Masahiro Sakurai is dedicated to making Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the best fighting game it can possibly be. That's why he's working around the clock, and sometimes even risking his own health to meet certain deadlines. Although there's a "high probability" of the second round of DLC fighters not proceeding as scheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak, at the moment, that's all he's really focused on.
What happens, though, when DLC fighter development for Smash Bros. Ultimate finally wraps up? Not even Sakurai himself knows what his plans are at this stage, according to a recent comment he made in the latest issue of Japanese magazine, Famitsu (thanks for the translation Oni Dino of Nintendo Everything).
Right now, all I can think about is producing DLC for “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.” After I finish that, though, it’s a total blank slate.
A total blank slate could be anything. Sakurai has previously noted this latest entry could be the last – or at least his last, but he said this during the Wii U era as well. Falling back on other franchises close to his heart, it's evident Kid Icarus fans would love to see a follow-up to the 3DS entry Kid Icarus: Uprising. Or how about another title based on his own pink puffball Kirby or even something new?
Tell us what you'd like to see Sakurai do (other than take a nice long rest) after he's done working on the second round of DLC fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 63
I would love to see a new take on Smash. Maybe a 3D fighting game or maybe like a beat-em-up
Hopefully a sequel to Kid Icarus Uprising.
Kid icarus PLEASE
Please come back and direct Kirby! Your pink puff needs you, badly!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DX for the next gen Nintendo console.
He probs needs a lie down but Kid Icarus Uprising without those controls would be great. Switch has twin sticks and gyro, both of which would be preferable.
In addition to the new characters I wish they’d toss in a unique target/platform mode for every character. The dlc costs a fourth or fifth of the game so having a new mode along with the characters would be nice.
@DAHstroy
Hell yeah, i would be down for that. Pokken /Naruto fighting style smashbros. With an adventure mode, cutscenes etc made by bandai namco.
Wave race yay!
The Kid Icarus Uprising universe and characters were far too rich to let wither away. I would honestly be just as happy with a Magnus vs the Aurum Invasion spin-off game as I would with one staring Pit.
Take a break or do something easier like a remaster
A 3D Kirby game would be awesome
Take a break, Sakurai-san!
Hopefully not a new Smash Bros game. Let Sakurai do something else, something less stressful (though I presume he'd get plenty of hate from some people if the next Smash was out of his hands).
After this project take a step back and give the torch to someone just as capable.
He is a hero. And he should take the time to take care of his health.
How about a new IP?
Whatever he does next, I just hope he's happy with it
The only game developer on the planet who publicly laments how he never gets a break & he never gets criticism for it. Why does he do this for every game he works on? That is who we call a "diva". There are directors who work on much bigger games than this that never do this.
Just port Uprising to Switch, there's a good chap.
@Aaron09
It exists, Blowout Blast.
Something completely new!
@Franklin that doesn't really count since it has. O coby abilities and is obviously a very small budget game. (And yes I know Kirby's Dream Land on GB didn't have copy abilities but it was the very first Kirby game)
He needs to start aging like a normal human being first of all. It's a bit rude of him looking so young at his age.
This is just me randomly musing but I wonder if what I'd like of the Smash Bros 'franchise' after Smash Ultimate would truly be "a new Smash Game".... or "a Subspace Emissary spiritual successor as a full blown metroidvania building in that meeting of worlds crossover theme".
Kid Icarus or Kirby Air Ride 2 is my hope.
I've said it before. This franchise is a huge name and there is no way there won't be any more Smash games. Whether Sakurai is involved in their development is an entirely different story. I assume he would keep a toe in the water just to make sure it's done right.
Now the question then is when the next Smash title is released (most likely for Nintendo's next console), will it be, as some suggested, a port of Ultimate with DLC and new Bella and whistles added? Or will it be what I would like to see: a new entry with a handful of returning mainstays, mixed with a mostly new crop of fighters. With the already dozens of fighters having already been used, there's probably hundreds more Nintendo related characters alone to choose from. Not to mention the thousands of non Nintendo characters that I'm sure other developers would love to have their characters associated with Smash in some capacity.
