@@Savannah_Simpson now that I'm older and have given the sentence some thought, I am fully aware of how pointless the word 'ingenuity' instead of 'invention' is here.
But to actually contribute to the conversation, Snake absolutely blew my mind as a kid. I’m in the generation that started their Smash journey with Brawl. It was wild to see Snake, this realistic character clash with Mario and Pikachu. Now a little more seasoned, I know more about Snake and the Metal Gear series (not too much though since I haven’t played the games). But the fact that this Snake in Smash is wholly based on tactics and improvisation over stealth may throw off some people but makes sense to me when you consider something not too many people look at…his entrance animation. For those that don’t know, it’s a reference to Metal Gear Solid 2, as he is wearing a new suit that makes him completely invisible. However, due to the weather conditions, it shorts out and he is left exposed and he has to improvise. This is either accidental or intentional genius in terms of Smash, because this implies that he was planning on being an invisible threat from the start, only for shit to go sideways as it always does and now he has to improvise a new plan with all he’s got. I think of it as the cherry on top of his current design, and it makes me love playing as Snake all the more.
@@doodoofartman he's not crawling, it's a reference to how, in the opening cutscene from MGS2, he throws himself off the Golden Gate bridge to land on a tanker while cloaked out - landing like that. It's what causes the camo device to short out.
I always say that there are two types of stealth Characters: - The shadows who sneak by and do their job before anyone notice like Sly Cooper. - The Saboteurs, less about the sneaking part and more about disrupting the enemy, like Snake.
It always makes laugh thinking of how Snake got into Smash. Kojima was just like "this is a gaming all star thing right? Can I get my boy in there"? And sakurai was just like "I got you next time bro".
One of my favorite matches I ever played in Smash was at a doubles tournament me and a friend entered togerther. It was my Yoshi and his WFT versus a Snake and a Gren. I got taken out pretty early trying to lock down the Snake, knowing he can be a nightmare if left alone, but the frog wasn't having it and my partner was too focused on keeping the Breathing buff up and having a full charge for Sun Salutation to keep me from getting surrounded. So once it was him against both of them, the Snake did something I never saw coming. He planted a C4 charge on his own partner. The frog then proceeded to run face first into my buddy, run back to get another charge, and continued acting as this insane suicide bomber for the rest of the match, and mine only survived as long as we did because he was able to read the snake and know when it was about to detonate, air dodging _just_ in the nick of time. And let me tell you, once both me and my buddy realized what was going on all four of us could not stop laughing at how absurd this strategy was, nevermind how effective. Needless to say, we lost that match pretty hard.
That reminds me of an old Brawl doubles strategy, where you'd have a Snake and a Meta Knight, Kirby, or any other character that has an upthrow where you go to the top blast zone for a second. You'd stick the C4 onto your teammate, and then have them run at the opponent, get a grab, upthrow, and right when they're in the top blastzone, you'd detonate the C4. Due to throw armor, your teammate would be perfectly safe on the return, but your opponent would die at 0%. It still works in Ultimate, and since more characters have those 'top blastzone slam' upthrows, it works with more of the cast, too!
@@DyxoXinoro I remember doing some random free-for-alls with some friends, and I got Snake and another friend got Meta Knight. Even though it was FFA, we just did that strategy until it was just me and him left, and then I ended up winning. Hearing me and him giggle like chimps while stocks got annihilated at 0% made for one of the funniest memories I've ever had in this game.
Yeah, like "I've got hi-" and then they get hit by the quintuple super duper dodecahedron totally tubular dive scrimblo bimblo suplex within 3 picoseconds
Okay... I think I understand now why Sakurai thinks he's the only one who can do Smash correctly. The fighters aren't _just_ based on the characters themselves, they're based on the very core of their existence... It's so much more than just a fighting game... its a love letter to gaming in its entirety.
There's also the fact that, at the time, they couldn't reasonably give a character regular firearms, it wasn't until Ultimate that we got Joker's primary pistol, and even in universe that's just a glorified bb gun
To be fair, the fact that Joker’s gun isn’t real doesn’t change the fact that it looks real. The ESRB doesn’t give a rat’s ass about if the gun is a fake gun that enemies perceive to be real in some dude’s head. It looks like a gun
Snake's stealthiest aspect in Smash isn't his kit, it's the fact that I always think I'm gonna have an easy win against him and he ends up embarrassing me.
This video was like an emotional drug, delivering a constant dose "oh _hell_ yes". I've never seen anyone perfectly encapsulate why I mained Snake in the Brawl days, and while I've moved onto other characters as of Ultimate, still keep him in my back pocket. Snake perfectly fits my playstyle of playing defense while analyzing an opponent and then doing what I can to mess up their usual gameplan and methodically tear them down. That's part of why I really liked in Brawl in particular, because Brawl's slower and more cerebral pace fit well with that style. Snake is the guy who says to twitchy rushdown characters, "Screw your flashy hyperaggression BS, you're on _my_ turf now."
The fact that the C4 recovery strat is one the CPUs use often shows how integral it is to his Smash Bros appearance. Most other tricks like that the CPUs never really do (at least, usually not on purpose) and so them consistently doing this trick is very intentional.
@sixstringpsycho You just do it twice. Since you and the C4 fall at the same time, you’ll be in its blast range and get hit when you use the move again.
Wow, I NEVER saw it until now because of the camera, but the c4 is sometimes c3 shaped like a butterfly, which is an MGS3 reference. They really put love into every character.
The feeling of making a setup up to make a enemy to be stick with c4 then with the granades, grabs and the up smash to making him near to the upper blastzone, and then NOW. That feeling, is one of the best of all Smash. I love that so much.
