Some of the more interesting answers, however, arrived when Sakurai was asked if he keeps an eye out for potential all-star recruits for the fighting series’ next entry during project gaps. The legendary game designer stated that he almost certainly did not because he approaches every title in the Smash series as if it’ll be his last.
Greninja’s quick addition was something that fans already learned about during the Super Smash Bros. developer roundtable at E3 2014, but what they may not have pieced together was that the final roster originally started out much larger than its final form. How much larger? Sakura won’t say, but fans can speculate for themselves.
Suffice to say, some fan-favorite fighters ended up getting the axe this time around (most prominently the Ice Climbers), but Sakurai only removed each veteran and possible newcomer as a result of time restraints. This is likely where Brawl newcomers Wolf and Lucas met their end, but him and his team had just enough time to extend the roster through clone characters like Dr. Mario, Lucina and Dark Pit.
Despite cutting out a handful of beloved fighters in the recent iterations, Sakurai revealed that one newcomer was almost left on the cutting room floor. That new addition was none other than Bowser Jr., the heir to the Koopa throne, and it turns out that he (and his Koopa Kid allies) only stayed in because the development team said they could get it done.
Suffice to say, including Bowser Jr. is something that many fans have come to appreciate. The character is a very unique fighter with some high launch potential, which makes fighting as the Koopa prince a very rewarding endeavour. Meanwhile, characters like Mewtwo could be a sign that other veterans are on the brink of returning to the fray. That remains to be seen of course, but given the stellar sales of both versions of the latest Super Smash Bros. it wouldn’t be surprising to see the roster grow even larger in the coming months.
Super Smash Bros. is currently available on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
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Source: Nintendo Dream (via NeoGAF)
