Can I just say two things about Pac-Man and the previous discussion we had about him?
A:
Pac-Man does have loads of moveset potential. However, being the basic blank slate, Mario-like character he is leaves him with a little of this and a little of that. He does not have many things that are "iconic" to him as he is simply put into whatever role they want him to be in for their next game and they don't really bother with giving him specific powers. Normally, since the newer Pac-Man games are adventuring/collec-a-thon games, he is left with fairly generic powers such as his punch, air kick, and butt bounce. That is, unless he's had a power pellet of some sort. At that point, he gets more interesting (though, admittedly, basic) powers such as a metal form, big butt bounce, lighting powers, a ribbon power (in which a ribbon follows Pac-Man and you have to make a full loop to damage the enemy with an explosion), and the newer fire, chameleon, ice, etc. powers from the new games (and he has a basic power pellet that gives him the power of being able to eat ghosts, obviously). I'm honestly pretty sure that this is a reference to him being pretty helpless in his original game when he doesn't have a power pellet. Without a power pellet, he can navigate the maze and eat stuff, but he can't do much else. With a power pellet, he can do all those things and can also fight back against his enemy ghost monsters.
Now, when we're making a moveset, it feels weird using any of his powers, since he can't normally have them without the use of a power pellet. So we're left with the fairly generic, "bounce on your opponent", "punch your opponent", and "kick your opponent" sort of things. This makes it REALLY hard to make a moveset that's fun and interesting and we're left with a sort of Mario-like case. For Mario, well, all he really does is jump, punch, kick, and spin without his powerups, so what do we do for his moveset? Well, we can give him gear that he's used (F.L.U.D.D.), but that's only a one game thing most of the time. We can make his jump damaging (Up-B), but it looks kinda bland. We can use powerups a bit creatively for stuff we're missing I guess (fireballs and cape). Then we can make a couple of moves up, I guess (up smash). I suppose we could also use certain power ups in a different way than they're used in-game (side smash).
And we're left with a moveset that is basic, but which represents the character well and has references to his games. Not great, but not terrible either.
...
And no one cares because it's Mario. People are hyped to play as the character Mario! He's popular! He's iconic! He's well-loved! He's basic, sure, but he's Nintendo's freaking mascot!
Pac-Man's in the same basic situation that Mario is in. I suppose we could give him his powerups and we could make a really interesting moveset that's really complicated and fun, but that wouldn't really make a lot of sense since he can't use them that way normally. We'd be misrepresenting that character.
Not only that, but kids and people who just aren't great at fighting games wouldn't like playing as him since they like more simplistic gameplay. They're comfortable and familiar with the character, but they wouldn't think that he's all that fun to play as since he's complicated.
Seriously, think about Pac-Man's fanbase. Pac-Man's fans are normally casual video game players. They play the games because he's recognizable and because the games are easy to get into, regardless of what your skill level is. Basically, we're just like Mario fans, except we're a whole lot smaller and quieter. Most of us are actually terrible at most video games and prefer supporting him by buying his merchandise 'cause he's a cool guy. In fact, those of us who were introduced to him by his arcade game (the majority of us) actually prefer the simplistic "eat the dots to win and avoid the ghosts" gameplay that the arcade games use and we really don't bother with modern Pac-Man all that much.
In order to represent the character accurately and to cater to Pac-Man's fanbase, it's actually a much better idea to give Pac-Man a simple moveset that's easy to pick up in Super Smash Bros..
B:
Which, yes, some people find boring. Especially people that are big fans of fighting games. Or people who join forums to speculate about future games in that series. Or people who talk about frames and character weights and hitboxes and who go to tournaments to play said games.
Smash Bros fans and Smashboards users, basically.
These people generally don't like rounded out, basic characters in their fighting games and they're probably not big fans of Pac-Man since that's what he's most likely going to bring to the table; another well-rounded, balanced, and simple character that's mainly meant to be one that you can just pick up and play.
They don't want that. They want characters that they find interesting, and they never want characters like Pac-Man to get in...And that's fine. That's perfectly understandable. You like what you like and you know what you like. Good for you.
But, please, don't go on and on about how terrible that character is when there are people who grew up with and love the character. You don't see me going around saying that I despise the character Wario because I don't enjoy fart humor and don't want him anywhere near my beloved game of Smash Bros., do you? No, because that's rude and people have their own tastes and interests. I may not like Wario, but there are others who may have grown up with him and who may have waited their whole lives for the chance to play as him in Smash Bros.. I get that. Whatever makes them happy makes me happy, y'know? I'm mature enough to accept the fact that not everyone likes the same things that I like and that not everyone appreciates their favorite characters being called mediocre or uninteresting.
We like Pac-Man. You don't. Okay. Fine. But when we discuss him, please be civil. I accept that you, personally, may not find the character interesting. But that is your opinion only and does not have anything to do with that character's chances and has no reason to be brought up in the Roster Prediction Discussion Thread. Feel free to bring up his hate base like we do with Tingle when we discuss his chances, but don't just mindlessly bash the character. It's disrespectful and just makes you seem like a jerk because that is all you're being.
tl;dr Grow up and stop being so insulted by the fact that there are people who enjoy Pac-man and want him in Smash Bros., k? It's annoying and childish and I, personally, am getting sick of it.
Thank you and good night.
