Questionable Game Rosters

[Bacon Eater64x]

Is there any game, good or bad, that has dissapointed you in its lineup? Not enough newcomers, the newcomers sucked, they removed your favorite character from the previous installment? This can apply to any game: Fighting Game, Racing Game, Sports Game, any game that relies on a large roster of characters is a fair choice.

I have two examples:

Spoiler: Mario Kart World

So we all know Mario Kart World is expensive as hell, to the point it is enough for some to swear off the game entirely. Other issues include removal of Kart customization, the new Open World mechanic, the Nintendo Direct beign completely worthless......

However i had a more personal problem: The roster is fucking awful. I have never been a fan of "OMG GUYS LOOK ITS GENERIC ENEMY #21245544 SO UNIQUE AND UNEXPECTED" that MK fans are parading. Outside of Koopa Troopa and maybe Dry Bones, i fail to see the appeal in random mooks that you are meant to jump on in the Mainline platformers. Some of these enemy newcomers don't even steer the wheel, like can't you at least have Goomba use his mouth to steer it?

I would rather have the Koopalings return instead of most of these supposed new characters. It's depressing to think we went from Link and Inkling and Isabelle in 8, or R.O.B in DS, or Pac-Man and a Tamagochi in the Arcade games to.....this.

MKT may have had even more enemies as racers, but at least it gave us interesting newcomers as well in exchange such as Dixie Kong and Poochy which is more than World has showed us so far, what is the next character in this newcomer lineup? Pianta? Where is Diddy Kong and Funkey Kong? Are you gonna cut them just after their grand return? can't you at least give us someone from Bananza for brand synergy like a character from VoidCo?

Out of all the Mario newcomer ideas: E.Gadd, Fawful, The extended Kong Family such as Chunkey or Cranky, The Kremlings, Captain Syrup, the entire cast of WarioWare, MKW decided to have the most insipid roster of all time. Like at least Honey Queen Bee was a character on its own right.

Spoiler: Capcom vs SNK 2

I know this game is held to a high regard but fuck me cause i never had a single interest in it unlike MVC. And it's not because of SNK, i love most Marvel and Tatsunoko characters from said Capcom crossovers despite knowing jack shit about them. Its the CAPCOM side that i have a bone to pick with. Most characters are just fighting game characters, and really boring choices (seriously? out of all the Rival Schools characters you chose Kyosuke Kagami? Not Tiffany Lords or Akira Kazama or Roberto Miura or Showa Sawamura?. MVC included characters from Arcade and Home Console classics like Mega Man, Sir Arthur, Rad Spencer and Strider Hiryu and more obscure fighting game choices like Jin Saotome or Hayato. The only interesting choices in CVS2 from the Capcom side are Eagle and Maki, that's it. SVC chaos gaves Mega Man Zero, Tessa, Demitri and Hugo. So when SNK is better at picking Capcom characters than CAPCOM, you know we have a problem.

 

[Iguana-0]

Mortal Kombat 4's Roster? That's a decent example if you've played it

 

[fake-chan]

Any crossover fighting game without Bass.

SAKURAI WHEN ARE YOU PUTTING MY BOY IN SUPER SMASH BROS

 

[Iguana-0]

Any crossover fighting game without Bass.

SAKURAI WHEN ARE YOU PUTTING MY BOY INTO SMASH BROS

Imagine Bass vs Solid Snake in Smash. That would be Epic

 

[Taukyrie]

Most of the new Super Robot Wars entries for me. A lot of the series in the newer games are just recycled from the previous ones and especially starting with SRW30 it seems like they're just putting series that would have been awesome in the base roster as DLC.

Like no, Bandico, I don't want CCA and Zeta in another SRW game.

 

[LaserMoose]

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite's roster is the poster child of questionable roster decisions. No X-men, which is especially jarring given the previous entries having heavy emphasis on those characters. Few cool picks (Jedah, Ultron, Sigma, The Hunter) but generally the roster is filled with safe characters taken from UMVC3.

Plus, the asymmetrical roster kills me.

 

[Octopus]

View attachment 62385
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite's roster is the poster child of questionable roster decisions. No X-men, which is especially jarring given the previous entries having heavy emphasis on those characters. Few cool picks (Jedah, Ultron, Sigma, The Hunter) but generally the roster is filled with safe characters taken from UMVC3.

