Fantasy Smash Thread

[Kriven]

I've actually been thinking about a Marvel game in the Smash Bros. style a lot lately, so I guess I'll use Ark Kuvis' post as an opportunity to bring in...

ANT-MAN

Cuts the Competition Down to Size

The unanticipated break-out hit of Marvel's Cinematic Universe joins the battle! This incarnation of the character is an over-all representation of the various portrayals of the Ant-Man character since his debut in 1962, so don't think of this character as strictly being Henry Pym or Scott Lang. The Ant-Man legacy is host to many skills--professor, inventor, biologist, thief, spy--but an expert warrior he is not. Don't let that fool you, Ant-Man is a master of sub-atomic application... Opponents who can't see past his shortcomings are in for a big surprise!

Playstyle and Attacks

Neutral Special: Pym Particles - Ant-Man's primary gimmick is in his ability to alter his size at will. Using this attack allows him to activate his patented Pym Particles, the material which allows him to achieve this astonishing feat! Did you know that there's more to the Ant-Man legacy than that name alone? Tapping the Special Button once allows Ant-Man to perform his namesake action, shrinking into the smallest playable character in the game (slightly smaller than even Olimar's Pikmin!), but tapping it twice will have the opposite effect, allowing him to take on the size and strength of Pym's other alter-ego: Goliath! A third tap will switch Ant-Man to his basic size. Competitors hoping to gain the upper hand will have to be quick to adapt, because each of Ant-Man's forms have unique attributes.

          Human Size - At his standard size Ant-Man isn't anything too special--but that isn't to say he's a slouch! He's more acrobatic than your average Joe, but in contest with some of the most physically adept warriors in the universe, he isn't anything special. His speed and strength are relatively average, and he can't jump very high at all. His lithe figure will keep him somewhat light on his toes. In this form he's an average character, able to take a punch and dish one out, but just as likely to be knocked away.

          Ant-Man - At the size of an insect, Ant-Man becomes much more difficult to hit... but also much easier to KO. In this form Ant-Man really encapsulates the idea of being a Glass Cannon: condensing his molecular structure has made him super dense, and so super strong... Strong enough even to put down Little Mac at arm wrestling! He's also much faster than before, keeping up with faster fighters without breaking a sweat. This combination can make him very dangerous, provided he doesn't take a hit. His super strength also greatly increases the height of his jump--some have joked that he should rename himself "Flea-Man" after watching the little speck bounce across the battlefield. Even at his finest, Ant-Man can be tossed away by the likes of Jigglypuff. Of course if he lands the first kick, the Pokémon had better watch out!

          Goliath - Increasing his size does wonders for Ant-Man's durability. Now as large as Bowser, Ant-Man can survive even the most punishing of attacks--which is a good thing, because he's now way too slow to get out of their way! While his strength sees a modest increase when compared to his base form, it's nothing compared to the deadly hyper-dense punches he can deliver in his shrunken form. Not to mention the fact that the added weight makes it almost impossible for him to jump to newer heights... This mode is almost purely for keeping Ant-Man on the ground after he's accumulated an abundance of damage. If used with little damage, Goliath can absorb attacks without so much as a flinch--but the lack of mobility and only moderate strength buffs means that when this form comes out, a player is most likely trying to buy themselves a few more seconds of life.

These forms are not timed transformations--they last as long or as little as the player deems fit. That being said, Ant-Man can be prevented from transforming if he's hit at just the right time.

Side Special: SWARM! - Ant-Man does have one other notable gift, aside from shape-shifting: his unique ability to communicate with and command hive insects! His side-special allows him to call upon a colony of Winged Carpenter Ants (...R.I.P. Antony...) to swarm his enemies. There's actually a little more to it than that: holding the Special button will allow Ant-Man to "charge" the attack (in reality, the ants are increasing in number). Releasing the button unleashes the attack, which begins as a decently strong punch... however, at the end of this punch, the swarm will follow the trajectory of his fist and surround whoever they encounter in a biting, stinging storm! This can be to the ire of enemies, who are now slowed down... long enough for Ant-Man to unleash a Smash Attack? That's up to the player and the skill: the swarm can be soundly defeated by just a few attacks, and after enough ants have been killed the rest will disperse. A properly-timed shield might discourage them altogether, but who can say?

Down Special: Ant-Assist - Calling again upon his helpers, Ant-Man will again encourage his allies to swarm, only this time... they're swarming over Ant-Man himself! Thoroughly protected, the ants will take damage as long as the player holds down the Special button. They'll protect him from projectiles and absorb some of the impact from physical attacks, but ants won't be enough to save him from the brunt of a strong melee approach. It's important to note that this attack and SWARM! have a big limitation: there can only be so many ants under the control of one Ant-Man on the field at a time. Keeping this in mind is important for effectively using the character, because charging SWARM! to much will mean there are no ants left to help protect their master, and using Ant-Assist for too great a time will mean there are no ants available to attack with. It's up to you to find the proper balance between offense and defense.

