Line #8 Creator/MasahiroSakurai


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/masahirosakurai.png]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Yes, I'm still alive."'']]
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7	->''"Nah, I'm only kidding."''
8	-->-- '''Sakurai''', WebVideo/NintendoDirect for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' (Apr. 8, 2014)[[note]]Said right after saying that [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Suit Samus]] wouldn't be returning to the battle[[/note]]
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10	Masahiro Sakurai (born August 3, 1970) is a Japanese video game developer best known as the creator of both the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, creating the former series' namesake character under Creator/HALLaboratory when he was only 19 years old. He has also served as the head of Sora Ltd. since 2005.
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12	Seeing how it was the '90s, and most of Nintendo's games [[NintendoHard were infamous for their difficulty]], Sakurai designed the original ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' to be relatively easy so players wouldn't be alienated by the game being too hard. He directed a number of ''Kirby'' titles from there, playing a smaller and smaller role in development as time went on, culminating in him [[DescendedCreator simply voicing King Dedede]] in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''. He worked closely with the staff for the series' anime, ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', and he also worked as the designer on ''Kirby Air Ride'', which was his final game in the series.
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14	Sometime after the development of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', Sakurai wanted to make a fighting game. It was developed again by HAL Laboratory, but during their spare time and with a [[NoBudget shockingly small budget]]. He wanted to make it different from the others: not with combo-based combat, and with simultaneous four-player gameplay. Originally called ''Kakuto-Gemu Ryuo''[[note]]Dragon King: The Fighting Game[[/note]], he felt it was somewhat bland. To remedy this, he added in characters from various Nintendo franchises, and the game was released as ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' in 1999. The game was a SleeperHit, and although it was originally intended [[NoExportForYou not to even leave Japan's shores]], it was localized, where it also did well.
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16	Over the following few years, Sakurai made ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' before his resignation, which he stated was due to [[{{Sequelitis}} HAL Laboratory continually making sequels]]. It looked as though he wouldn't make another game in the series, as he formed his own company, Sora Ltd., and worked on original titles such as ''VideoGame/{{Meteos}}''. However, he was approached by a good friend of his, then-president of Nintendo Creator/SatoruIwata, who persuaded him to make ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. During development, characters, items, and stages were posted on [[http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/index.html the official website]], leading to fans eagerly awaiting possible character reveals. The event was dubbed "Japan Time" by fans and remains a memorable era in ''Smash'' history.
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18	From there, Iwata and Sakurai wanted to work on an original game with both land and air combat for the Platform/Nintendo3DS, but they realized that the ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'' series would be a perfect fit, with its protagonist Pit and the goddess Palutena already having been given redesigns in ''Brawl''. The end result, ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', has been generally praised as a must-have for the system, becoming its KillerApp in early 2012.
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20	At E3 2011, it was announced that Sakurai would be developing two new ''Super Smash Bros.'' games, one for the Platform/WiiU and one for the 3DS. Although he was uncomfortable with announcing a game before development had ''even started''[[note]]he said he wouldn't start on the games until his work on ''Uprising'' was finished, which was around February 2012[[/note]], but it allowed staff to be recruited. Around summer 2012, it was announced the game would be [[http://www.siliconera.com/2012/06/21/super-smash-bros-3ds-and-wii-u-being-developed-by-tales-soulcalibur-tekken-staff/ produced by a joint effort between]] Sora Ltd. and Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment. Even after the previous ''Super Smash Bros.'' games, Sakurai -- at the behest of Satoru Iwata -- would go on to create [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate a new game for the Switch]] as a culmination of all that came before, and then some.
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22	Sakurai has also [[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/12/masahiro_sakurai_the_wait_for_smash_bros_will_be_worth_it stopped tweeting as frequently]] in order to focus more on the games' development, [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings and also because he grew tired of posting a game and fans instantly thinking the characters would be in the next]] ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' title.
