Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the original Super Smash Bros. game and the lead on the games that came after it, shared some never-before-seen gameplay from an early Super Smash Bros. prototype this week in the latest episode of his ongoing YouTube series. This rare look at the creation of the game consisted not only of gameplay that shows scenes reminiscent of the Super Smash Bros. model but also some interesting insights into the planning that went into the game as well as the occasional roadblocks it encountered.
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The whole video is worth a watch for those big on the Smash Bros. games who want to see more of its history, but if you want to get right to the gameplay, you can skip ahead to the 1:17 mark where Sakurai introduces “Dragon King: The Fighting Game.” This was the working title for the original Super Smash Bros. game before it ever had Nintendo characters incorporated into the formula. It features simple, colored models for fighters as well as a stage that mirrors the Battlefield layout that became so popular in Smash Bros.
Some of Sakurai’s comments shared in the video have ben said by the developer elsewhere before, but in just around 8 and a half minutes, he provided a concise history of the franchise. He said it’d been accurately described before as an “antithesis” to traditional fighting games given that it didn’t rely on health bars nor did it require players to remember lengthy combos in order to succeed. He said these combos often created barriers of entry for players who didn’t know movesets, but by simplifying the input system in Super Smash Bros., players were able to drop in and get started much easier than they could elsewhere.
He also said later in the video that once the game was about done, opinions on it were mixed. Developers liked the idea of borrowing Nintendo’s characters and putting them all in one fighting game, but the sales team and others who hadn’t played the game yet weren’t big on the idea of family-friendly Nintendo characters beating each other up. They were eventually one over, however, which is funny to think about now given how much of a triumph the series has been.
Sakurai closed out his talk by saying that the next video will be focused on Super Smash Bros. Melee.
