Super Mario RPG, the remake for Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo, is scheduled to be released November 17 — this Friday. Technically speaking, Super Mario RPG and its upcoming remake are the only times in which Geno has been playable, though the Geno doll did make a cameo appearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Despite his seldom appearances, Geno has garnered quite a cult following over the years. Needless to say, fans have been pushing this idea suggesting that Geno is deserving of a character slot within the Super Smash Bros. series.
While it might seem too outlandish of an idea to have Geno playable in Smash considering that he’s only had one playable appearance up to this point, it’s actually an idea that has been considered by Masahiro Sakurai before.
Back in April 2016, Nintendo Dream (translations from Source Gaming) asked Sakurai about Geno. Apparently, Sakurai at one point actually wanted to put Geno in Smash, but had to settle for making him into a Mii costume due to unknown reasons.
“To tell the truth, it’s because I wanted Geno to be a playable character,” said Sakurai. “He has a gun for a hand, and I think he fits in really well with Smash. During Brawl, I thought it would be great if I could add him, but in the end it didn’t become a reality.”
“That’s right. He’s very popular,” continued Sakurai. “When talking about older characters, Geno always gets a lot of requests. He didn’t appear as a fighter, but I was able to achieve something kind of close to that as a Mii Costume.”
As of right now, there’s been no official news about a Super Smash Bros. entry happening after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Of course, there are plenty of rumors that indicate that Nintendo is gearing up for a new console release after the Nintendo Switch.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate remains as the third best-selling title on the Nintendo Switch with over 32.44 million sales worldwide. Due to this, we should probably expect a sequel to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at some point, though even the creator himself isn’t exactly sure how to follow up after Smash Ultimate.
There’s been plenty of talk about the idea of a “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe,” an enhanced port of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Switch follow up. The idea would be similar to what Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was on the Nintendo Switch in that it added new characters and content to how Mario Kart 8 was originally on the Nintendo Wii U.
Regardless, the existence of the Super Mario RPG remake could renew Geno’s chances at becoming playable sometime in the future. While it isn’t known why he wasn’t made playable before, this remake is a potential sign that the issue previously preventing Geno’s entry could be resolved now.
Ultimately, we’ll just have to see how things play out in the future, but things are looking promising for Geno fans.