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24	In 2022, Sakurai created a Website/YouTube channel titled ''WebVideo/MasahiroSakuraiOnCreatingGames'', in which he would provide insight to viewers on his work in the game industry, and various easy-to-understand advice about game development, with the goal of "to try and help make games around the world a little more fun".
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26	The English-speaking ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' community [[FanNickname calls him]] "Daddy Sakurai", to the point that the nickname was adopted/translated by other language-speakers as well (for instance, part of the Japanese community calls him "Sakurai-papa"). Also common are jokingly-created [[LadyMondegreen Mondegreens]] of his actual name, such as "Mashpotato Samurai" and "Massive Hero Soccer Guy".
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28	!!Works Sakurai has been involved in:
29	* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' (Platform/Nintendo3DS)
30	* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}''
31	** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' (Platform/GameBoy)
32	** ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' (Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem) and its remake, ''Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land'' (Platform/GameBoyAdvance)
33	** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' (Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem)
34	** ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide'' (started on the Platform/{{Nintendo 64}}, later moved to the Platform/NintendoGameCube)
35	** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'' (Platform/GameBoyAdvance) (Special Advisor)
36	** ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' (Anime)
37	* ''VideoGame/KouchuuOujaMushiking'' (self-contained LCD VirtualPet)
38	* ''VideoGame/{{Meteos}}'' (Platform/NintendoDS)
39	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''
40	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' (Nintendo 64)
41	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' ([=GameCube=])
42	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' (Platform/{{Wii}})
43	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' (Platform/Nintendo3DS and Platform/WiiU)
44	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' (Platform/NintendoSwitch)
45	----
46	!! Tropes commonly used by Masahiro Sakurai:
47	%%
48	%%This is a list of tropes he commonly makes use of. Not tropes about him as a person unless they are explicitly about creators, such as TrollingCreator.
49	%%
50	* ArtistDisillusionment: Sakurai departed from HAL Laboratory as he was disappointed with the "sequelization" of the company (particularly in regards to ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'') and the industry as a whole. Of course, this hasn't stopped him from developing four more installments in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, but even then, several interviews have given subtle hints that he is dissatisfied with doing so. That being said, he said during the Banjo & Kazooie fighter presentation that he was enjoying his work on ''Ultimate'' a lot, and that he plans to continue adding as many characters as he can to the game.
51	* BorrowingFromTheSisterSeries: He has brought gameplay features wholesale from the other games he's worked on to the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series:
52	** ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'': The Challenges section is derived from ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide''[='s=] Checklist system, where each unlockable is hidden behind a square and unlocked squares show the unlock conditions of adjacent squares.
53	** ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU 3DS/Wii U]]'' changed the difficulty setting in Classic Mode to use Intensity point, where raising (or lowering) the difficulty also increases the amount of Gold used to play the game, while also making rewards scale with Intensity, and using continues lowers the Intensity. This system is identical to the Fiend's Cauldron in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''.
54	* DescendedCreator: In ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', as well as the ''Smash'' series, he provides the voice of King Dedede.
55	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: During the final video presentation for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', Sakurai says it's "finally the climax" of DLC fighter releases. And sure enough, VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} was revealed just seconds later.
56	* NotMeThisTime: The vast majority of the fighters in the first Fighter Pass for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' being related to franchises that he likes led to fans assuming he picked them (especially once Byleth was revealed). However, [[https://twitter.com/bk2128/status/1225086628772765701 he specified that this is not the case]], as Nintendo was ultimately responsible for choosing fighters meant for Fighter Pass DLC. (More specifically, Nintendo gave him a list of potential characters, and Sakurai was allowed to choose which ones he wanted to add to the game)
57	* SignatureStyle: He's developed a set of features that are commonly associated with his games:
58	** AchievementSystem: A grid of achievements, some more significant than others, such that [[DoubleUnlock you cannot see what the other achievements are until you have completed achievements that border them.]] A few {{Effortless Achievement}}s are thrown into the mix to get you started, and [[AntiFrustrationFeatures limited-supply items that automatically claim an achievement]] are often included -- [[NoFairCheating but often can't be used on certain goals!]]
