Roster Prediction Discussion Thread

[Deleted member]

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[PlayerOneTyler]

you do realize one of sakurai's favorite characters is falco right....

Actually, I've never heard that in my life.


So no.

 

[JPW]

see the thing is you have a realistic roster. nothing too crazy and nothing absolutely WTF. just makes sense. now of course there are things that sakurai do that don't make sense but if this was the final roster then i am a happy boy!

I thought we already got our WTF character. It's Wii Fit Trainer. No one really saw that coming(except for one guy apparently).

also on the subject for Falco vs Krystal vs Wolf. Right now i see Krystal as very unlikely. Starfox Adventures is a decade old, and the Starfox Assault wasn't well received. Krystal could very well be dumped as a Starfox representative. There is also no way she is more important than Falco or Wolf is to the franchise.
Fox, Falco, Wolf have been there since the beginning i believe. Therefore they have the best chance at returning and there is no way Krystal could replace any of them.

 

[MasterMushroom]

you do realize one of sakurai's favorite characters is falco right....

His favorite characters he's mentioned to the public are

1) Captain Falcon
2) Mach rider

He's mentioned in the way past that he's close buddies with Takaya Imamura, the creator of the f-zero cast, and creator of Mach rider (as well as art designer for star foxs cast NES-N64). When given the project to work on a fighting game for the N64, imamura gave him the idea of putting falcon in utilizing one of the movesets that was already preset within the prototype. He's also mentioned besides C.Falcon, his favorite is Mach rider. And that in an unrelated note, that his favorite tea is black tea.

His smash bros mains has always been Luigi and ganondorf. I have absolutely no idea where you're pulling "falco" from but you're not going to be fooling anyone with that. The only mention of Falco by sakurai was explaining to a fan why his popularity amongst the Japanese fan base warranted his inclusion.

He hasn't ever said his favorite character was a star fox character at all. Whether this is an elaborate ruse or simple confusion, I thought I'd let you know by dropping by with this 2 cents.


It's a good thing I'm refraining from forums for these past years. I know exactly why people like parrot head, flip troopa, death born, and algus rarely participate in such matters anymore.

 

[smashbro29]

Actually Toad's defining characteristic (gameplay wise) is his speed... they brought back Toad's speed from Super Mario Bros. 2 in Super Mario 3D World.

Yeah Toad's running speed should definitely give him a unique moveset. He basically plays like a slightly faster Mario (in 2 games total!) and is only used as needed.

In Mario 2 he was just a skin for some other character who ran fast and in the newer games he's just the generic 3rd and 4th player guy like those bug things in the Rayman games.

The new 3D game is the first time he's being used in a mainline game not because they had to.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Yeah Toad's running speed should definitely give him a unique moveset. He basically plays like a slightly faster Mario (in 2 games total!) and is only used as needed.

In Mario 2 he was just a skin for some other character who ran fast and in the newer games he's just the generic 3rd and 4th player guy like those bug things in the Rayman games.

The new 3D game is the first time he's being used in a mainline game not because they had to.

They didn't HAVE to use Toad in the New Super Mario Bros games.

They could have used Wario, Waluigi, Peach, or even a new character. But they went with Toad. That says something.

 

[smashbro29]

They didn't HAVE to use Toad in the New Super Mario Bros games.

They could have used Wario, Waluigi, Peach, or even a new character. But they went with Toad. That says something.

No they couldn't. Wario would have to do something different, Peach would also have to do something different, Waluigi's frame is way too different from any of them to work (he's also just a stupid character). Toads are just generic enough that nobody cared what they did to them.

 

[Opossum]

So I edited my roster a tad to reflect E3 and such. I'd say I'm pretty confident in it now.

THINGS I MAY BE WRONG ON:

1. Cuts may occur.
2. Dixie may be added as a fourth DK rep.
3. Chrom may be in the game, but I'm skeptical. A stage =/= character, after all.
4. Shulk, Isaac, and/or Starfy may get in as new series reps.
5. Samurai Goroh may be overlooked again.
6. Pac Man may be added.
7. Possibility of Toad or Bowser Jr. as the new Mario rep.



With all of that considered, though, I'm liking this roster.

 

[FalKoopa]

@Opposum
Throw in Isaac and I'll give it a 10/10.

 

[Autumn ♫]

So I edited my roster a tad to reflect E3 and such. I'd say I'm pretty confident in it now.

