Smash Bros 3 Site Goes Live.

[Zeta]

According to Brawl Central and a Japanese newspaper, there are 48 playable characters in the game. Expect Balloon Fighter, I'd wager.

[Crazy Penguin]

Newspapers report that kind of stuff in Japan?

So far 25 have been revealed. 23 if we discount Sheik and Zero Suit Samus. But let's go with 25.

Out of the playable Melee characters that haven't been announced for Brawl we're left with:

Captain Falcon
Ness
Dr Mario
Luigi
Ganondorf
Falco
Young Link
Pichu
Jigglypuff
Mewtwo
Marth
Roy
Mr Game & Watch

NOW WATCH AS I FUCK UP BASIC MATHEMATICS.

If I haven't missed any that's 13. 25 + 13 = 48.

So now it's just a case of determining which of the above characters are likely to return and which will be replaced.

The most likely to return are Ganondorf, Luigi, Captain Falcon and Mewtwo. I think Eiji Aonuma or someone on the Zelda team already let slip that Ganondorf would be in Brawl.

The least likely to return are probably Ness, Dr Mario, Marth, Roy, Young Link and Pichu.

I expect the Ocarina of Time style Young Link to be replaced with the Wind Waker style Link. I wouldn't be surprised if Dr Mario was replaced with Paper Mario, even though there's already plenty of Mario characters.

Most likely newcomers? Ridley, Balloon Fighter and Midna come to mind. And King K Rool, even though he sucks. Maybe another WarioWare character? A new Pokemon or Pokemon trainer also seems likely.

So my guess for the final 13 is something like...

Ganondorf
Luigi
Captain Falcon
Mewtwo
Ridley (Metroid)
Link (Wind Waker)
Balloon Fighter
Midna
Rocket Grunt (Pokemon)
Mr Game & Watch
Mona (WarioWare)
Krystal (Star Fox)
K Rool

...though I hope that I'm wrong about the latter two and that we get at least one new character as out of the left field as Mr Game & Watch was.

[Timestones]

25 + 13 equals 38. Not 48.

[Crazy Penguin]

It's nearly 3am, leave me alone.

Fuck, that's a lot of characters.

[Crazy Penguin]

A hell of a lot.

Donkey Kong Junior should be playable. I'm going to bed. Night.

[Zeta]

The only certainties I have are Ganondorf, Mr. Game and Watch, Luigi, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, Ridley, Balloon Fighter, and Krystal - based on stuff both Sakurai, Nomura, and various voice actors have said. I also expect a third third party character, but it's anyone's guess as to who.

[The Iron Giant]

Donkey Kong Junior should be playable.

He already is.

And I don't see why you guys are so adverse to having Krystal playable. Is it just because of the furries? If so then, GET THE FUCK OVER IT!! She has become a major character of the Star Fox series and could have a very diverse moveset. And your crazy if you think a WarioWare character is going to be playable.

[Mep]

Looks like the newspaper was taken off Brawl Central. I'm guessing that means the article that stated there would be 48 characters in the roster was fake?

I'd also like to see some more characters "out of left field." So far the roster has been pretty predictable, with most characters on the poll showing up. Hopefully there are some surprises with the unlockables.

[Cuckooguy]

Donkey Kong Junior should be playable.

He already is.

Donkey Kong Jr. =/= Diddy Kong.

[Edgerock]

No he means... DK Jr. is the current DK. Cranky Kong was the original DK.

[Esrever]

Actually Cranky is supposed to be the current DK's grandfather. So if Cranky is the original DK, that would make DK Jr. the current DK's father.

Then again, DK Jr. has also appeared (as a child) alongside the current adult DK in some games. So there's probably not much point in trying to make sense of it.