Up Special: Rising Storm - This move is greatly influenced by both of the special factors which comprise Ant-Man's unique skillset: his size and the number of ants currently performing another task. In this recovery, Ant-Man calls upon a flying swarm to carry him away from death in the direction indicated by the player's joystick. However, how larger Ant-Man is will change the number of ants he needs to use: Ant-Man can ride upon the back of a single ant, but at his human form he'll need more, and as Goliath it'll take the entire swarm to heave him onto the stage. The swarm can damage enemies who wander to close, but their focus is primarily on moving Ant-Man to safety.

Final Smash: Giant-Man - Ant-Man and Goliath aren't the only names attributed to this legacy... Giant-Man is just as important! Activating his Pym Particles, Ant-Man grows to monstrous proportions. He becomes so large that he can no longer even fit on the arena. Instead he stands behind it, towering over the battle like... like some kind of... giant! The joystick can be used to help Giant-Man sidle back and forth to line up his attacks, and they can also be used to angle said attacks so enemies don't get away. He hes two primary attacks at his disposal. One is a devastating, death-dealing punch which can even destroy some platforms, and the other is a little more fun: Giant-Man will sprinkle a rain of size-changing discs onto the stage. These discs can either shrink opponents to make them lighter, or grow them to make them easier targets for his punching attack. Basically, they have the same effects as the Mushroom items. This rain only occurs beneath one hand, though, it's not a stage-wide sweep, making it very avoidable. He can also use a sweeping backhand or forward hand slap across the stage, though these attacks lack the finishing power of his punch. Holding the shoulder buttons will help players choose which hand they are going to use to attack. Special Button drops size-discs, Smash Button punches, Jump Buttons slap. After a short time, Giant-Man will revert to his previous form.

A Closer Look at the Ant Mechanic:

The Ant Mechanic isn't overly complicated: Ant-Man doesn't bring the swarm into battle with him visibly. When an ant finishes its animation, it returns into the ground. Only from that point can it be sent to perform a new action. Basically: an ant cannot cancel its current action to perform a new one. But since the ants aren't visibly accounted for like Olimar's Pikmin, the player will have to get a feel for just how many there are. Fortunately, killing ants does not detract from Ant-Man's over-all arsenal: that merely influences the action occurring right then. For instance, killing the ants in "SWARM!" does not mean that Ant-Man can't use that attack again a second later, it just means the attack has been ended.

I guess in the simplest terms: Ant-Man is leaving his attacks behind him and cannot perform another swarm-based attack until that animation has finished.

It's important for players to keep track of what their ants are doing, because the insects cannot keep up with every command and they are needed for some of Ant-Man's other moves.

Ant-Man's basic movies vary between acrobatic maneuvers and calling upon his swarm for aid. His Neutral Smash sends a wave of ants at the enemies before him, and his Up Smash will cause them to congregate above his upraised fist, however his Down Smash is a simple sweeping kick attack. The majority of his tilts are his alone, consisting of punches and kicks which come out fast but don't count for much (unless he's in his smallest state). His aerials are also largely his own acrobatic maneuvers, with the exception of his Back Air, which sees him command a swarm to cover his rear. His dashing attack is a kick which lifts him off the ground. At smaller sizes, he can use this to enter into an aerial combo. This attack is fairly powerful, and can easily kill when it needs to.

EMBLEM AND FANFARE

Ant-Man is most well-known as a character featuring in Avengers comic books and cartoons, so he will be considered as being part of the Avengers franchise as opposed to representing his own. As such, he bares the classic "A" of the Avengers Tower.

His victory fanfare is taken from the Marvel Cinematic Universe logo, as it will be for all Avengers characters:

Additionally, his stage entrance involves Ant-Man flying onto the stage on the back of a very enlarged carpenter ant (ANTONY?!)

COSTUMES AND COLORS

Ant-Man can make use of a number of alternate costumes based on his many different appearances over the years... but I probably don't have the skills to show you all of that. Instead, here's his eight color swaps using sprites from Avengers Alliance.

Red Color - This is Ant-Man's basic color, and also his Red Team color.

Purple-Pink Color - This color is inspired by Stinger, who carries on the Ant-Man legacy in the M2 Universe.

Yellow Color - This color is inspired by Yellowjacket, the fourth name taken by Henry Pym and also the villain in the Ant-Man film.

Silver Color - This color is inspired by Ultron, Pym's robotic child.

Blue Color - This is merely his Blue Team color.

Green Color - This is merely his Green Team color.

Black Color - A stealth operative needs a stealth suit.

Brown Color - Slightly inspired by the look of Ultimate Ant-Man.

---

I'm also going to go ahead and plug my blog, where I have a few Fantasy Smash posts already (and I'm just going to migrate the whole Fantasy Smash concept to here... probably better off that way...)

Characters:

Balloon Fighter
Donkey Kong Jr.
Princess Peach
Fighting Polygon
Virus
Marill
Ant-Man

Stages:

Game & Watch Land

Items:

Ice Flower
Kuribo's Shoe
Super Leaf
Zapper

Assist Characters:

Poliwag
Scyther

---

A few years ago a friend asked me "Who would you pick to be in Marvel Smash Bros?"

I made this:



Today I was inspired to make sequel: