I love all this flair over my Ike opinion. It is missing the real point of the argument that people will be cut and that the real roster will be about 40 characters.
Even if we ignore the fact about ike/marth. Ike will still be cut. He is an old hat and was only in because his game was the newest in the line. Roy was very popular in melee and if they wanted, they could have retooled him. They chose to cut him out. Ike will suffer the same fate. Lucario will be cut in favor of Mewtwo. Lucario was only chosen because he was the "Mewtwo" of the newest generation at the time.
Toon Link, Wolf and Lucas all are semi-clones of Link, Fox and Ness. None of them really matter to much in those regards.
Logically, if we replace Ike with say Lucina, Lucario with Mewtwo. That leaves us with 3 new character slots to total at 39 (like brawl). I am sure more characters will get cut. Depends on who and what. I suspect PT will get the ax. He was an experiment and given how most players treated him, he will not be missed (IE hacking to remove what made him original). That gives us 3 more spaces. Round to 40 and we have 7 spaces for new and unique movesets.
Megaman, Wii Fit Trainer and Villager take up three spaces. That leaves 4 new spaces for new and unique movesets.
That is logical and would fit with all his comments.
He has said that we have reached the limit of the amount of characters. He has also said that he will add as many as he can. He is considering balancing and given rumors, there may be a customization feature. Given this information, 40 is very reasonable. No more than 45. I would also say.
40-45 is most reasonable. Anything more is wishful thinking. I could see less given how the 3DS is a more personal experience and both games are to share the same roster.
Oh, and for reference.
http://super-smash-bros.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Clones_or_not_clones?
Just for some giggles.
I am going to expound on my logic for characters.
Mario - Duh
Luigi - Duh
Bowser - Duh
Peach - Duh
Donkey Kong - Duh
Diddy and Dixie - This was an idea he wanted to do in Brawl, but was talked out of it. Given how it is a new group and that the new DKs are so team based, representing that in Brawl would work. IT would also have an Ice climbers dynamic, but be fresh because you can switch to get a new moveset.
Yoshi - Duh
Wario - He is a mario character.
Villager - Announced
Pikmin and Olimar - While I think it might not be Olimar this time around, a Pikmin rep will exist.
Ness - Duh
Link - Represents the more modern Zelda Games
Zelda / Sheik - Represents the OoT and MM Games
Toon Ganon - Represents the WW and Toon styled games. With him, it represents almost the entire series. Makes sense given this information.
Samus/ZZS - Duh / Why not keep it?
Fox - Duh
Falco - Very popular and has been in since Melee
Captain Falcon - Duh
Kirby - Duh
Meta-Knight - He is from Sakurai's series. He has a 50/50 cut, but I seem him making it again
King Dedede - Sakurai wanted him in the original and he was in brawl.
Marth - Poster boy of the series
Lucina - One of the most popular characters in the new game.
Mr. Game and Watch - Unique
ROB - Last games unexpected. - Unique
Pikachu - Duh
Jigglypuff - Duh
Mewtwo/Newtwo - Cut from melee, but he is the new poster boy for the new gen.
Pit - Announced
Ice Climbers - Unique
Lil Mac - I am unsure about him. I might cut him out in favor of someone else. Still, he fits for now.
Wii Fit trainer - Just pure awesome.
Megaman - Announced
Sonic - Wanted again. Sega and Nintendo are also buddy buddy at the moment.
Snake - Doubt a return, but one can hope.
Pac Man - Yes Sakurai said that just because namco is helping, it does not guarantee a rep. But in all reality, it will probably happen.
Why not King K Rool, or Ridley.
If you remember back to the megaman trailer. What was at the very end? The yellow devil. We saw it forming. This could mean a few things. One thing is for certain. Bosses are back. If it is mini bosses during a revamped classic mode, or another SSE, we do not know. But bosses do appear to be returning.
With that, King K Rool and Ridley may be going there.
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Now to cut charaters.
Lucario - Hold hat compared to Mewtwo.
Ike - Hold hat compared to Chrom, Lucina, etc.
Lucas - He might come back. Sakurai seems to have a fondness for the Mother series. Might replace lil mac with him.
Wolf - Clone of falco. Poinless landmaster tank.
Toon Link - He is Link, but in toon form. Why waste a space with him. Throw in Toon Ganondorf and get the WW rep out of the way. If people are going to miss Ganondorfs moves (which are based on Falcons if people remember), give them to Falcon in some way shape or form.
PT - Might add him back also. Thinking about it. Many people hated being forced to switch pokemon. I mean everyone. They specifically hacked the game to remove the tired function and to seperate the characters out. With that, he was mainly a failure.
Young Link - Will never return
Roy - Very old Hat
Pichu - I liked him, but he was just the Dan of Smash. No point in returning.
Dr. Mario - A costume if any.