After 2 years and 8 months, Masahiro Sakurai has officially uttered a resounding “GAME!” for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The legendary director and designer delighted social media since December 2019 not merely with his teases for upcoming characters–when a new Smash icon hit the roster, I never felt so alive–but with his daily Smash Ultimate screens series. The dude has been posting daily screenshots from his game for 970 days.
『スマブラSP』の開発中、私はチーム内に公開する日報で1日1枚、開発中画像を上げ続けていました。ずっと続いています。
この画像をおよそ1日1枚、しばらくの間ランダムでアップしたいと思います。撮影にはデバッグ用機能を使っている場合もありますが、ご容赦を!! pic.twitter.com/IGXO9E3DbG— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) December 27, 2019
Translation:
During the development of Super Smash Bros. SP, I kept uploading one image a day during development in the daily report that was published within the team. It’s been going on for a long time. I would like to randomly upload this image about once a day for a while. In some cases, the debugging function is used for shooting, but please forgive me!
However, all good things must come to an end. Even things that last almost 3 years straight!
The Smash Ultimate roster, impressive as it is, couldn’t keep filling up forever. Neither could one man hope to post such creative, evocative, sometimes poignant, and often hilarious screenshots for eternity. Sakurai made the following announcement on Twitter.
This concludes the daily Smash Ultimate screens I’ve been posting since Dec. 2019.
Thank you for your support! #SmashBrosHowever…I’ve been thinking about starting something new. (This time it won’t be daily, though.)
Check back around this time tomorrow for more info! pic.twitter.com/t8FSUwJa0A
— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) August 23, 2022
What his new project is remains to be seen. You’ll likely know by the time you read this! We at The Pixels would like to join the refrain “Let Sakurai Rest”, though that of course is up to him. Creatives gotta create. I doubt we’ll see him dive headfirst into yet another Smash game with his next announcement.
In the meanwhiles, we have only the legacy of one of the greatest crossover fighting games of all time to enjoy. Mario, Sonic, Solid Snake, Sora, Sephiroth, Banjo Kazooie, frickin Minecraft, Xenoblade, and the death of Luigi all in one game? How.
Here are some of my personal favorite Smash Ultimate screens Sakurai has posted.
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, director of content, lead writer, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves. It can be done, even in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.
