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If anyone's been wondering...
17 years ago
General
Yes, I am still alive. I've just been having some life trouble and massive, paralyzing computer trouble. So, that's why I haven't been online much. I only have the computer potential right now to check messages and maybe talk to people just a bit. And that's limited even further by my time put into restoring the computer of my stuff and the even more time my dad is putting into restoring his stuff when I can't even go near the computer. Furthermore, my computer seems to have suffered some USB port damage for some reason... Severe USB port damage. As in, "I can't use my tablet to draw digitally or my scanner to digitize anything I draw on paper" bad damage. -..-;
Sooo... With that sad story explained, a quick apologie to every whom I still owe pictures to. (Particularly
Conneich, who was so kind as to have my picture finished and online in no time, while I still can't seem to get my half of the trade to her even this much later. Really sorry. Please be patient with me just a bit longer, I'm trying to get my system working right again.)
*Sigh* Broken computer, not fun. At least I have SSBB to keep myself occupied while waiting for my turn to keep fixing this junkbox...
If you don't like/care about Brawl, just don't read further... Or if you're religiously devoted to Ike to the point where you get offended whenever people speak ill of him.
Speaking of which, I've noticed an extreme underestimation of King Dedede online. And, though I'm not one to get offended just because people don't like the same character I do in a game, I'd like to explain that just because you can't use the character doesn't mean it's bad because the hypocrisy is just killing me inside.
Everyone seems to love Ike, probably because he's so simple to use (step one: Abandon "strategy"... whatever that is. step two: swing sword around until something dies). In my humble opinion, for what it's worth, Ike is crap. Partially because I've played as him and, yes, while it is easy to kill things by swinging his stupidly over-sized sword around provided said things walk to it like sheep to the slaughter, if he comes up against an enemy with any sense of strategy to speak of, he's dead. End of story. And here's why:
-Reason 1: Ike's ridiculously slow. Even his "fast" attacks are obscenely slow... And this all pesters me even more when I keep in mind that most of the praise I've heard for him involved him being "a faster tank".
-Reason 2: Ike has only one usable range. Medium. No long ranged attacks. No short ranged attacks. All. Medium.
-Reason 3: Ike lacks any significant recovering ability. I keep hearing how great his recovery is because it gives him super armour. Yeah, okay, that makes it great... If you exclude the fact that he already has a lack of horizontal recovery because of his weighty second jump and that it gives him almost no horizontal range. Plus, if you miss with it, that's it. Into the depths you go.
-Reason 4: If I keep going at this rate, this journal will never end.
Now, I don't mean to trash Ike. He has his good qualities, like his ability to kill enemies at about 70% damage. I just have to point out his poor attributes to make a point. The point being that everyone only looks at Dedede's bad points... And, having played Dedede semi-extensively, it seems most of that downsides that people love to point out about him only apply in selective circumstances.
So, now, I'm making a list of Dedede's commonly pointed out weaknesses with a counter for most:
-Reason 1: He's too slow. Well, yes, he is a tad slow... That is, if you're just trying to spam his side smash. He's got a number of attacks that are plenty fast. His back air, down smash, and up tilt are good examples of fairly powerful ones. And his rocket hammer is wildly fast and powerful, provided you take the time to charge it up first. Yes, we all know his side smash is slow, but that's because it's the most powerful normal attack in the game. If it were any faster, everyone would be throwing roses to his feet like dollar bills to a hooker... or like praise to Ike.
-Reason 2: He's too limited... Limited to what exactly?! Range? Unless you keep in mind that he's got short, medium, and long range attacks. Or perhaps in tactics? Again, only if you try to spam his side smash. Otherwise, Dedede's all about tactics. His main advantage is ability to lure his enemy to his turf, the part of the stage that works best with his current choice of attack, then beating them senseless. Besides which, his inhale is one of the most versatile moves in the game. I've used it to damage people, protect myself from thrown items, move people where I want them, kill enemies with each other (which the star can actually do if percentages are high enough.), spit people into the side for a kill if I get cornered (I try not to make a habit of it, though... ), inhale edge guarders and spit them under the stage (so they can't recover but I can), and, of course, the infamous kirbycide. I could go on with how versatile Dedede is, but I'm just going to end this reason here by noting how hypocritical it is for Ike fans to ever say that Dedede is too limited.
