Originally, all fighters were going to be unlocked from the start

[EdgeTheLucas]

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...ghters_unlocked_in_super_smash_bros_for_wii_u

...but Sakurai saw that people liked the "Challenger Approaching!!" screens. So he made at least 8 characters unlockable whereas in the 3DS version there were 12.

Perhaps this can spur some small discussion on whether or not it's a suitable explanation for keeping characters locked.

Personally, however he felt, I wished that if you unlocked the characters in one version, then they'd be unlocked in the other. The surprise aspect is gone for the kinds of players that have recently gotten the other version, so a feature where connecting the two versions together would unlock them in the other would have been a good inclusion.

 

[_gold_]

When I first buy a new Smash Bros. game, I don't like hopping straight into online. I play locally for a couple of days first. Being able to unlock characters/stages is usually on the top of my to-do list. It's just fun, and it's kind of iconic from the series. That being said, SSB4 character unlockables were beyond easy. Half of the time, I don't even know what I did to unlock them.

All fighters unlocked from the start? Mmmm, no. Don't like.

 

[Tino]

I absolutely don't like the idea of having every character in the game available from the start. That would make the challenges less interesting than in previous Smash Bros. games. It would've been a whole lot interesting if there would've been more than 12 unlockable characters for each version.

 

[Saito]

Having the characters unlocked allows for people to get fully into the action faster.
You lose the cool unlocks though.

We can see they kind of went for a middle ground with the unlocks in this game as they were in the game, but all very simple as opposed to some of the more unorthadox methods of the past (Mewtwo in melee) or lengthy to achieve ones (Wolf/Toon Link from Subspace emissary)

I wish it was just an option you could select at the beginning of the game.

 

[Shin F.]

Having the characters unlocked allows for people to get fully into the action faster.
You lose the cool unlocks though.

We can see they kind of went for a middle ground with the unlocks in this game as they were in the game, but all very simple as opposed to some of the more unorthadox methods of the past (Mewtwo in melee) or lengthy to achieve ones (Wolf/Toon Link from Subspace emissary)

I wish it was just an option you could select at the beginning of the game.

Either that or a code that can be used to insta-unlock every character.

 

[visvim]

I get nostalgic hype every time I see "Challenger Approaching!" and hear that siren. Both that feeling and the fact that I wanted time to get acquainted with the GC controller again after all that 3DS play made unlocking the roster twice totally fine by me.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

I kind of wish that there were more unlockable characters, but at the same time, it probably would've been a big pain to unlock them if their difficulty level is set too hard.

 

[ItsBearTime]

Tower of Smash confirmed?

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

I would have preferred them all to be unlocked from the start. I just want access to all components of the core game without jumping through any hoops, even if said hoops are easy.

I also didn't find the "challenger approaching" screen very exciting this time around because I unlocked all the "challengers" before I even had a chance to try out all the starting characters. In that sense, getting Duck Hunt was no more exciting than putting my P1 token on Greninja for the first time, if you get me.

 

[The Slayer]

Well, my friend never unlocked Wolf (don't really blame him but he's lazy like that) until I did it personally for him. But it showed that he's not willing to try too hard if the challenge was too tedious and hidden. He only did that in Melee because like me, we were kids to it and didn't knew any better. Now, I can see why having most unlocked/simpler ways to unlock characters was a better move. Not that I don't want it to be forever gone (if the next SSB has an unlocking pattern like this SSB, then I'm golden) but clearly not everyone is into gated content of their favorite characters.

 

[Deleted member]

I heard about that earlier. Well, although I don't mind having to unlock characters again, connecting to the 3DS version (and viceversa) to unlock characters and all that would've been a welcome addition like you said.

 

[Kidd Ryze]

Like many other people, I hate the idea of having the characters being unlocked from the start. I love the satisfaction of unlocking characters by performing certain tasks was incredibly fun and memorable, and it made me feel like the things I do in the game have a purpose and a reward.

But for Smash 4? I wouldn't mind this. Mainly, because the unlocks of Smash 4 are so piss easy. I don't feel awesome when I do these tasks. I just feel like, "Cool, I got a new character," instead of "HOLY BALLZ I JUST GOT SONIC BDEUFRU!!!"

 

[PCHU]

I can see how more people as of recent times would prefer to have everything handed to them from the start, but I guess I still like the challenge of unlocking stuff.
Gives me something to do and it's kinda nostalgic; even if that experience is brief, it's worth having in my opinion.

That being said, having Smashville as an unlockable was stupid; should've been Town and City as an unlockable with Smashville as the base.
Not letting 3DS have Smashville at all was even worse.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

Unlocking things in Melee was a rush because there were eleven hidden characters and nine of them were newcomers. The unlocking methods were only slightly more challenging or in Mewtwo's case, ridiculous. It was like a new discovery after every hardship.

That's not how it is anymore, though; Smash 3DS had twelve hidden characters and ten of them were comebacks I was fairly certain would be in anyway, and the challenges were all so simple it was hardly worth hiding them away to begin with.

I don't think nostalgia is a satisfactory reason for keeping the Challenger Approaching thing; that's what going back and playing the old games is for. A more fair online playing field would be forged by letting everyone have access to everything from the start. After all, you don't have to unlock pieces in chess.

I'd prefer unlockable things be the things that don't figure directly into the core game; trophies, music, that sort of thing.

 

[Raijinken]

Making an unlock transfer option would have been nice for those who want it. But honestly, I like unlocking characters.

As for re-unlocking the customs, though, THAT is something I'd have loved an unlock transfer for.

 

[Supersmashbrothers.]

I think a huge part of a new smash bros experience is to unlock those newcomers.
It was already very easy to unlock all the characters in SSB4 but it's better than nothing.

 

[Kenith]

Personally, unlocking characters in Smash 4 went against the way they marketed and hyped the game.
They should have just made them all available from the start.

 

[FalKoopa]

I like seeing those unlock screens. Though I'd prefer it if they actually kept some newcomers hidden.

 

[Kenith]

I like seeing those unlock screens. Though I'd prefer it if they actually kept some newcomers hidden.

Imagine if, say, Bowser Jr. was revealed in place of Rosalina, and Rosalina was a hidden character.
Imagine if Robin or Palutena was a hidden character.
Whoa.

 

[Ferblantier]

Would have saved me an hour unlocking all of them.

 

[guedes the brawler]

sakurai should just expand on the game's "shop", let people who want everything easily buy everything easily while still giving enough room for people who want to unlock stuff to have their fun.

 

[Archimedes]

I feel at this point its the best to have them all unlocked. I mean from the start I remember people whining and complaining there was only going to be a certain number of slots and after that they thought they were done announcing characters being sad a certain character didn't make it in. What they forgot is smash games have secret characters that aren't revealed until the games realese.

I found this frustrating that people forgot this, but anyways with the way they were marketing the characters they should be all unlocked because people are forgetful and unforgiving. That all said I do enjoy the excitement of unlocking a character.

 

[Altea77]

Honestly, that would be horrible. Back in the Melee days, unlocking things was hard, and I remember spending so much time doing it. But you know what? That made it so satisfying when I finally did unlock that character/ stage. Event 51 took me months to complete as a kid, and that is part of the reason why I love Final Destination so much. Having Final Destination unlocked from the start really doesn't feel right after that. Who cares if we can't jump straight in with all characters and stages? We will have plenty of time to play with all the characters and stages after we unlock them. A lot of the smash community still play Melee, and Melee came out over 10 years ago. That's over 10 years of everything unlocked gameplay. I'm sure a few weeks when you first get the game (or months for me in Melee) of not having everything unlocked isn't that big of a deal.

Not only did Smash 4 not have many unlockables, but they were way too easy and the characters that were unlockables weren't even new comers for the most part. Now that's really lame. Melee had mostly all new comers as unlockables. The stages weren't that great either. Especially no unlocking Final Destination. Although because Smash 4's unlockables were so lame, I really couldn't care less whether everything was unlocked from the start. I got no satisfaction from it anyway. I'm just hoping in the next game, it is more like Melee's.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

Should have been the custom moves unlocked from the start instead.
Though I understand, with the leaks being more preposterous each time. Its reasonable that the next Smash Bros. goes the path of the other fighting games and give you all the characters from the start.

 

[Khao]

I like unlocking characters, but the way they were handled in both 3DS and Wii U, I'd rather just have them unlocked from the start.

They shouldn't have made so many of the newcomers starters, or show so many of them before release. There were basically only two surprises in the unlockable characters, and they were all to easy to unlock.

 

[RespawningJesus]

Honestly, just give me all the characters from the start. Cut the crap, and just let me explore the characters from the get go. Not everyone has loads of time to unlock everything in a timely manner anymore, which was why I appreciated how easy it was to get everything in Smash 4. But it was also pointless, since there was no challenge to it. Just 1-2 hours, and boom, you have all characters and stages unlocked.

 

[lijero13ss]

Idk I think most people are just older now. Like back in the melee days when we were kids, every time I unlocked someone I was like OMG OMG OMG!!! Now that I'm 21 its just like Ok Cool. Ya feel me?

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Well i saw this way before

It makes sense why he coulden't make all of them unlocked from the get go i mean its because of that challenger appoaching screen then defeat them to unlock them mechanic. I mean not only thats very popular i noticed a couple of games that accually had this same mechanic.

 

[Sean²]

If they made it like Melee, or even gave it a story mode like Brawl, I'd enjoy unlocking all the characters.

Smash 4: I found it boring and had everyone unlocked within hours.

I really miss Adventure Mode.

 

[ErenJager]

Unlocking characters and stages was the fondest thing for me to do in melee and 64.

It was exciting to add something new to the game ive been playing for a while. Usually me and my brothers would take turns unlocking characters... Then once we had them all we really looked forward to playing against each other.