Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Ivander]

Hey now, Mio is a...anime...chakramgirl.

Average Smash fan: "Chakrams are just curvier swords."

Or was it the average Fate fan?

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Average Smash fan: "Chakrams are just curvier swords."

Or was it the average Fate fan?

Let's not even get into Fate there, where dolphins make you an "Archer".

 

[Ivander]

Let's not even get into Fate there, where dolphins make you an "Archer".

I mean, when it comes to Summer shenanigans, anything is on the table for whatever class. Nothing is safe from the Summer shenanigans. Not even the wyverns.

The sad thing is that if Type Moon and fans looked into Jeanne D'arc's history, as well as look at one of the other characters in Fate/Grand Order, they'd realize that Jeanne could 100% be an Archer without Summer or dolphin shenanigans.

 

[HyperSomari64]

... Depending on how the terms "anime" and "swordfighter" are defined, Mega Man is an anime swordfighter.

I know this is a joke post, but Rock should be on the Scrimblo side of things. He's from a cutesy cartoony platformer, even if it has a few serious moments.

Let's just ignore stuff like the darker sequel series such as X and Zero, or the "I'm More Than A Robot" scene (which is not canon btw).

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

I'd say Mega Man (at least Classic) is from that 3rd generation era that really rode the line between more Western cartoon influence and anime elements. A lot of the early Wonder Boy games fall into that same category where the protagonists clearly have some inspiration from both schools of design.

 

[CannonStreak]

I just had a thought. How about a more cartoony fighting games character for Smash Bros.? No, I don't mean the likes of Mario, Sonic, Kirby, etc., I mean a cartoony fighting games character from a traditional 2D fighter like Street Fighter. We have had fighting games characters in Smash Bros. like Ryu, Terry, Ken and Kazuya, but those were all more anime like in appearance. I am talking about someone more cartoony, like the characters from the Clayfighter games. (though it does not have to be from that series or even the West as a whole)

So, what do you all think of this idea?

 

[Gorgonzales]

... Depending on how the terms "anime" and "swordfighter" are defined, Mega Man is an anime swordfighter.

Hearing about how Smash has a bias toward including anime swordfighters, Peppino hatches a plan.

 

[Will]

At least we don't talk about the counterpart Cereal Mascot or stuff like the "Nick Jr. Character" insult. Dudes never played Conker and they lump him.

For a second I thought you meant Nick All Star Brawl speculators were doing this ****.

 

[Ivander]

Geez, I know it hasn't been that long since we got the 5 Rareware games on the Nintendo Switch Online. RC Pro-Am was certainly great to see and try again for how much I played the GB version in my childhood. But man, I wish games for NSO came out somewhat quicker.
And boy, how I would love for Sega to pull something similar to the Rareware showcase, but for it's GBA titles. The Sonic Advance games, Sonic Battle, Sonic Pinball Party, Super Monkey Ball Jr., Gunstar Super Heroes and how much I would pop off if we got the Shining Soul games and the Shining Force GBA Remake. Sega's GBA games were a really fun time.

 

[superprincess]

The conversation about roster cuts really made want to make an ordered "priority" tier list, but with a twist. I based it on actual statistics I wrote down after doing some research on how every character fulfills certain criteria. Here's the list:

Spoiler

The categories the characters were tested on were the following:

• Originality & Uniqueness: How original is the character's moveset? Do they have a unique trait no one else has?
• Importance: How important is the character in the general gaming scene and in the context of their own series?
• Relevance: Does the character have any notable appearances in recent years? Are they fresh in players' minds?
• Popularity: How recognizable is the character and how beloved are they by players?
• Smash legacy: How important is the character in the context of Smash Bros. itself?

The characters were rated out of 10 on these categories, then they were placed on the tier list based on their average scores.

Third party fighters were ranked with an extra category in mind: Ease of acquisition.

