By this point, we’ve heard this story a few times already. However, Masahiro Sakurai recently unveiled additional details about the time he dominated a couple of strangers at King of Fighter ’95, which is something Sakurai himself describes as being a “bitter memory.”
As it turns out, Sakurai used to be quite talented when it came to fighting games, though he admits that this isn’t really the case anymore. Back when King of Fighters ’95 was available at the arcades, it was typical for Sakurai to have a 50-game win streak.
While Sakurai was playing, a challenger jumped in on the arcade cabinet adjoined to his. Sakurai then just let loose against his mysterious opponent.
“I went on to fight them, and landed my moves with style,” declared Sakurai. “With Takuma Sakazaki, I jumped, then did a strong punch, uppercut, Ko-Ou Ken, Hien Shippuu Kyaku, and Zanretsuken — a fancy, flashy combo with three special moves one after another.”
Following this, Sakurai noticed something different about this opponent. More specifically, it felt as though they weren’t really fighting back.
“When I took a peek over at the other side, I was surprised to find a run-of-the-mill couple sitting there,” continued Sakurai. “The girlfriend was the one playing. I couldn’t help but think I messed up.”
When the boyfriend of the couple hopped in, Sakurai decided to go easy on him, though he suspected that it was obvious what he was doing at this point.
“They tried out a new game, just for me to wipe the floor with them,” said Sakurai. “Since then, I’ve mostly stopped playing against strangers like that in fighting games.”
Throughout the video, Sakurai uses this story as an example as to why it’s important to take it easy on beginners. Needless to say, it’s funny to think that Sakurai still remembers this story from so many years ago when likely the couple themselves probably don’t remember this occurrence.
Regardless, many people cite this incident as being what led Masahiro Sakurai to create the Super Smash Bros. series. The series is designed to have a simple learning curve while giving every player a chance to at least take stocks from their opponents.
Check it all out below: