Smash Bros. has historically had very few cut characters per iterations. It was usually due to time like Mewtwo cut for Brawl or the 3DS limitations literally killing off Ice Climbers, Pokemon Trainer, etc. But otherwise Sakurai does his best to bring back almost everyone in each new game.
But why don't more fighters do this?
Mortal Kombat XL literally cut half the roster of Mortal Kombat 9. No playable Smoke, Noob, Sindel, Stryker, Kabal, Sheeva, Shang Tsung, Jade, etc. It was absurd how many classic MK characters were missing.
Injustice 2 wiped out over 15+ characters from the original. No Slade, Nightwing, Raven, etc.
Street Fighter V of course...60% of old characters are still missing with no indication they'll return.
So why do fighters do this? Since the old characters already have movesets you'd assume it's an easy fix to just upgrade their character models but keep their moves mostly the same per each game.
But why don't more fighters do this?
Mortal Kombat XL literally cut half the roster of Mortal Kombat 9. No playable Smoke, Noob, Sindel, Stryker, Kabal, Sheeva, Shang Tsung, Jade, etc. It was absurd how many classic MK characters were missing.
Injustice 2 wiped out over 15+ characters from the original. No Slade, Nightwing, Raven, etc.
Street Fighter V of course...60% of old characters are still missing with no indication they'll return.
So why do fighters do this? Since the old characters already have movesets you'd assume it's an easy fix to just upgrade their character models but keep their moves mostly the same per each game.