Plus, the asymmetrical roster kills me.

I came in to post specifically this, was beaten by 9 minutes. No Sentinel, no Magneto, no Akuma, it was a weird roster. And yeah, the fact that the character select screen will remain forever lopsided is sad and funny at the same time.

 

[Hourai]

BlazBlue has a few.

Chronophantasma Extend adding back Lambda meant absolutely butchering fellow Murakumo unit Nu, because Nu absorbed some of her combat abilities after the former died. This made Nu a very fun character, and Lambchops' return mean that Nu had to give it back.

Central Fiction keeping every character was a bit of a disaster, since it meant you needed to learn way too many matchups. I know that's kind of the norm nowadays, but the sheer amount of them was kinda suffering.

Also, Martin Kart 8 having every single Koopaling was a mistake. That's too many character slots for characters whose existence is basically interchangable in their original games.

 

[nintara]

Spoiler: Mario Kart World

So we all know Mario Kart World is expensive as hell, to the point it is enough for some to swear off the game entirely. Other issues include removal of Kart customization, the new Open World mechanic, the Nintendo Direct beign completely worthless......

However i had a more personal problem: The roster is fucking awful. I have never been a fan of "OMG GUYS LOOK ITS GENERIC ENEMY #21245544 SO UNIQUE AND UNEXPECTED" that MK fans are parading. Outside of Koopa Troopa and maybe Dry Bones, i fail to see the appeal in random mooks that you are meant to jump on in the Mainline platformers. Some of these enemy newcomers don't even steer the wheel, like can't you at least have Goomba use his mouth to steer it?

I would rather have the Koopalings return instead of most of these supposed new characters. It's depressing to think we went from Link and Inkling and Isabelle in 8, or R.O.B in DS, or Pac-Man and a Tamagochi in the Arcade games to.....this.

MKT may have had even more enemies as racers, but at least it gave us interesting newcomers as well in exchange such as Dixie Kong and Poochy which is more than World has showed us so far, what is the next character in this newcomer lineup? Pianta? Where is Diddy Kong and Funkey Kong? Are you gonna cut them just after their grand return? can't you at least give us someone from Bananza for brand synergy like a character from VoidCo?

Out of all the Mario newcomer ideas: E.Gadd, Fawful, The extended Kong Family such as Chunkey or Cranky, The Kremlings, Captain Syrup, the entire cast of WarioWare, MKW decided to have the most insipid roster of all time. Like at least Honey Queen Bee was a character on its own right.

i mean in fairness just because those basic and often obscure enemies are characters now doesn't mean that those you mentioned aren't. i think it's a little too early to judge it's roster since it's not out yet.

 

[Cheela Cheela Cheela's icon]

i ll say my least favorite roster of characters in a videogame has to be Mario Kart 7 honestly. I know is like beating a dead dog because is already been talked upon but wtf with the cuts and the newcomers
why did nintendo needed to make Metal Mario and why did they double down for MK8
I dont mind the inclusions of Honey Queen or lakitu but why remove Waluigi of all characters.

Thank god for MK7 CPGT MOD

 

[Bacon Eater64x]

i mean in fairness just because those basic and often obscure enemies are characters now doesn't mean that those you mentioned aren't. i think it's a little too early to judge it's roster since it's not out yet.

I feel like they would have been present at the April 2nd Direct OR the April 17th Direct if that was the case, especially the latter because it would have made said Direct worth watching, but instead of that NOTHING interesting was announced in that Direct.

Best Case scenario they are beign saved for DLC later down the line, which is even worse.

 

[snes9x]

Smash Ultimate's hard-on for Fire Emblem (not even the pre-waifu classics)

 

[GamingWarthog]

Mario Kart 8's roster, especially pre Deluxe, was horrendous. A decent chunk of it was just alternate versions of other characters. The fact that the DLC on Wii U was all alts and crossover characters was just rubbing salt in. Cat Peach and Tanooki Mario, really, all the years of the franchise full of different weird characters, and that's what you came up with. Even the fucking gacha game seemed reluctant to add anything other than the plumbers and princesses in different outfits, felt like news when the new characters weren't just alts.