-Reason 3: His jumps aren't as good as other fliers'... Of course, the other fliers are all puffballs that get knocked off the screen by almost anything at 100% damage, with the exception of Pit. Dedede's jumps are easily enough to get him back to the stage under most circumstances, however, and his recovery move will usually make it so unwanted to be underneath him that he'll probably land okay too. Plus he's so heavy that it's really difficult to knock him very far, especially upward. Really, more jump power would just be unnecessary. Besides, it's still way better than Ike's lack of recoverability.
-Reason 4: He's not cool enough.
... He's a giant, blue, hammer-wielding, man-eating, minion throwing penguin. What more could you ask for?! I certainly prefer that to some blue-haired poser who uses a two-handed sword with one hand just to show off... Besides which, this is a stupid reason for considering a character less effective.
-Reason 5: He's too big. And, alas, I have no argument for this one. It's Dedede's one undeniable weakness. He's a huge target. But, hey, can't have everything in a character, for then we would go back to unbalanced gameplay.
What it really comes down to is knowing your character. The great thing about this game is that anyone who knows their character can be really great with whatever they're using. Balance is the key.
Finished ranting now for now. Hope to get my computer working right again soon.
-Reed
Sooo... With that sad story explained, a quick apologie to every whom I still owe pictures to. (Particularly
Conneich, who was so kind as to have my picture finished and online in no time, while I still can't seem to get my half of the trade to her even this much later. Really sorry. Please be patient with me just a bit longer, I'm trying to get my system working right again.)*Sigh* Broken computer, not fun. At least I have SSBB to keep myself occupied while waiting for my turn to keep fixing this junkbox...
If you don't like/care about Brawl, just don't read further... Or if you're religiously devoted to Ike to the point where you get offended whenever people speak ill of him.
Speaking of which, I've noticed an extreme underestimation of King Dedede online. And, though I'm not one to get offended just because people don't like the same character I do in a game, I'd like to explain that just because you can't use the character doesn't mean it's bad because the hypocrisy is just killing me inside.
Everyone seems to love Ike, probably because he's so simple to use (step one: Abandon "strategy"... whatever that is. step two: swing sword around until something dies). In my humble opinion, for what it's worth, Ike is crap. Partially because I've played as him and, yes, while it is easy to kill things by swinging his stupidly over-sized sword around provided said things walk to it like sheep to the slaughter, if he comes up against an enemy with any sense of strategy to speak of, he's dead. End of story. And here's why:
-Reason 1: Ike's ridiculously slow. Even his "fast" attacks are obscenely slow... And this all pesters me even more when I keep in mind that most of the praise I've heard for him involved him being "a faster tank".
-Reason 2: Ike has only one usable range. Medium. No long ranged attacks. No short ranged attacks. All. Medium.
-Reason 3: Ike lacks any significant recovering ability. I keep hearing how great his recovery is because it gives him super armour. Yeah, okay, that makes it great... If you exclude the fact that he already has a lack of horizontal recovery because of his weighty second jump and that it gives him almost no horizontal range. Plus, if you miss with it, that's it. Into the depths you go.
-Reason 4: If I keep going at this rate, this journal will never end.
Now, I don't mean to trash Ike. He has his good qualities, like his ability to kill enemies at about 70% damage. I just have to point out his poor attributes to make a point. The point being that everyone only looks at Dedede's bad points... And, having played Dedede semi-extensively, it seems most of that downsides that people love to point out about him only apply in selective circumstances.
So, now, I'm making a list of Dedede's commonly pointed out weaknesses with a counter for most:
-Reason 1: He's too slow. Well, yes, he is a tad slow... That is, if you're just trying to spam his side smash. He's got a number of attacks that are plenty fast. His back air, down smash, and up tilt are good examples of fairly powerful ones. And his rocket hammer is wildly fast and powerful, provided you take the time to charge it up first. Yes, we all know his side smash is slow, but that's because it's the most powerful normal attack in the game. If it were any faster, everyone would be throwing roses to his feet like dollar bills to a hooker... or like praise to Ike.
