SonicMario
Star Spirit
Hello everyone, I'm making this thread to talk about character merit in regards to Smash Bros. So you have a good idea how I approach the characters in Smash. Unlike most multiplayer games, characters are hugely important because they're supposed to have some sort of meaning for Nintendo or at the very least the Smash Bros. franchise itself for multiple reasons. This isn't Mario Kart where they could literally add Baby Metal Koopalina (And that's no typo, I mean Rosalina in the form of a Koopaling) and I wouldn't give a rat's ass as long as Luigi and most of the other assured characters that the roster of Mario Kart 64 provided. In Smash Bros., bad inclusions would really stick out because pretty much most of the inclusions have excellent merit.
SUPER SMASH BROS. 64
I'd like to go through this by starting with the first game and then talking about what we know so far about Smash 4's roster and what characters have the merit to come back to.
I don't think anybody can question that at least most of the Original 12 all have their merits. For the sake to keeping this short. I'm not going to go over Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, and Luigi because at the time of SSB64 even then it was easy to see why they were included because they were well established franchises (Or sub ones in the case of Donkey Kong and Yoshi). I do want to cover however the two characters of the Original 12 still unconfirmed for Smash 4. But because it seems to be a tradition, not many really doubt their return. Let's start with the little boy with the psychic powers that most of us playing SSB64 never knew who he was.
Bold = Something that gives the character Merit
Underline = Something that gives the character less Merit
NESS
Ness is a very interesting and really well-loved inclusion looking back. Earthbound probably would have been remained in obscurity had Ness not been included. So any fans of the Earthbound/MOTHER franchise have a lot to thank the Smash Bros. series for.
At the same time though, Ness has somehow gotten a magic to him that has even attracted those who have not played more then five minutes of an Earthbound game (Me being one of them). The only time I played Earthbound on a ROM I had and had no idea what to do at the beginning as a kid. And never really went back to trying to go through it more. Yet, when I thought he was cut for Brawl (Remember "Up Until Now" ?) I felt like a hole had been cut right out of my heart. And to this day, I don't understand completely why I did. But it's as if cutting anyone from the Original 12 would be the absolute hardest character cuts to take. On nearly the same level if they ever took out Sonic. Something about possibly never seeing Ness' smiling face on the character select screen and instead we had Lucas, which while I'm not saying he's bad. But having just Lucas would not have felt the same at all. To my great relief there would be a leak that showed that Ness indeed was returning. While yes I do know that Lucas was planned to replace Ness back in Melee, and likely would have lessened the impact because then there would be a precedent for characters not returning in the Smash Bros. series had that happened. Anyway, It excited me that he was back, and he even became one of my 4 mains in Brawl/Project M and I think I've gotten pretty good with him too. At this point, cutting Ness would feel like Nintendo committed a Smash Bros. edition of the Ten Commandments that says "Thou shall not cut any of the Original 12 under any circumstances" Which speaking of which, let's get into the one character that provides actually a quite a bit of controversy because some don't believe she deserves the permanent and the holy "Thou shall not cut him/her" status that each of the Original 12 has received
JIGGLYPUFF
Ah, Jigglypuff. She's the one character that probably most would say whether they liked her or not. That if there's anyone that had to be cut from the Original 12. She'd be the one to go. Some even still clamor for the day that she is cut but has been continually denied the satisfaction twice thus far and a likely third time coming up. Personally, I'd feel it'd be a terrible mistake to cut Jigglypuff at this point. Could just be more of that talk that makes me sad when a character I don't even play their games for yet makes me sad when there is the possibility that they'll not be back talking. But whether we like it or not, Jigglypuff has a place in Smash. And while for 2 of the 3 official Smash Bros. games she was far from the best character. Taking her out now would still be pissing off players who have dedicated themselves to maining the little Pink Puffball Pokemon since the first game. And it says something when the Pokemon Franchise have probably had the most radical cuts out of any franchise in the Series (Mewtwo from between Melee and Brawl, the Pokemon Trainer most likely between Brawl and Smash 4) yet Jigglypuff still stands strong.
