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Sakurai's Final Famitsu Article: Part Two

Famitsu_Sakurai_2.jpg

Source Gaming founder and ex-owner PushDustIn and translator Kody NOKOLO have released the second part of their translation of Smash director Masahiro Sakurai's final Famitsu column. Where the first part looks back on the development for Smash Ultimate's DLC, the second part is largely focused on the future of the franchise.

In the column, Sakurai discusses the possibility that Smash Ultimate may be the final Super Smash Bros. game. At the moment, Sakurai isn't thinking about making another Smash game, though he always tends to approach each Smash game as if it's his last, so a future title is still a possibility. He also wonders whether it would even be worth it to release another Smash game—a future title would likely have a smaller roster than Ultimate, and less content in general, something bound to leave many fans disappointed.

There's also the question of how easily the series could continue without him. Sakurai notes that he's played such a central role in the planning for each Smash game that it would be hard to find someone who could oversee every facet of the game's development in the same way he did. While this isn't mentioned in the column, this is likely compounded by the fact that the rest of the development team has changed so much between installments. Much of Melee's team was unavailable for Brawl's development, and Bandai-Namco's fighting game division took over from HAL Labs for the development of Smash for 3DS/Wii U and Smash Ultimate.

To hear more about Sakurai's thoughts on the challenges that would come with continuing the Smash series without his involvement, we highly encourage you to read the full translation at Source Gaming.

Credits:
Editing:
@Sari
Graphics: @Zerp
Special Thanks: @PushDustIn and Kody NOKOLO for translating the Famitsu article
 
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Scribe

Comments

Just like every time before now, his stance on a sequel is "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it". Though he's also unsure how to follow up Ultimate in a way that wouldn't feel like a letdown roster-wise...which is a real dilemma, considering he said early in Ultimate's development that a roster this big in size and scope couldn't realistically happen again. There are ways that the next Smash could stand out on its own merits, but would that overcome the backlash upon the news that so many characters will end up sitting out? It's a serious question with no clear answer.

He's also open to passing the torch to someone else and even agrees that having someone else to rely on would take some of the stress off himself, but he hasn't found the perfect protégé yet. I wonder how much of that is from creative differences and how much is him being a perfectionist?
 
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You know, I've been seeing folks joke about the next Smash Bros. pulling a Street Fighter 3/Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Not saying I'd ever want that, but it's something I've been thinking about myself...
 
My guess is they will start doing franchise or themed Smash spin-offs. It will be a great way to keep rosters(and thus costs) to a minimum while justifying both cuts and additional characters.
Pokemon Smash
Fire Emblem Smash
Mario vs Sonic Smash
Female Character Smash
B Character Smash
Retro Smash
Etc.
 
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My guess is they will start doing franchise or themed Smash spin-offs. It will be a great way to keep rosters(and thus costs) to a minimum while justifying both cuts and additional characters.
Pokemon Smash
Fire Emblem Smash
Mario vs Sonic Smash
Female Character Smash
B Character Smash
Retro Smash
Etc.
Actually, yeah, I could see this. Like a Nintendo vs Capcom or Nintendo vs Tekken
 
Some of his comments actually trigger me...

And at the very least, I don’t see any way for Smash Bros to be produced without my involvement.
Is he really so self-centered to feel this way? The world doesn't revolve around him; it is obvious a Smash game can be made without him. How delusional is he?

It is a fighting game crossover he created like three of the characters in... I know he's poured his life into the series and without him it might not even exist, but come on man: any fan could've come up with the idea of Mario fighting Link. This isn't like some complicated thing where you have to understand the personalities of the characters or layered emotions lol.

For example, the Challenger Approaching trailers would not have the same level of quality if it was produced entirely by an outside firm.
This was better than anything Nintendo did over the last ten years:

 
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Is he really so self-centered to feel this way? The world doesn't revolve around him; it is obvious a Smash game can be made without him. How delusional is he?
Given how much of a downturn the franchise has suffered since Bandai-Namco took over, I can't really say he's wrong. Smash 4 was fun but flawed and Ultimate is a steaming pile of terrible design.
 
My guess is they will start doing franchise or themed Smash spin-offs. It will be a great way to keep rosters(and thus costs) to a minimum while justifying both cuts and additional characters.
Pokemon Smash
Fire Emblem Smash
Mario vs Sonic Smash
Female Character Smash
B Character Smash
Retro Smash
Etc.
You forgot zelda smash!
Female smash would be probably pretty boring i mean a lot of female nintendo chars are pretty one note So maybe a smash jr with only kids would be a better idea! (also a good way of including some young female fighters which is a venue in which smash actually lacks a bit!
 
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You forgot zelda smash!
Female smash would be probably pretty boring i mean a lot of female nintendo chars are pretty one note So maybe a smash jr with only kids would be a better idea! (also a good way of including some young female fighters which is a venue in which smash actually lacks a bit!
Not more so than a lot Nintendo's male characters.
 
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