Whenever I face a snake player in smash, I rarely take him seriously when I can just overwhelm him with melee attacks and prominent projectiles, only to see him be walled off with occasional self detonations thar get him out for a brief moment. But as soon as I find all my typical approaches and plans backfire constantly because of some explosion that I did not notice, that's when I truly start to take things seriously and even dread to face him. At that point, as the snake player improvises to interrupt my gameplay, I too need to improvise to interrupt his gameplay, leading to a match that strikingly resembles real-time chess.
I didn't know who Snake was as a kid, but I just thought it was hilarious to see a realistic looking guy shoot up a bunch of cute cartoon characters (Brawl's final smash in particular).
All I knew about Snake as a kid was: 1: he had a missile launcher 2: that’s all I really NEEDED to know And yeah, Stealth isn’t what makes Snake the ultimate soldier, it’s just one more piece of his tool belt. He’s meant to be a pragmatic hero in the same vein as Indiana Jones
It's actually interesting to learn how Snake's interpretation in Smash Bros. is focused on outsmarting your opponents instead of stealth. Seeing your videos got me interested in a possible designing for of the bad endings of the Mario Kart series and how they pour salt into your wound (unless something like that was already done). That aside, this video gave a great learning lesson with why characters like Snake have the playstyles they inherit today.
Thank you. I feel that's what a lot of people forget about the design of the Smash characters. It isn't about just throwing in references, but using all those references to make the character FEEL like that character. Sure, they don't work all the time and sometimes a character has abilities that are there more for making them unique in a fighting game setting rather than their home series, but I feel the point still remains. It's why I find a lot of mods like Project M and the like are neat, but ultimately not as interesting.
We can agree Ganondorf needs a rework to actually deserve the name though, right? Because I understand people's argument about the man being about power, but no, that's Ganon. Ganondorf, the Gerudo king, is a physically intimidating man, yes, but he's also a cunning tactician. His every plan is to force you into a situation where you do his work for him because he removed your option to do much else. He is also incredibly hard to actually make stay down. These should be his traits: dangerous, and capable of forcing you into situations you never intended to get into, with a strong recovery. At the same time, he *should* leave weak points in his defenses, considering he always leaves a path for Link to prevail open. Slow Captain Falcon doesn't cut it for the feel Ganondorf projects in the games... except his forward smash feels about accurate to Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf, but that's it.
@@theendersmirk5851 Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm of the opinion that most characters in Smash need a tinkering. Most just need a few things changed here and there and some, like Ganondorf, need a full on rework. I just feel a lot of fan mods do weird stuff that don't make much sense for the characters either.
@@maugos agreed. I haven't paid a ton of attention to Ganondorf mods, but they usually seem to fall into Smash's trap of "he has Triforce of Power. That mean he do the big strong" despite the fact that, as Ganondorf, and even while Ganon, his greatest strengths has always been tenacity beyond any logical limit, and his other best known trait is the ability to enforce situations he *should have* won, had he not underestimated certain risks inherent in his plan. Ergo, a good Ganondorf mod should have at least one good trapping tool, an unreasonably long distance recovery, and decent striking strength, although probably not so high as current Ganon has. Slow walk speed makes sense for him, but his attacks themselves don't need to be telegraphed for ten years. He is a thief king after all.
Honestly I feel Smash didn't really nail the representation of characters in their kit until Ultimate because most of em did not age well *Solid Snake, however, is one of the exceptions.* Like they somehow nailed him on the first try, which is insane. And Ultimate just serves to improve him by way of the system mechanics overhaul + his new Down Smash, even if I do still kinda miss the land mine
FYI if you’re still mad about “Snake not being stealth-based enough”, there’s an interpretation of him as a custom Workshop character in Rivals of Aether with a line-of-sight mechanic and limited ammo you have to resupply from hitting opponents It’s certainly a thing
Another reason that the explosive specials fit Snake perfectly, that I don't see people bring up, is that they are some of the very few weapons that are 100% NEEDED to finish Metal Gear solid 1. The grenades are needed to take out Vulcan Raven's tank, C4 is needed to open the sealed wall to get to the cave, and the Nikita Missile is needed to turn off the electrified floor. Future conversations and Codec calls also say that these are the canon way Snake made it through those parts.
When I was in college when Brawl came out I would go to pick up and play sessions of Smash and use Snake or Yoshi and everyone would give me looks because they'd use Ike or Metaknight until the fight started. Snake was a lot of fun to use, thanks for making this video
I’ve always thought that metal gear solid wasn’t a stealth game, but a resource game with stealth mechanics. Honestly, Phantom Pain is the only REALLY stealth oriented MGS game in my book
I always loved Snake in Smash but I was unsure if he was a good design because explosions on a stealth character? Preposterous. It wasn’t until you and Duke’s character design tier list where all of my love was finally vindicated. He is just so cool and while can be frustrating to play against and as, he is just the coolest character ever.
One thing about the MGS series is that while overall progression and exploration relies a lot on stealth, some sections and petty much all boss fights are pumped with adrenaline and over-the-top action. Fighting a tank? Grenades are the way to go. Fighting a Hind-D helicopter? Stinger missiles are pretty much required. Lots of explosives in MGS.
What I see in Snake is that he is literally a tank, LITERALLY! He is slow, can’t jump high but when he hits any of his attacks, he hits HARD! He also has defence like a tank, you can practically throw everything you got at him and he keeps trucking along, especially when it comes to recovery. Overall I just love Snake.
Going through the history of Metal Gear, I don't know why people are surprised about specifically Snake's special moves. They make so much sense. • C4 was THE most important weapon in the original Metal Gear, the only way you could beat the game. • The Nakita was a weapon you had to attain by back tracking to beat a boss, a hallmark of classic Metal Gear gameplay. • The grenades are symbolic of one of Snake's biggest feats, beating a tank with nothing but grenades and dodging.
