Over-Representation VS Under-Representation

[TriforceOfAura]

For me, I'm fine with Palutena, but I think it was a bit much to have so many of the items be form Uprising and half the enemies in Smash Run be from Uprising, I don't care if they had models to pull from, they should have cut it off at one point. I'd be fine with less overall Smash Run enemies if I knew they weren't all going to be KI:U enemies and the occasional goomba or SSE enemy.

Not to mention 2 assist trophies when DK has zero.

You have a point.

 

[Zerp]

On the topic of clones, while yeah, they do take up only extremely small amounts of dev time, I still feel they are fair game because they can still be seen as wrongly prioritized. Why couldn't they just port a, say, Impa model, polish it, and make it a Sheik clone/model swap character? That's also minimal effort but would have satisfied a larger number of people. My problem with the clones is that instead of choosing characters that more people wanted and would have made more sense for representation reasons like say Dixie or Impa we got Dark Pit and Lucina instead.

 

[Delzethin]

My problem with the clones is that instead of choosing characters that more people wanted and would have made more sense for representation reasons like say Dixie or Impa we got Dark Pit and Lucina instead.

Because they already had working models set up for Dark Pit and Lucina, as up to that point they were planned to be alts of Pit and Marth. Importing a different character model, making all the necessary adjustments, and getting their animations in working order would've taken additional time that they just didn't have.

There're also some pretty compelling arguments that Dixie and Impa would work better as fully distinct characters than they would as clones...

 

[LIQUID12A]

For series with playable characters already, Metroid and DK are perhaps the most under represented. Only problem with Metroid is that a significant amount of the fanbase won't accept characters that aren't steroid space dragon, even when the next most ideal candidate, Sylux, has enough going for it to have something of a chance. Not a chance that compares to the juggernauts at all but something.

You can argue about clones taking space but it's ultimately pointless; they were afterthoughts and didn't take much to implement. If Dixie Kong, for example, had got in under their same circumstances(very few actual changes and not utilizing her unique gimmicks) as a pure Diddy clone I can bet that she would be complained about just as much.

Oh, and FE/Kid Icarus are, if not overrepped, given much more attention than most.

 

[Troykv]

Over-representation and under-representation?

Personally I don't find any franchises overrepresented (Kid Icarus is the most "near" to that, but the things that could make it "overrepresented" are here because certain circumstances).

In the under-representation... you can complain everything about your favorite franchise, but the only series that is under-represented in my eyes is Donkey Kong (is ridiculous that Metroid have 3 Assist Trophys, and DK any... Where are Rambi or other animals?).

 

[Tino]

The only franchise that's "over represented" is the Kid Icarus series due to how much Kid Icarus content it has in Sm4sh, specifically the 3DS version (hence the enemies in Smash Run).

Other than that, no series is ever over represented nor under represented in any way

 

[TriforceOfAura]

And no one complains about how Star Fox has been somewhat underreped... Only two characters, one or two AT's, only one or two stages, and a huge lack of Smash Run enemies.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

And no one complains about how Star Fox has been somewhat underreped... Only two characters, one or two AT's, only one or two stages, and a huge lack of Smash Run enemies.

DK, Metroid, Wario Land, modern Kirby and arguably Star Fox are underrepresented.

 

[Bebe Mignon]

Going slightly off-topic, but would it be over-represented if the Xenoblade series had another character? Just curious to know your thoughts.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

Going slightly off-topic, but would it be over-represented if the Xenoblade series had another character? Just curious to know your thoughts.

It's hard to say. Xenoblade has only two games at the moment, but then again, KI has only three games and it got a big amount of new content.... I'd personally save the second Xenoblade rep for next game, but I don't think a second character would make Xenoblade overrepresented, especially when compared to Kid Icarus (and Fire Emblem).

 

[Dastardly Ridleylash]

For series with playable characters already, Metroid and DK are perhaps the most under represented. Only problem with Metroid is that a significant amount of the fanbase won't accept characters that aren't steroid space dragon, even when the next most ideal candidate, Sylux, has enough going for it to have something of a chance. Not a chance that compares to the juggernauts at all but something..

Personally, I wouldn't be pissed is Sylux got in, and most people wouldn't be; the problem being is that Ridley is basically the K.Rool to Samus' DK in the franchises' lore (except with less banana-stealing and more parent-murdering ), and a lot of the other big name requests are one-off characters with not much connection to Samus (outside of Rundas and Sylux). Sylux, at the very least, is coming back for Prime 4, so he's becoming a recurring character and will become slightly easier to swallow.