Again, it just feels like there's some strange force protecting the place that the Original 12 have. Some people who don't want Jigglypuff or even Ness to come back try to say that the concept of an Original 12 is purely made as a fan construct and if Nintendo truly wanted to they could say no to Jigglypuff or Ness at anytime. But the thing is, there's an easy answer to that: But they haven't. Until it does, the Original 12 being permanent Mainstays is not such a farfetched idea. You can come up with many excuses. Like Jigglypuff being one of the last few characters made in Brawl shown by meaning that the development team care less about Jigglypuff. But the thing is 1. Jiggs made it in over Mewtwo that's for sure 2. Toon Link was also one of the last remaining characters finished yet he's already been confirmed for Smash 4. Meaning character priority is completely different between Brawl and Smash 4.
All-in-all, Smash 64's roster is not something you want to mess with. Not one of the Original 12 being cut would go over well with everybody. We already have 10 of the 12 confirmed. We're either going get further proof of the divine right the Original 12 have by the end of this, or massive rioting over just one of the two characters should they not make it in. If both Jigglypuff and Ness were to not return let's just say the Smash Bros. series would have it's own version of the Mass Effect 3 ending backlash
SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE
Alright time to go into Melee. In other words, probably the game with the worst roster in quite a bit of ways including Merit. Yeah. Peach, Zelda/Shiek, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, Falco, Marth, and Mr. Game and Watch all have excellent merit to them. But like I said before, just one questionable inclusion can raise question marks in Smash Bros. and there were at least a few. As with SSB64, I'm not going to cover already confirmed Melee veterans. I'm going to go down the list starting with what of the characters currently unconfirmed that were introduced in Melee from who has the most merit, to the least in my opinion.
MR. GAME AND WATCH
Mr. Game and Watch is really the one character of the unconfirmed that really does subtly have the best merit out a lot of them. He may have been an out of nowhere choice to many. But this guy is older then Mario. He has his own moveset. And him being just a 2D model with blips for sounds, he's an easy to implement character. Plus as the Pac-Man trailer showed. You could have four classic Pre-NES era born characters fight with Game & Watch, Pac-Man, Mario, and Donkey Kong.
MEWTWO
Funny how the first character in Smash with a Unique moveset to be cut is in the Top 2 of characters with the most merit. Maybe that just goes to show just how Melee's roster kinda messed up things regarding merit-able characters. But yeah, Mewtwo is an immensely popular Pokemon. There are many people who did not like how Mewtwo wasn't included in Brawl and is probably the most wanted returning veteran just cause of how many miss him. Strangely enough, I would of gone to a funeral for Ness had he not made it. Yet I didn't really bat an eye too much for Mewtwo. I would say maybe Sonic helped with that but even with Sonic included I would have been sad had Ness not been included. And unlike the Earthbound franchise, I was a huge Pokemon fan at one point. Anyway, Mewtwo did have a unique moveset that was cut. And that was a darn shame. Even if competitively he didn't really do too well. But the fact he was cut in the first place does make his return rather questionable, especially after Greninja's reveal. That said there could be room for 6 Pokemon or even 7 where Mewtwo and Jigglypuff could both get in. If there is any competition between the two for a spot. Well let's just say we saw how that turned out in Brawl's development. No matter how "cooler" Mewtwo is in comparison to Jigglypuff in some people's opinions. But nonetheless there's still room for both. Nintendo doesn't have to honor the Grass types by bringing something like Sceptile into the game. As both SSB64 and Melee had absolutely no Fire, Grass, or Water types whatsoever. It was Electric, and Normal in SSB64. And Electric, Normal, and Psychic in Melee. It would be a shame to completely drop the whole idea since it does represent the three traditional starter types in all Pokemon games. But it's a sacrifice that had to be made with the loss of the Transformation gimmick for characters.
