35 or 48 characters? What do you believe?

[Nasir]

There are two different rumors about the roster size. And of course both can't be right, so this thread will we discuss possibilities and probabilities.

In argument for 35 characters we have these leakers who have come up with what they say is the whole roster and it seems to be a dissapointment for most of us. Some of them have been right in the past, which makes at least me a lot worried.

But then we've got some arguements for 48 characters. One of them is a Japanese newspaper who claims that there will be 48 characters and something about model changes I think, if I remember correctly. And another speculation some of us have made is regarding famitsu's claims of 240 hrs to beat SSE with all characters. Well, they also say (I think it was them) that it takes about 2-5 hrs for a single playthrough. 5 X 48 = 240 hrs.

But who knows really if they have counted it like that. Nintendo also stated a while back that there will be more characters that we can imagine, which also points to the 48 number. Unless those words didn't mean anything of course...

Anyway the arguments are a handful, but which one of these choices do you believe?

I personally believe 48, yes I'm optimistic, but it's the only logical answer. I mean no new women, and many of the most popular choices by the fans and the poll would get cut?!! I find no reason for that. So yes I believe fully for the 48 character, but I'm worried I'm wrong. And who knows maybe both of these theories are wrong, and the character roster would be somewhere between 35 and 48. But still 48 I believe!

 

[Bane84]

I'm vouching for the 35 one, simply because it will be a lot more surprising if I'm believing this one, and the game comes out to reveal that there are, in fact, more characters than I had previously anticipated.

 

[iluvnintendo1983]

I'm hoping for the 48 character rumor to be true, but I'm afraid the 35 one is much more likely.

I don't care if there's less then 48 characters...I mean, that is a lot. However, I would like at least 40.

 

[Terrabottuti]

While the idea of 48 characters is really wet-dream material for most of us (including me), the reality is that the whole 35 characters theory has a lot more backup behind it, and generally seems a bit realistic when you consider the intense work put into everything else like modes and stages.

Also, since I'm somehow lucky enough to get almost everyone I wanted in Brawl already, I'm much more happy to believe there will be 35 characters, unlike a lot of other people around here... I'd LOVE to be proven wrong, but however I'm still happy with 35.

 

[Matt Silver]

I'm thinking niether (neither?) is right. I'm sticking with 42 being the amount. Can't beat that number.

 

[perpetual ownage]

I think the "more characters than you can imagine" thing was talking about ats.

 

[Levia7han117]

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[Collective of Bears]

I'm hoping for 48, but most likely niether are true. 35 wouldn't be enough for all the highly requested chars. I'm guessing maybe 42-45 chars.

 

[EarthboundMun]

40 sounds a lot more believeable

 

[The Noob Legend]

The 40's range here.
We don't need a shortage of characters, because this is Sakurai's last stand.

 

[Wreked]

I think it may be 48.

With the leaked info about Lucario, Brawl is starting to look like it's going to be a fan's game. Meaning if a lot of people want that character, and they have a unique moveset, then they have a shot of getting in.

All Lucario had going for him really was fans. Yeah he is a fighting type pokemon, which is perfect for smash, but there are still other unique fighting type pokemon out there. So my theory is that if they scored high on the polls(Ridley and I hate to admit it Geno) they will most likely be in. And characters that either weren't on the polls or didn't score well but have a strong fan base(Wolf) they may be in too.

So basically in order to please fans and to get those characters that are popular and throw in one or two wtfs, 48 seems reasonable to me.

 

[motsalogeL]

48 characters = Nintendo making the first game that can last more than 5 minutes on the Wii.
35 characters = Yet another reason to leave Nintendo.

 

[Weltunter]

I think 48 as well.

They put so much work into the stages, created tons of music, assisst trophies, new items and the awesome Subspace Emissary and the roster should be measly 35 characters big? No way!

 

[Lucas_User]

The 48 one seems more real.
Only 5 unlockables for the 35 roster?

 

[Ithilgore]

I don't believe either of them are right, I'd say it'll be closer to 40. One seems a bit too low, considering all the characters we've already had revealed, and the other seems too excessive, and unlikely, almost double what Melee's was, and Melee had plenty..

 

[Bane84]

Technically, we already have 25 confirmed characters on the Dojo (counting Sheik and ZSS as separate characters), plus Ness, Lucario, and Jigglypuff via the video for 28.

Add speculation to Captain Falcon, Luigi, Falco, Ganondorf, and Marth as returning veterans, and that brings the total to 33.

This leaves room for two more newcomers, speculation that Wolf is one of them, bringing the total to 34.

Who fills this last slot if we assume this speculation? Some people say R.O.B. If this is the case, would it get its own World Icon, and if so, what could it be?

Of course, this is assuming Sheik and ZSS as separate characters. If not, then that leaves 3 slots open for newcomers, assuming no more returning veterans.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I still believe 40-45. The supposed "leaked" 35 roster leaves out so many characters that people have been clamoring for and is unGodly predictible. No Isaac, no Geno, no Krystal, no Ridley, no King K. Rool... It's almost depressing.

