking or not.
It should be mentioned how his walk cycle has him looking left and right. In the original games they couldn’t have the characters face one way or the other due to the limitations of only one possible sprite in any given location. So to prevent characters from seemingly moonwalking at times, the sprites would do this waddle-stomp, and look both ways between frames, to keep ambiguity. Since the fourth game, Mr. G&W emulates the style when he walks.
+
Yeah like in donkey Kong game and watch
@@lightningfun6486 Do I keep seeing you everywhere or the same profile pic everywhere?
Eat your cereal
It’s not just me
Mr. Game & Watch’s run cycle always cracks me up whenever I see it. It’s just so ridiculous and nonsensical. The definition of a beautiful mess. I love it.
Agreed. Its one of his best features
He looks drunk when running. Or like one of those Boston Dynamics robots.
GAME!
Even Wario from wii
Susmitha | HE'S GOT PLACES TO BEEEEE
It's worth noting that Game and Watch is actually a full 3D model. They just squished him down to 2D after animating him, similar to what happens when any of the other 3D characters play on the Flat Zone stage. His extra grey outline is created through cel-shading.
That is true but he is exempt from lighting effects that other characters have. He'll always be a matte black. I think the main reason they did this is because of the photo mode that's been present since melee. When players move the camera to different angles, they didn't want him to just disappear because he's a 2D graphic, he's part of the snapshot too afterall.
You can really see that he is a 3D model during certain throws like Sheik's forward-throw for example.
Adding an outline =/= cel-shading.
Cel-shading is _shading_ with flat shadows so as to replicate the look of 2d _cel_ animation.
Mr. Game & Watch is an outlined un-shaded 3d model.
I love when Game & Watch gets a Metal Cap, he's somehow 2D and 3D at once, lol.
Paint mr game and watch with inkling, you will see the 3d of his body
Key Frames: The Character.
Well, you're not wrong.
Why did extra frames do an episode on a charachter with barely any frames
lmao
With a roster of 70 they’re really stretching themselves to find new fighting game archetypes
@@Dastankbeets9486 Not when they first made this guy which was over 20 years ago
I STILL wear my Casio watch thank you.
I lost mine in 6th grade after PE ;(
Ok ya' cool kid
Only casio i've ever known is a calculator.
Well I have a Casio scientific calculator
Casio F-91W supremacy!
The madman actually did it
Didn't think I would see you here. Love your content!
@Fu considering not everyone pays attention to these things, I'd say it's fine to highlight the simplicities first, especially seeing as Floyd has talked about more complex animation in the past.
This actually hurts me to watch i dont like it😂😂
@Fú Yes, because everyone is an expert of animation -_-
@Fú Kung
somebody loves the smell of their own farts
I'd love to see a Little Mac animation analysis especially considering the Punch Out video from a while ago. There's quite an interesting contrast there I feel.
He could use it to show how you can make an attack feel powerful or weak.
@BK Thanks.
FUCK YES!!! As a little Mac main I approve!!!
yees
@@littlemac4572 hell ye brother
Please do Ryu next! Coming from a completely different fighting game system but still feel familiar to both Smash and SF players must've been quite the challenge!
fun little gameplay thing too: his street fighter combos apparently still work in smash!
absolute units, these guys
I still have street fighter tho
I'm still excited about the inclusion of Mr. Game & Watch in Smash Bros games. It's such an obscure character and I love it partly because I grew up with Game & Watch games.
I picked him in ultimate because I liked how his character design was so different from the rest, and I literally just never stopped using him lol. He’s so nonsensical and I love it. He literally beats you with a chair in one of his attacks.
Please do Wii Fit Trainer. Her movement is so odd on some of her attacks. It's not what you brain would normally assume she would do in a fight and can make her somewhat unpredictable. I really want to see her movement and poses explained in detail.
Plus her original game was literally about posing, so nearly all of her poses are references.
It'd be great to see a side-by-side comparison with the two genders of trainers as well. They seem to differ from each other in tiny, subtle ways, but alas, I play on a 3DS and thus cannot accurately analyze these subtleties.
Heck ya, she's such a clever idea for a fighter, it'd make a great episode!
I love his walking animation because for one frame his head is turned to the other side. That's incredibly disorienting concept-wise but helps sell everything you said about his animation style.
Awesome video!
An interesting fact: the model of Mr. Game & Watch is actually a 3D model, not sprites! His head and body is actually really round like Kirby, but the model is squashed in it's z-axis, so it appears flat! It still has a little bit of depth to it, but nothing you would notice!
