The "You Can Be Devastating But Doesn't Make You Cool" Tier

• 13. Meta Knight
• 14. Zero Suit Samus
• 15. Captain Falcon
• 16. Palutena
• 17. Zelda

Meta Knight and Zero Suit Samus seem to be early candidates for the "get good with those two and you will end worlds constantly" award. It seems like steps were taken to make Meta Knight less powerful, but he's still really awesome. I just don't like playing as him that much. Same goes with Zero Suit Samus, who is absolutely awesome. I just don't enjoy playing as her. On the other hand, I like playing as Captain Falcon. He seems to occupy a weird space between his awful Brawl persona and his respectable Melee one. He might grow on me as time goes on. I gotta rep that Pink Captain.

I'll admit to having no handle on Palutena. She has so many special attacks and variations that I don't know if I love her or hate her. Zelda doesn't feel too different from her Brawl counterpart, except she has that Phantom down special that takes way too long to execute. I like seeing that big ol' Phantom show up, but it's like a less devastating Falcon Punch.

The "Crappy Characters Made Better" Tier

• 10. Peach
• 11. Link
• 12. Mario

I loved playing as Peach in Melee. I didn't start playing her until like 2005, but when I did, she quickly became one of my favorite characters to use. Then, Brawl came out and she kind of sucked. However, my early time with Smash 3DS seems to insinuate that she's back to her Melee ways. That makes me happy.

Link and Mario are both characters I always wanted to be better than they were. So far, they are. Mario can be downright devastating and Link is actually good. I especially like Link's little hop in his dashing side attack.

The "I Swear I Didn't Plan To Have All 3 Fire Emblem Characters In A Row" Tier

• 7. Ike
• 8. Marth
• 9. Robin

This wasn't planned, but here are all three starting Fire Emblem characters lined up in a row. I feel like Ike might have gotten a little more powerful, or at least more usable. He seems to have supplanted Marth as my favorite Fire Emblem character to use. Marth, while still one of my favorites from past games, seems to have continued his downward spiral. An absolute powerhouse in Melee, he's now a severely nerfed swordsman. Robin might be a character I grow to like more over time, because I do love his/her charging lightning attack a whole lot. It's also fun throwing books at people when you're done using them.

The "You've Got Potential But I'm Not Ready To Commit" Tier

• 3. Mii Fighters
• 4. Wii Fit Trainer
• 5. Greninja
• 6. Pac-Man

The Mii Fighters are crazy overpowered. I'm not ready to pick my favorite out of the three setups, but it just seems like those created characters are very powerful. I basically made my sword Mii fighter to mimic what I liked about Marth. It's fantastic. I like how nimble the Wii Fit Trainer is at times. He/she also headbutts a soccer ball for a special move.

Greninja is crazy fast, and he'd probably be way higher on the list if I just could find a good kill shot in his repertoire. I always pound on foes with Greninja, but finishing them off doesn't happen quickly. I hated Pac-Man at first, but the little yellow bugger grew on me a lot over time. He's got good recovery moves and some really dumb trolling moves like throwing different types of fruit and dropping a fire hydrant that shoots out non-damaging water. It's not that useful, but it's so annoying.

The "Love At First Sight" Tier

• 1. Little Mac
• 2. Villager

At E3 2014, I made my mark: I was going to play as Little Mac right away. I did, and I loved him. He's crazy powerful, and while he can't do a damn thing in the air, he was an absolute powerhouse on the ground. Even when he's in bad situations, I still love playing as Little Mac. Landing that KO Punch is incredible.

I already detailed why I love the Villager so much, and that kept up in the final version of the game, too. He's a great trolling character that seems like this version's Wario, except for instead of farting, he plants and chops down a tree.