For controls for me at least, X jump, AB smashes/attacks, Y pickup, R/L dodging. I mean, they did that to a certain extent but as you mentioned the two buttons for jumping seems off and unnecessary.
The reason I believe it was amazing on GC was simply because of, as you stated, HOW the buttons were arranged. 3DS is now like playing on an SNES...and I find it odd and occasionally very annoying.
Also slightly off topic, but nice to have a conversation with you again Jeff. It's been much too long since I talked to ya.

I night get bashed for this, but aside from trying to do smash attacks instead of tilts, the controls have felt completely natural to me, and I haven't felt the slightest bit uncomfortable yet. Maybe it's because I'm so used to playing Smash associating the abyx button scheme that the GC controller has and I play smash everyday, but I really didn't think it felt uncomfortable at all aside from the circle pad.

Seriously. All my bias out the window, that's my honest opinion.

EDIT:
As far the "three different ways to jump," they probably could've (and should've) made X or Y the "item pickup button," but I still think having two ways to jump is a necessity, since jumping with a button is obviously natural, and tap jumping with the control pad (or circle pad in this context) increased the ease to perform some basic and advanced techniques. I suppose the majority probably don't care about techniques in general, but I thought it was important to note.

I accept that, these are just my own opinions. I feel like if I hadn't played All-Stars on Vita I wouldn't feel like this is as much of a problem. I'm just disappointed that they don't seem to be aware or care that the original 3DS doesn't have a lot of buttons to begin with and it feels like a waste to me when the format is very different from a gamecube controller. What I find interesting is that I don't have a problem with the circle pad as much as other people do, it's almost all in the L/R X/Y/B/A buttons for me.

What's wrong with the shoulder buttons? I think I can guess why based on my own experiences, but I'm curious to know why.

Quote from Raptor

What's wrong with the shoulder buttons? I think I can guess why based on my own experiences, but I'm curious to know why.

To me they feel too damn fragile and small. Almost like I have to actually push it with the tip of my index instead of the side of my whole finger.

I agree with Raptor here. I am a "hardcore"(not really) smash player that only uses the GC controller and still, I found the controls for Smash 3ds to be very comfortable. There has never been an item pick up button and maybe that's why I don't find it annoying, but using the attack button to pick things up has never been a problem for me. I've never had a time where I was doing an incredible combo and then suddenly being interrupted by picking up an item, so honestly I don't see why you guys hate it so much. Picking up items with X or Y would've been very annoying in my opinion because instead of having my thumb rest on the attacks buttons I have to move it just to pick something up(trust me, this is WAY more annoying than it sounds). I only use the control-disk-thingie to jump because then I have much easier time playing and I don't get as tired. Maybe that's just me. I do get Equinox Fox's concern about the shoulder buttons though, they can be a bit annoying at times.

I haven't played All-Stars for the vita though, only on the PS3 and I liked the control there.(I didn't like the game in it's whole though. No bias, I just didn't like the mechanics and the "you have to super move to win" idea.)

Quote from Raptor

What's wrong with the shoulder buttons? I think I can guess why based on my own experiences, but I'm curious to know why.

What Equinox Fox said I agree with, the buttons feel dull physically, but in terms of mapping I keep tripping up over which button does what. I want to use L for shield/rolling and r as the grab, and I'm pretty sure that's because in my head I've designated my left hand for movements and my right for attacks. That complaint falls under something that I'll just have to get used to, but I wonder why it is that way by default since the GCN controller has Z as grab on the right side which always resulted in my using L exclusively for the shield.

Quote from Sharp

I agree with Raptor here. I am a "hardcore"(not really) smash player that only uses the GC controller and still, I found the controls for Smash 3ds to be very comfortable. There has never been an item pick up button and maybe that's why I don't find it annoying, but using the attack button to pick things up has never been a problem for me. I've never had a time where I was doing an incredible combo and then suddenly being interrupted by picking up an item, so honestly I don't see why you guys hate it so much. Picking up items with X or Y would've been very annoying in my opinion because instead of having my thumb rest on the attacks buttons I have to move it just to pick something up(trust me, this is WAY more annoying than it sounds). I only use the control-disk-thingie to jump because then I have much easier time playing and I don't get as tired. Maybe that's just me. I do get Equinox Fox's concern about the shoulder buttons though, they can be a bit annoying at times.

I haven't played All-Stars for the vita though, only on the PS3 and I liked the control there.(I didn't like the game in it's whole though. No bias, I just didn't like the mechanics and the "you have to super move to win" idea.)

