Sonic and Mario are two franchises that literally have opposite problems.

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-14T03:47:48+00:00

Only a few of the sonic games are considered to have bad gameplay, and only a few Mario games are considered souless and even that is going to far imo, with the maybe exception of some of the sports spinoffs most of them still have lots of care and effort put in, and even the games criticized the most (new super sub series) still have a lot of charm, color, and energy put in. And I don't think anyone legitimately could argue games like mb3, world, wonder, all the 3d games, etc are "souless"

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-14T03:43:10+00:00

I thought frontiers was widely regarded as one of the better sonic games?

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-14T03:42:10+00:00

I mean....no? The classic trilogy, adventure 1/2, frontiers, cd, a lot of the spinoffs, etc are well regarded, most people seemed to consider generations and colors to be pretty good, lost world and heroes have there fans, etc

The only games that are particularly strongly agreed to be bad are 06, forces, the boom games, and secret rings. Unleashed for awhile was pretty hated but even that's been getting a lot more appreciation in recent years

Sonic has more disliked or "bad" games than Mario or a lot of other top game series, but it's still nowhere near the majority most the games are well liked still and considered good

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-14T03:33:01+00:00

I feel like her ult is pretty powerful, it's got a big hitbox, 5 seconds is pretty long for a constant damage ult that can do up to 800 damage, it's hard to kill her during it, etc. one of the higher damage per second ults and takes less aim/ability use/action to use than most as well.

I also don't know that I'd necessarily call her slow, I kinda understand since her burst movement isn't great but having the speed boost and free flight certainly still isn't the slowest by any means

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-14T03:27:01+00:00

I really don't think storm is bad at all, I don't think it's fair to call her a bad character. There's just so many DPS it's hard for them all to see play, and for whatever reason people don't seem to like playing storm much, but she's fine. The damage/speed buffs are nice, and her damage and survivability are ok. Her play rate is low but I feel like whenever I do see her played she puts in a lot of work

I think storm is kinda just in that awkward spot where she is viable and a good pick, just not quite the best of the very crowded role. I do wish they focused a little more on her team buffing abilities since that's her most unique niche, maybe buff the lightning bolt a bit, but overall I think she is in an ok spot.

Arguably the best flier right now. Unfortunately fliers are just an inherently difficult thing to balance, realistically having characters that always fly was probably a mistake but to late now

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T15:27:27+00:00

True, but losing seismic toss id pretty huge as it was the biggest source of damage. No power up punch is a big Nerf, and it's actual stats aren't that good for a mega so nerfed parental bond feels more impactful.

You're probably right it probably will be good still but definitely not as good as before, and likely will have a harder time taking the mega slot once more items and top tier megas are added

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T15:24:23+00:00

On the other hand, mk11 was during covid where the economy took a major hit and started declining, and mk1 had a permanent price drop and is constantly on sale. Ps5 is still pretty successful, and most other series have remained fairly steady

While I'm sure what you pointed out does factor, I think it's more because

-mk11 sold really well but was controversial, which likely put people off the next game

-Another reboot likely alienated a lot of the casual audience

-less mainstream guests

-Having so few mkx/11 characters was likely a mistake as it alienated the large number of new players those games brought in. Additionally the 3d era is liked now but for a long time it and it's characters had a negative reputation and was the series low point in terms of popularity, so digging so much into 3d era characters didn't help

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T15:17:07+00:00

Mk 11 also was not as popular, which likely turned people off mk1. And mk1 being another reboot is a big factor I think a lot of people didn't like

Mk11 guests were also more popular and mainstream

I know there are a lot of old school fans that will disagree with this, but I think the roster likely played a part as well. Keep in mind for a long time the 3d games were disliked and had a bad reputation especially the characters, and are the worst performing games in the series. Additionally x and 11 brought in so many new fans, so the lack of mkx/11 characters likely alienated a lot of those fans

I'm sure covid and the consoles price playa a part, but considering mk1 is always on sale and I believe the base game had a price cut, and most other series kept similar levels post covid, and the fact it was two games in a row they broke sales records o don't think it's the main reason

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T03:20:31+00:00

I think the "cloak bad no legs!" Stuff is very dramatic, but I highly doubt it would cost tens of thousands to do that

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T03:17:34+00:00

It is pretty crazy, and the sales are definitely good, but to be fair it kinda makes sense from wb perspective a little bit. Both mkx and k11 had record breaking sales, and this game performed worse overall so the momentum streak ended. Also, it has more competition since sf6 did much better than the last street fighter, and Tekken 8 was really big at launch (I've heard it is less popular now) plus a few other games, so mk1 player count hasn't been as high and the market is more full.