THINGS I MAY BE WRONG ON:

1. Cuts may occur.
2. Dixie may be added as a fourth DK rep.
3. Chrom may be in the game, but I'm skeptical. A stage =/= character, after all.
4. Shulk, Isaac, and/or Starfy may get in as new series reps.
5. Samurai Goroh may be overlooked again.
6. Pac Man may be added.
7. Possibility of Toad or Bowser Jr. as the new Mario rep.



With all of that considered, though, I'm liking this roster.

Only big problem I have with it is Mario and Zelda having 4 characters while Pokemon has 5.
That and I don't think we will be seeing T.Link anymore.

 

[N3ON]

@Opposum
Throw in Isaac and I'll give it a 10/10.

I concur.

It does seem like Sakurai is focusing more on new series this time around though, I doubt the three revealed and the three rumored all being new series is a "coincidence", so I'd maybe focus on new series reps over less-than-likely existing series reps, like Goroh.

I think you could also get away with adding another character or two, but that's up to you Opossum.

 

[TheTuninator]

I'm inclined to agree with smashbro29. I really don't see Toad standing on his own as a character in Smash. He's basically the generic filler character in the new Mario games he appears in. He could make it in as playable, but people greatly overestimate the benefit to his chances provided by his appearances in the new Mario games.

We'll find out when we see Peach, I guess.

 

[Opossum]

I concur.

It does seem like Sakurai is focusing more on new series this time around though, I doubt the three revealed and the three rumored all being new series is a "coincidence", so I'd maybe focus on new series reps over less-than-likely existing series reps, like Goroh.

I think you could also get away with adding another character or two, but that's up to you Opossum.

Honestly, if I were to add two more characters, which I was actually debating, they would be Isaac and Chrom. I've been thinking about it, and I would definitely love to add both of them on. Should I?

 

[TheTuninator]

Chrom's a very safe addition, and Isaac's status as an Assist Trophy in Brawl also makes him a pretty safe pick.

4 FE characters would be extremely unlikely, though, so if you want to add Chrom you might have to cut Roy if you're going for an accurate roster prediction rather than an ideal one.

 

[N3ON]

Honestly, if I were to add two more characters, which I was actually debating, they would be Isaac and Chrom. I've been thinking about it, and I would definitely love to add both of them on. Should I?

Shockingly, I would say yes to Isaac, but, and other people seem to disagree, I think four FE characters is pushing it in terms of likelihood. I mean, you've got the four with the best chances... but especially if Sakurai is moving away from existing series this time (which is my guess), I wouldn't be confident in getting four, even if it only amounts to one newcomer. Personally I'd add another new series, like Shulk or a Namco character or something, but that's just my opinion, Chrom is still a fine choice in general.

 

[Opossum]

Shockingly, I would say yes to Isaac, but, and other people seem to disagree, I think four FE characters is pushing it in terms of likelihood. I mean, you've got the four with the best chances... but especially if Sakurai is moving away from existing series this time (which is my guess), I wouldn't be confident in getting four, even if it only amounts to one newcomer. Personally I'd add another new series, like Shulk or a Namco character or something, but that's just my opinion, Chrom is still a fine choice in general.

Basically my defense for four FE characters would be that it keeps the most amount of people happy. Marth is kept for being the face of the series, obviously. Ike is pretty much the quintessential Western FE character with a unique moveset, Roy is requested worldwide, and Chrom, while a bit less popular over all than Roy is, is a generally well-received character by FE fans, and hails from essentially the game that saved the FE franchise from certain doom. Due to its recent popularity spike since Awakening, I feel that FE is one of the few franchises that I can realistically see getting two more representatives (the other being the Donkey Kong Country series).

But yeah, that's just the way I see things. That, and honestly, my confidence in Shulk has fallen recently, to be honest.

 

[Autumn ♫]

You know, people thinking new series characters have the priority over others kind of reminds me of pre-Brawl, where people thought we were going to get a bunch of females.

 

[N3ON]

Basically my defense for four FE characters would be that it keeps the most amount of people happy. Marth is kept for being the face of the series, obviously. Ike is pretty much the quintessential Western FE character with a unique moveset, Roy is requested worldwide, and Chrom, while a bit less popular over all than Roy is, is a generally well-received character by FE fans, and hails from essentially the game that saved the FE franchise from certain doom. Due to its recent popularity spike since Awakening, I feel that FE is one of the few franchises that I can realistically see getting two more representatives (the other being the Donkey Kong Country series).

But yeah, that's just the way I see things. That, and honestly, my confidence in Shulk has fallen recently, to be honest.

