Sakurai reveals new Smash Bros Brawl details
by Ross Miller 
{ Jun 5th 2006 at 3:25PM }
While many of us have been grabbing at whatever information comes in on the official, English language Smash Bros. site, the Japanese version has been flooded with updates by director Masahiro Sakurai, as he responds to several e-mails from rabid fans. Smash World Forums poster SamuraiPanda has translated Sakurai's postings, and here is what has been revealed:- The lineup: Not all characters from the previous games will return. Any non-Nintendo character must have appeared on a Nintendo platform before; the tentative number of non-Nintendo characters is 1 or 2 (Snake not included). Our guess is that other character will come from one of Nintendo's closest third-party developers: Namco, Capcom, or Sega. Sakurai, noting that Smash Bros is popular worldwide, does not want the title to feature characters that are only popular in Japan (though given the success of Fire Emblem, that may change).
- The gameplay: The speed of the game will be "moderated" (the translator guesses this means a slower pace). Every character's moves are being refined so that a player has "more freedom" in aerial combat. "This time, we'd like to stress easiness over the small details of combat, so overall it might become somewhat easier."
- Online: There are no plans for an online ranking system (although win-loss records might still be recorded). It does not seem that Sakurai is placing high priority on an online system.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
KrAzYmAn @ Jun 5th 2006 3:35PM
It would be awesome if they had someone from the Resident Evil Series such as Leon.
Sabre @ Jun 5th 2006 3:35PM
--> "Online: There are no plans for an online ranking system (although win-loss records might still be recorded). It does not seem that Sakurai is placing high priority on an online system."
Considering that Nintendo used the similar "step-by-step" strategy with the DS, this isn't too surprising to see it being done on the Wii. Kinda sucks that there "might" not be an online ranking system...that could still change once all the Wii online designed are ironed out.
Crosswayboy @ Jun 5th 2006 3:39PM
Ooh... up to 2 characters...
Sonic and Mega Man please!
Somehow I doubt Namco will toss in Heihachi or Yoshimitsu, and Capcom probably won't throw in Ryu or anyone else. I like the idea of fighting with iconic characters to the death, just not characters from OTHER fighting games. I don't want this to become Super Smash Bros. vs Capcom vs. Marvel Final Bout EX 3 plus Alpha Miracle Battle Calibur Arena....
Ko?n Untouchables @ Jun 5th 2006 3:40PM
I'm more excited about playing SONIC, and Street Fighter on XBOX LIVE ARCADE than SMASH BROS.
Paul P. @ Jun 5th 2006 3:42PM
Yeah, if we only get 2 it sure as hell better be Sonic and Rockman. I don't really like Sonic but I want him in there anyway.
If not him I'll settle for Simon Belmont and Rockman. But Mega Man had damn well better be in there. And not Mega Man X, not Mega Man.exe, not Mega Man Volnutt.
The one, the only, MEGA MAN.
skeez @ Jun 5th 2006 3:43PM
Doesn't anybody remember Snake from Metal Gear on the 8-bit Nintendo?
Anyone?
r-deezy @ Jun 5th 2006 3:46PM
"I'm more excited about playing SONIC, and Street Fighter on XBOX LIVE ARCADE than SMASH BROS."
You either suck really bad and lose or the time or you have never played a SSB game.
Doople @ Jun 5th 2006 3:46PM
"Not all characters from the previous games will return."
Boooo. Like whom? I can understand Pichu, but I swear to All Mighty God if you take away my Ice Climbers, there will be a royal rumble all over Masahiro Sakurai's face.
Monkeydog @ Jun 5th 2006 3:47PM
Ah this kind of sucks. It'll obviously be Megaman and Sonic who will be the other two non-tendo characters. I was kind of hoping for Magus or Crono. ._.
aj @ Jun 5th 2006 3:48PM
I tried to translate, look at this line:
"Now becoming, it is the old tale, but everyday like the monkey, while with the older sister bursting into laughter, we opposed."
