My most wanted has always been Penguin. You always see them round on the tracks but you never got to play as them. I don't care how good a hazard they are, I want to play as them.
Likewise, Lakitu has been one of my favourite additions to the series. It has such a defined role but now we get to go the extra mile and play as one.
It's a bit like assist trophies in Smash. Some do a really good job of showing what the character does but that doesn't stop me from wanting some of them to become playable in the future.
Good for you. I never said anyone was wrong in wanting a character.
The existing development resources are what made these characters possible in the first place, I'm not saying it couldn't have been sacrificed for some "real" characters but the whole point is that they're able to utilize the models that fulfill these roles to build a roster of playable characters. It's okay if that doesn't really do anything for you, but directly equating this development strain to Diddy Kong and Fawful is not reasonable.
I am not saying that they should have put Diddy Kong instead of Fishbone, obviously. It is true that the mooks having already a 3D model for the game is a huge gain of time, but still, it must take
some time at least: not much by itself, but multiply that by a huge number, and the result becomes significant. It's like the clone/Echoes in Smash: obviously, cutting Dr Mario or Dark Pit in Smash 4 wouldn't have saved enough ressources for a full new character, but maybe all the clones and Echoes of Ultimate could have been traded for a few full characters. Anyway, I was tired when I wrote my last message and the development ressources were not actually my main point. My main point is: I already see all those goombas, piranha plants, thwomps, and so on, on the tracks where they are truly themselves, so having them playable on top of that does nothing to me. I like Boos a lot. But I don't really want to play as one of them. I like when they play tricks on you, when they appear and disappear as soon as you turn your back on them, and the Boo item and the ghostly apparitions on the haunted tracks capture that perfectly. The playable driving doesn't add much to that, in my eye. Now King Boo is a different matter-although, now that I think of it, he could make a memorable stage hazard in a Luigi's Mansion themed circuit.
Also I don't know, Koopa Troopa and Shy Guy have been playable for a long time. People have wanted a Goomba to join that crew for ages. Wiggler and Lakitu had become staples nearly 15 years ago now. Again, all good if it doesn't fit your personal philosophy for the roster... but it's nothing new. I think it's a bit silly to use the justification that these characters should remain locked into their standard roles like that. For a lot of people that's kind of the fun part.
To be fair, I don't dislike all the playable mooks, and Koopa Troopa and Shy Guy are probably my favorite among those. I don't really know why. On the other side, the fact that a character has become a "staple" doesn't convince me at all. A character doens't make me feel better because he's been there for a while. Take Lakitu: I love the little guy (although I hated him back when I was a kid playing Super Mario Bros. 3), but his role as a polyvalent referee suits him so well that when I see him on the selecting characters screen, I'm just like "Oh, you're here there too? Good for you, I guess." And I don't know, but is a Lakitu not flying around still a Lakitu? For me, it's a bit like Dark Samus, who felt more unique and more like herself when she was "just" an assist trophy (but Lakitu didn't have to renonce his other roles, fortunately).
And yes, playable mooks are not new, but this time, they take a huge part of the roster, so what was just a minor whatever for me becomes significantly more disturbing.
Also:
I think it's a bit silly to use the justification that these characters should remain locked into their standard roles like that.
I am not justifying myself, because there is nothing to justify. I'm just trying to explain why I am not happy with the new roster.
That's not really the problem I have. On a personal note, I find the mooks boring and don't like playing as them, but on an objective note, the roster of World lacks variety and is basically just Mainstays Vs. Minion
Can't disagree with that.