FALCO
Falco is a character that will always receive the love from the tourney heavy guys. And there would be riots among them if Falco were to not return. Falco does have seniority on his side. His only competition really could be Wolf should they shrink Star Fox's representation. However as popular as he is with Star Fox fans and Competitive Smash players. It still doesn't hide the fact that he started out barely different from Fox. He would get fixed in Brawl at least somewhat. But how he was in Melee keeps him just out of the Top 3 of our unconfirmed Melee characters in terms of Merit
ICE CLIMBERS
Ice Climbers is an interesting inclusion because while they as fighters were unique with the player controls one while a bot is programmed to attack with your character or try to get back to where you are if you separate. However, unlike Retro reps that represent something in Nintendo's History like Mr. Game and Watch and ROB do or are brought back to reboot the franchise eventually like in the case with Kid Icarus. Ice Climbers come from a game that isn't even really that amazing and probably a big case of "They're included only because Sakurai seems to like them". However, being unique as well as a character that while it has been said they've been having troubles programming on the 3DS version. I think that more so confirms them rather then make them likely cuts. Because that means the team has been trying to include them, and with Rosalina and Luma seeming just fine. I think we'll see Ice Climbers eventually even if we have to wait until the full roster reveal.
GANONDORF
Now it might be odd to have Ganondorf this low The thing is, it's true that he's an important inclusion being that him and all his forms are the Main Villain of the Zelda Franchise. However what completely ruins this from being excellent merit, is for some reason Sakurai or someone had the idea that he should just be a slower, and faster Captain Falcon. And has been in both Melee and Brawl. There's absolutely no doubt that he'll return in some form. But people still do complain about how a main villain of a big franchise doesn't even have his own Moveset. From here on out the other inclusions however I don't really look upon as all that favorable.
YOUNG LINK
Young Link is just rather odd. I know Sakurai has said he considers the Kid Link to be the true link. And how there was the whole time travel gimmick in Ocarina of Time and Link was a kid for all of Majora's Mask. He's not as bad as the other inclusion of an alternate version of an already existing character which I'll get to soon. And Toon Link basically keeps what Young Link was in spirit while also representing a whole nother section of the Zelda timeline. And while it's cool to have the option since it seems like the younger link seem to be better fighters then the Adult Link in either Melee and Brawl. His inclusion still is confusing. But at least his inclusion represented something that was already well-known unlike
ROY
While Smash Bros. kinda always has been a bit of a promotional tool in not just characters representing franchises, but also in the trophies. It's worse if the inclusion is pretty much blatant advertising for a game that had not even come out yet. And as what Fire Emblem was back then it was Japan Only. So the inclusion kinda feels useless even more in Western Markets. And just leave people scratching their heads. I can't deny there was a cool factor to him with him having a fire sword and I get that he gained a cult following. That even Project M decided to bring him back along with Mewtwo starting with Project M 3.0. But the way he was included just rubs me the wrong way. There's actually a character in Smash 4 that I'm having some of the same feelings for even if it's not quite as bad as with Roy. But I'll get to that when I get to that.
PICHU
Oh Pichu, so many question why you were added. Some people may be even surprised that I don't have Pichu at the very bottm. I'll get to that, but for now. It just seems rather insulting that the 2nd Generation of Pokemon is represented by what is just a weaker, se lf-destructing Pikachu. And to add salt in the wound, in the forbidden 7. Pichu is nowhere to be found despite Mewtwo, Roy, and Dr. Mario were all on there. Pichu was not even considered to return in Brawl whatsoever. Pichu is actually a bit of a controversial subject if you go to the Project M forums on Smashboards. Some people do want to see what the developers can do with Pichu to make him not such a joke character. But others don't want them to spend a single second trying to bring Pichu back. Pichu is often regarded to many as the one inclusion where many ask just what were Nintendo, Sakurai, or Gamefreak thinking in regards to the inclusion. Maybe it's even the popular opinion that Pichu is the absolute worst inclusion of the series. However, I do think there is one worse. And it's in the same game.
