Sakurai: 'I had a lot more characters' in Brawl
by David Hinkle 
{ Jul 2nd 2008 at 10:00PM }
What do you think of Smash Bros. Brawl? Great game, right? Yeah, we think so, too. Is it missing something, though? Perhaps extra characters?According to ONM, Sakurai himself cut a couple of characters from the roster. "I had a lot more characters, for example.. but sadly I can't discuss which ones didn't make it," he said to ONM in an interview that will be featured in their next issue, hitting newsstands on Friday. How does that sit with you?
For us, it's not much of a big deal. The game's already packed with a ton of characters, and even includes wonderful bits of fan service in Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. So, we're not complaining.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John B @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:12PM
whatg are you talking about it sucks
Tombstone @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:13PM
One of the missing characters had better not of been Geno. Because if he was and got kicked out... *shakes fist*
hvnlysoldr @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:20PM
When discussing the huge amount of content such as the huge list of songs needing so much licensing, some Nintendo characters themselves couldn't be licensed. It's guessed it's Geno, Fire Emblem, and/or Earthbound.
Jesse @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:16PM
I am perfectly happy with the amount of content in SSBB as anyone should be but I just can't help but wonder who else he had in mind to add to the game. The curiosity kills me.
Shogan @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:26PM
Mewtwo, Chibi-Robo, Mii's, Jade, Travis Touchdown, Blaziken, Viewtiful Joe, Mega Man.
BlackFreefall @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:29PM
You mean to tell me that Megaman was going to be in Brawl, along with Crono?
Bring it.
Tom Guycot @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:35PM
Hackers have found information a while ago that implied that Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Roy, Toon Zelda/Shiek, Dixie Kong, and Plusle & Minun were to be in the game as playable characters.
Nothing really new, but interesting to hear it from the creators mouth.
Inanimate @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:06PM
Plusle and Minun would have been awesome, having a system like Ice Climbers.
Too bad it didn't happen.
Drahken @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:20AM
Is this true or is this just another of those rumors that gets around? Like Geno. I heard that he was set to be playable but they couldn't finalize an acceptable deal with Square. Is there truth to it? No clue.
Why Plusle and Minun? They're not even that prominent of Pokemon. But whatever, I guess it's all moot now. And why would they have Toon Zelda/Shiek? Zelda was barely in Wind Waker, and I'm not even going to touch the wrongness of a Toon Shiek.
Cal @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:56AM
They were found in the game's files, though I don't remember Dixie Kong being there. All SSBM characters were there except Pichu, but there was a file named pra_mai or something, which is part of the japanese name for Plusle and Minun. It's been a long time since I've checked though.
Drahken @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:04AM
Hmm. That's interesting. I wonder if they would have given Dr. Mario FLUDD as well.
Inanimate @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:05PM
Mega Man.
Geno.
Viewtiful Joe.
WE SHALL FIGHT FOR OUR FALLEN COMRADES
Inanimate @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:06PM
Oh and Isaac from Golden Sun.
And Crono.
Santos L. Halper @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:03PM
Why isn't he allowed to say which characters got cut?
silwecad @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:44PM
I'd like to know who was cut so we could decide whether we're missing out on some awesome characters or if the cut characters were pretty meh.
BDR @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:42AM
I think that's why he isn't allowed to say. Can you imagine the storm that would follow if say Mega Man or Ridley was cut from the game? The fanboys would literally explode. Also, Nintendo may not own the rights to said characters, and so can't go bandying those names around without explicit permission.
matt @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:08AM
I personally think Rayman and/or a Raving Rabbid would have been AWESOME! Or what about Tails, Eggman (Robotnik), Wolf-Link/Midna, Banjo/Kazooie, Wizpig (lol), any Mortal Kombat character, Pac-Man, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Lara Croft...
Chyld989 (MKWii: 5241-2307-2882) @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:18AM
Makes me sad that Megaman and Miis weren't playable, other than that I just wish certain characters HADN'T made the cut.
