I can live with the stick (takes some getting used to), but I don't get why they wouldn't make it the player's choice in the options. I don't mind using the tablet, especially since I can use that display to play. Also, I'd like to mention the stupendous idea that is HDMI pass-through on the Xbox One. My TV only has 2 HDMI ports, which are used by my PC and my One. I brought my Wii U home from my sister's to play last night, and figured I would try to run it through the One, rather than unplugging the One from the TV. The thing works perfectly, no discernable input lag from the Wii U to the Xbox One to the TV, played it a bunch alone and with my cousin into the morning.
As for characters, I like to change it up. I've tried quite a lot. My go-to is Charizard (who I wanted from the start), love the flamethrower and the Smash attack for the co-op All-Star mode (my cousin used Ganondorf). Just a quick list of my "yes" and "no" guys:
Like: Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Little Mac, Pit, Ike, Robin, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Greninja, Shulk, Sonic
Dislike: Mario, Luigi, Link, Fox, Pikachu, Lucario, Jigglypuff
I haven't tried the others. Those are all to varying degrees as well, obviously. Like, I could do pretty well with Ike and Greninja, while I was very inconsistent with Little Mac, Meta Knight, and Sonic. On the flip side, Pikachu and Lucario were just OK, while Mario and Fox were horrible.