Ok maybe this isn’t exactly the same thing but if Kasumi got in over Ryu Hayabusa I’mma say that’s a slap in the face for me.
I don't personally find any of these "slap in the faces" myself, but I get what you mean.
At least Kasumi is a notable character, so it's somewhat less painful, but still.
But keep in mind I speak from a developer's perspective too. I definitely wasn't happy with Min Min over Spring Man myself, but I completely understand the situation. Yazuki asked Nintendo to add Min Min, Nintendo suggested Min Min to Sakurai(who already liked the idea of Min Min or Ninjara as playable), and the rest is history. Sometimes it's as simple as that. Another example is PP, who was added in just cause Sakurai wanted a non-protagonist, and chose an iconic Mook as a character. You got an iconic Mook or no one. A fun new DLC option that could justify an early purchase of the game for a bonus character. Simple.
As I work on fighting games myself, including crossovers, I have to carefully choose alts/references/etc. and look at tons of things. Trending times, some bias mixed in, etc. The big one I'm still figuring out the cast for is an N64 Fighter where every character must have appeared fully in an N64 game(or is a special guest), and they must have originated from a video game or specifically be created as a video game OC(even if based upon another character). These guidelines, much like Sakurai has, help have a fun and unique roster and helps overall remove ideas so you have a smaller set of overall options to work with. You can only do so much, so it's a necessity, after all. It'd be great if you could throw anyone and anything in, but... that's unrealistic. This ain't M.U.G.E.N.
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