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Sakurai explains Smash Bros. Ultimate's Japanese name, the decision to bring back every fighter, and ease of development
The most recent issue of Nintendo Dream magazine had a sizable interview with Smash Bros. Ultimate creator, Masahiro Sakurai. Check out all the tidbits from that interview below.
- the game is called Super Smash Bros. Special in Japan to convey that the game is a special game
- Sakurai says “ultimate” is a word easily read in Japan
- the name Super Smash Bros. Deluxe was considered, but decided against
- Sakurai wanted to use “Special” as it's often heard on television, so people are familiar with it
- the decision to include every single Smash Bros. fighter in history was made at the very beginning of development
- it was important for that idea to be part of the proposal, as huge projects like this require a lot of money and a lot of people
- Sakurai summed up development of Ultimate by sharing the phrase, “no need to explain at the very beginning”
- when Smash Wii U/3DS development started, Sakurai had to explain everything to members on the development team
- he even had to prepare documents for them to convey his vision and plans
- Sakurai didn't have to do this with Ultimate, as much of the team worked on Smash Wii U/3DS
- Sakurai says this was a huge relief for him