Fighter Reveal Videos [Marketing]

[@DarthPaperBoy]

Smash's character reveal videos are almost as exciting as actually playing as the characters themselves. They're so good at communicating a character's appeal to people who're already fans and people being introduced to the characters for the first time.

[@DUHVlNE]

i mained inkling in ultimate and ive never played a splatoon game ever just because the first trailer had inkling in it and the trailer got me so hyped

[@icecontrol1]

Shame that there were some that were anti-hype Legit I don't get how that Byleth reveal was a good idea

[@kaitourobin840]

​@@icecontrol1Hey, that reveal trailer actually got me to go play Fire Emblem Three Houses.

[@pigs18]

​@@icecontrol1A victim of its own success. While a bit long the trailer was fine and I thought did a great job for a non-Fire Emblem player like myself in establishing both the character and the reasoning behind her/his moves. Its single biggest crime it seems is simply daring to follow the Banjo and Terry announcements.

[@prestonandtom9337]

Sometimes they're more exciting.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Digital Frontier did a great job at capturing the "anime-esque" aura to the animated scenes that sets up the tone of Super Smash Bros, especially "striking balance between serious and comical" moments that gives off the personality to the interaction of video game characters.

[@keynanmartinez]

Truly Godlike!

[@Kaybeeguy]

I am grateful these reveal movies exist. Back during the hype train for Ultimate, I would watch those so many times because I loved them so much, and just couldn't wait for the characters to be playable when they were announced because I wanted to play as them. I really miss those times during my teenage years. I'm currently now close to being 19 and I look back at these reveal movies with a lot of fondness, even with the fighters that weren't highly praised. I hope to one day see these more of these reveal movies be created in a theoretical future Smash Bros title.

[@aidanlyons25]

Ngl Smash 4's was also good but most lacked the cinematic portions though. Well, the DLC fighters in particular

[@spystar18]

I just want a cinematic story mode with full CG and Voice-over

[@angelbless45]

@@spystar18 A lot had to be cut due to the size limitation of the switch catridge.

[@Gestrid]

The Sora reveal in particular still makes me tear up.

[@spystar18]

@@angelbless45 Maybe someday

[@tiqosc1809]

The fact that such a large production is able to be kept secert is insane

[@EmoryIllustrated]

From the looks of it, the channel between Sakurai and the CG artists is very tight. Imagine working for those studios and Masahiro freaking Sakurai pages you for a proposal.

[@theaxiom191]

there's a small little thing called an "nda" and a "lawsuit"

[@mrshmuga9]

@@theaxiom191As if that’s stopped people from leaking info before. It’s still a surprise to not have it leak.

[@hikarunkun]

some of them leaked though, unfortunally

[@dr_rl123]

@@hikarunkunyea, notably roy and ryu in smash 4 and a few others i think

[@juanrodriguez9971]

Looking at the process for Min Min's reveal feels like a gold mine

[@ParakeetDSi]

Fr, I kinda wish I can see the story board, animatic and Pre-visualization for all of them!

[@RogersBase]

The fighter reveals videos are just as exciting as the inclusion of the characters themselves! Thanks for all your hard work!

[@sonicgalaxy27]

This is the whole reason why Nintendo pull the plug on many popular streamers and games on KZbin and Twitch by ruining gaming and artist developers like Sakurai hard on work. It’s like people giving Sakurai a blow to the head for not understanding this type of concept. Now I understand why Sakurai and his team chose to not to include the CGI cutscenes in the game series. Both gamers and streamers done this all the time on KZbin and Twitch just to get views, revenues and followers quickly in one day.

[@majoraswrath6182]

The reveals were so impactful for me when I was young. The Mega Man reveal was so hype that it got me to play literally every nes Mega Man

[@NetBattler]

Still sad that Capcom doesn't want to add every MegaMan variant....I would definitely maining MegaMan.exe

[@Roshuwah]

I was kind of the reverse! I had just been doing a marathon of the old games, and then some time after I finished megaman 8 the trailer came out and as soon as I saw him on the mountain I was done! Maybe not the "best" trailer, but probably my favorite for hype's sake!

