A wacky clash between the greats of Sunsoft's history! I felt they'd be a fun company to delve into given their interesting but slightly more obscure history compared to the likes of Namco, Capcom or Konami - so here goes nothing! Note that the characters included are in no particular order.
01.
Hebe. A simple, but fun, addition from the Hebereke series - Hebe would be able to bring in his friends O-Chan, Sukezaemon and Jennifer to fight alongside him in a sort of middle-ground between Ren and Stimpy and Ice Climbers.
02.
Jason. I considered having this be Jason and SOPHIA, playing similarly to the original game by hopping in and out of the tank, but in this case you'd play as Jason and have access to SOPHIA's firepower in the form of a more manouverable "final smash" similar to Fox and Falco's Landmaster.
03.
Sunman. An unfinished stand-in for a game originally planned to be a Superman title, I think Sunman's nature as a superhero lends well to a game like this - plus, he'd be able to have a lot of aerial manouverability which seems like quite a lot of fun. He's also sort of a rep of Sunsoft's DC games, so there's that too I suppose.
04.
Yumetaro. The main character from Mr. Gimmick, I felt Yumetaro would be a really fun "scrimblo" inclusion who'd have a lot of mid-range options with his star powers, as well as a generally high degree of manouverability.
05.
Jay McCray. In this case, I'd like to imagine Jay working more like a trapper character by using the various smaller robots he fights for stage control, making him pretty unique to Jason's more projectile-focused nature. Journey to Silius felt like something fun to see here!
06.
Cark and Carry. A "futuristic guy and small robot buddy" duo from the text-based adventure game Dead Zone, I felt they'd be a really fun inclusion to try and give a unique portrayal in a game like this, especially given the context of their source material.
07.
Jeanne D'Arc. Specifically from World Heroes, a later Sunsoft/SNK fighting game, I felt Jeanne was the best pick from the game despite not being the main character. She went on to appear in SNK Heroines, and her chain-sword fighting style would be really fun to see.
08.
Politank Z. Likewise, I wanted to just think of the best-fitting character from Waku Waku 7's diverse cast, and the policeman and dog duo riding a small mecha sounded like a perfect counter to a character like Jason.
09.
Aero. From Aero the Acro-Bat, I think his "animal scrimblo" character would make him fun to see, as would his acrobatic moveset based on stunts and the like. Not much to say here, he just felt... logical.
10.
Albert. From the Albert Odyssey series, he comes closest to filling the role of a traditional RPG hero character. Similarly to Marth, he originates from a strategy series so I think there's potential to explore that sort of strategic playstyle in his own moveset.
11.
Sasuke. From the game Shounen Ninja Sasuke, he's a ninja who isn't to be confused with another, more popular ninja named Sasuke. Overall, I felt a ninja character would be a fun inclusion and overall felt like a logical addition.
12.
Opa-Opa. Turns out Sunsoft had a history of porting Fantasy Zone to various different places, one of the most notable being the NES - and Opa-Opa feels like a natural inclusion with this in mind. Overall, they have a very aerially-oriented playstyle that, in some way, implements the shop.
As for unlockable picks:
XX:
Zero. Aero's great rival, and the protagonist of his own game Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel, I felt Zero would be a pretty solid inclusion to fill out a "rapid swordmaster" archetype, as well as tossing in a few explosions for good measure.
XX:
Yacopu. Originally the main character from Trip World, but then featuring as the mid-boss of Galaxy Fight, Yacopu is a small rabbit that can shapeshift into nearly anything - including opponents. I picture their moveset being like a combination of Twelve from SFIII with the body type of Pichu.
XX:
Jennifer Simpson. This seems like an utterly ridiculous inclusion but here's Jennifer Simpson from the 1995 point-and-click horror title Clock Tower. I have little to no idea how she'd play, maybe using garden shears, but she seems like such an off-the-wall inclusion that she'd be fun.
XX:
Lemmings. I was torn between a couple of guest picks to have here, but I felt the Lemmings would be by far the most fun (justified by Sunsoft publishing the game for the NES, SNES and Genesis!) I think they'd be pretty technical, which is why they go into unlockable territory, but they'd be cool.
And, a couple of secret fighters:
0A.
Kangaroo. A secret fighter from one of Sunsoft's earliest titles, I felt the concept of a "boxing kangaroo" would just naturally lend very well to a game like this. Overall it just felt like a good choice from an earlier title and a cool way to represent their arcade roots.
0B.
Bonus-Kun. Featured in both Waku Waku 7 and Galaxy Fight, Bonus-Kun is a shoto fighter from a world where everyone is a punching bag. And is likewise a punching bag. Honestly, he felt like an utterly perfect addition in spite of the games hes from already having reps, so he gets in!
It's a smaller roster than some of my previous, but I think this is a pretty okay one at the very least (even if I'll admit there's a lot of bias toward their NES era, Chameleon Twist fans are screaming right now) but hey, I think it's got a lot of variety at minimum. Hope this is cool!