I’ve heard the Blanka tech takes a lot of labtime to get really good at

I’ve seen like 3 reaction YouTubers pretty much groan when they first saw the Mario Bros trailer. That’s really stupid if that’s the concensus, because it looks really creative and cool. If more Mario Bros games are like that I’m all for it.

Honestly, you can play whatever. It’s more important to learn fundamentals of neutral game (spacing, when to block, when to go in) than it is to have a proper control scheme. Do what makes you feel most comfortable.

Fightcade has a ton of people playing right now. You can set it up on your PC as well as a ton of other retro FGs.

If you have a 360 or PS3, check out the Online Edition for extra content like trials and such. Not sure if people still play that version, but it’s a really solid port with a ton of features.