I'm going to be honest, I don't like Little Mac in Smash Bros. He belongs in a boxing game. Punch Out doesn't fit with the rest of Nintendo franchises and he seems so out of place I don't know why they ever considered it.
Little Mac is the most fighting-est character Super Smash has had in a while. He is one of the few characters that appears to depend on staying on the ground whereas a lot of competitive play and such use midair cancels and such to keep up combos, and mainly people do their finishes mid-air. Little Mac has had it coming since Brawl put him as an assist trophy, to the chagrin of Punch Out fans alike. If I were to define his play-style comparing it to someone else, he is basically a grounded Captain Falcon with an interesting power bar mechanic, which means that although it may be difficult to catch characters that fly a ton like Kirby, he'll be able to ready up moves once they land. "But Flamester, isn't it weird that he has a power bar?" I disagree, since for one hey it's from his game, and two other characters have a bar of sorts as well, however it isn't indicated as obviously. The difference is that this can be both an advantage and disadvantage, for one the player will be able to track and time when do do certain moves. On the other hand the higher it is the more anticipation there is to knock him out. Basically, I believe that Little Mac was a reply to both the fans along with the competitive branch, saying, "Hey, we gotcha back son." All in all it appears like he plays well, and hey, maybe you'll get to like his inclusion.
However, not only do I believe that they carefully crafted his playstyle, but I am also kind of insulted with the statement that Punch Out doesn't fit Nintendo, mainly because I read a few Japanese comments saying "Who's Little Mac?" and "I think they wasted a spot on the roster." He's one of the first characters of Nintendo's that I knew next to Link and Mario if I can recall. Abeit the several changes throughout the years, from being a green mystery man ruffian, to a caucasian / asian like guy, to a blonde guy, and then finally a hispanic like guy, I feel like his green attire is very iconic. For one, what makes him appear to be out of place? The game Punch Out isn't avant garde or serious, its cartoony and has a charm that Nintendo normally captures within their characters, like Soda Popinski and Bald Bull. Hell, in the Wii Punch Out, Little Mac fights Donkey Kong in a special match that you could do after beating the game, and it looks natural, normal, and it fits. Nintendo assumingly considered it and took action after seeing how the reception to the latest Punch Out, along with perhaps how people were excited to see him in Brawl. I don't know, I think the statement "He belongs in a boxing game" kinda scratches my back with a devil's trident. It's like saying "Mario belongs in a platformer" (and if you think about it there was probably more steps required to plan the moves he does as opposed to Little Mac.
You never see Mario fire a vortex of fire in any of his games) or, heck, "X character belongs in X"
Super Smash Brothers when it comes down to it is a collaboration between the different teams of each game working together. It's probably one of the best collaboration games out there, since it's hard to list any (Marvel Vs. Capcom and Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright off the top of my head) and I strongly disagree with the idea of ditching a character from a franchise that helped build Nintendo.