[Team Mecha]

Ok 1st off, fuck you Rare for the damn needless retcon. & 2nd:

Confirmed Vets
1. Mario
2. Link
3. Kirby
4. Pikachu
5. Samus/Zero Suit
6. Fox
7. Donkey Kong
8. Yoshi
9. Peach
10. Zelda/Shiek
11. Bowser
12. Ice Climbers

Confirmed Newcomers
13. Lucas
14. Diddy Kong
15. Dedede
16. Metaknight
17. Poke'mon Trainer
18. Ike
19. Pit
20. Wario
21. Pikmin & Olimar
22. Snake
23. Sonic

Possible Returns
24. Captain Falcon
25. Mr. Game & Watch
26. Jigglypuff
27. Ganondorf (new moves)
28. Falco (clone with glide, the newspaper say there's still clones)
29. Marth
30. Young Link (Wind Waker makeover)

Dearly Departed
-1. Mewtwo (A rumor with proof of being the real deal said he's out)
-2. Roy (no longer hyping an "upcoming" game
-3. Pichu (who gives an electric rat's ass?)
-4. Dr. Mario (Only Wario gets alt costumes for some reason)
-5. Ness

Third Parties
31. Geno or Sora (Geno seems to be a shoe-in but there's just something about Sora....)
32. Ryu (the reason Mega Man's out)
33. Pac Man

Possible Newcomers
34. Mii, as the Animal Crossing rep (far fetched, but there's rumors of the next AC being an MMO, they couldn't get away with multiple identical humans meeting. Plus this would allow for both custom faces & clothes to be used on 1 character, making it the closest to a true create-a-fighter mode as is feasible for SSB)
35. Krystal
36. Wolf (another clone)
37. Ray 0# (Custom Robo, I don't care which model)
38. Issac (Golden Sun)
39. Andy (Advance Wars, implied main character & uses wrenches instead of those deplorable guns)
40. Mike Jones (Startropics)
41. Ridley
42. Alexis (Eternal Darkness)
43. Lucario (the reason Mewtwo's out)
44. Takamaru (The reason Goro's out)

Filler Choices (not so sure about their odds)
45. Sukapon
46. Micaiah (some new FE lord)
47. Midna & Wolf Link
48. Captain N (he SHOULD be in, SSE is right up his alley, but I somehow doubt Nintendo will honor him with so much as a sticker)

[Crazy Penguin]

Actually Cranky is supposed to be the current DK's grandfather. So if Cranky is the original DK, that would make DK Jr. the current DK's father.

Then again, DK Jr. has also appeared (as a child) alongside the current adult DK in some games. So there's probably not much point in trying to make sense of it.

In Donkey Kong Country they said that Cranky was DK's grandfather, but in Donkey Kong 64 they said he was his father. On Rare's website a few years ago when asked about this they replied "As far as I know, 'our' DK is the son of Cranky, which does indeed make him the original DK Jr. all grown up: so if you see Cranky referred to as DK's granddad anywhere, just cover your eyes and hum loudly until it goes away".

I think the only game that had Donkey Kong Jr and the Rare styled DK alongside each other was Mario Tennis on N64 and the title screen of Game & Watch Gallery 4 (the official art used the slightly different design from the Game Boy Donkey Kong).

But then there are things like Yoshi's Island DS, where the Baby Donkey Kong is clearly modelled on Rare's version but couldn't possibly be Junior because we know he's significantly younger than Mario.

The whole thing was dumb in first place and it sucks that Junior's essentially been replaced by Diddy.

[Isuka]

31. Geno or Sora (Geno seems to be a shoe-in but there's just something about Sora....)

God, FUCK NO!!
I haven't played the last bunch of Star Fox stinkers, but I'd rather have that Krystal character than have this... I don't know, non-character. Even if you think the games didn't suck, the character itself is completely abysmal, bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.
Obviously, I wouldn't care about it this much if it didn't look that likely...

[Zeta]

I have no idea why everyone is so nuts about Geno. He was basically the Mr. Exposition of Mario RPG and easily dumped from the party once you acquired value. And he had basically no personality aside from driving the plot.

[Gaz]

I have no idea why everyone is so nuts about Geno. He was basically the Mr. Exposition of Mario RPG and easily dumped from the party once you acquired value. And he had basically no personality aside from driving the plot.

Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. His popularity really baffles me. He was a fairly dull character who just felt really out of place in the Mario universe. I'm glad his only other appearance to date was a minor cameo. Some of the Geno fanboys are so delusional they even go as far as claiming he's the true main character of SMRPG.

[Ritz]

I have no idea why everyone is so nuts about Geno. He was basically the Mr. Exposition of Mario RPG and easily dumped from the party once you acquired value. And he had basically no personality aside from driving the plot.

Who cares about personality? He looks cool and shoots lasers! But, y'know, either way, I'm holding out for Andy and Midna.

Also, there was a rumor on 2ch professing the final character roster which included Bowser Jr./Shadow Mario as being unlockable; the fact that it claimed Sheik was an unlockable character when she was revealed as a transformation of Zelda days later sort of invalidates it, but now that the seed's been planted, I've got my fingers crossed for him, too.

[Radrappy]

Sora. yes, great. like we really need more generic looking pretty anime boys in this game.

As for Ryu,
i really hope not. The bad ass pseudo realistic spot is more than full enough with Snake.

[The Iron Giant]

it sucks that Junior's essentially been replaced by Diddy.

In a magazine article I read in an old GamePro about DKC, Tim Stamper, former head of Rare, said that originally they wanted DK Jr. as the sidekick. But Miyamoto nixed the idea in favor of a new character.

So yeah, Diddy was essentially created to replace Junior.

[Edgerock]

I take it, K. Rool is not liked due to the notion he's a poor man's Bowser right? Personally I think he has huge potential if he were to make it. A heavy character with projectile weapons and devices (Boomerang Crown from DKC, his Blunderbuss Rifle from DKC2, his Helicopter Pack from DKC3). Not to mention he's decently fast in DKC too. And it never hurts for more villains... especially insane ones who plan to blow up an island or steal bananas... and have an eye tic. I mean... if Kirby series went from having one to three characters, why not DK? Mario has his villain, Kirby too, and likely Zelda as well. And he has DK64 to work with potential moves too.

[Zeta]

The only thing that could make K.Rool different from bowser is if he had a "Costume Change" ability like Sheik or Pokemon trainer that would let him switch from K.Rool to Kaptain to Mad Scientist to Boxer. Using different personas in each game is the only thing that makes him different from Bowser, really.

[Locit]

Sora. yes, great. like we really need more generic looking pretty anime boys in this game.

Isn't he already in that Square brawler, whatever it is? And I'd like to think if we got a Square character they'd be from FFVI.

[Edgerock]

The only thing that could make K.Rool different from bowser is if he had a "Costume Change" ability like Sheik or Pokemon trainer that would let him switch from K.Rool to Kaptain to Mad Scientist to Boxer. Using different personas in each game is the only thing that makes him different from Bowser, really.

Really? Let's see... Bowser kidnaps the princess (SMB), sends his kids to cause havoc and kidnaps the princess (SMB3, SMW, SMS), takes Peach's Castle and kidnaps her (Paper Mario, SM64, SMG). Notice the similarities?

K. Rool grew from stealing banana's (DKC, DKC2), to trying to take over the world (DKC3), to trying to blow up DK Island (DK64), and to trying to take over the universe (DK: Jungle Climber). Not to mention every time he's defeated, his hate and insanity against the Kong family grows. His ambition basically grows with every defeat.

[Zeta]

He's still a big fat lizard king and he looks nearly identical to the US cartoon version of Bowser.

[Crazy Penguin]

it sucks that Junior's essentially been replaced by Diddy.

In a magazine article I read in an old GamePro about DKC, Tim Stamper, former head of Rare, said that originally they wanted DK Jr. as the sidekick. But Miyamoto nixed the idea in favor of a new character.

So yeah, Diddy was essentially created to replace Junior.

That's not exactly how it happened. Rare designed the character we now know as Diddy Kong for Donkey Kong Country, but he was going to be called Donkey Kong Junior (a new Junior to go with the new DK). Nintendo said that this Donkey Kong Junior was too different from the original and told Rare that they could either use the classic Donkey Kong Junior design or rename their character. So they changed the name to Diddy Kong.