I guess that would please the largest amount of people given only four characters (though the whining about four swordsmen would be pretty persistent ), but by that logic we would've gotten a much different FE roster than we did in Brawl. Sakurai prioritized adding other characters above re-adding Roy, and popular characters like Lyn weren't even planned (as far as we know) - so Sakurai isn't all about pleasing everyone, just as many as he can with his limited amount of time and resources. Keep in mind while FE may be big in Japan and on these boards, because we can never just STOP TALKING ABOUT IT (), it's not a huge series in the majority of world, so yeah, your reasoning is fine, and I guess it wouldn't be that much of a stretch considering we had three planned for Brawl, and Awakening was big... but I'd say it's still not overly likely, and one of the bigger gambles on your roster.

Like I said, I really don't think Sakurai is going for the focus on expanding existing series, and while large series like DK can maybe justify two newcomers (even that's a toss-up), with even the little that's been shown of SSB4 so far, I personally don't think FE can, but it's not super unlikely, so to each their own I guess.

And I always thought Shulk's chances were a little overrated, I think people jumped the gun a bit with X (and even before then really), but I will admit he still has a fair chance, so again, it's your roster, so it's your preference.

 

[Opossum]

I guess that would please the largest amount of people given only four characters (though the whining about four swordsmen would be pretty persistent ), but by that logic we would've gotten a much different FE roster than we did in Brawl. Sakurai prioritized adding other characters above re-adding Roy, and popular characters like Lyn weren't even planned (as far as we know) - so Sakurai isn't all about pleasing everyone, just as many as he can with his limited amount of time and resources. Keep in mind while FE may be big in Japan and on these boards, because we can never just STOP TALKING ABOUT IT (), it's not a huge series in the majority of world, so yeah, your reasoning is fine, and I guess it wouldn't be that much of a stretch considering we had three planned for Brawl, and Awakening was big... but I'd say it's still not overly likely, and one of the bigger gambles on your roster.

Like I said, I really don't think Sakurai is going for the focus on expanding existing series, and while large series like DK can maybe justify two newcomers (even that's a toss-up), with even the little that's been shown of SSB4 so far, I personally don't think FE can, but it's not super unlikely, so to each their own I guess.

And I always thought Shulk's chances were a little overrated, I think people jumped the gun a bit with X (and even before then really), but I will admit he still has a fair chance, so again, it's your roster, so it's your preference.

You make a valid point. The one thing I would say, though, is that during Brawl, there were a lot more of the "big" characters to add, compared to the much smaller pool we have this time around. But over all, you make a good point.

That being said, though, I think it's a bit too early to see if Sakurai is giving more priority to newcomer franchises. Although it is a good theory.

That being said, I'll take this into consideration for the next roster update, which...may be sooner than I thought.

 

[N3ON]

@Opossum
Glad I could help, even a little.
And yeah, there were a lot more "bigger" characters to add back then, Ike really was one of the smaller ones when you think about it, I just used that as an example to show Sakurai doesn't prioritize pleasing everybody in one series above focusing on others.

You know, people thinking new series characters have the priority over others kind of reminds me of pre-Brawl, where people thought we were going to get a bunch of females.

Except people always think we're suddenly going to get a bunch of females to make up for the few we have, while only three newcomers, all of new series were shown, three more were rumored (which could still happen - obv not at E3 though), and the amount of notable characters from existing series is declining - so this one has a bit of logic and circumstantial evidence to it.

 

[Autumn ♫]

Except people always think we're suddenly going to get a bunch of females to make up for the few we have, while only three newcomers, all of new series were shown, three more were rumored (which could still happen - obv not at E3 though), and the amount of notable characters from existing series is declining - so this one has a bit of logic and circumstantial evidence to it.

Maybe it's just that I don't count the WFT and Megaman as new series characters but instead the WTF and the new 3rd party character. BTW who were the 3 rumored characters?

 

[N3ON]

Maybe it's just that I don't count the WFT and Megaman as new series characters but instead the WTF and the new 3rd party character. BTW who were the 3 rumored characters?

They can be both. They are both.

And the rumored characters are Little Mac, Pac-Man, and Mii.

 

[Autumn ♫]

They can be both. They are both.

And the rumored characters are Little Mac, Pac-Man, and Mii.

I see Little Mac getting in, I hope Pac-Man makes it, and I would think the Mii would represent what the WFT represents, the Wii series

 

[Ninka_kiwi]

So here's something I'm interested in, I'm currently working on a new roster, and I'm very interested to know what's the most likely out of the three characters of Saki, Shulk, and Issac?