This exact video sums up my love for snake on smash, and also why i feel so frustrated that i cant play him. As you mentioned, yeah, smash mods give Snake a more "accurate" -on gigantic quotes- depiction of snake, with more tools and more straigh forward options, but the whole tactical part of Sakurai's original intend is what makes this character so great. I would be able to play him if we streamline him, but i prefer being this complex even tho it means im not able to enjoy it. Sakurai is an absolute genius and Smash constantly blows my mind on how Sakurai manages to have a roster of over like 70 characters, and almost all of them feel so accurate on how they portray their series or characters (being the ones who don't usually the original crew from 64). These characters arent just archetypes, these characters are detaily crafted to feel as closer to their origin material as possible.
Would’ve been worth mentioning how Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros compares to his play style in DreamMix TV Fighters and Raiden’s play style in PlayStation All Stars
I love how even his daccus in Brawl fit his character, because seeing this otherwise careful tactician close the distance at high speeds in the most over the top way always felt on brand for MSG. Great video!
I wish I had the brainpower to understand Snake's kit and get that good with him (or at least a *_little_* of his endlag or windup got trimmed, plus that could bring him more in line with Twin Snakes on GameCube as I understand that's a remake lots of people enjoy over the PS1 original), but I'm still glad he got into Brawl & Smash 5 and I hope he gets to come back as Konami continues the long march to redemption after all the MGS5/"ex-Kon" chicanery (lot to ask for, but one can hope, no?)
I only played a Metal Gear recently, and thinking about my experience with that game in comparison to the Smash moveset... well, the moment he's spotted, all stealth goes out the window. And in a fighting game, that happens right about the time you see the word GO. A Big Boss rarely has to engage in such things outside of scripted bosses, but no one is Big Boss level on their first playthrough.
Not sure who out here played Playstation All Stars: Battle Royal, but Sly Cooper is one of the best examples of stealth in this kind of game, and I'd select him out of the whole PSAS:BR roster and put him in smash. I'd even suggest he keeps his block that turns him permanently invisible. His real block is his counter. The rest could stay.
And I'm still in a dream snnnnnnnaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkeeeeeee plllllllaaaaaayyyyyyeeeeerrrrrr! One taunt that got added through a mod was Snake saying "Squeeze my hog" as a reference to Vinny from Vinesauce playing the metal gear games (and occasionally using that line in his best possible snake voice). I'd love for that taunt to actually be added, but that'll never happen XD Anyways, Snake is a lot of fun to play as in either version of Smash you play. It's nice to see a guest character have an actual playstyle, and not just be cheese in a fighting game. Winning with Snake can really make you feel like you outplayed your opponent, and it's fun to try and subtly lay some c4 from an ambiguous height. Really helps to emulate Metal Gear Solid in Smash, and that's what the best characters do in a crossover fighter. Fun fact too: Kojima wanted Snake to be featured in Smash, because his son was a huge fan of the series. He was gonna be featured in Melee, but had to be cut due to time.
if anyone want a platform fighting game character truly based on visual stealth, i recommend Frosburn from Rivals of Aether, he certainly does not have good damage or kill confirm, but he can clone himself and put smoke on the stage to blind and confuse he's ennemies, he strike where you're not expecting him and will combo you to death for confusing him with his clone
MGS is my all time favorite single player game series, so when Snake got added to Brawl I pretty much exclusively played him. I was also 12 years old, so I really didn't care that he wasn't stealthy, I was just thrilled that Snake was in a video game beating the shit out of Mario.
Everytime I see solid snake, I just think "are you kidding me, thats mario" even infected my friend with it, he named himseld mario in fortnite after getting snake
Who needs kill confirms when up-tilt kills at 80?? But hey great insights on character design as always, would be interested to see more smash analyses as they fit your channel well :) Only thing I would disagree on is that you *need* to play smart to win with Snake. At top level, sure, but spamming grenade, dash attack, and upsmash at ledge can get you pretty damn far, especially online (dont mind me, just salty i always lose to elite smash snakes)
That's fair, but I do feel like they're still working toward that win condition whereas most characters are "I hit you. Now I'm going to hit you again. Maybe I'll apply a buff in the middle, and then I'm going to hit you again". Snake needs to actually get you into the part where he CAN up smash at ledge, nikita when you're far offstage, etc., and actually tossing grenades properly will do that. Plus it feels really, really good to beat Elite Smash Snake. Because they think they're smart and then you get in and they're like OH GOD OH NO. They get it a lot less free than Samus, at least!
Lmao. Dude I got a friend with a pretty decent Snake, who's head empty like 70% of the time. When our group would play Smash pre-Covid it was a toss up on ever getting a read because half the time he didn't know what he was gonna do. When he started learning some tech to sprinkle in he was a monster and random intervals.
@Designing For Oh haha dont get me started on Samus 🙃 And yeah I think for me personally I just need more practice dealing with grenades in particular and figuring out any somewhat consistent way of edgeguarding him with zss then Id start having a lot more fun lol
-Turns invisible to sneak around. -Defeats a giant robot. -Is a master of firearms and grenades. -Does not want to be a hero, but does so reluctantly. -Died off-screen (presumably) -Moves slow, can't jump high. -Is one Hell of a guy. Really they're pretty much the same character.
