Digg effect!!

mergedwarrior

Sweet.

gusiskirby

The DK one is a mess.
There are three different monkies there.
The one from the original donkey kong is cranky kong in Donkey Kong Country.
The one in Mario Kart is Donkey Kong Junior.
The current one is based on the Donkey Kong from DKC.

Perhaps DK Jr. is the current DK all grown up.

Yes, I am a dork as evidenced by my talking about Donkey Kong canon

Ptolemy

*obligatory chronology is off remark*

That, and I am of the opinion that Samus de-volved a step for those Fusion and Zero games on the GBA.

ncsbert

I got a fever, and the only prescription is Brawl.

AndrewG009

@Kprimed: Right, because there have been drastic changes to Snake's appearance, white hair aside. /sarcasm

Americo

Yea... thanks for crediting me Kotaku, i sent that RAW to your tips inbox a while back, only NOW you feature it when it hits digg. Disappointing.

TaeK

Meh, I've seen better. Besides these don't have every single character appearance or sprite to date.

The Zelda evolution chart has gone to pot. Where is Majora's Mask Link dammit!?

humongous_mouse

Maybe it's just me, but when I play smash, I don't play to win... I play to be annoying. I get as much kick out of turning people into eggs and throwing eggs at people, as I do eating people and stealing their hair cuts.
Best thing I love hearing is... "WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THAT?!"

kwan

@DigiMish: The title of the pic isn't wrong at all. That's why they added the 'Challenger approaching' title just above Sonic.

quen

@Nedus: That's a good way to describe it. I think it's not so much hue as better shading and texture. He may be a pink sphere still, but he pulls it off.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

Kirby is so awesome, he doesn't need to be updated like these other jokers.

Kamakazie

I wish we could all just forget about Sonic 3D Blast.
Burn all the books!

Gigith

Yeah, it'd be nice to see Snake in there!

EvilSuperSean

2nd Sonic's the better one. Sonic CD/3 era forever.

Pombar

Every Link should fight to the death. OoT Link would totally win.

Muisee

They left out the Sonic 2 sprite, and completely left out his Master System/Game Gear games. Also, I loled at Kirby.

This is far better than the previous "evolutions" I've seen, actually done chronologically, rather than by quality.

Demaar

Kirby doesn't need to change. He's perfect just as he is.

Bauske

yeah, just how do you evolve kirby?

Ultrasinc

Yep, that be DK Jr. in the kart. FAIL!

NESv1

Samus looks so unlike "Samus in robot suit" it's almost hard to believe she's that badass galactic hero. Her and Master Chief would be the perfect couple though...they look similar.

kylo4

The characters aren't in correct order. Zelda Minish Cap on GBA came out after Zelda Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker

Elrinth

Kirby progressively got a uh...tan? Rose? I'm not sure what fits there, but you get the idea.

Nedus

I'm still don't think... Can I has Edit Button =(

Malmer

This is done so much better than the previous one.

I'm still don't think that a Kart sprite has anything do in it, but overall I love it!

Malmer

A game which I no doubt will buy, but I see Smash Bros every where I look. Websites, gamestores, walmarts, target, billboard, CNN, the moon...Why couldnt Nintendo market Metroid Prime 3 like this?

zztopp

@josh924: In a way you are right, I don't think mMario should look so good, I think he's meant to look cartoony, so by having all that detail it makes him look worse, so I guess you might be right.

This thing could be going by bits however, so the GBA ones of Sonic, Link etc aren't out of order, but on the other hand if your going to do that only have one from the SNES.

And is that Sonic from Sonic Pin Ball in there? I think it might be, why would they put that in there?

Gigith

Woah, hunchback Samus in her 4th stage.

@josh924: Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Same goes for Samus and Link in their 3rd and 4th stages.

jaymac

Its all about link to the past...link.

Fyren

Is it me or does Mario look better in SMB2 than he did in SMB3?

josh924

I'm not absolutely certain, but I'm reasonably sure that that DK pic on the Kart is from the SNES (been years since I played, and it wasn't my favorite in the series). If so, the dude in the tank top is DK Jr., not Donkey Kong.

Balius

@Gunhaver:

Um...did you miss the logo? It kind of implies that it's...a logo. Not the featured character's name.

SuperMaxZero

@Gunhaver: Who is this Link character? It plainly says Zelda in big letters! I guess it could be the series name but thats crazy!

Also as a Nintendo fanboy, I have yet to see one of these charts that I have not liked.

