Source Gaming
Follow us:
Filed under: Industry People, Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. Series

Featured Comments and Responses #2

Featured Comment

Like I stated lasted week, I’m looking to bring more exposure to the great comments we get on the site.

This roundup covers January 9th-15th (Japan time).

 

haruhisailormars

If people think Sakurai is a liar, they should see Niitsuma from Capcom. A lot of Sakurai’s comments can be dismissed as changing his mind as time went on. Niitsuma deliberately made statements to mislead people. Two off the tp of my head.

He said they weren’t adding anymore Darkstalkers in MVC3. Fans understood this to mean Morrigan and Felicia were the only ones in it since they are the only two known about but it turned out Hsien Ko was in at the time he made the comment.

Another one, one which people say was “taken out of context” or “mistranslated” is where he said Sentinel wasn’t in the game during an interview. I don’t care what the audio file said, the article says Sentinel wasn’t in the game.

In stringing fans along, Niitsuma is way above Sakurai. —Is Sakurai a Liar?

This is certainly an interesting subject to investigate, and one that’s very appropriate as the latest installment finishes development. Do we have it “good” with Sakurai? This is something I look forward to discussing with you guys in the coming months.

Winturwulf

I am absolutely obsessed with amiibo… I started off with Link, got one more here and there, and was eventually like: “whatever, I’ll just get them all.” My collection now includes the entire base roster for Smash plus Mewtwo (and both R.O.B.s), all the Animal Crossing ones aside from Isabelle and Digby (waiting for individual releases), Toad, Chibi-Robo, Inkling Boy and Girl (planning on getting the squid soon too), classic 8-bit Mario, Metal– err Silver Mario, the three small Yarn Yoshis, and Shovel Knight.

It’s easy to see why amiibo are so successful… unlike Skylanders (aside from Spyro), there are beloved characters immortalized in amiibo form, and unlike both Skylanders and Disney Infinity, amiibo can be used for multiple games (pretty sure all of them except for Shovel Knight can be used for at least two games in the special unlocks or character summoning categories.)

Aside from looking amazing, the best part about amiibo is getting a new game and discovering the amiibo you already have work for it. When I got Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, I was surprised to learn that not only do you get Moolah as mentioned in the article, but most amiibo also unlock special “character pose” figures, which has Chibi-Robo posing in a manner similar to the scanned figure. From what I remember, every Smash series (and by extension, Mario series) amiibo aside from the Pokemon and the Splatoon ones grant a character pose figure.

Now that the Smash roster is finalized, I really want to get 3D prints of the veterans that didn’t return in amiibo scale… >_> —History of amiibo

amiibo figures are pretty addictive. I had to set boundaries before it got out of control.

No Name Given

The barrel is half full? I don’t agree with that. When you say half-full, you’re saying, “I’ll settle for less, simply because.” That’s stupid. You should never settle for half-anything. When you get a half-full glass, you actually get a half-empty glass. You could have more than what you’re getting. You settle for a half-empty ‘barrel’ and then you’re settling for a half-full paycheck, or a half-full benefits, or half-effective medicine.

No matter what you do or how you do it, you are always entitled to a full glass. And if you don’t think that, and you settle for less, or a half-full barrel, you deserve it, because you’re a damn fool who’s scared to thrive for more. It’s your video games today, and your supposed rights tomorrow. But to avoid a political debate, I’ll keep it related to the topic at hand: I didn’t get what I wanted and as a consumer, I felt I got gipped and bamboozled with the base game and the supposed content that came after. That ballot was a farce and nothing more than to give us the illusion like our vote mattered. 58 characters and we’re still missing a good chunk of them, simply because they aren’t ‘popular’ or ‘realizable’. Translation: “We don’t want to bring these characters back because we don’t like them, have a stupid ass costume instead while we pander to ourselves and our circle of friends!”

And this is where I no longer follow Smash or anything to do with it. 58 characters and it still doesn’t appeal to me, and probably never will.

In my opinion, of course. —The Barrel is Half Full

This is how a lot of people feel, so I felt like it warranted a feature. It’s important to remember that everyone have different levels of expectations, different wants and care about different things. Personally, I think Smash’s overall roster does a great job pandering to a wide range of people, but at the risk of not making particular groups of people thrilled.

GoldGeno

My go-to obscure Nintendo franchise will always be Custom Robo. Battle Revolution will always be my favourite Gamecube game, and Arena was a solid DS title. It’s such a shame they let Custom Robo fall to the wayside; it’s got so much potential to not only be fun, but make Nintendo a mint nowadays. Nintendo doesn’t have any 3-D Arena fighters in its lineup aside from Custom Robo, so reviving the series would allow Nintendo to fill yet another niche in their lineup.

