I'm pretty much impressed about the job Smash Bros has done with Mario actually. They've made him the stable character with average skills, and a sort of showcase character (that is to say, he's Nintendo's biggest star, so he's got that kind of clout in the games), without sorting to what Capcom has historically done with, say Ryu, who is the stable character with average skills, but is also a slight stage above everyone else in terms of damage and priority.
Instead, Mario fits. That's what I've always loved about the character, he fits completely, and that's the way Super Smash Bros. was designed, for every character to be unique but to also fit evenly with eachother.
