Fighting games are a very tough genre to both make and appeal to gamers. For on one hand, you need to make sure the game is fun and balanced, which is a great task. But then, you also need to make sure the game can be played by those who pick it up, regardless of skill level. While Training Modes and such help, it’s not always the best if the control schemes are complicated. For Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, he’s aiming to make sure that both casual and hardcore fans can play this game regardless of skill level.
In an interview with The Guardian, he noted that appealing to both fanbases was crucial for him:
“If we were to lean towards one kind of player or the other…game development would be easier, but forgoing the pros, or forgoing the beginners, wouldn’t result in Smash as it is now, and that’s something I hold dear and important,” Sakurai said.
He elaborated on this with a story from his youth:
“In the arcades, when I was younger, there was a game called King of Fighters 95, and I thought I was pretty good. I had a 50-strong win streak on Street Fighter 2 around that time. So I was playing King of Fighters once – and the way arcades are set up in Japan, you can’t really see the person you’re playing against, because you’re on opposite sides of the cabinet. I was feeling pleased with myself because I was winning, and it turned out to be a total beginner with their partner, just trying to have fun, and I thought, ‘Oh no, I shouldn’t have beaten them so badly. Now they’re going to feel like they never want to play it again!’ It’s important to think about the beginner crowd,” he continued.
The recent Super Smash Bros Ultimate Nintendo Direct proved how dedicated Sakurai was to this, as it showed many new options and customizable choices that will help the casual and hardcore fans pick the style of game that they want.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate arrives on December 7th.
