Now, after I inadvertently glanced upon the fact that there's now a forum entirely dedicated to the speculation of 5mash, I want to address some concerns out of the way right away that I'm fairly positive nobody has mentioned here yet since hype can easily overshadow you into thinking a game series can last forever.
Before I continue, and this will be a long read, I'd like to remind you that I have no hatred towards the Smash series. I'm simply sharing my ideas on how Nintendo will handle the obvious 5mash that will be on the horizon. My ideas may feel a bit unique in comparison to other ideas on here, such as everyone else simply discussing the characters. It's a bit of a turnaround, but I feel this is the best place to share these ideas of mine, so be respectful when reading them and I hope that I, too, am equally respectful in my delivery. My apologies if I offend any Smash fans. With that out of the way, let's begin.
If it wasn't clear already, Sakurai established that Sm4sh would be the last in the series, and I'm expecting the default replies to fall under "you mean his last in the series" no, that's not what I mean at all. Sure, you could argue that Nintendo would just continue it without him since it's a very popular series, and well that will most likely happen, there's just as big of a chance they would respect him and cancel it. I will go more on about this later, but for now, I will elaborate on how Nintendo will handle the series in the absence of Sakurai, should they do so.
For those hardcore Smash fans out there, you certainly know the effort that Sakurai put into this series. From the very beginning, he works tons and tons of hours to assure that each entry is of quality and better than the next. With Melee, he pushed all boundaries, added a whole new move and this was, unarguably, the biggest jump in graphics that Nintendo games ever had. Going from 64 to Melee is like going from partially blind to full vision. The detail was breathtaking, the character models actually matched the box art you saw them on. It was an experience that was unforgettable. That's why I admire Melee so much, besides the fact that it's a fun game.
Then comes Brawl, a game that decides to really step up the graphics to the point where it uses the maximum capacity of a Wii disc. At least, for overseas players, as certain Japanese games have succeeded the limits that even Brawl set for a Wii disc, but that's a different topic. Brawl, somehow, looks SIGNIFICANTLY better than Melee. The shading, detail on certain stages and more are just breathtaking, considering that the Wii is simply a minor upgrade from the GameCube. It was mainly thanks to the Wii having full discs that this level of detail was possible, and it makes you wonder how good Melee could have looked if it had full discs to work with. Indeed, it would have been a feat that I can not even imagine. I would talk about Sm4sh, but I don't think it was that much of a leap aside from clothing, hair and aesthetics looking better, alongside models that can actually be zoomed in and still retain detail. Brawl on Dolphin still looks comparable, if not better, depending on how much effort they put into certain skin mods.
And this is just talking about graphics. You all know as well as I do that I don't even have to bring up the gameplay itself, since you all come to these boards to discuss it since there's just so much to bring to talk about. It's amazing, fun, yet also simple. And so you may ask why am I so negative towards the series, despite the mood implying I'd also want a fifth entry. Well, that's because I researched a lot about the series' past and I've come to a conclusion that if a fifth entry is made, it won't be "brand new" in the way that every other entry tries to be.
Consider Sm4sh to be the last one to provide a brand new engine. Now that the Sm4sh engine is so refined, they certainly won't try to remake it a third time. I say third simply cause Brawl clearly still used a good amount of the Melee engine, since most deaths go by very quickly, move execution is still pretty fast at times and some characters retained their unique moves. Sm4sh kind of erased most of those, such as Falco's b-air, Captain Falcon's f-smash battering animation having a second hit when held and so on. Basically, moves that feel like they had a significant difference to the meta. What Sm4sh did to them was rather peculiar, but that's a topic for another time.
What I mean about the engine is that they might very well recycle a lot of stuff from Sm4sh since, should the series only fall on Nintendo's hands, they will want to make sure it meets up to the quality of a true Smash sequel. And without Sakurai leading, Nintendo will really have to make sure not to disappoint fans. My theory is that they will retain all of their most unique first-party editions from Sm4sh (possibly removing full clones like Lucina and Dark Pit), well obviously losing Mega Man and Cloud since those require contracts that they most likely won't be able to renew for the next entry. Now, same engine, recycled characters and a few missing. It's not as bad as it seems, however, since they will most likely add new ones. And I imagine they will contact HAL Laboratory for assistance since they have the biggest history with the franchise besides Sakurai himself, so if they simply add onto an existing game, but give it new menus, graphics and such, it could still be a true 5mash.
Worst-case scenario is they simply port Sm4sh to Switch as is and maybe just call it Sm4sh Deluxe. Obviously not as I typed it, since you know this game has a ridiculously long name already. It would most likely be "Super Smash Bros. for Switch Deluxe" and yes, that's a real thing that could happen. The upside is that it possibly guarantees certain third-parties, such as Cloud, to return, as well as more characters (Sakurai would not mind adding more to an already complete game) from the ballot. Possibly more stages and maybe items, but I doubt the latter of those two will happen unless it's a returning item like the Fan or even Cracker Launcher. Yes, I like the Fan. Many don't for some reason, but I do. The Cracker Launcher, however, did do quite a bit of damage and was quite controversial, so I doubt that will return. But, yes, I see the Sm4sh port as simply adding things. Hell, it might even do a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and add in Smash Run, since many consider that a missing mode from Wii U. Obviously cause of the whole separate screens thing, but even the 3DS version wanted players to interact on the big map. And the Switch has the power to do this, so it would be very fun and the minigames would be a hoot to play in HD. I would enjoy it a lot myself. And to top it all off, add the unused Ice Climbers data from Wii U. I'm certain many of us would love to see how these little guys were re-imagined since they were finished on the Wii U and were in the final roster until the 3DS failed to handle the Nana AI just as proficiently.
Now, that's all my ideas for how Nintendo could handle it. Sound reasonable? Of course they do! They're probably ideas that many have thought of. But the last idea I have is one that many never think about, since they entrust that Nintendo won't ever cancel the series until Nintendo themselves is history. And that idea is them pulling an EarthBound. What is that idea, you wonder. It's when the EarthBound series came to an end and Nintendo respected the creator enough to not continue it. Assuming Sakurai really had a good bond with Nintendo over the years, they might do the same thing as they did with EarthBound and truly put the series to an end. Of course, provided their idea of Sm4sh Deluxe fails and Sakurai is not interested.
You are now thinking "Sakurai also said Melee would be the last, as well as Brawl" well, I have thought about this as well, don't you worry. Remember Mr. Iwata? He's the guy that saved the Pokémon franchise! Besides that, of course, he was the previous president of Nintendo. Sakurai was indeed going to make Melee his last, but Iwata (one of his best friends) approached him and asked him to make Brawl (after announcing it, much to Sakurai's surprise), but did not force it upon him. Iwata said that if he refuses, they would instead port Melee to Wii with added online functionality and nothing more. Sakurai then realized that would be a lazy effort and decided to satisfy the fans since it was announced as a new game to the public.
Then comes Sm4sh. Iwata, once again, convinced Sakurai to make it. And Sakurai also wanted the series to be portable. So, it was a win-win situation. But this time, well you would figure Sakurai would love the series to both be portable and powerful, everyone is unsure if he would go through the effort to make a fifth entry. Iwata is no longer with us, as you know. It's sad, but it's also true that without Iwata, nobody else can really convince Sakurai to make the fifth entry. And as such, we could argue that Nintendo might do their backup plan this time around, that being to port Sm4sh to the Switch with added features, like how Melee was going to be on the Wii.
My final theory on this whole thread is that Nintendo might very well do that last option, should Sakurai refuse to help with Sm4sh Deluxe, let alone make a brand new game for the Switch. They would have to renew their contracts for Mega Man, Cloud and the liking, but those characters were only added almost a couple of years ago, so that would not be any trouble. Then they just add Ice Climbers, maybe Smash Run as a new game mode and you got yourselves a Sm4sh port to the Switch, albeit adding in as much as Nintendo could add on their own with existing assets.
Do all of my ideas sound peculiar to you? I would think so as well if I was the one reading all of this! It's a lot to take in for a speculation forum, I know, but I didn't know where else to put it and I've had these ideas on my mind for quite a while now as to how the newest Smash would be handled. If you agree or disagree, feel free to tell me why or even PM me if you feel your ideas would derail too much from natural discussion and I'll gladly listen to them.
FOR THOSE THAT DO NOT WISH TO READ ALL OF THAT, HERE IS A SYNOPSIS OF MY IDEAS
- Nintendo ports Sm4sh to Switch with as much new content as they can add, such as the unused Ice Climbers data and simply re-texturing Smash Run with added functionality of player interaction on the main map. Assuming their original idea for Brawl was a Melee port if Sakurai refused, this makes the most sense as a last resort.
- They convince Sakurai to make Sm4sh Deluxe, only going further beyond Nintendo's own ideas, well also adding in brand new characters and either existing or new stages.
- HAL Laboratory will be contacted to work on a brand new entry for the Switch that will try to retain the quality of the series as much as Sakurai would. This seems unlikely to happen, but that doesn't mean it couldn't.
- Nintendo cancels the Smash series, similar to how they respected the creator of EarthBound, and simply re-release the series on Virtual Console for years to come. Many love Melee anyway and dislike the new games for being easier, so many would not be offended by this if the Switch simply has Melee with online capabilities. And no, Nintendo would not re-balance it since it's Virtual Console. They never change up their old games unless they had material in them back then that would be considered offensive today.
That is basically the shorter version of all of this. Hope I was not too much of an earful on everyone.
