Fans eager to see Tales, Tekken, or other Namco Bandai characters in the next Super Smash Bros. may be left disappointed to hear that Masahiro Sakurai will not prioritize them for the roster, despite the company’s involvement.
According to a recent interview, Sakurai stated that just because Namco Bandai cooperated in developing Smash Bros., that does not mean he will be giving special consideration for third-party characters. According to the game’s director, Smash Bros. is still considered “an all-star collection of Nintendo characters,” and only under certain occasions can he decide to add third-party characters like Mega Man, Solid Snake, or Sonic the Hedgehog.
“Adding third-party characters should be considered a very special case,” says Sakurai. Getting these characters into the roster is a huge challenge when a lot work and arrangements that have to be done to satisfy every party (fans, property owners, staff, developers, etc.). Sakurai does, however, acknowledge the volumes of requests by fans concerning the inclusions for third-party characters. Even with Nintendo properties like Pokémon, adding characters is challenging due to the amount of parties involved, and the wrangling that ensues.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for fans at the moment, but the roster is still small, and there may be some hope that a Namco Bandai character may enter Smash. It won’t be by a long-shot, unfortunately; but Sakurai does contemplate on a lot concerning design choices, like content and attacks. We’ll see what happens in later updates.
On another note, Mega Man creator, Keiji Inafune, writes that he is “ecstatic” to see the Blue Bomber in the fighter’s roster, adding that he cannot wait to play as Mega Man, and beat his kids at Smash Bros. Perhaps the special occasion behind Mega Man’s inclusion is that it’s Capcom’s 30th anniversary.
