I have a question for the folks who are very opposed to seeing Spring Man have other characters as alts due to diluting their personality. No disrespect meant, I'm just genuinely curious where everyone's desires land on this issue.
Assume that someone leaked with undeniable proof that Spring Man was the ARMS character but was unsure about other characters as alternate costumes, would you hope for Solo Spring Man or would you hope for character alts? Any other ARMS character is off-the-table to get their own DLC slot, it's an alternate costume or nothing.
I would hope for a Solo Spring Man rather than a characters with other ARMS characters as alternate costumes. I envision a solo ARMS character who have all their gimmick along with technical stuffs that the
ARMS video game provided.
For example, from ARMS 101 (1:40 - 3:16)
Each ARMS weapons have a weight factor and a different attributes. For a solo character like Spring Man, he could comes with his default three ARMS that he starts with which is the Toaster (Fire/Medium), Boomerang (Wind/Medium), and Tribolt (Stun/Light). Since Spring Man comes with Medium and Light ARMS, he is more likely to have trouble with heavy attack from the opponent because of the whole weight factor. Though this issue isn't a problem for Min Min who have the Megawatt (Electric/Heavy) ARMS. The problem with alternate costumes is will they share the same ARMS like Spring Man's or will all of the alternate costume their own unique ARMS? If so, then the next question is will their unique ARMS retain their own weight class and attributes or share the same properties as Spring Man? I know for the fact in the
ARMS video game is that every characters can wield the other ARMS, so this isn't a issue, but for a solo route, the character should be using their own ARMS instead of the others.
Another unique thing about a solo character is the Rush ability which allows they to do a rushdown super move once the Rush meter is filled. Now what is interesting about the Rush ability is that it changed the weight factor of the ARMS that they are using. Light becomes Medium, and Medium becomes Heavy. The Heavy ARMS becomes an instant counter. Also, each ARMS weapon have their own unique Rush super move animation. Like the question above, is each alternate costumes going to have their own unique ARMS along with a unique Rush animation? Assuming this is Spring Man with three alternate characters that is 12 unique Rush super move animation. With Spring Man, there is only need to be 3 Rush super move animation compared to 12, assuming they aren't sharing the same ARMS weapons.
For Spring Man's moveset, he could be switching his three ARMS like Byleth or manually switching one ARMS at a time just like in the game. Spring Man should be using his own moves, but he could borrow some of the ARMS fighter's moves if it makes in context. The gimmick of Spring Man is that when his HP is low, he has a permanent Arsene mechanic throughout the match. His attack power is increased and his attack reaction is slightly shorted. This is different from Rage in Smash as that mechanic is all about knockback not damage output. With the Rush ability, two of Spring Man's ARMS become Heavy super move and the other becomes Medium super move. His other gimmick is the parry mechanic which allows him to easily counterattack by baiting and attacking.
Compared to a alternate costumes, will each one of them have their own unique gimmick or ARMS (including a different weight and attitude)? Would the Rush meter be there for the ARMS alternate character or not? Most discussion omitted the Rush meter and the super move, and instead placed the Rush super move as a Final Smash. For me, I believe their Final Smash should be something similar to Hero's where all ARMS fighters show up and all punches simultaneously at the opponent.
Other things to think about is the appearance of Kirby's coping abilities or their home stage. For Spring Man, it is Spring Stadium, but if it was Spring Man with alternate characters, what would that be? Each ARMS fighters have their own unique home stage, it would be strange if Ninjara is in Spring Stadium instead of Ninja College. The only stage hat they could shared is Sparring Ring since that was no one home stage until Springtron was introduced.
Anyway, I still like my own idea of an ARMS duo tethered together something akin to Team Fight in the
ARMS game.