Earlier this week we told you about the massive feature that Edge Magazine has on Shigeru Miyamoto, including several different interviews with other Nintendo developers. One of the Nintendo developers interviewed was none other than Masahiro Sakurai, the man behind the Super Smash Bros. franchise. The interview discusses the differences between the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game and those in the past, including Melee and Brawl.
Perhaps the most notable quote from the portion of the interview that has been made available online is Sakurai discussing how the battles flow between the new game and previous games in Melee and Brawl. This is something fans have been fighting over in forums, as many hope that the renewed focus on tournament play means the new Super Smash Bros. will be geared more towards those who take Smash seriously than those who just play for fun.
The most important thing is that the game have breadth and depth, since we would like them to be popular with both novices and hardcore gamers. We think that people who aren’t so good at turning the tables and coming back from behind can still get enjoyment out of the [new] game, even if they turn off items and Smash Balls.
Although the pace of the game had to be lowered compared to Melee in order to achieve this balance, we have managed to keep the dynamism because we didn’t have to gear towards novice players like we did with Brawl. In fact, we recreated all characters almost from scratch. Also, I feel on a personal level that this game is more interesting than the three previous games in the series.
It’s interesting to see Sakurai discussing the novice aspect of the game, as many people felt that Brawl was too easy for those who grew up playing the original Smash Bros. Either way, this issue of Edge is certainly something any die-hard Nintendo fan will want to check out.
