Speed Weed
Smash Master
See here's the thing, this is a technically true statement but I feel like it doesn't paint the full picture. SEGA's representation in Smash is weird, in that you can easily look at it on the surface and say that they have 3 franchises in, they're better off than most others, but almost all of the representation save for Sonic is from stuff that's "external" in one way or the other, whether it be Bayo coming from a series developed by Platinum and that nowadays is just as if not more associated with Nintendo than it is with SEGA, and the Atlus content coming from an acquired subsidiary. In that sense, Sonic is actually still the only "core" SEGA character in Smash. Now of course, Bayo and Joker got in for their own valid reasons, but this is why I don't think a fourth new franchise from them would feel excessive atm - someone like Arle or Kiryu can still very much fill in for something we haven't actually seen that much of, and would still feel fresh - to me at least.
(yes I know ppl are gonna bring up that Puyo is technically an acquired franchise too, but I feel like it's silly and missing the point to be putting it on the same level as a Persona in that regard - the series has been developed inhouse at SEGA for two decades now, it's referred to as a core/internal property in their own reports, it has been far more subsumed into the broader SEGA brand than any of the other major stuff they've acquired, not to mention the strong SEGA connections it already had in the Compile era)
And AiAi is probably one of the last real picks that could get me truly excited. Maybe it's a bit of pessimism, I dunno.