/shrug
Doesn't matter a ton though, since I got bored of the game VERY quickly and went back to Melee. Ahh, good old Melee, you still fail to disappoint ^_^
Jato Jay @ Aug 1st 2008 3:32PM
I'd have to agree. I hated SSBB and consider it a flop. Up until SSBB was released, all me and my friends did was play Melee. And when Brawl was released, we didn't all play it, we just kind of stopped playing in general. I work at Best Buy and there are a lot of Wii enthusiasts in the store. You know how many own or play Brawl? None of them. Because the game is worthless. Even Nintendo itself had reps come in very quickly to push it out and put Mario Kart Wii in the demo console. I hope that they do make another SSB as indicated by the recent article, because as far as I'm concerned, the asshole that made it owes us a decent game as an apology for this one.
fulluphigh @ Sep 14th 2008 2:04PM
I love how you state even a single thing you don't like about the game.
Oh, wait...
Just_a_guy @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:19AM
i'm glad he's hinting at another sequel
Alexisonfire @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:39AM
This makes me mad. Well, I was already mad (and am still mad) about the whole roster, but my anger has shifted targets (as in not Sakurai).
There were a lot of quality characters missed that somehow lost precedence over ROB and clones:
Geno. Ridley. Midna. Isaac. Bowser Jr. Micaiah. Krystal. Miis. Claus. Tom Nook. Ray. Person from Animal Crossing. Sukapon. Vaati. Poo. Stafy. Takamaru. Chrono. Megaman.
Not saying they all should have been in there. But considering just how little new characters were announced for Brawl as compared to the 64 to melee jump, I'm thinking a few more of them should have been playable.
BPM [MKWii: 2578 3585 8392] @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:01AM
SAAAAAKUUUUURAAAAAIIIIII!!!!!
[shakes fist in the air]
paradox @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:50AM
While the 7 lost characters, Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Roy, Toon Zelda/Shiek, Dixie Kong, and Plusle & Minun, would have been nice (along with many of the characters mentioned here), but, if your are going to fix anything, FIX THE DAMN BALANCING!!! spend more than five minutes playtesting before you get back to working on Peach's underwear. Some characters are clearly better than others, this should not have happened.
Also, more than 5 playable stages would be nice, and a functional stage builder would be a great bonus. and make items fun again. Also, slap the dumbass who that tripping was a good idea.
Believe me, I am a huge Smash fan, but come on Sakurai, work with me, I got 50 bucks waiting, just fix the game in a championship edition or something.
Lijik @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:19AM
What was wrong with the stage editor (aside from the necessary size constraints)?
Jayenkai @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:07AM
Jay's Stage Builder complaint.. The "Floor" item has the floor at the TOP of the block! WTF!? That means, essentially, you can't have floor right at the bottom of the level. It has to kinda float 1-block up!
And there's no "smashable" brick block..
Not exactly super missing features, but would've been nice to have them.
Having said that, I've only had the game for a few days, so feel free to whinge if things like that suddenly start unlocking later on!
...
My guess, the first few additional chrs would've been from Sonic/Snake's games.
BPM [MKWii: 2578 3585 8392] @ Jul 4th 2008 3:24PM
The only thing I hated about Brawl was tripping. Seriously, that's ass.
TWiNKiE @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:52AM
Actually, I would've liked to see Pac Man in there! MegaMan, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Banjo-Kazooie, Rayman, Waluigi, Krystal, Miis, Chrono, Geno, and Baby Bowser would've been EXCELLENT choices. I'm not as up to date on Pokemon as I used too (stopped at 251), but I'm sure some other Pokemon could be included.
Other than that, the 86420 error code was the ONLY thing that ruined Smash. Nothing else.
Haohmaru @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:06AM
Meh. Brawl has enough characters already, and I still enjoy it enormously. I can't imagine why anyone would still choose Melee over it, but to each his own..
sn1per @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:21AM
Banjo/Kazooie wouldn't be possible. When Rare was low on cash, they asked Ninty to buy 'em out, but Ninty refused, and Microsoft bought them instead. So now Microsoft owns all the Rare characters. In fact, BK3 is coming out for the 360.
If we could get Rare characters, I'd really like to see Conker. And perhaps Conker's BFD on VC? It was the best game on N64.
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ Jul 4th 2008 1:21AM
Well, considering Conker is a Rare character...You should probably be waiting for C:LaR on XBox Originals. Since Nintendo probably wants to avoid all the M-rated controversy and not have to do a deal with Microsoft(like with 007), they probably won't go out of their way to get BFD on the VC.
