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CHARACTERS
Legend: Blue Text means that whatever is written was either directly taken or paraphrased from Wikipedia.org Red Text means that whatever is written pertains only to Super Smash Karts or the Moulinoski's own opinion
Nintendo Characters
Mario Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong as a character named "Jumpman". The game was surprisingly successful. Mario also starred in an arcade game simply called Mario Bros. and when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Mario was given the starring role in the revolutionary Super Mario Bros.. When Mario uses his "Limit", he will shoot fireballs as if he were using the Fire Flower. Luigi Luigi's first appearance was in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player. He retained this role in Wrecking Crew (dressed in purple), and in subsequent releases of the console based Mario Bros. series; Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros. 3, as well as Super Mario World. The American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 marked the first occasion where Luigi was available as a primary character, a role he would rarely be given in later releases. If you like Luigi, check out Luigi's Mansion. If you're hardcore, check out Mario's Missing for the Super Nintendo... Heh heh... I'm hardcore... Bowser, King of the Koopas Bowser is the primary antagonist and the archenemy of Mario in the Mario series of video games. He is the leader and most powerful of the turtle-like Koopa race. Although Bowser has joined forces with Mario in a few games, he never ceases to kidnap Princess Peach and [attempt to] conquer the Mushroom Kingdom since his first appearance in Super Mario Bros. Bowser is known as Koopa in Japan and his "Limit" involves throwing red Koopa shells at his opponents! His original 8-bit sprite is kind of scary, even in this era of video games... Link Link debuted with the February 21, 1986 release of the video game The Legend of Zelda in Japan. Described as a "young lad" who saved Princess Zelda's elderly nursemaid Impa from Ganon's henchmen, Link assumes the role of the hero attempting to rescue the princess Zelda (and the kingdom of Hyrule) from the evil wizard Ganon, who has stolen the Triforce of Power. When I was in Middle School, my parents had bought my sister the Nintendo 64. A little while later, my mother had rented Zelda: Ocarina of Time for me. Ever since, The Legend of Zelda has been one of my favorite Nintendo series... enough about me, though! Link can use the Master Sword as his "Limit". Princess Zelda Princess Zelda is a member of Hyrule's royal family and plays an integral role in the history of Hyrule. Usually, Zelda is in some way kidnapped or imprisoned by Ganon Lucas Lucas is the protagonist of Mother 3 and is a timid young boy who eventually learns PSI powers. Lucas is the son of Flint and Hinawa, and the twin brother of Claus. He lives in Tazumili Village with his family and dog Boney. Mother 3 was the sequel to Earthbound many fans were waiting for over 10 years. Despite Earthbound's popularity in the United States, Nintendo decided that Mother 3 would not interest Americans, even though they had been twice exposed to Ness, the protagonist of Earthbound. Hopefully, Nintendo will one day release Mother 3 in the US. It should be noted that Mother 3 is currently being unofficially translated by Tomato. Ness Ness is the protagonist of EarthBound, also known as Mother 2. An unassuming young boy gifted with special powers, he comes from Onett, a small town in Eagleland. His arsenal in EarthBound is composed of baseball bats, and miscellaneous toys such as yo-yos and slingshots. His "armor" consists of various kinds of hats and badges. He is chosen by the Apple of Enlightenment, and enlisted by an alien named Buzz-Buzz to stop Giygas. Ness, like Lucas, will use his PSI as his "Limit". Ness lacks defenses, but makes up for it with his strength. Kirby Kirby is a small, pink, spherical creature with large red feet, stubby arms and trademark pink cheek-blushes. His body is soft and flexible, allowing him to be flattened. He is said to be 20 centimeters (8 in) tall. He hails from the planet Pop Star, where he lives in a dome-shaped house in Dream Land. His appearance has changed subtly over the years, becoming more rounded and defined, mainly in his face and larger eyes. When Kirby feels hungry, he will inhale anything around him- That's his "Limit"! Meta Knight Meta Knight is an enigmatic character. He follows a code of honor, and usually gives Kirby a sword before they fight to be fair. He is called Kirby's rival, and while Kirby often battles him, he is certainly not evil and they have also worked towards the same goals in the past. Little is known of his background other than his rivalry with Kirby, and how they share a similar appearance. He wields a powerful sword that can create small tornados, wears a blue cloak that doubles as a set of wings, and wears light blue-silver mask. May (Female Pokémon Trainer) May is the female Pokémon trainer in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. The