Few games from the Nintendo Switch era have been as wildly successful asSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. Nintendo’s platform fighting game has revolutionized what the genre is capable of with its immense roster of characters from all across the video game industry, and that roster is about to get its last new addition. After years of rampant requests from fans, Sora fromKingdom Heartsis finally coming toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. The game’s very last DLC fighter could hardly have been a better choice, and now many are looking toUltimate’s legacy and the man behind it all.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimatewas the effort of dozens of developers over the course of many years, and at the front of all of those efforts was the game’s director,Masahiro Sakurai. Sakurai has been the face ofUltimatesince the beginning, and now that the game’s final DLC has been announced, many fans are giving thanks to him online. Shortly after the reveal, #ThankYouSakurai began trending on Twitter due to an outpouring of support for the longtime developer, and looking at his history withSuper Smash Bros.and Nintendo as a whole, the praise is more than warranted.
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The Legacy Of Masahiro Sakurai
Nintendo has birthed a lot of big name developers that have become faces of the company and their respective creations, and Masahiro Sakurai is no exception. His most notable creations are theKirbyfranchise andSuper Smash Bros., making Sakurai responsible for some of Nintendo’s biggest money-makers from the past thirty years.Kirbyis now considered to be one of Nintendo’s most vital franchises, withKirby and the Forgotten Landplanning to bring the puffball to Switch in a whole new way. And with howSuper Smash Bros.has revolutionized fighting games, Sakurai’s effect on the industry can hardly be overstated.
The Mammoth Ambitions Of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
When looking atSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, it’s clear that it was a labor of love from Masahiro Sakurai from beginning to end. Even when the game first launched, the sheer amount of fighters available was leaps and bounds more than many other fighting games could even claim to have. On top of that, Sakurai and his team managed to bring in new fighters like the long-requested Ridley and Simon and Richter from theCastlevaniaseries. Even afterSuper Smash Bros.on the Wii U already brought in the likes ofBayonettaand Mega Man, Sakurai never took his foot off the gas when expandingUltimate.
Sora’s introduction inUltimateis the biggest indication of Sakurai’s dedication to the game. While the acquisition of Banjo & Kazooie andMinecraft’s Steve were certainly no small feat, trying to get the rights for Sora from Disney was a whole other hurdle on its own. There’s no doubt that Sakurai has poured his soul intoSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, and after this last hurdle, he deserves all of the rest he needs. He’s been the face of development for three years now, and the work that he did to keep fans updated and provide breakdowns for each new DLC character will be long remembered.
There really is no telling what Masahiro Sakurai will do now that theDLC forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateis coming to an end, but he’s more than earned some time off until he wants to jump into a new project. While he may not serve as director of theKirbyseries, it could be exciting to see Sakurai lend his touch toKirby and the Forgotten Landas the property’s creator. No matter what he does next, Masahiro Sakurai will bring with him decades of experience and a legacy that has molded the most important names in video game history.
