>First of all, you have COMPLETELY misunderstood my explanation for how Lucario is balanced. Let me explain this again. The core functions aren't being crippled BY Lucario; the core functions ARE crippling Lucario. If it weren't for Smash DI, crouch canceling, and the like, Lucario probably would be overpowered. He's an unorthodox character than manages to be kept in check in thanks to the game's universal mechanics, as well as the traits the other characters possess.
It's not about balancing the mechanic, it's that the mechanic works against the natural forms of the game. In order to balance Lucario's OHC, you need to cripple his concrete design elements. Sacrificing concrete elements for abstract elements is rarely, if ever, good design. He's not an "unorthodox" character, he's a character whose design simple does not belong in the Smash environment because the game functions very little like traditional fighters.
>Mario can cancel upB into a wall jump and then upB again.
Peach can float.
Jigglypuff and Snake can put opponents to sleep.
Bowser's sideB is a command grab.
Captain Falcon's and Ganondorf's sideBs don't grab ledges in Melee.
Captain Falcon's and Ganondorf's downBs refresh midair jump.
Yoshi has armor on midair jump and a shield that doesn't shrink.
Yoshi doesn't have a third jump.
Snake's upsmash is a projectile that goes farther and faster given charge, but doesn't deal more damage (at least not in Brawl).
Snake's downsmash is a mine.
ROB's upB in Brawl is based on a fuel system instead of single use to special fall.
Several characters have more than one midair jump.
Three characters can glide.
Wario's fart charges automatically and takes two minutes to fully charge.
Mr. Game and Watch's side B has a random effect.
PM Wario's sideB, unlike Melee's sideB dashes, doesn't go into special fall if it's started on the ground.
PM Pit can glide twice in a single airtime if the first glide is started form the ground.
PM Ivysaur can heal.
PM Wolf's sideB doesn't go into special fall if it's sweetspotted.
OLIMAR.
Mario's upB cancel is poor design, but wall-jumping is concrete interaction.
Peach's float is a better example of a unique element that is functionally consistent within the system. It doesn't make logical sense in the real world, but in Mario/Smash fiction it's not at all out of place, and is intuitively executed.
Sing is a move in Pokemon that puts people to sleep. That's true to fiction. Not only that, but sing has visible area of effect, which is concrete. Snake's darts make logical sense because tranquilizers are used to knock people out, or otherwise disable them.
Bowser's >B is concrete because we visually see him grab the opponent. Plus grabs exist in Smash, so it's true to form.
CF and Ganon's >B not grabbing ledges could go either way. It makes sense that they don't grab the ledge because they are actively punching downward, but it wouldn't be counter-intuitive for them to grab the ledge. Their vB refreshing jumps doesn't make much sense, and it's not particularly intuitive. However, it doesn't compromise the function of any of their moves, so it's really not an issue.
Yoshi's armor doesn't make sense an likely only exists for balance. However, you could say that Yoshi is exerting a significant enough force to power through attacks. He is propelling his whole body by fluttering his feet, after all. His shield is unique, but eggs are a common theme for Yoshi. Enclosing himself in one to block attacks might seem odd, but it's true to fiction and is still concrete. The fact that the shield doesn't shrink makes sense too; why would an eggshell shrink? As for not having a third jump...how would he? The egg throw could provide some upward motion, but certainly not enough to act as a proper recovery. It's a completely concrete mechanic.
Snake's upsmash is unique, but like many of your other examples, is still concrete. It functions like we would expect a mortar to function, for the most part. The fact that it shoots higher when charged doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to consider that the charge might give him time to optimize his aim for better distance. Yes, the trajectory is always straight up, but it's not that much of a stretch. The fact that it doesn't do more damage makes sense too; why would shooting a mortar farther make the explosion more powerful? His downsmash, while being unique, still plants a physical object onto the field that explodes when approached, very much like a real mine does. Setting explosives is also true to the forms of the game (motion bomb, gooey bomb, etc.)
ROB's ^B, despite the fact that you can't tell how much fuel he has, is still concrete. Propulsion systems require a fuel source of some kind, and fuel is consumed during the process. The mechanic would be better if there was a visual representation, like if his jet flames got smaller as he flew.
Multiple midair jumps make sense. Midair jumps in general exist in Smash fiction, so it's not difficult to accept that characters can use their wings or inflate themselves like a balloon to jump again. Gliding falls into this category as well, and executing a glide is intuitive.
Wario's fart is a great mechanic. It's a charge and a timer that punctuates negative space, because even when you're not doing anything, it's still charging. And gas build up, that's where farts come from in the first place, so the fact that it charges isn't a problem. There's also a clear visual indication of when it is charged, and the power and appearance of the move even changes logically based on charge. Not only that, but it also propels him upward, which is concrete if you consider that he's farting with enough force to propel himself. His PM >B special fail conditions are a bit arbitrary, but if we consider that a character can jump in midair, and that recovery moves exhaust the character, we can consider his aerial >B to be a midair jump, while his grounded >B being no different from simply running off the stage.
G&W's >B is just random. Random elements exist all over in Smash, so it's true to form. The effect tied to each number is arbitrary and abstract, but we can expect higher numbers to yield more powerful effects.
Ivysaur's mechanics make sense intuitively as well. Plants use sunlight for growth and repair, so healing in the same manner makes perfect sense. Other characters have moves that can heal as well, and there are healing items, also.
PM Wolf is a product of poor design. The fact that a sweetspotted >B doesn't go into special fall isn't intuitive, and doesn't fit the form of the game.
Olimar is one of the most well-designed characters in the game. He fights using Pikmin in an entirely concrete manner, throwing them and swinging them through space. The Pikmin can also be hit by attacks, and will die like they do in the Pikmin games. There are multiple characters who attack with objects not part of their body, so I don't see what the problem with Olimar is.
>That's not DI. That's Smash DI (which isn't really DI; the community just lumped the terminology together even though the two have very little in common). DI (sometimes referred to as Trajectory DI for disambiguation) is used to influence the angle of trajectory. Holding perpendicular provides the max, which is (if I recall correctly) 18 degrees of a difference. The goal is to make the character launch towards the upper corners of the screen, which will provide the most space to not leave the boundaries. Is that intuitive? Unless the player applies geometry on a regular basis, I doubt it. Also I recommend you use the phrase "logical sense" sparingly. In real life, a plumber without a thruster of some sort can't just change direction in midair.
I understand how DI works. Holding the stick away from an opponent is going to alter the trajectory of any upward attack that would keep you in combo range, which is going to be the natural instinct for players because it makes sense. It's like how people twist the controller around when they play a racing game, even though it doesn't do anything; it's simply instinct. Most players are unlikely to understand the specifics of survival DI, but that doesn't mean that DI as a whole isn't an intuitive mechanic.