Yesterday we reported on Sakurai’s challenge to innovate the Super Smash Bros. series and his decision that a 3DS/portable version was crucial in order to do just that. In his regular column for Famitsu however, Sakurai has revealed even more information regarding the series, revealing that the villager from Animal Crossing was originally in Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Nintendo Wii before being removed:
“A lot of people understood Mega Man, but they kept asking me ‘Why did you go for the Villager and the Wii Fit trainer?’, Neither of them are fighting characters, certainly. In fact, we had previously removed the villager from Super Smash Bros Brawl in the planning stages because he wasn’t suited for battle. However, with his net, axe and plant pots, The Villager definitely has all the tools for battle. Same goes for the Wii Fit Trainer.”
Sakurai then continued to speak about the reception of both the villager from Animal Crossing and the controversial inclusion of the trainer from Wii Fit:
“Something I think that people noticed in the movies and screenshots released is that the villager and trainer were not choices we made for the sake of cheap novelty. Each has their own unique attacks and battle strategies, and they make the game more interesting. If I have an image of a character in my mind that dances around and jibes with what I want, then that’s the most important thing. On the other hand, even if you have a character suited for a fighting game, if you can’t make him stick out from the pack and extract something unique from him, then what can you do?”
[Source: Polygon via Official Nintendo Magazine UK]
