Min Min, the latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character, has made quite a splash since she joined the fighting game's roster. But game designer Masahiro Sakurai recently revealed that players almost got a completely different version of the character.
Min Min is one of the most unique characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Most characters have a button for normal attacks and a button for special attacks, the A and B buttons respectively. However, with Min Min, the normal attack button control's her left ARM while the special attack button, with some exceptions, controls her right ARM. From a player perspective, it often feels like Min Min has two sets of normal attacks, and no special attacks.
However, in her original conception, Min Min was going to have no special attacks at all, according to a translation by Robert Sephazon on Twitter. Sakurai felt that removing the special attack would make playing with Min Min feel closer to the experience of playing ARMS. To understand what a break with convention this would have been, every single character has had special attacks going back to the very first Smash game.
Sakurai quickly scrapped these plans. While working with characters from other games, it's important to try and keep the feeling of those games. However, Sakurai said that Smash "doesn't necessarily have to follow the original games 100%" instead, it's more important that they ensure "the characteristics and uniqueness of the original game shine in the new project." In other words, a character doesn't have to play exactly like how they play in their game, as long as Smash captures that characters vibe.
This approach to game design makes a lot of sense, and has allowed for the broad approach to character inclusion that has come to represent the Smash series. For example, players don't need to attach a NES Zapper to play Duck Hunt. Instead, the character feels connected to the NES game, while still handling like a Smash fighter.
By giving Min Min pseudo-special moves instead of removing them entirely, Saukrai created a fun and unique character, that feels true to both Smash and ARMS. And while she isn't likely to dominate the competitive Smash scene, she's certainly a welcome inclusion to the series.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for the Nintendo Switch.
