Sometimes developers make pretty weird decisions when creating their titles – for example, some pretty dodgy storyline choices or putting in an unlikeable main protagonist that just kills the game. But Masahiro Sakurai, series designer of Super Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS, may have made one of the worst choices we’ve seen in gaming in a long time.
Sakurai unveiled the blunder in his latest column in Weekly Famitsu, revealing that the latest Super Smash Bros will have no storyline mode. You may think that’s not so monumental but the designer’s reason for not having one will just have you hitting your head against a brick wall: “Unfortunately, the movie scenes we worked hard to create were uploaded onto the internet. You can only truly wow players the first time he sees [a cutscene]. I felt if players saw the cutscenes outside of the game, they would no longer serve as a reward for playing the game, so I’ve decided against having them.”
So Sakurai took his ball and went home. Just because the cutscenes of a title are on the internet, it doesn’t mean everyone is going to flock to watch them. If people want to ruin the experience of the game and see them before they play, it’s totally their own choice; there’s absolutely no need to wipe them and have a lesser title because of it. This now punishes the players who do have the self-control to wait.
Take that, Villager!
However, one good thing Sakurai mentioned in his column was the fact that you can customise characters’ appearance. All this means is that you’ll probably be able to change the colours of outfits; I doubt you’ll be able to put Luigi in a dress or have Mario in a Mega Man outfit, but it’s a welcome addition to the game nonetheless.
Even though there’s no story mode, I doubt we’ll be left with absolutely nothing so what will replace it. Will we have a return of the Adventure Mode from Super Smash Bros Melee (review coming soon) or just a straight up Gauntlet Mode where you work your way through every character, unlocking something with each victory? Either way I believe no matter what Sakurai chooses to put in, we’ll always wonder what might have been.
