Super Smash Bros. Ultimateshocked everyone with thereveal ofMinecraftcharacters like Steve, Alex, Zombie, and Endermanas the game’s next character, but other revelations were also somewhat surprising. During the reveal stream, series creator Masahiro Sakurai went into some detail on just how much work goes into adding any character to the game, explaining that in the case of Steve, things were much more difficult.
Fans had been speculating for a while that Steve or some other representative fromMinecraftwould make their way intoSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, but for the most part, it just seemed like a pipe dream. Even Sakurai himself said after the reveal that he didn’t think this day would ever come.
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The biggest challenge to addingMinecraftinSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatewas making Steve feel authentic, and that meant including both mining and crafting features. This obviously would be very difficult to do within the framework of a fighting game, but with dedication and hard work Sakurai and his team have managed it.
The crux of this was the reworking of every single stage in the game. In order for Steve to be played properly, players had to be able to place blocks, but the levels in the game currently aren’t able to support that type of thing. Sakurai explains during the reveal stream that his team had to go back through each ofSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s more than 100 stagesand program them to allow placeable objects like blocks and create other accommodations for Steve’s play style.
Sakurai continued to explain that balance is a major factor of introducing a new character as well, and with the manynew features implemented toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatealongside Steve, that must have been a challenging task. Overall, fan reception to this addition is mostly positive, with those in dissent wishing that this amount of work could have gone to other things. Even so, it’s hard not to love Sakurai for all the hard work he puts into this franchise, and most are simply appreciative of him and the team for making this happen.
It’s unclear how these stage reworks will affect gameplay with other characters. More likely than not, nothing will change, but it’s possible that fans may see more breakable portions of stages or other interactable environment pieces. Though there isn’t a release date for thisMinecraftDLC yet, fans can see Steve in action on October 3rd.