Again, most of my gripes have to do with personal preference (aside from some awful framerate issues I was having). Although, I think it's a little ridiculous to support your preferences by saying you would get physically tired just because you're moving your thumb a few centimetres to another button. If that were really an issue I don't see how you would be able to play most other video games considering other games actually make full use of what buttons are available. You're still entitled to have them, don't get me wrong here, but if you're telling me my preferred controls wouldn't work for you specifically because of that then it's not very convincing. Not that I think you should be happy with what I want.

I think part of designing a game for handheld which is traditionally a console game should involve optimizing the controls for the format instead of sticking as close to the originals as possible. It doesn't work for me in this case because the positions are different and the 3DS doesn't have as many inputs. When I first posted this I wasn't aware that apparently the 3DS version lets you remap every button, so to be fair most of what I'm complaining about wont be a problem in the full version. That being said, I still think my complaints about the default controls are valid.

Quote from Jeff

Although, I think it's a little ridiculous to support your preferences by saying you would get physically tired just because you're moving your thumb a few centimetres to another button. If that were really an issue I don't see how you would be able to play most other video games considering other games actually make full use of what buttons are available. You're still entitled to have them, don't get me wrong here, but if you're telling me my preferred controls wouldn't work for you specifically because of that then it's not very convincing. Not that I think you should be happy with what I want.

I think I might've phrased myself incorrectly here. I didn't mean that I get physically tired by moving my finger, but rather that I much prefer using just two buttons rather than four if two buttons is all I need. It just feels like I'm much better off only using two buttons for attacking and items rather than changing up the controls for the new game. I don't know, but when playing the demo I hold my 3ds just like I hold a gamecube controller. I would not get tired by using a different button for throwing, but I'd rather be thrown off and would've had a tougher time adapting.

I can completely see why you want a wider usage of the 3ds buttons though, as that's something a lot of people have been complaining about the game. I'm still getting it launch date along with Smash Wii U when that comes out.

Quote from Sharp

I think I might've phrased myself incorrectly here. I didn't mean that I get physically tired by moving my finger, but rather that I much prefer using just two buttons rather than four if two buttons is all I need. It just feels like I'm much better off only using two buttons for attacking and items rather than changing up the controls for the new game. I don't know, but when playing the demo I hold my 3ds just like I hold a gamecube controller. I would not get tired by using a different button for throwing, but I'd rather be thrown off and would've had a tougher time adapting.

I can completely see why you want a wider usage of the 3ds buttons though, as that's something a lot of people have been complaining about the game. I'm still getting it launch date along with Smash Wii U when that comes out.

Oh that makes more sense. I definitely thought you mean you would get tired if you had to use more than 2 buttons. I'm having exactly the problem you're describing but in reverse lol

I'm definitely gonna get the Wii U version but I might hold off on the 3DS one until either I've had a chance to play it elsewhere or if I end up getting a new 3DS. Even though they let you remap the controls, the framerate issues I'm getting on my launch-day 3DS are bad enough that I'm worried about the full game having the same problem. It would be bullshit if I had to buy a new iteration of the same generation handheld just to play the game.

Quote from Jeff

What Equinox Fox said I agree with, the buttons feel dull physically, but in terms of mapping I keep tripping up over which button does what. I want to use L for shield/rolling and r as the grab, and I'm pretty sure that's because in my head I've designated my left hand for movements and my right for attacks.

You can press R+A at the same time to do a grab if you don't mind doing that. In the full version, you can also map your controls in any way you want (ex. you can have b as jump and A as whatever). I'm assuming you can do that in Smash 4 since you could do that in Brawl.

Yep, I already found that out and I mentioned it in a previous post. :P I already know about r+a as well but that doesn't really do anything to solve the problem I described lol

Can someone tells me when thsi game actually comes out? My brother says its early November but my friend says its late October.

Also I think it helps a bit to use the down-while-running-then-grab manuever. It gives your fingers time to move to the Z button and at the same time makes the throw a bit quicker

Quote from Hewitt

Can someone tells me when thsi game actually comes out? My brother says its early November but my friend says its late October.

The NA 3DS version will be released October 3rd. The Wii U release date is TBA, but there are rumors that suggest it'll be released in late November.

Also I think it helps a bit to use the down-while-running-then-grab manuever. It gives your fingers time to move to the Z button and at the same time makes the throw a bit quicker

I have no idea what your referring to here.

It's a melee trick that still works in brawl. I don't remember what it's called, but you press down while running to stop the running animation and so you can instantly grab. This also prevents the animation where your running grab misses

Quote from Hewitt

It's a melee trick that still works in brawl. I don't remember what it's called, but you press down while running to stop the running animation and so you can instantly grab. This also prevents the animation where your running grab misses

Oh you mean dash cancelling. Like you press down when dashing and you revert from your dash animation to crouching position so your attacks aren't limited to dash attack? That's what you're referring to?