Just thought this would be interesting to some of you! :)
The depth is visible in the reflections when you pick up the Metal Box item.
A lot of his model is controlled via bodygroups, (or the smash equivalent) also. I.E. his hammer attack swaps out his hands bodygroup for his hands holding the hammers
Same deal with every other character in the Electroplankton and Flat Zone stages, apparently
@@jamiegioca9448Yep, G&W just has the effect on at all times
I always love these videos, they force me to pay attention to details that are just so overlooked while you actually play the game. Keep it up!
Hey Aaron how are you
Mr G&W main right here!
Hi dude how r ya
Hi Aaron
I'd like to see Ryu/Ken and how they transitioned between Street Fighter and Smash in the next episode. Or one of the double-characters like Ice Climbers or the Duck Hunt Duo.
Then you might want to vote for that.
The Ice Climbers move independently and do the exact same animation, except for taunts and up B. It isn't particularly interesting, IMO.
In the same vein as Game and Watch, I'd love to see you cover Wario, actually. He's got a really similar stuttery exaggeration to his animations that might be interesting to contrast the differences on.
I’d love to see you talk on Peach. Everything about her style is effeminate but effective. I’m curious how they convey that very girly personality in a fighting game.
Not to mention her dress being half animated and half pure cloth simulation. Really I just wanna throw my hat in the ring for a Peach video lol
@LeCoolFace effeminate does mean roughly the same thing, though generally speaking gets used in a very different context...
You should do kirby! He's the perfect squach and stretch puffbal!
He's just a ball with feet and teeny lil stumps for arms! I'd love a video about how the animators handled his key poses and silhouette readability despite being just a ball. Maybe also see him compared to Jigglypuff who's also just a pink ball with stubs and how did the animators manage to make them feel distinct from each other.
There's another key element to Kirby's animation. Namely, when he uses the copied abilities from the enemies he swallows. Dan should talk about that too.
Yeah, how do you give the iconic Falcon Punch to a character who barely has arms?
I was thinking Kirby would be awesome for the same exact reason. So much to fit into such a little round adorable murderpuff
@@patchpen5613 haha
I'd love an episode on Kirby. The way the copied powers are adapted to be both clearly the original move, but also distinctly Kirby is really interesting. For example, Kirby's Falcon Punch manages to feel powerful despite having much less, well, _body_ to work with.
I don't have any particular characters in mind, but I'd love to know if there are any Smash characters where you think they _didn't_ hit the mark. Where the animation is noticeably poorer than you would hope for, or conveys a different sense from what you'd expect of the character.
posibly meta knight
i LOVE mr game and watch. i love his origins, his weird little personality, the way he glances around the room when he walks like he has no idea whats going on, hes PERFECT. i dont care if hes usually low-ish tier i LOVE HIM and his animations are super interesting and endearing... im a sucker for this little dude
4:16 that was a chair??
this WHOLE TIME
What did you think it was? I'm curious.
yep, a Lion Tamer chair
OnimaxBlade I had no idea what it was
Lol idk how you didn't know that
I thought it was like one of those double wheeled trolleys you use to push boxes around
I think Wario could be interesting. They decided to give him really jerky animations and strange, unpredictable start-up on his moves. That could be fun to break down in detail.
I heard from Relax Alax that this is a reference to the Wario Ware games.
I guess so. The Wario Land games have all had really smooth animations for being Game Boy titles, and the Wii one had a beautiful hand-drawn style.
@@thekiss2083 ...I said Wario Ware, not Wario Land Shake It, if that's what you're thinking of.
@@W3Rn1ckz
No, I meant the Land games had such smooth animation that the choppy ones have to be based on Ware.
I also like how they made Mr. G&W himself, how his model is 3-D, it's just that they made its width pretty much 2-D and gave him an outline.
I was kinda hoping you’d talk about how they were able to make his model move like that, cuz I’m pretty sure models always move fluidly, after all, you have to move them around, so he’d have to move normally since he’s a flattened 3D model…
I guess I’ll never know…
I love that Mr. Game and Watch's dash attack and dodges have him disappear and reappear somewhere else like in the original Game and Watch games.
I love this character.
Awesome video! I think R.O.B. could be an interesting choice to see how they gave what was essentially an inanimate object a sense of character. I'd be really interested to see what sort of animation techniques go into giving character to inanimate objects.
