Smash Advent Calendar - Day 12 - Wolf

You might find it odd that Day 12 is Wolf when I've yet to talk about the two star members of the Star Fox universe but Wolf is one of my favourite characters in the series. Villain turned antihero, Wolf became very popular due to his quotable lines and from generally being a badass. His appearance in Brawl was the first in the series and was a rather surprising addition - I don't think many people were expecting another Star Fox representative.

First things first - lets get rid of that Texan accent. It just isn't the Wolf we know and love. I know he had this voice in "Star Fox Assault" on the Gamecube but no-one ever played that game - look at the sales! No, the Wolf that the world fell in love with is a suave British bloke with cocky lines coming out of his behind. He recently appeared with his British voice again in the 3DS remake of "Star Fox 64" so it isn't out of the question to hear him like it again.

Wolf was a very solid character in terms of gameplay - he was similar in some aspects to Fox and Falco but instead of the fast and nimble attributes associated with those two, Wolf was instead a slightly slower and more powerful character, which was a refreshing change - of course, he wasn't a behemoth like DK or Bowser so he still suited his character well. Wolf jumped high, fell fast and traveled through the air at a good speed and had a long reach compared to his smaller stature than many of the characters. He suffered from some minor niggles, like a slow meteor, poor angle on his Up+B and just happening to have the right gravity to be chain thrown with ease - but these are easily fixed, especially the chain throwing which shouldn't exist in any broken form as it did in Brawl.

As you can see, Wolf's stance was unique and beast-like.

Many complained at Wolf's appearance as he was, at first glance, a clone sort of character. However, his animations were drastically different from Fox, especially his tilts and smashes, which gave Wolf a unique quality to him. Moves like his forward smash looked very cool and very wolf-like, thus giving him personality and distinction from the other Star Fox characters. However, I do take issue with his B moves. Whilst acting and looking different to a degree, they are just repackaged versions of Fox and Falco's moves.

His Up+B should stay, albeit buffed slightly, as it is difficult to imagine a recovery for such characters and Wolf's looked very different. His Side+B was, however, a little lacking - it traveled at an angle that made it difficult to hit anyone with, was a very direct imitation and had no bearing on the character. Perhaps it could be changed to a wolf-like dash on all fours that would give him some more ground options. His Down+B was also very clone-like, but was very useful for countering, and it's 1 frame startup allowed Wolf to escape juggles and chases that he would otherwise be susceptible to with his heavy frame. Again, his Neutral+B laser made sense and was useful, but could do with something else to make it unique - perhaps firing a burst of three slow moving shots at different angles before he puts the laser away, making it a move that starts and concludes in it's own right.

His Final Smash should be completely changed. In Brawl it was a slightly altered Landmaster tank, which was both Fox and Falco's final smash too. It made no sense and just reeked of laziness or development time running out. Instead, it would be good to see something like an air strike from the other Star Wolf members which would be different and suitable to the character whilst paying a little service to the fans of the game.

Ultimately, Wolf is a character that stands on his own despite his similarities to Fox and Falco in a few areas. He moves and fights in his own way, his properties are completely different and fun to play with and he was a very solid, all-round fighter when it came down to it - he actually moved ahead of Fox in the Brawl tier list, beating his rival at last! He should return with a vengeance in Smash 4 with some new moves, his old strengths and the silky voice of a Disney villain.

What do you guys think of Wolf? Neat addition? Or unwanted clone? Let me know in the comments below or talk over on the facebook page.