[@Delzethin]

Goes to show just how _much_ work it takes to create the moments we've come to take for granted! Props to everyone who was involved in developing the reveal trailers.

[@FedoraKirb]

I think it’s telling just how many fanmade fighter reveal trailers there are, because they’re just such a cool idea. And the taglines people come up with are often really fun and creative!

[@norris5754]

I really wish we got more of these CG cutscenes in Ultimate, but now I understand why things turned out the way they did at least.

[@かみなり-s2r]

@@SanaeKochiya If MGS4 was released today, the majority of people would be satisfied with watching the movie only on KZbin.

[@cyberrb25]

I think it's not the first time he said it. However, this way it's set as definitive and with a well-preserved reference.

[@ExaltedUriel]

I still think considering cutscenes a "reward" for playing a game is a very outdated mindset to have, but considering how Smash's budget and scope ballooned even without them, saving that budget for marketing was the smartest move.

[@aceattorneyhdclips]

@@SanaeKochiya Tell that to the numerous amount of people that just watch Metal Gear Solid playthroughs as opposed to playing them at all. Just searching for MGS3 playthroughs yields a few videos with millions of views, as do MGS1 etc. If these were just cutscenes, there might be reasons to revist them, but you wouldn't watch a playthrough with no commentary if you intended on playing the game... Unfortunately, same goes for just about every narrative-driven game. People don't play them; they watch them. And if your business predicates on people actually buying your games, then that's a problem for you. Visual Novels are especially watched as opposed to played, which is even more harmful for that genre because once a player has 'watched' a Visual Novel, there is (typically) absolutely no incentive to play it at all. At least with Metal Gear Solid, which is story-driven, there is some reason to play it despite knowing the whole story because it does have some gameplay. The millions of views for Ace Attorney, Zero Escape or Danganronpa playthroughs, whether with commentary or not, can basically be seen as lost sales. The Great Ace Attorney had sold about 500,000 copies worldwide. Just one no commentary KZbin video of much of the game has over 250,000 views. If you account for all the various playthroughs out there, the KZbin uploads dwarf the sales figures. The fact those numbers are so comparable is worrisome for budding visual novel designers. It's a shame, but game designers nowadays do often feel the need to design their story and narrative with content platforms in mind. So long as KZbin, Twitch, and other social media services exist (which aren't going away anytime soon), it's harder to justify putting all your resources into a narrative or cutscenes that only enhance or reward the story experience when, if that's all you're doing, people will simply view them and feel fully satisfied without playing your game at all. It's easy to then suggest to put all the budget in both these rich cutscenes and narrative experiences along with bombastic gameplay and do 'both' at the same time, so that even if everything does inevitably leak there's still plenty of reason to play the games, but for many teams that's just not possible and one needs to prioritise what they do. If these cutscenes are only being truly enjoyed by a select few, the massive expense to produce it may no longer be seen as worth it. Then again, the whole 'lost sales' perspective calls to mind the fruitlessness of anti-piracy. In some ways, these videos serve as promotional material and can attract sales instead of nebulously 'losing' any that might have never heard of the game otherwise in the first place. After all, if you view your games as art (as some do), then a 'lost sale' should not be much of a priority to you as opposed to just making an impression. It's a nuanced discussion that numerous game designers have their own perspectives on. But one thing's for sure: the 'content' industry has at least changed the discussion around these things and warped what people decide to do around it.

[@Yoshizuyuner]

@@ExaltedUrielnot really it’s more of driving point to playing the game

[@chamtheman551]

As a big enjoyer of the Smash series, and especially for the modern reveal trailers, it has always been with such great joy and excitement to see one of your favorite characters get released The animated ones themselves looked so epic looking that it just drops my jaw everytime I see them, even till now!

