How many characters is too many for any game? Lets start with Smash Ultimate.

[Another Player]

You can try to master a character for days on end. For even weeks or months. It depends. At some point it might get redundant. The move set or playstyle overall is too similar to other characters. This isn't an easy question to answer. Even when compared to Melee and other games. I believe Melee reflects the skill of the player more because it's harder to master. If Smash U is an easier game you get what I view as some lackluster play. Sure there are some interesting moments though I don't see outright wins from the pro players. If I'm wrong explain how adding more characters is better? Is it enhancing the gameplay or is it merely for fan service?

RPG's and other games have a fixed story line without modification. Chrono Trigger, Marios, Final Fantasy, Tales Games, Contra...the list is long. It looks like Smash particularly 'Melee' is the game that stands the fighting game test of time.

 

[Mister.Kim1]

If I'm wrong explain how adding more characters is better? Is it enhancing the gameplay or is it merely for fan service?

It's really a mix of both. DLC added to this day offered a new way of play style but at the same time, it seeks to expand the smash community by recruiting more characters.

Most notable fan service seems to be on Banjo and Kazooie.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I think Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 had over 150 characters if you're counting all the transformations as their own characters. That game I would say had the perfect Dragon Ball roster as at the time the game nearly had almost all the DB, DBZ, DBZ movie villains, and DBGT characters in it or at least all the major characters in each arc and movie from the Dragon Ball franchise at the time. The more the merrier I would say.

 

[Blutrausch]

I think exceeding 50 characters is overdoing it. I understand people want their favorite characters in Smash, but then I think some characters would need to be dropped. The Mario series has the most characters, so removing some from that series to make room for others would help.

 

[MrGameguycolor]

but then I think some characters would need to be dropped. The Mario series has the most characters, so removing some from that series to make room for others would help.

CoughfireemblemCough


Just speaking for the people :D

 

[Pupp135]

For me, there’s no limit as long as the game is fun and playable, and there is a character that I like to play as.

 

[Blutrausch]

CoughfireemblemCough


Just speaking for the people :D

The Mario series has the most characters in the roster, followed up by Pokémon, then Fire Emblem, then Zelda.

 

[soviet prince]

Mario and pokemon can have infinite spots they got the cloud to do it.

 

[Oddball]

You can try to master a character for days on end. For even weeks or months. It depends. At some point it might get redundant. The move set or playstyle overall is too similar to other characters. This isn't an easy question to answer. Even when compared to Melee and other games. I believe Melee reflects the skill of the player more because it's harder to master. If Smash U is an easier game you get what I view as some lackluster play. Sure there are some interesting moments though I don't see outright wins from the pro players. If I'm wrong explain how adding more characters is better? Is it enhancing the gameplay or is it merely for fan service?

RPG's and other games have a fixed story line without modification. Chrono Trigger, Marios, Final Fantasy, Tales Games, Contra...the list is long. It looks like Smash particularly 'Melee' is the game that stands the fighting game test of time.

Melee isn't the crowd pleaser it used to be. It might be fading slowly, but it's still fading. Being an older game it has a hard time attracting new people and because the people that have spent year and years playing it have had so much time to invest in their characters, nobody else really stands a chance. Tournaments always come down to the same few people.

Now you see Ultimate as lackluster because it lacks the outright wins. However wouldn't a lack of outright wins suggest that the players are more evenly balanced. I'd think that would be something you'd WANT.

As for more characters... not everybody plays the game to master a character and win a tournament. Some people play these games for fun, and what characters you can control is a big part of that. It also means that if several characters are similar you have more options of which one of them BEST suits your fighting style (or is the prettiest to look at, or the coolest character, or whatever.)


How many characters are too many?
Well... it's like they say ... "Too Much is Never Enough."

 

[Karicova]

Normally you'd want a lower amount of characters in a fighting game, similar to melee's roster size per say, or atleast in a competitive fighting game. Many casual players and even competitive players however like much more variety which is understandable especially since melee itself had a plethora of "echo characters". Melee compensates for this by making different playstyles actually work and make characters seem connected to a person (as expression) which also contributes to its popularity and makes the game more additional. However with simplified mechanics, this is not possible and requires more characters to make the game feel more fresh and varied. So it really depends on the game mechanics and how they allow for different playstyles.

 

[MrGameguycolor]

If we reach the triple digits real quickly, then some of us might get concerned.

 

[Hoodeedoo]

if think 69 characters is enough

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Someone clearly hasn't played Shippuden

 

[Speed Weed]

You can try to master a character for days on end. For even weeks or months. It depends. At some point it might get redundant. The move set or playstyle overall is too similar to other characters. This isn't an easy question to answer. Even when compared to Melee and other games. I believe Melee reflects the skill of the player more because it's harder to master. If Smash U is an easier game you get what I view as some lackluster play. Sure there are some interesting moments though I don't see outright wins from the pro players. If I'm wrong explain how adding more characters is better? Is it enhancing the gameplay or is it merely for fan service?

RPG's and other games have a fixed story line without modification. Chrono Trigger, Marios, Final Fantasy, Tales Games, Contra...the list is long. It looks like Smash particularly 'Melee' is the game that stands the fighting game test of time.

the problem is, you're looking at this strictly from a competitive, "characters = functions" standpoint. like oddball said, not everyone plays smash to win tournaments. smash having a competitive community is fine, but you also gotta realize that the main appeal isn't just to master a character or whatever, it's simply playing as your favorite characters. smash at its core is a fanservice game, and on that front, i think we've still got loads to go before it becomes too much.

 

[StrangeKitten]

I love Ultimate's variety and I'm fine with a lot of characters. The more the merrier! We still have plenty more gaming icons who could, and should, be added to Smash.