 

[Weltunter]

I don't believe either of them are right, I'd say it'll be closer to 40. One seems a bit too low, considering all the characters we've already had revealed, and the other seems too excessive, and unlikely, almost double what Melee's was, and Melee had plenty..

There are some characters included who would have been in Melee anyway but didn't make the cut because of a lack of time (Pit, Dedede, Wario...)

PLUS

the addition of 3rd party characters

PLUS

new games which came up with new characters after Melee which would provide even more characters (7 years is a long time)


So it's very possible that Brawl's roster is nearly twice as big as Melee's

 

[JPSChampagne]

48 characters would be too many to believe. 35 would be a gigantic disappointment. The math speaks well for the 48, but the odds speak well for 35. I'm going to have to say I believe in 35, but I'll be hoping to be proved wrong once the game hits Japan. I just hope Nintendo has made this game for the fans, by their requests. The roster associated with the 35 just seems like it completely ignores the most popular characters.

 

[Bane84]

48 characters would be too many to believe. 35 would be a gigantic disappointment. The math speaks well for the 48, but the odds speak well for 35. I'm going to have to say I believe in 35, but I'll be hoping to be proved wrong once the game hits Japan. I just hope Nintendo has made this game for the fans, by their requests. The roster associated with the 35 just seems like it completely ignores the most popular characters.

That's following the logic behind my previous post, correct?

 

[AlbelNox]

Yeah, 48 would be perfect, and it's way much more believable than a 35 characters roster. But I'll bet for something like 40-45.

 

[Ithilgore]

There are some characters included who would have been in Melee anyway but didn't make the cut because of a lack of time (Pit, Dedede, Wario...)

PLUS

the addition of 3rd party characters

PLUS

new games which came up with new characters after Melee which would provide even more characters (7 years is a long time)


So it's very possible that Brawl's roster is nearly twice as big as Melee's

But with Brawl's new emphasis on balance, a massive roster like that would hard to keep even in terms of abilities. 48 just seems like a bit too much, 40 or so would mean 15 more then Melee, minus say 4 clones (assuming Ganondorf/Falco get new movesets) and that's 19 new characters. Looking at it there, 48 is actually possible after all, my bad. I still don't think they'll spoil us to that extent in terms of the roster.

 

[ZeldaFox38]

I'll go >35. Mwa ha ha! You cannot escape math!

It seems like there is so much potential to have only 35 characters available.

Edit: Woohoo! Class change!

 

[Jesus Freak Nor]

I say 48.

A. The more, the merrier.
B. Sakurai said AGES ago that there would be no more than 50 characters. If he mentions 50, WHY would he make it 35. As opposed to 48, which is closer to 50.

BTW, before you ask...I don't remember where Sakurai said that, but he did. Unlike SO MANY things that people say he said, he actually said this. Maybe someone else knows and can tell.

 

[Nasir]

I say 48.

A. The more, the merrier.
B. Sakurai said AGES ago that there would be no more than 50 characters. If he mentions 50, WHY would he make it 35. As opposed to 48, which is closer to 50.

BTW, before you ask...I don't remember where Sakurai said that, but he did. Unlike SO MANY things that people say he said, he actually said this. Maybe someone else knows and can tell.

Yeah, now that you're saying that, I remember. He said it in an update I think, and yes it does indicate that it's close to, but not, more than 50 characters. Another thing that points to 48 character.

 

[chrisking570]

id say around 43 1st/2nd party and 2 3rd party unless there is another 3rd party revealed which would change it to 42 1st/2nd party and 3 3rd party
i would be very 'chuffed' with that.

Chris

 

[thetoastinator]

Personally, I think that 40 characters is the perfect number. I mean, I am happy with the roster so far...but I really want to see if some more newcomers could get in. Ridley, Bowser jr. Etc...


Also, on the Dojo, we have 25 Characters right now......including ZSS, Sheik, and excluding the Pokemon from PT.

If we add the 5 most known veterans, Luigi, Ganondorf, Jigglypuff, C. Falcon, and Ness.
That would equal 30

Also, we have that leaked info of Lucario of being in. So now it is 31 characters


So, that means we have about 1-2 3rd party characters and about 2-3 newcomers.


That is for the 35 character roster theory though.

For the 48 roster theory, there is more newcomers.
There would be most likely 2-7 3rd party characters and about 10-15 newcomers......that seems a bit big huh?

So I am going with my own 40 roster theory....

 

[Gedennnnn]

I'd be so disappointed with 35. That's hardly any new characters at all considering the amount of vets coming back that takes up already more than half the roster.

