Source Gaming: Sakurai Answers Some (Old) Questions About Brawl

[PushDustIn]

I see a lot of comments by people who are "putting other characters down".

I wrote an editorial on why those people are wasting their breath, and bringing down the fandom.

TL;DR: There's a lot of factors that go into choosing characters for Smash. Just because you don't like them, does not mean those characters do not have fans/ support. I saw a lot of comments like "No one wanted Wii Fit Trainer, Lucina, Rosalina, Dark Pit, etc". Those characters are wanted by other groups of people. Sakurai can't just appeal to the hardcore players 100% of the time.

Characters that do make it into Smash are meant to appease the most amount of people. There is some middle ground to character selection, and Sakurai does try to balance the roster. Wolf being favorable to development and being highly requested are the main reasons he got into Brawl. If Sonic didn't cause Brawl to be delayed, there's a real possibility we would have never seen Wolf, Jigglypuff or Toon Link in Brawl.

Game development does have limited resources, and they need to optimize their strategy in order to achieve their goals. Just because a character doesn't get into Smash doesn't mean that Sakurai 'hates' that character. It's probably just not efficient (in terms of time and energy) to add that character in at that point in time.

Ok...so that was suppose to be a TL;DR but now I'm just ranting again. Oh well.

Baby Pink Gold Peach for Smash 7!

 

[Unclesatan]

no i think i was using fox lololol that's pretty hilarious

 

[link2702]

the scariest part I got out of that, was that at one point he was tempted to cut jigglypuff.

She's been part of smash since the very beginning, and she has always had a unique playstyle compared to that of the rest of the cast. Her not being in smash would feel both weird and depressing. It'd be like captain falcon getting cut.

 

[PushDustIn]

the scariest part I got out of that, was that at one point he was tempted to cut jigglypuff.

She's been part of smash since the very beginning, and she has always had a unique playstyle compared to that of the rest of the cast. Her not being in smash would feel both weird and depressing. It'd be like captain falcon getting cut.

Jigglypuff was almost cut in Melee too. Also, she's the first "joke" character. Pichu continued the proud tradition, but sadly the concept was dropped in Brawl.

 

[Kink-Link5]

Jigglypuff was almost cut in Melee too. Also, she's the first "joke" character. Pichu continued the proud tradition, but sadly the concept was dropped in Brawl.

Zelda is Brawl's joke character.

 

[L9999]

Who is next to be revealed in the book of "What could it have been..." currently written by Sakurai? First Ridley, next Takamaru, next Ayumi Tachibana, now Krystal and Wolf.

Zelda is Brawl's joke character.

No, she is the Smash series joke character. Jigglypuff in 64 isn't bad, neither in Melee, Pichu is better then Zelda in Melee, she is the worst in Brawl due to Ganon not being complete trash and the commonly accepted joke character R.O.B isn't half bad, and in Smash 4 she is commonly accepted to be bottom 3 along with Mewtwo and Samus.

 

[Geno Boost]

Sakurai: It’s not that I don’t understand how that feels, but if you start saying that, it becomes “Why isn’t Waddle Dee playable?” or Dry Bones, or Baby Peach. There’d be no end to it.

Sakurai:

 

[Rango the Mercenary]

I hate ungrateful, whiny Smashers. That doesn't account for most of you, but on GameFAQs and Facebook, I still see it to this day.

 

[Pikmin-ism42]

Question: Do you hate AlpharadTV for ruining the Miiverse posts?(#FINDMADDAWG, FALCON PAUNCH/KNEE TO DOWN TAUNT IS TRUE COMBO)
Sakurai: Yes.

Silly 90007000! The Miiverse posts were already ruined before AlpharadTV was popular OR before Smash Bros. 4 was released!

 

[NOKAUBURE]

Now I respect sakurai more, seeing how he puts effort to play his own game and beating boss battle in hardest while rebalancing everything and even things like adjusting the character hitboxes (I read that in another interview).

So i can say he puts more effort than other videogame designers, and with smash 4 he still throws update patchs and DLCs. He cares about his games even when they are released, sakurai doesn't deserve any hates.

 

[-crump-]

Sakurai made a good point with the "there'd be no end to it". People would keep asking for more as we'd be getting more.

I do indeed have scary memories of a Miiverse post before Sm4sh was released, saying "sakuri plz put spiderman plz". Still haunts me to this day.