[@reynoldskynaston9529]

I really miss the brawl style with the cinematics in the story mode. As a kid it was genuinely exciting to find out which fighters were in the game as I didn’t have the internet to find out. The announcements are still really cool though.

[@leonardroez4011]

I'd love to see a video explaining the process of negociation when trying to add a third party character/content to your game/proyect (Or which points you have to consider when other company ask you to use your character/content). Not every company would have the same agreements and that information works not only for videogames proyects.

[@Davethe3rd]

I think one of the best things about each reveal movie is how much the creators *get it* with the characters. Every single time, I'm like "Oh my god... they remembered!!" 🥺😭 I specifically remember Mega Man's reveal, being old enough to have grown up with the original games. Capcom doesn't really make Mega Man games anymore. They can't quite figure out how to market him to kids, I guess... But I've always felt that he's just as important to gaming as Sonic and Mario. But from recreating the intro to Super Turbo with Ryu to literally using classic SNK sprites with Terry, these guys *get* things about the character that even their creators don't. And that makes it *special* every time.

[@randytyson]

Those trailers help elevate the roster to new levels. Truly unforgettable moments

[@diddykong2143]

There’s always that one moment of the reveal where everyone goes wild.

[@falshion1837]

Sakurai when he reviews what his team is creating: "More passion, more passion, more energy, more energy, more footwork!"

[@keynanmartinez]

Spoken Like A God

[@UnexpectedGamer7]

Nothing in gaming has ever gotten me more hyped than Banjo & Kazooie's Smash Bros reveal, I literally cried tears of joy when it happened. Smash Bros truly is something special!

[@Ndukauba]

Not only were all of the Smash reveals incredible, you set the standard for how character reveals SHOULD be! All of the reaction videos to those reveals solidify that point, and it's something that not only you and your team should be proud of, but also us, the viewer, are honored to have experienced from beginning to end! Thank you for helping create unforgettable memories for us all!

[@kueyteow6288]

I absolutely love the fighter reveals! The thing that I don't see many people talking about are the references to the original game that the gameplay segment references. It's a nice surprise to those who are familiar with the fighter already, and they'll be able to recognise these amazing details. A few include: Richter summoning Hydro Storm, being replicated on the raining event on the Pikmin stage. Byleth's fishing and gambits, the latter being referenved with a bunch of tiny Ice Climbers. Sephiroth stabbing Zelda from above, a reference to an infamous scene... Enderman hiding underneath a leaf while its raining, and the zombie dropping "Rotten Flesh" after being killed

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

I never got this "cutscenes as a reward" part. they were essencial part of the whole single player mode. Even today, now and then I just watch them again, like a little movie without much talking on the side. It's really a shame we never had something like this after SSBB

[@FieraDevilWings]

You'll never get the same feeling after the first time you watch them, no matter if it was in-game or from an online upload. I imagine it was more about the intention of having those cutscenes be a reward for the player and the perceived failure of feeling like one that made Sakurai instead take advantage of the fact that they would be shared, rather than having the created experience be spoiled. I personally empathise with the fact that it could feel like a waste to put in the investment of time, money, and effort to create these cutscenes if someone is just going to share it online before the game is even in the hands of the public. TL;DR - blame people like ProfasiaGaming

[@Paraguai123]

Imma be real with you, using another game as an example. I play Final Fantasy 14 religiously and when their latest expansion was released, some people got early access to cutscenes and uploaded them. Major plot points beside, there were a lot of this small moments that if I watched before I played the game, it wouldn't have the same impact, due to how context matters. The same principle goes to Smash Bros. The Sonic cutscene for example. It comes only at the end, and it is supposed to be this Deus Ex Machina that you wouldn't expect if people didn't leak the game beforehand.

[@Hysteria98]

@@FieraDevilWings I still play The Subspace emissary for how the amazing cutscenes that tie it all together. It's ridiculous to think that removing a game's story wherein it was initially loved does justice to the gameplay that it was specifically tied to. Smash Bros. didn't have to have a story mode to begin with, so Sakurai's choice made more sense.

