For me the problem isn't that I don't know the characters, it is that I don't really care to play as them. In smash I started out playing Mario. It just seemed like such a fun concept of beating up my favorite Nintendo characters.
Cross Up games are often used as advertisements for more obscure franchises. I have to thank smash for introducing me to Fire Emblem. It also introduced me to Kirby, which I found out I don't like. That is the fun of these kind of games.
In the original game I didn't know Samus, Falcon, Kirby, and Ness. I eventually started to main kirby as down b and up b seemed like really good strategies (don't hate, if you played back then you likely did the same.)
95% of gamers don't know they are noobs, the 5% who do won't be noobs for long
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