C-Stick smashing should definitely be an option to be turned on or off. The fact that it wasn't available in single-player modes in Melee just proves that it wasn't meant to be a basic part of the game but rather a crutch to allow new players to keep up. While I applaud that sentiment, it should be optional just like the handicapping system. It's pretty clear to me that C-stick smashing was added late in development and wasn't completely balanced, resulting in it being overpowered and used much later into the learning curve than it should be, simply because it is so effective. There are characters with such potent, quick smashes that it takes advanced (rather than intermediate or beginner) techniques just to consistently avoid them.