Ra on the Moon.

Why the heck is the Sonic Xtreme sprite on there? That game wasn't even completed.

SillyJonna

@Gen16Snes:

I'd say that the nextgen one. putting aside the timeline, all the others are in-game sprites or models, while this is rendered art for the box, I believe.

smashdude

@Gunhaver: And Samus is named Metroid, apparently? It's the game title...

Reilaos, Man of Destiny

Gah, the Donkey Kong one is still wrong! That's DK Jr. in the go kart! Also it's amazing to see how much Kirby has evolved over the years.

Eliwood

Thanks for furthering the mainstream misconception that Link is named Zelda.

Gunhaver

It isnt' meant to be a time line... but an "evolution" of detail, I guess.

Either way, the Super Star Kirby should come before the Dream Land 3 Kirby.

The BPM Scrolls IV - Knights of the Nine

Sonic one is out of order. GBA before DC? Sloppy.

Medicine Seller [ZTF]

@mr_dimsum: Ah, yes you're right. After closely looking at some more screenies, they do look like that pretty much minus some shader details.

I can only know for sure this Sunday lol.

DigiMish

Seems Samus got some chronic back pain in her fourth iteration.. Samus "Quasimodo" Aran.

mr_dimsum

Sonic and Kirby haven't changed much at all.

@Channing: From dumb and malicious to dumb and lovable. Isn't he just a metaphor for all men?

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

I like how Kirby alternates between a light version and a dark version every iteration.

Yamen

@DigiMish: You're wrong DigiMish. The characters in the game look exactly like the pictures. I've been playing the import for over 3 weeks now.

mr_dimsum

Dream Land 3 Kirby is FAT!

JN64Lover

@Skitzoap: lol exactly, i believe thats as far as he's going to evolve too

Kcet

@nullterm:

That's a part of his evolution. He went from some dumb ape in a wife beater to a high class tie wearing gentleape.

Channing

And in any case, it's not really a fair comparison since the newest characters are promotional art, they don't actually look like that in-game.

DigiMish

Donkey Kong needs his wife beater back.

nullterm

@Gen16Snes: The ugly one?

Aflack: Likes slushies

I don't like these because they're out of order. And not just Link, either. Blargh.

Roto13

@MetalGearMax: @QC8472: Just some more of that "hey, what part of the time line are we in" stuff...

..i swear, nintendo's just doing it to piss off the Zelda fans..lol

JerrD74: hopes his local arcade gets SFIV

It's so amazing to see how Kirby has changed through the years. I'm glad they were put side by side or I wouldn't have been able to make the connections.

noah

@peAr_nectAr: I'm just saying that for the sake correctness, the title of the pic "Nintendo All-Stars" is WRONG.

DigiMish

Needs more Fusion Samus.

Tale

I love DK's...he evolves from really retarded to mildly retarded

Skitzoap

@Luke Plunkett: We must agree to disagree there, sire.

I actually meant to typed "sir", but that typo makes you and me both sound a little more badass, so I'll roll with it.

Afore Notation

@TheCleaningGuy: They also missed the 3d Kirbys. This person apparently forgot the Crystal Shards and the original SSB.

Erwin

I wish they had the pic for Samus in her suit than herelf... it messes up the pattern they have going there.

goldwings

(Teen Girl Squad Voice)
"Look at how much we've grown!!!"

CitizenTian

Brawl Mario's hands bother me for some reason. I think it's because his fingers are too long. I'll always be partial to the goofy-ass N64 Mario.

@DigiMish: If this is the sort of thing that offends you, please read the news more and get out of the house. Seriously. There's a whole world waiting to offend you with problems of a much more substantial nature.

peAr_nectAr

and then there's the english voice acting for brawl.

/me walks off laughing

Dogysamich

@StopTheOncoming: Yeah the Sonic one could use some work.
They should have used some more Kirby sprites too.
I miss 2D.

TheCleaningGuy

@DigiMish:

I.... o.O ..... really? Upset, over this??

Morberis

It's out of order, but still. It's a decent list from somebody off of devianart.

ph15h

@Luke Plunkett: Ah, but the Link one contains two brawl pics. Kind of.
@Kirbytheslayer: In-Kirby XMB: You're right. The skin tight Mario is unnecessary,
and wrong.

Erwin

Why aren't Donkey Kong 64 and Kirby 64 represented on that chart while Ocarina of Time and Mario 64 are?

