July 20, 2015|

Filed under: Industry People, Masahiro Sakurai, Satoru Iwata, Super Bros. Smash For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. (N64), Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Series

Did you Know…Misinformation?

QUICK LINKS:
Super Smash Bros – Did you Know Gaming?
Super Smash Bros part 2 – Did you Know Gaming?

Introduction:

Hey guys, PushDustIn here. If you guys have been following Source Gaming, you know that I’m big on correcting misinformation and providing sources whenever possible. This is another installment of one of those posts. This post follows in the proud tradition of “The Definitive Unused Characters List“, and “Sakurai Didn’t Said That!” These kinds of posts will continue to serve as reliable sources for fans everywhere.

If you want, please add us on Facebook, or donate to our Patreon. I run this site completely out of pocket, with no ads. All of this research takes considerable amount of time. If you are unable to donate, then please at least share this article.
UPDATED: 3/12/2016 with corrections and new sources that we found.

The more people that read these posts, the more informed we all will be. I know these posts are long, but they are important. So please read it! I’ve transcribed more of the videos. The text that is not centered is written by me. Text highlighted in red is straight up misinformation. Text highlighted in orange is lacking information or key details.

Super Smash Bros – Did you Know Gaming?

“Did you know…Super Smash Bros was originally going to be a game called Dragon King: The Fighting Game for the Super Nintendo and would’ve used the super-FX chip to render basic 3D graphics. It didn’t feature any established Nintendo characters, and was planned to be the first game in an entirely new franchise. The game was later moved to the Nintendo 64 mainly to utilize the console’s analog stick and 4 man multiplayer as well as utilizing the console’s graphical capabilities. “

The project plan for Super Smash Brothers was originally intended for the Nintendo 64. Iwata and Sakurai discussed their prototype in this Iwata Asks for Brawl. Furthermore, the original title of project plan can be loosely translated as, “4 players fighting at the same time, removal of potential damage (HP), battle royale fighter”. 4 players are impossible on the SNES without an adapter, and therefore being planned for the SNES is straight up misinformation. Furthermore, the cover of the plan has been featured in Sakurai’s collection, Thought About Video Games and is clearly labelled for the Nintendo 64, with a completion date of October, 1996.

“While the game was in development for the Nintendo 64, it was codenamed Ryuoh. This came from the Ryuoh-cho neighborhood where one of HAL’s R&D centers were. Some photos were taken of the area, and used as temporary backgrounds in the game.”

Technically correct, but Ryuo is the name of the place where Smash Brothers was being developed. Ryuo is a place name, which literally means Dragon King. Therefore, it’s in my humble opinion that Nintendo should have never translated it as “Dragon King the Fighting Game”. Especially since the game’s prototype had nothing to do with a dragon king. Sakurai also took those pictures in the prototype. But that’s an argument for a different day.

“Nintendo characters replaced the existing fighters because one of the game’s developers, Masahiro Sakurai, thought the game wouldn’t have a good atmosphere on a home console without the inclusion of Nintendo characters. However, Sakurai didn’t think this idea would be approved, so he made a prototype to convince Nintendo where Mario, DK, Samus and Fox would duke it out. “

Masahiro Sakurai is the creator of Super Smash Bros., and not just “one of the game’s developers. Iwata was instrumental in getting the idea of the characters approved. Miyamoto initially rejected the idea when Iwata approached Miyamoto, which was kept as a secret from Sakurai.

“The prototype was a success and Nintendo approved of the idea.The development of Super Smash Bros. was set in motion with a small budget. The game had hardly any promotion when it launched in Japan, and was even planned as a Japan-only release. The game was a huge success prompting Nintendo to release it worldwide.”

The original Super Smash Bros. plan was finished in October 1996. The idea was presented to Nintendo on May 1997, and was originally slated for a 1998 Christmas release. I also haven’t been able to find proof that it was only planned as a Japan-only release. As early as the first reader response on the Smash 64 website, Sakurai stated he was working on the international version.

“In the Super Smash Bros series, several characters have either been cut during development or considered as fighters but were never added to the game. Starting with Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, Bowser, King Dedede and Mewtwo were all playable during development, but were cut before the game’s release. This information comes from a list on Nintendo of Japan’s website Sakurai left a few comments on the game’s development. The list was a collection of video game characters, that the development team wanted to see enter the Super Smash Brothers series. “

First off, for a list of unused content in the Smash Brothers series, check out my Definitive Unused Fighters List. Everything is 100% sourced and as far as I’m aware…accurate. The site that Sakurai “left a few comments” is the original Smash Brothers dojo. He left a lot more than a few comments. He responded to 169 pages of reader mail. This site and most of its’ contents are still untranslated. We here at Source Gaming are in the process of translating Famitsu Columns, and these old Dojo sites for the good of the Smash Brothers community.