The scores of each character are as follows:

Spoiler

Mario, Link and Pikachu were the only ones to achieve a full 10.
Donkey Kong, Kirby, Peach and Bowser all got a 9.8.
Luigi, Zelda, Ganondorf and Wario scored a 9.6.
Samus, Yoshi, Marth, Villager and Inkling all got a 9.4.
King Dedede and Meta Knight scored a clean 9.
Olimar, Ridley, and Pokémon Trainer got an 8.8.
Diddy Kong, Shulk and Mewtwo scored an 8.6.
Isabelle was the only fighter to get an 8.4...
...And Captain Falcon was the only one with an 8.2.
Fox, Mr. Game & Watch, Robin, Greninja and Rosalina & Luma all sat at a round 8.
Ness, Pit, King K. Rool, Lucario and Bowser Jr. managed to score a 7.8.
Ike was the sole fighter to score a 7.4.
Sheik, R.O.B., Little Mac and Pyra/Mythra got lucky number 7.
Byleth sat at a lonely 6.6.
Falco, Jigglypuff, Palutena, Toon Link, Incineroar and Piranha Plant all got a 6.4.
Wii Fit Trainer scored a balanced 6.
Wolf managed to score a 5.4.
Zero Suit Samus and Duck Hunt both scored a 5.2.
Ice Climbers, Roy and Dr. Mario got a rounded 5.
Min Min and Corrin scored a disappointing 4.8.
Lucas, lonely as ever, scored a 4.
Finally, Melee clones Pichu and Young Link got the lowest score of 3.8.

As for the third parties...
Sonic and Pac-Man pulled off a 10.
Ryu got an impressive 9.5.
Steve and Bayonetta (thanks to the aforementioned extra category) scored an 8.8.
Megaman, Cloud and Snake all managed to score an 8.5 for different reasons.
Kazuya was the only one to get an 8.1.
Simon whipped up a 7.8.
Banjo & Kazooie barely scraped by with a 7.1.
Joker and Sora both scored a round 7.
The Hero and Sephiroth both scored a 6.8.
Last and least, Terry got a measly 6.1.

Please note that this tier list isn't necessarily realistic; for example I don't consider Ness to be more likely to be cut than Rosalina, but the characters were all ordered based on their scores, which I couldn't really predict.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

The conversation about roster cuts really made want to make an ordered "priority" tier list, but with a twist. I based it on actual statistics I wrote down after doing some research on how every character fulfills certain criteria. Here's the list:

Spoiler

View attachment 386973

The categories the characters were tested on were the following:

• Originality & Uniqueness: How original is the character's moveset? Do they have a unique trait no one else has?
• Importance: How important is the character in the general gaming scene and in the context of their own series?
• Relevance: Does the character have any notable appearances in recent years? Are they fresh in players' minds?
• Popularity: How recognizable is the character and how beloved are they by players?
• Smash legacy: How important is the character in the context of Smash Bros. itself?

The characters were rated out of 10 on these categories, then they were placed on the tier list based on their average scores.

Third party fighters were ranked with an extra category in mind: Ease of acquisition.

The scores of each character are as follows:

Spoiler

Mario, Link and Pikachu were the only ones to achieve a full 10.
Donkey Kong, Kirby, Peach and Bowser all got a 9.8.
Luigi, Zelda, Ganondorf and Wario scored a 9.6.
Samus, Yoshi, Marth, Villager and Inkling all got a 9.4.
King Dedede and Meta Knight scored a clean 9.
Olimar, Ridley, and Pokémon Trainer got an 8.8.
Diddy Kong, Shulk and Mewtwo scored an 8.6.
Isabelle was the only fighter to get an 8.4...
...And Captain Falcon was the only one with an 8.2.
Fox, Mr. Game & Watch, Robin, Greninja and Rosalina & Luma all sat at a round 8.
Ness, Pit, King K. Rool, Lucario and Bowser Jr. managed to score a 7.8.
Ike was the sole fighter to score a 7.4.
Sheik, R.O.B., Little Mac and Pyra/Mythra got lucky number 7.
Byleth sat at a lonely 6.6.
Falco, Jigglypuff, Palutena, Toon Link, Incineroar and Piranha Plant all got a 6.4.
Wii Fit Trainer scored a balanced 6.
Wolf managed to score a 5.4.
Zero Suit Samus and Duck Hunt both scored a 5.2.
Ice Climbers, Roy and Dr. Mario got a rounded 5.
Min Min and Corrin scored a disappointing 4.8.
Lucas, lonely as ever, scored a 4.
Finally, Melee clones Pichu and Young Link got the lowest score of 3.8.