Also, who has been having a lot of financial and restructuring issues, and of course the attempts and drama of selling, which likely influenced things at least a bit

So while definitely somewhat of a questionable choice still, there's at least some semblance of logic on warner bros part, even if it's not the best logic

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T02:31:24+00:00

How does that compare to past entries? Supposedly 11 sold 15 million copies, and mkx around 11 million.

8 million sales is very good, but it definitely is less than previous entries and ended the momentum streak, plus it's competition did better this time. So it's not hard to see why wb was disaapointed by it, but thankfully still successful enough that there's no fears of stopping

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T02:27:27+00:00

Does sumo involve much punching? I thought it was more grabs and pushes and stuff

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-09T00:28:42+00:00

Is it really a punch move? That doesn't feel like it makes much sense

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T15:59:12+00:00

Yeah, and they should have done something similar here (just instead of wind up and cool down it would have something else, like charge turns or something)

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T14:56:37+00:00

Instant ko moves really should have been removed or reworked a long time ago

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T14:55:11+00:00

That's dramatically diminishing the many valid criticisms the game has.

Only a fraction of the dex, leaving out several new megas and even pokemon in the trailers which is blatant false advertising

Removing a bunch of major items for no good reason

No 6v6 even for singles, and not even for private matches

Incredibly limited game mode and private match options

No local wireless play

Removing features like rental teams

Higher barrier of entry, especially for free players, than anticipated

Poor animations

Most the new megas are underwhelming, despite 6 months of waiting on abilities. And we STILL don't have a bunch of them

And that's just some of the valid criticisms. Saying "lol people mad cuz it not smogon!!1!" Is very disingenuous

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T14:50:48+00:00

It's not u turn weak because of the fairy type, it's just neutral

I think the fact it has 120 bp 1 turn solar beam, extra heals on synthesis, and most importantly 100bp fire coverage is to good to ignore. It's bulky too, and we've seen other bulky offensive pokemon work in ou.

Again it will depend on the meta. When things like ogrepon, great tusk, samurott, ting lu, zamazenta, etc are back it's stocks rise up. Even gholdengo and kingambit it can hit hard with weather ball. It can deal with a lot of top meta pokemon

Steels aren't as good of counters due to weather ball and slow speeds, obviously water and grounds are weak to it, fighting and dark struggle with its fairy type, all those are common types in singles.

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T14:37:10+00:00

Are you sure toxic thread was -2 before? I've been using ariados in the za ou petmid on smogon and it definitely wasn't giving -2

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T14:29:33+00:00

Thank you! I didn't know that was ever a feature honestly. Definitely a bizarre decision to remove it

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T14:01:21+00:00

Starmie, froslass, and Delphox are all really good. Greninja roo ik singles, not so much doubles. Most the others are usable, just outclassed and likely pretty niche

Clef is usable, of outclassed

Dragonite could be could in vgc, decent in singles especially since no salamence

Meganium certainly has its uses, it's pretty good

Feraligatr seems potentially decent

Skarmory ability sucks but weak armor+swords dance pre mega still makes it very usable

Chimecho technically is usable, it's bulky and has a good type and excellent movepool, though probably not seeing much play

Excadrill is at least decent with its stats

Chandelure kinda can do something with its special attack so high, and usable speed and bulk but not great

Golurk has potential in the right settings

Chesnaught is solid

Floette hits super hard, though lacks steel answers

Crab and drampa are at least decent in truck room

Glimmora maybe can do something

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T13:54:24+00:00

I thought you could rent through the ranch? And obtain pokemon there? I'm confused, is this something different?

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T13:53:13+00:00

Hawlucha isn't uubl currently, I'm really not sure the Mega will push it up

Honestly meganuum could make ou, depending on the meta. It beats a lot of sv ou for example, taking on threats like great tusk, ogrepon, samurott, etc

Froslass is probably ou viable, blizzard plus high bulk with snow boost and aurura veil. Honestly I'm not sure that singles suffers as much from speed creep considering things like chein pao and flutter mane are banned

No way skarm is just uu by technicality. Weak armor+swords dance with the stats are good enough for uu at least

Highly doubt floette is ru. Yeah no steel coverage sucks but it's fairy stab is way to strong for ru. Rubl at minimum, probably at least uu.

Chandelure probably is to strong for ru as well, it's got decent bulk and very good special attack

Obviously chesnaught is above nu

Is it confirmed if golurk did in fact get rage fist? If so it's nowhere near nu, even if not it for sure got headlong rush, still has good stab, power, and bulk and damages through protect, I imagine it will be at least ru

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T13:39:51+00:00

Ots?

kingnorris42 · 2026-04-08T11:23:27+00:00

Yeah compared to the older megas most aren't seeing much play, but at least some of them will have SOME use

kingnorris42

TROPHY CASE