Topic: SNES platform game character ratings

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For no reason at all a couple of months ago I started a project to rate the skills of all SNES platform game characters.  I always wondered what it would be like to have a character from one game in another game since some characters seem to outperform others.  Wouldn't it be fun to select ANY character to play as in the game of your choice?  I came up with a basic rating system and so far I've gone through about 30 games.  I thought I'd post my results here for fun and to see if anybody disagrees with me.

My system:
Jumping is rated by
Jumping height, Jumping distance, Jumping control
Master jumpers can jump off screen or just fly.
Maneuverability is rated by
Speed, Turning, Weight
Super maneuvers should be able to land on a dime.
Offense is rated by
Attack Potential, Damage Inflicted, Attack Variety
Top killers can instantly destroy anything in front of them or everything on screen.
Defense is rated by
Damage Resistance, Special Evasion, Max HP
Tanks should be able to endure ridiculous damage without dying.
Versatility is rated by
Techniques, Shape Shifting, Environmental Exploits
Morphs never get stuck.

Here's a pic of the table I've been using.  I'll post the games I've already finished now and post more as I go through them.

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Ardy & Pec (Ardy Lightfoot)
Ardy Lightfoot is a middle of the road character.  Ardy can be quick but he's got a problem with acceleration.  When Pec is around Ardy has good forward offense, but one hit and Pec's gone then one more and Ardy dies making him kind of a marshmallow.  Along with the Ardy's ability to climb and duck Pec can grab objects, be upgraded to fly, and smash through walls so overall there's good versatility.  I like Ardy because he's sure-footed and he has a nifty mirror blanket that gives him temporary invincibility whenever he wants it.  He'd do well in other games.

[TerraEsperZ]

Reminds me of Super Mario Crossover, that flash game where you can play through the original Super Mario game with a bunch of NES heroes like Samus Aran, Mega Man, Link or even Sophia III. You'd think they would all be easier to use than plain old Mario, but since they've all been transposed pretty much straight with their gameplay intact, they all handle quite differently and in some case, are very awkward to use.

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I've never played that game, I'll have to look for it.  I have played the one where you fight Arthur and Samus as Mega Man and get their powers.  It was a lot of fun.  Your right about the surprises in transposition, I've already had to change my opinion about some games and characters.  In fact here's a good example now.

Gon (Gon)
At first I thought Gon would be totally badass.  But he isn't.  He has a variety of attacks but they can be work to execute and most have terrible range.  He's vulnerable to combos.  His maneuverability is the worst I've ever seen.  He has to be moving before he jumps to get anywhere but his acceleration is so bad he's hard to control at speed.  And on top of everything else the game is slanted so most enemies take a lot of hits to kill and are much faster the Gon.  He has a few neat tricks but they don't make up for his shortfalls.  He'd do better in a game with one hit monsters, but not a lot better.

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Mitch / Max (Mutant Chronicles Doom Troopers)
These guys suck.  They run forward, they shoot, that's it.  To spite carrying big guns, which that at the top of their game can shoot homing missiles and fire, Mitch and Max are really inept.  They need to be precisely aligned to hit their target, they run out of ammo fast, and they can't really dodge incoming attacks.  At least they can take a lot of punishment.  In another game they might do better just because they have big guns, but then again maybe not.

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Pierre (Out to Lunch)
You could kind of consider this a puzzle game as well as a platform game.  Pierre can be quick.  And that's his only redeeming value.  He dies in one hit.  He slides and is difficult to control in midair.  He can't attack until he finds a weapon, a process which must be repeated in each and every stage.  In any other game he wouldn't live for more then a minute.
BTW This game would be a breeze to map.

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John Spartan (Demolition Man)
Quite the ass kicker is Sylvester Stallone here.  John is fast and can shoot in all directions.  He gets gun upgrades and other kinds of weapons.  He can climb, ledge grab, and even bungee jump and zip line as he peruses Westley Snipes.  His only problem is once he gets going he can be a little hard to control.  But since he can take a lot of damage it doesn't hurt him overall.  John would breeze through most platform games and most platform game characters would have a hard time in his game.