But he's still not the Bowser/K.Rool of the franchise; that's Ridley. Metroid has it's Mario...and Mario In His Jogging Attire, but it doesn't have it's Bowser in the game as a fighter, and to me that doesn't seem right. It's like having a Mario spinoff without Waluigi as a character (which is why a lot of people were upset when he was cut from MK7).

I'll take Sylux, but I want Ridley first; he's Samus' mortal enemy and should absolutely be first-in-line for being a Metroid newcomer.

 

[LIQUID12A]

Personally, I wouldn't be pissed is Sylux got in, and most people wouldn't be; the problem being is that Ridley is basically the K.Rool to Samus' DK in the franchises' lore (except with less banana-stealing and more parent-murdering ), and a lot of the other big name requests are one-off characters with not much connection to Samus (outside of Rundas and Sylux). Sylux, at the very least, is coming back for Prime 4, so he's becoming a recurring character and will become slightly easier to swallow.

But he's still not the Bowser/K.Rool of the franchise; that's Ridley. Metroid has it's Mario...and Mario In His Jogging Attire, but it doesn't have it's Bowser in the game as a fighter, and to me that doesn't seem right. It's like having a Mario spinoff without Waluigi as a character (which is why a lot of people were upset when he was cut from MK7).

I'll take Sylux, but I want Ridley first; he's Samus' mortal enemy and should absolutely be first-in-line for being a Metroid newcomer.

You're still merely one of hundreds if not thousands of Ridley fans of which extremely few share your particular quasi-accepting mindset. That's without taking into account those particular fans that have never touched a Metroid game but are in favor of the character anyway because "he deserves it"(which is perfectly acceptable mind you) who are far harder to convince of the character's viability because they're unfamiliar with everything else, which I can't hold against them.

I agree Ridley should come at some point; it's just that now is not the ideal time and I'm giving the next most logical proposition a shot.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

Personally, I wouldn't be pissed is Sylux got in, and most people wouldn't be; the problem being is that Ridley is basically the K.Rool to Samus' DK in the franchises' lore (except with less banana-stealing and more parent-murdering ), and a lot of the other big name requests are one-off characters with not much connection to Samus (outside of Rundas and Sylux). Sylux, at the very least, is coming back for Prime 4, so he's becoming a recurring character and will become slightly easier to swallow.

But he's still not the Bowser/K.Rool of the franchise; that's Ridley. Metroid has it's Mario...and Mario In His Jogging Attire, but it doesn't have it's Bowser in the game as a fighter, and to me that doesn't seem right. It's like having a Mario spinoff without Waluigi as a character (which is why a lot of people were upset when he was cut from MK7).

I'll take Sylux, but I want Ridley first; he's Samus' mortal enemy and should absolutely be first-in-line for being a Metroid newcomer.

I wouldn't care if Sylux got in. Personally, I'd be okay with almost any character, but Wolf/Shantae preferably.

 

[DrSurgeonGuy]

I just want Nintendo to put in more characters like Pit was in Brawl. Nintendo characters who haven't had a game since the 80's/90's era.
Nintendo characters with 0 representation at all, including trophies.
Yes, I did make an account just to comment on this thread, it's been bugging me for a while now.

 

[Putuk]

I sorta feel that every franchise that's been represented in the series since 64 should have two reps.
Only exception might be Yoshi, due to the lack of options and how intertwined the series is with Mario.

That's all really.
I know people keep talking about DK and Metroid, but I'm not very familiar with those series, so I cannot speak for them.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

I just want Nintendo to put in more characters like Pit was in Brawl. Nintendo characters who haven't had a game since the 80's/90's era.
Nintendo characters with 0 representation at all, including trophies.
Yes, I did make an account just to comment on this thread, it's been bugging me for a while now.

Hm! A thread I made got someone to make an account. Well, all the characters in the Original 12 have 2 reps except for Yoshi and Falcon. Mario has like eight, Pokemon has six, Kirby has three, Mother has two, Star Fox has two, Metroid has two, and Zelda has five. Only F-Zero and Yoshi have one.

 

[Zerp]

I apologize for the massive text wall.

