Sakurai reveals how Smash Bros. DLC fighters’ visuals were overhauled during development

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate creator Masahiro Sakurai has revealed how the aesthetics of the DLC characters and their stages changed throughout production.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate released DLC characters during the pandemic, which altered how they were produced, as the team was forced to switch to remote work.

Sakurai has discussed the challenges that came with developing new characters during this time, but his team was able to pull through and ensure that all of the Fighter Pass characters came out during the established release window.

Since the final DLC character was added to Smash Ultimate, Sakurai has discussed its development in his YouTube series. In the latest video, he talked about how the visuals of the characters needed to be altered before they were released.

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Sakurai has revealed how Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighters & stages changed during development

A new video on the Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games YouTube channel titled “Odds and Ends of Supervising” details how the characters released after Min-Min were changed during development, mostly in terms of their aesthetics.

Steve from Minecraft had his throw adjusted to allow him to grab nearby opponents, while his blocks were adjusted to make them stand out on dark stages. Speaking of dark, the Minecraft stage had its night mode brightened, while Enderman’s model was changed to allow him to stand out more.

Sephiroth had his sword’s damage markers altered while its artwork was darkened to make it look sharper. Sakurai also revealed a video showing a toy he used to demonstrate the Highwind’s escape in Sephiroth’s stage. Sephiroth’s trailer was also darkened to make it look more like Advent Children.

Pyra & Mythra had their walk animations changed during development, along with the hitboxes & trails of their attacks, to make the collision more visual. Pyra’s smile was also flattened, while Mythra’s blade had its tip altered.

Kazuya’s face was altered to make him angrier, while his devil wings were changed to stop them from obscuring the action. The Devil Fist punch also received extra animations to make it look stronger when it connects. The Mishima Dojo stage received extra details to make it look more impressive.

The amount of detail given to such small visuals in Smash Ultimate is staggering, especially as it’s stuff that most players wouldn’t notice. This shows how determined Sakurai and his team were to make Smash Ultimate the greatest entry in the series.