 

[Zealot2120]

The original smash had 25 characters (including shiek and zelda as one). Right now we have 12 newcomers on the dojo. Lets assume that Dr. Mario, Pichu, Falco, Marth, mewtwo, Young Link and Roy are all taken out (not saying they will, but they have the highest possiblity of being taken out). I'm pretty sure the rest of the characters will be left in due to original movesets, character popularity (Gannondorf), and the new sticker finding (Ness). That brings our total of vets to 19. Adding in our newcomers, we are now at 31.

Now it can be said that Sakurai will not reduce the amount of characters from a series (that's my opinion). So if he is going to remove Dr. Mario, he will have to replace him with someone. Same goes with falco, Marth/Roy (only one replacement is needed since we have Ike), Young Link, and Pichu/Mewtwo. Well lucerio is obvoiusly the pokemon replacement, due to the sticker find. So adding in a rep from each of those series, we are brought up to 35.

So now we at that predicted 35. This leaves Metroid with only one/two representatives for a series that has become incredibly popular in recent years. This also leaves out one of the most asked for characters on Sakurai's list, Geno. Also I feel like there will be at least one more retro character announced before the end, due to Sakurai's love for retro.

This also means that there will be NO increase in characters for any series outside of the one's already expanded.

It is possible, but I find it somewhat hard to believe.

 

[GreenKirby]

41.5

Duh!

 

[SvartWolf]

I Hope really for 48, I mean this game has to bee worth the seven years...

we could perfectly be in the fourth or fifth smash if it wasn't because nintendo knows how to administrate their franchises

also, a "dream roster" that i made (with all my options and the more popular options also) had 52 characters which I think is the best number... but with 48 I would be happy

 

[AshtonDragon]

You guys realize that more characters will likely lead to a less balanced game, right?
35 is a fine number.

 

[Wolffe]

I personally believe 48, yes I'm optimistic, but it's the only logical answer. I mean no new women, and many of the most popular choices by the fans and the poll would get cut?!! I find no reason for that. So yes I believe fully for the 48 character, but I'm worried I'm wrong. And who knows maybe both of these theories are wrong, and the character roster would be somewhere between 35 and 48. But still 48 I believe!

I reckon they were possibly including the special 'alternative characters', such as Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, and possibly the seperate pokemon from Pokemon trainer too, so they could still have been referring to the same '35' characters

 

[Weltunter]

You guys realize that more characters will likely lead to a less balanced game, right?
35 is a fine number.

Fun and Diversity > Balance

 

[AshtonDragon]

Fun and Diversity > Balance

I see your point, but part of the reason why SSBM got so popular as a competitive game and lasted for so long was because of its balance. And it's not like the game wont be ridiculously fun if it "only" has 35 characters. That's still a lot more than Melee had.

 

[BraveDave88]

35, just because Melee's (frankly underwhelming) roster managed to steal our hearts over the course of time. No matter what, we'll learn to love it.

 

[Nasir]

I see your point, but part of the reason why SSBM got so popular as a competitive game and lasted for so long was because of its balance. And it's not like the game wont be ridiculously fun if it "only" has 35 characters. That's still a lot more than Melee had.

Personally it's not just the number of 35 characters that would dissapoint me if that number is true, it's what characters who's playable that would be the biggest dissapointment. Most of my most wanted newcomers would not make it, if that roster that was leaked is true. Krystal, Midna, Micaiah, Mega Man, King K. Rool, Geno, Kamek and Sylux are my most wanted characters and none of them would be playable. Of course I don't mind Lucario and Wolf being playable, but if none of my most wanted characters made it, it would still be a really big, big dissapointment.

 

[Reyairia]

You guys realize that more characters will likely lead to a less balanced game, right?
35 is a fine number.

With all the time and large amounts of people working on this game, I'm sure they could pull it off.

48 would surprise me, but 35 would surprise me more.

 

[JoJoRukus]

I don't know where this 48 number is coming from... I know that supposed leaks pointed to 35, but this 48 is a mystery to me.

Anyway, for me, the bigger the roster is, the better. Looking back at the transition from the original to Melee, the roster jumped from a roster of 12 (8 standard, 4 secret), to a roster of about 25 (14 standard, 11 secret), a number almost twice the original number. HOWEVER, only 7 of said 13 additional characters were completely unique, in the sense they were not clones. But just because they are clones does not mean that thought, time and effort wasn't put into their creation... but it might have meant slightly LESS of all that.

Anyway, my hopes ever since Melee was that either the roster would continue to rise at a rate set by the original smash, setting it around the forseen 35 mark, a little bit higher actually, OR it would double again from Melee as Melee doubled from the original, setting it closer to 48. This, in my mind anyway, is what makes either of these numbers reasonable, but based on how fun it was to unlock characters in Melee (for me anyway), I do not see why in the world the team would try and stiff everyone with only 5 unlockable characters when they've had so much apparent time and resources to spend on this thing.

 

[Mario_ 101]

I'm hoping for 48. It'd keep me occupied for a while, with all the target tests and such, not to mention the vs. play, which'd be like 2x better than melee.