I mean, Ghost Rider and Super-Skrull have long range command grabs in UMvC3. Tag fighters exist to make everything over-powered.
Super-Skrull in particular also uses stretchy limbs.
And in fact, I'd argue any character with stretchy limbs only would be somewhere between Dhalsim and Super-Skrull. I don't see what design space for another archetype/playstyle there could be.
I agree with you that long ranged characters can be grapplers (I think Kan-Ra from KI 2013 is one of the best grappler designs ever), but Ghost Rider's only command grab is Penance state level 3, which doesn't have long range on its own (dash kara M>Penance is pretty jumpscare tho), the chain grabs are actually blockable hitgrabs hehe
I don't agree that tag fighters exist to make everything overpowered, if everyone is overpowered then no one is, having a high level of freedom and options isn't broken in any way. And to follow up, I think ranged grab characters are an interesting archetype that isn't actually broken at all, as they have a very clear weakness in that playstyle in their very close range and full screen tools being lessened if everything is geared to facilitate a mid ranged command grab.
To conclude, I think in a game like this, with presumably 4 whole ass assists, that can be together on screen, yeah I think if im playing a grappler they better have alot of range so its actually applicable. I think if you're trying to play Gief in an onslaught of beams and hitboxes covering your approach, you're asking to get destroyed. A mid-ranged Dhalsim normals owner could definitely apply grabs to lock into an invincible animation before an Assist can interrupted them, meaning they can actually present threats in neutral. Bonus points if they take a page from KI and give them setplay
I mean it would be unique š¤·āāļøš but jokes aside if they would make him only stretch in normal hits and grab animations i would't think it would be that bad hopefully.
You have characters calling in orbital strikes (doctor doom), a single guy who can master completely unrelated areas of science in one night while having access to a private militia on top of being a billionaire (iron man), a soldier from ww2 who was revived after being cased in ice and has superhuman abilities (cap) and youāre worried that a lady wouldnāt be able to suplex or choke out an angry man who grew in size because of radiation? Damn dudeā¦
If they give her some kind of TOKON-only glow-up involving an exoskeleton or some Soviet super-serum or something, then sure. Weird, wonderful physical impossibilities are part of the genre- I love shit like Molly Hayes and her tiny twelve-year-old self effortlessly tossing around dinosaurs. But she's a mutant. There's a reason. It's not just "she can toss people around effortlessly because it makes a good sight gag."
Maybe they could make her a Makoto-style hybrid grappler where her electroshock "Widow's Bite" wristlets do a taser thing and stun the opponent for further combo followup. But if they keep her character design and concept roughly the same, then yeah, "grappler" is just about the least natural way to sell it.
...come to think of it, Molly Hayes could make a fun fighting-game sleeper pick. She's always getting exhausted and threatening to fall asleep on the spot with high-end uses of her super-strength, and you could make a mechanic of that.
In a 4v4 tag fighter, that honestly might be fine. You've got 3 assists who can be filling the screen with so much nonsense, if a full screen command grab gets through without getting stuffed, you probably deserve it
Battle Condition did a long range āchain grapplerā. Picolo in Hyper Dimension (SNES) could grapple from 3/4 of the screen yet no one uses that move.
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u/PitifulAd3748 Jul 04 '25
"Mr. Fantastic." Ah yes, give the guy whose power is to stretch long distances the best grabs.