[@byronlyons3548]

It's like the other person said. Seeing things before playing the games is cool and all, such as story moments. But would it have been better than say, experiencing it yourself firsthand, by playing the game? The answer is most likely no. Considering that Nostalgia is a thing after all, and those weren't made by watching others play the game, or the later story scenes shown to you before you played them. It's why people are so fond of Pokemon Red and Blue (even though the later games are vastly better than it, by a lot). Because they played it first, before they were told or shown what it was about. Blasphemous, I know, but I say one of my fondest, probably favorite moment, is just going around the Silph Co big building. Going through all those warp pads, fighting Team Rocket. And that was probably because of what was going on, such as a tv show on my tv while I played the game at that part. Yet I will likely never have a good of a moment like that ever again, when at that part of the game. As they say, first impressions are important. And there's nothing more better than experiencing that first yourself, especially when you're into playing the game as it goes on. I say this is partly why people don't like the latest Pokemon games, especially as much compared to the previous ones, like Pokemon Black and White. Because the company feels the necessity to showing off way too much of the Pokemon, even now more than ever with there being less new Pokemon than the last (with the last big one being again Black and White). Leaving a lot of players not as satisfied. Imagine if they just gave away the big plot twist in Scarlet and Violet? Hoo boy, they would be more than upset, probably more than they are with the performance of those games as is.

[@hatadai]

日本語だと「参戦」というアイコニックな漢字二文字が使われ続けているところが、英語だとキャラごとに「comes to town」のような原作に寄せた言い回しになっていて、見比べると楽しいことに今ごろ気付いた。

[@Gabo_Rabo]

as an animation student and also a video game fan in general, this is so unbelievably inspiring it may be kinda naive for me to think that it is even possible, but hopefully some day we, the younger ones, get to collaborate in the production of something as cool as these reveal sequences, that i personally can't stop watching in repeat to seek for the little details, for real

[@TheRealBOBlibob]

Don't assume that every Smash player saw the movies posted online. Subspace Emissary was a super memorable part of my tweens, the cutscenes were amazing.

[@Bird.jp_Love-English-Fixes-plz]

I agree, but I’ve seen many streamers (especially overseas ones) mention leaks during live watch-alongs of the reveal trailers saying “The leaks were true!" It’s true that most people didn’t see the leaks, but it’s also true that they spread through the internet to a degree that developers couldn’t ignore.

[@ChaosTheSalamander]

For some reason, the scene where animated Sakurai is pacing the sound effects to the rhythm of the scene is really cool to me. I love the fact that there’s a rhythm to the movie that’s clearly there

[@budybas]

I like how he said after Brawl that he was done with rewarding gameplay with amazing cutscenes but then 4 years later, goes on to make Kid Icarus: Uprising. Arguably IMO the best written plot for the entire 3DS collection. Not to mention all those cutscenes are EYECANDY for 3DS.

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

4:10 Even the frequency visualizer display in the drawing matches what's happening on screen!

[@DaakkuuYRS]

Sephiroth's reveal was amazing. Mainly with the moment that he kills mario as a refrence to the infamous scene that everyone knows even without playing ff7.

[@johntheechidna1050]

You guys really out do yourselves with these trailers, and we’re all proud of how much you’ve done

[@atimholt]

I got my Switch a month or so before Smash Ultimate came out. It was my first Smash game. The character reveal videos were a major reason I was so hyped for my new Switch and the new Smash Bros game. I also liked seeing other fan's reactions to the reveals.

[@ktvx.94]

The Sonic reveal left a life-changing impression on me. It was incredible.

[@JarieSuicune]

Same! I remember spending my entire lunch break just watching that over and over (it was a night shift). It was so epic to see my hero join the club!

[@competitively3315]

Watching smash bros reveal trailers are like opening a new gift for the holidays. Also shoutout to the sephiroth trailer which is one of the best video game announcements of all time

[@watainiac]

What was equally as fun as watching the reveals was listening to Sakurai go over the characters' backgrounds and history while demoing how they play afterwards.

