Super Smash Bros Creator Questions Online Multiplayer's Fit for the Franchise

Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Super Smash Bros., recently made a surprising statement about the game's online play. He claimed that it isn't a "very good fit" for the series. While the latest release in the franchise, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, has the most robust support for online play yet, this addition has consistently been a topic of controversy. Some view the game as a strictly in-person competitive experience.

The first Super Smash Bros. game was released in 1999 as a Nintendo 64 exclusive game. At that time, online multiplayer games were popular on PC, but consoles didn't start supporting wired internet connections for years. As a result, Super Smash Bros. was strictly a couch-competitive multiplayer game with support for four players at a time. Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube also lacked online play, which was first introduced with Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008.

The community surrounding Super Smash Bros. has developed a strong sentiment about the "right" way to play the game, which is most likely due to its success as an offline multiplayer game for almost a decade. This sentiment is shared by the franchise creator, Masahiro Sakurai, who recently stated in a "Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games" YouTube show that he doesn't believe online play and Smash Bros. are a good match for each other.

Sakurai's reasoning for this may come as a surprise to some fans. He believes that one of the best aspects of the game is that players can become champions among their friends. However, playing online can cause individuals to lose confidence. Therefore, Sakurai sees offline play as not only healthier for the game but also for the player.

Sakurai acknowledges a specific issue with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - the game's online play isn't technically perfect, resulting in a choppy experience due to network lag. He hints that this may be due to the limitations of Nintendo's Switch hardware and multiplayer server technology. However, he acknowledges that his job is to address these issues and improve the online play experience.

In an alternate reality, Sakurai may have stayed true to his game development philosophies and not added online multiplayer to Super Smash Bros. But the inclusion of online play has made the game accessible to a wider and more diverse audience. It's possible that the next iteration of Super Smash Bros. will have even better online multiplayer support and functionality.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Switch.