The gameplay and sheer amount of options in Custom Robo (it’s a game about customizing and battling with miniature gundams, essentially) also open the series up to two other big possibilities; Amiibo and DLC. You could totally sell amiibo of the various robos, and perhaps sell DLC in a similar vein as Smash, selling new parts, robos or stages. There’s so much opportunity here; it’s just a shame Nintendo and NOISE don’t seem to want to bother.

Custom Robo is a series that I really need to play. Especially since I live in Japan and have Japanese Nintendo consoles, I don’t really have an excuse.  SG Choice #13 — Dormant Nintendo Franchises

spd12

When I saw this stage on a stream being played by someone who got a copy of the game early, I basically applauded in my seat. Sakurai and company did an incredible job – this felt like the best possible way to represent the first two Mother games within a single coherent stage in Smash.

It really is too bad that Mother 3 didn’t really have a Magicant, I’d have loved to have had a single stage that tied all three together at once. (Maybe they could’ve had a space full of sunflowers somewhere, but it’s not quite the same…)

In fairness, that may have been because Lucas didn’t make the initial cut. I was also as surprised as anyone that they’d go back to Mother 1 for the basic stage representation, but then again they also pulled the car enemy and the basic attack of the Starmen from there too for Smash Run.

Either way, you did a great job covering all the elements that make this stage up.

As for the Flying Men, in the very beginning their appearance and ability to recruit them were near-instantaneous, but in a later update to the game, they did a short hop to the air first and couldn’t be collected until they came back down… at least, as far as I can remember. They do cast an overwhelming presence on the stage, especially if you are playing a character who doesn’t have fast attacks to wear them down with. Smash Stage Analysis — Magicant

Magicant is easily one of, if not my favorite stage on the 3DS. It’s a well made stage, and it feels perfect.

aguchamp33

True, have to come to terms with the fact that a character like Corrin got in instead of who I wanted, C’est La Vie.

I’d honestly like to just settle down and enjoy what we got, instead of speculating for Smash 5. We aren’t that desperate for our favorites.

I think I’m done voting for characters, most of the ones I want will likely never return or even be a thing, we already got a game that honestly was the most fun I’ve ever had getting hyped for a game since Brawl. —Straw-Grasping with a Side of False Hope

I think it is time to move on, and to accept the final roster. In the end it’s a very impressive roster — one that arguably outdoes all of the other fighting and crossover type games. It has a ton of star-power to it, and covers a lot of bases.

zoniken

This vid and article was quite interesting…Toon Zelda can be well unique if she mainly uses items than natural magic. However, I do think her Final Smash may look perfect if she possess a Phantom and fight as it with greater power and defense, although the jump level will be low due to it’s weight. I would like to see Toon Zelda be in the next Smash.

I have a feeling that Shiek may be removed due her game (Ocarina of Time) is getting too old. I think it’ll be a good idea to switch with Impa for similar abilities, rather than becoming a clone.

And SelenaB, I don’t want to be offensive to you, but certain game’s popularity doesn’t matter when that character are using those moves or items as references, and its never meant to be. Your opinion isn’t reasonable but instead selfish, as proof you didn’t understand the full meaning of the vid. You just made Nantendo upset for no reasons as well. —Dream Smashers: Toon Zelda

I think that Final Smash would be a great idea. However, I disagree with your version of Impa. Impa has had a lot of varying appearances in Zelda (old women, aunt, ninja, etc) and none stick out as the “true Impa” (The OoT one is probably the most popular, with Skyward Sword being a close 2nd). This makes it difficult to 1. select an Impa and 2. be accurate to her history.

Delzethin

Ganondorf has a really weird history in Smash. A lucky addition in Melee, yet his status as a clone (or a semi-clone, since Brawl) still has a lot of fans foaming at the mouth. Would it have been better to have him sit out until Brawl? Hard to say. News Flash! Super Smash Bros.: Ganondorf

WARNING: Opinion time:
Ganondorf was really popular in the If There Was a Smash 2 Poll and yet…he wasn’t chosen. I feel that the reason he did get into Melee was only because of his clone status. Maybe Sakurai had problems imagining a moveset for him, based on OoT alone? Also, Ganondorf (not Pig Ganon) was unproven when Melee was being made — he didn’t come back in Majora’s Mask, and he was dropped in the Oracle games (Would need to match up the development dates to see if they coincided). The future seemed bleak, so he might not have fit the bill to be an all-star to be on chosen for the base roster.  Of course by the time Brawl rolled around, Ganondorf had his Twilight Princess, Four Swords and Wind Waker appearances which would have fleshed out the character more. But his appearance in Melee might have nudged the developers to include him in the other games. So…it’s very difficult to tell if he would’ve been better off waiting for Brawl as the character could have died too.

