Just got caught up on everything since last night's Lucina reveal.
So the final (for now?) roster is the ESRB leak, which is not a surprise but is a bit of a bummer simply because there's nothing else to be surprised by. Still, this roster is incredible and easily the best Smash roster ever... hell, it's the best fighting game roster ever! I'm incredibly happy with what we have. Sakurai and his team really delivered and then some... 49/51 characters, god damn. Remember when so many of us were worried that Sakurai's early comments meant that we might be getting a roster that was smaller than Brawl's (or at least no bigger)? Heh.
I still have a feeling there could be DLC down the line, or maybe a few more characters held back for the Wii U version's release that will be unlocked in both versions when Smash Wii U comes out. Of course this could just be wishful thinking and totally wrong, and if so, that's fine. Like I said, this roster is amazing.
Personally my only real issues with the roster are the Ice Climbers and Lucas being cut and no Chorus Kids, and I can't even be that mad about the Chorus Kids/any RH rep because it was Gematsu that gave me the idea in the first place and made me realize a RH rep might actually happen. I don't care at all about Ridley or Wolf, personally, but Ridley and Wolf fans are making it incredibly difficult for me to feel bad for them since so many of them are braying about how "the roster is embarrassing/horrible/lazy." It's a massive 49/51-character roster but it's embarrassing because two characters didn't make the cut? Get outta here with that nonsense. Yeah, I got Mega Man, but I wouldn't be calling this roster trash if he wasn't in it. Perspective, people.
Bowser Jr. looks like a ton of fun to play, and I'm not even a fan of the character... and holy shit, those alts and Final Smash. Great! Duck Hunt Dog's awesomeness speaks for itself, and I can't even believe how fucking cool his move set, Final Smash, and overall inclusion are.
Really glad Jigglypuff still has Puff Up as her FS; it was always one of my favorites. Falco's still being the Landmaster still sucks a lot, especially considering Dark Pit and Dr. Mario have new(ish) Final Smashes. Come to think of it, have we confirmed Ness's FS yet? Is it still PK Starstorm?
The stage roster has also proven to be pretty great, if a bit disappointing. No new Metroid or DK stage in the 3DS version sucks, but it looks like the Game Boy stage turned out to be a retro Kirby's Dream Land stage, so I guess that counts as a new Kirby stage! But honestly, SNES F-Zero and FUCKING MAGICANT HELL YES are so hype that it's hard to be too disappointed in the stages. I really, REALLY hope Magicant is in the Wii U version as well (along with Onett from Melee)!
The only real crushing disappointment about Smash 3DS for me is finding out that Smash Run isn't online. Whether we should have expected that or not, I can't see myself playing it maybe ever if it's local-only. Which is a shame, because it's honestly really fun... but it'd get old fast against only CPUs, and I don't play 3DS games with other people locally often enough to see that as a seriously viable option. What a bummer.
But honestly, other than that, Smash 3DS as a whole has come together into an incredibly impressive effort by Sakurai and his team (no surprise there) and I couldn't be more hyped for October 3rd. Now we look ahead to Smash Wii U and all the unique content it has to offer, and I'm going to keep some small hope alive for the Chorus Kids until the Wii U version is out and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that no characters were held back to hype it.
The hype has been tons of fun, SmashGAF; the overwhelmingly immature negativity and salt has not (you know who you are), but I suppose you're going to get some of that anywhere there are Smash fans. Thankfully, I'm happy to say those with a positive attitude and reasonable outlook/expectations seem to handily outweigh those with a terrible attitude/Sakurai hate streak here, which is what makes this such a fun community to be a part of.
Onward and upward to October 3rd and Smash Wii U, all!