Two names that franchise director Masahiro Sakurai has apparently heard enough about are Marvel’s Iron Man and Dragon Ball Z protagonist Goku. And apparently Sakurai is ready to set the record straight. In an interview during the 2019 Japan Game Awards, Sakurai crushes the dreams of excited fans. Sakurai, impersonating a typical online Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fan only, says, “When will my favorite, Iron Man, come out? When will my favorite, Goku, come out?” Sakurai says it’s not going to happen.
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The basic issues, according to Sakurai, is that Super Smash Bros. will only have characters originating from other video games. Super Smash Bros. is a love letter to video games, and always has been. Since Iron Man and Goku don’t originate from video games, it sounds like Sakurai isn’t interested in adding them as fighters. While both characters have certainly been in video games before, that doesn’t seem to be what Sakurai wants for his franchise.
Sakurai’s words speak louder through the lens of what Super Smash Bros. Ultimate offers. For the most part, Super Smash Bros. focuses on Nintendo characters, all with rich histories in Nintendo’s past. When Nintendo opened up the Super Smash Bros. roster to third-party characters, they kept that dedication to authenticity. Characters like Snake from the Metal Gear franchise and Cloud from Final Fantasy show the truth. Even Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC characters have rich pasts, including the Persona, Dragon Quest, Banjo Kazooie, now Fatal Fury.
Sakurai’s comments are unlikely to slow Dragon Ball Z or Marvel fans’ requests. If anything, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate shows how important fans’ favorite characters are to them. That Sakurai doesn’t see those characters joining the game’s roster doesn’t lessen those fans’ excitement for their favorites. And while Sakurai isn’t likely to budge on his views for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (there are still so many great video game characters to choose from), there’s always a chance in the next Super Smash Bros. game.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
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