8 comments
  1. I’m sorry, but the sheer entitlement of that one anonymous post is astounding. Opinions they may be, but they should at least be backed up with more than “because it’s what I want”.

    Igiulaw on January 16 |
  2. Capcom is full of people that loves trolling their fans for trolling’s sake xD (Sakurai did it sometimes… but mostly are Fake-outs… Otherwise the “lies” are misinterpretations).

    We’re okay with most of the selections in the Base Game and the DLC (with only some exceptions like Corrin because they “fit” one of the our personal choices “niches”)… Otherwise I saw the game and I think it has a incredible roster (heck… Who could imagine a character like Cloud in a Nintendo Game?). But I understand the people’s hate (specially for Corrin), and… while Bayonetta always have a strong niche fandom… Their Smash Support usually was outclassed for other characters (Like… you know… a green reptile with armor).

    Finally… I want to make a question about the last post… If Ganondorf doesn’t appear in Melee?… Do you think that the Zelda’s “representation” would be still the same other wise (Link, the younger Link, Zelda and Sheik)? Ganondorf could be forget across the time like other characters that doesn’t appear in the “correct time”?

    • I wonder if Ganondorf didn’t appear in other Zelda games, if we would have a villain rep from Zelda. It’s nice to have the full Triforce represented, but without a character the lends itself to fighting games, it’d be difficult to represent. I think Ridley and Pig Ganon are in the same camp. We just need a humanoid Ridley so we can have him playable in Smash.

      Smash can very much save characters. It’s very much the case with Roy, who has several appearances thanks to Smash.

      Source Gaming Team on January 16 |
  3. Hmmm…well, if that’s the case, then I guess Impa’s inclusion is rather impossible at any rate then. I really liked how Impa was improved as a ninja in both Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword (and Hyrule Warriors since that game was using the Skyward Sword’s design) and was curious how she would be like to be in Smash, but I guess that’ll be a hope dropper for now.

    zoniken on January 16 |
  4. That Ganondorf opinion is pretty plausible. That said, while I don’t like Ganondorf as a clone, and most likely will only enjoy him for his moveset and not how it’s attached to Ganondorf per se, I hope that one of these days we can at least get the pig form, Ganon, into Smash as playable somehow. His pig form is more recurring in the Zelda series anyway, and has quite a bit of room to stretch when it comes to moveset possibilities, using his trident, fire bats, teleportation, and other sorcery.

    It’s getting less and less likely that it will ever happen, however. If Ganondorf keeps using his pig form as his Final Smash then that’s one obstacle, and another is that Sakurai may feel that just having Ganondorf in Smash as is is fine by him, so no other interpretation of Ganon would be considered for future inclusion. That, and we don’t know if Ganon will be used in future Zelda games enough to be considered next time anyway.

    That said, I’ve also accepted the final roster. I think it’s easiest to enjoy Smash by realizing that as much as it attempts to cater to certain fans, it won’t ever be a “perfect” crossover (fans have wildly different definitions of what counts as a “perfect” roster or not, regardless), but it will nonetheless come out as a wonderful and amazing crossover. While I imagine that it is pretty sad for a lot of people that Smash 4 didn’t include a lot of long-time fan wants like Brawl did (if we ignore third-parties, veteran wants, and the DLC, the only long-time fan-wanted Nintendo characters Smash 4 added were Villager, Little Mac, Bowser Jr. and maybe the Duck Hunt Duo–the rest were very recent Nintendo characters), this is still a game that brings together fans of so many different genres, series, art styles, and time periods across Nintendo’s history (and great third-party guests, even if I still miss Snake) that it’s practically bursting at the seams with celebratory content. Platformers, action games, RPGs, tactics, adventure, shooters, simulations – Mario, Kirby, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Zelda, Star Fox, Animal Crossing – cartoony, anime-style, colorful, gritty, reserved, flamboyant – the old, the new, the popular, and the obscure – it’s all still here. It’s debatable and arguable whether every part of this crossover was “treated well” or if others “deserved better” (I have my own misgivings, Ganondorf obviously one of them), but overall Smash 4 does a terrific job bringing together so much and general making it well-done.