DOCTOR MARIO
No. No. No. NO. This is not how you pad a roster. Young Link may have also been another version of an already existing character. But at least he still represented something that had merit with Majora's Mask and half of Ocarina of Time. Dr. Mario only serves to represent the few games of Puzzle games that Dr. Mario has had. But you would think if Nintendo really wanted a Puzzle rep. They'd go for Lip from Panel De Pon that is represented with the Lip's Stick in the items, or heck even a Tetris Block. That's right, a Tetris Block would have been a much better idea then Dr. Mario. There's just no excuse for Doctor Mario whatsoever. He'd be better as an Alt. Costume which something Project M has done very well and even managed to make it so Mario had the Pills with the proper sound effect. Also I do like the Dr. Mario series. I play the Dr. Wario game that's a part of WarioWare on my 3DS on occasion that's essentially the same game. But who honestly believes that they deserved to be represented in Smash in terms of the roster? Or even if there were demand. Wouldn't something like the Viruses be a better idea even if that wouldn't really go well either? At least it'd be something Unique compared to Dr. Mario who is literally just a slightly better Mario. Worst of all however, is how he may still have been considered for Brawl considering his presence in the Forbidden 7. I'm just going to say now that had that happened. It would destroy the very idea of merit in Smash Bros and would pave the way for more "What the fuck were you thinking?!" additions in the future. Luckily, Dr. Mario did not return. And we did not have an inclusion like his in either Brawl or Smash 4 thus far. This is the closest Smash has gotten to what people have a problem with Pink Gold Peach and Baby Rosalina in Mario Kart 8. Only it's 10x worse because in Mario Kart games you don't have to give a single flying fuck who's playable. But in Smash all characters with no exception should have a merit to them. Now technically the Dr. Mario games do give them more merit then Pink Gold Peach or Baby Rosalina. Because a real equivalent of them would to make an alternate version of a character that was never in a previous game for. But compared to any other character included in Smash previously and even after which, Dr. Mario sticks out like a sore thumb. Even Pichu makes more sense since it was used to represent the newest generation of Pokemon even if it wasn't the greatest choice they could have chosen. And at least it was a different Pokemon even if a Pichu is essentially a Baby Pikachu and it even had a gimmick that was all it's own. Granted a gimmick that no one likes (Using electric attacks hurts itself) but a unique gimmick nonetheless. But Dr. Mario has barely anything, only representing a small series of games within the Mario franchise, is appearance is just Mario in a different costume with a pill replacing the Fireball. Dr. Mario overall plays pretty much just like Mario and he's only played competitively because people discovered some of his moves make him slightly better then Mario. Which, just makes you ask why they didn't just give those properties to Mario in the first place.
As such, Dr. Mario remains the most embarrassing inclusion in the entire Smash Bros. series in my honest opinion. Thankfully Smash Bros. has never made another inclusion like it since. And still hasn't. It's the biggest reason why while we had a good amount of great additions in Melee both Brawl and I think Smash 4 has already far surpassed the character selection. Melee does have the excuse that it had a really short development time. It was made within one year, though to make sure the game kept the quality, Sakurai worked himself tiresomely every day throughout that year. It's really obvious that many of the clone-ish characters were included just to beef up the roster. Because without clones you only have 18-19 characters in the Roster. Which is just the Original 12 plus 6-7 more characters. And that's just too small of an addition number for a sequel to Smash Bros. So I understand why clones were added in the first place to make the roster bigger then it would have been otherwise. I am nonetheless still puzzled by Dr. Mario despite this fact because even knowing that it kinda spells laziness. I would of rather Dr. Mario not been included at all. 24 characters would be a nice even number anyway. And despite odd inclusions like Roy and Pichu it'd be like Smash Games included at least 12 new characters in each installment. That said, the combination of Dr. Mario, Pichu, Roy, Young Link, and Ganondorf being a Captain Falcon clone has cemented Melee as the worst game roster-wise. The game as a whole is better then SSB64. But if a Smash game was defined by the overall merit of all the newcomers in the game. Then Melee is the worst of the series. Luckily, the next game in the series would not only fix the mistakes in Roster Merit by clearing most of the strange additions but also adding quite a bit of characters that have excellent merit. Even characters that aren't owned by Nintendo each having their own merit in their own special kind of way.