I really doubt we are getting all 3, but I'd like to know which is the most likely. I personally think Issac and Saki are the most likely with Shulk appearing as an assist, but I'd like to get opinions before starting my new roster.

 

[Autumn ♫]

So here's something I'm interested in, I'm currently working on a new roster, and I'm very interested to know what's the most likely out of the three characters of Saki, Shulk, and Issac?

I really doubt we are getting all 3, but I'd like to know which is the most likely. I personally think Issac and Saki are the most likely with Shulk appearing as an assist, but I'd like to get opinions before starting my new roster.

I think Shulk is because he can represent Monolith Soft, Project Rainfall, and Xenoblade. Xenoblade was also known as one of the best games too along with Shulk having alot of popularity and being recent. We haven't really seen Isaac or Saki for a good while.

 

[Ninka_kiwi]

I think Shulk is because he can represent Monolith Soft, Project Rainfall, and Xenoblade. Xenoblade was also known as one of the best games too along with Shulk having alot of popularity and being recent. We haven't really seen Isaac or Saki for a good while.

I just figure that they are more likely due to them having more than one game, but yeah It would make sense to rep Monlith Soft. As I know I'm not getting a Baten Kaitos character, I might as well settle with Shulk.

 

[N3ON]

Keep in mind Sakurai doesn't care about representing studios, and likely won't care about representing western fan movements Nintendo refuses to admit affected anything either. Shulk would almost definitely get in to represent Xenoblade, and Xenoblade alone (and X if they turn out to be related).

I hope people can look past my bias, but I'd say Isaac. Of the three, his series is without a doubt the largest, with the most games, and several times the audience size of the other two, combined. He's also been the longest popularly-requested of the three and the one with the most average worldwide popularity.

I'd rank it
Isaac > Shulk > Saki, but Shulk is also a good choice. I think Saki is very overrated (chance-wise) all he has over the other two is possible Sakurai bias, which Sakurai doesn't act on anyway without a good reason.

 

[Opossum]

So here's something I'm interested in, I'm currently working on a new roster, and I'm very interested to know what's the most likely out of the three characters of Saki, Shulk, and Issac?

I really doubt we are getting all 3, but I'd like to know which is the most likely. I personally think Issac and Saki are the most likely with Shulk appearing as an assist, but I'd like to get opinions before starting my new roster.

At this point in time, I'd go for Isaac. Popular (especially to the Western fans), unique movepool with Psynergy, Djinn, Summons, Swordplay, and Terrakinesis.

That, and he's from a rather long-running series.

 

[Ninka_kiwi]

Keep in mind Sakurai doesn't care about representing studios, and likely won't care about representing western fan movements Nintendo refuses to admit affected anything either. Shulk would almost definitely get in to represent Xenoblade, and Xenoblade alone (and X if they turn out to be related).

I hope people can look past my bias, but I'd say Isaac. Of the three, his series is without a doubt the largest, with the most games, and several times the audience size of the other two, combined. He's also been the longest popularly-requested of the three and the one with the most average worldwide popularity.

I'd rank it
Isaac > Shulk > Saki, but Shulk is also a good choice. I think Saki is very overrated (chance-wise) all he has over the other two is possible Sakurai bias, which Sakurai doesn't act on anyway without a good reason.

Honestly the only reason why I chance Saki so high is because he has room for such an interesting movepool, but I see what you mean by Issac being very popular. I was actually kinda disappointed when I saw both Issac and Saki as only assist trophies. My ideal situation would be all three getting in, but meh, that would be too many swordsman, especially when equating the almost inevitable editions of Takamaru and Chrom.

 

[N3ON]

Honestly the only reason why I chance Saki so high is because he has room for such an interesting movepool, but I see what you mean by Issac being very popular. I was actually kinda disappointed when I saw both Issac and Saki as only assist trophies. My ideal situation would be all three getting in, but meh, that would be too many swordsman, especially when equating the almost inevitable editions of Takamaru and Chrom.

I agree it would be nice to see all three (I'd take any and all of them over Chrom in a heartbeat), and I too was pretty disappointed Isaac was only an AT last time, believe me, but prioritizing one above the others due to potential, truthfully, isn't a very good reason. First, you would really need to play all the games to get a good idea, but mostly because they all have quite a bit of potential. They could all play very differently from anything we have so far. Trust me, Isaac has pretty much just as much to work with as Mega Man does.

But yeah, ideally all three would get in. Realistically, one or two. Though if Sakurai is emphasizing new series this time around, which, like I said, I suspect, then it bodes well for them.

