The reason Olimar is so stripped (Only three Pikmin, can't collect item, bad AI) is because the 3DS is simply not up to the task. Sakurai very clearly wanted no framerate dips in the game. This is why Pikmin and Assist Trophies always play at a jerky 30 FPS.
I'm sure Olimar, even 5 of them with item collecting, 60 FPS animations and perfect AI wouldn't lag the game. But I bet that 4 of them on screen at once would.
So Olimar had to trade a lot of his features in order to ensure the game did not lag. I guess that's an accepted risk when you're a character as complex as Olly.
30 FPS isn't "jerky" - it just looks that way, because despite the Pikmin themselves playing at 30 FPS, the Pikmin models actually animate at 10~15 FPS.
I've said it before, I'll say it again - if the whole game were in 30 FPS, we wouldn't be having these problems, and nobody would notice, unless they squinted their eyes. There's a reason that modern PC gaming is trending toward 90-110 FPS, and it's not because it's noticably smoother than 60, or even 30. It just sounds good to our ears, and the placebo effect is a powerful thing (how you thought that Pikmin animations play at 30 FPS, for example)
Think the graphical difference between Generation III and IV of Pokémon. Gen 3 plays at 60 FPS, Gen 4 at 30. Try and play them side-by-side and notice this - and see how hard it is to do so.
... I just want my CPP, OK?
But that's never going to happen, because lowering the frames, while unnoticable, will probably mess with button timings between 3DS and Wii U - in a fighter, that's a
bad thing - and therefore I understand playable characters being pushed to 60 where there's otherwise no need. But do something about Pikmin AI - even if it's hardcoding them to never desync unless thrown or attacked.