[@Gameboy3DS]

Banjo & Kazooie’s trailer still gets me teary-eyed; I’m glad he was able to see how huge of an impact it left.

[@pigs18]

I was more taken aback by seeing the Microsoft copyright notice on a Nintendo game. Everything seemed possible at that point.

[@laserbeamlightning]

The Sonic one was still one of the most hype gaming moments period

[@MisterHeroman]

Snakes might also be THE most shocking moment in gaming history.

[@kaitourobin840]

Final Fabtasy 7 and Kingdom Hearts, Sora for me. They had to jump through both Square Enix and Disney. Square Enix doesn't even let Kingdom Hearts use their own Final Fantasy Characters. The whole game is a FF×Disney crossover.

[@KokonutOil]

​@MisterHeroman Yeah, I did not see Snake coming. It was absolutely insane, my friends and I flipped out

[@keynanmartinez]

I agree

[@moesuave1992]

I remember exactly what I was doing and wearing watching the Cloud reveal.

[@ARDIZsq]

Oh man, seeing the storyboards, animatic, and previz for the Min Min reveal was AWESOME. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing all of them in their entirety at some point, though I know it probably won't happen. It's always fascinating getting to take a peek behind the curtain and see how the magic is made.

[@UltimaShadowX]

Smash reveal trailers are some of the most iconic ones in gaming, so cool we get a peek like this!

[@SpazzerMcFly]

The characters reveals truly were an event. I could probably recollect where I was and who I was with for each reveal since Brawl.

[@KaiSchSp]

Haha, that is so fun. Everyone voluntarily shared the leaked cutscenes from subspace and Sakurai just transforms the concept into straight up marketing. Genius!

[@WaluigiGoesWa]

I loved seeing Min Mins animatic and previz. I wonder if we could see some of the other characters as well.

[@CrystalGreymon]

Smash's character reveals work because Sakurai understands what these characters mean to their fans and how best to represent them. Sometimes the characters don't translate suitably to the gameplay style assigned to them (Lucina and Chrom should be practically identical) but it's for variety in gameplay so it's just that bit more reasonable. The fact the videos themselves carry such a successful showing EVERY time a new one appears (I swear people would go bananas for veteran trailers) is because of how much love and care is put into them. ありがとう！！

[@Schimnesthai]

I already read the notes on the Smash movies, they are great, i was feeling a bit sad that those were the last Smash Bros. site updates, so i'm glad you mentioned them here. People don't seem to check dedicated pages anymore, they look at social networks more, dedicated pages will always be more fun and interesting.

[@ness1278]

Hell yeah, you remember the smash dojo days too i bet

[@pigs18]

I only just recently deleted my bookmark to the Dojo page.

[@lrgogo1517]

“Dedicated pages will always be more fun and interesting” Most official websites for Nintendo games feel more like written ads…

[@GoldLight73]

These character reveal trailers were each about as hype as revealing a new game. Each one really was an event, and I’m so glad to have been a part of that era.

[@Mario1080p]

Appreciate the use of the gameplay portion of these trailers. They reminded me of Melee's "Special VIdeo" that can be viewed in-game.

[@Gabo2oo]

4:40 I remember some people genuinely thought Sephiroth could slice stages LMAO, the gameplay segments are super clever and well thought out. Especially all the character inteactions and connections, like Cloud getting motion sick on the WindWaker stage or the Shantae Mii fighting against Kaptain K. Rool.

[@M64bros]

What I love about the fighter revealed trailers is the CGI animation itself, especially for Mario, The way he moves and walks up to that key when reviving Sora was absolutely cool

[@Hysteria98]

Sakurai if you could also PLEASE make a compiled webpage of all the guest artist's paintings as well! Most people are still probably not aware of the ensemble pictures that guest character's artists drew up for the reveal, like Ryu or Bayonetta. They are absolutely superb.

