Just changing to group sessions can make an enormous difference. It's kind of like the difference between a real actor trying to interact with a CG stand-in and with another flesh and blood person. You don't realize just how much nuance there is until you see the alternative.
It's one that I really wanted to like, and it's definitely charming, but it just felt like it came up short in some places where it showed a lot of potential.
To be fair, Nintendo never said that the winner/s would be guaranteed a spot, or anything about there even being a "winner" in the first place. The presentation that announced the ballot only said it would "consider" the results. Everything past there was presumption on the community's part.
Bayonetta 2 is too big a feather in the Wii U's cap for there not to be at least some acknowledgement in Smash. Then again, I'd have said the same about Splatoon and it seems like there wasn't much of an issue relegating the Inklings to costumes.
Besides, it could be worse. Golden Sun and Wonderful 101 fans ended up completely empty-handed despite all the noise they made. I would've totally gotten behind Wonder Red in Smash, too.
Very possible, didn't consider that at the time.
More than anything this makes me wonder if Mewtwo will be playable in any form by the time the home release comes around.
Based on when it was posted, couple problems with that list: Necalli isn't accounted for (unless his name changed during development), and Dhalsim and Juri are both listed (breakdown Capcom provided only leaves room for one more returner).
Still, the rest of it is frighteningly accurate, right down to calling Rashid and Laura by name. Makes me wonder how much of the initial roster is concrete and how much distinction between starting/DLC characters is decided as they go. ...
Better question: Will you be able to steer a Super Sheep through one?
Tower definitely does look cool. There are some really neat, non-standard ideas in play here that I'd love to see done proper justice. I just hope whatever Nintendo has planned for online fidelity can support that.
Descriptions on the site list item pickups as a feature, so I'm guessing it's in the works and just not present in whatever build they used for the trailer. "Power ups" were in there, too, but since there's no mention of a direct equivalent to the stone collection system I'm curious to see what direction it'll take.
Considering Smash is an advertising platform for popular and upcoming titles (in this case FF7 Remake) and the utter ubiquity of FF7, Cloud's really the one who makes more sense if it comes down to a choice between the two.