I'm so glad Mario Kart World has remembered that this is both a Mario game and that there are Mario characters other than the plumbers and princesses. I'll take random generics I don't care about over not even a Mario character, Lime Luigi, and Baby Pauline any day. Mario Kart getting mutated into Nintendo Kart was one of my biggest fears for the next game so I'm glad that seems over with. I'm still annoyed that the likes of E Gadd, Toadsworth, and any RPG character keep getting passed over, but at least the slots are going to actually distinct Mario characters now.

Also not a fan of the newcomers for Smash Bros Ultimate and its third party spam (also have had to deal with many toxic K. Rool and Ridley stans pre Ultimate), but since it's the whole series roster I can't say I dislike it as a whole. I prefer crossovers when there's an actual unifying theme that leads to creative picks, not slapping together whatever random popular characters they can get the rights to. And I'm tired of the Mario B and below listers getting a free pass in.

I think Marvel vs Capcom Infinite should have just admitted to being Marvel Cinematic Universe vs Capcom instead of trying to say Wolverine was axed for not being popular enough, in the same year Logan came out.

Soul Calibur V is a game I didn't get because of its roster. If you're going to do a new generation game, at least make the new generation actually distinct characters instead of having the exact same movesets. Technically my main Kilik didn't get cut, but between being turned into a mimic character and what the story did to him I can't forgive it easily.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl was kind of a lame roster, adding the meme dad characters instead of the actual main characters with the cool stuff you watch the show for. The sequel was a bit better, but how do you go two whole Nicktoon crossover fighters without including the duo who had an entire trilogy of crossover specials? And Iroh when Azula and Zuko are already in was a bit excessive.

 

[Deleted member 257420]

Any Lineup because it's like going to a dork-fest. /j

 

[YoshifreakZX]

This entire game was a trainwreck and so was the roster.
This is Capcom Fighting Evolution/Jam BTW.

 

[Yankee]

Like no, Bandico, I don't want CCA and Zeta in another SRW game.

I want CCA and Zeta ten times more than I want GCuck and Witch From MercYURI. And SEED.

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite's roster is the poster child of questionable roster decisions.

Probably the winner. MvCI is downright embarrassing. vC3 recycled and remixed with "Advertise for our movies!" studio interference.

Smash Ultimate's hard-on for Fire Emblem (not even the pre-waifu classics)

Super Slash Sisters is what I call it.

 

[snes9x]

This entire game was a trainwreck and so was the roster.
This is Capcom Fighting Evolution/Jam BTW.
View attachment 63375

No Morrigan? Is that even legal?

 

[Letule]

The roster from The King of Fighters XI isn't exactly bad; I don't mind when SNK sometimes tries to give new formations for the teams, but some of the characters and teams don't really mesh well together, in my opinion.

– Kim and Duck King with Terry? Okay, that's kind of fitting and also understandable since both Kim and Duck King are Fatal Fury veterans, but what happened to Andy and Joe?
Kim has been teaming up with Chang and Choi since '94, so why weren't they in KOF XI? Couldn't even Jhun Hoon and May Lee have been used as part of Kim's team in this game?

– Benimaru with Elisabeth and Duo Lon? Not bad, I guess. Benimaru kind of works as a "good" counterpart to Ash for Elisabeth, and Duo Lon fits "somewhat" well with them. It's just pretty odd to see Benimaru without Kyo, Daimon, or even Shingo after so many games together with them.

– Shingo with Kyo and Iori? I'm pretty ambivalent about this one, since Shingo took what was previously Chizuru's place in the Sacred Treasures team. But Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru are characters that would only team up in serious events, so having a joke character such as Shingo here feels really underwhelming.

– Robert, Mai, Geese, Mr. Big, Tung Fu Rue, and Hotaru only appear in the PS2 version as unlockable characters, and they aren't part of any team, unfortunately. But still, turning Robert and Mai into unlockable ones is a strange decision; they should have been available from the start, just like they always were in the previous games.

– Extra characters from Buriki One (Gai and Silber) and Savage Reign (Sho Hayate and Jyazu) are included as mid-bosses. Gai and Silber are fitting for KOF, but Sho and Jyazu feel kind of out-of-place with the remaining cast.

 

[Taukyrie]

I want CCA and Zeta ten times more than I want GCuck and Witch From MercYURI. And SEED.

