Posted 5.17.2001
The time is finally here! I’d like to present the Gamecube title “Super Smash Bros. Melee!” To all of the fans, I’ve made you wait for quite a long time.
I am the director of Smash Bros., Masahiro Sakurai from Hal Laboratories.
On May 17th, 2001, by the time this page will have been posted, I think I’ll be in Los Angeles.
(I’ve entrusted the maintenance of this website to the people at Nintendo and my staff at Hal Laboratories).
Here, at E3, the Gamecube version of Smash Brothers will be shown for the first time.
And on July 7th, I will begin “News Flash: Smash Bros. Dojo!!”, using Nintendo’s homepage to deliver news. My intention is to directly show new updates from development.
It’s the kind of plan that might anger the higher-ups, to be divulging things that could be industry secrets. It’ll be some time before this starts, so I’d like to ask for your patience.
It’ll be some time before I start revealing things officially.
I first told people that I was going to make a “Smash game for the GameCube” at E3 1999, in America.
The date on the finished design plan was July 5th, 1999. Prior to that, I’d say “I’m not making Smash Brothers,” while privately tinkering away at it. Because at the time there wasn’t a Gamecube development kit in any shape or form, I had to start with a design plan and work on it slowly but consistently on my own (I was also working on “Smash Dojo!!” at the same time).
And currently, as of May 2001, while there are a small number of people coming and going, my staff has grown to over 50 people, and if we count people that were involved on the project at any point in time, that number would increase to at least 100 people currently working on this project. And not a single person on this team wants to make this game boring, or not fun.
I’m extremely motivated.
People’s expectations are higher than ever.
And I want to contribute to the future of this new hardware, the Gamecube.
Many people contribute, and it’s a worthwhile job, where I am entrusted to characters that have been raised by many who have come before me.
In every way, I think this will be the last time I tackle a project of this scale.
Anyway, I’m trying very hard.
I’m sorry that you have to wait until the website is formally opened, but I’ve included a bunch of screenshots. You can really play Smash in this quality!
 A massive blow from Mario! It’s a new move. |
 Please don’t throw coins or have a Pokémon battle on a racetrack. |
 Rest assured, four-player battles are here. Wait, isn’t there an extra…? |
 This isn’t the new Mario game! |
 This isn’t the new Zelda! |
 Smash Brothers, assemble! |
 Mario’s fiery fighting spirit! |
 Peach appears! You shouldn’t hit girls and send them flying, though. |
 It’s Kirby. He’s very round. |
 We’ve upped the fidelity on his skin. And that’s Pak E. Derm. |
 It’s Donkey Kong. Loves bananas. He’s more muscular now. |
 Ness, from MOTHER 2. …Ness is the one on the right. |
 Fox. The Great Fox and the Arwing are there too. |
 The man who runs at the speed of sound, Captain Falcon! Is this a new move? |
 It’s a new character, Bowser! He’s holding a Beam Sword. |
 Samus preparing a Charge Shot. We’ve added a special weapon to her Arm Cannon… |
 Pikachu. Is that a…Fire Flower? |
 The swordsman from Hyrule. His hair flutters in the wind. |
 Sheik joins the fray. With her martial arts skills, she can toy with her opponents. |
 The Ice Climbers join the battle! The blue one is Popo, the pink one is Nana. |
 It’s a big picture, so it might take some time to download. Of course, there will be hidden characters that aren’t seen here. |
All pictures were taken during development/the last photo is not in-game.
…I’ll just say this now: we’re planning to have a Camera Mode.
You can move the camera freely during a battle, and take pictures like those ones above, zooming in or out as you please.
And that’s the first one down! If you like what we’re doing, please consider supporting us on Patreon!
- Sakurai’s Internal Smash for Wii U/3DS Development Notes - June 23, 2017
- Kirby’s Development Secrets - April 19, 2017
- Sakurai Discusses His Game Design Philosophy In a Podcast [2002] - March 28, 2017
“In every way, I think this will be the last time I tackle a project of this scale.”
Lolnope. To be fair, I don’t think he ever tackled a big game like Melee with such a short development time ever again.
Melee was rougher on Sakurai than any game he’s made since, yeah. Real, real bad for him health-wise.
“In every way, I think this will be the last time I tackle a project of this scale.”
dohohohohoh
If I had a dollar for every time a game developer said that and then went on to make something even bigger… but I get it, after making what you feel like is the best you could make at the time, trying to top that is a gargantuan task. I just find it funny how often I hear phrases like this.