I'm satisfied with Smash 4. Only satisfied. That's not a bad thing, though, at least to me. Satisfaction was all that I was expecting.
For my own personal reasons (nostalgia, mainly), Melee remains my favorite, but I think Smash 4 is - objectively - the best Smash Bros. game. It has the most characters, the most stages, best online play, etc. It didn't blow me away like Melee and Brawl did those years ago, but it took what they brought, perfected them, and added a few new features. Nothing truly mind-blowing came from Smash 4, but that's okay. I'm honestly baffled by the people saying "Sm4sh sucks, it's just the same as Brawl, nothing new, 6/10". Like, what exactly were you expecting? Maybe I have no imagination, but I can't think of any major gameplay additions they could have implemented that wouldn't have ended up seeming hollow, or completely alienating the fans. Smash 4 wasn't meant to showcase creativity, but streamlined perfection.
I wouldn't be disappointed if there were to be no more new Smash Bros. games, if Smash 4 was the last. The series has reached its peak in quality, and any future installments that would do nothing but make simple, minor adjustments would make the Smash series become stale, in my honest opinion. Unless the next game would take some huge leap and drastically alter the gameplay, I think Smash Bros. is better off left alone.
...So now I'll talk about the actual game! I love many of the new characters (Robin and Greninja in particular), and the stages are really good. The music selection is great (but I don't like the main theme that much. It gets repetitive), and there are a **** ton of trophies. Online play is well improved from Brawl, and Smash Run is fun... well, most of the time.
The gameplay feels very smooth, if a bit disappointing compared to Melee. I will forever be perplexed by Sakurai's refusal to bring the core gameplay back to the standards of Melee (fast-paced, intense, requiring hours upon hours of practice), but I still think Smash 4 has a lot of potential in its competitive department. New techniques that will spice up the metagame are still being discovered by fans, so I'm sure tournament matches will be a lot more interesting a year or two from now than they are now.
He is in the game, but sadly, he's an Assist Trophy instead. They just want to make room for more clones.
What? Ghirahim wasn't absent from the game only so the team could "make room for more clones". Clones are simple last-minute additions that are put in the game only to make the roster seem bigger, or to please fans for having that particular character be in the game. While a new character would take weeks to create and fine-tune, a clone would only take several days. Ghirahim was probably thought of at some point in the development, but maybe they didn't have the time to work on him with all the other things they had to do, or maybe they thought he just wasn't a good fit for the game.
But yeah, Smash 4. Good game. 9/10. Very fun. GJ, Sakurai and co.