Nintendo is hardly lacking in successful franchises, and yet, some 20 years ago it managed to invent another strong IP by uniting its other IPs. For many years, theSuper Smash Bros.series has brought many of Nintendo’s most iconic characters together under the roof of a platform fighter. AlthoughSuper Smash Bros.has changed a lot leading up to the Nintendo Switch’sSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,it remains a major part of the Nintendo brand. That’s why it’s a little sad to hear from franchise creator Masahiro Sakurai that Nintendo has no current plans to produce anotherSuper Smash Bros.game.
WhileSmash Ultimateis very fresh and is certainly a tough act to follow, it’s still strange to think that Nintendo might walk away from the franchise.Smashis a very successful seriesthat still has room to explore interactions between Nintendo stars and other favorite game characters. If Nintendo isn’t planning on releasing a newSmashgame soon, then maybe it has something very different in mind: a traditional fighting game. A Nintendo character fighting game that focuses on button combos and level playing fields could be just the right successor forSmash Ultimate,but Nintendo would also risk releasing something too different fromSmash.
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Pros and Cons of a Traditional Nintendo Fighter
The positives of aSmashspinoff or successor using traditional fighting game design are clear.Smash Ultimatestands out from its predecessorsthanks to its huge fighter roster, World of Light, online play options, and so on, but switching genres wholesale would definitely justify another Nintendo fighting game. While a newSmashgame would have to trim down its roster and therefore stand partially inUltimate’s shadow, a traditional fighter would have good reason to use a smaller roster, since each character involved would have to have their movesets rebuilt from the ground up, thereby making the new game fresh in another way.
There’s one more advantage of a traditional fighter usingNintendo characters: esports. A traditional fighter with a roster likeSmash’s could curry favor with traditional fighting game pros, helping Nintendo get involved in competitive play.
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Of course, there’s some significant drawbacks to a traditional fighter with Nintendo characters. For one thing, Nintendo prefers to make games for players of all kinds. Traditional fighting games often encourage hardcore play and practice, whileSmashis aimed toward players of all skill levels and still shows its party game roots, in spite ofSmash’s own thriving competitive scene. Nintendo largely prefers making casual-friendly and family-friendly games, which means a traditional fighter might not play to its strengths, unless it develops a significantly simpler fighter than most of the genre. It’s also worth noting thatSmashprofessionals are far less likely to be drawn to a traditional fighter than a newSmashgame. On the contrary, majorSmashplayers might be disappointed in a shift like that, which could hurt a new Nintendo fighter’s image.
Smash’s Uncertain Future
All in all, it seems unlikely that Nintendo would reboot or replaceSmash,simply because the franchise stands so tall. No matter how difficult it might be to make a worthy successor toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,the fact remains thatSmashitself is so beloved that Nintendo has little reason to make a completely different fighting game with a similar presence. What’s more, it’d be putting itself at a disadvantage by developing a new fighting game from the ground up when it could justbuild onSmash Ultimate’s innovationsinstead. Still, ifSmashwill eventually continue afterUltimate,then drastic change may be what the franchise needs to stay fresh. Maybe Nintendo can find elements of traditional fighting games to incorporate into the nextSmash Bros.game, changing high-levelSmashskills while preserving the platform gameplay that fans love.
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