Lastly, the list was NOT from the development team. It’s from Japanese fans who voted. The list was completed and published roughly one month before Melee’s project plan was finalized. It’s unknown exactly how much work was done on Mewtwo. Bowser had probably the most work done on him, as he was mentioned by Miyamoto himself in 1998.

“Bowser, Peach, Wario, Dedede, Ganon, Mewtwo, Mew, Toad and even Banjo and Kazooie and Rare’s depiction of James Bond, were highly on the list. Giving us insight on who could have been considered during the game’s development and who may have been considered for development in Super Smash Brothers Melee. For Super Smash Brothers Melee, the developers wanted a fighter to represent Nintendo’s 8-bit era. The Ice Climbers were eventually chosen as 8-bit ambassadors but several other characters were also seen as potential fighters.”

The list was used for Smash Brothers Melee ONLY.

“The Excitebike Racer from Excitebike, the Balloon Fighter from Balloon Fight, Urban Champion from Urban Champion and Bubbles from Clu Clu Land were all considered as playable characters. Sakurai thought that the Ice Climbers would fit best, and the only reason that the Excitebike Racer wasn’t chosen was because Sakurai didn’t know how he could make him believably jump around. “

Technically correct, but it’s missing A LOT of details. Sakurai went in depth on why all of the other candidates weren’t selected. With the Excitebike Racer, he said that he would have to make ramps for him. For Balloon Fighter, he couldn’t separate the balloons from him, Urban Champion had only a few moves. For Bubbles, Sakurai stated on the Melee website, “I wasn’t sure how to make him fight [along with other reasons].” Please note that [along with other reasons] is part of the translation.

“The creator of Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima, had requested that Solid Snake be in the game, but due to time constraints he couldn’t be added to the game’s roster. A similar event occurred with Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic’s creator, Yuji Naka stated “Sonic was planned to be in Melee but the plan fell short due to time constraints.” It’s also been said that King Dedede wasn’t added to Melee because Sakurai said as the creator of Kirby, he didn’t want to over represent his own series. There’s also evidence suggesting that Giga Bowser was playable at one point in development. Though, this could have been just for testing purposes.”

Giga Bowser was only playable for testing purposes (Same with Master Hand, which gives us an amazing glitch). King Dedede is the center of a LOT of misinformation in Melee, due to a Neogaf poster making up information.

“There are some incomplete files on the Super Smash Bros. Brawl disc, revealing that several characters were cut during development. These characters include Dixie Kong, Doctor Mario, Mewtwo, Roy, Toon Zelda and Toon Sheik. Dixie, Doctor, and Mewtwo seem self-explanatory, and it’s presumed that Toon Zelda and Toon Sheik would have been forms of Tetra from the Wind Waker. Roy is thought to be Roy from Fire Emblem, but since the character listing is so vague some have speculated that this could’ve been a separate character with the name Roy. Such as, Roy the Koopaling or Metal Gear’s Roy Campbell. “

No. No No. It’s Roy from Fire Emblem. It’s not Roy the Koopaling or Metal Gear Solid’s Roy Campbell. It’s Roy. From Fire Emblem. The guy in Melee. The unused victory theme proves this.

“That said, an unused victory theme for Roy can be found in the game’s data along with a victory theme for Mewtwo. There’s a listing for a character named PRA_MAI and there are two theories surrounding this name. The most common and accepted theory is that this is an abbreviation for an Ice Climbers style collaboration of Plusle and Minun as their Japanese names are Purasuru and Mainan. The second theory is that this someone links to the Random Character selection as PRA_MAI can loosely translate to the Japanese abbreviation for “every player”.

Whoever suggested that random could be translated as PRA_MAI is greatly misinformed about Japanese. Random is always translated as “Omakase” (お任せ) which literally means, I”ll leave it to you. PRA_MAI is most likely Plulse and Minun.

“There is also an unused jumping animation for the Pokemon trainer. Though some have speculated that he may have been playable on his own, he was more likely to jump around and follow the screen in large fights such as the Subspace Emissary. There is also unused textures in the game’s data which shows that the characters were originally going to show battle damage during fights. Captain Falcon’s helmet and Meta Knight’s mask would crack and Link’s sword and shield would show scratches and possibly even break.“

“Some of the trophies in the Super Smash Brothers series contain some largely overlooked secrets. If you look carefully at the Meta Mario trophy in Super Smash Brothers Melee, you might be able to see that the image reflected off of him is the game’s Yoshi Island stage. The Metroid trophy in Melee also has an image reflecting off its’ body. The reflection is of the space station from the beginning of Super Metroid. The Metroid in Super Smash Brothers Brawl also has a hidden detail. The trophy’s texture contains a small white mark that resembles Mr. Saturn. However, it can’t be seen in game as it’s not mapped to any visible part of the trophy’s model.