 

[Ninka_kiwi]

I agree it would be nice to see all three (I'd take any and all of them over Chrom in a heartbeat), and I too was pretty disappointed Isaac was only an AT last time, believe me, but prioritizing one above the others due to potential, truthfully, isn't a very good reason. First, you would really need to play all the games to get a good idea, but mostly because they all have quite a bit of potential. They could all play very differently from anything we have so far. Trust me, Isaac has pretty much just as much to work with as Mega Man does.

But yeah, ideally all three would get in. Realistically, one or two. Though if Sakurai is emphasizing new series this time around, which, like I said, I suspect, then it bodes well for them.

Luckily I have played all three game series, I'm just saying that they would all be grouped in the sword user category even know they are all completely different, such as Saki being more gun based then sword based, Issac being more magic based then sword based, and Shulk having possibly some cool Monado and future sight gameplay. I do hope though that Sakurai starting with 2 more unconventional series bodes well for the idea of more traditionally combat oriented characters getting in to balance them out.

 

[BluePikmin11]

So I edited my roster a tad to reflect E3 and such. I'd say I'm pretty confident in it now.

THINGS I MAY BE WRONG ON:

1. Cuts may occur.
2. Dixie may be added as a fourth DK rep.
3. Chrom may be in the game, but I'm skeptical. A stage =/= character, after all.
4. Shulk, Isaac, and/or Starfy may get in as new series reps.
5. Samurai Goroh may be overlooked again.
6. Pac Man may be added.
7. Possibility of Toad or Bowser Jr. as the new Mario rep.



With all of that considered, though, I'm liking this roster.

There's more representation for Pokemon than Mario and Zelda.
I would add Toad and Toon Zelda there so it's even steven.
Dixie Kong should replace King K. Rool, but that's just my opinion considering K. Rool's state hasn't been given in the latest DKC.
If you're going to have Ridley for the most requested, add Shulk there.
I would suggest another WTF character, maybe Mr. AR or maybe just add Mii.
And personally I would add one more retro, Sakurai stated he wanted more retro characters to be in the game, maybe Prince Sable (Although I know you're just gonna add Muddy Mole instead )

And that's it from me.

 

[Opossum]

Reply time!

There's more representation for Pokemon than Mario and Zelda.
I would add Toad and Toon Zelda there so it's even steven.

This sort of thinking is rather poor in my eyes. Look at Melee. Five Mario reps, four Pokemon, and 5 Zelda. SSB64 had 2 Mario, 2 Pokemon, and 1 Zelda character. Brawl had 4 Mario, 6 Pokemon, and 5 Zelda. They were never even to begin with...

Dixie Kong should replace King K. Rool, but that's just my opinion considering K. Rool's state hasn't been given in the latest DKC.

Just because of Tropical Freeze? Recentness has never really mattered. As a whole, K. Rool is still far more requested, and he is very iconic to the DK series. I can see Dixie getting in, but not at K. Rool's expense.

If you're going to have Ridley for the most requested, add Shulk there.

Why? As I've said, I have been losing faith in Shulk's chances, and he is nowhere near as requested as Ridley. They can be mutually exclusive.

I would suggest another WTF character, maybe Mr. AR or maybe just add Mii.

I think WFT is enough of a "WTF" character. Not to mention, as far as surprise characters go, many of the characters on the roster that are popular requests here (like Takamaru) would definitely be surprises to the average consumer.

And personally I would add one more retro, Sakurai stated he wanted more retro characters to be in the game, maybe Prince Sable (Although I know you're just gonna add Muddy Mole instead )

Well, yeah, because Muddy has far more to go off of, and is over all much more likely. Considering Takamaru's pretty likely, do you really think Sakurai would add two Japanese-only retros?

...with that said, though, it was rather painful to keep Muddy off of this, but I'm still rooting for him.

And that's it from me.

Same here.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I think the representation has become more clear to Sakurai, it would be appropriate to add one more for Mario and Zelda.
Recentness has quite mattered since there is Arena Ferox, and there are stages based on SM3DL.
If there is not at least one more WTF, there would be no more surprises for later .
And technically there were Japanese characters in Melee, Marth and Roy. If Sakurai were to choose Takamaru as an obscure choice, Prince Sable would be one also that can be added as an obscure choice.

 

[N3ON]

I think the representation has become more clear to Sakurai, it would be appropriate to add one more for Mario and Zelda.

So basically you're randomly guessing Sakurai's mentality. Par for the course with you.