SUPER SMASH BROS. 64
I'd like to go through this by starting with the first game and then talking about what we know so far about Smash 4's roster and what characters have the merit to come back to.
I don't think anybody can question that at least most of the Original 12 all have their merits. For the sake to keeping this short. I'm not going to go over Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, and Luigi because at the time of SSB64 even then it was easy to see why they were included because they were well established franchises (Or sub ones in the case of Donkey Kong and Yoshi). I do want to cover however the two characters of the Original 12 still unconfirmed for Smash 4. But because it seems to be a tradition, not many really doubt their return. Let's start with the little boy with the psychic powers that most of us playing SSB64 never knew who he was.
Bold = Something that gives the character Merit
Underline = Something that gives the character less Merit
NESS
Ness is a very interesting and really well-loved inclusion looking back. Earthbound probably would have been remained in obscurity had Ness not been included. So any fans of the Earthbound/MOTHER franchise have a lot to thank the Smash Bros. series for.
At the same time though, Ness has somehow gotten a magic to him that has even attracted those who have not played more then five minutes of an Earthbound game (Me being one of them). The only time I played Earthbound on a ROM I had and had no idea what to do at the beginning as a kid. And never really went back to trying to go through it more. Yet, when I thought he was cut for Brawl (Remember "Up Until Now" ?) I felt like a hole had been cut right out of my heart. And to this day, I don't understand completely why I did. But it's as if cutting anyone from the Original 12 would be the absolute hardest character cuts to take. On nearly the same level if they ever took out Sonic. Something about possibly never seeing Ness' smiling face on the character select screen and instead we had Lucas, which while I'm not saying he's bad. But having just Lucas would not have felt the same at all. To my great relief there would be a leak that showed that Ness indeed was returning. While yes I do know that Lucas was planned to replace Ness back in Melee, and likely would have lessened the impact because then there would be a precedent for characters not returning in the Smash Bros. series had that happened. Anyway, It excited me that he was back, and he even became one of my 4 mains in Brawl/Project M and I think I've gotten pretty good with him too. At this point, cutting Ness would feel like Nintendo committed a Smash Bros. edition of the Ten Commandments that says "Thou shall not cut any of the Original 12 under any circumstances" Which speaking of which, let's get into the one character that provides actually a quite a bit of controversy because some don't believe she deserves the permanent and the holy "Thou shall not cut him/her" status that each of the Original 12 has received
JIGGLYPUFF
Ah, Jigglypuff. She's the one character that probably most would say whether they liked her or not. That if there's anyone that had to be cut from the Original 12. She'd be the one to go. Some even still clamor for the day that she is cut but has been continually denied the satisfaction twice thus far and a likely third time coming up. Personally, I'd feel it'd be a terrible mistake to cut Jigglypuff at this point. Could just be more of that talk that makes me sad when a character I don't even play their games for yet makes me sad when there is the possibility that they'll not be back talking. But whether we like it or not, Jigglypuff has a place in Smash. And while for 2 of the 3 official Smash Bros. games she was far from the best character. Taking her out now would still be pissing off players who have dedicated themselves to maining the little Pink Puffball Pokemon since the first game. And it says something when the Pokemon Franchise have probably had the most radical cuts out of any franchise in the Series (Mewtwo from between Melee and Brawl, the Pokemon Trainer most likely between Brawl and Smash 4) yet Jigglypuff still stands strong.