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Ackman (Go Go Ackman)
This is a character that looks like he'd be great but then falls kinda flat.  He's fast and he's maneuverable but most of his attacks have no range at all.  Go Go Ackman requires a little more precision then Ackman has naturally overworking the player.  On top of that any weapon upgrade you have is lost if you take a hit and other then the ability to swim he's really not that versatile.  Overall I think Ackman would have just as much trouble in other games as he has in his own.

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Ickis / Oblina / Krumm (Aaahh Real Monsters)
The Real Monsters are all generally average except for their unusually high defense.  They also toss junk as their regular attack instead of jumping on enemies.  Which would put them ahead offense wise but it extra damage equals extra ammo which can be hard to find so it doesn't.  You'll probably want to play as Ickis most of the time since he's the only decent jumper.  They can climb, cling, and zip line, and each monster has a special move but they're hard to execute and don't do much so I don't think exporting these characters would be anything other then a lateral move.

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Rex & Timmy / Tops & Jamie (Dino City)
Surprise they can kick ass, but not because of their offense.  Because each kid can separate from their dinosaur to mess with things then get back together quickly for battle mode these four can be a versatile force.  At first each team seems slow and weak but it's the exact same illusion you get with Mario.  One second you're trotting along the next your doing combo damage everywhere.  Unfortunately I also think a lot of this is down to the game their in and they probably wouldn't export well.  BTW this game would be a breeze to map.

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Samus Aran (Super Metroid)
What's to say other then Damn!  Always an ass kicker by the end of the game Samus can walk through and deal tremendous damage.  She can also fly.  Her single draw back seems to be a common one: acceleration.  Fortunately for her there aren't a lot of big rooms in the game and if she was ported to any other platformer I don't think it would matter.  I don't think Sigma or Count Dracula would give even mid level Samus much of a problem.

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Chiaki & Zenki (Kishin Douji Zenki: Denei Raibu)
Too fast for her own good Chiaki has the tendency to run right into damage.  In fact that's her only real flaw, she's so quick she's hard to control.  Other then that she's got a great forward attack, a great defensive attack, and she takes minimal damage from hits.  She's a good jumper and she'll go wherever you aim her if you can keep up.  Zenki fights in the boss battles and is only slightly more maneuverable then Chiaki.  Either one of them would be great in about any other platformer you dropped them in.
BTW this game would be a breeze to map.

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Chuck (Chuck Rock)
Chuck is slow and chuck can't jump but his attack is good and he can take a pounding.  Chuck does well in his game since his attack nulls and cuts through enemy attacks giving him a constant edge.  Oh, and he can combo bosses to death in seconds.  As great as his overall defense is I worry how he'd do in games where monsters don't fight fair.  Anything other then head on attacks would probably finish him off pretty fast.
BTW this game would be a breeze to map.

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Slick (The Incredible Crash Dummies)
I hate this game.  Slick is actually a great character.  He can jump, he can take damage, he has good ranged weapons, and even a few cool moves.  But in this game the screen is small and the enemies hit you as soon as you can see them.  His size doesn't help this but if the game were balanced better his speed would save him a lot of pain.  Slick would do better outside of a twitchy, a lot better.  He might even last a little while in harder game.

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Ryo / Maria (Psycho Dream)
Neither character is very fast but both have a lot of attack power at their upgradable peaks.  Ryo gets full circle defensive slashing and multi directional energy beams while Maria can hit anything from anywhere by firing six homing energy balls with each tap of the attack button.  One downside is a lot of damage sends them both back to level one, but that's OK since they can take a lot and are still fully capable just not as dangerous.  Maria trumps Ryo not only with her homing fire but also with the ability to glide using fairy wings her top form gets.  Neither are versatile at all but with so much ATK and DEF few games would pose a challenge to them, they'd be great imports.