59	** BossRush: The player fights several bosses with breaks in between with limited opportunities to heal. In later games this ended in a more advanced version of the FinalBoss.
60	** DynamicDifficulty: First used in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' then later implemented in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', players wager in-game currency to increase the difficulty and [[HardModePerks the value of potential rewards]]. Failure will lower the difficulty and the reward value, and the player loses part of the wager. There are also special areas that require a minimum difficulty level to enter.
61	** Large, colorful buttons on his more recent main menus. ''[[http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2005/06/21/meteos-20050621010915971-1156600_640w.jpg Meteos]]'', ''[[http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/289612-super-smash-bros-brawl-wii-screenshot-the-main-menus.jpg Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', ''[[http://lparchive.org/Kid-Icarus-Uprising/Tutorial/1-00000.png Kid Icarus: Uprising]]'', and ''[[http://lightningamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Super-Smash-Bros-4-3DS-1-jpg.jpg Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' all feature screen-filling, multicolored buttons designed by his wife, Michiko.
62	** A staple of his earlier games like ''Kirby'' and ''Super Smash Bros.'' is that they're designed to be more beginner-friendly than their genres were usually known for at the time. ''Kirby'' got around PlatformHell by letting the protagonist fly, and ''Super Smash Bros.'' averted complicated button inputs frequent in the FightingGame genre by making all special moves into simple "direction + button" inputs.
63	** Running commentary done by characters, during gameplay. This started in ''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Revenge of Meta Knight]]'''s Halberd stages, and was later used in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, in the form of the secret [[Franchise/StarFox Star Fox transmissions]] and [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid codecs]] by using the taunt button. This became fully expanded for the entirety of ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', with ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' introducing Palutena's Guidance with some of the game's cast as tutors.
64	* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: He has [[https://www.siliconera.com/masahiro-sakurai-on-iwatas-last-mission-and-if-he-knows-whats-next/ gone on record to say]] that making ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' was the final mission given to him by his friend and mentor Satoru Iwata, before the latter's untimely passing. His response about what his next plan after that? "God only knows." Although he sees ''Ultimate'''s DLC as already outside of Iwata's mission.
65	* StartMyOwn: After squaring off against a couple during a round of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters95'' and noticing their struggles with playing, this gave him the idea to pursue his own fighting game that anyone could play without much difficulty, which would later become ''Super Smash Bros.''
66	* TakeThat: Has made a few in his "Mr. Sakurai Presents" videos for ''Ultimate'''s DLC characters.
67	** In Hero's presentation, he mentioned that it would be a shame if they could include only two songs from ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' -- a very obvious jab at Creator/SquareEnix, the franchise's owner, who previously only allowed two songs from the [[RunningGag eye-blindingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games in ''Smash'' (until Sephiroth's inclusion), in comparison to Creator/{{Konami}} allowing thirty-four songs from ''Castlevania'', Creator/{{Capcom}} allowing over thirty songs from ''Franchise/MegaMan'' and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' each, Creator/{{Sega}} allowing seventeen from for ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and 8 from the first ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', and later on, Creator/{{SNK}} allowing fifty tracks from their entire library of songs.
68	** In Terry's presentation, Sakurai made note of how out of the twenty SNK characters making cameos in the King of Fighters Stadium stage, Mai Shiranui wasn't amongst them. He said in the video that it was because "Smash is for good boys and girls of all ages", but an interview shortly after had him confirming that he was being sarcastic when he said that, because [[MoralGuardians CERO]] (Japan's ESRB counterpart) objected to a Mai Shiranui cameo despite both Sakurai and SNK wanting her to appear. It's not the first time either, as Sakurai butted heads with CERO several times through ''Smash for 3DS/Wii U's'' development cycle over numerous revisions of Palutena and a Wonder Pink trophy, and his response when interviewed during that time was to call CERO's censorship practices "juvenile".
69	** A lighter and more playful example; when he was showcasing Terry's Classic Mode and fought VideoGame/PacMan at one point, Sakurai mentioned how he constantly reminds co-developer Creator/BandaiNamco that Pac-Man was their character, and that they forget that he belongs to them more often than they'd like to admit. Note that Sakurai said this while in a room with Bandai Namco employees present, so they clearly weren't offended by it too much.