Again, it just feels like there's some strange force protecting the place that the Original 12 have. Some people who don't want Jigglypuff or even Ness to come back try to say that the concept of an Original 12 is purely made as a fan construct and if Nintendo truly wanted to they could say no to Jigglypuff or Ness at anytime. But the thing is, there's an easy answer to that: But they haven't. Until it does, the Original 12 being permanent Mainstays is not such a farfetched idea. You can come up with many excuses. Like Jigglypuff being one of the last few characters made in Brawl shown by meaning that the development team care less about Jigglypuff. But the thing is 1. Jiggs made it in over Mewtwo that's for sure 2. Toon Link was also one of the last remaining characters finished yet he's already been confirmed for Smash 4. Meaning character priority is completely different between Brawl and Smash 4.
All-in-all, Smash 64's roster is not something you want to mess with. Not one of the Original 12 being cut would go over well with everybody. We already have 10 of the 12 confirmed. We're either going get further proof of the divine right the Original 12 have by the end of this, or massive rioting over just one of the two characters should they not make it in. If both Jigglypuff and Ness were to not return let's just say the Smash Bros. series would have it's own version of the Mass Effect 3 ending backlash
SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE
Alright time to go into Melee. In other words, probably the game with the worst roster in quite a bit of ways including Merit. Yeah. Peach, Zelda/Shiek, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, Falco, Marth, and Mr. Game and Watch all have excellent merit to them. But like I said before, just one questionable inclusion can raise question marks in Smash Bros. and there were at least a few. As with SSB64, I'm not going to cover already confirmed Melee veterans. I'm going to go down the list starting with what of the characters currently unconfirmed that were introduced in Melee from who has the most merit, to the least in my opinion.
MR. GAME AND WATCH
Mr. Game and Watch is really the one character of the unconfirmed that really does subtly have the best merit out a lot of them. He may have been an out of nowhere choice to many. But this guy is older then Mario. He has his own moveset. And him being just a 2D model with blips for sounds, he's an easy to implement character. Plus as the Pac-Man trailer showed. You could have four classic Pre-NES era born characters fight with Game & Watch, Pac-Man, Mario, and Donkey Kong.
MEWTWO
Funny how the first character in Smash with a Unique moveset to be cut is in the Top 2 of characters with the most merit. Maybe that just goes to show just how Melee's roster kinda messed up things regarding merit-able characters. But yeah, Mewtwo is an immensely popular Pokemon. There are many people who did not like how Mewtwo wasn't included in Brawl and is probably the most wanted returning veteran just cause of how many miss him. Strangely enough, I would of gone to a funeral for Ness had he not made it. Yet I didn't really bat an eye too much for Mewtwo. I would say maybe Sonic helped with that but even with Sonic included I would have been sad had Ness not been included. And unlike the Earthbound franchise, I was a huge Pokemon fan at one point. Anyway, Mewtwo did have a unique moveset that was cut. And that was a darn shame. Even if competitively he didn't really do too well. But the fact he was cut in the first place does make his return rather questionable, especially after Greninja's reveal. That said there could be room for 6 Pokemon or even 7 where Mewtwo and Jigglypuff could both get in. If there is any competition between the two for a spot. Well let's just say we saw how that turned out in Brawl's development. No matter how "cooler" Mewtwo is in comparison to Jigglypuff in some people's opinions. But nonetheless there's still room for both. Nintendo doesn't have to honor the Grass types by bringing something like Sceptile into the game. As both SSB64 and Melee had absolutely no Fire, Grass, or Water types whatsoever. It was Electric, and Normal in SSB64. And Electric, Normal, and Psychic in Melee. It would be a shame to completely drop the whole idea since it does represent the three traditional starter types in all Pokemon games. But it's a sacrifice that had to be made with the loss of the Transformation gimmick for characters.