As for the third parties...
Sonic and Pac-Man pulled off a 10.
Ryu got an impressive 9.5.
Steve and Bayonetta (thanks to the aforementioned extra category) scored an 8.8.
Megaman, Cloud and Snake all managed to score an 8.5 for different reasons.
Kazuya was the only one to get an 8.1.
Simon whipped up a 7.8.
Banjo & Kazooie barely scraped by with a 7.1.
Joker and Sora both scored a round 7.
The Hero and Sephiroth both scored a 6.8.
Last and least, Terry got a measly 6.1.

Please note that this tier list isn't necessarily realistic; for example I don't consider Ness to be more likely to be cut than Rosalina, but the characters were all ordered based on their scores, which I couldn't really predict.

This is... bizarre.

While I respect the attempt at actual statistics, I'm not sure they mean anything when the criteria can't be objective. There are a lot of strange oddities that go against common sense.

I'd at least need more info on how the scores were given because some of these placements and orders make little sense. Like, how did Min Min score lower than Dr. Mario or Ridley scoring higher than Fox?

Honestly I think the attempt to be more objective led to some flawed logic. I'm not sure if it's due to bias or gaps in research but my gut tells me there's a lot off here.

 

[Gorgonzales]

I just had a thought. How about a more cartoony fighting games character for Smash Bros.? No, I don't mean the likes of Mario, Sonic, Kirby, etc., I mean a cartoony fighting games character from a traditional 2D fighter like Street Fighter. We have had fighting games characters in Smash Bros. like Ryu, Terry, Ken and Kazuya, but those were all more anime like in appearance. I am talking about someone more cartoony, like the characters from the Clayfighter games. (though it does not have to be from that series or even the West as a whole)

So, what do you all think of this idea?

I'd like more cartoony fighting game characters too... the problem is there aren't that many notable cartoony fighting game characters to begin with, let alone cartoony fighting games.

From what I've heard and seen, Darkstalkers has very exaggerated animation and body morphing, so maybe someone from there would be the best fit for this kind of character.

 

[HyperSomari64]

I'd like more cartoony fighting game characters too... the problem is there aren't that many notable cartoony fighting game characters to begin with, let alone cartoony fighting games.

From what I've heard, Darkstalkers has very exaggerated animation and body morphing, so maybe someone from there would have the best shot.

In UMVC3 and TVC, Morrigan doesn't have those Tex Avery-esque animations.

 

[superprincess]

This is... bizarre.

While I respect the attempt at actual statistics, I'm not sure they mean anything when the criteria can't be objective. There are a lot of strange oddities that go against common sense.

I'd at least need more info on how the scores were given because some of these placements and orders make little sense. Like, how did Min Min score lower than Dr. Mario or Ridley scoring higher than Fox?

Honestly I think the attempt to be more objective led to some flawed logic. I'm not sure if it's due to bias or gaps in research but my gut tells me there's a lot off here.

A lot of these stuck out to me as odd as well to the point where I checked if there were any mathematical mistakes lol. Captain Falcon, Fox and Ness especially being so low struck me as strange but I really tried to be objective and not use "OG 12!" as a scapegoat.

IIRC, Min Min really got shafted in the importance, Smash legacy, and popularity categories. ARMS is pretty unimportant to Nintendo right now (unless we get an unlikely sequel), Min Min in particular means nothing to Smash itself, and she's a pretty unpopular character within it due to being unanimously annoying to fight against. I can see why'd you think I was too harsh on her, but I don't see her getting anymore than a 0.5 increase.

