My Super Smash Bros. 4 Rankings: #48 Duck Hunt

My ranking on the Super Smash Bros. 4 roster has begun. My least favorite character is Duck Hunt, who debuted on the 1985 NES game with the same name.

Throughout Duck Hunt, the object of the game is to shoot all ducks with a limited amount of bullets and time.  By plugging in a controller in the player 2 slot on the NES, a duck can be controlled by a second human player to a limited extent. The opening cinematic of the 1984 NES game shows that the scent hound is the one who finds the ducks in the first place. If the player (or hunter) fails to shoot all the ducks, the scent hound would infamously laugh at the hunter's misfortune before slinking back down behind the grass.

Duck Hunt is an unlockable character in both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4. It consists of a dog with a duck on its back fighting side by side, with gunmen from Wild Gunmen and cans from Hogan's Alley in tow.

Duck Hunt is the only newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4 that did not appear as a major character in any games featured in Nintendo's seventh and eighth generation consoles except the Super Smash Bros. series.

The scent hound from Duck Hunt, Palutena from Kid Icarus, and Wii Fit Trainer are the only playable characters in Super Smash Bros. 4 that did not have a playable appearance in any other game.

My two cents on Super Smash Bros. 4

I have been playing Super Smash Bros. Nintendo 3DS and Wii extensively. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was a disappointment. Fire Emblem Awakening was my saving grace.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS was released in North America on October 3, 2014. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was released in North America on November 21, 2014. I prefer the Wii game over the 3DS game. The 3DS game was just a preview of what is to come on the Wii game. The Wii U game is more difficult than the 3DS game.

Classic mode differs between the 3DS game and the Wii game. Classic mode in the 3DS game is like a flowchart. Classic mode in the Wii game is like a Chess board. Introduced in these games is Master Core, whose forms are, in order, Master Giant, Master Beast, Master Edges, and Master Shadow. In the 3DS game, Classic mode can be played with only one player. In the Wii U game, it can be played with either one or two players, except that the Wii U exclusive form Master Fortress is available only in one-player Classic mode. In All-Star mode, the 3DS game has you fight the characters in chronological order, but for the Wii U game, it is backwards. All-Star mode can be played with either one or two players. These modes must be played with only one player in order for them to count for Challenges.

The 3DS game has about 140 music tracks. The Wii U game has about 400 music tracks, including most of the tracks from the 3DS game. Tracks with the red "Remix" icon are song arrangements made specifically for these Super Smash Bros. games. Tracks with the black "Remix" icon are song arrangements borrowed from previous Super Smash Bros. games. Tracks with the "Original" icon are either original compositions or songs borrowed directly from their original games.

Here is the fighter roster (Bold denotes unlockable characters. Bold Italic denotes characters that must be unlocked in the 3DS game but are available from the get-go in the Wii U game):

The Original 12 (chronologically):

These are the fighters whose first Super Smash Bros. appearance was in the original Super Smash Bros. game and have been playable in the series since.

Mario
Donkey Kong
Luigi
Link
Samus
Yoshi
Captain Falcon
Kirby
Fox
Ness
Pikachu
Jigglypuff

Note: Unlike the previous Super Smash Bros. games, the whole original 12 is available from the get-go in the Wii U game. In the 3DS game, only Ness and Jigglypuff have to be unlocked.

Melee Veterans (chronologically):


These fighters were introduced to the roster in Super Smash Bros. Melee.


Mr. Game & Watch
Peach
Bowser
Zelda
Dr. Mario (absent from Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
Marth
Falco
Mewtwo (downloadable)
Sheik
Ganondorf

Note: Ice Climbers was intended to be in Super Smash Bros. 4, but was cut due to the limitations of the Nintendo 3DS. Ice Climbers could run smoothly on the Nintendo Wii U, but the Nintendo 3DS could not have the two-in-one coding of the duo, and in order to keep the roster uniform between two versions, they had to be cut from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Brawl Veterans (chronologically):

R.O.B.
Pit
King Dedede
Wario
Meta Knight
Diddy Kong
Charizard
Zero Suit Samus
Olimar
Ike
Lucario

Newcomers (chronologically):

These are fighters who have newly joined the Super Smash Bros. roster.

Pac-Man
Little Mac
Duck Hunt
Palutena
Mega Man
Villager
Bowser, Jr.
Rosalina & Luma
Wii Fit Trainer
Shulk
Dark Pit
Robin
Lucina
Greninja

American Idol XIII Results

American Idol season XIII came down to Caleb Johnson and Jena Irene. Malaya Watson was eliminated too early, at 8th place. The Judges' Save should have been used on her instead of Sam Woolf.


Here is how American Idol XIII came down:




Winner: Caleb Johnson
Runner-Up: Jena Irene
3rd Place: Alex Preston (the troubadour)
4th Place: Jessica Meuse (the Slapout, Alabama rebel)
5th Place: Sam Woolf (the heartthrob)
6th Place: CJ Harris (a Darius Rucker wannabe)
7th Place: Dexter Roberts
8th Place: Malaya Watson (the teen diva)
9th Place: Majesty Rose (the preschool teacher)
10th Place: MK Nobilette (Lesbian soul singer)
11th Place: Ben Briley
12th Place: Emily Piriz
13th Place: Kristen O'Connor


American Idol XIV begins January 7, 2015. Those who made the live shows in American Idol XII or XIII are eligible to re-audition.