[@TheMegaMarshtomp]

I know it's in the video, but it's been known for a while that Sakurai designed the Fighter Reveals to replace the amazing cutscenes from The Subspace Emissary, because he really, REALLY hated that the cutscenes were uploaded to KZbin. On the other hand, those in-game cutscenes (and the entire Subspace Emissary) are the coolest thing Sakurai's ever done, which is saying a lot. If I had to pick, I would take a new Subspace Emissary over a video platform for watching and uploading videos.

[@arjanosky08]

It's crazy how rewatching these trailers I feel the same hype felt back in the day (I entered Smash late due to technical stuff, so I couldn't really hype about every trailer, but still. I got engaged really fast, and I enjoy it like every other player, no matter which was your first game.)

[@johnnny6427]

I love Character reveal trailer. It was so much fun to guess who it is. And they are always S Tier animated! Good Times :)

[@moneydynamicmatanya9541]

What is Charakter? I’ve only heard of Character

[@johnnny6427]

@@moneydynamicmatanya9541 I forgot that in english it is written with c and not k. In German you write it with k

[@TheCrazyShyGuy]

I freaking love the fighter reveal videos of Super Smash Bros., I often watch them again from time to time, they're so good.

[@EnigmaBarry]

Thanks for giving us a glimpse at how the Fighter Reveal Videos were created. We could spend all day talking about the finer details but it was amazing to see things like the planning notes, storyboards, animatics as well as see how you applied your direction when creating these videos with things like angles and zoom ins. Thank you for showing us the process!

[@quetzalcoatl88]

Sakurai: Oh, you're a platform brawler alright. Just not a super one. NASB2: Yeah? Well what's the difference? Sakurai: FIGHTER PRESENTATION!

[@MSKFan15]

The Fighter Reveal videos do remind me a bit of Subspace Emissary's movies, as they both share similar energy that gets you ready for the action/character you're about to endure/use. The reveal trailer videos in the future games is actually a really interesting idea. :)

[@JamMac2023]

With how much hype there is around even the trailers, I don’t understand how companies wouldn’t be dying to have their characters and IPs involved in another Smsh Ultimate

[@Azureblue25]

Ikr, and I’m surprised Sega hasn’t had any other Sonic characters included in Smash Ultimate, they feel like the only major exclusions in Smash, they could’ve easily added Shadow as an echo fighter for Sonic but with a few moveset differences, and we could’ve gotten a pretty cool reveal trailer for him, we’d have the Ultimate lifeform in the Ultimate Smash title and it would’ve been fitting as the last echo fighter reveal trailer for Smash Ultimate to give it more impact, because Ken and Richter got pretty cool reveal trailers as well and they’re 3rd party echo fighters, and they were the only echo fighters in the game to get cool reveal trailers, so it’s likely the same would’ve been done with Shadow, also we could’ve even gotten Dr. Eggman in one of the fighters passes as an extra character for the Sonic series but with a more original moveset, he could’ve provided a unique moveset while being fun at the same time which is something important to consider when adding characters to Smash, and we’d have all the most iconic video game villains with their respective protagonists in Smash, and I’m sure his reveal trailer could’ve been on par with Inkling, King K. Rool, Steve, Sephiroth, and Sora’s reveal trailers as among the most hype Smash Ultimate reveal trailers, I imagine Shadow would be up there as well.

[@successanimation]

Banjo's reveal almost gave me a heart attack! It was perfect.

[@LightsJusticeZ]

Reaction vids to B&K reveal video always gives me hype.

[@bidoofus7921]

It’s an understatement to say the fighter reveal videos were some of the most exciting live events I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing with my friends. I got fully invested into competitive smash leading up to Smash 4’s 3DS release once the mega man reveal happened. Fast forward to 2023 and I still go back and watch the reveals and people’s reactions to them to reminisce and appreciate the sheer level of quality they put on display. Btw even as someone who didn’t really know who Sephiroth really was until the reveal, and even accidentally getting spoiled, I *STILL* get hyped up about his trailer more than any other. Outstanding work from everyone involved with this monster of a project!!

