Here is a comparison between Brawls roster and 4s roster
Brawls Update
Metroid got 1 new rep, Mario got a new rep and lost a clone, Zelda got a new rep and lost one, Pokemon lost 2 but gained 4, Stafox gained 1, Donkey Kong gained 1, 2 new kirby reps, fe got a newcomer and lost one, earthbound got a newcomer, 2 retros, 2 3rd party characters and 1 brand new series. Out of the cuts only 1 was unique and substantial with Mewtwo. Brawls roster was amazing and fair. Only the foolish complained (and ridley/mewtwo fans).
39 - 22 (Pure Clones arent used as counting towards the net gain of a roster)
Net Gain 17 more characters
1 unique character lost
Less time to work with, smaller development team
Smash 4's update
Lets compare Mario got 3 new reps, Pokemon got 1 lost 2, Kid icarus got 2 new reps, Fire Emblem got 2 new reps, 2 new 3rd parties -1 reps, Starfox loses -1 rep, Earthbound loses -1 rep, 1 new retro -1 retro, 3 custom characters, 4 new series reps. All 7 cuts were unique characters.
Yea this roster sure is fair and balanced. The data speaks for itself.
48 - 39
Net gain: 9 characters
7 unique character cuts (including mewtwo)
More Development time, bigger development team.