Super Smash Bros.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If it's a question of size and time and quality, I would wager the final roster could be something like this:

Mario
Link
Kirby
Samus
Donkey Kong
Fox
Pikachu
Yoshi
Luigi
Captain Falcon
Ness
Jigglypuff
Bowser
Peach
Zelda
Ganondorf
Marth
Mr. Game & Watch
Ice Climbers
Pit
Diddy Kong
Wario
Metaknight
King DeDeDe
Olimar
Pokemon Trainer
Wolf (I would rather him over Falco at any rate)
The Villager
Little Mac
New Fire Emblem rep
Dixie Kong
Mewtwo
Palutena
New Pokemon
Surprise retro character like Takamaru or Mike Jones
Wii Fit Trainer
Mii
Mega Man
Sonic
Pac-Man


It seems pared down, but at 40 characters there would be a lot of variety (especially if they finally change Ganondorf's moves) and that's still like 12 new characters. I think that would be a good roster.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

All this Falco hate is making me sad. Falco has been my boy since Melee, I'd hate to see him ditched.

Besides that, I don't see much of a problem with character variations (they're not even clones now based on Brawl's changes). Always gotta have a few Ken's to your Ryu's in these fighting games, and if there's going to be no cross-compatibility I see no reason to limit the WiiU's roster if the games are going to have c ompletely different stages and single player modes anyway.

[Rynnec]

I'd rather not see anyone ditched myself, but much as I like Falco, I think Wolf's more likely to be kept due to his status as Fox's rival and whatnot.

Besides that, I don't see much of a problem with character variations (they're not even clones now based on Brawl's changes). Always gotta have a few Ken's to your Ryu's in these fighting games, and if there's going to be no cross-compatibility I see no reason to limit the WiiU's roster if the games are going to have c ompletely different stages and single player modes anyway.

I'm not sure why they're deciding to limit the roster for the Wii U version either, but they should at least have version-specific characters if they must limit it.

In more news we won't be getting another Subspace Emissary. DLC also isn't in the cards right now, but it's not being entirely rejected either.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's not Falco hate, but more if they HAVE to cut characters to focus on a balanced roster I would rather the more clone-ish characters get cut over the ones with unique movesets.

As for single player, I'm glad SE is cut. I only ever played it once because it was so bloated. There are better ways to make an adventure mode (and Melee's was bad too) that I hope Sakurai figures out.

[Rynnec]

For reasons I can't fathom, there seems to be a fairly large anti-Pac-Man bias going on.

[Eddy]

I honestly don't really care either way if Pac-Man gets in or not. If he does, cool. If not, oh well. But, truth be told, I don't really think of Nintendo when I think of Pac-Man the same way I do with someone like Mega Man. There are probably third party characters that would be a better fit than Pac-Man.

Also, I'm thinking its Wolf who will get cut and not Falco. Wolf is well known, but Falco is an extremely popular Star Fox and Smash Bros. character. Wolf always seemed like an odd choice to me.

And if Falco or Wolf (or both) do happen to stay, please, for the love of god, make their final smashes something other than a damn Landmaster.

[Rynnec]

Pac-Man isn't my first choice either, but the complaints that he's somehow not "worthy" of being a third-party rep for Namco, when  a Tales of lead somehow is make me shake my head.

[Eddy]

Oh, yeah, if ANYONE from Namco deserves to be included in Smash Bros. it's Pac-Man. If for no other reason than Miyamoto made a Pac-Man game exclusive to the GameCube, Pac-Man Vs.

[Kiddington]

Do they actually plan on giving Ganondorf an expanded skillset this time around? You know, beyond being a unearthly slow Captain Falcon clone?

He's a great character for this, but so badly misused thus far.

[Rynnec]

From what I can tell, Sakurai's trying to find a nice balance for those who like Ganondorf as is, and those who want him to have his own moveset.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Other than playable characters, who do you guys hope to see in assist trophy form? I've got a few I'd like to see.

Fawful
Vaati (Since I doubt we'll ever get more than 3 proper Zelda reps)
Cranky Kong
Poppy Bros.
Bald Bull (The charge!)
Ridley
Captain Syrup
Dark Pit
Chase McCain (I'm not sure how likely this is)
Protoman (Using the same pattern he has in Mega Man 3)
Knuckles (Assuming Sonic is in, I'd love to see him set off a trap like in S3&K)
Alucard (On the extremely long chance that Simon Belmont gets in, Alucard is the best representative of the Metroidvania style)

[Rynnec]

Phosphora
Blaze (does her fire pillar move from Rush)
A less redundant Shadow (an actual time freeze or Chaos Blast would be nice)
Kamek/Kammy
Galacta Knight
Dyna Blade
Marx
Midna
Any other party member from Golden Sun
Geno or Mallow (probably unlikely)
Raiden (if Snake returns, replaces Gray Fox and has his design from Rising)
Bulzeeb/Regulus (if Bomberman shows up. Does one of his insta-kill moves from TSA)
Max (probably more likely than Regulus)

For possible Megaman assist trophies:

Bass & Treble
Roll (does her level 3 Hyper from Tatsunoko vs Capcom)
X & Zero (pretty much do what they do in Project X Zone

[Eddy]

Assist Trophies are great because they open a whole world of possibilities. Here are some I'd like to see (as well as pretty much all the ones from Brawl to return):

Ridley (if he can't be playable)
Midna
Bowser Jr./Shadow Mario
One or more of the Koopa Kids
Kamek
Goombella (she could be a gag assist and give information about one of the characters)
Bobbery
Vivian
Magolor (Kirby's Return to Dream Land)
Adeline (she could paint recovery items for whoever summoned her)
Paula or Kumatora
Giygas (he would have to be super rare and really devastating)
Captain Rainbow
Some kind of creature from Pikmin
Mii
Elite Beat Agents

Third party assists:
Protoman
Knuckles (assuming Sonic is back)
Blinky (if we get Pac-Man)

[Spark Of Spirit]

Anybody want to take a crack at this list?

Right now I'll only say that Sora makes zero sense as a choice for Smash Bros. If a Square-Enix character has to be chosen he has to be a character that means something to the 8-bit Nintendo era, the console wars of the 16-bit days, a revolutionary player in the first 3D generation (which is why I let Snake slide), or a Nintendo character. Anything else doesn't work for Smash Bros. and misses the point of it being a celebration.

[Nel_Annette]

A Square Enix character is Smash Bros? Hmmm... How 'bout Geno?