Ko?n Untouchables @ Jun 5th 2006 3:51PM
Smah Bros, won't be a good game it's gonna be the samething. I would rather play Street Fighter, or SONIC on Xbox Live arcade. and I don't think you will be able to download arcade games on the wii.
chris @ Jun 5th 2006 3:51PM
I dont expect Sakurai to put in two high profile characters that arent faces of nintendo (ie. Sonic and Mega Man)...i would think Nintendo wants SSB to maintain its identity as a nintendo fighter (with Mario, Pikachu, Link, Kirby etc leading the pack - acting as the stars)...
Leon would be a great choice, as he'd help balance with Snake who seems to really stand out at this point - but then you gotta deal with the whole NO guns thing that theyd likely apply to Leon as well...something they probly stressed enuff over with snake (though Simon Belmont would be a GREAT substitute)
I say...give me sonic (mega man can rule the capcom fighters - and sonic hasn't had the best fighting experiences up to this point)
and lastly......bomberman :D
that guy @ Jun 5th 2006 3:53PM
My first thought was Leon Kennedy from the Resident Evil series as well (with his large arsenal of weapons and cool kick and piledrive moves added in RE4), but I didn't even think about Mega Man!! That would be killer!
Though in terms of Nintendo characters, I would still love to see Olimar from Pikmin appear. So many possibilities with his moves (imagine throwing Pikmin at your enemy's? Very cool...) but I fear he isn't well-known enough to be in there. Another one that could probably be in the next SSB game is Chibi Robo. Not this one though.
ry @ Jun 5th 2006 3:58PM
No characters only popular in Japan? Not all are returning?
Goodbye, Ness.
aj @ Jun 5th 2006 4:04PM
I cant imagine leon, he already said no guns. He'll end up being the same as snake.
Kazi @ Jun 5th 2006 4:07PM
It's almost certian that one of them is going to be Sonic.
Other possibile canidates I see:
Viewtiful Joe (Capcom)
Kalas from Baten Kaitos (Namco)
Phoenix Wright (Capcom)
A Monkey from Super Monkey Ball (Sega)
RD @ Jun 5th 2006 4:07PM
"Doesn't anybody remember Snake from Metal Gear on the 8-bit Nintendo?"
Of course! If it's available on the Virtual Console, it'll be one of the first titles that I download.
"The truck have started to move!"
"I feel asleep!"
Joe @ Jun 5th 2006 4:10PM
KoRn untouchables, have you been living under a rock? You CAN download NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16 games. I'm sure SONIC will be in there, although Smash Bros. is just fing awesome.
Possibly missing: Mr. Game+Watch, some clones (Falco, etc)
cringer8 @ Jun 5th 2006 4:11PM
I think we're going to see a Fire Emblem character.
And what's this about no guns? Starfox gets to use a gun; Snake better be able to as well.
I want Nightmare from Soul Caliber 2.
32_Footsteps @ Jun 5th 2006 4:16PM
"Smah Bros, won't be a good game it's gonna be the samething. I would rather play Street Fighter, or SONIC on Xbox Live arcade."
Because I'm sure that they'll be somehow much different than the dozens of prior versions each one has gone through, as opposed to how SSBB will just be the exact same as the prior two.
In all seriousness, there is some chaff that ought to be cleared out from SSB Melee... and that's not counting how Roy and Marth are ultra-cheesy (and I can't imagine both of them staying anyhow). I could also see them dumping one half of the duplicate characters... Mario/Luigi/Dr. Mario, Link/Young Link, Fox/Falco, Falcon/Ganondorf, Pikachu/Pichu, Roy/Marth... there were a few too many redundant characters in Melee, and I hope some of them either get dumped or overhauled.
With that said, I will be more than a little peeved if Ness, Nana & Popo, or Game & Watch are removed.
Duster @ Jun 5th 2006 4:17PM
"14. No characters only popular in Japan? Not all are returning?
Goodbye, Ness."
Are you high? If anything there will be more Characters from the Mother/Earthbound Series.
Ness is Popular in America too!
