E3 2014 | Super Smash Bros. Developer Roundtable Recap

Nintendo held a developer roundtable for Super Smash Bros. during E3 this week, covering more ground on the upcoming games.

Producer Masahiro Sakurai talked about the fighting style of characters, with each having 12 special variations. For example Mario will have a fireball, fast fireball and a fire orb as some of his modifiers, however these won't be usable in the "For Glory" online mode.

Characters can be equipped with items that boost attack, defense and speed, but there are checks in place to ensure everything is well balanced. For example, if players choose to make a character that bit faster, their strength will be lowered to accommodate.

Mii characters will also come with their own clothing options, but can't be used in the public "With Anyone" mode online, but is available to play with friends.

The FO engine (Figure Player) involves using computer-controlled players who can level up to 50, and are said to be better than traditional level-9 CPUs because they can learn human tactics over time. Sakurai feels these are "better computer players"; also usable as tag-team players in matches. These figures aren't essential to the experience, but Sakurai hopes players will consider figures as "partners in battle."

Sakurai also touched on the Nintendo Wii U to 3DS connectivity, where custom characters can be shifted between platforms.

The last part of the presentation involved the "Smash Run" feature from Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, where the fields are randomised and powers are picked up for battle using the touch screen. At the end of Smash Run, players can end with a regular battle, throwing or running contest.

Question and Answer session:

• The reason why the games are spread apart (Wii U/3DS) is due to the debug progress, testers etc.

• Character transformations were removed (like Princess Zelda --> Shiek) to give each character more depth.

• For the new games there have 12 graders for balancing, but there could be some balance issues, however. There are some better suited for 2 vs 4 player, with or without items.

• Sakurai loves menu design, having written a Famitsu column on the the process.

• Greninja was chosen well before Pokémon X and Pokémon Y came out, based on early reference drawings.

• With online play in the upcoming games, the team are working on the technical connection issues. Async communication is used for Mario Kart, but it isn't quite suited for fighting games.