70	** In [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]]'s presentation, Sakurai talks about how Sephiroth's forward and back air attacks work. He then starts to harp on the technical details of the moves... before hanging on a second and throwing a huge jab at the MediaNotes/FightingGameCommunity.
71	--->''The forward air attack hits faster than the back air attack, so you'll need to be mindful of that. To be more specific, the attack activation for the forward air attack is 13 frames, and the one for the back air attack is 15 frames... [[{{Beat}} (...)]] [[DoubleTake Wait.]] [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow I can't say things like this.]] I'm just the guy who thought he wanted to make a party game. '''We can leave talk of details like this to the people who are playing at tournaments!''' So let's put it this way. Forward air attacks are fun to land. So are back air attacks. How's that?''
72	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Coke Zero. In an interview with ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'' series director Katsuhiro Harada, Sakurai admitted to drinking Coke Zero more than water. To the point where at Nintendo meetings, they would have the stuff prepared just for Sakurai.
73	* TrollingCreator: Almost as bad as fellow developer Creator/HideoKojima. This tends to show up especially in stuff involving ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', being rather aware of fan speculation, and using that to mess with fans.
74	** For ''Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS'', he teased both fan favorite [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Ridley]] and the supposedly leaked [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Palutena]] several times in a very self-aware fashion, never doing reveals that outright confirmed or denied their playable presence for a long time.
75	** Objectively, [[https://www.sourcegaming.info/2016/01/06/is-sakurai-a-liar/ Sakurai has almost never been outright deceptive]]. The Zero Suit Samus quote above was the only time he's stated something false to get a reaction -- and even then, he came clean seconds later. Despite Sakurai's reputation as a troll, he's usually more coy than outright manipulative.
76	** Special mention goes to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', where the character he chose for early-adopter bonus DLC wasn't a highly-anticipated big-name hero nor a highly-requested fighter, but Piranha Plant from ''Super Mario Bros.''
77	** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANutje9nHAE reveal trailer]] for the long-anticipated announcement of [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]] started with a silhouette of the character... only to be revealed as [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] trolling the Kongs. Doubly notable as King Dedede is often associated as the AuthorAvatar for Sakurai, due to him voicing the character.
78	** Six months later, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I67pPXS96UI reveal trailer for]] [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]] uses the ''exact same gag'', with the VideoGame/DuckHunt Dog and Duck as the trolls.
79	** During the reveal trailer for [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]], Sothis [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the popular argument of ''too many swordsmen'' (to which their solution was to become a swords''[[GenderBender woman]]'' and get the three Sacred Weapons) and the perceived over-representation of the ''Fire Emblem'' series in Smash. Following the reveal trailer, the Mr. Sakurai presentation would cut back to Sakurai taping a poster of both Byleths, before [[https://twitter.com/theSirToasty/status/1217827022304694272 turning towards the camera]] to deliver a [[SmugSmiler smug grin]].
80	* {{Workaholic}}: Development for the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series alone has him burning the midnight oil. He and his team developed the first game as a side project while doing other full-time work, which required them to come in on evenings and weekends to get it done. Even after the game was a success and got a sequel with a proper budget and development schedule, he still rushed to develop ''Melee'' in just over a year to release it close to the [=GameCube's=] launch. He worked diligently on ''Smash 4'' despite developing tendonitis in his right arm that made it difficult and painful for him to do his work. He's also returned to direct each new game in the series so far despite saying multiple times that the current game he's working on would be his last due to the heavy workload. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the [[https://youtu.be/fccgHnBQ0YM?t=1899 11.1.2018 Smash Direct video]].
81	-->"Now that we've finally confirmed the development of this DLC, please note that we'll be working really hard on it. ''({{beat}})'' [[SelfDeprecation I wonder if I'll ever get to take a break!]]"

Context Creator / MasahiroSakurai