Couple that with some exciting news modes and mechanics and I can see the franchise genuinely moving forward without having to radically change itself
Rest for a year, Sakurai. You've worked so hard they should reward you the time!
Then please, please make Kid Icarus 4.
Take a long vacation, like one year, and then make Fighter Pass Vol. 4.
Fighter Pass Vol. 3? Find someone else who is trustworthy to replace you Sakurai and make the Season 3 during your vacation, even if you manage to solve all your health issues, you need to retire someday, and the Smash Bros. series needs to continue without you.
Sakurai is a creative guy: best scenario for us is that he gets to do what he wants.
Hoping that his next project be Kirby Air Ride 2. That game has a lot of potential, specially the City Trial mode.
Mashahiro Sakurai really deserve a well deserved vacation and some rest after all the second Fighter Pass character become available in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
HD port of Kid Icarus Uprising with dual analog controls
@backup368 I do believe the amount of input and time Sakurai has put into Smash doesn't compare to any other director in the industry. There have been many reported times when Sakurai didn't have a healthy sleeping schedule and was working crazy overtime hours to pass his deadlines.
Besides that, he is just also a very talented director who hasn't really had freedom to choose a franchise he wants to work on. Instead of working on a new IP or something HE wants, Sakurai has been put into the Smash Bros hole for many years now. That's not to say he doesn't enjoy making these games, but it's clear the man wants to start something from scratch.
It is a little disheartening that you're claiming directors have worked on "much bigger" games than this without providing any proof or experience. Seems like you just wanted to throw a jab at Sakurai honestly.
@datamonkey I feel obligated to amplify your voice: new Wave Race, with HD Rumble - a boon to humanity in these grim times!
Kid Icarus totally deserves a new game!
@Varkster "There have been many reported times when Sakurai didn't have a healthy sleeping schedule and was working crazy overtime hours to pass his deadlines."
From his own words.
"Instead of working on a new IP or something HE wants, Sakurai has been put into the Smash Bros hole for many years now."
He can simply choose not to. Super Smash Bros. Brawl started without him.
"but it's clear the man wants to start something from scratch."
Nothing's stopping him. He just wants to be sure that Fire Emblem is crammed down our throats every Smash iteration.
"It is a little disheartening that you're claiming directors have worked on "much bigger" games than this without providing any proof or experience. Seems like you just wanted to throw a jab at Sakurai honestly."
The only reason why people give him sympathy is because he constantly clamors for it. You herald how hard he works but, oh, he also says he played a total of 250 or so Playstation games in the past year? Enough.
@backup368 I'll reply to only one of your statements because the rest sounds like salty biased drivel coming from you personally and nobody else.
Smash Bros. Brawl was ANNOUNCED before Sakurai even knew about it. Iwata announced it on stage without preparation and then approached Sakurai to make sure he supervises development. Get your facts straight at the very least.
I don't know what's wrong with you or who hit you as a child but you seriously need to get your head out of your ass and stop assuming about others and how hard they work on their job. Seriously, it isn't any of your business and you end up sounding like a rat. Cya buddy.
Kirby Air Ride 2! City Trial for days
@Varkster Because when I read about nothing but how Sakurai is god's gift to video games, it's certainly not "salty biased drivel" by any means.
Sakurai needs rest, which I hope he gets after all the Smash Ultimate DLC is completed.
After that, Nintendo will probably ask him to direct the next Smash Bros game for the Switch 2, a task he will most likely accept.
I would love to see a new IP where Sakurai has full creative control. He did great things with Kid Icarus. He deserves another passion project.
Your wish is our command Lord Sakurai.
A sequel to KI:U would the ultimate next game from Sakurai (plus a port of the original 3DS game). But not after a well deserved break from Sakurai.
Something else from Sakurai would also be good, maybe doing another platformer like Kirby or Box Boy, or even doing a platformer for another character, maybe Sakurai is the one to finally make a Waluigi game?