player may play as her or her male counterpart, Brendan. For Super Smash Karts, she will use one of her Pokémon as her "Limit". "Pokéball Go" anyone? Lunick (Male Pokémon Ranger) Lunick is the male Pokémon Ranger in the game "Pokémon Ranger". His female counterpart is Solana. His Pokémon partner is a Minun, an electric Pokémon that resembles Pikachu. Samus Aran Samus was Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid as its protagonist. Samus is a bounty hunter armed with a cybernetic power suit with a number of advanced technologies built into it. She hunts aliens called the "Space Pirates" and energy-draining alien parasites called "Metroids", while attempting to complete missions given by the Galactic Federation. Her gender was unusual for a game protagonist of her time; Metroid led players to believe Samus was a male cyborg until the very end of the game, where it was revealed that Samus is in fact an athletic young woman. Samus is considered the first playable female character in a Nintendo game. Samus uses the ship from Metroid: Zero Mission as her Super Smash Karts vehicle. Fox McCloud In the original SNES game, Fox's father, James McCloud had gone missing in 'The Awesome Black Hole', a result of Andross' experiments. Fox McCloud assembled a new Star Fox team, which includes Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad. They are hired by General Pepper to pilot the experimental Arwing spacefighter and stop the threat of Andross. With a choice of three routes, the player plays as Fox, fighting Andross' forces. I was always under the impression that players got to play as James McCloud in Star Fox. It is even funnier considering I played Star Fox alot as a child. Captain Falcon Captain Falcon drives the Blue Falcon in his races, and uses a sidearm and a midsize spacecraft called the Falcon Flyer in bounty missions. I don't like Wikipedia's description of him but there's not much I can add to it either. I can say one thing, however: He's fast and when he uses his "Limit", he is even faster! Eliwood The son of Lord Elbert, Marquess of Pherae, and Lady Eleanora, Eliwood is a noble on a quest to find his father, who had been kidnapped by the Dark Druid, Nergal.
Sega Characters
Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic's debut occurred in the 1991 platform game Sonic the Hedgehog (sometimes referred to simply as Sonic 1) for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, which also introduced his nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also known as Doctor Eggman Miles "Tails" Prower Tails was first seen in Sonic 2 for the Game Gear, where he was kidnapped by Robotnik for ransom. He was first made playable in the Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, playing the part of Sonic's sidekick. He was a playable character from the second controller and could be chosen as player one for the main game. Sonic Chaos (1993), on the Game Gear/Master System was the second game where the player could control Tails, and the first time the player could control his flight. Both Sonic and Tails are fast, but when they use their "Limits", both can go even faster! They also ride on the Tornado... How do they do it to battle each other, I wonder?
Capcom Characters
Megaman Mega Man aka Rockman, came into existence due to the following timeline of events. In the fictional and futuristic year of the 200X master designer Dr. Thomas Light (Dr. Right in Japan) worked to create a humanoid robot. This robot would demonstrate an advanced artificial intelligence program that would allow it to make decisions based on vague commands and directions. He called the robot project "Robot Master", because the resulting robot would be able to supervise the work of other, less intelligent machines. Megaman is known as Rockman in Japan. For me, he's known as the character of the Mega Hard as Rock games! Maybe I just lack the skills to play Megaman. Protoman Proto Man is the early prototype of Mega Man that made his first appearance in Mega Man 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, in 1990. He has a grey and red uniform and a yellow scarf. He wears a red helmet with a silver decoration and a dark visor which hides his eyes. He always appears after his distinctive whistle. Leon Scott Kennedy He is the male protaganist of Resident Evil 2 and the main protagonist of Resident Evil 4. During the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon is a rookie police officer who arrives in Raccoon City for his first day on the job, only to confront the T-Virus outbreak first-hand. He survives the events of Resident Evil 2 and six years later in Resident Evil 4, Leon returns as a secret agent for the U.S. government, assigned to rescue the President's daughter. Leon's "Limit" is among the weirdest. "Limits" are supposed to help you in those times of need, right? Well, who in their right mind summons ZOMBIES to aid you in your time of need?! Specially when those zombies want a piece of you too. One must also note that Resident Evil is not a game intended for young children or those who are easily frightened... like my sister...
