Super Smash Bros. series director has recently revealed that Nintendo had considered a Melee Wii port instead of Brawl as a backup plan.
Since Super Smash Bros. debuted in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, fans have received a steady release of titles in the franchise. However, this could turned out a lot differently thanks to recent news from series director, Masahiro Sakurai. In a video posted to his Youtube channel, Sakurai revealed that Nintendo originally wanted a back up plan that would see Super Smash Bros. Melee being ported to the Wii instead of Brawl.
This plan B was born after Sakurai went freelance between the development of Melee and Brawl. As a result, Nintendo wanted to have different options in case he decided not to come back.
“I had already gone freelance, and had I turned the work down, they might have left Super Smash Bros. Melee’s 26 fighters completely untouched, and simply release the game as-is for the Wii. That’s what [Satoru] Iwata once told me” Sakurai explains.
Although we know plan B didn’t go ahead, it is still worth considering what this could have meant for the Smash Bros. franchise. With Melee being one of the most-loved in the series, it would be interesting to see the alternative timeline that could have been created if Brawl hadn’t have received the Wii port.
In the long run, this could have led to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate not being released. This would have heartbreaking news for Smash fans as its popularity rivals that of Melee. However, thanks to Sakurai, this isn’t a timeline we have to think about as he came back to work on Brawl’s development.
Interestingly, Sakurai also spoke about online play in his recent video. He revealed that the only reason he added online play to Smash was because Nintendo asked him to. Personally, he doesn’t believe that the series suits online functionality. It will be interesting to see what else the series director reveals in his upcoming videos!
How do you think the Smash series would have varied? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned to GameLuster for more gaming news!