-Reason 2: He's too limited... Limited to what exactly?! Range? Unless you keep in mind that he's got short, medium, and long range attacks. Or perhaps in tactics? Again, only if you try to spam his side smash. Otherwise, Dedede's all about tactics. His main advantage is ability to lure his enemy to his turf, the part of the stage that works best with his current choice of attack, then beating them senseless. Besides which, his inhale is one of the most versatile moves in the game. I've used it to damage people, protect myself from thrown items, move people where I want them, kill enemies with each other (which the star can actually do if percentages are high enough.), spit people into the side for a kill if I get cornered (I try not to make a habit of it, though... ), inhale edge guarders and spit them under the stage (so they can't recover but I can), and, of course, the infamous kirbycide. I could go on with how versatile Dedede is, but I'm just going to end this reason here by noting how hypocritical it is for Ike fans to ever say that Dedede is too limited.
-Reason 3: His jumps aren't as good as other fliers'... Of course, the other fliers are all puffballs that get knocked off the screen by almost anything at 100% damage, with the exception of Pit. Dedede's jumps are easily enough to get him back to the stage under most circumstances, however, and his recovery move will usually make it so unwanted to be underneath him that he'll probably land okay too. Plus he's so heavy that it's really difficult to knock him very far, especially upward. Really, more jump power would just be unnecessary. Besides, it's still way better than Ike's lack of recoverability.
-Reason 4: He's not cool enough.
... He's a giant, blue, hammer-wielding, man-eating, minion throwing penguin. What more could you ask for?! I certainly prefer that to some blue-haired poser who uses a two-handed sword with one hand just to show off... Besides which, this is a stupid reason for considering a character less effective.
-Reason 5: He's too big. And, alas, I have no argument for this one. It's Dedede's one undeniable weakness. He's a huge target. But, hey, can't have everything in a character, for then we would go back to unbalanced gameplay.
What it really comes down to is knowing your character. The great thing about this game is that anyone who knows their character can be really great with whatever they're using. Balance is the key.
Finished ranting now for now. Hope to get my computer working right again soon.
-Reed
*holds up and prays to computer manual*
If you have a nearby library, they should have some computers, no?
Just wondering.
On the plus side, if I can't get this computer fixed, I may just convince my dad to buy a new one. :3
At least you have SSBB! I plan on getting it hopefully soon! I love playing as King DeDeDe
Thanks for the luck. Good luck to you on getting SSBB and your files back as well. :3
(Though, I think I secretly want the compy to die so I can cash in and collect a new one. >:3 )
Everyone has their bad stages, though, so I don't think of that as much of a reason to avoid a character unless it applies to a significant number of the stages. For example, Dedede is just completely messed up by the Electroplankton stage (Hanenbow(?)).
He is admittedly a bit annoying, but in a good way. The "I can use this strategically to lure you into my zone, then pound the life out of you" way. Not the "I'ma go run around the stage making a minor pain circle and shouting 'Ya-ya-ya-yaaaa'" way. <<;
Thanks, I hope I get everything fixed soon too. ^^
(Oh, and, while you're here, note me your brawl code, will you? I can't send a message to your Wii with mine until you register my number too, and I don't have it with me... ^^; )
you prove a good point. I've gotta say, I am not great with Dedede, but I do know that every character has potential to be very good in a fight. I use probably 80-85% of all the characters regularly. ^^
Thank you. Yeah, not alot of people are good with Dedede, but I think they assume they would be. Like, after I beat people in one group enough times online, one'll usually switch to Dedede as though to say "Well, look, anyone can win as Dedede!" to me for using him... Which just makes it so much better when they end the round with no KOs and about six falls. Boy, they sure did show me. X3
So I am converted into respecting Dedede moreso. ^^
And ironically, Dedede and Ike are my two favorite characters in brawl -- before, even more ironically, I discovered I'm pretty good with Lucario, who I once scorned as a mere fan-service character slot, but that's another story.
