Dojo Day: New Format Edition

Welcome to the first week of Dojo Day that we totally depart from our previous article format. With some suggestions from friends of mine who read the column, I decided on a rough new way to organize this here article. This is still not finalized, though, so you can still tell us how you want it changed. Welcome to Dojo Day.

New format goes like this: Discussion Topics (with one or two random Smash topics I want to talk about), followed by Dojo Topics (extremely brief summaries of recent important Dojo updates).

Discussion Topics

On Release Dates: I'm sure a ton of you are just itching for Super Smash Bros. Brawl here in North America, but that March 9th release date just keeps slapping you in the face. Instead of boycotting Nintendo games in your anger or annoying the Joystiq bloggers with a barrage of comments, try thinking about why they would delay it. It doesn't make business sense to delay a game that big when it's already essentially completed, unless of course there is a different, unmentioned reason for the delay.

If you remember what happened at the Japanese launch, Nintendo was only able to fulfill approximately one-third of their pre-orders, causing a massive shortage in the game. Now, if the game is already done, and ready to be shipped to North America, that extra month and a half allows for a whole lot of extra production time. So, hopefully when you walk into your local game store on March 9th to pick up your pre-ordered copy of Brawl, you'll be glad that Nintendo delayed the game. If they didn't, you'd probably have to wait until March 9th to find a copy anyway.

Lucario!? Furries? In my Brawl?: Unfortunately, it's more likely than one would think. Last week we were witnesses to the unveiling of the complete Brawl roster, which included a new character, the fox Pokemon Lucario. I'm not one to complain about character inclusions, but when a new character replaces an old one, and I much prefer the older one, then there's a problem. Mewtwo is no longer in the game, and Lucario will have a very similar moveset to his predecessor.

I didn't want a furry in my game! Now if I (and many others who enjoyed playing as Mewtwo) want to play using essentially the same character moveset as before, I will have to play with a new Pokemon who I do not recognize and who also happens to be complete furry bait. (Furries being animals with human characteristics and any fans of these characters) I don't exactly understand why Mewtwo had to be taken out, seeing as he was still a fairly relevant Pokemon, and Lucario is much less well-known by the gaming public. Does anyone here actually like Lucario? What's your opinion on the Mewtwo-Lucario switch?

Dojo Topics

Port Town Aero Dive: This F-Zero stage is pretty much just like Mute City from Melee.

Final Destination: Final Destination is (predictably) included, so hardcore fans can sleep peacefully now. The background for this one transfers between outer space, a wormhole, and an evening scene over an ocean.

Assist Trophies: Newly confirmed Assist Trophies are:

Metroid from Metroid (latches onto and damages enemies)
Tingle from The Legend of Zelda (causes random effects)
Kat & Ana from WarioWare (perform an X-slash)
Jeff from EarthBound (shoots 5 guided bottle rockets)
Helirin from Kuru Kuru Kururin (spins around the stage, creating an obstacle for players)
Jill & Drill Dozer from Drill Dozer (um, drills enemies)
Nintendogs from Nintendogs (gets in the way of the screen)
Lakitu from Mario Bros. (drops Spinies)
Hammer Bros. from Mario Bros. (throw hammers)

Zero Suit Samus: Final Smash: For her Final Smash, Zero Suit Samus puts on her armor again, doing damage to nearby enemies in the process. You can also select her on the character select screen without having to use Samus' Final Smash. Finally, by rapidly pressing up-down-up on the d-pad, you can change quickly between normal and Zero Suit Samus.

Enemies and Allies: While I still maintain that I don't particularly like Subspace Emissary, this video is pretty cool. Marth and Meta Knight meet each other and begin a fast paced fight, but are soon forced to work together to fight the Primid.

That's it for this week folks. If you want me to talk about something, or maybe have an opinion about Brawl that you want to get out there, feel free to let me know.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]