Masahiro Sakurai On The Lengthy Process That Was Selecting The Music In SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE

Masahiro Sakurai On The Lengthy Process That Was Selecting The Music In SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is arguably Nintendo's most ambitious project this year. Today we get new information about the game via Masahiro Sakurai, who tells us about the process behind the game's music.

By JoshBerger - Sep 05, 2018 12:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Nintendo Switch
Source: Nintendo Everything
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the latest entry in the Super Smash Bros. series, created by Masahiro Sakurai in 1999. The games started out as fun party games that eventually became a household name to the point the series is now deemed as one of Nintendo's most renowned properties.

The game was announced via Nintendo's Direct during this year's E3, making fans of the series very excited for the game. It wasn't just the fact that the game was being officially revealed, but the fact that they announced that every single one of the characters that have ever been on a Super Smash Bros. game would be back—making it the most ambitioustitle in the series, as well as one of Nintendo's most ambitious titles ever.

It didn't stop there since Nintendo had another card up their sleeve, and a new Nintendo Direct that focused on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was released last month, once again blowing people away. The new game was featuring a staggering amount of content, including over 900 pieces of music.

The process behind selecting which songs made it into Super Smash Bors. Ultimate was a lengthy one, according to a recent interview with Masahiro Sakurai. The interview was posted on the Japanese magazine Famitsu, and thanks to the people over at Nintendo Everything we now have a transcription of it.

"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has around 800 tracks that play during battles, and approximately 900 tracks in total. Given that the game is still under development, that number may possibly change; even still, though, that number isn’t anything to scoff at!", shared Sakurai in regards to the unbelievable amount of songs the game will include.

"And with the returning “My Music” feature, you can enjoy a variety of songs on any given stage at your leisure. The number of songs varies on a series-by-series basis, and often suits the given title".

The My Music feature was first introduced in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS, which allowed players to select different songs for any stages, or to listen at their leisure when not playing the game. The Nintendo 3DS version even allowed players to listen to the music in clamshell mode.

"Every time we use a song from a guest series we have to shell out a lot of money for the right to use that song. It’d be difficult to acquire the rights to every song from every game, so – as we were only able to record a few songs for them – some titles might feel a bit underrepresented".

"Given those limitations, though, I feel like we’re doing our best with what we have for this Smash Bros. When it comes down to it, the amount of trouble we have to go through to acquire all those rights is dozens of times harder than would be in a typical game".

Sakurai then mentions how difficult it was to contact every single one of the composers, especially since he was concerned that information could be leaked—which could eventually end up spoiling the game. He also comments on getting the rights for the songs he wanted in the game, that can end up being quite expensive, which is another one of his concerns because he usually wants to include as many songs as he can, although he does understand the limitations.

"First, I sent each composer an email; that was about a year and a half ago now, so it was a struggle for me to tell anybody I was working on a new Smash Bros. game. Even still, I trusted them enough to give it to them straight. I sent a lot of the emails myself, but for some of the newer composers who would be involved I let members of the sound staff be my intermediaries".

"Once we had gathered about four to six people, we’d give a presentation about our plans. From there, we would explain to people affiliated with other companies or groups (like SEGA or Nintendo’s main development headquarters) the aims and main points of our plan", explained Sakurai—showing that the whole process is quite a lenghty one.

The music in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is only one of the many things that fans can look forward to when the game releases on the 7th of December, and it really seems like it will be the best Super Smash Bros. game yet. If this isn't proof that the team is doing their absolute best to deliver a great game, I don't know what is.

Mr. Sakurai goes into a lot more detail about the music included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so be sure to read the full interview at Nintendo Everything by clicking right here





Introducing the newest and most expansive Super Smash Bros. ever! Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arrives December 7, 2018. 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on the 7th of December.
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