On the one hand, I do like Ike, though I agree just about anyone can pick him up and swing around their massive-ass sword. His recovery is a little better than you described; I had trouble with him until a friend said to use his side B to charge back onto the stage if you get knocked too far away for his up B. Of course, that means you just have to knock him a bit down and a bit far away and he'll die, since Ike has to make a choice between the two recovery moves and he can't move in both directions at once. Dedede certainly has better recovery, since he can float up four times, then use his massive up B, then break it off before he hits the ground (since he has a big delay before he can move again once he star-smashes the ground).
As a general play-style, I tend to use grabs a lot, which gives Ike a psuedo-short range move. His grabs toss the opponent away just far enough to be able to follow up with almost any one of his moves. And if you start it soon enough, you can set off his normal B right in a charging opponent's face. But otherwise, I do find myself retreating with Ike a lot to get the range I need. Dedede I enjoy playing, but I think the biggest edge Ike has over him is knockback. Only Dedede's slowest moves get the opponent away enough to take advantage of the size of his massive hammer.
There are a few edges I love about Dedede though. He does indeed have range, and I love it when the spikey minion comes out. Plus, just the minions wandering around is just enough more for the opponent to worry about that they start making mistakes. It's just a really nice move that keeps him from getting out-gunned against virtual armories like Link. His regular B of inhaling is a great move that I should use far more often, it might even be the move I'm looking for to get some space from opponents. Otherwise he just takes too much collateral damage while attacking.
The way I'd describe it, Ike has to play fair while, once learned, Dedede could be devastating. His spike minion: hilariously powerful. His rocket hammer: simply amazingly fast to charge and slam into someone. His back air: probably his fastest attack, yet it can rocket you off the stage like that. And I love his drill-hammer moves, though I probably use them a bit too much. I know that Dedede has already been used in tournaments, while I doubt Ike will ever be a huge success. He's just far too predictable (he either attacks up or sideways, never both) and can be punished for his limited mobility by an opponent who knows how.
Overall, I'd say Ike and Dedede are about the same speed, Dedede just looks that much slower because of his large size. And yeah, his size can be a problem, but you're talking to a guy that likes to use Bowser for fun. :p
I think I know why you considered Lucario a fan-service. Can't say I would have disagreed before playing as him. Still not one of my favorite characters, though.
Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot to mention his side B, but probably because so few people seem to use it. I guess I forgot it existed for a moment. Of course, that one doesn't have the famous super armour that the up B has, so then if you smack him away again, he doesn't even have an air jump to get closer. In general, Dedede's recovery is just much better, star-smashing or not.
I'm actually the opposite of that; I use a minimal amount of grabs. Which is weird because Dedede has a fairly good array of grabs, yes? I believe his down throw is famous for being highly chainable. Still, I get that the point you're making is that it does give Ike a close range move. I just didn't think to mention it because it's kind of a universal thing, I guess. ^^;
Yeah, the Spikeys are killer, so it's always fun to see them come out. Even waddle doos (The one-eye beam guys) are great for just making the enemy nervous, though. Any of them my great cannon fodder, though. In fact, it's one reason that's such a useful attack, it blocks other projectiles well and can't be reflected by most means. What's really fun, though, is when you throw a capsule. The opponent can never be sure whether it'll explode or become a smash ball, so trying to dodge it or trying to get close to it is a tough choice. :3
And, as a sidenote, any of them will usually be enough to kill instantly in the event of a sudden death match. It's both effective and humiliating to kill them that way. X3
The drill hammers are grossly underrated. I think because most people think "What?! Hammer for hitting, not for spinning! Must spam side smash to unbreak brain..." Against taller opponents (like Ike) You can even use the down one after a quick, low, running jump to rack up a lot of damage quickly.
Thanks for the detailed response, Sov. I always do love a nice discussion about these things. ^^
And yeah, I do agree about the side B for Ike when you're using it to recover. Smack him again and he's dead, so once again, a more professional player will easily be able to outclass an Ike player.
Still, thanks for the help. Lemme know if you can think of anything else that may help.