A list of Sakurai's considered characters are:
Koopa Troopa (Super Mario Bros. - 1985)
Hammer Bros. (Super Mario Bros. - 1985)
Toad (Super Mario Bros. 2 - 1988)
Petey Piranha (Super Mario Sunshine - 2002)
Geno (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 1996)
"Cel-Shaded" Link (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 2002)
Tetra (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 2002)
Link's Uncle (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 1991)
Ganon/Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda/The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 1986/1998)
Bow Wow the Chain Chomp (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX - 1998)
Ridley (Metroid - 1986)
Peppy Hare (Star Fox - 1993)
Slippy Toad (Star Fox - 1993)
Krystal (Star Fox Adventures - 2002)
Wolf O'Donnell (Star Fox 64 - 1997)
Diddy Kong (solo) (Donkey Kong Country - 1994)
Diddy Kong & Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong Country/Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest - 1994/1995)
King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country - 1994)
Ninten (Mother - 1989)
Jeff (Mother 2 [EarthBound in the U.S.] - 1994 [1995])
Claus (Mother 3 - 2006)
Lucas (Mother 3 - 2006)
King Dedede (Kirby's Dreamland - 1992)
Lololo & Lalala (Kirby's Dreamland - 1992)
Marx (Kirby Super Star - 1996)
Oguma (Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi - 1990)
Nabarl (Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi - 1990)
Sigurd (Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu - 1996)
Ike (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 2005)
Mia (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 2005)
The Black Knight (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 2005)
Black Shadow (F-Zero X - 1998)
Palutena (Kid Icarus - 1986)
Medusa (Kid Icarus - 1986)
Eggplant Wizard (Kid Icarus - 1986)
Isaac (Golden Sun - 2001)
Felix (Golden Sun: The Lost Age - 2002)
Little Mac (Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream - 1990)
Dragon Chan (Super Punch-Out!! - 1994)
Banker (Mario Paint - 1992)
Ray 01 (Custom Robo - 2004)
Captain Olimar (Pikmin - 2001)
Tom Nook (Animal Forest - 2001)
Chibi-Robo (Chibi-Robo! - 2005)
Muddy (Mole Mania - 1996)
The Blue Virus (Dr. Mario - 1990)
Lip (Panel de Pon - 1995)
Furil (Nintendo Puzzle Collection: Panel de Pon - 2003)
Takamaru (Nazo no Murasamejou - 1986)
Harry the Robot (Teleroboxer - 1995)
Sukapon (Joy Mech Fight - 1993)
Donbe (Shin Oni ga Shima - 1987)
Ayumi Tachibana (Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo - 1989)*
Professor Kawashima (Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day - 2006)
Urban Fighters (Urban Champion - 1984)
#166 Golden Sun characters and/or Advance Wars infantrymen
#218 Famicom Tantei Club characters
Third Party Suggestions
Mega Man (Capcom) (Mega Man - 1987)
G-Red (Capcom) (Gotcha Force - 2003)
Simon Belmont (Konami) (Castlevania - 1986)
Power Pro-Kun (Konami) (Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu '94 - 1994)
Lupus (Rare) (Jet Force Gemini - 1999)
Sora (Square Enix, Inc.) (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - 2004)
Doctor Wright (Maxis) (SimCity - 1991)
Princess Katia (From Software) (Lost Kingdoms - 2002)
Kalas (tri-Crescendo/Monolith Soft) (Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean - 2003)
Magnus Gallant (Quest/Nintendo) (Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber - 2000)
Thomas the Kung-Fu Master (Irem) (Spartan X [Kung-Fu in the U.S.] - 1985)
So far there are about 4 Mother series Characters he is considering. And If Jeff will be in it, Im pretty sure Ness will be in it...
I actually expect many Mother characters in the new SSBB game, Because Mother 3 came out in April many fans are asking... Now all we need is Flint (A freakin Cowboy), Duster(An awsome thief that limps), And Kumatora (A tomboyish Girl raised by crossdressers called "Magypsies")... But that might not happen.
Smalltime Orator @ Jun 5th 2006 4:17PM
I remember snake from the original 8-bit days. I loved the first metal gear. I was never able to beat the 2nd one (american quasi-sequel) though. Perhaps when I get the virtual console going, I will revisit that game, snakes revenge was it? I can't wait.