Square-Enix Characters
Rocket Slime Originally when we thought up the slime it was a pile of goo and we gave it to Toriyama-san to draw a picture of and make it a proper monster. We had imagined it an icky pool of slime, but when he came back with that perfectly shaped tear-drop monster we thought it was perfect. That's part of Toriyama's power to take something like a pool of slime and use his imagination to make it a great character." - Yuji Hori, creator of the Dragon Quest Series Rocket's "Limit" currently involves simply using missles. I want to change this to something else, like maybe shooting out rocks... or monsters! Have you played Rocket Slime for the DS? If you haven't do so now! Zidane Tribal Zidane Tribal is the protagonist of Final Fantasy IX. Playful and flirtatious, Zidane has shoulder-length blonde hair and a prehensile monkey-like tail, as witnessed in game when Zidane hangs from his tail to evade Steiner. Zidane is identified as a thief. Of all the Final Fantasy games, my favorite has been Final Fantasy IX, and of all the Final Fantasy main characters, Zidane is my favorite. I was not going to show off his Character Select mugshot, but I was too excited and decided to show him off anyways. He will appear in the upcoming PSP game, Final Fantasy Dissidia... Can you already predict who's going to play as him as soon as Dissidia is released? Byuu Captain of the prestigious Kahna Dragon Squad, the young silent protagonist through which the player accesses the world of Orelus. A childhood friend of Princess Yoyo, he has a close affinity with and talent at handling dragons. Though demoted and thus outranked by Matelite, the resistance nevertheless seek his opinion and follow his leadership. Byuu is probably the only obscure character I've listed here. There are more obscure characters in Super Smash Karts, though. He stars in the Japan-only game, Bahamut Lagoon for the Super Nintendo. Bahamut Lagoon contains suggestive themes that may not be appropriate for children. Sora At the beginning of the series, Sora is 14 years old and lives on Destiny Islands along with his two friends, Riku and Kairi. When their world is attacked by a group of corrupted hearts known as the Heartless, the three are separated. During the invasion, he obtains the Keyblade. Soon after, Sora meets Donald Duck and Goofy, who join him on his search for his friends. I used the 14 old Sora for his Character Select mugshot. He will use his Keyblade as his "Limit" by the way.
Konami Characters
Solid Snake Solid Snake is the protagonist of the Metal Gear video game series. Introduced in the 1987 video game Metal Gear and created by series creator Hideo Kojima, Solid Snake is a combination spy and special operations agent who works for FOXHOUND, a fictional black ops and espionage unit. He is repeatedly entrusted with disarming and destroying the latest incarnation of the Metal Gear, a bipedal, nuclear-weapon-armed mecha. In Super Smash Karts, Snake uses the very Metal Gear he is supposed to destroy! Metal Gear is the slowest vehicle in the game but his "Limit" is very powerful. Can you imagine a super powerful Hyper Beam coming at you, all the while, a barrage of missles come at you?! Whoa, Snake! Whoa! Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid usaully recive the "M" ESRB rating, which means that MG/MGS is not a game suitable for children. Simon Belmont During the life of Simon Belmont, the Belmont name was well known and quite famous, making Simon famous as well. When the Count Dracula once again awoke in 1691 and started terrorizing the people of Transylvania, they sought out Simon, who was promptly on the case. Seriously, I'm only using Wikipedia because it would take far longer for me to come up with my elite game knowledge and write the bios for all 69 characters in Super Smash Karts (although not all of them are shown in the website!) Soma Cruz Soma first debuted in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, the third installment of the Castlevania series on the Game Boy Advance. He was created as part of the attempt by Koji Igarashi, the producer of several Castlevania games, to try a "different route" for the series by setting it in a futuristic setting. Of all the Castlevania games, Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow were the only ones I could play, have fun with, and otherwise beat. Really.
