I think I know how to make the best Smash and to really make it something the fans and even Sakurai himself find ideal. I am hard at work crafting Smash 4, however, don't be mislead I am not making a game but merely an extremely detailed topic as to what my ideal Smash 4 would be. I have been working on this for months, and the amount of detail put into it so far is simply staggering.
I always thought the best thing to do was get a Japanese, American, and PAL version of each of the three smash bros. games, mix their data together, see what you get, and add a few characters in there!

Anyways...I'm sure whatever you come up with will be good. But don't pressure yourself too much with time.
Also the Smash DS idea still sounds great. We could have lots of handheld reps instead of console reps. All of the original 12 (maybe get a different variation of Link, such as Toon Link again; plus maybe a few more veterans), More Pokémon reps then Mario (again), Zelda handheld characters *kills TP Link*, Dixie instead of Diddy, RIDLEY! (instead of Zero Suit Samus), Issac, Mewtwo, a handheld Fire Emblem character (*coughRoycough*), have Fox as the only Star Fox rep (I'm sick of seeing those space animals being overrepped since Melee), Kamek, Sonic and Snake (if Nintendo can get them again), and Megaman if Nintendo can get him.
I think we all should've learned by now that no one is a shoe-in.
Agreed for the most part. R.I.P. Ridley, Krystal, and others. *cries*
Well, Sakurai already suggested that Smash 4 would more than likely have 50 characters so that works out just fine. Just so that we can somewhat have a taste of what you're going to say, what would you say the main priority of Smash 4 should be?
Definitely to be everything all three smash games before it were and were not in one package. Topping the series with it's own "rules", and then destroying it with ground-breaking rule-breaking crazy awesome stuff. Make it have the combat control that smash 64 (though maybe not as ridiculous [and amazing] combos! XD), the ridiculously amazing techniques of Melee, and the strategic elements of Brawl. Add those together-and top each game in it's own best category. Also, get ride of that ridiculous lag from aerial attacks, especially for heavy characters (automatic L-cancelling, in other words). That's the only technique that I really don't understand why it wasn't in the game, along with Melee and smash 64-esk dash dancing (but that's fairly minor).
It would be cool if they made :
SMB : Melee : Turbo
Super SMB : Melee : Turbo
SMB : Melee : World Warriors
SMB : Melee : New challengers
SMB : Melee : Turbo HD Remix.
Super Mario Bros. Melee what?

Nah-nah, I'm just playing with ya! XD I don't think I know any smash fan who WOULDN'T buy a SSB64, Melee, or Brawl expansion game. A standalone game would be better, though.
As for this "Get ride off all extra features crap"...seriously, wtf? You know different people specialize in making different stuff, right? Obviously a lot of outside sources helped with those, and someone (probably Sakurai) wrote all those out. Most of those are made by different teams and whatnot, and a lot of it came from outside sources (as in other Nintendo-owned companies and departments). It's like saying "screw graphics, make the game". You aren't doing anything. The people who make the physics and the people who make the character models and lighting are different people and have different jobs. Geesh... >_>