@Designing For I DIDNT EVEN FINISJ THE VIDEO YET 🤣🤣❤️❤️ Been binging your videos man, you're awesome. Helping me learn about Rareware games I missed, and explaining feelings of childhood nostalgia I couldn't quantify nearly as eloquently as you do. Rock on bro 👍👍
FINALLY! As an ex-MGS speedrunner, I can say Snake is one of the best-designed characters, along with Megaman, Belmonts, Cloud, and Bayo. This is what I HATE about P+ Snake, with his daggers and Tranq. That's not Snake. People be out here not understanding the nuance of Sakurai's genius design. At least they gave the cigar taunt
1:05 I feel like this ignores the nuance of Gordon Freeman's character, being a scientist and not someone with extensive combat training (besides that brief bit in the hazard course.) This reflects the gameplay of Half-Life, which in addition to having a healthy sprinkling of environmental puzzles littered throughout, emphasizes a more tactful and methodical approach to its combat encounters rather than the usual 'run in and don't die.' I know it's just one of 4 examples, but it feels like a poor example.
I would love to see an analysis like this on Little Mac. Being a huge Punch-Out fan, it makes me sad that he's one of the lowest tier characters. But then it hit me: A weak and measly fighter that - somehow - must face impossible odd and defeat opponents that are stronger, faster and badder than him? That's exactly what Punch-Out is about. 😁
I read somewhere that fighting against little mac in smash is like playing punch out, you have to exploit the enemy weakness and avoid his stron blows. Or something like that idk i read that a long time ago
I wouldve used more clips of snake in turniments. I love the cunning snake players. If they r smart. Also its too funny the man with rockets goes even w my main, the lil man with bowling ball lol.
This video doesn’t address one thing: Snake’s reputation in online matches. You see, all of what you say is great, but when you ask almost anyone about Snake’s gameplay, very few people feel like they’re playing against this adaptational saboteur. Instead, they feel like they’re playing against a Belmont, someone mindlessly throwing out projectiles and just winning by the unfair advantages those projectiles have. That grenade? Just spam it recklessly all over the place and the game is yours. Why is there this discrepancy?
Because a lot of fighting game players don't fight with accuracy to the character in mind, they're fighting to win the matches as quickly as possible, unfortunately. This is why people who play Goku in pretty much any fighting game he appears in don't actively sabotage their chances at victory for the sake of the thrill of the fight like Goku would very much do in canon, as the Cell Saga shows. Or why so many competitive fighting game players got angry at the fact they stayed true to Sanji's character and made it mechanically impossible for him to fight against a woman.
Once again my friend good may great video. I love this channel with all my heart. And your recent Donkey Kong December ...that was incredible. Seeing this channel praise my favorite childhood series and still my favorite Nintendo series. Tied with the Crash Bandicoot series. It was so much fun
Brawl introduced me to Snake, Pikmin, Kid Icarus, Punch Out, so many many things. Brawl will always be in my top 10 video games. And while Ultimate is better in combat. Brawl will always be my favorite smash
Snake's playstyle in Smash reminds me of a quote I originally heard in MGS2. "Necessity is the mother of ingenuity".
That’s literally just saying “Necessity is the mother of invention.” for someone with a thesaurus.
@@Savannah_Simpson now that I'm older and have given the sentence some thought, I am fully aware of how pointless the word 'ingenuity' instead of 'invention' is here.
But to actually contribute to the conversation, Snake absolutely blew my mind as a kid. I’m in the generation that started their Smash journey with Brawl. It was wild to see Snake, this realistic character clash with Mario and Pikachu. Now a little more seasoned, I know more about Snake and the Metal Gear series (not too much though since I haven’t played the games). But the fact that this Snake in Smash is wholly based on tactics and improvisation over stealth may throw off some people but makes sense to me when you consider something not too many people look at…his entrance animation. For those that don’t know, it’s a reference to Metal Gear Solid 2, as he is wearing a new suit that makes him completely invisible. However, due to the weather conditions, it shorts out and he is left exposed and he has to improvise. This is either accidental or intentional genius in terms of Smash, because this implies that he was planning on being an invisible threat from the start, only for shit to go sideways as it always does and now he has to improvise a new plan with all he’s got. I think of it as the cherry on top of his current design, and it makes me love playing as Snake all the more.
I don't feel like looking it up, but I think he's also crawling while the suit cuts out. Maybe he wanted to sneak past at first?
@@doodoofartman he's not crawling, it's a reference to how, in the opening cutscene from MGS2, he throws himself off the Golden Gate bridge to land on a tanker while cloaked out - landing like that. It's what causes the camo device to short out.
Snake intended to be a ghost, but the entrance shorted his camo.
Match start.
Time to get creative.
I always say that there are two types of stealth Characters:
- The shadows who sneak by and do their job before anyone notice like Sly Cooper.
- The Saboteurs, less about the sneaking part and more about disrupting the enemy, like Snake.
That's two roles I will have to keep in mind for my character and his first game.
It always makes laugh thinking of how Snake got into Smash.
Kojima was just like "this is a gaming all star thing right? Can I get my boy in there"?
And sakurai was just like "I got you next time bro".
One of my favorite matches I ever played in Smash was at a doubles tournament me and a friend entered togerther. It was my Yoshi and his WFT versus a Snake and a Gren. I got taken out pretty early trying to lock down the Snake, knowing he can be a nightmare if left alone, but the frog wasn't having it and my partner was too focused on keeping the Breathing buff up and having a full charge for Sun Salutation to keep me from getting surrounded. So once it was him against both of them, the Snake did something I never saw coming.
He planted a C4 charge on his own partner.
The frog then proceeded to run face first into my buddy, run back to get another charge, and continued acting as this insane suicide bomber for the rest of the match, and mine only survived as long as we did because he was able to read the snake and know when it was about to detonate, air dodging _just_ in the nick of time. And let me tell you, once both me and my buddy realized what was going on all four of us could not stop laughing at how absurd this strategy was, nevermind how effective.