FALCO
Falco is a character that will always receive the love from the tourney heavy guys. And there would be riots among them if Falco were to not return. Falco does have seniority on his side. His only competition really could be Wolf should they shrink Star Fox's representation. However as popular as he is with Star Fox fans and Competitive Smash players. It still doesn't hide the fact that he started out barely different from Fox. He would get fixed in Brawl at least somewhat. But how he was in Melee keeps him just out of the Top 3 of our unconfirmed Melee characters in terms of Merit
ICE CLIMBERS
Ice Climbers is an interesting inclusion because while they as fighters were unique with the player controls one while a bot is programmed to attack with your character or try to get back to where you are if you separate. However, unlike Retro reps that represent something in Nintendo's History like Mr. Game and Watch and ROB do or are brought back to reboot the franchise eventually like in the case with Kid Icarus. Ice Climbers come from a game that isn't even really that amazing and probably a big case of "They're included only because Sakurai seems to like them". However, being unique as well as a character that while it has been said they've been having troubles programming on the 3DS version. I think that more so confirms them rather then make them likely cuts. Because that means the team has been trying to include them, and with Rosalina and Luma seeming just fine. I think we'll see Ice Climbers eventually even if we have to wait until the full roster reveal.
GANONDORF
Now it might be odd to have Ganondorf this low The thing is, it's true that he's an important inclusion being that him and all his forms are the Main Villain of the Zelda Franchise. However what completely ruins this from being excellent merit, is for some reason Sakurai or someone had the idea that he should just be a slower, and faster Captain Falcon. And has been in both Melee and Brawl. There's absolutely no doubt that he'll return in some form. But people still do complain about how a main villain of a big franchise doesn't even have his own Moveset. From here on out the other inclusions however I don't really look upon as all that favorable.
YOUNG LINK
Young Link is just rather odd. I know Sakurai has said he considers the Kid Link to be the true link. And how there was the whole time travel gimmick in Ocarina of Time and Link was a kid for all of Majora's Mask. He's not as bad as the other inclusion of an alternate version of an already existing character which I'll get to soon. And Toon Link basically keeps what Young Link was in spirit while also representing a whole nother section of the Zelda timeline. And while it's cool to have the option since it seems like the younger link seem to be better fighters then the Adult Link in either Melee and Brawl. His inclusion still is confusing. But at least his inclusion represented something that was already well-known unlike
ROY
While Smash Bros. kinda always has been a bit of a promotional tool in not just characters representing franchises, but also in the trophies. It's worse if the inclusion is pretty much blatant advertising for a game that had not even come out yet. And as what Fire Emblem was back then it was Japan Only. So the inclusion kinda feels useless even more in Western Markets. And just leave people scratching their heads. I can't deny there was a cool factor to him with him having a fire sword and I get that he gained a cult following. That even Project M decided to bring him back along with Mewtwo starting with Project M 3.0. But the way he was included just rubs me the wrong way. There's actually a character in Smash 4 that I'm having some of the same feelings for even if it's not quite as bad as with Roy. But I'll get to that when I get to that.
PICHU
Oh Pichu, so many question why you were added. Some people may be even surprised that I don't have Pichu at the very bottm. I'll get to that, but for now. It just seems rather insulting that the 2nd Generation of Pokemon is represented by what is just a weaker, se lf-destructing Pikachu. And to add salt in the wound, in the forbidden 7. Pichu is nowhere to be found despite Mewtwo, Roy, and Dr. Mario were all on there. Pichu was not even considered to return in Brawl whatsoever. Pichu is actually a bit of a controversial subject if you go to the Project M forums on Smashboards. Some people do want to see what the developers can do with Pichu to make him not such a joke character. But others don't want them to spend a single second trying to bring Pichu back. Pichu is often regarded to many as the one inclusion where many ask just what were Nintendo, Sakurai, or Gamefreak thinking in regards to the inclusion. Maybe it's even the popular opinion that Pichu is the absolute worst inclusion of the series. However, I do think there is one worse. And it's in the same game.