Namco Characters
Pac Man Pac-Man became an icon of video game culture during the 1980s, and a great deal of Pac-Man merchandise was marketed with the character's image, from t-shirts and toys to hand-held video game imitations and pasta. 27 years old... I want to know how old Pong is. Susumu Susumu Hori is Mr. Driller's main protagonist and the highest-ranked Driller in the world, and the son of legendary Driller, Taizo Hori. He is a little crazy, but is still a good-natured, courageous young boy with a strong sense of justice. He is Japanese, has brown hair and eyes, and wears a pink and light blue jumpsuit and helmet. I decided to use Susumu instead of DigDug or Taizo Hori (seriously... why name a character DigDug? I hope I'm wrong about that!) because I figured that Susumu was more recent. Either way, the Gap Item is represented by DigDug's original 8-bit sprite. Coincidentially, Susumu's "Limit" is drilling holes into the ground.
Bungie Characters
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 The Master Chief first appears in the games as the protagonist of Halo: Combat Evolved. During the opening cinematic of Halo: Combat Evolved, the Chief is awakened from cryonic sleep. Upon exiting slipspace, the Pillar of Autumn is attacked by the Covenant and crash lands on Halo, a ring-shaped megastructure. Master Chief escapes the ship via lifeboat. Upon landing on Halo, his first task is to find other survivors. While fighting the Covenant, the Master Chief and Cortana learn that Halo was created by an ancient race, the Forerunners, as a last line of defense against an alien parasite called the Flood. Halo is probably America's most recognizeable video game. I played Halo... on the easiest setting... I swear! Those people who can beat Legendary are freaks. O_O It should be said that Halo is an "M" rated game, not suitable for children under 17.
Hudsonsoft Characters
Bomberman The original Bomberman is a robot forced to work at a bomb factory. He is the best bomb maker there. Bomberman starts growing bored of making bombs in a factory day in and day out. He hears a rumor that any Bomberman that makes it from the underground factory gets a wish. Bomberman, desperate to escape his job, sets out on a journey to the surface wish robot Bombermen into human bombermen. The only thing standing in his way is the factory security guards who will do anything to keep the factory working. I like Bomberman's design. His games make me roll around like a baby, though. I still liked and beat Bomberman 64. In Super Smash Karts, he will leave bombs on the floor as his "Limit". If you're playing as Bomberman, try to use this strategically!
Rare Characters
Banjo Banjo is a rare anthropomorphic brown honey bear who is one of the two main characters of the series. He is always seen wearing yellow shorts with a belt, a shark tooth necklace, and a bright blue backpack. The backpack usually contains his good friend Kazooie, though she was absent from it in Banjo's first appearance in a game, Diddy Kong Racing. Kazooie "adopted" Banjo some time ago, and the trouble that she attracts usually ends up coming for Banjo as well. Banjo also has a younger sister named Tooty. Banjo is also mainly responsible to what happens to Tooty. All three live at the base of Spiral Mountain on the Isle o' Hags. He can also play his namesake instrument. I dare say, its a darned shame Nintendo sold Rare over to Microsoft. Anyhow, in Super Smash Karts, Banjo will shoot out Kazooie, who will hunt down Banjo's opponent!
Eidos Characters
Lara Croft Lara is an intelligent, athletic, and somewhat reckless English woman of noble birth who travels the world in pursuit of priceless artifacts. Known as both an archaeologist and an adventurer, she frequently ventures into ancient, and often very dangerous, tombs and ruins. In addition to traps and puzzles, Lara encounters a variety of enemies including rivals, gangsters, dangerous animals (including dinosaurs), legendary creatures, and supernatural beings. The fantastic nature of her archaeology related adventures have drawn comparisons to Indiana Jones. Maybe I should've added Indiana Jones as character in Super Smash Karts! Then again, I would have to rewrite the entire purpose of Super Smash Karts...