Recentness has quite mattered since there is Arena Ferox, and there are stages based on SM3DL.

Stages =/= characters

If there is not at least one more WTF, there would be no more surprises for later .

Assuming we're done with surprises is a bit naive, even if we don't get another WTF character. Brawl had at least four surprise characters.

And technically there were Japanese characters in Melee, Marth and Roy. If Sakurai were to choose Takamaru as an obscure choice, Prince Sable would be one also that can be added as an obscure choice.

So let's not just fill a spot Sakurai doesn't like to overindulge once, but twice. Impeccable logic as always, BluePikmin.
Also Marth and Roy weren't retros, and weren't planned for western release. It's a lot different.

 

[Opossum]

Once again, N3ON said pretty much everything I could have said, soooo...yeah.

I'm a big kid now, N3ON. I can fight my own battles.

 

[FourStar]

His favorite characters he's mentioned to the public are

1) Captain Falcon
2) Mach rider

He's mentioned in the way past that he's close buddies with Takaya Imamura, the creator of the f-zero cast, and creator of Mach rider (as well as art designer for star foxs cast NES-N64). When given the project to work on a fighting game for the N64, imamura gave him the idea of putting falcon in utilizing one of the movesets that was already preset within the prototype. He's also mentioned besides C.Falcon, his favorite is Mach rider. And that in an unrelated note, that his favorite tea is black tea.

His smash bros mains has always been Luigi and ganondorf. I have absolutely no idea where you're pulling "falco" from but you're not going to be fooling anyone with that. The only mention of Falco by sakurai was explaining to a fan why his popularity amongst the Japanese fan base warranted his inclusion.

He hasn't ever said his favorite character was a star fox character at all. Whether this is an elaborate ruse or simple confusion, I thought I'd let you know by dropping by with this 2 cents.


It's a good thing I'm refraining from forums for these past years. I know exactly why people like parrot head, flip troopa, death born, and algus rarely participate in such matters anymore.
View attachment 986

yeah i've seen him say that stuff but actually i swear i remember seeing an interview from like 2004 (really old) talking about why he really liked falco from melee. now ofcourse times have changed and i still cannot find the video but i swear he's stated he likes falco

 

[BluePikmin11]

Pokemon, Zelda, and Mario are the 3 biggest franchises out there, why would Pokemon have more than Mario and Zelda?
And the Marth and Roy thing was a joke

 

[Wigglytuff ★]

Okay, so this is more of a pot-stirring roster than anything else. It's based on the premise that the appeal of the new game's roster lies not in expansion (minus transformations, size only grows by four from Brawl) but in changes, and therefore a LOT of fighters (clones and otherwise) get cut: Toon Link, Lucario, PKMN Trainer, Sonic, Ike, King Dedede, Wolf, Lucas...frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these go, and R.O.B., Snake, and Meta Knight shouldn't be seen as 100% safe either. (I consider this an optimistic prediction; I expect many of you would disagree).

Instead, these characters get replaced mostly by characters who I feel could have unique playing styles (which seems to be an emphasis with the characters revealed so far) who better represent the diversity of offerings presented by Nintendo franchises. Some of this are direct replacements: Mewtwo replacing Lucario due to more contemporary relevance, Meowth more or less replacing PKMN Trainer to keep things fresh, Chrom replacing Ike (who I like a great deal) because the former is more contemporary. The playing styles of characters like Isaac, Andy, and Little Mac could be potentially unlike any existing character, which would be a lot of fun. Takamaru and Pac Man just feel like near shoo-ins to me, so I couldn't not include them.

As far as the two new transformations (seen on the right with Sheik and Zamus), I don't particularly expect them, but given that Zamus demonstrated in Brawl that a Final Smash-based transformation can work well, I think final smashes for Puff and Chu that ended with evolution (which you could cancel by pressing B!) would be a lot of fun.

All told, 4 for Mario franchise (not counting Wario/Yoshi), 4 for Zelda (including Sheik), 4 for Pokemon (not including Wigglytuff and Raichu, who I don't expect), 2 for Metroid (including Zamus), 2 for Kirby, 2 for Star Fox, 2 for Fire Emblem, 2 for DKC, 3 third-party, every other franchise (including Mother and F-Zero) at 1 apiece.

TL;DR: This is my guess at a lean roster with many former fighters not returning in order to keep gameplay "fresh" without adding many new slots.

 

[Noler_Mass]

Stages=/=characters!


(Unless you are talking about the ones that do like icicle mountain or flat zone)