[@Fwoup]

I know it can be disheartening to see cutscenes leak early, but I still think that from the players perspective, at the moment in the game the scene is shown, the impact remains regardless of leaks

[@Geneolgia]

How nice to be able to hear about the whole process and even take a peak at the storyboards of one of the trailers, I really liked the cell shaded style of Min Min's trailer. But my favorite has to be Simon's reveal, seeing him and then Richter come out of nowhere was fantastic, not to mention Luigi's comedic bits.

[@JohnboyTheGamer]

For a lot of video games things get revealed early. That's the nature of the internet. Although despite it being shared and a good amount of people see it, there's a greater amount that refrains from seeing ingame cutscenes. Seeing content of something you worked on uploaded online I can see it being disheartening. However, it's also a great way to see scenes you love again. Even in Smash Ultimate I'm sure the great surprise from playing through World of Light was shown. I'm sure I'm not speaking for myself when I say I really loved the story cutscenes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I hope for it's return one day.

[@Mat4yo]

Seeing Sora's reveal with my brother is one of the most amazing moments we'll ever share together. It sounds crazy to think a video game could create such an experience but our faces said it all. It was the perfect blend of shock and excitement that pulled out every emotion we've generated with both Smash and Kingdom Hearts for two decades. Thank you for the memories, Sakurai! ❤ (Our reaction is on the channel Neo Sprite)

[@zeospark9715]

Personally I feel that Joker still has THE best reveal video ever! How it just happened right during the middle of the 2018 Game Awards out of nowhere on the day Ultimate released was just perfect!

[@Neobelmont1]

The simon trailer for me was like my end game. The fact that it happened made me so happy. Alot of the time it feels bad to be a castlevania fan because of absolutely no love from konami, but that day was like euphoric 100x. Two belmonts,alucard, 30 songs from the franchise,a stage, and an homage to gamings oddly most popular cult classic series, seriously despite its heritage, it's still a cult status and never got the love it deserved.

[@GerikDT]

If some people prefer having in-game rewards spoiled for them, I don't see why that should prevent future cutscenes from being made. Besides, the root of the issue was leakers, so work should be put into preventing that. The Subspace Emissary cutscenes were an amazing reward for us that don't spoil things for ourselves. Would love to see them make a return for a potential future installment.

[@RedUmbre]

I never really noticed that Sakurai is also a pretty good film director! Him and Miyamoto both have a lot of cartoon and film dna in their blood.

[@HammerGalladeBro]

I'm glad the Fighter Reveal videos also got a dedicated video to them. These videos are a good way to get the gist of a character. For example, even if you don't know that Diddy Kong, King K. Rool and Banjo-Kazooie were created by Rare, you can get the idea that there's some connection between them just from the Fighter Reveals.

[@joechill6327]

I don't know, cutscenes will always be posted online now but it doesn't ruin the story while playing the game.

[@jaye4521]

King K. Rool's reveal trailer is among my absolute favorite game trailers of all time. I could not contain the amount of hype seeing that character finally return, and in glorious fully-animated CG to boot. Years later, some of these fighter reveals are so high-quality that they still don't feel real.

[@gubbothehuggo2771]

I am still sad about what happened to subspace, but what ended up replacing it was a truly great thing. Staying up to stream reactions to these reveals was an entire culture, and it truly made us feel together as one between gamers.

[@mds_main]

To say that character reveal trailer are a success all over the world would be an understatement; they really went above and beyond their original goal and even the Smash Bros series. Some of my favourite ones are: Ridley, King K Rool, Little Mac, Megaman, Palutena, Mii Fighters, Sephiroth, Simon, Robin and Bowser Jr. That said, I still wish we got a new Subspace Emissary mode with cutscenes and all.