GoGoGodzilla

The Sonic from Sonic Advance is 4th on the list...that came AFTER Sonic Adventure 1 =\.

This list is so wack.

StopTheOncoming

Wow, the Donkey Kong one gets the shaft. Really Donkey Kong is Cranky Kong, right? And they don't even show him from Donkey Kong 64!

Still kinda cool though... I guess.

ServiceMaster

@Cutedge: Well, the Link used in Brawl is Twilight Princess Link, so there you go.

Saint Anima: Kotaku's Poetic Massacre

I am offended that they put Sonic on there. Sonic is a SEGA franchise, and it will always stay that way.

If you're going to put Sonic in there, at least rename the title to Super Smash Brothers Brawl all-stars evolved.

I appreciate that you mentioned that and didn't just name the article "NINTENDO CHARACTERS EVOLVED", Bash.

DigiMish

It's quite clear each character gets more revealing as time goes on.
Samus gets a skin-tight suit.
Link's hemline goes up several inches.
Donkey Kong is a mixed bag. On one hand, he started off naked, but then he put a shirt on. But then he took it off and only kept the tie.
Kirby. Well, Kirby got more naked-er.
Sonic is quite clearly showing off more ankle.
Mario is now naked. He simply has no genitals, and had the outfit tattooed onto him. He figured "Why not? I wear it all the time anyways."
When questioned, Peach replied, with a blush "Yes, ALL the time."

Kirbytheslayer: In-Kirby XMB

That's an awesome picture but I wish it would've been made horizontally instead of vertically so it could be a desktop wallpaper.

mva5580

HAHA i just played Sonic on the Genesis today and i still got the skills
Why does "Toon" Link look like he is going to stab "Twilight Princess" Link?

GUNDAM-RX-78-2

Kirby is the most frightening character ever created.

ethic

I love the final evolution of Samus. Screw the respect you've earned girl, take off the clothes!

DrLight

@JimElNino: indeed!

Also, to me it seems like the Link before the N64 one should be after instead of it's current position :P

I probably played way too much Nintendo games ;)

QC8472

@Foggynotion: Zero Suit Samus? I guarantee you just made an artist cry.

Wolfers

Yeah Link is messed up but this chart shows that Samus is always bad.

Pornosaur

@MetalGearMax: I always confuse Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen too, my bad.

Foggynotion

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that while I love the 'cook' being Kirby's final smash, I almost wish they went with the classic 'sing into a microphone' since that dates back to the original GB game.

Then again it may have been too powerful :-D

JimElNino

Next week: The evolution of Waluigi.

Len Bias Cocaine Surplus

@Foggynotion:

Lol, Mario Kart DK isn't even DK. It's DK Jr.

:/

MetalGearMax

One Sonic doesn't belong in that picture, can you guess which one?

Gen16Snes

Sweet, thanks!

Sailorcancer

The Zelda one is messed up. Why have WW Link, but not Smash Toon Link?
and why is Minish cap Link listed before Ocarina/WW Link?

MetalGearMax

Super Mario 64
Wind Waker Link
Super Mario Kart DK
Zero Suit Samus
Super Nintendo Kirby
Original, first Sonic

Those are the best ones. Discuss.

Foggynotion

Kirby failed to evolve.

Wolfers

the zelda one is missing twilight princess

Cutedge

The Mario one needs more Mario RPG ;-)

JimElNino

Funny how Link and Mario look better in the pre-SSBB shots

Luke Plunkett

FUN! I love this!

PatMan33

I think I'm turning into a Nintendo fan boy... just by looking at that.

ph15h

snake snake snake!

Kprimed

@DrLight: To be fair, Halo 3 saw MC in nothing but a thong-back bikini.

TrevWolf

@Channing:

I've forgotten the endings, unfortunately. Did DK get rich in the ending of one of his games? Or it is assumed he won the lottery and bought a tie in-between sequels?

SuperMaxZero

@calnick0: LOL

Charlie303

man it's hard to beleive how much kirby has changed over the years.

calnick0

if they show snake would that count as a downgrade? how would that work?

Ruisu

Cool.

KM91

Sonic jus' went from his usual Blue to a sudden' 'turquoise? - in SSBB'. looks good though

King Seafoam

Heh, I want to see the Game & Watch one...

DaveKap

Is it just me, or does the first Sonic look better than all the other versions put together?

theblogcomics

Hey!!! Where's Fox McCloud?!

The Great Aussie Evil