Admittedly, I remember actually making a joke post around the release of ASM2 that said something along that lines...
I don't actually know if it was me or not, but if it was, please know that it was merely a joke and nothing more.

 

[Vigihes]

Three times the same question, thank you Nintendo Dream

 

[the king of murder]

I hate ungrateful, whiny Smashers. That doesn't account for most of you, but on GameFAQs and Facebook, I still see it to this day.

GameFAQs in general is a place full of ****.

Krystal might become a DLC character, who knows.

 

[Reila]

Lol @ Waddle Dee.

 

[dezeray112]

Very interesting info.

 

[DavemanCozy]

Host: "So when you finally beat [Boss Battles in Intense], were you using Ike or Toon Link?"

Sakurai: "Umm. No, I get the feeling that in the end it was actually Fox (laughs)"

 

[Szion]

I definitely understand why wolf got in before krystal

though,krystal is definitely worth paid DLC seeing as she can have barrier instead of reflector, and her entire aerial moveset can be the staff. SSBCrusade is a decent look at what she can be, but she's GOT TO HAVE BARRIER DOWN B

 

[TheDarkKnightNoivern]

"This translation features a two-part article published shortly after Brawl's release in Nintendo Dream."

I feel like people are completely missing this, Waddle dee was just a common enemy at this point, before he became a major character in Return to Dreamland and onwards as "Bandana waddle dee" which is a separate character kinda like Captain Toad

 

[CBO0tz]

When will somebody ever ask Sakurai when there's gonna be a new Luigi game that isn't an LM sequel or a SMB clone?

 

[Metallinatus]

When will somebody ever ask Sakurai when there's gonna be a new Luigi game that isn't an LM sequel or a SMB clone?

No need for more Luigi, Bowser needs to star his very own game for a change....

 

[TheDarkKnightNoivern]

When will somebody ever ask Sakurai when there's gonna be a new Luigi game that isn't an LM sequel or a SMB clone?

What does that have to do with Sakurai?

 

[ThePuffDaddy]

You're wrong there, Melee was the beginning of the end of good Smash games, as it failed to be as good as 64.

Smash 64 sucks compared to Melee. Why are people worshipping 64 like its the best game ever lately? Its not even that good.

 

[TheFlyingCule]

Now I respect sakurai more, seeing how he puts effort to play his own game and beating boss battle in hardest while rebalancing everything and even things like adjusting the character hitboxes (I read that in another interview).

So i can say he puts more effort than other videogame designers, and with smash 4 he still throws update patchs and DLCs. He cares about his games even when they are released, sakurai doesn't deserve any hates.

One thing is clear is that the Smash fandom really doesn't deserve a developer like Sakurai. Not everyone, not even the majority, but a very noticeable amount of people are just disgusting in how they treat him. Suddenly Sakurai becomes a villain for not putting in X character into the game while Y Character did.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Jigglypuff was almost cut in Melee too. Also, she's the first "joke" character. Pichu continued the proud tradition, but sadly the concept was dropped in Brawl.

Honestly I don't like the idea of a joke or playable boss character in a fighter, I feel like it would ruin the experience one way or another.

 

[the101]

I feel so bad for Waddle Dee supporters right now.

Well, this was before Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Kirby Triple Deluxe, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse gave the bandana-wearing Waddle Dee a more refined identity as one of Kirby's more reoccurring characters. I feel Sakurai was thinking of the generic enemy Waddle Dee, rather than the spear-wielding hero from Return to Dream Land. I didn't think he held enough significance to Kirby by Brawl's development and even when Smash 4's roster was finalized (2012), so I didn't anticipate his inclusion in either. However, I see him as a safe candidate for a potential Smash 5.

 

[ChikoLad]

Well, this was before Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Kirby Triple Deluxe, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse gave the bandana-wearing Waddle Dee a more refined identity as one of Kirby's more reoccurring characters. I feel Sakurai was thinking of the generic enemy Waddle Dee, rather than the spear-wielding hero from Return to Dream Land. I didn't think he held enough significance to Kirby by Brawl's development and even when Smash 4's roster was finalized (2012), so I didn't anticipate his inclusion in either. However, I see him as a safe candidate for a potential Smash 5.

Unless Kirby introduces another new character that is a real hit.

Or if they bring back Adeleine or something (sp?).

 

[Delzethin]

I see a lot of comments by people who are "putting other characters down".

