Sonic is going to take some getting use to, and I think people are misjudging the character.
He moves fast, but his attacks are at medium speed, so he retains some power to his punch. The problem with him, is that he's SO fast it's insane. But if you master his speed, you'll be able to get yourself in range Much quicker and more efficient(It depends, I know, but in the ideal situation), than most other characters, while retaining a few Mario like "all around" attacks. That's at least what I played from E for All, and judging by the videos I'm seeing, that's the case. Sonic really isn't HUGELY popular in Japan. While his inclusion is still a big thing for some there, people are more like "Hey, that's really cool!" rather than "HOLY **** ON A STICK SANDWITCH!" so you're going to get people who look for a more viable main to vibe with.
The entire concept of this game is giving you a character you can relate to from either nostalgia or basic playstyle, and having you master a basic skill set, while using those basic skills to pull of advanced techniques. It sounds confusing, and may not make sense the way I'm explaining it at least, but hopefully it will to some. A lot of people in the U.S. relate with Sonic, and if you release this back when the DC was out in Japan,(when Sonic started to actually gain some popularity, before the PS2 stole the DC's thunder and it drooped after it's launch sales), you probably would have gotten a bigger Sonic following with character choice overseas, due to more people being attached to the character. Right now, what are you seeing? You'll see a few Captain Falcon's, and maybe a Wolf and a Fox(due to their popularity from Melee), but you're seeing a LOT of Ike's and Marth's. More Ike's than a lot of people expected. GOOD Ike's.
But that's what this game succeeds on. That's what I'm excited about. Yeah sure, no ridley or Isaac, but the character they HAVE included have wide enough appeals to be able to relate with most if not all gamers. The last game, I couldn't relate to the characters that well, as I grew up a Sega Kid. Yeah sure, Samus was cool, and I liked the Pokemon Characters(I was young. ****ing sue me.), hell, Marth and Roy had swords. But really, when I played a character, I didn't make a connection as such. This game seems different. All the characters, even mainstays, have made an even GREATER impact on gaming than before(at least most of them have), and there are characters that bring back fond memories. PT was one of them. Even Olimar and Diddy.
And Sonic. I grew up with him. And he seems to have this nack about every time he loses his footing within his history(like he did with the Saturn. Like he's been doing for a few years.) He comes back to show us that he's strong enough to stand out, and still be thought of fondly.
Sorry for the long post. I just felt like going off on a little bit of an optimistic note here, as I don't really get to say that stuff now that everything turns into a flamewar =P