If you go back of the Princess Daisy trophy and move the camera, so it glitches through her hair you’ll be able to see a third eye on the back of her head. This eye was removed in later versions of the game. If you inspect the bottom of Melee’s Barrel Cannon trophy you can notice the characters 2L84Me. Players believe this to be a mildly encrypted message meaning, “Too Late for Me”. But that’s all for today. “

All of this information can be found on The Cutting Room Floor. Check them out!

Super Smash Bros Part 2- Did you Know Gaming?

“Did you know…that since Super Smash Bros. was one of the first games planned for the Nintendo Gamecube, it was specifically designed to highlight features that weren’t possible on the Nintendo 64. This is why the game’s opening sequence is a high quality motion video. The N64 wasn’t capable of producing such a long, high quality pre-rendered video. The developers at HAL even worked with three order production companies in Tokyo in order to make Melee’s opening sequence as outstanding as possible. Melee was in development for 13 months, and the game’s director Masahiro Sakurai had no holidays and cut his weekends short to work on the game.”

Masahiro Sakurai started work on Melee in June 1999 shortly after E3. The plan was finished July 5th, 1999. Initially, only a small team was working on Melee, but by 2001 the project had over 100 people.

“He even went as far to say that his lifestyle while developing Melee was destructive. The original Super Smash Brothers was more of an experiment with not much at risk. With Melee, Sakurai felt pressured to deliver a greatly improved game. Sakurai and his team’s efforts paid off. Even after the release of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Sakurai still proudly proclaims that Melee is the sharpest game in the series.”

For a full explanation of what Sakurai meant and said, please check out Soma’s version of the translation.

“With Melee the developers initially wanted to replace the character Ness, with the Mother 3 protagonist, Lucas. They chose to stick with Ness in consideration of delays, but both were later included in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Marth and Roy were originally intended to be Japan-only characters in Melee, but fans showed desire to play as the Fire Emblem duo, so Nintendo decided to keep them in the game for all regions.”

It’s unknown if it’s “fans” per se. This information comes from Ness’ and Marth’s Japanese introduction pages. We will provide full translations of these pages in the near future.

“Sakurai left HAL in 2003, but despite this Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata told Sakurai that he wanted him back as the director if they ever made a third installment for the series. The announcement of the new Super Smash Bros. game in 2005 came as a surprise to Sakurai as he hadn’t been in contact with Nintendo before the announcement. Leading him to not know if Nintendo wanted him involved with the game. Iwata requested a private meeting with Sakurai after the announcement where Sakurai was asked to be the game’s director.”

More details can be found on, “I’m Quitting Hal Laboratory” “I’m Making Smash”.

“Sakurai agreed and development of Super Smash Brothers Brawl began in October 2005. In an interview with IGN, Sakurai stated that the Wii’s motion sensor probably wouldn’t be featured in Brawl. This is because his team had trouble making the motion controls work. This is presumably because the technology was imprecise, and because Super Smash Brothers requires precise controls. Instead, the focus was on the Wii’s online capabilities. Brawl was originally intended as a launch title for the Wii, and was going to emphasize the difference between the Gamecube and the Wii with online. “

This is what Sakurai actually said:

“”We found that trying to implement too much motion-sensory functionality can get in the way of the game. We’re looking at keeping the control simple, as it has been,” said Sakurai. “The Wii hardware has sockets for the GameCube controller, too. So I’ll just say now that you may not want to throw away your GCN controller yet.””

Brawl owes its’ existence to fans in both the US and Japan demanding an online version of the Super Smash Brothers games.

“Similarly, to how Melee showcased graphics that couldn’t be shown on the N64. Another new addition to Brawl was the Final Smashes. According to Iwata, Sakurai originally intended Final Smashes to appear in the original Super Smash Brothers on the N64. They were removed due to hardware limitations, but audio evidence can be found on the Super Smash Brothers rom. Ness can be heard saying “PK” and “STARSTORM”. PK STARSTORM is the Final Smash for both Ness and Lucas in Super Smash Brothers Brawl.”

This information can be found here, on the Cutting Room Floor.

(NOTE: From here, I’m only including information that needs to be clarified, as there are only minor issues.)

“Super Smash Brothers Melee Motion Sensor Bomb has left some fans confused…..Another theory for the change is that because Perfect Dark is an M rated game, its’ inclusion could have affected the game’s ERSB rating. What’s confusing however, is that Perfect Dark’s name still appears in the credits anyway….”

This theory has no grounds for it. A different games rating has zero impact on the way another game is rated. The game is rated on the contents of its’ game. If you are confused on how games are rated, I’d suggest reading the ERSB’s rating process. In addition, Metal Gear Solid is an M rated game while Super Smash Bros. Brawl received a “T” rating which further discredits this “theory”.

EDIT: Sakurai confirmed this in an interview with Nintendo Dream (which DYKG did not source).

“In Super Smash Brothers Brawl, in the ice stage of the Pokemon 2 arena, if you peek inside of the shack you will be able to see a poster of a white kitten. This is thought to be the cat of game’s director Masahiro Sakurai. That’s all for today. “