Easy Mode Characters

[excelsior]

For this thread I'm looking for playable characters who easentially act as an easy mode.

Sometimes these are advertised as such as in the cases of Nabbit in New Super Mario Bros U or Funky Kong in the Switch port of Donkey Kong Tripical Freeze.

Other times there is no advertisement and maybe not even intention. Princess Peach in Super Mario Bros 2 USA and Super Mario 3D Worlds float maneuver makes these games easier.

[lurker]

Drizzt Do'Urden (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 1&2)

[spanky]

Tails sort of fits the bill in 2D Sonic games. You can fly (or swim!) around most obstacles.

Bass in Mega Man 10 lets you pretty much just sleepwalk through the game. He was paid DLC in the original release so that kind of makes sense I guess?

A lot of boss and hidden characters in fighting games feel like this, at least in single player mode. Akuma ins Super Turbo is a pretty good example of this. No characters are really able to deal with his air fireballs, plus he does not have the health penalty he does in later games.

Speaking of fighting games I always considered Cable an easy mode character in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. His hard punch is just him shooting a gun, he has a ton of special moves and a great beam super. Very easy character to use for an absolute beginner.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Maria in Rondo of Blood

Shuriken+Jet combo build in Cocoron

The late game dog in Secret of Evermore

Ornithopters in Dune Legacy

[dsparil]

For some reason, the one that comes to mind first for me is Cyrus in Octopath Traveller. Since you always have to use your first character, it helps that there's certain weapon and sub-jobs that let him absolutely tear through everything without any regard for MP in a way that mage characters usually can't.

I think Cable has generally always been considered top tier in MvC2 along with Magneto and Sentinel. Justin Wong came up with an informal point system for online matches since so many of the same characters get used.

Bass in Mega Man & Bass too. People complain about how Mega Man is so much weaker than Bass. Being able to shoot at an angle in a game that also had to be designed around a character that can't is always going to be unbalanced.

[dr_st]

Some games in the Mortal Kombat series allow you to play as bosses. Either from the get go (MK Trilogy), a secret (MK4), or via hacks/mods (some other games in the series, e.g., MK9). As bosses you deal more damage and take less damage, so it is definitely an "Easy" mode.

[vnisanian2001]

Speaking of Sonic, I would say that for Sonic 2:

Sonic & Tails = Easy Mode
Knuckles = Hard Mode

[klausien]

Grant in Akumajou Densetsu. His unlimited daggers were dropped from Castlevania III to the game’s detriment.

[Apollo Chungus]

Off the top of my head,

Jill Valentine in Resident Evil (original and remake) has 8 inventory slots compared to Chris' 6 and has a lockpick which gives you more room to explore early on. She can't take as much damage as Chris can, but considering the original's focus on using items to open up new areas and solve puzzles, having more room in your inventory does make the game easier.

Cream in Sonic Advance 2/3 can throw her Chao at enemies, which makes bosses a joke since you can just stand there and watch the chaos unfold.

Yoshi and Luigi in Super Mario 64 DS have extra air manoeuvrability, since both of them can do a flutter jump of sorts and Luigi slowly descends after performing a backwards somersault. 

[blackdrazon]

If you lose the intro stage in Dragon Spirit: The New Legend for NES, you get to play as a gold dragon that's far more powerful, but only sees some of the stages and gets a bad ending in the end.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Nintendo has done this with some of their recent 2D platformers, where you get the choice to play as an invincible character or something like that when you die too much.

Similar to Tails in Sonic games, Dixie Kong has a hover ability that Diddy and Kiddy lack in DKC2 and DKC3 respectively. In those games you switch between characters and they double as your hit points, so there's a bit more to it than just being an easier character.

One weird example is the Super Team from Super Mario Strikers. They have high stats IIRC and the entire team can use super strikes.

Not really an 'easy' mode per se, but Mario Kart 64 is so unbalanced that there are just objectively better and worse characters.

Roguelikes tend to have this from time to time. Nuclear Throne has Crystal, which is essentially an easy mode as you get more health and a skill that reflects bullets. Maybe easy is not the right word since that game is still brutal, but at least it's more managable (and IIRC the only character I've beated it as).

The Bard character in Crypt of the Necrodancer removes the whole gimmick of the game, as you don't have to move to the beat anymore. So it's like traditional rogue-type games in that enemies move when you do. I don't really see the point in playing as him, as it makes it more or less impossible to lose the game like that. The entire challenge comes from keeping up with the beat and the pace of the music.

Sept 7, 2022 16:19:35 GMT -5 vnisanian2001 said:

Speaking of Sonic, I would say that for Sonic 2:

Sonic & Tails = Easy Mode
Knuckles = Hard Mode

I've never played Knuckles in Sonic 2, but what makes him harder than Sonic? I mean, he can glide and all, so he'd be easier, right?

[ommadawnyawn2]

Tails is easy mode in the Sonic & Tails Sonic 1 romhack, and Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit.

[vnisanian2001]

🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 Knuckles can't jump as high as Sonic can. That's what makes him harder.

[spanky]

I'm sure there's lots of these all over the Mario Kart series but in the original game, Toad and Koopa Troopa with their decent acceleration and good handling are meant to be beginner characters, at least according to the manual.

[excelsior]

Sept 7, 2022 14:46:15 GMT -5 ommadawnyawn2 said:

Maria in Rondo of Blood

I really love playing as Maria. She's way more versatile than Richter to the point that she seems beyond the capabilities of enemies to beat her. Going back to Richter he then feels a bit rigid. I think from the examples posted in this thread she's the only one where I would sooner play as her.

blackdrazon - That explains things. I got the Namco Museum Archives for Switch as a gift recently and it includes that Dragon Spirit game. I died on the first boss (which I was told was a gay caterpillar twirling his baton but that's a tangent I guess) and then continued through the chapters and some numbers were skipping. I'd initially figured it was one of those fights where you're supposed to lose but I was just confused when I skipped stages.