The story surrounding the beginnings of the Super Smash Bros. series is a particularly interesting one. Shortly after the development of Kirby Super Star had wrapped up in 1996, Masahiro Sakurai had come up with the idea of developing a “four-player free-for-all fighting game” for the Nintendo 64.
Initially, Masahiro Sakurai handled the design, graphics, modeling, and animation while Satoru Iwata handled the programming. One more uncredited employee was also involved to design the audio for the game.
At first, the prototype of the game was initially called “Kakuto-Geemu Ryuoh” which translates to Dragon King: The Fighting Game in English. However, Sakurai himself realized that this console fighting game was unlikely to be successful due to the roster’s lack of recognition.
All the characters effectively just appeared as faceless bodies sporting different colors. Sakurai felt as though this could be fine at the arcades, but foresaw problems occurring if this sort of game were released for home consoles.
To solve this problem, Sakurai considered using classic and iconic Nintendo characters for the roster. While this concept certainly makes sense today, this sort of idea received some pushback back then.
“I asked to use Nintendo characters since it was so hard to accurately convey to the players the atmosphere of the gaming world where they play a fighting game on home console,” said Sakurai during an Iwata Asks interview during the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. “You have to have some main characters in a fighting game, and when you line up character 1, character 2, character 3 and so on, the main characters end up blurring together.”
“With a game for the arcade, it’s okay for character development to take a backseat since players are content with the fighting. With a fighting game for the home console, however, you have to set up the general image or the atmosphere of the gaming world right from the start or else the game suffers,” continued Sakurai. “That’s why I asked to use Nintendo characters.”
When Satoru Iwata sought permission from the higher ups at Nintendo, he was flatly denied. Iwata must’ve really believed in what he and Mr. Sakurai were creating as he decided to take a massive risk.
Despite being denied, Iwata told Sakurai to go ahead and implement Mario, Donkey Kong, Link and Pikachu as playable characters for a demonstration. Sakurai wouldn’t learn that Iwata had actually been denied permission to use these characters until much later.
Had Iwata not taken this massive risk, the Super Smash Bros. series as we know it would’ve never become what it is today. As a result, the Super Smash Bros. series has become one of the most recognizable video game franchises in the world.
Even a character like the Wii Fit Trainer, who joined the roster starting with Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, makes sense with this concept. Though nobody really expected her to become playable, it has sold over 22.67 million as of March 2022, making it one of the best-selling games on the Wii, so many were able to recognize the represented character.
The idea behind having a recognizable roster is likely one of the main reasons behind Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s success thanks to its Everyone Is Here theme. To this day, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold over 34.66 million units worldwide, marking it as the third best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch.
It could be argued that a character like Dragon Ball’s Goku would be able to fit this criteria, but Sakurai has also been adamant that only characters with origins tied to video games will ever be considered for Super Smash Bros.
Of course, these concepts that Sakurai has outlined will very likely continue being observed going forward. Ever since the first iteration on the Nintendo 64, Sakurai has overseen development of a new entry of the franchise for every Nintendo console.
Speaking of which, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has already confirmed plans to reveal the Switch successor (often dubbed the “Switch 2” by fans) within this fiscal year — before April 1, 2025, in other words. Rumors suggest that this new console will be significantly more powerful than the Nintendo Switch.
Coincidentally, Sakurai has declared that he’s still creating games for the time being even though he’s mentioned that he was semi-retired. Despite wanting to leave it to someone else, Sakurai doesn’t see another Super Smash Bros. without his involvement.
Assuming development has already begun on the next Super Smash Bros. title, it seems likely that Bandai Namco’s Studio 2 & Studio S is once again involved, just like they were with Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This is believed due to the fact that they recently announced filling positions centered around game designers experienced with action games played from a “side-view.”
It’s certainly worth pointing out that Studio 2 & Studio S developed Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the latter of which has become the best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch. Could they be attempting to replicate this success with “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe” for the alluded to Switch successor?
Regardless, there’s plenty of iconic and recognizable characters that have yet to join the Super Smash Bros. roster that Sakurai will likely be referencing in the next game, whenever that may be. This has been an important design philosophy that will surely continue shaping the image of the franchise.