Ridley edged Fox out due to Metroid's relevance, I know he wasn't in Dread but at least Metroid's an active series unlike StarFox.

I appreciate the criticism though, I may revisit this with your critiques in mind someday. Thanks x

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I'd like more cartoony fighting game characters too... the problem is there aren't that many notable cartoony fighting game characters to begin with, let alone cartoony fighting games.

From what I've heard and seen, Darkstalkers has very exaggerated animation and body morphing, so maybe someone from there would be the best fit for this kind of character.

The problem with Darkstalkers is that most of the popular characters don't do the cartoon squash and stretch.

I think the only popular one who does is Anakaris.

Regardless we aren't getting any Darkstalkers characters. And the one possible exception would give us the wrong kind of squash and stretch.

But yeah, Morrigan is the only possible option.

 

[CannonStreak]

I'd like more cartoony fighting game characters too... the problem is there aren't that many notable cartoony fighting game characters to begin with, let alone cartoony fighting games.

From what I've heard and seen, Darkstalkers has very exaggerated animation and body morphing, so maybe someone from there would be the best fit for this kind of character.

Yeah, on the first part, I thought of that problem before I posted that, not to long before I posted that, in fact, to the point that it was very quickly realized right before it was posted. Still, cartoony style is a great method of making a cartoony game, as in cartoon violence. Makes me wonder why there are not many cartoony fighting games out there, maybe characters in anime-ish fighting game characters who are cartoony, too.

That said, if Darkstalkers is the closest we can get to that, I can accept it.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Oh, you're one of those "let's have a massive quantity of franchises" people

Franchise origin shouldn't matter if the character is fun to play, to an extent.

The character chosen has nothing to do with whether or not they're fun to play. Any character can be made fun to play. Any character can be made miserable to play. That's a game design issue. Not a character selection issue.

But yes, I'd rather have a fun character from a new franchise, than a fun character from one that already has a bunch of representation.

I am talking about someone more cartoony, like the characters from the Clayfighter games. (though it does not have to be from that series or even the West as a whole)

So, what do you all think of this idea?

I think the Clayfighter games are bad and don't deserve to be in Smash.

I'm having trouble coming up with other examples of "cartoony" 2D fighters that aren't licensed games.

 

[cashregister9]

The problem with Darkstalkers is that most of the popular characters don't do the cartoon squash and stretch.

I think the only popular one who does is Anakaris.

Regardless we aren't getting any Darkstalkers characters. And the one possible exception would give us the wrong kind of squash and stretch.

But yeah, Morrigan is the only possible option.

B.B. Hood and Hsien Ko, while not having the huge squash and stretch, are definitely more cartoony in comparison to Morrigan they also have the popularity and have a few other crossover appearances under their belt so I can definitely see them

as the second or third reps for the series because yeah they are not getting in over Morrigan.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

B.B. Hood and Hsien Ko, while not having the huge squash and stretch, are definitely more cartoony in comparison to Morrigan they also have the popularity and have a few other crossover appearances under their belt so I can definitely see them

as the second or third reps for the series because yeah they are not getting in over Morrigan.

I would say not before Felicia either.....but then I remembered Felicia shows more skin than Mai to where promotional material for Marvel 3 went out of the way to not show her in full.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Yes...yes...this Morrigan discussion pleases me...

 

[Capybara Gaming]

But yes, I'd rather have a fun character from a new franchise, than a fun character from one that already has a bunch of representation.

Xenoblade has two characters dude, it doesn't have that much representation. Sounds to me like you're just fishing for a reason to hate on Xenoblade

 

[Kirbeh]

Asking for "cartoony" characters and proceeding to suggest Darkstalkers is honestly baffling to me. What are people even asking for at this point?

When you ask for "cartoony" do you mean western art styles? If so, which styles are "western" enough?

More exaggerated squash and stretch in the animation? (Which is not at all exclusive to western animation.)

