in the next game they should have Mario do stuff with his hat like blind his foes temporarily

[tyciol]

For example, what if Mario held his hat overtop of an opponent's face to blind them and then punched them in the face?

The only thing about sensory deprivation attacks like this is you can't really RP them due to the game's design since the player of Mario's opponent can still see what's going on. You'd probably need to do some kind of FPS presentation of SSB to deal with issues like sensory deprivation which goes beyond SSB build/concept.

Not sure why I fixate on this stuff I guess it just like the idea of gritty grappling mechanics being applid to wholesome platformers.

SSB has just enough grappling in it that it's like it's opened the door to that but not really fully embraced how disorienting grappling should be. Then again not even UFC does that because of the god's-eye-view the gamer has of the situation compared to what their played character ought to have.

That much is of course also true with top-down perspectives like Blood Omen where you can see monsters coming up behind you in your blind spot too.

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

Mario is a shoto fighter, unless that became a universal mechanic it really wouldn't fit for a simple fighter who's supposed to be one of the first ones you try.