DOCTOR MARIO
No. No. No. NO. This is not how you pad a roster. Young Link may have also been another version of an already existing character. But at least he still represented something that had merit with Majora's Mask and half of Ocarina of Time. Dr. Mario only serves to represent the few games of Puzzle games that Dr. Mario has had. But you would think if Nintendo really wanted a Puzzle rep. They'd go for Lip from Panel De Pon that is represented with the Lip's Stick in the items, or heck even a Tetris Block. That's right, a Tetris Block would have been a much better idea then Dr. Mario. There's just no excuse for Doctor Mario whatsoever. He'd be better as an Alt. Costume which something Project M has done very well and even managed to make it so Mario had the Pills with the proper sound effect. Also I do like the Dr. Mario series. I play the Dr. Wario game that's a part of WarioWare on my 3DS on occasion that's essentially the same game. But who honestly believes that they deserved to be represented in Smash in terms of the roster? Or even if there were demand. Wouldn't something like the Viruses be a better idea even if that wouldn't really go well either? At least it'd be something Unique compared to Dr. Mario who is literally just a slightly better Mario. Worst of all however, is how he may still have been considered for Brawl considering his presence in the Forbidden 7. I'm just going to say now that had that happened. It would destroy the very idea of merit in Smash Bros and would pave the way for more "What the fuck were you thinking?!" additions in the future. Luckily, Dr. Mario did not return. And we did not have an inclusion like his in either Brawl or Smash 4 thus far. This is the closest Smash has gotten to what people have a problem with Pink Gold Peach and Baby Rosalina in Mario Kart 8. Only it's 10x worse because in Mario Kart games you don't have to give a single flying fuck who's playable. But in Smash all characters with no exception should have a merit to them. Now technically the Dr. Mario games do give them more merit then Pink Gold Peach or Baby Rosalina. Because a real equivalent of them would to make an alternate version of a character that was never in a previous game for. But compared to any other character included in Smash previously and even after which, Dr. Mario sticks out like a sore thumb. Even Pichu makes more sense since it was used to represent the newest generation of Pokemon even if it wasn't the greatest choice they could have chosen. And at least it was a different Pokemon even if a Pichu is essentially a Baby Pikachu and it even had a gimmick that was all it's own. Granted a gimmick that no one likes (Using electric attacks hurts itself) but a unique gimmick nonetheless. But Dr. Mario has barely anything, only representing a small series of games within the Mario franchise, is appearance is just Mario in a different costume with a pill replacing the Fireball. Dr. Mario overall plays pretty much just like Mario and he's only played competitively because people discovered some of his moves make him slightly better then Mario. Which, just makes you ask why they didn't just give those properties to Mario in the first place.
As such, Dr. Mario remains the most embarrassing inclusion in the entire Smash Bros. series in my honest opinion. Thankfully Smash Bros. has never made another inclusion like it since. And still hasn't. It's the biggest reason why while we had a good amount of great additions in Melee both Brawl and I think Smash 4 has already far surpassed the character selection. Melee does have the excuse that it had a really short development time. It was made within one year, though to make sure the game kept the quality, Sakurai worked himself tiresomely every day throughout that year. It's really obvious that many of the clone-ish characters were included just to beef up the roster. Because without clones you only have 18-19 characters in the Roster. Which is just the Original 12 plus 6-7 more characters. And that's just too small of an addition number for a sequel to Smash Bros. So I understand why clones were added in the first place to make the roster bigger then it would have been otherwise. I am nonetheless still puzzled by Dr. Mario despite this fact because even knowing that it kinda spells laziness. I would of rather Dr. Mario not been included at all. 24 characters would be a nice even number anyway. And despite odd inclusions like Roy and Pichu it'd be like Smash Games included at least 12 new characters in each installment. That said, the combination of Dr. Mario, Pichu, Roy, Young Link, and Ganondorf being a Captain Falcon clone has cemented Melee as the worst game roster-wise. The game as a whole is better then SSB64. But if a Smash game was defined by the overall merit of all the newcomers in the game. Then Melee is the worst of the series. Luckily, the next game in the series would not only fix the mistakes in Roster Merit by clearing most of the strange additions but also adding quite a bit of characters that have excellent merit. Even characters that aren't owned by Nintendo each having their own merit in their own special kind of way.