Magus @ Jun 5th 2006 4:22PM
*ahem*
GENO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is all.
..Actually, that is not all. I'd love the entire cast of Chrono Trigger, and then throw in a Nu somewhere, and not to mention a black mage from ff1....
Doople @ Jun 5th 2006 4:27PM
"With that said, I will be more than a little peeved if Ness, Nana & Popo, or Game & Watch are removed."
Agreed! Even though I'm not fond of G&W, I still want him to stay. Infact, I'd love it for all of the characters to stay. If not, maybe make them downloadable on the 24Connect.. or whatever it is called.
And what's this about it being slower? Easier to play? -_- If it's so easy that my goldfish can beat me, I'll be irritated. Half the fun was training to get better then your roommate. (Mine's a goldfish.)
DG @ Jun 5th 2006 4:28PM
From Sega, I'd like to see Vectorman, Tails or Knuckles
From Capcom, Guile, Mega Man, Viewtiful Joe, or
Strider.
Momus @ Jun 5th 2006 4:32PM
"And not Mega Man X, not Mega Man.exe, not Mega Man Volnutt.
"The one, the only, MEGA MAN."
Among them all, Megaman Trigger (Volnutt) is the only one who appeared in a good, fully-3D entry in the series.
So, like Mario and Luigi, or Adult Link and Young Link, or Marth and Roy, or Pikachu and Pichu, or Fox and Falco, or or or WHATEVER… there should be room for both Megaman and Megaman Trigger.
Oh, and I'd vote for Sonic, but it looks to me like he's a shoe-in. Good. What about Tails, though?
deft @ Jun 5th 2006 4:36PM
I want Pacman and Sonic.
Old school FTW!
neale @ Jun 5th 2006 4:42PM
sonic! but tails is lesser known. like someone said, you dont want your game over-shadowed by say sonic.
but then look at that fightin game that had Mrs Master Chief.no big deal considering how huge halo is
Momus @ Jun 5th 2006 4:46PM
"I want Pacman"
Ho, man! I never thought of that. That'd be so weird, but I guess it couldn't be stranger than Mr. Game and Watch.
White Rose Duelist @ Jun 5th 2006 4:47PM
If Pac-Man is in the game, and Kirby swallows him, will Kirby end up looking like this? http://edusworld.org/images/articles/20050817090518942_2.jpg
Also, I wonder if Mega Man would be like Kirby? The Blue Bomber's main power was that he got the weapons of bosses he defeated. It would be fun if he had a generic attack which, after his first kill, was replaced by the same attack from the defeated foe (with appropriate color change).
Of course, if MM gets the Metal Blade, he will kick much booty. Flash Stopper would be... interesting. How would Nintendo determine which of the 64 abilities from the original series he needs? If you include X, .EXE and all his minor roles, this issue gets worse.
Nintendo King 2288 @ Jun 5th 2006 4:49PM
Pichu and Dr. Mario can go but 4 the others no. I like all the characters in Melee but it will be no loss if nintendo took out Dr. Mario and Pichu. If I was nintendo the characters I took out I will sell them to the kids for 25 cents online. That will make the people that love them buy them and Nintendo will get money at the end. The 1 or 2 characters that nintendo should put in that is not from nintendo is #1 Megaman, #2 Crono. If nintendo dont have online well not alot of people will buy the Wii.
DemonJester @ Jun 5th 2006 4:52PM
if anyone noticed one of the levels in the trailer looks like the castle in RE:4 that would actually be kinda cool to see leon in this game. Who i would like to see the most isprobably Viewtiful Joe.
Dark jedi Matu @ Jun 5th 2006 4:58PM
I remember @ Skeez. I remember Metal Gear on the NES. It was awesome. How about Strider on the NES. With Kain and the girl. I don't care who that add from another company for SSBB. I want Ganondorf back with his own move set.
John Lucas @ Jun 5th 2006 5:11PM
Not putting Sonic in SSB Brawl/Dojo is suicide for this project. By letting Snake into this project (a VERY good choice BTW), a character who hasn't been on Nintendo since the NES days, they have opened the door to take this fight BEYOND the Nintendo-only universe. Sega & Nintendo are no longer rivals and now cooperate—Sega titles available for Nintendo's virtual console anyone?—so there should be no friction with Sonic being included in this project. Not to mention Sonic HAS been on a Nintendo platform.
Sonic's on there. People have been wanting that fight forever!!!
This should be a inter-corporational battle between/within nintendo & other prominent classic companies.
And it should be taken as old school as possible to REALLY make it sweet.
We *MUST* have Pac-Man as Namco's offering.
Capcom's Mega Man, a long time Nintendo anchor until Playstation came along.
A Chocobo from Square? Or maybe Cid or some character from Square's Nintendo RPG's?
Simon Belmont from Konami. (who remembers Captain N?)
Just a good selection of classic characters not necessarily the newest of the bunch.
But characters that made a significant showing on Nintendo's systems or AGAINST Nintendo's systems like Sonic.
I have a feeling the guy's just saying this to keep the guest stars a surprise. Sakurai hasn't let us down yet with this powerhouse franchise. I don't feel he will this time.
That video showed us all we need to see.
I wonder how Waluigi will play now that Wario's aboard...
Can't wait for that game!
John Lucas
Momus @ Jun 5th 2006 5:16PM
Snake was on the GameCube, John.
Greg2k @ Jun 5th 2006 5:25PM
I play as Mario, so I guess I'm safe =P
Top Rope Suplex @ Jun 5th 2006 5:30PM
1) Sonic
2) Bonk
Dark jedi Matu @ Jun 5th 2006 5:36PM
Pac Man? No way Lucas. He's a lame character regardless of how important he is. If Nintendo uses anything from square, I say let it be Cloud or a Black Mage.
No to Simon Belmont too. I think Snake is enough from Konami. I think Sonic is a good choice though. I'd rather see Hiryu from Capcom or Dante personally...If I had to choose.
How about Klonoa from Namco?
Why not Bonk or Keith Courage from the HudsonSoft side?
I wouldn't mind seeing Musashi or Hotsuma from Shinobi or Astal. Anyone that remembers that game should get a gold star. Two if you actually played it.
kevinski @ Jun 5th 2006 5:55PM
"And what's this about no guns? Starfox gets to use a gun; Snake better be able to as well."
Tranquilizer gun, anyone? :)
invisibill @ Jun 5th 2006 5:56PM
The one classic character that would get me really excited is Bionic Commando. They could really come up with some cool attacks with his bionic appendage.
Ben18 @ Jun 5th 2006 5:58PM
I also think Sonic is an excellent idea. I also think #11 is incorrect in thinking you won't have access to older games or arcade games on the wii. Not only is wii going to provide games from the past nintendo systems, I heard Hudson and Sega had jumped on board. And frankly I can't think of too many old school Sega games that had lasting impressions like Sonic the hedgehog did.
Alkaiser @ Jun 5th 2006 6:02PM
My suggestions for new characters:
Soda Popinski (or one of the other lesser known Punch-Out!! characters. Hell, just make it randomly pick one.)
Fatty from Nintendo Hockey. That boy could fight.
Mega Man (Capcom and Nintendo are pretty tight.)
Any of the FF VI characters. (Come on, you know you want 'em.)
The bike rider from Excite Bike. (He could start redrawing the stage as one of his powers.)
Monkeydog @ Jun 5th 2006 6:04PM
"No characters only popular in Japan? Not all are returning?
Goodbye, Ness."
I'm pretty sure Ness is pretty popular in the States. Even if he's only been in three games(two of which were the last SSB). Plus getting rid of Ness may make me kill someone.
I do hope more Earthbound characters are playable...mainly Poo...
"If Nintendo uses anything from square, I say let it be Cloud or a Black Mage."
Cloud was never on a Nintendo console, and I hate Cloud anyways so it's all cool. The Chrono or FFVI characters would be awesome to have. Mainly the Chrono characters...which could also include some of the Cross characters, actually. o=
I do hope Geno shows up in Brawl. Geno, Pit, and Metaknight? Orgasmic.
metalgearpoptart @ Jun 5th 2006 6:05PM
It has to be charcters who have appeared on Nintendo's consoles in the past, but I will be happy if they just Sonic. Then the battle will be ended over which charcter is better. Mario or Sonic?
Aran @ Jun 5th 2006 6:11PM
Mega Man and Sonic, then the circle is complete. Simon Belmont with a whip would be awesome but since there already is a Konami character in game (Snake) I don't think there's room for another one as someone said alredy.
They have also announced that Brawl will include more characters than Melee did. If I remember right Melee had about 26 characters while Brawl is going to have about 34 or even more. Let's hope we see more unique characters and less clones. :)
SSBB = MUST BUY
Matt Dusza @ Jun 5th 2006 6:18PM
im guessing either some chrono trigger characters or Mario RPG characters. While the chances are ZERO, id love to see Kain or Raziel from Legacy of Kain in there (Hey BO2 was on GC:P) There moves would fit perfectly in the game too if you think about it.
There are a bunch of characters I hope dont return. Pichu, Doctor Mario, Falco, Captain Flacon (just keep Ganondorf) Young Link, ICe Climbers, Even Mr Game and Watch. He was coll, but oh so obviously a novelty choice
32_Footsteps @ Jun 5th 2006 6:22PM
Actually, I'm hoping that Mega Man actually isn't in SSB Brawl. I was annoyed at anyone who picked him in Marvel v. Capcom as is (they were, to an individual, cheesy annoyances). I really don't need another fighting game in which I can be disgusted by how cheesy Mega Man is.
Meanwhile, Cloud Strife is possibly the worst main character Square ever came up with. There, I said it.
Now, if I was going to pick anyone out of Capcom's roster to make the jump, I personally would go with Zero? He's probably more popular than Mega Man, nearly as recognizeable, and more suited (with his sword attacks) for melee fighting.
And if we're going to pick characters that were in Square Enix games, I think Sora would actually be a great fit. KH: Chain of Memories was on a Nintendo system (and if you want to take the cheesy way out, Cloud appears in there too), and he is an extremely popular character that would easily fit into such a game.
Finally, I'll throw a villain out there, because villains should be represented, too. Let's try to get Kefka in there. Probably the most impressive final boss the Final Fantasy series ever had (that didn't skirt copyright violations with TSR/WotC/Hasbro), on a Nintendo system, and very memorable. And wouldn't Fallen One be a great move to whip out in the middle of a fight?
Besides, Kefka's crazy. Never underestimate crazy.
Shiro @ Jun 5th 2006 6:31PM
We could still possibly download new characters and levels with WiiConnect24, right? I don't see a problem if they leave out any clones, because anyone who's a superfan of Falco or something may be able to download him.
DraXXXen @ Jun 5th 2006 6:49PM
Pac-Man and Sonic would be perfect for this, I cannot fathom any other characters that would fit so well as these two. Both are flagship characters that had major presence in the early consol wars (Atari and Sega) and eventually appeared on Nintendo consols over the ages as well as fitting the cartoonish fun feel.
kelekod @ Jun 5th 2006 7:07PM
characters i'd like to see:
Sonic/tails/knuckles/dr robotnic
Bomberman
Megaman/dr wily
bubble or bobble?
how about a double dragon? /shadow boss?
how about a battle toad? (is that possible?) /queen?
how about one of the dudes from contra? (or both and make it somewhat similar to ice climers, but made uniquely from ice climers and not clones)
i'd guess the guy from castlevania will be in there as well. is that simon people are talking about?
how about spike from wrecking crew?
waluigi?
toad?
slippy?
R.O.B.?
remove list:
pichu
young link
modify list (meaning change so their not clones):
Marth and/or Roy
Ganondorf (sorry falcon existed before you)
falco (he can be way cooler than fox)
dr mario (should be more creative here)