I’m 5 years late but this is a great video. To this day Mr. Game & Watch is one of the weirdest yet most ingenious ideas for a Smash Bros character. Sakurai made R.O.B. , Wii Fit and Duck Hunt into full characters just to respect Nintendo’s history yet I still think good ole G&W stand above them in terms of design philosophy. (Dunk Hunt is a close second though) Whoever came up with the idea whether it was someone else on the team, a higher up or Sakurai himself, I say kudos to them. A funny and weird idea executed brilliantly.
great video! The only thing I am sad that is not featured is a clip from those moveset swap videos showing that yes, mr game & watch IS a fully 3d model and can work with silk smooth animation and it is WEIRD as hell
I also really enjoy how his simple two/three-frame animation cycles can sometimes dupe the opponent; all of the other fighters "telegraph" their attacks in the sense that you can see exactly what move they're performing by how the animation looks, and, more importantly, how far through the move they are. With G&W that can be very difficult, and it can sometimes surprise, especially if you also do a charged attack.
I sincerely hope Dan opts to do more of these someday. I really love them.
I'd really like to see an animation analysis of Kirby, how his copy abilities convey the same attack as the fighters they're based on, while communicating the way Kirby moves differently due to his character/personality. I love these videos!
Game&Watch’s run cycle is actually SUPER faithful to the original games, if you’ve ever looked at the poses individually, a lot of them are widely different from another in pose, oftentimes also sporting an extremely different expression
If you compare the poses chosen for his dashing animation, his arm and leg positons match the ones found in the Manhole Game & Watch game! In fact, with his artistic style changed in Smash Ultimate, all his movement and attack frames are identical to those in the games they originated from (with some exceptions like his side tilt and down tilt)
When you really think about it, it's wild that the developers really even put the whole Game & Watch at all. It's such a creative idea, not only for a character, but the way he was handled in-game
IDK if you still look for Smash character suggestions here, but I was wondering if there was enough to talk about if you discussed animating weight/tension in a Smash character's animation. I guess specifically the first character to come to mind is Byleth. Their axe swings seem incredibly heavy, and their bow attack feels like they put a lot of effort into pulling the bow as tightly as they can. Now, as someone with little animation knowledge beyond what I already know and what I've learned from your videos, I'm not exactly sure if there is anything to talk about in a separate video that hasn't already been covered. But weight in general is incredibly important in telegraphing how strong a hit is in a fighting game, especially relative to weaker attacks (eg a jab vs a falcon punch). Maybe Captain Falcon would be a good choice instead of Byleth?
I'd like an episode about all of the Fire Emblem protagonists in Smash, like : how do you make 90% blank characters (made for the player to fill in the original games) and still make them feel like themselve
DAN I misinterpreted you leaving Extra Credits. I thought you were leaving TH-cam as a whole to work on bigger things. I'm glad to hear voice again.
that was really neat to see explained; it seems obvious, but I've never actually considered how many frames made up G&W's actual animations...really cool series, gonna binge watch the rest :)
I only noticed it in this video, but I love that his lack of transitional frames translates directly into his hitboxes and hurtboxes. His fire attack is the most obvious; the way he swings it should realistically go over his head and thus making being directly above him dangerous, like with Link's comparable slashes. But G&W doesn't have that frame in his animation, so that's a safe spot.
Can you do a video on how Smash is able to telegraph the game's controls with its animations? Like, how people can look at a brand new character and go, "Oh that must be his down + b.", "Oh, that's his up-tilt", etc. and be right with 95% accuracy?
Love how you keep saying MR. Game & Watch. He's earned our respect.
He really is an odd character. A character that nobody would even ask for (since that's all smash fans care about these days) and yet, he's just really special. I personally love playing the little flat dude mostly for his animations alone. His new change of appearance for Ultimate makes things even better.
I think it would be a little interesting if you talked about the characters with an echo fighter counterpart, as well as semi-clones (Mario/Dr. Mario, Pikachu/Pichu, Toon Link/Young Link, Ness/Lucas, Villiger/Isabelle, etc.). I think it would be cool to see how animations, aesthetics and personality are able to make characters with very similar move set feel so distinct and unique (with the exceptions of Ken and Chrom, since they feel too different).
Game and Watch was one of the most interesting characters in Brawl to me as a child! Looking at this history and just how that was adapted into Smash is such a delight for this wacky fellow. Great vid 👍
I'd be interested in seeing an examination of a pair of mirror characters. (that is, characters who have nearly-identical movesets)
Examples are: Mario and Luigi, Marth and Roy (Melee), Ganandorf and Captain Falcon, Pit and Dark Pit.
It'd be really cool to see/hear how animators deal with characters who are given very similar animations, but are still different in a way that represents that character.
Lovely stuff, Dan!
Dan Root I see, you’re referencing the coincidence that you’re both animation channels and are both named “Dan”.
I get it.
