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Masahiro Sakurai Will Return for Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo Switch

The longtime series director just can't seem to quit Super Smash Bros., no matter how much of a toll it has taken on him mentally and physically.
Ozzie Mejia
Ozzie Mejia
5

There have been a lot of question marks in the wake of Thursday's sudden surprising reveal of Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo Switch. The biggest question on this end has been whether this will be an all-new game or an updated port of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. That question is starting to become slightly clearer with news that longtime series director Masahiro Sakurai is set to return.

"Right now we're just at the stage where we revealed this game, but I’ve been working on this game in silence day after day," Sakurai said on Twitter (via Polygon). "Please wait until we can release more information, or until release day!"

There's just no Substitute for Sakurai.

What's surprising about Sakurai's return is that the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game had taken a massive toll on him. Not just mentally, but physically, as Sakurai has suffered muscle ruptures and calcific tendonitis in the past. After the release of those two games, Sakurai spoke of his mental drain in Weekly Famitsu. Weeks later, he had told Game Informer magazine (via NintendoLife) that this past generation of Smash Bros. games would be his last.

But Thursday's tweets seem to indicate that not only is Sakurai back in the saddle, he's been riding the horse for some time. That seems to lend credence to the idea that the upcoming Switch game is an entirely new entry to the Smash Bros. series. It also indicates that "2018" may indeed mean a bonafide release window, not just that more information is coming this year.

Shacknews will continue to follow this story and offer any updates as they come in.

Senior Editor
Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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