Source Gaming: Sakurai Answers Some (Old) Questions About Brawl

[LiteralGrill]

Delving into the mind of Sakurai through digging into translations is common work for the awesome folks at Source Gaming. A lot went into the creation of Super Smash Brothers Brawl with many tough decisions on the way involving what characters would make the roster, the way controls would work, and features that had to be cut to finish the game. This translation features a two-part article published shortly after Brawl's release in Nintendo Dream. A preview has been included below.

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Question: Why did Wolf become a playable fighter, and not Krystal?

Sakurai: Wolf was a character that barely made it in due to time constraints. He was added because there was high demand for his inclusion on places like “Smash Bros. Dojo!!”, and he’s a popular character. Of course, if he didn’t have that backing him, I don’t think I could have put him in. Among the characters with high popularity, I chose one who had a high possibility of becoming realized in the game, and as a result you could say Wolf was created.

Host: Does that mean even if you wanted to add more female characters, Krystal didn’t have a realistic chance of being physically implemented into the game?

Sakurai: For Krystal, we didn’t have any of the technical modeling knowledge that we had cultivated with Fox and Falco, so it was like making a brand-new character from scratch. And because of the limited amount of time we had, creating Krystal wasn’t realistically possible. On that point, with Wolf we already have some knowledge of how to model his character, and would require about 70% of the effort required to create a whole new character.

Host: I see. But we did get a lot of questions like, “Why wasn’t Krystal a playable character?”

Sakurai: It’s not that I don’t understand how that feels, but if you start saying that, it becomes “Why isn’t Waddle Dee playable?” or Dry Bones, or Baby Peach. There’d be no end to it.

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SmashCapps always loves all of the articles from Source Gaming as they are incredibly high quality and interesting work. To keep up with his own writing adventures follow him on Twitter.

 

[Jaedrik]

"Fire and sky--
So, since Sakurai felt like Melee represented fire / red, and Brawl represented sky / blue, and that he views Smash 4 as bridging the gap...
We can see where the idea of the Smash 4 logo / theme came from."

Thanks for spreading these sorts of things, as always, SmashCapps.

 

[Mo433]

So there ya have it folks, Wolf is 30% clone . lol

 

[WwwWario]

Sakurai made a good point with the "there'd be no end to it". People would keep asking for more as we'd be getting more.

I do indeed have scary memories of a Miiverse post before Sm4sh was released, saying "sakuri plz put spiderman plz". Still haunts me to this day.

 

[JAZZ_]

wait.. Krystal is starfox's equivilent to baby peach or WADDLE DEE?! come on sakurai, I could come up with better reasoning than that in my freakin SLEEP

 

[SchAlternate]

wait.. Krystal is starfox's equivilent to baby peach or WADDLE DEE?! come on sakurai, I could come up with better reasoning than that in my freakin SLEEP

Au contraire, mon amie. I'm not really French so I'll get to my point.

He's saying that if people begin complaining about a popular character (like Krystal) not being in the game, it then escalates to the point people complain about lesser characters (like Waddle Dee), which degrades into downright moronic complaints about unimportant, uninteresting, and sometimes redundant characters (like Baby Peach).

So you know, exactly how this fanbase ends up doing every time.

 

[90007000]

Question: Do you hate AlpharadTV for ruining the Miiverse posts?(#FINDMADDAWG, FALCON PAUNCH/KNEE TO DOWN TAUNT IS TRUE COMBO)
Sakurai: Yes.

 

[ChikoLad]

I feel so bad for Waddle Dee supporters right now.

 

[JAZZ_]

Au contraire, mon amie. I'm not really French so I'll get to my point.

He's saying that if people begin complaining about a popular character (like Krystal) not being in the game, it then escalates to the point people complain about lesser characters (like Waddle Dee), which degrades into downright moronic complaints about unimportant, uninteresting, and sometimes redundant characters (like Baby Peach).

So you know, exactly how this fanbase ends up doing every time.

still it was kinda low to put a character with a substantial importance to said franchise, being thats she's in half of the games for Starfox and is important in her role, with cannon fodder and a party game character. I get its escalation, but I dont believe its fair to say a character like Krystal can push it over the edge when its already like that. people throw out stupid requests all the time. Theres nothing to escalate anymore. You cant hide behind that excuse Sakurai, and dont lump her in with freakin waddle dee and dry bones my god

 

[Ravine]

I feel so bad for Waddle Dee supporters right now.

There's waddle dee supporters?
Also who is krystal never heard of her other than that time where I saw this starfox parody where fox is peeping up her skirt lolz

 

[JAZZ_]

There's waddle dee supporters?
Also who is krystal never heard of her other than that time where I saw this starfox parody where fox is peeping up her skirt lolz

She's Fox's love interest introduced in StarFox Adventures, and has appeared in all the other star fox games since. (excluding the starfox 64 retcon) shes pivotal in all the games she's in, and playable in all as well. shes extremely important to starfox command and alot of the story branches off with her decisions. She also is psychic, and uses a staff as well as every other weapon in the starfox arsenal being that she replaces peppy on the team after adventures.