Because they already had working models set up for Dark Pit and Lucina, as up to that point they were planned to be alts of Pit and Marth. Importing a different character model, making all the necessary adjustments, and getting their animations in working order would've taken additional time that they just didn't have.

There're also some pretty compelling arguments that Dixie and Impa would work better as fully distinct characters than they would as clones...

I agree that Dixie and Impa would work much better as unique characters, but can't the same thing be said about Lucina and Dark Pit? You know, Dark Pit has weapon variety,Lucina has time travel and fights more like Chrom than Marth, yadda yadda. It's not that I wanted them to be clones for the sake of being clones. It's more or less that I just expected them to be clones, since some characters end up as clones every game, regardless of how dissimilar they actually are to their counterpart, and I thought I'd rather have X and Y over A and B if I'm going to be getting the clones, so I ended up somewhat disappointed that Dixie and Impa weren't in, I heavily preferred them as clones than to them just flat out not making it.


The model argument your bringing up makes perfect sense, I can see why they'd do it that way. The thing I'm still confused on though is that they had a Dixie model for a trophy, and they were able to port Skyward Sword's hubworld, so Impa should still have been fairly easy to port, but I'm guessing it would have taken too long to give them their animations and vertexes/bones since they weren't originally intended to be alts like Lucina or Dark Pit? Kinda makes me wonder why Impa and Dixie weren't planned as alts before Pittoo or Lucina but I suppose that's fair enough. Pretty unfortunate though that the two clones that were possible by that time ended up bloating their franchises to the point where I see them as overrepped.

Going slightly off-topic, but would it be over-represented if the Xenoblade series had another character? Just curious to know your thoughts.

Not really, no. I do think 2's it's maximum limit as of right now but any further than that would personally feel intrusive on the roster though.

And if you guys don't mind me asking this, what do you think is the "solution" to the current over-under representation problem (if you even believe in it that is)? I personally wouldn't like to cut any characters, not even the clones since once their smash characters I think they've forever earned themselves a spot due to the fanbase they gain in the game and the only acceptable way to cut one is to replace it with a new character that fills the same role or expands upon it like -->. I feel the best solution is to simply not add any more characters to either franchise and only add characters to them when the numbers are evened out a bit. For the ones I perceive as under repped, I'd just simply give characters until I think they are repped appropriately.

For example let's assume Smash 4's roster stays the same as it is right now:
Smash 4:
DK: 2
Kirby: 3
Metroid: 2
Fire Emblem: 5
Kid Icarus: 3
Star Fox: 2

This is how I'd propose a hypothetical Smash 5 roster in that case:
DK: 3-4
Kirby:4-5
Metroid: 3-4
Fire Emblem: 5
Kid Icarus: 3
Star Fox: 3-4

Then Smash 6 and so on:
DK: + 1-2 more
Kirby: + 1-2 more
Metroid: + 1-2 more
Fire Emblem: = to last game unless number of reps are lower than roughly 80% of Kirby's then possibly add one. so + 0-1
Kid Icarus: = to last game unless numbers of reps are lower than roughly 80% of Star Fox's then possibly add one. so + 0-1
Star Fox: + 1-2 more

Now obviously my method isn't going to be the same as yours, you'll probably find it to be heavily flawed, and your welcome to disagree with me. I'm honestly really curious right now to see what you guys will come up with .

 

[TriforceOfAura]

Hm! A thread I made got someone to make an account. Well, all the characters in the Original 12 have 2 reps except for Yoshi and Falcon. Mario has like eight, Pokemon has six, Kirby has three, Mother has two, Star Fox has two, Metroid has two, and Zelda has five. Only F-Zero and Yoshi have one. To me, Star Fox and Metroid need one more, so does Kirby. Maybe we could get some more one-off reps, Like Takamaru or Shantae, but eh.

 

[Putuk]

Going slightly off-topic, but would it be over-represented if the Xenoblade series had another character? Just curious to know your thoughts.

Not really. From what I can tell, it's what might be a slowly up-and-coming franchise for Nintendo. Maybe a bit more on the niche side, but still.
The only series where I'd think it'd be questionable to have two reps would be 3rd parties.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

Not really. From what I can tell, it's what might be a slowly up-and-coming franchise for Nintendo. Maybe a bit more on the niche side, but still.
The only series where I'd think it'd be questionable to have two reps would be 3rd parties.