Needless to say, we lost that match pretty hard.
That reminds me of an old Brawl doubles strategy, where you'd have a Snake and a Meta Knight, Kirby, or any other character that has an upthrow where you go to the top blast zone for a second. You'd stick the C4 onto your teammate, and then have them run at the opponent, get a grab, upthrow, and right when they're in the top blastzone, you'd detonate the C4. Due to throw armor, your teammate would be perfectly safe on the return, but your opponent would die at 0%.
It still works in Ultimate, and since more characters have those 'top blastzone slam' upthrows, it works with more of the cast, too!
@@KingKalashnikov The moment I read "C4" I knew exactly where this was going. Jesus christ how terrifying. I love it.
@@DyxoXinoro I remember doing some random free-for-alls with some friends, and I got Snake and another friend got Meta Knight. Even though it was FFA, we just did that strategy until it was just me and him left, and then I ended up winning. Hearing me and him giggle like chimps while stocks got annihilated at 0% made for one of the funniest memories I've ever had in this game.
This is horrifying and hilariously sounding to face l, man
@@diegomendez8201 It was. It really was.
The smartest enemy in Metal Gear is any soldier who just pretends they didn’t just catch Snake.
Yeah, like "I've got hi-" and then they get hit by the quintuple super duper dodecahedron totally tubular dive scrimblo bimblo suplex within 3 picoseconds
Okay... I think I understand now why Sakurai thinks he's the only one who can do Smash correctly. The fighters aren't _just_ based on the characters themselves, they're based on the very core of their existence... It's so much more than just a fighting game... its a love letter to gaming in its entirety.
There's also the fact that, at the time, they couldn't reasonably give a character regular firearms, it wasn't until Ultimate that we got Joker's primary pistol, and even in universe that's just a glorified bb gun
To be fair, the fact that Joker’s gun isn’t real doesn’t change the fact that it looks real. The ESRB doesn’t give a rat’s ass about if the gun is a fake gun that enemies perceive to be real in some dude’s head. It looks like a gun
Bayonetta uses 4 real guns that she just adds magic to with those circles that apprar when she shoots
Snake's stealthiest aspect in Smash isn't his kit, it's the fact that I always think I'm gonna have an easy win against him and he ends up embarrassing me.
Yep.
This video was like an emotional drug, delivering a constant dose "oh _hell_ yes". I've never seen anyone perfectly encapsulate why I mained Snake in the Brawl days, and while I've moved onto other characters as of Ultimate, still keep him in my back pocket. Snake perfectly fits my playstyle of playing defense while analyzing an opponent and then doing what I can to mess up their usual gameplan and methodically tear them down. That's part of why I really liked in Brawl in particular, because Brawl's slower and more cerebral pace fit well with that style. Snake is the guy who says to twitchy rushdown characters, "Screw your flashy hyperaggression BS, you're on _my_ turf now."
The fact that the C4 recovery strat is one the CPUs use often shows how integral it is to his Smash Bros appearance. Most other tricks like that the CPUs never really do (at least, usually not on purpose) and so them consistently doing this trick is very intentional.
Do you have to get it to stick to yourself or do you just do the down special input twice really fast?
@sixstringpsycho You just do it twice. Since you and the C4 fall at the same time, you’ll be in its blast range and get hit when you use the move again.
For all the crazy stuff that came out with brawl... snake was by far the wildest.
Wow, I NEVER saw it until now because of the camera, but the c4 is sometimes c3 shaped like a butterfly, which is an MGS3 reference. They really put love into every character.
MGS4's artbook was so detailed I used it to pass off a semester-long book report-style project
I gotta see if I can find a PDF or something of it online
I'm glad to hear about another guy out there protecting a game art book in school.
That was me with the Oddworld art book in middle school.
The feeling of making a setup up to make a enemy to be stick with c4 then with the granades, grabs and the up smash to making him near to the upper blastzone, and then NOW. That feeling, is one of the best of all Smash. I love that so much.
Snake dosent play smash, he playes his own damn game and to best him you need to play too. Super cool character
Whenever I face a snake player in smash, I rarely take him seriously when I can just overwhelm him with melee attacks and prominent projectiles, only to see him be walled off with occasional self detonations thar get him out for a brief moment.
But as soon as I find all my typical approaches and plans backfire constantly because of some explosion that I did not notice, that's when I truly start to take things seriously and even dread to face him. At that point, as the snake player improvises to interrupt my gameplay, I too need to improvise to interrupt his gameplay, leading to a match that strikingly resembles real-time chess.
As a Snake main since Day 1 of Ultimate, you really hit the nail on the head. Well done!
I didn't know who Snake was as a kid, but I just thought it was hilarious to see a realistic looking guy shoot up a bunch of cute cartoon characters (Brawl's final smash in particular).
All I knew about Snake as a kid was:
1: he had a missile launcher
2: that’s all I really NEEDED to know
And yeah, Stealth isn’t what makes Snake the ultimate soldier, it’s just one more piece of his tool belt. He’s meant to be a pragmatic hero in the same vein as Indiana Jones
It's actually interesting to learn how Snake's interpretation in Smash Bros. is focused on outsmarting your opponents instead of stealth. Seeing your videos got me interested in a possible designing for of the bad endings of the Mario Kart series and how they pour salt into your wound (unless something like that was already done). That aside, this video gave a great learning lesson with why characters like Snake have the playstyles they inherit today.
Thank you. I feel that's what a lot of people forget about the design of the Smash characters. It isn't about just throwing in references, but using all those references to make the character FEEL like that character. Sure, they don't work all the time and sometimes a character has abilities that are there more for making them unique in a fighting game setting rather than their home series, but I feel the point still remains. It's why I find a lot of mods like Project M and the like are neat, but ultimately not as interesting.
