Alright, this might seem like a weird thing to do, but here's a bit of an unusual one from me - a sort of "What if?" in terms of, "What if Smash Bros.'s first title was released today?" I'm going to presume, for the sake of argument, that the landscape of gaming is similar enough to be fairly indistinguishable from that of the current - whilst there's obviously arguments like "BUT FIRE EMBLEM" to be made, I think it'd make things easier if we just presume that the only difference in this bizarro world is that Smash released... today. This is also presuming that Nintendo even has any interest in making a game like this - I'm not sure how Nintendo in this world would feel about Pikachu being killed with a sword or something, but I'm going to presume it's fine. Anyways, getting into it:
(Note that yellow is your starting roster, pink is your unlockables, and green is your DLC.)
01.
Mario. This feels like a really, really obvious pick - and that's because it is. I've based the majority of this roster on either the most prominent of Nintendo IPs or the best-selling Switch titles, and Mario obviously fits both. It's unequivocal.
02.
Pikachu. This would be the first issue of "would they want this character in a fighting game?", but I think Pokken proves this is feasible. Again, an obvious pick, a prominent series, and an icon of gaming. NEXT PLEASE.
03.
Link. Specifically in his BotW design? Okay, whilst we all love his green tunic look, Nintendo would want to use this game for promotion - and with BotW2 on its way and BotW already being the fourth best-selling Switch title, it's a shoe-in pick.
04.
Inkling. One of Nintendo's biggest "new" IPs, and an overall unique moveset based on projectiles, as well as a fully-fledged series at this point, I think Inkling can safely be said to be a shoe-in pick at this point too.
05.
Bowser. This roster spot was difficult. I considered having Donkey Kong here, but in the end, I felt that the "DK series" getting its own rep in the base roster would be better suited for another role. He's essentially your "villain rep", a heavyweight, and a Mario character. Shoe-in pick.
06.
Spring Man. This one was difficult. I had a few ideas as to who to place here - but I felt an ARMS rep would be a logical pick for something like this, and then it was like "which ARMS character?" Well, he'd probably have Spring Girl as a model-swap alternate "costume" of sorts.
07.
Kirby. I think Kirby's in an interesting position here. Constantly relevant, lots of Nintendo history, might not be as instantaneously iconic as Mario or Pikachu, but makes a lot of sense to include nonetheless. Plenty of potential too!
08.
Chrom. Now, this was
incredibly difficult. I originally had Byleth in this role, but I think Chrom is a better representative of the whole "Fire Emblem" series - he fulfils the traditional Lord archetype, has somewhat recent relevence, and is a somewhat popular fan pick from the series. Three Houses strikes me as a logical DLC pick for cross-promotion, and whilst Marth is important to the series, a part of me does feel that Chrom would be better suited here.
Now, for the unlockables...
09.
Charizard. An obvious Pokemon pick, though one I massively deliberated on. I originally considered having Mewtwo here, or perhaps a Gen VIII pick, but I felt that Charizard's ever-present relevence, as well as being iconic in his own right, made him a logical pick. This isn't even getting into his really unique moveset potential for a game like this!
10.
Luigi. Luigi
isn't a Mario clone, but I felt he would would work well as a safe unlockable pick. His moveset is based on a wide variety of different appearances, with a focus on
Luigi's Mansion, but he has similarities to his brother of course.
11.
Samus. Metroid is a very cool series, but not one exactly known for selling massively well. As such, Samus felt like a reasonable addition to the roster as an unlockable fighter - one that acts as a degree of cross-promotion for more recent Metroid titles like
Dread and the upcoming
Prime 4, but also calls back to Metroid's history with Nintendo. Her moveset would be a lot lighter than her current Smash moveset, more similar to her manouverability in her source material.
12.
Villager. I ended up putting Villager here because the nature of "OMG, THEY ACTUALLY PUT ANIMAL CROSSING IN THIS GAME??" feels like a really funny misdirection to have in the unlockable category. Animal Crossing is undeniably a huge IP to represent somewhere, but I felt that putting them in this role would be generally a cool way to end off the unlockables with a weird, but cool inclusion.
Now, for DLC!
13.
Donkey Kong. Day-One DLC is a touchy subject, but I think Donkey Kong lends well to it. He's a Nintendo icon, with tons of history to pull from, and whilst he may not boast as many sales in terms of his home series as other IPs, DK is an obvious "sit up and take notice" pick for DLC that would pique interest very, very quickly. His moveset would mostly be pulled from the DKC series, but there'd be a couple of hints and nods to titles like the original arcade game.
14.
Sportsmate. This spot was between three characters - Ring Fit Trainee, Mii, or Sportsmate - but ultimately, I went with the latter. Ring Fit Adventure is a brilliant game that I'd love to see represented, but with Nintendo Switch Sports being a more recent - and more rapidly selling - title, I felt it would be of more interest to Nintendo to cross-promote a live service game with this character. Likewise, whilst a Mii would be a great Wii rep, and does have Switch functionality, I think Nintendo is somewhat trying to phase out the Miis - and overall, the Sportsmate feels like they'd have a more set-in-stone moveset.
15.
Byleth. A Three Houses rep felt like an obvious pick for DLC, what with the game's popularity, the series being a rising star in Nintendo's lineup, the recent Three Hopes, and a generally somewhat popular character. Remember, this game only has Chrom in terms of FE reps as of yet - so I honestly think that Byleth would be really well-recieved in this role.
16.
Little Mac. An overt "for the fans" pick, I think Punch-Out!! would be a series Nintendo would take interest in for this project. His "middle of the line" nature in terms of the DLC lineup is kind of because of his relative obscurity compared to other picks - sure, Punch-Out!! is important and beloved, but it's not as instantly iconic as some other picks, and isn't really promoting anything current either. However, I do think that the series is relevant
enough to be considered for this role, even if he only just slips into the roster here. I had a few other picks in mind - he actually just about edged out Olimar, who I considered due to the relevence of Pikmin as a newer IP compared to some others - but Mac felt like a "for the fans" pick with easy implementation and a lot of potential.
17.
Rex. Xenoblade is an interesting series that I do, honestly, think would make sense to see here. I originally had Shulk in mind what with his and the Monado's constant relevence, but XC2 has sold much more and has DLC to promote - and whilst XC3 is on the horizon, I think Rex would be a generally pretty beloved pick to see here. In terms of his hypothetical blade-switching, I'm going to suggest that he sticks with Pyra and keeps things simple and spoiler-free!
18.
Mewtwo. This choice was a really, really difficult one to make. I originally wanted "a modern Pokemon rep" of some description, but the difficulty was, with the upcoming Gen IX to think about, I honestly was torn between a Gen VIII and Gen IX rep. I even considered Dialga! Eventually, though, I went with Mewtwo. Mewtwo's semi-villainous role would work well in terms of trailers, keep high levels of interest in the DLC with a beloved character, and brings a unique fighting style... even if it's
another Gen I rep. I also think that Mewtwo is a perfect high note to end off DLC's first season with, so there's that.
There's a lot of interesting omissions, I think. Fox is probably the most prominent to the Smashers - he's out given the relative disinterest in the Star Fox IP over time and a general lack of anything to pull from, which also sort of doomed Falcon for the same reason. Yoshi came close, but I felt that he didn't really make as much sense as the four I have here - him getting in over Bowser or DK seemed weird to me and I couldn't really justify it. Ness came close to nabbing Mac's spot in DLC, but I felt that the Mother series isn't something Nintendo would scramble to represent, even if a unique interpretation of Ness would be fun to see. The Japan-exclusivity of Mother 3 kind of put the nail in the coffin for him.
(Melee was his debut)
