>>715394021
I think he's close, perhaps he'll be a mainstay and represent the NSMB era of the Mario series.

>>715394169
He's a Yoshi character more than a Mario character, sometimes he'll get the Diddy treatment but even then that's a very recent upgrade for him.

People complain about the Mario roster but when you really consider the core cast this is it. Any other character is pretty much a random guest to the mix in so the roster selections feels a bit different from the last.

Also Diddy Kong and E Gadd are not core Mario characters. Diddy is a core DK character and E Gadd is a core Luigi's Mansion character. Diddy is lucky to guest in most sports games.