Smash Rosters

[TomGuycott]

Mario Series:

Honestly, I think in terms of playable characters the Mario Series is pretty much locked in with Rosalina. IF they include anyone else, it either means the rest of the roster is meant to be considerably larger, or they are just having questionable opinions about series balancing (which isn't really set in stone, but having one series with SUCH a large tip in the scale in one direction kind of makes the game feel like "Mario and Friends Fighter" rather than a Nintendo All Stars kind of lineup)

What we might see a lot more of are cameos in the form of Assist Trophies, Stage Hazards and simple background elements. Of what is available, I think the most likely is the presence of Bowser Jr or Nabbit. I could see either as Assist Trophies, or as some sort of background element, especially if there was a Bowser specific stage in Jr's case.

In terms of stages, I think we will see some form of Luigi specific stage celebrating the Year of Luigi, even though it has since passed. Of course it could just end up being a Luigi's Mansion stage, which makes sense given Dark Moon's popularity.

In terms of my wish list (meaning stuff I don't expect to see at all, but I find conceptually cool), I'd love to see a Mario RPG character, assist or stage. There's a whooole lot to choose from, ranging from oldschool to new releases, and even different series to choose from. Paper Mario seems like the most prominent, with Mario and Luigi at a close second. Of couse I'd always want to see Super Mario RPG stuff, particularly a playable character, but I'd settle for ANY reference.



Zelda Series:

This one is tricky. Zelda is FAIRLY well-represented at the moment with potentially four playable characters, or five if you include Sheik. However, at this time it is unclear how Sheik and Ganondorf are designed or how they fit into the gameplay. There's definitely a lot of room for change with Ganondorf, but if Zelda is any indication then Ganondorf may just be his Twilight Princess design with some tweaks.

I feel like there will be ONE more Zelda rep at least. No idea who, it could be anyone out of a wide variety of viable candidates. I'm also predicting a Link Between Worlds stage.

In terms of what I wish would be in it, after playing A Link between Worlds I kind of wish Ravio would be. What I'd want to see from him is a moveset adapting the various tools he rents Link, complete with the bunny ear motif representing them as his. For his specials I want to see him use the Rods, such as Ice for standard, Fire for side, Wind for up and Sand for down. I have always felt the wands and rods don't get enough attenion from the Zelda games, as they are really cool weapons most of the time. I also wish there was some sort of representation of pig-style Ganon in slightly more than a Final Smash for Ganondorf.



Kirby Series:

In terms of characters, I don't think we'd see more. Sakurai has always seemed reluctant to add his characters in over others, and Dedede and Meta are arguably the most relevant other characters in the series. I would LOVE to see more as it is one of my favorite series of all time, but additional characters doesn't seem like it is going to happen.

Stage-wise, I'm thinking a Return to Dreamland stage is likely, or an Epic Yarn stage, two of the more successful recent Kirby titles as of late, at least for the Wii U version. A more traditional Dreamland stage might appear on the 3DS version, or maybe a Triple Deluxe stage. Bandana Dee might appear in a stage or as an assist, I predict.

I have a wishlist a mile long for Kirby characters, but I think the one that would make the most sense is Knuckle Joe, seeing as he actually did appear as an Assist previously. Marx is my super guilty-pleasure wish list character, and if I even saw him in the background of a level I'd consider it a small personal pleasure.


Donkey Kong Series:

Dixie or Cranky is getting playable in some way. No idea which, but I'd lean more towards Dixie. The game already has a lot of girl power going on in the newcomer roster, it would fit the trend.

I WANT K. Rool in, but I'm not really holding my breath. He's been appearing as trophies for the past two Smash games, so maybe he might have some other kind of appearance. Playable would be more than welcome in my opinion though, I think very highly of the King.

Metroid series

I think that there is some sort of chance of a playable Ridley. I just have this feeling. Granted, feelings are often wrong, and all the available evidence seems to point to the contrary. But I'm going on a gamble here and saying that I think he's going to be in. Beyond that, I don't see any other characters getting in.

I've always wanted another Bounty Hunter to be included. Pretty much every hunter from MP:Hunters has a design and fighting style I really enjoy. The game itself was meh, which is why its disappointing that the designs will continue to go unused. Unless they end up being Trophies again.

Earthbound series

A somewhat neglected series, and I believe it will continue to suffer neglect in the future. I don't think Earthbound will see any newcomers this time around, though I don't think Lucas will get the boot either.

What I WISH would happen is the inclusion of Claus, Poo or Porky. The first two represent a good combination of physical fighters with PSI powers, and Porky is just over-the-top crazy. They'd have to pull what they would need to pull with Ridley though and settle on some kind of scaled down design. His actual size in Earthbound at the end isn't entirely apparent, though it does seem to be fairly big.