We can agree Ganondorf needs a rework to actually deserve the name though, right? Because I understand people's argument about the man being about power, but no, that's Ganon. Ganondorf, the Gerudo king, is a physically intimidating man, yes, but he's also a cunning tactician. His every plan is to force you into a situation where you do his work for him because he removed your option to do much else. He is also incredibly hard to actually make stay down. These should be his traits: dangerous, and capable of forcing you into situations you never intended to get into, with a strong recovery. At the same time, he *should* leave weak points in his defenses, considering he always leaves a path for Link to prevail open. Slow Captain Falcon doesn't cut it for the feel Ganondorf projects in the games... except his forward smash feels about accurate to Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf, but that's it.
@@theendersmirk5851 Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm of the opinion that most characters in Smash need a tinkering. Most just need a few things changed here and there and some, like Ganondorf, need a full on rework. I just feel a lot of fan mods do weird stuff that don't make much sense for the characters either.
@@maugos agreed. I haven't paid a ton of attention to Ganondorf mods, but they usually seem to fall into Smash's trap of "he has Triforce of Power. That mean he do the big strong" despite the fact that, as Ganondorf, and even while Ganon, his greatest strengths has always been tenacity beyond any logical limit, and his other best known trait is the ability to enforce situations he *should have* won, had he not underestimated certain risks inherent in his plan. Ergo, a good Ganondorf mod should have at least one good trapping tool, an unreasonably long distance recovery, and decent striking strength, although probably not so high as current Ganon has. Slow walk speed makes sense for him, but his attacks themselves don't need to be telegraphed for ten years. He is a thief king after all.
Honestly I feel Smash didn't really nail the representation of characters in their kit until Ultimate because most of em did not age well
*Solid Snake, however, is one of the exceptions.* Like they somehow nailed him on the first try, which is insane. And Ultimate just serves to improve him by way of the system mechanics overhaul + his new Down Smash, even if I do still kinda miss the land mine
FYI if you’re still mad about “Snake not being stealth-based enough”, there’s an interpretation of him as a custom Workshop character in Rivals of Aether with a line-of-sight mechanic and limited ammo you have to resupply from hitting opponents
It’s certainly a thing
Another reason that the explosive specials fit Snake perfectly, that I don't see people bring up, is that they are some of the very few weapons that are 100% NEEDED to finish Metal Gear solid 1. The grenades are needed to take out Vulcan Raven's tank, C4 is needed to open the sealed wall to get to the cave, and the Nikita Missile is needed to turn off the electrified floor. Future conversations and Codec calls also say that these are the canon way Snake made it through those parts.
When I was in college when Brawl came out I would go to pick up and play sessions of Smash and use Snake or Yoshi and everyone would give me looks because they'd use Ike or Metaknight until the fight started. Snake was a lot of fun to use, thanks for making this video
I’ve always thought that metal gear solid wasn’t a stealth game, but a resource game with stealth mechanics. Honestly, Phantom Pain is the only REALLY stealth oriented MGS game in my book
I always loved Snake in Smash but I was unsure if he was a good design because explosions on a stealth character? Preposterous. It wasn’t until you and Duke’s character design tier list where all of my love was finally vindicated. He is just so cool and while can be frustrating to play against and as, he is just the coolest character ever.
One thing about the MGS series is that while overall progression and exploration relies a lot on stealth, some sections and petty much all boss fights are pumped with adrenaline and over-the-top action. Fighting a tank? Grenades are the way to go. Fighting a Hind-D helicopter? Stinger missiles are pretty much required. Lots of explosives in MGS.
@@vigorouslethargy no I definitely know I love the series
What I see in Snake is that he is literally a tank, LITERALLY! He is slow, can’t jump high but when he hits any of his attacks, he hits HARD! He also has defence like a tank, you can practically throw everything you got at him and he keeps trucking along, especially when it comes to recovery. Overall I just love Snake.
Going through the history of Metal Gear, I don't know why people are surprised about specifically Snake's special moves. They make so much sense.
• C4 was THE most important weapon in the original Metal Gear, the only way you could beat the game.
• The Nakita was a weapon you had to attain by back tracking to beat a boss, a hallmark of classic Metal Gear gameplay.
• The grenades are symbolic of one of Snake's biggest feats, beating a tank with nothing but grenades and dodging.
Personally speaking, my brain sees explosions, my brain is happy
This exact video sums up my love for snake on smash, and also why i feel so frustrated that i cant play him.
As you mentioned, yeah, smash mods give Snake a more "accurate" -on gigantic quotes- depiction of snake, with more tools and more straigh forward options, but the whole tactical part of Sakurai's original intend is what makes this character so great. I would be able to play him if we streamline him, but i prefer being this complex even tho it means im not able to enjoy it.
Sakurai is an absolute genius and Smash constantly blows my mind on how Sakurai manages to have a roster of over like 70 characters, and almost all of them feel so accurate on how they portray their series or characters (being the ones who don't usually the original crew from 64).
These characters arent just archetypes, these characters are detaily crafted to feel as closer to their origin material as possible.
Would’ve been worth mentioning how Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros compares to his play style in DreamMix TV Fighters and Raiden’s play style in PlayStation All Stars
I love how even his daccus in Brawl fit his character, because seeing this otherwise careful tactician close the distance at high speeds in the most over the top way always felt on brand for MSG. Great video!
