I agreed with everything you said. And when I say everything, I mean "DS".
Why do you want to fight with your Miis? You've got Nintendo's all starts duking it out, then a poorly made representation of yourself. Yawn.
Less items? You're fucking kidding me right. Half the game is the items. It'd be pointless without the Smash Ball struggles, fleeing from the bastard who picks up the Gold hammer, laughing when it turns out to be a rubber one.
And Subspace Emissary provided a simple story that blended together the characters no more than they needed to be. Pikachu and Samus make a great team apparently.