Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai thinks it was a mistake for the multiplayer game to go online. Sakurai made the comment in a recent YouTube video as part of his series about game development and said he always had concerns about how online competition might make players lose confidence (thanks, Eurogamer).
“I don’t think online play and Smash Bros. are a very good fit for each other,” Sakurai said. “One of the best parts of Smash Bros. is how players can become champions among their friends. But being subjected to online competition can cause people to lose confidence, which isn’t great.”
The technical strain of hosting matches online with synchronous inputs – where games register inputs for every player across every frame simultaneously – also presented issues. Sakurai called it a “major disadvantage” since it created a situation where players are almost forced to play with people as close to them as possible, or else put up with significant choppiness and lag.
The video is about Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, though some of the same issues – including the lag – still plague Ultimate on the Switch.
Unlike some popular fighting games, Nintendo never implemented rollback netcode in Smash Bros, a function that reduces lag and choppiness. It seems Sakurai didn’t really have a choice in the matter, though.
“When it comes to technical issues, it doesn’t really matter what I personally think,” Sakurai said.
“If my job is to do it, I’ll do it. And you never know, it could be fun in its own way. In fact, when we got online play working, I remember thinking. ‘Wow, it’s actually possible.’”
Lag aside, Smash Bros. Ultimate still sold over 30 million copies between its launch in December 2018 and February 2023 – not quite as impressive as Tears of the Kingdom perhaps, but a respectable number nonetheless.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF