Coming from a Verge interview with Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe...
"To be honest, this might be the last chance for us. I’ve continually thought about ways to build this into a mainstream success," Tanabe says of the franchise. "We’ve challenged ourselves in assorted ways along those lines, but I can’t say that we’ve found the answer yet.
The first thing we decided upon was that we’d make an action game that took advantage of his plug and cord. We then placed the core of the gameplay on using it like a grappling hook, throwing it into a faraway edge and using that to traverse gaps and so on. As we kept thinking about ideas, we naturally settled on the 2D side-scrolling format. If the character can gain more recognition, I believe we’ll have a chance to produce another adventure-style game for a large number of people. I’m hoping that we made the right choice for this game’s play style."
Tanabe also seems open to the idea of Chibi-Robo popping up in Smash Bros....
"If we receive an offer, we'll think about it."
