S1 retros were, at best, mixed. The good was clearly Spinal and Glacius, although Spinal was better because Glacius’ accessories are ■■■. Thunder and Orchid were both solid given the constraints DH was under and I respect the effort, although Orchid’s clipping was awful and much like Sadira her accessories were a bit weird. Derpawulf and Fulgore are both cringe-inducing, as is stripper Jago (who at least has a couple of good accessories).
S2 really showed how valuable KB was. Combo’s retros aren’t just the best in this game, they’re some of the best costumes in any game I’ve ever seen. I feel like his default is a respectful update of his KI1 appearance - in a world where MMA is a thing, you can’t have a character wearing boxing gloves in an open fight, and rather than just bring back KI2’s stereotype I loved the 70s/80s/90s/2000s aspect of each costume. Maya gets an honorable mention as well and either would have been the best in S1. Riptor didn’t sit as well just because I loved the original character, which really felt like a four-hundred-pound roaring dragon hurtling around the screen, but given the new, more-slender quick-strike birdlike design was very fitting and, like Aganos, the striking difference from the defaults are so ambitious I have to applaud the results. Cinder is tough because his retro basic is perfection, but his accessories do nothing for me. Finally, it’s telling that my “bottom” picks, Hisako, ARIA and Kan-Ra, aren’t there because they are bad but simply because they don’t stand out enough from the defaults for my taste, Kan Ra’s steampunk period pieces are really clever, though.
S3 isn’t as good as S2, but is still light year’s better than S1. At the top, I think Eyedol, Mira and Tusk are fantastic; great variety on Mira, Eyedol’s accessories are a bit goofy but stil kick ■■■ and if Tusk’s face worked it would be the best but that’s not a problem unique to the retro. Rash and Gargos are a notch below for me (Gargos’ nose isn’t right and Rash doesn’t look very different but he’s elevated by fantastic accessories), followed by Kim (locking Kim into the jacket was a head scratcher that led to lame accessories). The guest characters are at the bottom for me simply because the commitment to lore accuracy, while commendable for fans of the series, led to really minute changes which don’t stand out to character newbies like me. Again, none of these are straight-up bad like S1, just not as awesome.
Overall:
A+: Combo
A: Maya, Mira, Spinal
A-: Eyedol, Riptor
(Maybe one or two more accessories, but generally great)
B+: Gargos, Tusk, Glacius
B: Thunder, Aganos, Cinder, Rash
B-: Sadira, ARIA, Kan-Ra
(Cosmetic or accessory limitations put these in the second tier)
C+: RAAM, Arbiter, Hisako
C: Orchid, Kim Wu
C-: Jago
(Boring, indistinct, overcrowded or otherwise really flawed in some way.)
D-: Fulgore, Sabrewufl
(Total rework required)
