Board Thread:Article Critique/@comment-1942179-20141029001523/@comment-25638472-20150518012020

Elly's Review of Smash the Echidna (character)

Looks: In terms of design, as far as I know Smash is unique, and I've always been fond of the design. No real complaints here; he's a well designed and not overly embellished character. I wonder why I don't see that many blue echidnas..

Personality: I am unaware of any personality flaws that Smash might have, at least based off his page, besides maybe the tendency to rant which others just find funny. His personality certainly is well developed and well written, but everyone's got their flaws that show at some point... Right?.. Being able to be overwhelmed does show some down to earthness, though. I feel like if there's certain points where he really shows that he's not personality perfect, they should be noted.

Strength/Powers: You hit the ballpark for making Smash both down to earth yet really strong with his power. Being self taught makes it fit a certain trope where self taught style beats out other martial arts; I don't really like this trope when I see it but even my own character has some self taught stuff so I can't say much about that (though it's weaker than her taught technique by a lot). Weaknesses here are somewhat woven into the writing, clearly enough for me. No complaints on any of the moves.

Super Forms: For this I'm also going to count his tension states. I really like the look of the tension states, and even if it's one of those ones that uses the self as an energy source, I still view them as legitimate and balanced enough. Max tension does get a bit iffy for me (extreme power, healing, reflecting) but even then it's more balanced than most other "life" super forms. Super Smash and Ultra Smash make me wonder if the color of a super form will be the same depending on color: as in, blue people transform into yellow supers, etc. I digress, even with these super forms you stick to balance, for the most part. The "scrapped" forms.. I can see why some of them were "scrapped", they seem like unneeded embellishments. None of them are Ultimate Elder Smash levels of silly, but still.

Setting: While I'd love to read the entire saga, this is simply based off of first impressions of the setting you've developed for this character (even though it certainly isn't a first impression). That said, I have a lot of respect for how close to home the setting is in comparison to many other fan settings. Greenflower is a really charming place, relatable, a place with a lot of possibilities. It's worth a mention because the setting says a lot about Smash as well, in a way. It's a strong setting, yet personally connecting, much like how Smash is, well, a strong character but definitely a relatable one.

Overall, Smash is a very solid character. Complaints are minor, and boil down to some explanation of balance that likely already exists, and for more context that would let me relate with him even more (I.e personality weaknesses if they exist).

How was this review, Smash? ^^;