I wish I had the brainpower to understand Snake's kit and get that good with him (or at least a *_little_* of his endlag or windup got trimmed, plus that could bring him more in line with Twin Snakes on GameCube as I understand that's a remake lots of people enjoy over the PS1 original), but I'm still glad he got into Brawl & Smash 5 and I hope he gets to come back as Konami continues the long march to redemption after all the MGS5/"ex-Kon" chicanery (lot to ask for, but one can hope, no?)
I only played a Metal Gear recently, and thinking about my experience with that game in comparison to the Smash moveset... well, the moment he's spotted, all stealth goes out the window. And in a fighting game, that happens right about the time you see the word GO.
A Big Boss rarely has to engage in such things outside of scripted bosses, but no one is Big Boss level on their first playthrough.
I've been hoping for a video like this since you talked about him in Design Dorks.
Have been waiting for this one ever since the brawl tier list in duke of dork's channel! Worth the wait
It’s absolutely insane how well Snake fits into Smash. I was so happy to see him return in Ultimate.
You uttered the forbidden game. It's time to design... For lawsuits.
Always does my heart good to hear PM mentioned, even briefly.
Not sure who out here played Playstation All Stars: Battle Royal, but Sly Cooper is one of the best examples of stealth in this kind of game, and I'd select him out of the whole PSAS:BR roster and put him in smash.
I'd even suggest he keeps his block that turns him permanently invisible. His real block is his counter. The rest could stay.
And I'm still in a dream snnnnnnnaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkeeeeeee plllllllaaaaaayyyyyyeeeeerrrrrr!
One taunt that got added through a mod was Snake saying "Squeeze my hog" as a reference to Vinny from Vinesauce playing the metal gear games (and occasionally using that line in his best possible snake voice). I'd love for that taunt to actually be added, but that'll never happen XD
Anyways, Snake is a lot of fun to play as in either version of Smash you play. It's nice to see a guest character have an actual playstyle, and not just be cheese in a fighting game. Winning with Snake can really make you feel like you outplayed your opponent, and it's fun to try and subtly lay some c4 from an ambiguous height. Really helps to emulate Metal Gear Solid in Smash, and that's what the best characters do in a crossover fighter.
Fun fact too: Kojima wanted Snake to be featured in Smash, because his son was a huge fan of the series. He was gonna be featured in Melee, but had to be cut due to time.
At 15:06 is that what I think it is?
"I'm fucking invincible"
if anyone want a platform fighting game character truly based on visual stealth, i recommend Frosburn from Rivals of Aether, he certainly does not have good damage or kill confirm, but he can clone himself and put smoke on the stage to blind and confuse he's ennemies, he strike where you're not expecting him and will combo you to death for confusing him with his clone
I just wanna appreciate the edit at 14:14
I think I!m gonna main Snake and play Metal Gear Solid because of this video
Thanks for your video, it's an amazing one
5:19 nice
I loved this. Instant sub m8. I hope to see more videos like this!
"Make sure his up-tilt kills at 80"
5:19
"Snake, a master of bating"
-Designing For
I mean there is that one easter egg in MGS2
Man, I feel like Snake would work even better as a guest character in Tekken. I'd love to see him there.
MGS is my all time favorite single player game series, so when Snake got added to Brawl I pretty much exclusively played him.
I was also 12 years old, so I really didn't care that he wasn't stealthy, I was just thrilled that Snake was in a video game beating the shit out of Mario.
What a thrill…
With darkness and silence through the night...
@@thecommonman9524 What a thrill...
I’m searching and I’ll melt into you…
I'm searching and I'll melt into you...
to be fair, he was outshined when Sonic's Brawl trailer appeared similar to Hero being outshined by Banjo, but yeah, he is pretty nicely designed
nothin says stealth ops like high grade explosives and uppercut kicks.
gotta love the Massive Master.
1:12
Samus Aran: am I a joke to u
As a snake main, the opponents who understand the grenades... those are the ones to be wary of.
Everytime I see solid snake, I just think "are you kidding me, thats mario" even infected my friend with it, he named himseld mario in fortnite after getting snake
Who needs kill confirms when up-tilt kills at 80?? But hey great insights on character design as always, would be interested to see more smash analyses as they fit your channel well :)
Only thing I would disagree on is that you *need* to play smart to win with Snake. At top level, sure, but spamming grenade, dash attack, and upsmash at ledge can get you pretty damn far, especially online (dont mind me, just salty i always lose to elite smash snakes)
That's fair, but I do feel like they're still working toward that win condition whereas most characters are "I hit you. Now I'm going to hit you again. Maybe I'll apply a buff in the middle, and then I'm going to hit you again". Snake needs to actually get you into the part where he CAN up smash at ledge, nikita when you're far offstage, etc., and actually tossing grenades properly will do that.
Plus it feels really, really good to beat Elite Smash Snake. Because they think they're smart and then you get in and they're like OH GOD OH NO. They get it a lot less free than Samus, at least!
Lmao. Dude I got a friend with a pretty decent Snake, who's head empty like 70% of the time. When our group would play Smash pre-Covid it was a toss up on ever getting a read because half the time he didn't know what he was gonna do. When he started learning some tech to sprinkle in he was a monster and random intervals.
@Designing For Oh haha dont get me started on Samus 🙃 And yeah I think for me personally I just need more practice dealing with grenades in particular and figuring out any somewhat consistent way of edgeguarding him with zss then Id start having a lot more fun lol
I was always on the side that complains about his kit not fitting him but this makes very good points in favour of it
Snake? Snake? SNAAAKKKEEEE
3:16 You mean he's Mu la Flaga?! Of course!
This is why I main Snake
🐍📦
if they added snake, they can add jetstream sam
11:45 lmao the edits in this one are great
ALSO KORONE REFERENCE?! 12:05
I refuse to leave until someone explains to me how Chunky kong is similar to solid snake in appeal
-Turns invisible to sneak around.