Either way, pretty much anything from Sakurai is a good bet that it’ll be a good game, as long as he takes a break first though.
Would love to see a new well thought out 3D Kirby game, specifically Kirby air ride 2. But I'm down to give anything he works on next a go!
i think next smash is 100% a relaunch of the series
This man is owed major off time
that blank slate should be him in his house, relaxing with some vacation juice
Make a Kid Icarus that is an evolution of the NES original and not the painful 3DS action game.
Make Kid Icarus for Switch! I demand more Hades and Viridi!
There will be future Smash titles. As Umbreons_Papa, others, & myself have mentioned in the past, the series is a money-maker. Nintendo won't ignore that potential profit.
If I had to guess, Nintendo is competitive inside the company, ensuring only the best staff work on the best ip(intellectual properties). Under that notion, creators, and teams of popular franchises have fatter wallets, than franchises/characters that don't get consistently used over a period of some years, at the least. (Oh, I'm sure there are people at Nintendo paid to literally brainstorm ideas, & stories for Nintendo various ip.) In turn, Smash being popular, & profitable gives people like Sakurai major incentives to be a workaholic.
As Backup368 said, Sakurai is being a diva, when he talks about the effects of his work on his health, & life. He never seems to discuss it in negative terms, possibly so the higher-ups at Nintendo do not reprimand him. Culturally, there''s obvious different ethics. Realistically, his value as a human being isn't based solely on his work, although many people incorrectly think this way, no matter their beliefs, ethnicity, or culture.
Also, Nintendo porting the game is a possibility, but that would require either modifying Ultimate, or renegotiating all the non-Nintendo IP; unless a port was already taken into account by Nintendo, & was part of the negotiations.
A Kid Icarus: Uprising sequel/port would be nice, or a remaster/port of one of his older Kirby games (Air Ride with online would be nice.)
But in the end, I'm fine with him taking a break. The man has certainly earned it.
If I were a betting man, I would say that he will go on to produce a game using the Smash Bros engine called Fire Emblem Fighters where it features an exclusive all Fire Emblem cast.
He will then complain ad nauseam about how he's so tired and overworked and only sleeps 2 hours a night and starves himself, only eating bits of paper that he finds on the ground and locks himself into a trunk for no apparent reason just so he could have something more to complain about, all the while bragging about how he somehow found the time to play 648 PS4 games in the same year.
@The-Chosen-one
Pokken-fighter?
Why would we assume Ultimate's DLC to ever be finished?
I just hope he makes another adventure mode before ssbu wraps up for good. Im hoping for one similar but better to melee or smash run in 3ds.
@DanJ811
Hear me out on this
Smash Run's map
but
as a battle royale
In all seriousness, though (well, my battle royale suggestion still sounds good to me), Sakurai can even take a rest right now. But I wouldn't mind seeing the first name of FP2 as soon as possible, if not a Mortal Kombat 11-esque reveal trailer for all six fighters.
I mean, Joker's (as in, Smash Joker, not MK11 Joker) reveal had no gameplay at all and yet the hype was very real.
As soon as the DLC is finished:
Nintendo: "Sakurai dear, it's 4PM, time to start work on the next Smash Bros."
Sakurai: "Yes honey"
Lol Whatever he does next will be great.
Personally hoping for more Kid Icarus.
It's very surprising they haven't remastered Uprising for Switch yet, maybe they'll start raiding the 3DS library at some point. Games like Samus Returns certainly deserve more exposure on Switch.
But yes, I have a feeling Nintendo isn't going to let him off the hook for Smash unless he severs professional ties with Nintendo, retires, or personally passes the franchise's torch to someone else.
DLC getting delayed just means we all get to ride the hype train a little bit longer.
I don't know how close he is to retiring, but wouldn't it be awesome if his last act before he did was directing one last Kirby game? And he just goes all out with an insane amount of content and fan service.
Hopefully he has a well earned rest. I respect the guy and appreciate his fantastic work, but I do worry about him...
What about a Smash Bros in the style of DBFZ?
Make Kirby Great Again. We need you, Sakurai-san.
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