Well you're kinda contradicting yourself there. I think it has been stated that everyone from the first game will return...but not the second game. And that makes sense, because, like you said, a lot of characters in SSBM are just "clones."  Young Link, Pichu, Falco, Dr. Mario, Roy, Ganondorf.  Maybe some or even all of those characters will return, but they will have their own moves to be sure.

Sakurai has stated that there will be no "clones" in SSBB. Everybody gets their own exclusive moves.

Hey Ben you can put this in your SIG

LOL I was just reading over what I said and really did contradic myself lol

I want a semi new set of characters, not the same each time as that would be drawing out the same game too much

PS: Can i have some cool artsy metroid and link pics for my sig ^ ^?

In the past, Super Smash Bros. games have been a reflection on Nintendo as a whole at the time they were released.

The original was a re-organization of the Nintendo universe, much like the N64 was. Every N64 Nintendo sequel was a huge evolution over its previous installment(except maybe Kirby), and Smash Bros. was an evolution of the whole Nintendo concept. No longer was Mario stuck in the Mushroon Kingdom, or Pikachu in Ash's Prison-Of-Death Ball... they could fight each other, too.

Melee was about nostalgia. Hence the trpohies, and Mr. Game And Watch. Nintendo was re-establishing itself by reminding people how great they used to be, and showing that they're still capable of this greatness. It was saying "Nintendo has a 20-year history in video games. Longer than Microsoft, longer than Sony, longer than Sega. We are a bastion in thie industry, even when we're down, so don't count us out."

My guess is that Brawl will be more about Nintendo's future. Samus is in her Zero Suit. Wario is in his Wario Ware garb instead of his traditional Mario-clone outfit. You've got 3rd-party characters showing up. I think once this game comes out, we'll be able to derive a lot about Nintendo's next few years as a whole.

Interesting theory...makes sense.

D.V.N.E, I kinda like the Yoshi music...I had Yoshi's Story for the N64...reminds me so much of that game, I can't help but like that remix. I like Metroid even more though, so this music is great.

And I'm just waiting for Ridley...

Let's see...we've got Meta Knight, Wario, Samus and Solid Snake that still need to be officially posted. Then we've got Meta Knight's level, Pit's, Snake's, that Mario Kart level, that castle level...there's still a lot of stuff that we've seen that has yet to be announced...

My guess is that stuff will be the main stuff of future posts until E3, when I expect a new Smash Bros video, with brand new info on characters, probably characters like DK, Bowser, Peach, Captain Falcon, and maybe one more new character (SONIC??). That's just my guess anyway.

How many characters, total, do you think Brawl's going to have? Original started with 8, and 4 unlockable... Melee started with...was it 14? Been so long since I've seen the game without all the characters unlocked... I don't remember how many unlockables there were in that game... I guess standard progression would see Brawl starting with 20 characters, and maybe another 15 unlockable?

Or do you think they'll make it simpler, and only marginally increase the cast?

Melee started with something like 14 and had another 11 unlockables. That was a big game. The key thing is that they kept all of the old characters while adding new ones so we may be looking at some 50 characters in this one. Which would be awesome.

I like your theory. but I still think Nintendo will add a few classic things here and there.

As for Ridley, it's not a confermation, and it may not increases his chances. I think we'll just have to see. As far as # of characters, I say anywhere from 30-40. Also, Falco may come back since he was added due to populartiy.

I'm guessing 30 characters minimum in the game (overall, unlockable included). The difference in disc space is HUGE (5 2/3 the times gamecube disc storage space) and they are putting a lot of money into the game.