Yeah, well I want After War Gundam X and SD Gundam Gaiden Seikihei Monogatari ten times more than all five of those series but I'm not getting that anytime soon. /lh /nm

Honestly I wish they would go back to the DS and 3DS era, those had awesome rosters tbh.

 

[WesternYokai]

Mortal Kombat since X.

I can't stand half of the roster being Warner licensed slop and Neatherrealm once again creating or re-imagining the blandest characters a fighting game could have.

 

[Tonberry]

Street Fighter 6.
I can't fathom why they're wasting TWO slots on non-SF characters this early in the game's lifespan, especially when there are fewer characters in the passes than before (I'm not complaining about that outright though, since it should mean they're not as rushed as some were in 5).

At least Zangief is really fun to play, so it's not like I don't have anyone from the base roster to put a lot of hours in, but I'm hard-pressed to get the new passes instead of just the particular guys I want, which so far has only been Ed and Rashid.

Also who even cares about Honda and Dhalsim anymore

 

[LaserMoose]

Street Fighter 6

I agree for the most part as well. I had a hard time finding a character that I wanted to play until Bison, so I played Dhalsim in the meantime. That said, I main Urien if he's available.

It's weird to feel this way, but I do miss the constant character releases that we had in SFV. I don't care for the World Tour mode, so it's been a bit disappointing to wait so long for characters that I have little interest in playing (Terry, Elena, Mai, etc.) to be implemented in game modes that I'll never play.

Also who even cares about Honda and Dhalsim anymore

Sim I think is a good character to have for roster variety, as his game plan tends to differ from the rest of the cast. I could survive without Honda, though.

 

[Tonberry]

Sim I think is a good character to have for roster variety, as his game plan tends to differ from the rest of the cast.

I feel like they could make a newcomer with a similar kit.
Street Fighter is in this weird limbo for me where it kind of lacks an identity because the main games have been presented so differently, and Dhalsim is one of those I think doesn't really qualify for evergreen (no pun intended) wacky character status like Blanka, and doesn't really fit the more modern vibe they've constantly tried adapting to since 3 (except for 4 which kind of has the same problem). They're kind of stuck with their legacy characters, but I think they use the wrong ones a lot of the time.

They made some good strides in showcasing the "street" part in 6, but I dunno if it's enough for me still. I don't have an actual answer to how they should do it, though.

 

[Retroviews]

Almost 30 years later and I still don't understand why Street Fighter III only kept Ryu, Ken, Akuma and Chun-Li from the previous game's roster. Strange decision aside, it's still a game that I really like.

 

[LaserMoose]

I feel like they could make a newcomer with a similar kit.
Street Fighter is in this weird limbo for me where it kind of lacks an identity because the main games have been presented so differently, and Dhalsim is one of those I think doesn't really qualify for evergreen (no pun intended) wacky character status like Blanka, and doesn't really fit the more modern vibe they've constantly tried adapting to since 3 (except for 4 which kind of has the same problem). They're kind of stuck with their legacy characters, but I think they use the wrong ones a lot of the time.

That's a fair assessment. They could have also instead opted for Necro who served as the replacement for Sim back in SF3, albeit their toolkits aren't exactly the same. He has Blanka's electricity, for example. I honestly don't care for Blanka in any game, either, and would've rather Necro take both Sim and Blanka's spots to kill two birds with one stone.

I terms of legacy characters I wish to see in SF6, this is my list personally:
Urien
Makoto
Alex
G/Q
Oro
R Mika
Sodom

There are plenty of characters not listed that I don't mind returning, but these characters I think would create a more diverse roster. It's tough to say what I'd want in a newcomer, besides having unique tools or system mechanics - Gill's Retribution mechanic from SFV is one such example of something that I'd like to see attempted again, this time using the Drive system.

They made some good strides in showcasing the "street" part in 6, but I dunno if it's enough for me still. I don't have an actual answer to how they should do it, though.

This has certainly been the closest to a "street" feeling title since Third Strike. Bringing back the Final Fight characters (Cody, Guy, Poison) may help in that regard as well. Perhaps we may see Haggar in this one? Or the unused King Cobra design from SF4?

Also, the main theme has a street feel to it, yet the character themes do not, in my opinion.