Well yes, while Xenoblade could easily become a thing, there are still many other Nintendo games with little or no representation in Smash.

 

[Putuk]

Well yes, while Xenoblade could easily become a thing, there are still many other Nintendo games with little or no representation in Smash.

Name some other than Golden Sun and Splatoon.
I'm intrigued.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

Name some other than Golden Sun and Splatoon.
I'm intrigued.

Hmmm, where to start... Okami, Advance Wars, Sin and Punishment, Murasame Castle, Monster Tale, to name a few.

 

[Lady Kuki]

Don't really believe in over representation. Kid Icarus was one of Sakurai's most recent games, so assets from the game were added out of celebration. Fire Emblem has recently become more popular thanks to Awakening; Lucina was added as an extra, while Roy was added more or less for the Melee fans.

As for "underrepped" series, I guess that DKC is pretty underrepped. There are no animal buddy assist trophies, and DKC only has DK and Diddy playable. Personally for a new DK character I would prefer Dixie, Cranky or Funky, because the KKR hype kind of put me off a little bit. I dunno, I feel that some of the KKR fans are pretty aggressive; it's like if a character isn't Rool, his louder fans would insist that the character is not "worthy", and I don't like that. In the end, it's up to Sakurai whether KKR should get in or not. "Worthy" is an extremely subjective term. If KKR got in though, I wouldn't mind. I just feel that some of his fans are a little... too passionate about him getting in Smash. :/ Besides, I have more connections with the Kong characters anyway.

In general, I don't really care for reps. The only series that I'm kinda butthurt over rep-wise is Pokemon (Ughhh so many gen 1 pokes. So boring.) Aside from that though, I play Smash mostly for the characters. If a character fits my play style and looks cool, I will use them regardless of what series they're from. People need to understand that not every franchise is going to be represented well in Smash. There are way too many franchises, and representation again in general is a very subjective thing; like, what franchises deserve to be repped, and why? To what extent should that franchise be repped? Sometimes in life, you just have to be grateful for what you have. Smash could have easily not have happened, lol. There are many characters I want in Smash, and none of them except for maybe Dixie are actually possible. Am I upset? No. Sakurai's isn't making the game for me, but for other people as well.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Hmmm, where to start... Okami, Advance Wars, Sin and Punishment, Murasame Castle, Monster Tale, to name a few.

No love for Rhythm Heaven?

And Okami is owned by Capcom by the way.

I just want Nintendo to put in more characters like Pit was in Brawl. Nintendo characters who haven't had a game since the 80's/90's era.
Nintendo characters with 0 representation at all, including trophies.
Yes, I did make an account just to comment on this thread, it's been bugging me for a while now.

While this would be nice, certain fans would probably complain about "nobodies" being in Smash over "X popular or requested character". That's why we normally get a few of those in each Smash title as opposed to half of the newcomers consisting of such characters. So imagine if we were to have characters like Goku, Muddy Mole, Takamaru, Saki, Diskun, Donbe & Hikari, and Balloon Fighter as half of the Smash 5 newcomers. Chances are that fans of Isaac, K Rool, Ridley, or any other fans of a popular modern character wouldn't be very happy with such a roster.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

No love for Rhythm Heaven?

And Okami is owned by Capcom by the way.







While this would be nice, certain fans would probably complain about "nobodies" being in Smash over "X popular or requested character". That's why we normally get a few of those in each Smash title as opposed to half of the newcomers consisting of such characters. So imagine if we were to have characters like Goku, Muddy Mole, Takamaru, Saki, Diskun, Donbe & Hikari, and Balloon Fighter as half of the Smash 5 newcomers. Chances are that fans of Isaac, K Rool, Ridley, or any other fans of a popular modern character wouldn't be very happy with such a roster.

Well yes, but Okamiden was a DS thing. Also, I didn't name all of them. (Also, if you're giving examples in an argument/debate, you don't give all your supporting examples in the first post. )

 

[DrSurgeonGuy]

Well yes, while Xenoblade could easily become a thing, there are still many other Nintendo games with little or no representation in Smash.

Name some other than Golden Sun and Splatoon.
I'm intrigued.

The following three Nintendo games have 0 representation in Smash.
Star Tropics

Joy Mech Fight, Nintendo's first fighting game for the NES, stars a pink robot comedian named Sukapon who moves as fast going forwards or backwards.

