With Pac-Man having joined the ranks of new characters set to appear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS later this year, Masahiro Sakurai has revealed that he nearly entered the fray sooner.
In his Weekly Famitsu column, Sakurai shared that, as with the Mii Fighter, Pac-Man had been on the drawing board for Super Smash Bros. Brawl at the request of Shigeru Miyamoto no less.
“During development of Smash Bros. Brawl, Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo approached me and asked, ‘Can’t we have Pac-Man as a guest character?’ At the time, imagining the image of Pac-Man and his incomplete pizza shape, I thought to myself, ‘Hmmm… That’s a little too farfetched.'”
While colleagues and fans continually shower Sakurai with ideas as to new playable characters to consider, it takes far more effort to implement them correctly during development.
He explained: “How to give the character their own individuality as a fighter and how they’ll move. Should the game system maintain a consistent form or not. What other fighters are there and how will the new character differ in strategy? Does the new idea fit with the original game? Most importantly, is it entertaining?”
Now, eight years later, Pac-Man is now already proving a popular addition to the roster, especially considering he’ll be appearing alongside Capcom’s Mega Man and SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Something that many would never have imagined possible years ago.
“You never know what’s going to happen in this world,” Sakurai jested. “I’ll just keep my mouth shut. That’s a good idea.”
[Thanks Kotaku]
Pac-Man was nearly included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