Sierra Characters
Spyro the Dragon When the first game was being developed, Spyro was originally green. However, this would result in him periodically "disappearing" while standing or moving in front of similarly-colored green scenery. To remedy this, his color was changed to purple. Starting with Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, Spyro's rendered art displays a ridge of yellow spikes down his back, although this was not reflected by Spyro's in-game model until A Hero's Tail. As I read his Wikipedia page, I suddenly felt like playing one of his games... I'd probably lose early on, anyways...  Crash Bandicoot He is of adequate intelligence and muscle and has a foolish personality. During the events of Crash Bandicoot, Crash was only armed with a spin attack and his jumping prowess, but in successive games, Crash often comes equipped with various other abilities; these have included a slide attack, belly flop, and high jump. His favorite food is Wumpa Fruit, which bears a resemblance to a red and yellow apple. Crash says his first line in Crash of the Titans, which was Pancakes. I like Pancakes. Anyhow, Crash can summon up a tornado to follow his opponent as his "Limit". The reason his "Limit" is a tornado was not only my lack of knowledge of Crash Bandicoot, but the fact that his attacks usually invovle a sort rotating motion, much like a tornado.
Ubisoft Characters
Rayman Rayman (pronounced 'Ray-man') was created in 1992 by graphic artist Michel Ancel, to star in a 2D platforming game for the Atari Jaguar and DOS, then for Sega Saturn and PlayStation. Although the former two consoles and their games sold poorly, the Playstation version was received very well by critics and the public, selling over 10 million copies, and providing Ubisoft with the financial foundations it needed to become a major games publisher. Michel Ancel, I like your mad character design skillz. In Super Smash Karts, Rayman will throw his two fists at his opponent. How he manages to drive without his hands is beyond me, as is the question of his invisible limbs. (Actually, the invisible limbs have a technical explanation!)
Natsume Characters
Jack The main character, through one turn of events or another, often ends up becoming a farmer/rancher on a run-down farm. The character usually has a motive for taking care of the farm, sometimes to take over for a deceased or absent family member. His Limit is chosen at random when activated- one of three Harvest Moon girls from Harvest Moon DS (and to my knowledge, Harvest Moon for GCN) appear and each do a different effect. The effects are: 1) Fully healing you. 2) Flinging your opponent backwards a bit. 3) Going all out trying to destroy your opponent. Personally, I think his Limit is amusing; no matter which girl comes out, the playing field will be blocked out, making it hard to see where any one is going. Later, I plan on having the girls say something (as in textbox) when they pop out.
Playmates Interactive Characters
Earthworm Jim Jim was a character designed by Doug TenNapel, and was at first an ordinary Earth earthworm who did very earthworm-like things such as flee from crows and eat dirt. One day, in the space above Earth, the evil Psy-Crow had cornered a rebel spaceship pilot who had stolen an "Ultra-high-tech-indestructible-super-space-cyber-suit" built by Professor Monkey-For-A-Head. The suit had been commissioned by the evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt so that she could further conquer the galaxy. In the ensuing space fight, the suit was dropped to Earth, and fell on Jim. By a stroke of luck, Jim managed to land within the collar of the suit, and it ended up mutating him into the large and intelligent (at least by earthworm standards) superhero he is today. I sometimes play Earthworm Jim for the Super Nintendo these days. He's a real character, that he was. By the way: Mr. TenNapel, you're awesome- That's what I thought about Jim when I was in Elementary School, at least.
Nis
Laharl Laharl is the main character of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and is the son of King Krichevskoy. However, after awakening from a two year slumber, he discovers that his father is dead and almost all of his vassals are gone (most of them are, in fact, trying to take Laharl's place, rather than trying to serve him). As the rightful heir to the throne, Laharl sets out to take back the throne and proclaim himself as the true Overlord of the Netherworld. He is very arrogant. I'm currently playing the PSP Disgaea in order to get up to speed on this game and its increasing popularity. I like the game, it is a little hard, but nothing unbeatable unlike Castlevania! In Super Smash Karts, Laharl will use a Hyper Beam blast as his "Limit". By the way, Prinnies explode when they're thrown... but how can they survive being used as a skateboard for Prince Laharl?!
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