Teleraboxer, Nintendo's robot boxing game for the Virtua Boy.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

The following three Nintendo games have 0 representation in Smash.
Star Tropics

Joy Mech Fight, Nintendo's first fighting game for the NES, stars a pink robot comedian named Sukapon who moves as fast going forwards or backwards.

Teleraboxer, Nintendo's robot boxing game for the Virtua Boy.

Apart from StarTropics, I had ABSOLUTELY no idea the other two existed. Good luck finding people who do, though.

 

[DrSurgeonGuy]

Which is why Nintendo should Kid Icarus them.

I mean, this is sort of why Nintendo made Captain Rainbow, a game with B & C-list Nintendo characters-oh wait, that never got out of Japan.

 

[KimKarsmashian]

One series I've seen people claim is underrepped is EarthBound. I think it has a fair amount considering its status as a dead franchise with cult popularity. An AT, okay music selection, and a couple of stages (bring back Fourside! and redesign New Pork City a little). I love EarthBound, and I'd love to see it get even more love, but I think fans start getting a little biased when they say it's underrepped. A more militant director would have removed Ness when they had the chance.

I feel Ice Climbers and Metal Gear have a small problem with their representation, considering they no longer exist. And the one Ice Climber enemy was relegated to the miscellaneous category. What a slap in the face. Nevertheless, while I do love the ICs, their one-hit wonder status prevents them from getting much in the way of representation. Like, I guess you could have those guys who push the ice out as ATs. Or the Condor could hover above the stage holding healing items. But you'd really have to reach. Like EB, it's a series that has - or rather, had - proportionate representation to its popularity.

F-Zero is another one that's difficult for practical reasons. It's a moribund series whose characters don't interact outside the cockpit. Falcon has his moveset because Sakurai was like "well, I made this moveset for before I went all Nintendo... who can I give it to... oh yes, the bird man." For another FZ rep, you'd have to create another moveset out of whole cloth or clone another character. I think "blatantly make stuff up" had its heydey in Smash 64, with the Falcon Punch and Fox setting himself on fire. Nowadays, even characters like Duck Hunt that shouldn't really have a moveset try to reference some game with everything. In some ways, it's good, but it also prevents the same bizarre genius that gave us the FAL-CAWN... PAWWWWNCH from coming up with new stuff. I do think we should get some more not-Mute City music. F-Zero has a lot of good music that could do with some remixing. If you won't even give us nice stages, at least give us the killer music. or resurrect the franchise

I'd like Pac-Man to lose the bizarre and awful Pac-World stage in favor of the 3DS stage. That's one piece of representation that should be forgotten.

Something that I would like to see more of is new (to Smash) IPs. Characters that come from forgotten franchises (IC, ROB, what Pit used to be) or new franchises (Inkling is the obvious candidate, but we had Shulk).

 

[MysticKnives]

Don't really like the whole over/under representation terms. Just seems like a term that could easily be used to hate on a series. However, I do feel like it would be nice if DK got some more representation (whether that be a character, a non Jungle Stage w/non jungle remix, AT, etc...). F-Zero I also think should get a bigger variety in music selection. I feel as if some people tend to view representation as just characters (most of the time. Granted, characters are the biggest aspects). It's also true that not all series will be equal. While sales should not be the deciding factor in how much a series gets, it should play some role. But for the most part, this topic is quite subjective, just my opinion.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Did somebody say Joy Mech Fight and Teleroboxer?

 

[dangeraaron10]

I don't think it would be out of line to add Fiora, Elma or Cross to Smash (pick one of those three), in terms of the person asking if Xenoblade would be "over repped". Two character's isn't a lot, and Xenoblade has a single stage, no Smash run enemies that I know of, and no items. Either a second Chronicles character or someone from X.

As for K. Rool's fanbase, you have to realize that many in that thread have been asking for this character since Melee and continuously get the shaft, and they see this as their last chance to get him into the game, while also making him used again in the Donkey Kong series. I agree that some of them can get a bit heated and sometimes even lash out at folks, but the vast majority of them in there are good people.

 

[Violenceman]

As much as I would like to see more content and diversity for DK and Yoshi, I can't really count them as under-represented as long as there are other Nintendo game series that have to make do with a single trophy (if that) or a song track. Golden Sun and Advance Wars are two that spring to mind immediately and I am saddened they didn't get much recognition at all, even on the handheld focused version of the game.