Gundam_Warrior @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:09AM
My list for the next game:
1st Party
Krystal (Starfox Adventures)
Little Mac (Punch Out)
Rosalina (Mario Galaxy)
Saki (Sin and Punishment)
Elite Beat Agents
Wolf Link and Midna (Twilight Princess)
The Metroid Prime Bounty Hunters
Mike Jones (Startropics)
3rd Party -
Pac-Man
Mega Man
Tails or Knuckles
Ryu (Street Fighter)
Amaterasu (Okami)
BlackDogAssault @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:41AM
...The characters itself being left out doesn't make me mad, as those are likely legal problems... But he saying half the information makes me mad...-_-' If he's gonna say that characters were left out, he has to say which... If he can't, don't mention it on the first place.
AlgusUnderdunk @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:42PM
Sadly, they're not there... but Sakurai hid them in the night sky of Animal Crossing :D
Little Mac, Balloon Fighter, Tom Nook, Stafy, Lip, some kid from AC apparently...
Or it's code telling us to play GCN Animal Crossing, do the whole GBA download island thing, attach it to our Wii while Brawl is happening and... I dance to a Volcano Sacrifice while Chipmunks sing Wully Bully...
Mr Khan @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:24PM
Huh, i figured they had resolved rather early on to eliminate a lot of the clones, didn't know they were so close to making the cut as to have their ghosts hidden in the code
John @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:41PM
0_0 I fainted...
Legato @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:50PM
I unlocked all characters/levels within a week, 35 may sound big, but actually I did NOT want to read this...
Albert Wesker @ Jul 4th 2008 12:59AM
dark samus? =(
Maxx the Slash @ Jul 4th 2008 11:21PM
"I had a lot more characters in Brawl". ****ing duh!. Where the hell are Roy, Dr. Mario, Young Link, Mewtwo and Pichu, not to mention the characters that have traces of their coding in the final game, like Toon Zelda & Toon Shiek, and Plusle & Minun?
TJF588 @ Jul 6th 2008 3:42AM
Mewtwo
Mewtwo
Mewtwo
Don't care which new characters weren't new characters, but of the guys cut from the last game, Mewtwo is THE one I'm peeved about. The classic ultimate. A giant, purple, psychic cat thing. That laugh, and the way he was the only prick that wouldn't clap for the winner. Pichu can go on the wayside. Roy is dispensable, given how many Fire Emblem guys there (likely) are. Dr. Mario... well, actually, he'd be a decent second to be peeved over, but he's a Mario, so even when he was in he was already in. Mewtwo is a figurehead, and just too badass from something as consistently fluffy as Pokemon. Don't care how well Lucario plays, he's just a second fiddle to the original HELL YES that was and is Mewtwo.
natedawg @ Jul 6th 2008 9:32AM
maybe this year at e3 they will anounse dlc for the game and you can add sick characters like toon zelda/ she wouldnt be sheik she would be the pirate girl. also there is only one metroid character in the game so we could use some more... and lastly PROFESSER E GADD!!!!
Matt @ Jul 7th 2008 8:43AM
I wudda looooved an animal crossing character...maybe resettii as a playable rather than a trophy or Nook....he'd have a thumb breaking move if u didnt throw loads of bells at him
flyingemus @ Aug 3rd 2008 2:40PM
You n00bs have to remember that the characters included in this game need to be characters that have some sort of significance in the franchise.
In the Mario series they have all the obvious canidates.
Some people want Toad, but a Toad is just the species and the character 'Toad' is rather minor and little is know about him to make a distinct fighting character.
Bowser Jr. would have been very nice he's been an important character with a notable role in games such as Sunshine and Galaxy.
Geno would be cool. Although he's only been in one game, he is a very prominant character and would work well in this sort of game.
Although Rosalina is an important character, she still is rather minor in the franchise. And just would be the best for Smash.
Dr. Mario...CLONE! Complete carbon copy. He has like one game. A puzzle game. And very minor. (Dr Mario RX and WiiWare in general wasn't out at the time of Brawl) Although having a Doc alt costume similar to Peach/Daisy would be nifty.
Waluigi is soooo minor, and in about no 'real' games w/ storylines and stuff. Him as an AT is good.
And also, many complain about FLUDD saying that its fail, it somewhat is, but it has a lot of advanced tactis like edggaurding and pushing people into hazards. But since Mrio got FLUDD I think Luigi should get the Poltregast vacuum thing.
Zelda:
Ganon should use his friggin sword! Not a complete sword-based moveset, but have a mix of darkness and sword.