That was awesome! Played smash for a long time, but never really could put my finger on why G&W was so different. Close look at the animations really broadens the mind.
Would love to see a Kirby episode. How to make a pink round ball move like everything else when it's copied something.
I used to own the firefighter/ambulance Game and Watch handheld! I'd play that so much when I was little!
my first ever game was a Little Mermaid handheld given to me by a friend. It was like this
Late to this by a lot, but I'd like to see an analysis of Ridley next just because of the reason for him not being in Smash for so long was his body shape, and I'd like to see you analyze how they were able to make him work in Ultimate.
I bet several of those who voted for MGW were trying to troll Dan, and he delivered an even greater episode than usual. Kudos, Dan, I'm very proud of you.
I’m a huge fan of Mr. Game & Watch, especially his animations. Thanks for covering him, New Frame Plus
I had Melee around the age of 7 and before, and so did my neighbors. One of the kids was already a teenager at the time and one day he had a bunch of his friends over and they were all playing melee. It was such a surreal experience. I have never been in the same room with another melee player, let alone nearly a dozen players older than me. To my surprise, they had more characters than I had. Wayyyy more. Characters I have never seen before, like Pichu, to name one. And that's when I saw it. One guy playing as Mr. Game & Watch. I was in awe at how different this character was from the rest. They let me play with them, but not as Mr. Game & Watch cause they were being mean and kept telling me that I can play as him if I beat Roy's target test. Anywayyyyys, I was already about 11 years old when I myself unlocked Mr. Game & Watch, and god, my heart was racing so damn fast as I was fighting him. At this time, there was no way for me to look up how to unlock him, so it honestly just happened one day by chance, after years of owning the game. Definitely my favorite character.
Until I played Earthbound lmao I'm definitely gonna main Ness once I own Ultimate
What about that his walk animation turns his head back and forth because original games and watches couldn't convey the direction you were facing?
Once the game comes out, it would be cool to look at the differences in animation between Peach and Daisy to learn how much personality can be added by making small adjustments.
Awesome videos; I really enjoy these. How about Kirby next though? His spherical body and his Copy Ability are absolutely worth one huge video!
I absolutely love G&W and have been maining him off and on since he was released. I know this probably pseudoscience but I always like to imagine being good with G&W could give you an advantage against human players because there's little to no anticipation in his movements. His move set is also ideal to my gameplay style - moves at an optimal speed, has an effective height and damage on up-smash, and hitting a 9 on side-smash is so rewarding. Love him!
Could you do a video on Ridley? Specifically about his silhouette? I dunno, it looks kinda... messy to me and I feel like that might have been the reason why it took a while to bring him into the game. He feels very compressed and hard to read and I’m suspecting maybe he could only be read more clearly when he was way bigger, hence Sakurai’s initial reasoning. I would love to see you examine this and tell me if I’m crazy or not!
WHERE DID THIS SMASH VIDEO SERIES GO? It's so good!
I remember when I played brawl I was obsessed with the sonic series and ever since I unlocked him he was the only character younger me would play
Along with game and watch. Ya out of every character and competition with sonic for my attention game and watch managed to do that. I guess I just found him funny and that’s still how I view him. Not to mention he kinda sticks out like a crushed thumb. I even still play those 2 in competitive ultimate along with lucario and hero
I'd say Kirby, the amount of copy abilities he has is astounding
These are some really good, informative, well made videos. Even if I have always appreciated it, I've never stopped to think all that deeply about the animation that goes into games. I'm glad I found the channel and I look forward to future videos.
It’d be interesting to see you do a video on Wario, specifically on how his animations and moveset seem to take more inspiration from his spin-off games (WarioWare) than his mainline series (Wario Land/World).
Wario's normal attacks come from Wario land. Where as his specials come from Wario ware.
Game and Watch's run is just so charming I love him
I'm really loving this series so much! You're such a cool content creator. Being informative while also gushing about what you love. Awesome! I've nothin but good things to say about what I've seen from ya. Wanting to go into college for game design, videos like this are heavenly to me. Keep up the great work!
Wow, great episode. I'm amazed at how well you retell points that you've already touched upon or explained in depth in previous episodes and still make the information seem super fresh and interesting. You mix the old with the new information, brilliantly. Such a great teacher!
why is my brother such a master at this little guy like why
You should start a Patreon . I would love to see what you could do with a little bit more funding
@Koswa
You'll be surprised. I'm also an animator who also runs a video game animation channel this size, and I have to do it around my career and family, and I have a Patreon to help fund days I can take off to work on my videos.
