Is it me or does this guy imbalance the game?  I have only started playing the game recently (thanks Nintendo we know those of us in Europe are second class citizens) but he just seems far too good/strong compared to the other characters in the game.  And the online community seems to agree because virtually every 4 player game I have played there have been at least 3 people using him. 

Do others agree?  I guess there may be some other characters that might be as good or almost as good in 1 on 1 and stock battles battles but in 4 player timed matches it seems like no one else comes even remotely close. 

He's great for online matches because of the online lag (...), but in local play he's strong, but not overpowered: his attacks have a little too much lag and cooldown, so other characters can easily exploit his weaknesses. The lack of projectiles also makes him easy pray for some characters, and his aerials are poor at best, so once you get him airborne he has trouble. He's great, but not broken.

Ike is an average character he is slow and easily punisheble,I used to feel the same way as you when I started playing this game but once you play it alot you will see that ike is not as overpowered as he seems and he is just average.

He's a great fighter...he can be beaten though.

Noobs love the power, and they can get plenty of kills with a simple Smash attack, but when it comes to horizontal recovery, they trip up by often forgetting about his side-B move.

In the hands of the master, he's one of the best I'd say...but because he's so slow, I can easily take him down with someone fast like ZSS or ranged like Snake.

Ike is over powered against computer opponents, but against other people he is a little slow to actually be effective.

Ike is slow as shit. He can't imabalnce the game because he has like 3 attacks that don't take five seconds to connect.

That said, Ike is still awesome. I double KO'd some people online last night and they were so pissed that they both came after me for the rest of the match (I still won).

There's your problem.

Believe me, threads like this were everywhere when this game was first released in NA. After time, people learned how to counter the Ogre Club, and the threads began to fade away.

Hope you're having fun.

Ike's great for a 4-man Brawl!... Otherwise, he's WAY too slow!

Ike vs Fox is garantueed Fox-win if both players have a little experience!

At first, Ike looks like he puts the game off balance... But later on you'll notice that others are or; Faster then Ike, have more diverse attacks then Ike, have great ways of avoiding Ike, or have just some more brutal attacks...

For example:

Fox = faster.

Zelda/Sheik, Wolf and Meta Knight are more diverse... Also Captain Falcon.

And Ganondorf has more raw power (although he is also even slower).

Others that can beat Ike: Lucario, Falco.