[QUOTE="D";124002473]Informative read brother. Thanks for this. Megaman and Little Mac are the two i'm most excited to play as but my concerns rest mainly with Megaman because seeing enough of Little Mac's gameplay I feel like even though I haven't played with him yet, I can pick him up fairly quickly and easily and have a good understanding of his moves.
Back on topic with the Blue Bomber, I DO have some questions as follows:
- How's his overall priorities in his attacks? Since he seems to have a lot of "situational" moves does he at least enjoy the benefits of high priority attacks frequently to offset his "unique" playstyle?
- How quickly does Leaf Shield activate? Does it have hurtboxes attached to the leaves as soon as they appear or does the entire shield need to be actively spinning around his before they can hurt an opponent?
- Does Air Shooter seem like something that can be easily SDI'd out of? Or does the damage taken from the attack make the enemy "stay put"?
- How's the knockback on Crash Bomber against an opponent high in percents? Do you think it could kill in Sudden Death?
- Was there anything feeling-wise that you feel like could be tweaked for him for the final product or was he satisfying complete to play as as he currently is now?
- Since you attended E3 and such, do you know if the higher ups or anyone of status at Nintendo is aware at how Megaman is being perceived by people playing him. Any info that they are aware people are having mixed experiences playing as him?
EDIT: I had completely forgotten that he had Mega Upper as a move, should have known it was his Up Tilt. I don't think I've seen it used in casual play at all at E3/Invitationals/SDCC outside of the Nintendo Direct it was shown in. Same with Slide, folks just haven't been using it.[/QUOTE]
Sorry for the wait on this response!
Thanks! And yeah, I agree - from what I've seen and based on my limited playtime with him, Little Mac seems very "pick up and play"... almost too easy to just pick up and dominate with. He's very strong, maybe too strong on stages with a lot of flat ground space. He's obviously pretty terrible on tricker stages that require putting in a lot of air time to navigate, but I'm not sure that's enough to offset how dominant he seems to be. Compared to him, Mega Man seems to take a lot more effort to learn and use effectively... which maybe isn't a bad thing, but Little Mac is definitely the more approachable character for people who don't necessarily want to put in as much time and effort learning someone.
Answers to your questions, in order:
- It's hard to say based on my limited playtime, but he does seem to have pretty good priority. The Charge Shot, Top Spin, Air Shooter, Flame Sword, and Slash Claw all seem to have above-average priority from what I recall, but don't necessarily take that as fact!
- It's unfortunately pretty slow to activate, and I do believe all the leaves need to be active and spinning before they'll damage an opponent. Could be wrong about that second part, but that's what I remember. Using the Leaf Shield for immediate crowd control is NOT a viable option unlike, say, Zelda's Nayru's Love. Overall, the Leaf Shield's usefulness just seems to be VERY limited and specific, and overall it's the part of Mega Man moveset that I'd say needs a buff more than any other (besides maybe the Metal Blade).
- I can't stress how good a move the Air Shooter is, and while I haven't been hit with it yet, those I did hit with it (and KO off the top of the screen) did not seem to be able to get out of it. Its damage and effects don't last super long, but if you fire it repeatedly with good accuracy, you can lift the opponent off the top of the screen and it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot they can do about it. You really need to be accurate to do this reliably, though. This might, of course, vary from character to character (like, Fox might be able to Reflector out of it or something).
- The Crash Bomber is like a Sticky Bomb that does less damage and knockback but is useful all the same. It does around 8-10% damage, but I'm not sure about it being able to kill in Sudden Death... maybe, though. I feel like it would launch high but not kill at around 100%. Top Spin, Slash Claw, Flame Blast, Spark Shock, and a fully-charged Charge Shot can all potentially kill starting at around 70% from what I can remember, though.
- Feeling-wise he's very satisfying - I mean, he feels like you're playing him in a Mega Man game, which is just about the highest compliment I can pay anything video game-related. He just feels like Mega Man. That said, I do wish his jumps were a LITTLE better... but again, that's pretty true to how he plays in his own games, so I can't complain too much. He's light on his feet and fairly agile but not too much so... again, like a Mega Man game! If I could change anything about him, it would be to just buff his specials in general. The Crash Bomber is actually pretty decent, but the Metal Blade just seems to suck (flies too slowly and does too little damage for the low rate of fire) and the Leaf Shield is almost stupidly situational and seems to be generally worthless outside of those specific situations... but I'd love to be wrong about that, and hope I am!
- I have no idea about that, unfortunately. All I know is probably the same stuff you do regarding how he was easily the fan-favorite at the Invitational, a fact Sakurai has since recognized on several occasions. That might have the unfortunate reverse effect of making Sakurai think he's perfect the way he is, though, or then again Sakurai might recognize that his popularity comes from the intense fan love for the character and not necessarily how he's balanced in the game.
Overall, I think Mega Man is easily mid-tier based on my time with him and could possibly be high-tier based on how the metagame shakes out when people learn the ins and outs of his mechanics and moves... but in an indirect, tricky way, like Snake. But because spacing and timing are SO vitally important for him, especially with regard to his best smash (Charge Shot), I can definitely see him having a tough time against fast, rush-down characters like Fox and Sheik.
Let me know if there's anything else I can answer for you. I love talking about Mega Man in Smash.
