Plays In: The battle against Mewtwo.
Status: Original Composition
Status: Original Composition
Composer(s): Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, Kenta Nagata
A month ago, I had the chance to get reacquainted with an old friend. We'd crossed paths quite a few times at other venues within the past several years, but never were those experiences as close-knit as they were in the days of old. When I found out last fall he set to rectify that, I could only count the days until he returned to the crossover field of battle.
When the time came, I greeted him as I did the new selection of Smash fighters: test him out on the Battlefield stage, set to Motoi Sakuraba's gorgeous Melee Menu arrangement from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The morning sun shone on his cold exterior, his chilling eyes scanning an arena he hadn't stepped foot in for so long.
As of April 15th, 2015, Mewtwo has returned to Super Smash Bros.
When the time came, I greeted him as I did the new selection of Smash fighters: test him out on the Battlefield stage, set to Motoi Sakuraba's gorgeous Melee Menu arrangement from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The morning sun shone on his cold exterior, his chilling eyes scanning an arena he hadn't stepped foot in for so long.
As of April 15th, 2015, Mewtwo has returned to Super Smash Bros.
There was a time where my favorite video game character wasn't Mario or Ness or Kirby, but instead the most powerful Pokémon alive: Mewtwo. It was a typical childhood fascination with the strong and mighty, and Mewtwo just oozed badassery as easy as breathing. While it the closest Pokémon had to a villain from its host of critters (perhaps it's no coincidence it looks something like a stoic Freeza?), there was a reserved calm around it that lent an air of sympathy, winning over many hearts.
Naturally, Mewtwo was my favorite character in Melee as a kid. While Ness took over that position in later years, that I could finally be in direct control of my favorite Pokémon was just too much for me. It didn't matter that he was far weaker than he was supposed to be; his attack animations (the beam sword dashes!), his item levitation and general apathy were just too cool.
Outside of Smash, my love for Mewtwo knew no bounds. I lost count of how many times I rewatched the first movie. My youth compelled me to create an embarrassing username (which I'm reluctant to share) for SmashBoards well over a decade ago. I purchased a Mewtwo doll at the New York Pokémon Center (now the Nintendo World Store), of which had weird poppy joints and had the exact look and feel as that of a Siamese cat. When my own Siamese decided to chew him up, I bought another.
I even endlessly challenged the Mewtwo battle event in Pokémon Stadium just for the thrill of battling him, and so I've come to treat the accompanying song as the character's theme. Accompanied by a terrifying set of flutes and guitars, the all-powerful impression of the strongest Pokémon in the world is perfectly expressed in this one theme, and I'm quite saddened it never popped up again.
And yet for all my childhood love for Mewtwo, I'm at a loss as to why I was so apathetic to his removal had in Smash Bros. Brawl, especially since he was undeniably the most unique out of all the cut Melee characters. Maybe it was that within the context of Smash I'd long since moved on to Ness and was scared shitless of his potential replacement by Mother 3's Lucas, or that the relentless onslaught of Melee vs. Brawl flamewars continued to break my heart. Things weren't even the same in Pokémon, as he'd long since been unseated as the strongest Pokémon and I didn't care much for Pokémon Diamond.
It's been seven years since then. I've thoroughly enjoyed every following Pokémon installment, I've learned to longer dismiss what I loved in the past (Melee) in response to undying hatred against something I love (Brawl/Smash 4), and am perhaps still awed that we received two different versions of Smash Bros. in the same year. Maybe Mewtwo's not so tough anymore and those Smash flamewars will never cease, but you learn to move on.
It's been seven years since then. I've thoroughly enjoyed every following Pokémon installment, I've learned to longer dismiss what I loved in the past (Melee) in response to undying hatred against something I love (Brawl/Smash 4), and am perhaps still awed that we received two different versions of Smash Bros. in the same year. Maybe Mewtwo's not so tough anymore and those Smash flamewars will never cease, but you learn to move on.
Mewtwo's not in my top five list of characters in Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, but I still play as him regularly. I swear his cranium's doubled in size, maybe some of his Melee sound effects were cooler, and he doesn't have that awesome Beam Sword animation anymore, but I'm just so damn happy to have him back. Hopefully, this time it's for good!
Final Thoughts: I always thought this song would be a great choice for Smash, but the series has never paid much attention to the spin-offs. Oh well.
Oh my, how could I ever forget about how much Mewtwo meant to me? My tape of The First Movie got watched so many times, as did the follow-up, Mewtwo Returns, though not to as great an extent, naturally. I never owned Stadium myself, but a close friend did, and I remember tackling that battle with him. Man, was it tough, as Mewtwo would keep gaining back health while increasing his stats to near unstoppable levels. Truly worthy of the most powerful Pokemon ever created. Even that theme took me back a fair bit, I'll admit.
ReplyDeleteI guess I've forgotten about him due to how little coverage he's gotten in recent years, bar that recent movie where they not only rebooted him but cursed his vocal cords with a female voice. Meta Knight in the dub of the Kirby anime hasn't got a patch on THIS (and the knowledge that it was female-sounding in the original makes me even sadder).
And hey, when it comes to usernames coiled from the names of legendary Pokemon, look no further then yours truly! Though, I don't personally feel mine is embarrassing.
For taking me back to early Pokemon days, this post had already been a sweet highlight of the day, so thanks for that, Anthony!
Mike.