Originally Posted by XanBcoo
There's something fundamentally wrong about complaining about this number. I think once you start playing through the game with each and every one of these guys, you'll realize just how large that number is. This isn't M.U.G.E.N., any roster higher than 40 is just unrealistic. In any case, there are 36 characters since Zero Suit Samus can be selected from the selection screen by holding R. This was recently confirmed.
Besides that, I do understand your gripe about the clones. But out of the 36, only 6 are "clones". That's 30 unique characters, 10 of which are new additions. And even the word "clone" is a loose term since the characters share fundamental similarities, and little beyond that (barring Fox's trio).
36 characters
26 old guys - perfectly acceptable in Melee
10 new additions - including Sonic and Snake
6 clones - 4 of which are returning from Melee; so it's hardly unexpected
Once you stop saying "only" this and that, the roster is pretty fucking beefy, and I can't see much wrong with it. Wolf and Toon Link were a bit of a letdown, but again, it's all in how the information was presented to us.