    Even with my own problems with the game, both in the roster and beyond it, I still enjoy the game for what it is, and I suggest that other people with problems and concerns with Smash 4 should try to move past it and try to enjoy at least some part of Smash 4 that still appeals to you. I find it hard to believe among complainers that literally nothing about Smash 4 catered to them, when I see a huge, HUGE breadth of content from across Nintendo’s history. If I ignore third-party characters and DLC, I only really enjoyed Greninja and the Duck Hunt Duo as newcomers I personally hoped for and while that’s a small slice of the pie, it’s still a delicious slice for me, personally. Even if I’m not particularly attached to the other newcomers I can still have a blast with their movesets, and look forward to trying out Corrin purely for their moveset even if I feel that their inclusion was “too early” (which is another debatable issue) and that I wished other newcomer Nintendo characters made it alongside Corrin. So I feel that people who are still complaining should try to just enjoy whatever inclusions they did want and eventually got and to just try to see positives in stuff they didn’t want.

    No, this is not completely admonishing Sakurai, or the rest of the Smash 4 team. This post was merely a PSA to let some of the negativity go and just enjoy what good things Smash 4 DID deliver on, for those people that weren’t completely satisfied. There’s just so much to like, those likable parts might as well be enjoyed.

    If you read this whole post, congratulate yourself with a cookie. I wrote perhaps too much, haha.

    EdgeTheLucas on January 16 |
  5. I think PushDustIn’s disagreement with my idea of Impa’s inclusion really snapped me out of it. The reason why I was so into the whole “Impa’s inclusion” was probably because of Hyrule Warriors. Since Impa’s inclusion of becoming a playable character in that game, I did see some people liking her a lot for how she fights in that game, including me. And after the game’s release and during Smash 4’s production, there was this fake rumor that Impa might join Smash 4 alongside with K.Rool, Ridley, Mach Rider, etc. Although it was meant to be a fake rumor from 4chan, choosing Impa in that roster was so odd to me back then, and I was blinded by that idea for a long time. But to speaking of it, I just remembered that Impa didn’t have much any actions on fighting throughout the series like the main Triforce trio did, and it wouldn’t make sense using Hyrule Warrior’s Impa because that game is licensed by Koei-Tecmo and the game is meant to be non-canon from the actual series, and just as PushDustIn said, there is no “true Impa” yet since there’s so many various forms and roles of Impas out there than Link and Zelda. Much more, although I’ve heard of many people wanted Impa to join in the west, I’ve never heard of such same call in Japan as I think she wasn’t even that popular enough to choose for. And if anybody were choose someone from the Zelda series, then it would’ve been Toon Zelda than Impa.

    And if that’s the case, then I think this would be a good timing that I should give up on Impa as there’s no chance for her inclusion due to her lack of actions and no “true form” of hers. Thank you PushDustIn for waking me up from such illusion that I was wandering around for too long. You have saved me once again.

    zoniken on January 17 |
    • I didn’t mean to destroy your hope for the character! I support 9-Volt for Smash! You shouldn’t give up hope, it’s always good to dream!

      PushDustIn on January 17 |
  6. Funny enough, I have a comment on *your* comment on Ganondorf’s inclusion, because it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. The characters in Smash are obviously influenced by the games they come from, but I always wonder if their own series end up being influenced by Smash in turn. For instance, would we have Pokken Tournament today if Pikachu and Lucario didn’t appear first in Smash? I use those two as an example because I can’t remember the current roster for Pokken Tournament, and if it shares any other characters who first appeared in Smash.

    Kid Icarus: Uprising is an obvious example. Sakurai must have seen potential in the franchise, as he not only included a character who hadn’t had a game in a long time (to my knowledge), but gave him a huge update to his design. I can only guess that his positive reception in Brawl led to the development of Uprising, but maybe I had it backwards. Maybe Sakurai had Uprising planned all along, and used Brawl to gauge the consumer’s interest in the character. Who knows? All I know is that Uprising in turn inspired new moves for Pit, as well as the introduction of two new characters for Smash 4, so there’s an interesting dynamic going on between that game and the Smash series.

    There was another example I had for this train of thought, but I can’t seem to remember it right now. I’d love to hear what other people think on the subject though; does Smash have the ability to influence the series that make it? There are times when I think that each series represented in Smash just continues on as if Smash never happened, but there are small things I find here and there in other series that make me think otherwise. Now that I’ve written this much about it off the top of my head, I actually want to go and research it now to see if I can find more evidence.

    Spiral on January 17 |