Board Thread:VS Debates/@comment-31816534-20170606023747/@comment-26374068-20170626010603

Actually, thinking about it more... He's probably not a form, but is just a separate design choice for Mario, thus, is the same guy.

His SSB4 trophy description describes him as just a design choice, and if you think of TTYD's case in a different light, as in, "He's a separate form of design for Mario," then that makes sense, and doesn't contradict Miyamoto's statement, and it goes hand-in-hand to the other references.

So yeah, they are the same guy. Only Sticker Star's commercial implies he's a separate form and, of course, now that TTYD doesn't necessarily support that, it would contradict at that point.