Wario Series

I don't see anyone else from his series being added (Including Waluigi, who there's arguements whether he'd be in the Mario spectrum of characters ((which makes more sense given the source material)) or a Wario character), especially considering Ashley has just been revealed as an Assist. She's probably the most popular Wario Ware character outside of Wario himself, and I doubt Nintendo will give any love to the Wario Land series either in the form of a playable.

I am hoping for a nice new Wario stage and maybe even more assists if possible.


Fire Emblem

Although he's a LOT like Ike and Marth in a number of ways, I see Chrom being viable, but I'm not 100% behind the idea. The problem I feel is that Marth's latest design (in terms of his sword design mainly) fits a LOT with how I pictured Chrom sizing up. HOWEVER, if they were to keep Ike (Which I believe is very possible, he was the lord of a fairly successful pair of games in the series and among the first console versions released in YEARS as far as I gather), I could see Marth being the fast one, Chrom the middle and balanced and Ike the powerful, slow one. The blue hair on all three doesn't bother me much, it's like a series staple. To me that's like complaining about Mario, Luigi and Wario having the same uniform (most of the time).

Like Kirby, my wish list with FE is a mile long. The main issue is that the lords get all the attention and the cooler side characters, villains and magicians get put to the wayside. I mean, with a series the size of FE you could make the whole game with ONLY FE characters and still leave considerable material out. I'd love to see Lyn, any magic user or any villain. Tharja would be a cool, recent dark magic user, but maybe her outfit is a bit too risque for the game (It's like.. mostly translucent black with some opaque covering where necessary).


F-Zero

I don't see any new characters really. F-Zero has the unfortunate curse of being oversaturated with lots of potentially interesting characters, but a somewhat smaller scale in popularity. The result is that it doesn't have the same staying power as other series.

What I wouldn't mind seeing though is at least ONE more. Samurai Goroh works fine for me given he appeared as an assist, but he might remain an assist as sort of a joke (as he was sort of a mockery if I recall, I'm shaky on F-Zero lore). Like I said, F-Zero's character library is sooo diverse, I wouldn't mind seeing ANY newcomer from that.


Pokemon

I see Mewtwo returning, definitely. Beyond that, I have no idea. If no other changes were made, Pokemon would have pretty much the biggest chunk of the roster, so not much else is necessary. It probably has the BIGGEST problem of having too much source material to choose from.

What I hope for is maybe a new trainer AS a fighter, using Pokemon for moves. Also for Meowth, tipping the scale to Gen 1 even more... but in the end, is that such a bad thing? It's the series roots, after all.


Pikmin

I don't know a whole lot about Pikmin, but I don't think there would be any reason to have another character from it since they'd likely play so similarly to Olimar.

However, if I had it my way, I'd make them have different fighting styles and maybe have the newcomer pull different Pikmin than Olimar would.


Star Fox

I think Wolf is going to stick around and there won't be any other newcomers. The series has had some rough times lately, not quite as popular anymore.

What I really hope for more than a character is a good Star Fox stage. The Brawl one was okay, but something with an iconic Star Fox location would be much cooler than some generic space battle.


Kid Icarus

I see two characters being newcomers... but I have no idea which they are. Palutena is a must, and it goes along with the theme I mentioned of the game having more girls than the previous games. The characters I PERSONALLY consider worthy are Hades, Phosphora, Magnus and Medusa in that order of priority as playable characters.

In terms of assist trophies, I think Magnus fits a lot better there. Medusa I'd see more of a stage hazard kind of girl, off in the background taunting you like in the opening of Uprising.

Pretty much all the characters I mentioned I'd love to see playable, and then some. I love Kid Icarus to the core.


Misc Nintendo Characters

I don't really see anyone else getting added in terms of "Weird Peripheral" character. That's sort of what Wii Fit Trainer accomplished. As for other series in general, I feel like Little Mac has a chance. His reboot was pretty awesome, and Punchout is an iconic classic game.

Characters like Takamaru and Sukapon seem more likely as assist trophies, but I think Takamaru is more likely. His game had a featuring in Nintendo Land after all, and maybe adding him here might spark a rebirth like it did for Kid Icarus.

What I wish I could see (though I know I won't) is a playable Golden Sun rep. Isaac seems the most logical to me, probably with a focus more on his overworld powers like his Assist was rather than his Djinn abilities in battle. I'd like it the reverse way, but I'm just going based on what they had his assist focus on.



Third Party Characters

Snake is kind of up in the air for returning.. I'd want him to, but I'm kind of on the fence about whether he would. He was an awesome character though, and has a VERY rich history (just not entirely with Nintendo consoles). Sonic won't see any more playables, nor will Mega Man. I see people's reasoning for Pac Man, but I don't predict him appearing.

Assists are another story. I think Sonic would get a different assist this time (or in addition to Shadow), but I DON'T think it will be Tails. Mega Man I could see either going with Proto Man or Eddie (for the ally aspect), Bass or Wily (for the villain aspect), or Zero (for the reach-out to the popular continuation of the series).

Given the fact I could just pick ANY character from a nintendo game and call it a "wish list", I'm going to forego that here.