Or is it specifically the supposed "scrimblo archetype" of a small non-human mascot character?

The argument over what "type" of characters should be more plentiful, (on top of being tiresome,) can never seem to give consistent answers on what they're for or against.

And just to make things clear, I'm all for more character variety, but why does it always become one vs the other when we can just get (and have always gotten) both? Shouldn't the characters themselves matter more than whatever label or criteria people try to assign them?

 

[CannonStreak]

Asking for "cartoony" characters and proceeding to suggest Darkstalkers is honestly baffling to me. What are people even asking for at this point?

When you ask for "cartoony" do you mean western art styles? If so, which styles are "western" enough?

More exaggerated squash and stretch in the animation? (Which is not at all exclusive to western animation.)

Or is it specifically the supposed "scrimblo archetype" of a small non-human mascot character?

The argument over what "type" of characters should be more plentiful, (on top of being tiresome,) can never seem to give consistent answers on what they're for or against.

And just to make things clear, I'm all for more character variety, but why does it always become one vs the other when we can just get (and have always gotten) both? Shouldn't the characters themselves matter more than whatever label or criteria people try to assign them?

Well, more so, I was talking western style fighting characters, with lots of toon physics.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I'd like more cartoony fighting game characters too... the problem is there aren't that many notable cartoony fighting game characters to begin with, let alone cartoony fighting games.

From what I've heard and seen, Darkstalkers has very exaggerated animation and body morphing, so maybe someone from there would be the best fit for this kind of character.

Darkstalkers is in fact a very cartoony fighting game despite what it's designs might suggest.

Xenoblade has two characters dude, it doesn't have that much representation. Sounds to me like you're just fishing for a reason to hate on Xenoblade

3 characters.

 

[ninjahmos]

If Shadow ever gets into Smash, I'm kind of hoping they add in music from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. His stage could either be the Space Colony ARK, Radical Highway or Westopolis.

 

[Perkilator]

Alright, so here's a challenge: try creating a 50-man roster but the characters have to have had a game on Switch during its lifespan (NSO doesn't count but retro collections/ports do).

 

[HyperSomari64]

Or is it specifically the supposed "scrimblo archetype" of a small non-human mascot character?

Reminder that there are more cartoony human Bimblos outside of Mario, Luigi and Wario.
Joe & Mac, Peter Peppers from BurgerTime, Chuck Rock, Peppino from Pizza Tower, Commander Keen, Viewtiful Joe, Marco Rossi, Tak, the TumblePop kids, Bub and Bob in Rainbow Islands, Dr. Muto, Kid Chameleon, Goemon, Raz from Psychonauts, Pitfall Harry, Sir Arthur from Ghouls n' Ghosts etc.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

If Shadow ever gets into Smash, I'm kind of hoping they add in music from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. His stage could either be the Space Colony ARK, Radical Highway or Westopolis.

I dont think they would add a stage for him since he'd most likely be a clone of Sonic

 

[Gengar84]

Reminder that there are more cartoony human Bimblos outside of Mario, Luigi and Wario.
Joe & Mac, Peter Peppers from BurgerTime, Chuck Rock, Peppino from Pizza Tower, Commander Keen, Viewtiful Joe, Marco Rossi, Tak, the TumblePop kids, Bub and Bob in Rainbow Islands, Dr. Muto, Kid Chameleon, Goemon, Raz from Psychonauts, Pitfall Harry, etc.

I can’t say I ever expected to see someone else remember Chuck Rock existed. I used to own that game as a kid. Kind of mediocre game at best but it stuck with me for some reason.

 

[Kirbeh]

Well, more so, I was talking western style fighting characters, with lots of toon physics.

For starters define "toon physics." My assumption is that you mean classic super exaggerated rubber hose stuff, but that was more common in the era it started in. Most modern western animations don't animate like those either. The primary reason for that being cost.

