Super Smash Bros. 3DS developed to evolve series, says Sakurai

Super Smash Bros. is heading to 3DS and Wii U, but director Masahiro Sakurai has stated that he felt that the series had hit a point where it couldn't evolve any further, and that the handheld edition was created to bring about change.

Speaking with Puissance Nintendo, Sakurai said of the handheld version's creation, "While the development of Kid Icarus: Uprising was at its end, Satoru Iwata came me propose to develop the new Smash Bros game, and asked me if it should be on 3DS or Wii U.

"We arrived at a point where the series could not evolve, and we wondered if the handheld console was the solution. In the past, we have increased the number of characters and arenas, but this was not enough."

Sakurai added that while the new Smash Bros. was made on 3DS initially, the console's technical limitations led the team to make a Wii U version as well. "At that time, we could have chosen to develop a 3DS version only," he recalled, "but we realised the presence of several limitations.

"I am referring to the fact of playing a game like Super Smash Bros on a small screen. Thus, even if it is not easy to develop two versions simultaneously, we chose to adapt the game experience to the specifications of each platform."

For those of you complaining about the lack of cross-play between both versions, Sakurai re-iterated the fact that the 3DS build will feature unique stages derived from Nintendo's handheld back-catalogue, while the Wii U build does not.

"Even though the characters will be the same in the version Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, the arena will be completely different," he confirmed. "In the 3DS version, they are based on games released on portable consoles, while Wii U, arenas are based on articles on home console games."

Was the Smash Bros. series at a point where it couldn't evolve further? Let us know what you think below.

Thanks ONM.