But the winner by far for me is StarTropics. An adventure game series (there were two games for those not in the know) that has lots of elements that would fit wonderfully into Smash (like catchy music, unique locals and cool weapons) and yet goes completely ignored. I can't begrudge them for not making Mike Jones a playable character, but it's not just that. There has been no StarTropics stage, item, music track, trophy (assist or otherwise)...StarTropics didn't even manage to get a sticker in Brawl and there were hundreds of those things. In fact, the only mention of the StarTropics series in the whole pantheon of Smash is two entries in the Chronicle section of Brawl where it states that, yes, a game called StarTropics was released and there was at one point a sequel.

 

[Morbi]

The only franchise, in my opinion, that is under-represented is Metroid. The reason is quite simple, it is one of Nintendo's most prominent franchises, yet, it only has one character to represent it.

As for over-representation... Mario? I believe that it is proportionally represented, but there are just too many bland "characters" from that franchise for my taste.

 

[dangeraaron10]

The only franchise, in my opinion, that is under-represented is Metroid. The reason is quite simple, it is one of Nintendo's most prominent franchises, yet, it only has one character to represent it.

As for over-representation... Mario? I believe that it is proportionally represented, but there are just too many bland "characters" from that franchise for my taste.

In terms of characters, I agree. We all know Ridley is pretty much the only character we truly need to round out the representation, with the only other character I'd take over him or Dark Samus is Sylux. I'd honestly take Sylux over another version of Samus, even if DS does represent the amazing Prime trilogy, so does Sylux when he comes back for Prime 4.

But I honestly think no character in Metroid should get in over Ridley, I just wish Sakurai wasn't so against his inclusion.

In terms of content, at least Metroid has Assist Trophies. Donkey Kong can't claim the same.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

Kid Icarus straddles over-representation. Bolstering three characters, six items, bonus music on the 3DS, an overwhelming number of baddies in Smash Run, and a heap of recorded dialogue in a game that otherwise does not have much sustained speech, one might mistake Kid Icarus for one of the thickest pillars of Nintendo alongside Mario, Zelda and Pokémon. I don't even want to look up how many trophies this series has to its name - probably one for each charm on Palutena's sash.

I agree that content should be added on its merit. If a character, setting, or concept has what it takes to make a good Smash Bros. fighter, stage, or item, then by all means, divert the resources toward it and make it happen. With Kid Icarus content, however, it seems like Sakurai was overzealous about his most recent project, and wanted it to be placed on a higher pedestal than it warrants.

If you don't have the 3DS version and haven't played Smash Run, then you have not even experienced the full implications of Kid Icarus baddies by the barrow. Once you've been pursued across the map by a Mimicutie, into the gnashing fangs of an Orne, you can't speak from the heart how infuriating it all is. From the Wanted Clubberskull tanking all your Powers, to the Mahva's barrier gimping an otherwise easy recovery and stopping you from reaching rewards, the KI enemies are altogether the third biggest killer of fun in this mode, after lack of online play or interaction on the map. They're all annoying and you're just surrounded by them in every play-through.

The nepotism going on has left a bad taste in my mouth. I groan whenever I have to play as or against Pit, Palutena or Dark Pit. I've never felt like that about any character in the history of Smash before. And I promise it has nothing to do with them "taking a slot" from a character I wanted, because I am not that loyal to any particular character anyway. It's just burnout from seeing so much content from games that are either not very good (first two games) or don't appeal to me remotely (Uprising).

Otherwise, the content balance has always seemed about right to me.

 

[dangeraaron10]

Kid Icarus straddles over-representation. Bolstering three characters, six items, bonus music on the 3DS, an overwhelming number of baddies in Smash Run, and a heap of recorded dialogue in a game that otherwise does not have much sustained speech, one might mistake Kid Icarus for one of the thickest pillars of Nintendo alongside Mario, Zelda and Pokémon. I don't even want to look up how many trophies this series has to its name - probably one for each charm on Palutena's sash.

I agree that content should be added on its merit. If a character, setting, or concept has what it takes to make a good Smash Bros. fighter, stage, or item, then by all means, divert the resources toward it and make it happen. With Kid Icarus content, however, it seems like Sakurai was overzealous about his most recent project, and wanted it to be placed on a higher pedestal than it warrants.

If you don't have the 3DS version and haven't played Smash Run, then you have not even experienced the full implications of Kid Icarus baddies by the barrow. Once you've been pursued across the map by a Mimicutie, into the gnashing fangs of an Orne, you can't speak from the heart how infuriating it all is. From the Wanted Clubberskull tanking all your Powers, to the Mahva's barrier gimping an otherwise easy recovery and stopping you from reaching rewards, the KI enemies are altogether the third biggest killer of fun in this mode, after lack of online play or interaction on the map. They're all annoying and you're just surrounded by them in every play-through.

The nepotism going on has left a bad taste in my mouth. I groan whenever I have to play as or against Pit, Palutena or Dark Pit. I've never felt like that about any character in the history of Smash before. And I promise it has nothing to do with them "taking a slot" from a character I wanted, because I am not that loyal to any particular character anyway. It's just burnout from seeing so much content from games that are either not very good (first two games) or don't appeal to me remotely (Uprising).

Otherwise, the content balance has always seemed about right to me.

This is why I wanted Smash Run to be more customizable. If you could adjust the difficulty and number of CPUs and also dictate which enemies appear in Smash Run like the Item Switch mode, this mode would be a LOT more enjoyable. Every time I open it up I feel like I'm playing in an Uprising mini-game. I also wouldn't mind the Enemy Switch to have more thematic runs, like an all Mario run or something or an all Kirby run. And also to turn off some of the incredibly annoying enemies, many of which belong to Kid Icarus...

Yeah, I honestly feel soured on that series because of Smash 3DS. I just look at it and groan. And it has nothing to do with Palutena or Dark Pit. I'm actually okay with Fire Emblem, all it has is characters and a couple of stages (two of which are just ambiguous medieval structures with no connection to the actual game save Arena Ferox, one of my favorite 3DS stages). I think it feels just right, with a sort of perfect storm of promoted alt and highly requested Melee vet bolstering an only 3 strong lineup.

Edit: On that link Wanderer put up showing the list of Smash Run enemies, do yourself a favor and click on the little arrow that organizes the enemies by series and you'll see how many enemies are from KI compared to everything else, with only Mario ones even coming close.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

This is why I wanted Smash Run to be more customizable. If you could adjust the difficulty and number of CPUs and also dictate which enemies appear in Smash Run like the Item Switch mode, this mode would be a LOT more enjoyable. Every time I open it up I feel like I'm playing in an Uprising mini-game. I also wouldn't mind the Enemy Switch to have more thematic runs, like an all Mario run or something or an all Kirby run. And also to turn off some of the incredibly annoying enemies, many of which belong to Kid Icarus...

Yeah, I honestly feel soured on that series because of Smash 3DS. I just look at it and groan. And it has nothing to do with Palutena or Dark Pit. I'm actually okay with Fire Emblem, all it has is characters and a couple of stages (two of which are just ambiguous medieval structures with no connection to the actual game save Arena Ferox, one of my favorite 3DS stages). I think it feels just right, with a sort of perfect storm of promoted alt and highly requested Melee vet bolstering an only 3 strong lineup.

An Enemy Switch is a good idea. It would help a ton. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll patch it in...

Fire Emblem is fine with me as well. It has a few more characters than I'd ever have guessed (especially since Brawl only had two), but four of them feel like important pieces of the Smash jigsaw. Fire Emblem, usually introducing a new cast with each installment, has a lot of good characters to lend, so that's what it does. Not overdoing it with auxiliary content. (I still think the series needs a break in SSB5, though.)

 

[Putuk]

One series I've seen people claim is underrepped is EarthBound. I think it has a fair amount considering its status as a dead franchise with cult popularity. An AT, okay music selection, and a couple of stages (bring back Fourside! and redesign New Pork City a little). I love EarthBound, and I'd love to see it get even more love, but I think fans start getting a little biased when they say it's underrepped. A more militant director would have removed Ness when they had the chance.

If anything should be added for EarthBound, it'd only be Porky if boss battles ever return, and maybe a Mii costume.
A stage for Smash 5 maybe. And how about some actual battle themes for once to go with it?

Two reps is more than we should ask for.
I really hope both Ness and Lucas return in future installments.

 

[RouffWestie]

Most characters from a "removed assist trophy" series is now underrepresented because they didn't get anything in return.
So Custom Robo, Golden Sun, and Excitebike count are underrepresented.

Other than that, Rhythm Heaven is popular enough for more than just one enemy to represent it.