 

[ChikoLad]

There's waddle dee supporters?
Also who is krystal never heard of her other than that time where I saw this starfox parody where fox is peeping up her skirt lolz

Yes, there is a noteworthy following for him. Well, specifically "Bandana Dee" as fans call him, but he's just called Waddle Dee in the most recent games.

 

[WinterShorts]

There's waddle dee supporters?

Yup. An entire thread right here http://smashboards.com/threads/band...-on-smashbros-com-dee-l-c-can-be-real.324430/ with the first post getting nearly 110 likes and a total of 556 thread pages as of this post.

 

[Metallinatus]

So, can we get back to talk about how Wolf DLC is not a thing in Smash 4 yet?

 

[extremechiton]

Still hope we get krystal as dlc or in smash 5

 

[Deleted member]

Yes, there is a noteworthy following for him. Well, specifically "Bandana Dee" as fans call him, but he's just called Waddle Dee in the most recent games.

I could care less for the relation to the article though, since its clear Sakurai is referring to the enemy Waddle Dee and not Bandana Dee judging by "This translation features a two-part article published shortly after Brawl's release", as Bandana Dee became popular after Return to Dreamland, Triple Deluxe, and Rainbow Curse which all released well after Brawl. And if he is referring to Bandana Dee, its just his brief Megaton Punch appearance from Kirby Super Star when he had no importance and little popularity.

 

[ChikoLad]

I could care less for the relation to the article though, since its clear Sakurai is referring to the enemy Waddle Dee and not Bandana Dee judging by "This translation features a two-part article published shortly after Brawl's release", as Bandana Dee became popular after Return to Dreamland, Triple Deluxe, and Rainbow Curse which all released well after Brawl. And if he is referring to Bandana Dee, its just his brief Megaton Punch appearance from Kirby Super Star when he had no importance and little popularity.

I just go by how he's called in-game, meng:

 

[Deleted member]

I just go by how he's called in-game, meng:

FYI Triple Deluxe was released after Return to Dreamland, and I do go by what he is called in game, have a look:

 

[ChikoLad]

FYI Triple Deluxe was released after Return to Dreamland, and I do go by what he is called in game, have a look:

That might be a regional difference then, I don't recall him having Bandana in his name in my copy.

Regardless, he would most likely be called "Waddle Dee" if he ever got into Smash since it's the more recognisable name.

 

[3D Dillon]

Shouldn't you use a first name too?

 

[Downdraft]

The Wii Remote isn't a good excuse for slowing the game down and removing advanced Melee techniques. Brawl supported the GameCube controller, and GameCube controllers were easily obtainable. People that already owned GameCubes would have the controllers. I might understand that reasoning if Wii Remotes were the only control option, e.g. in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but that wasn't the case. Ease should have been left up to the player. If one is only playing the game for fun, then whatever control option they use is fine. If they're playing to compete and choose a limited controller, then that's their decision that can't be used as an excuse.

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

The Wii Remote isn't a good excuse for slowing the game down and removing advanced Melee techniques. Brawl supported the GameCube controller, and GameCube controllers were easily obtainable. People that already owned GameCubes would have the controllers. I might understand that reasoning if Wii Remotes were the only control option, e.g. in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but that wasn't the case. Ease should have been left up to the player. If one is only playing the game for fun, then whatever control option they use is fine. If they're playing to compete and choose a limited controller, then that's their decision that can't be used as an excuse.

Dude Brawl was the beginning of the end of good smash games. Look at smash 4 it's somehow even worse. No point trying to understand Sakurai's mindset because somewhere a long the lines he saw top level melee players and started hating us for whatever reason.

We'll be lucky if jumping exists in smash 5.

 

[Metallinatus]

Dude Brawl was the beginning of the end of good smash games. Look at smash 4 it's somehow even worse. No point trying to understand Sakurai's mindset because somewhere a long the lines he saw top level melee players and started hating us for whatever reason.

We'll be lucky if jumping exists in smash 5.

You're wrong there, Melee was the beginning of the end of good Smash games, as it failed to be as good as 64.

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

You're wrong there, Melee was the beginning of the end of good Smash games, as it failed to be as good as 64.

That I can agree with. But it's still a great game. As good as 64? No, but close. It's like smash 64 advanced, all the good stuff, a little less hitstun, and tons of added techniques.

Like it or not, Melee was the only smash sequel to have more techniques added than removed in the design process.

 

[Objekshin]

I think its time for some Krystal DLC.

 

[smashboy12]

Cool Story Sakurai.
Now go make Wolf playable.

 

[Aguki90]

I like how he react to these questions.

I like how he talked about crystal in a moment there too. He was taking the characters very seriusly and very well.