Reminder that there are more cartoony human Bimblos outside of Mario, Luigi and Wario.
Joe & Mac, Peter Peppers from BurgerTime, Chuck Rock, Peppino from Pizza Tower, Commander Keen, Viewtiful Joe, Marco Rossi, Tak, the TumblePop kids, Bub and Bob in Rainbow Islands, Dr. Muto, Kid Chameleon, Goemon, Raz from Psychonauts, Pitfall Harry, etc.

That's kind of part of my issue. There's no consistency. Like "anime swordsman," it's too broad and vague.

You count human characters, lots of others don't. Goemon and Viewtiful Joe are very much still very anime/eastern inspired, you know "chibi." The Metal Slug characters are full on normal proportioned humans, they just have chibi spritework.

 

[CannonStreak]

For starters define "toon physics." My assumption is that you mean classic super exaggerated rubber hose stuff, but that was more common in the era it started in. Most modern western animations don't animate like those either. The primary reason for that being cost.

Kind of. I did mean the Disney (Mickey Mouse stuff) and Looney Tunes kind of toon physics.

Also, I forgot to mention this, but when you said what you said about types of characters, I must say; I, for one, think it is quite fun to use types as a way to talk about what characters should get in, based on that type of course. We don't always have to talk about specific characters, and to be honest, I find talking about characters in more vague ways (and trying to determine which character of that type would work) to be fun.

 

[ninjahmos]

Here’s a thought.

I feel like Smash could use a little more SEGA representation, especially considering their long history and past rivalry with Nintendo. SEGA has plenty of characters that they could pick for Smash. (E.G. Shadow, Kiryu, Akira, NiGHTS)

I honestly think it’d be pretty cool to see Phantasy Star Online in Smash…

Oh, and generally, I think Smash could use some more Sonic representation, especially in terms of music.

Any SEGA characters you guys would like to see in Smash?

 

[SpecterFlower]

Is that true? I thought Meowscarada was really popular too. At least TPC seems to be promoting it quite a bit. I’d personally go for Ceruledge but Lokix and Great Tusk are around tied with it for my other favorites of the gen.

eh yeah its true tinkaton is more popular, at least in the west,

honestly tinkaton is probably the most popular non starter/ legendary in a long time like since lucario or wooloo maybe. however in japan they dont get the same love and meowscarada is def more popular there.

but imo tinkaton would be better anyway, more interesting moveset potential and as a non start it wont feel aged.

incenroar felt dated choice wise on launch, lucario still feels like a choice that makes sense for modern day but eh thats probably just me. it feels like those dated choices are the most likely to be cut going forward though.

 

[SubspaceJigglypuff]

Here’s a thought.

I feel like Smash could use a little more SEGA representation, especially considering their long history and past rivalry with Nintendo. SEGA has plenty of characters that they could pick for Smash. (E.G. Shadow, Kiryu, Akira, NiGHTS)

I honestly think it’d be pretty cool to see Phantasy Star Online in Smash…

Oh, and generally, I think Smash could use some more Sonic representation, especially in terms of music.

Any SEGA characters you guys would like to see in Smash?

Just off rip

• Akira
• Some other Sonic fighter
• Arle

 

[SpecterFlower]

Here’s a thought.

I feel like Smash could use a little more SEGA representation, especially considering their long history and past rivalry with Nintendo. SEGA has plenty of characters that they could pick for Smash. (E.G. Shadow, Kiryu, Akira, NiGHTS)

I honestly think it’d be pretty cool to see Phantasy Star Online in Smash…

Oh, and generally, I think Smash could use some more Sonic representation, especially in terms of music.

Any SEGA characters you guys would like to see in Smash?

kiryu makes sense, but sega is a pretty well repped 3rd party.

they have a lot of series but not a lot of very big ones yet.
pretty much their miku stuff, sonic, LAD, persona and total war really.

 

[Ivander]

Here’s a thought.

I feel like Smash could use a little more SEGA representation, especially considering their long history and past rivalry with Nintendo. SEGA has plenty of characters that they could pick for Smash. (E.G. Shadow, Kiryu, Akira, NiGHTS)

I honestly think it’d be pretty cool to see Phantasy Star Online in Smash…

Oh, and generally, I think Smash could use some more Sonic representation, especially in terms of music.

