Nintendo's Backup Plan for Smash Bros Brawl Revealed
Nintendo's series producer, Masahiro Sakurai, has revealed that the company's backup plan, in case he didn't work on Super Smash Bros Brawl, was to port Melee to the Wii While this idea was considered, Nintendo has recently confirmed that they have no plans to port Melee to the Switch
Nintendo had reportedly considered porting Super Smash Bros. Melee to the Wii, rather than creating its sequel, Brawl. This is significant, given that the idea of porting Melee to the Switch was recently rejected by Nintendo.
Super Smash Bros. Melee is the second game in the popular fighting game series, Super Smash Bros. It features the protagonists of Nintendo's most well-known IPs, as well as some third parties, who come together to combine combat and platforming. Despite being outsold by its three sequels, Melee remains popular to this day, with a thriving tournament scene and many players still considering it the best in the series due to its exploitable physics engine and faster movement speed. Masahiro Sakurai, the series developer, initially left the company in 2003 after becoming fed up with Nintendo's penchant for sequels. However, he has since returned to direct every installment of Smash.
In a video posted to his official YouTube channel, where he mostly discusses the new concepts and development process for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sakurai disclosed that Nintendo's backup plan for the then-upcoming Wii was to port Melee over to it if he declined to direct Brawl. According to Sakurai, the game would have been ported with no changes to its content, except possibly the addition of online play. Fans had been promised a third Smash game with online functionality before it had even been pitched, with the late former president Satoru Iwata approaching Sakurai about the project after announcing it at E3 2005. Announcing a game too early is not a new trend, but it is just one of many bold moves Iwata took that turned him into an industry icon.
Sakurai expressed his gratitude for working on Brawl, as it ensured the continuation of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. The game's more casual approach attracted a wider audience, who may have struggled with Melee's precise controls. Brawl remains the second best-selling installment in the series to date.
It's uncertain what would have happened to Smash if Nintendo had gone with their backup plan. While it may have pleased the competitive Melee community who felt disconnected from the later games' slower gameplay, Nintendo's recent crackdown on the competitive scene for all Smash games may make a re-release on newer hardware with more accessible repairs a feasible peace offering without sacrificing other entries in the series.