So yeah, I'd say he'd need it. Especially how TH-cam works for as revenue these days.
Depending on his job, he may not be making THAT much as a game animator. The game/animation industry notoriously underpays their employees.
@@mkhpsyco
Also depends if he's freelance or industry.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy very true
@Koswa People should be paid for their work, plain and simple
Mr. Game & Watch's simplicity is why I love playing so much. since his animations are basically only key-frames, playing him feels really tactile!
Ive mained G&W for a good while and was always interested in his animation and how unique he is. Great video keep it up
I know you're just talking about animation but I was kinda hoping you'd mention how gameandwatch has 3d model/z-axis despite only showing up as a 2d model
1:07 Thx Dan ❤️
This is such a great channel.
When I was young I dabbled in Pivot Stick Figure animator and was posting my animations on forums and stuff. I remember all the hours and days that went into animating a video that was just a few seconds long. It makes me appreciate great animation and this channel highlights that.
Great Work but I really just want to talk about how cute your Mii is.
I feel like looking at Snake would be cool. He is very much based on a stealth game, and seeing how they made him work in smash would be super interesting!! Thanks!
I like how they made him move smoothly. Sure, that doesn't make him move like in the game and watch games but gameplay is far more important than aesthetics.
Too bad they forgot about this when they designed inklings for Smash ultimate.
I'm sorry, in middle school? I'M WEARING MY CASIO RIGHT FUCKING NOW AND I LOVE IT!
That said, great video as always :D
Fuggin subbed dude, awesome vids. I did the survey and will continue doing them. I have enjoyed this series very much so far
thanks based user who asked for G&W, I only thought about my favorite characters when he asked for suggestions
=< Why you gotta say mean things about Mr. G&W?
respect ur elders smh
Another great video as always, Dan!
Next time I'd be totally down for a video on either Little Mac (since we've already seen how much you adore that source material) or Ice Climbers!
The timing of the gameplay and the music at 3:33 was excellent. Thank you so much for appreciating such a wacky video game guy, this was fun :)
Wonderful episode as always, Dan. I'm not an animator, but I love these glimpses into your world. It's fascinating!
I'm still hoping for Cloud to get an episode!
I feel like it would be really cool to compare Captain Falcon and Ganondorf, who move very similarly, but have completely different mass and speed.
Captain Falcon focuses on Speed where as Ganondorf focuses on Defense.
Do Kirby or Pac-Man next. Someone spherical, at any rate.
I can't help but to think of that scene from Drake & Josh when Josh says "it's spherical!"
What’s even more surprising is that Mr. Game & Watch was a last-minute addition to Melee, a game with an already short development cycle. It’s amazing how fast Sakurai made a movement that represented Game & Watch.
I have a question for Smash animation. For the character Isabelle, how do you animate a character for a fighting game that does not fight in their own game? Animal Crossing is not a fighting game at all. She is in town hall for for 98% of the time, and does not like even to tell people to leave town if the player wants someone to move out. Where do you start to animate moves for the most non-violent character brought into the Smash series?
I dunno. Ask the Villager.
I want to see Mewtwo next. I love his cool physics style on some of his moves.
for some odd reason, I just love him
I wish his dodge "animation" was based on that teleport-style movement. Even if that would make it quite powerful. Disorientating your opponent would fit the character, and other characters already teleport to dodge.
I would love to see you at some point take on the animation of Skullgirls! I absolutely adore the subtle details that the animators managed to cram in, and the hand drawn aesthetic just makes it that much more appealing, definitely some great stuff hidden there
Wish we had more of these
I'd love to see a comparison between Zelda from Smash 4 to Ultimate. Just curious about your thoughts about the expressive animation improvements. Also tips on how that impacts the game
I hope that you continue this series someday, I really love hearing about the animation in these games
The running animation feels like he's stumbling
Nintendo did an amazing job with the animations in this game.
You need to do a video on Steve's bizarre animations now.
Good to see you created another episode of this series, I LOVE it brothah, keep it up! 💙
How about an episode explaining Hit Stun animations and how they convey impact, as well as the "Pain" animation on the characters?
I would absolutely love to see you analyzes the animations of Super Mario Strikers. (The bicycle kick especially.) Thanks for these awesome videos, they really are helpful to aspiring animations!
Another note that helps clarity: Game & Watch's mouth is only open during attacks. In movement and hits, it's always closed. Makes it really clear if he's attacking or not.
i protecc
i atacc
but most importantly
I SWING A CHAIR FROM MY BACC
This is exactly why Mr. Game and Watch is one of the most creative characters in Smash Bros., and you summed it up perfectly.