We’ve previously told you about Namco Bandai taking part in the development of the fourth installment of Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, and we left you wondering which new characters would be joining the SSB roster. If you’re expecting a bigger, more hardcore pool of playable characters, the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, may have just crushed your hopes.
In an article in the Official Nintendo Magazine, Sakurai reportedly feels that there is no need to build a bigger roster and that they already have enough characters to maintain a feasible gameplay.
“In terms of quantity, we’ve probably already reached the limit of what’s feasible,” says Sakurai. “I think a change of direction may be what’s needed.”
“There is a certain charm to games that have huge casts of playable characters, but they tend to have issues with game balance and it becomes very difficult to fine-tune each character and have them all feel distinctive,” Sakurai shares with Nintendo Power.
This may be a bit disappointing—especially to those expecting the developers to throw in some Namco Bandai characters—but the good thing is there’s a good chance they won’t add to the line-up of characters that barely have any distinctions (i.e. Fox, Falco and Wolf). As long as it retains its current roster and that thrilling classic Smash Bros gameplay, this project will hopefully turn out fine.
Source: SlashGear, Official Nintendo Magazine, Nintendo Everything