I wrote an editorial on why those people are wasting their breath, and bringing down the fandom.

TL;DR: There's a lot of factors that go into choosing characters for Smash. Just because you don't like them, does not mean those characters do not have fans/ support. I saw a lot of comments like "No one wanted Wii Fit Trainer, Lucina, Rosalina, Dark Pit, etc". Those characters are wanted by other groups of people. Sakurai can't just appeal to the hardcore players 100% of the time.

Characters that do make it into Smash are meant to appease the most amount of people. There is some middle ground to character selection, and Sakurai does try to balance the roster. Wolf being favorable to development and being highly requested are the main reasons he got into Brawl. If Sonic didn't cause Brawl to be delayed, there's a real possibility we would have never seen Wolf, Jigglypuff or Toon Link in Brawl.

Game development does have limited resources, and they need to optimize their strategy in order to achieve their goals. Just because a character doesn't get into Smash doesn't mean that Sakurai 'hates' that character. It's probably just not efficient (in terms of time and energy) to add that character in at that point in time.

Ok...so that was suppose to be a TL;DR but now I'm just ranting again. Oh well.

Baby Pink Gold Peach for Smash 7!

Yeah, there's a delicate balance, and it can be really hard to reach. Sometimes you'll have people up in arms about a creative choice you made, and not because it was a bad one but because they disagree with it or out of fear that it'll screw over something they were hoping for. Case in point: all the "roster slot" nonsense still going around.

Overall, though, Sakurai seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders nowadays. Smash 4 is (imo) far and above the previous games both in balancing and in the diversity in playstyles within the roster itself, and with DLC and balance patches, it keeps getting better.

But yeah, tl;dr, the fact that they looked at Krystal and merely ran out of time for her is an eyebrow-raiser that increases the chances that they'd consider her now, and the Waddle Dee Sakurai mentioned with his slippery slope argument was not Bandana Dee since Bandana Dee didn't become an established character until later on.

 

[CBO0tz]

What does that have to do with Sakurai?

Idunno. I just want more Luigi-based games and I want Nintendo to know.

 

[ToonKake]

IF we get Krystal OR Wolf By Oct 3rd i could care Less i just Want ANOTHER STAR FOX Character it would Make da PERFECT SENSE ! & also due to Star Fox Zero being around the corner... we could only hope....

 

[DownsideC]

>complains about clones in smash4
>wants wolf back

 

[Metallinatus]

>complains about clones in smash4
>wants wolf back

And Roy.... and Lucas....
Wolf is literally less clone than both.... why are you acting as this "wants clone back" was exclusive to Wolf anyway?

 

[DownsideC]

And Roy.... and Lucas....
Wolf is literally less clone than both.... why are you acting as this "wants clone back" was exclusive to Wolf anyway?

Cause we already have them in the game?

 

[Metallinatus]

Cause we already have them in the game?

That doesn't really answers my question.

 

[DownsideC]

That doesn't really answers my question.

Oh well then. I didn't really notice any people wanting Lucas and/or Roy back to be honest.

 

[Metallinatus]

Oh well then. I didn't really notice any people wanting Lucas and/or Roy back to be honest.

Roy was the most requested character after Mewtwo.... and Lucas was just as requested as Wolf.
Did you really miss that? It was like, everywhere.

 

[DownsideC]

Yea actually.

 

[Pryze]

And Roy.... and Lucas....
Wolf is literally less clone than both.... why are you acting as this "wants clone back" was exclusive to Wolf anyway?

Because Roy was slightly de-cloned and Lucas has never been a clone, nor has Wolf.

 

[Pikmin-ism42]

>complains about clones in smash4
>wants wolf back

In what way is Wolf a clone, excluding the fact that his specials share the same basic idea as Fox's but are executed rather differently?

 

[DownsideC]

In what way is Wolf a clone, excluding the fact that his specials share the same basic idea as Fox's but are executed rather differently?

read the article...
Sakurai literally said it himself, he's a semi-clone. Like Lucas and Roy.

 

[Pikmin-ism42]

read the article...
Sakurai literally said it himself, he's a semi-clone. Like Lucas and Roy.

I'm pretty sure he never literally said that he was a semi-clone in any article. All he mentioned was how it was much easier to create Wolf due to how similar his model was to Fox's.

My question was rather genuine, what makes him considered to be a semi-clone?