A Switch-Centric Smash Roster

[SharkLord]

SSBU's roster is cool and all, but it operated on a different mentality compared to past Smash games. Previously, Smash rosters were an insight as to what was relevant at the time; Something of a time capsule. Ultimate, on the other hand, was primarily focused on bringing back every veteran, with most of the newcomers being geared towards fan-favorites or big-name third-parties. So I was thinking, what would a more Switch-centric roster look like?

So I slapped this together. Keep in mind, I ended up focusing less on "Would this roster be realistic?" and more on "Would this roster be fun?" So, a couple choices wouldn't be considered "likely." Namely Adol, Reimu, and Goku, who were added for personal appeal more than anything. I also tried to limit third-parties to games more readily associated with Nintendo, as I don't think a normal Smash game would have nearly as many third-parties as Ultimate did.

So yeah, how's it look? Oh yeah, and I suppose you can post some Switch-centric rosters of your own. I think that would fit the thread

 

[Kirbeh]

I like a lot of the newcomer choices, but at the same time am also baffled by some of the omissions.

In the end, while there are a lot of Switch relevant characters, it doesn't feel very focused if that makes sense? I get the "for fun" aspect, but with that being the case did it need to be "switch centric" if there was a lot of personal choice anyway?

I'd be more curious to see what you'd personally want without the focus on the Switch era. This one seems like it limited your choices but then you didn't fully adhere to the idea in the end.

 

[Laniv]

Why Raichu over Pikachu?

 

[SharkLord]

Probably should've clarified it was a sort of soft-reboot, in that I didn't stress over veterans vs newcomers and primarily focused on who'd be relevant to the Switch era; The assumption was that Ultimate would still exist, so the "cut" veterans would still be on a game that's widely available. I guess it would've been more clear if it was pitched as primarily a Switch roster first and a Smash roster second

I like a lot of the newcomer choices, but at the same time am also baffled by some of the omissions.

In the end, while there are a lot of Switch relevant characters, it doesn't feel very focused if that makes sense? I get the "for fun" aspect, but with that being the case did it need to be "switch centric" if there was a lot of personal choice anyway?

I'd be more curious to see what you'd personally want without the focus on the Switch era. This one seems like it limited your choices but then you didn't fully adhere to the idea in the end.

If I may ask, what ommissions are there? Mainly, I was going for the best-selling titles on the Switch; I mainly cheated with A: The three bias picks, and B: Fox and Captain Falcon, who are on the Switch but haven't gotten any major titles. And Ike and Lyn, I suppose, but between Heroes and Engage, modern Fire Emblem seems to want players to remember the older characters, so it seemed worthwhile to put in more than just Marth and the Three Houses Lords.

Truth be told I took a couple liberties because... Well, it is more fun building a roster where the rules are more like guidelines. and also because i have a poor since of self control

Why Raichu over Pikachu?

I like Raichu. He's funny

Truth be told he was conceptualized very early on, when the main focus was "Smash soft reboot so I don't have to worry over veterans," so I just made Pikachu evolve into Raichu for the lulz. Turns out, most games in Smash would probably end up more or less the same, so admittedly Raichu sticks out like a sore thumb because no other character was rebooted that hard. But it's also really funny to me so he stuck around. If I was just a bit more strict on guidelines I'd probably stick with Pikachu like a normal person

 

[Kirbeh]

Probably should've clarified it was a sort of soft-reboot, in that I didn't stress over veterans vs newcomers and primarily focused on who'd be relevant to the Switch era; The assumption was that Ultimate would still exist, so the "cut" veterans would still be on a game that's widely available. I guess it would've been more clear if it was pitched as primarily a Switch roster first and a Smash roster second

If I may ask, what ommissions are there? Mainly, I was going for the best-selling titles on the Switch; I mainly cheated with A: The three bias picks, and B: Fox and Captain Falcon, who are on the Switch but haven't gotten any major titles. And Ike and Lyn, I suppose, but between Heroes and Engage, modern Fire Emblem seems to want players to remember the older characters, so it seemed worthwhile to put in more than just Marth and the Three Houses Lords.

Truth be told I took a couple liberties because... Well, it is more fun building a roster where the rules are more like guidelines. and also because i have a poor since of self control


I like Raichu. He's funny

Truth be told he was conceptualized very early on, when the main focus was "Smash soft reboot so I don't have to worry over veterans," so I just made Pikachu evolve into Raichu for the lulz. Turns out, most games in Smash would probably end up more or less the same, so admittedly Raichu sticks out like a sore thumb because no other character was rebooted that hard. But it's also really funny to me so he stuck around. If I was just a bit more strict on guidelines I'd probably stick with Pikachu like a normal person

The main omissions that surprised me were Pikachu, Diddy and Ness. Regardless of the era being focused on the former two remain as prominent/relevant characters. Pikachu especially as the literal series mascot seems odd to exclude even if you're adding Raichu.

I think it'd make more sense to have Raichu there in place of Pichu, not as a literal replacement as another straight up clone, but in a similar vein of having another member of the same line.

Then the complete absence of Mother feels off, both for being one of the original series present since 64 and despite being over, it's still a beloved series overall. The fact that you did retain Falcon only made his exclusion feel even more odd prior to your explanation.

 

[Pupp135]

I’ll make my attempt at a Switch heavy roster with roughly 55 unique fighters. I’ll have characters ordered by franchise.

Mario
Luigi
Bowser
Peach (Daisy echo)
Rosalina
Toad
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Yoshi
Wario
Ashley
Ice Climbers
Link
Link’s Awakening Link
Zelda
Ganon
Samus
Marth (Lucina echo)
Chrom
Byleth
Kirby
King Dedede
Meta Knight
Bandana Waddle Dee
Fox
Ness
Pikachu
Pokemon Trainer (I’ll just leave them as is because the Let’s Go games were a thing).
Lucario
Cinderace
Villager
Isabelle
Tom Nook
Olimar
Shulk
Mythra/Pyra (the Rex gimmick isn’t feasible)
Inkling (Octoling echo)
DJ Octavio
Ring Fit Trainee
Sonic (Metal Sonic echo)
Shadow
Bayonetta
Mega Man
Ryu (Ken echo)
Pac-Man
Steve (Alex echo)
Cloud
Tidus
Sora
Mii Fighters

Spoiler: Notes

I intentionally left out Alear, a Galar Pokemon, and Noah/Mio because I don’t really know when this game would’ve come out, so I’ll assume right before the Covid pandemic for convenience.
Ice Climbers, Ness, and Tidus are only here out of pure bias.

 

[Perkilator]

Here's a roster I made based on what I know is popular on Switch.