Toon Link is getting so much crap cuz he's all cloney. But unlike the Doc he's just so much more of an important character. He could use some more original moves.
Toon Zelda and Sheik would have actually been really cool. Though unnecessary. Tetra would be slightly cool. Actually...no. nvm
Vaati is a very big character that needs in. He would be a good fighter.
Wolf Link and Midna...um...no. It would be cool, but do we really need another Link??? Plus its from the same universeas the new TP Link while Toony is from a completely different game. Wolf like w/ Midna would have made a cooler FS.
Earthbound:
Claus is Lucas's alternate costume. Stop whinning.
Lucas and Ness have very distinct fighting styles, though Lucas could be changed a bit. And they need different Final Smashes.
Star Fox:
Krystal deserved it more than Wolf. Really, come on. Do we need 3 Foxes?
Falco really needs alteration.
F-Zero:
Gorah. nuff said
Metroid:
Ridley would be awesome. He totally should get in.
Dark Samus would be lame, I don't care how much of a fanboy you are. Three letters: G-A-Y. Although Dark Samus should get a solo spot, it would be bad to have an alt costume for Samus.
Pokemanz:
The deal with Pokemon is that because there's tons of them, they choose either really important ones; Pikachu, Jiggs, and the three original Pokemon; or they choose the ones that would be good fighters. Mewtwo and Lucario.
Even though Mewtwo sucked, his desrves in, he was cool.
Plusle and Minun are rather minor, but it would bee nice to get another 2 person thing.
Pichu sucked ass. So shut up.
Fire Emblem:
Ok, Marth has been in 3 games, more than any other character.
The only reason Roy was in Melee to promote the new Fire Emblem game coming to North America. Kinda like "If you like Roy of Melee, then you'll love the new Fire Emblem game..."
Plus, he's a clone.
DK:
Dixie would have been cool, but King K. Rool would have been a lot better.
Elite Beat Agents would have been so so so awesome. The could at least be an AT.
Animal Crossing:
Nook needs in. NOW.
Stafy:
Stafy's the main character of lots of games, although they're all Japanese, Stafy should get it.
Rayman: Maybe...no, shut up.
Spyro, and Crash: NO
Veiwtiful Joe: Coolish...but, maybe, but kinda no
Megaman would be the bomb and needs in.
Likewise w/ Bomberman.
Conker and Banjo are now owned by Microsoft, so slim chance. Like pretty much none.
Castlevania: I dunno about you guys, but Sion Belmont wont be pretty awesome.
Miis. Would be gay. Thats all that needs to be said.
...
Brawl is soo much better than Melee, Brawl fixes everything wrong about Melee. Brawls is a also much more balanced than Melee. So whinners shut up.
Tripping...it just adds to more advance play and tactics and stuff.
Also, Brawl took so much wourk because of all the songs and everything. There was so much licensing that they had to deal with.
And the reason the loading is so slow is cuz of Masterpieces and Chronicle that takes up so much.
Stage builder is actually really good.
So is the online play.
So shut up.
kthnxbai
Satchel Quinn @ Aug 19th 2008 11:10AM
plusle and minun would be cool pichu and ice climbers were my fav in melee and combining the 2 would be like a super cool sandwich (w/ awesome sauce on the side lol) maybe some cool hacker can complete their codes (i heard on youtube that toon zelda is almost done) and i think roy and mewtwo are somewat close too and they might have found dr. mario's textures and/or sounds i am not sure (i am just going by youtube here people)
maybe we can make plusle and minun moves like with those who already exist like the same move set as pikachu but with different twist like with skull bash being like minun throws plusle for extra damage and with thunder plusle calls the bolt down and minun jumps into it and gets electrified and does a small electrified dash vertical and there b+up could be similar to diddy's rocket pack expect they put there tails together (the plus and minus ability) and store up electricity and boom they soar in the sky and when they are apart it is just a small jolt and there other attacks could be the same as pikachu's (and i came up with this all by myself) i feel like game creater lol
Hassleberry @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:51AM
The reason the 7 characters were not included is because they were already pressed for time and they wanted to realese the game quicker because they had already delayed it twice. I'm personally happy with the realese I got Red, Diddy Kong, and King Dedede. I would have liked the game with more characters like Michiah(sp?), Krystel, Megaman(the battle network series version because he was awesome!), Black Shadow, and Knuckles but I'm happy with what I got. Hopefully next game(if there is one) there will be more characters.