Sakurai says there are no favorites in Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai has sometimes been accused of playing favorites when it comes to the roster. These people aren’t pleased with the strength of characters such as Kirby/Pit, and feel that they have higher strength because Sakurai created them.
In his latest Famitsu column, Sakurai addressed these accusations head on, stating:
“With Smash Bros., every now and then someone will vent their misplaced anger towards me. They say that I ‘prioritize the strength and playability’ of characters that I’ve created.”
“First off, what merit is there for me to play favorites with characters I worked on? To bring up an example, two characters I have trouble with and can’t use very well are Pit and Palutena. Therefore, for me, I feel that ‘Pit and Palutena are weaker than the average character.’ If I were to adjust them to fit myself, they would become even stronger – but as you may notice, I haven’t.”
While Sakurai is one of the developers behind the character balance in Smash Bros., there’s also a monitor team that offers a separate perspective on his decisions and that any adjustments that do not fit with their input is not implemented. He also say that he and the team do their best to maintain game balance, but different factors can affect how a game will play.
Specifically regarding Kirby’s move that lets him turn into a rock and drop on other players, Sakurai mentioned that the despite its usefulness, Kirby becomes immobile during transformation and open to attack when transforming back. That makes it a difficult strategy to use against experienced players.
Sakurai’s column ends with a mention that fun comes first, and Smash Bros. is ultimately balanced so that mid-ranged players can enjoy it. He said: “The game is essentially made as a ‘fun party game.’”
