I like that number over 40, lots more. Would be sad to see a barely larger roster if they did have anything less than 45 really.
64 had 12
Melee had 26/25 with 12 new
Brawl had 39/36 with 16 new
Seems to me like they would have to be seriously taking too much time on things to only have 40 people Included. Seeing as how Dr Mario was allegedly supposed to be included but was dropped to time constraints, no series has lessened without having tried it seems. Sure Pokemon has replaced a couple but they still kept their numbers. I'm still waiting for Jiggs to be confirmed, otherwise having 3 cut pokemon would really be a sour note.
I understand that it's a bit disappointing, but Sakurai himself seems to be a little cautious in approaching huge rosters because he thinks there's a chance a character's uniqueness can get lost in the number. And yes, Namco's done large rosters before, but there is a fair amount of padding despite the unique characters. Yes, P.Jack and GunJack and Jack-6 count for three fighters, but they each have
roughly the same moveset, only with tweaks that make their overall playstyles different. Christie/Eddy is another duo that falls into that trap(and I'll be honest, I'm not sure how clone-ish they are now, but last time I checked in T5, they were very close together in similarity). What I think Sakurai wants is more characters that he can distinctly point at and go 'they're unique' rather than 'they're a derivative'. Yes by the most loose of definitions Samus and Mega Man are 'clones' if you extrapolate the context beyond where it should go, but Fox/Falco/Wolf is definitely a sore point here. So it would make sense that he would spend less time on
more characters and more time on
better characters.
Remember, Smash initially came out with 12 total fighters at a time where rosters were routinely 25-30(SFAlpha series, UMK3, Tekken2-3), so it's not at all bewildering to expect them to hang back on the sheer number if it means a better experience with each individual.
EDIT: Hey, just so it doesn't seem like I'm
completely doom-and-gloom, here's a hypothetical moveset that I feel would not only appeal to Wolf's character and playstyle(close-range heavy brawler) but would also set him apart from the other spacies!
A-moves: Identical to Brawl.
B-moves: His standard equipment is replaced by an all-purpose Wolf Buster(think an oversized energy shotgun that's held like a minigun). He wears this slung on his back in his idle and A-attack animations but will swing it forward to attack with his B-moves. In a way, this makes his A-moves hand-to-hand, and B-moves weapon-based. After he uses a B-move, the weapon remains in his hands until he uses an A-move. It doesn't do anything mechanically, just flavors his movement. As for what his B-moves would specifically do, read on...
B Neutral: Scattershot Blast. He swings the weapon into position if it's not already(or jabs it forward into position if it is at the 'ready') and fires a blast of 8 pulses distributed randomly in a 60-degree cone in front of him with bias towards a 30-degree arc in front of him. Each pulse will deal 2% damage and apply a good amount of knockback, but it fires slowly. Farther targets will most likely be hit by fewer pulses and take less damage and knockback, but targets at point-blank risk severe damage if they don't shield. The jab forward is also actually an attack, so the move can combo into the blast if the enemy were hit by the physical jab of the startup. Shield damage is very low on the attack though, meaning it can be shielded relatively safely.
B Side: Rifle Butt. He swipes the weapon across at chest-level and smacks the opponent with the butt of it. It's close-range, and wouldn't deal much damage(3-5%) but would cause the opponent to fall backwards as though they had tripped, creating potential combo situations. If blocked, the shield damage is heavy, and pushes the blocking target a short distance if it doesn't break the shield, making standing and shielding in front of Wolf a potentially dangerous game, particularly if in front of an edge.
B Down: Core Dump. He opens an exhaust port on the weapon and dumps a still-volatile ammo canister from it a short distance in front of him, serving as a mine that will detonate either on proximity of an enemy or after a short time. Dispensing another one causes the first to fade harmlessly. Wolf can be harmed by the blast, but the core discharge would place the 'mine' far enough that the back of an opponent would be hit, but Wolf himself would not, provided he is at close range and manages his spacing well.
B Up: Overload. He charges the weapon for the duration of the button press. If falling, his falling speed is unaffected. Once the button is released or maximum charge is attained, he will blast the weapon in the direction and knock himself a significant distance in opposite direction. A small shield will form during the attack, canceling projectiles and causing significant damage and knockback to targets hit.
Final Smash: Barrage. He slams his weapon barrel-first into the ground and kneels beside it, charging it as in Overload. A small impenetrable shield forms over him and his co-pilots fly in and bombard the area with lasers and nova bombs. Once the attack is over, he stands up in a cocky manner and discharges a core as though performing Core Dump, though this core is not armed and does not count against his 1-mine limit.