Even Brawl was unbalanced as hell. Much of the characters choice are incredibily unique soo amazing, every single one of them belong to Smash.

Smash 4 at least introduce more new franchise and some others characters feel like extra, Unique but not good as Brawl choices.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

The Wii Remote isn't a good excuse for slowing the game down and removing advanced Melee techniques. Brawl supported the GameCube controller, and GameCube controllers were easily obtainable. People that already owned GameCubes would have the controllers. I might understand that reasoning if Wii Remotes were the only control option, e.g. in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but that wasn't the case. Ease should have been left up to the player. If one is only playing the game for fun, then whatever control option they use is fine. If they're playing to compete and choose a limited controller, then that's their decision that can't be used as an excuse.

To be fair, playing Melee/PM on a wiimote sounds terrible. And if you were a director and told you had to support the controller, what would you do?

Sounds like if people tried to use it to play seriously they would hate it.

~

The stuff on Krystal and the others I get though, easier to make a semi clone with some semblance over a completely new one if Wolf was late in development.

Hope he gets the DLC treatment since I voted for him in the Ballot.

 

[PushDustIn]

"Fire and sky--
So, since Sakurai felt like Melee represented fire / red, and Brawl represented sky / blue, and that he views Smash 4 as bridging the gap...
We can see where the idea of the Smash 4 logo / theme came from."

Thanks for spreading these sorts of things, as always, SmashCapps.

Subscribe to Source Gaming, or like us on Facebook to get the information slightly faster! We also do daily posts.

I wrote a 27 page article explaining why Wario has his moveset for example!

We actually found a bunch of older interviews that weren't translated. This is the first one Soma translated as it had a lot of new information. If you know Japanese and would like to help, please contact me.

Glad you guys are enjoying Source Gaming's content!

 

[SpandexBullets]

I get it and I...don't get it?
I mean, I get that Wolf is a more interesting character given Sakurai's stance on having semi-clones being rival characters(Fox/Falco, Link/Young Link, Pit/Pittoo, Mario/Luigi, Marth/Roy (Sakurai stated that their contrasting colour scheme was the biggest factor)...but Krystal could still have just used Fox/Falco's base model without any qualms.
Hell, throw in the headset, jacket and boots - no probs!

...anything but the boob armour. Pls no boob armour ever again ty nintendo

 

[Metallinatus]

I get it and I...don't get it?
I mean, I get that Wolf is a more interesting character given Sakurai's stance on having semi-clones being rival characters(Fox/Falco, Link/Young Link, Pit/Pittoo, Mario/Luigi, Marth/Roy (Sakurai stated that their contrasting colour scheme was the biggest factor)...but Krystal could still have just used Fox/Falco's base model without any qualms.
Hell, throw in the headset, jacket and boots - no probs!

...anything but the boob armour. Pls no boob armour ever again ty nintendo

What they wear is not even important, but the shape of the model is what matters.... you know female models are shaped differently from male models, right?

 

[Mega Bidoof]

@ Chandeelure GIT GUD

 

[SpandexBullets]

What they wear is not even important, but the shape of the model is what matters.... you know female models are shaped differently from male models, right?

Course! (i'm an animator - that would be like the first thing to notice!)

But since space animals all have thin arms, legs and large heads, I think the torso would be all that needed proportioning/modelling.
I also REALLY like the Starfox jackets and boots/shinguards on Brawl Fox and Falco. Easily my favourite redesign, and that would look pretty cool on Krystal.

 

[Murlough]

Dude Brawl was the beginning of the end of good smash games. Look at smash 4 it's somehow even worse. No point trying to understand Sakurai's mindset because somewhere a long the lines he saw top level melee players and started hating us for whatever reason.

We'll be lucky if jumping exists in smash 5.

Please do explain how Smash 4 is worse than Brawl. I'm curious.

 

[Chandeelure]

@ Chandeelure GIT GUD

I read this article like 3 days ago, N00B.
And it obviously means nothing, it's an article about Brawl and Sakurai is referring to the enemy Waddle Dee, not the main character who became popular and important after Brawl.

 

[AuraShaman]

It’s not that I don’t understand how that feels, but if you start saying that, it becomes “Why isn’t Waddle Dee playable?” or Dry Bones, or Baby Peach. There’d be no end to it.

I think you're underestimating your own creations, Samurai of the Potatoes...

 

[Kink-Link5]

Imagine the madness! We'd have characters like girlmarth, space peach, or nameless fire emblem avatar!

 

[StabbityJoe]

Sakurai really doesn't like Krystal.

 

[PCHU]

I feel like Sakurai's argument against Krystal was along the lines of a slippery slope, but I guess it holds some legitimacy.
Still, it'd be cool to see her here; she's been my only requested character since Brawl, and I'd main her even if she was bottom tier.

 

[Kider]

I wonder if Krystal will get added at some point in the series.