-Defeats a giant robot.
-Is a master of firearms and grenades.
-Does not want to be a hero, but does so reluctantly.
-Died off-screen (presumably)
-Moves slow, can't jump high.
-Is one Hell of a guy.
Really they're pretty much the same character.
@Designing For I DIDNT EVEN FINISJ THE VIDEO YET 🤣🤣❤️❤️
Been binging your videos man, you're awesome. Helping me learn about Rareware games I missed, and explaining feelings of childhood nostalgia I couldn't quantify nearly as eloquently as you do. Rock on bro 👍👍
@@DesigningFor I’m stealing this
YEAH! GIVE HIM THE ATTENTION HE DESERVES
Too bad Snake's codec library wasn't updated for Ultimate.
This might have been largely because Campbell's Japanese VA had passed away since Brawl
a master of baiting, you say? 😏
Ooooh that thumbnail is pretty
"there is no unga bunga with snake" Literally has grenade drop, quite literally one of the most unga bunga options in the franchise
Grenade spam is easy to deal with, gotta mix it up to be effective
Snake literally fights a tank with c4, this guy is not that stealth based
wonder if you'll do something like this for Little Mac, if you haven't already
12:05
Was that a fucking Korone reference? XD
My editors look at me with confusion every time I try to sneak in a Korone or Pekora reference. I need to get them in where I can!
Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
What about his Final Smash?
FINALLY! As an ex-MGS speedrunner, I can say Snake is one of the best-designed characters, along with Megaman, Belmonts, Cloud, and Bayo. This is what I HATE about P+ Snake, with his daggers and Tranq. That's not Snake. People be out here not understanding the nuance of Sakurai's genius design. At least they gave the cigar taunt
1:05 I feel like this ignores the nuance of Gordon Freeman's character, being a scientist and not someone with extensive combat training (besides that brief bit in the hazard course.) This reflects the gameplay of Half-Life, which in addition to having a healthy sprinkling of environmental puzzles littered throughout, emphasizes a more tactful and methodical approach to its combat encounters rather than the usual 'run in and don't die.' I know it's just one of 4 examples, but it feels like a poor example.
what character?
> Implying you can't just run and gun in Half Life
Yea i love snake, hes not hideing hes mind playing you. When i bomb myself for no reason you already lost
always love this series of videos
ridley pls
I would love to see an analysis like this on Little Mac.
Being a huge Punch-Out fan, it makes me sad that he's one of the lowest tier characters. But then it hit me:
A weak and measly fighter that - somehow - must face impossible odd and defeat opponents that are stronger, faster and badder than him? That's exactly what Punch-Out is about. 😁
I read somewhere that fighting against little mac in smash is like playing punch out, you have to exploit the enemy weakness and avoid his stron blows. Or something like that idk i read that a long time ago
Watch dukes of dorks podcast with designing for (it's called designing dorks) to see his opinion on lil mac
If this is his design then, why doesn't he have more tools then than the normal smash character to let him improvise more
Project M 3.0 - 3.6 is the best moveset for Snake
I wouldve used more clips of snake in turniments. I love the cunning snake players. If they r smart.
Also its too funny the man with rockets goes even w my main, the lil man with bowling ball lol.
Weird that he never returned in smash 3ds/Wii U :(
Konami was in a *_state_* during Smash 4's dev cycle as well as burning bridges with Metal Gear fans (& largely still is)
@@jaredhebert942 yeah, sad that we’ll never see anything new from them give or take a few collections or bomberman R
This video doesn’t address one thing: Snake’s reputation in online matches.
You see, all of what you say is great, but when you ask almost anyone about Snake’s gameplay, very few people feel like they’re playing against this adaptational saboteur. Instead, they feel like they’re playing against a Belmont, someone mindlessly throwing out projectiles and just winning by the unfair advantages those projectiles have. That grenade? Just spam it recklessly all over the place and the game is yours.
Why is there this discrepancy?
Because a lot of fighting game players don't fight with accuracy to the character in mind, they're fighting to win the matches as quickly as possible, unfortunately. This is why people who play Goku in pretty much any fighting game he appears in don't actively sabotage their chances at victory for the sake of the thrill of the fight like Goku would very much do in canon, as the Cell Saga shows. Or why so many competitive fighting game players got angry at the fact they stayed true to Sanji's character and made it mechanically impossible for him to fight against a woman.
Come on...Analyze the Cuphead Bosses! you know you want to!
Raiden for smash 6
kept us waiting, huh?
more like snake, designing for bullshit!
okay im done
Once again my friend good may great video. I love this channel with all my heart. And your recent Donkey Kong December ...that was incredible. Seeing this channel praise my favorite childhood series and still my favorite Nintendo series. Tied with the Crash Bandicoot series. It was so much fun
Project M Snake is best Snake
I'm curious what this video is gonna say on the matter (I haven't watched it yet) because I loathe Snake's design.
So, what do you think?
@@GamerTowerDX
After posting that, something came up and I forgot about watching the video. lol
@@MrGameguyC fair, you can give your take later lol
I hate Smash Bros. Solid Snake, that model is an abomination. Naked Snake's head grafted onto Solid Snake's body. It's lazy and inaccurate.
3:31 I'd say (Solid) Snake being curious of Yoshi's taste as a MGS3 reference is sillier, but hey, "there's been more than one Snake".
What
I played smash my whole life and never once though of playing snake 😂 a plain regular guy with bombs is just so boring.
Brawl introduced me to Snake, Pikmin, Kid Icarus, Punch Out, so many many things. Brawl will always be in my top 10 video games. And while Ultimate is better in combat. Brawl will always be my favorite smash