Any SEGA characters you guys would like to see in Smash?

I mean, if counting Bayonetta and Joker, Sega does have a notable amount of content in Smash Ultimate, between 3 franchises with 3 playable characters, 4 stages and one of the few companies with an Assist Trophy from a non-represented franchise, being Akira from Virtua Fighter.

That said, some more content from Sega's main company franchises like Phantasy Star, Streets of Rage, Fantasy Zone, etc, would be great to see. I'd definitely like to see Phantasy Star in Smash Bros. at some point.

 

[SpecterFlower]

I just had a thought. How about a more cartoony fighting games character for Smash Bros.? No, I don't mean the likes of Mario, Sonic, Kirby, etc., I mean a cartoony fighting games character from a traditional 2D fighter like Street Fighter. We have had fighting games characters in Smash Bros. like Ryu, Terry, Ken and Kazuya, but those were all more anime like in appearance. I am talking about someone more cartoony, like the characters from the Clayfighter games. (though it does not have to be from that series or even the West as a whole)

So, what do you all think of this idea?

feels pointless.

there arent any noteworthy cartoony fighting games other than like thems fighting herds and skullgirls if you super stretch it

and those old ones never really had a lasting impact on fighting games or the industry really.

all the fighting game characters in smash came from a realistic fighting games though, it would be cool to see an anime fighter (guilty gear prob) get in

Ivander said:


I mean, if counting Bayonetta and Joker, Sega does have a notable amount of content in Smash Ultimate, between 3 franchises with 3 playable characters, 4 stages and one of the few companies with an Assist Trophy from a non-represented franchise, being Akira from Virtua Fighter.

That said, some more content from Sega's main company franchises like Phantasy Star, Streets of Rage, Fantasy Zone, etc, would be great to see. I'd definitely like to see Phantasy Star in Smash Bros. at some point.

i'd hope for more chances for representation, like stages, assist trophies and something else, spirits felt minor and trophies usually stuck to series that were in the game already.

cause theres some series like puyo puyo that really dont necessitate a fighter but have okay popularity a long legacy especially in japan, and left a mark on the genre its in, that still deserve to be in.

 

[SpecterFlower]

double post whoops

 

[CannonStreak]

feels pointless.

there arent any noteworthy cartoony fighting games other than like thems fighting herds and skullgirls if you super stretch it

and those old ones never really had a lasting impact on fighting games or the industry really.

all the fighting game characters in smash came from a realistic fighting games though, it would be cool to see an anime fighter (guilty gear prob) get in

Yeah, I forgot about that, but realistic is more what I meant rather than anime. My bad.

Anyway, I know there aren't many fighting game characters that are cartoony, but this was just an idea for discussion I thought of, plus, I thought it would be fun to think of possible characters that were of this type and could work in Smash Bros.

EDIT: By the way, you might want to do something about your double post.

 

[Arcanir]

incenroar felt dated choice wise on launch, lucario still feels like a choice that makes sense for modern day but eh thats probably just me. it feels like those dated choices are the most likely to be cut going forward though.

Lucario made sense even back with Brawl. Back in the day he was chosen his movie was very popular and well recieved and he himself was the most popular DP Pokemon along with just being very popular overall. In fact, he was highly speculated for the game due to those facts, especially after Munchlax was confirmed as a Pokeball Pokemon showing that DP mons were on the table. The only reason those facts gets downplayed is because Mewtwo got cut and got him saddled with unfortunate negativity of being his 'replacement', so many fans try to pretend he was a forced choice when before he was probably one of the top mons people were throwing around.

As for Incineroar, he didn't hit it off as well as Lucario, but he's still a very popular Pokemon, especially in Japan. Anecdotally, he also has gotten a fanbase due to his playstyle and personality winning many fans over, so he wasn't completely dismissed and did provide something that many fans enjoy.