Decidueye Was Nearly Chosen As The Gen 7 Pokemon Rep In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The latest issue of Nintendo Dream has an interview with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai, who revealed several new behind-the-scenes tidbits on some of the characters and potential newcomers. [Thanks, PushDustIn and Meshima on Twitter!]

Here are the highlights:

• Decidueye was almost chosen as the Gen 7 Pokemon series representative, but was swapped for Incineroar.

• While there was some argument over which game Zelda originated from, Zelda in Smash Ultimate is based on both A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds.

• Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and ARMS characters could have been considered, but had bad timing.

• Ridley, King K. Rool, Simon and Richter were all added thanks to influence from the Smash Ballot near the end of Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• The concept of King K. Rool’s moveset was to be a heavy character that did things not done usually for heavy characters.

• Sakurai reiterated that Piranha Plant was chosen as it wasn’t a hero or villain, yet was still recognizable.

• At one point, a penalty system for camping was considered, like lowering run speed. However, the idea was scrapped as it was near impossible to tell what was “campy”.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available for Nintendo Switch.