Sakurai on the thinking behind Smash Bros. Wii U’s Smash Tour

Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai has opened up on the thinking behind the Wii U game’s Smash Tour.

In a column published in Game Informer, Sakurai explained that the mode “is the result of us pressing forward in our original direction – having a lot of changing elements in the field, leading to totally unpredictable situations.”

Sakurai’s full words are below:

The more deeply people play Smash Bros., the more they start seeking higher levels of precision in the gameplay. At the end, this leads them to prefer the Final Destination stage with no obstacles, no items, certain stock settings, etc. We did try to make this game so you can play it any way you like along these lines, but that approach does veer a little from the original intention of the design.

Smash Tour is the result of us pressing forward in our original direction – having a lot of changing elements in the field, leading to totally unpredictable situations. Our inspiration here wasn’t to copy the board game format, and the rules don’t follow those lines; the gameplay is designed with Smash Bros. in mind.

It’s set up so all sorts of things can happen in a short time, making it impossible to guess who will win. It’s a very Smash Bros.-like approach, and while it can be unfair at times (like any board game), it’s built for people who can laugh all of that off as they enjoy the experience. I’d like you to gather your Smash Bros. pals together and try the mode out, maybe playing three games to start.

We engage in multiplayer during our lunch breaks, and these days we play Smash Tour mode every time. It’s fun, in part because it’s okay to an extent if the players involved vary widely in skill.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U launched last month in North America and Europe. A 3DS version came out in October.