I though Link got better then Melee and 64. I find most of his attacks more useful in Brawl, than the other Smash Bros. Most of his B moves can deal more damage, and his attacks can easily send players flying out the ring. But I suck at saying stuff so I'm done. XD
Believe me when I say Link's projectiles deal out less damage now. More knockback for the price of less damage dealing, but ya his projectiles are a heck of a lot better now. I gotta agree with that. I'd say Link got buffed up pretty good when it comes to attack and defense.
Pointless rant in 3...2...1...
HOWEVER! Sakurai tried everything within his power to nerf Link's recovery in every. SINGLE. WAY. POSSIBLE. His Up-B, Clawshot, and Bomb-jumping. He made sure Link's recovery options were nerfed badly and even managed to completely erase bomb-jumping out of his moveset (with the exception of holding it in your hand until it explodes). Not only that, but he made Link's clawshot even shorter than before. What gives!? Seriously, it was short enough in Melee, but nooo! it's not. It has to be shorter. Maybe he was afraid that if he left Link's claw/hook-shot alone, it would be too broken if used as an offense tool, whatever. Last but not least, His up-B...where do I start. Why is this the only recovery move in the entire game that's chargeable on the ground, but not the air? WTF! It's only clear that it'd be able to charge while in the air. This is the biggest hole in Link's recovery in my opinion. Think about it. Charging it in midair could had saved Link from a lot and I mean a lot of KOs. Not only that, but it seems only natural that it'd be one of the greatest (or not) offensive moves in the game if it only had more power behind it. But he couldn't give it to Link, do you know why? Because then he'd have to give it to Toon Link and that would be just chaos.
The reasons why he did it? Because he can!
I'm done
...I think Ness has the biggest buff by the way.