[@Droub_]

Joker's Reveal Video is the reason I started playing SMT games

[@Big_box_657]

My favourite fighting game character reveal was sephiroth in super smash bros ultimate, it was amazing, beautifully animated and true to the source material.

[@legacytag]

I will never forget how much joy I had seeing these amazing trailers. You and the studios behind them have truly done amazing work that have captivated the hearts of the world, amazing work Sakurai!!!!!

[@ender7278]

I always thought "people will just post the cutscenes online" was an excuse for the actual fact that a story mode like that became too large in scope to make with the ever-increasing roster. I didn't realize he was serious about it.

[@pirajacinto4]

Those storyboards are so freakin cool. And the reveals are something I always, ALWAYS go back to. In comparison the Brawl story videos are cool, but the reveals are always the most exciting to see.

[@LombaxOttsel]

I still watch the Sora reveal at least once a week

[@vain_x]

My most fond memories of Smash are playing Melee and Subspace Emissary, so it sucks that Sakurai has felt such a negative impact of cutscenes, it was such a great mode.

[@Quetzal00358]

I obviously still get excited for Nintendo Directs but there will never be anything as hype as Fighter Reveals

[@nickk3077]

I think Digital Frontier does a great job and it's nice to learn more about who produces these videos that end up shaping the internet for a long time.

[@blockeontheleafeon]

The Smash Reveal Trailers were so good that other projects used this format to reveal characters. Like SiivaGunner's King For Another Day Tournament.

[@UKERU00]

Dont give up on subspace emmisary level cutscenes even though people post them online! I personally dont even watch trailers anymore before buying games to avoid spoilers (only watch gameplay to see if I will like the game), there are still people like me who avoids all spoilers in this day and age!

[@travisstirling2157]

A real shame there was no story mode after brawl. You might have been disapointed by the early release, but there is a reason why subspace emissary is still remebered fondly to this day. No matter how awesome Ultimate and Smash 4 are, there was something missing about these games and it's probably magnificent cutscenes like in those in brawl.

[@ojhat]

that's either some incredible talent or a huge library of art styles (I'm terming the process broadly) that Digital Frontier achieved to get such different and unique visuals for each. and every one. of the reveal trailers! You have the sketchy 2D of Little Mac, the boldly stark lighting of Dragon Quest Hero, the Watercolor-y effect for Byleth, the very anime-drawn style for Palutena, nothing but Pixels for Duck Hunt, and so many more. That's a LOT of buttons, toggles and switches to reasonably adjust not just at a render level but a modelling and foundational design level.

[@flynnroberts7787]

Fighter Reveals are known to give HYPE energy! Glad Sakurai posted this!

[@megamanxfan02]

Kingdom hearts fans loved the sora reveal especially at the end where Mario shakes his hand.

[@CyberSonic157]

I would so much rather story cut scenes exist even if it meant they were posted online where it wouldn't be "rewarding".

[@coneg2714]

really neat to see the full process behind animating these! every now and then i have a moment of rewatching them in order, while the early ones are still good you can definitely feel the improvements all these teams made by the time of sora's reveal trailer. and it's mentioned that they were outside the scope of this, but seeing that sonic trailer for brawl is one of the most memorable moments of looking forward to a game for me.

[@squidmcbumbleberry2766]

Mr. Sakurai please don't stop making the in-game cut-scenes! The Subspace Emissary was very special and loved by everyone! Even if things did get leaked don't lose courage. Everyone in the world would be excited for a new adventure mode like the subspace emissary in a new smash game!

[@jonathanvilla1057]

15 years later coment

[@chayob8914]

So many memories watching these reveals live, watching them along with other streamers such as Etika, laughing, crying, being shocked, being ecstatic, yelling at my screen like a psychopath… Thank you Sakurai 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@Pejelo]

DOES he know how massive was the Steve Reveal? It even take down twitter for a moment, NOW that's an impressive success.

[@Nekotaku_TV]

These reveals are so very special, one of a kind in the world and it's sad it's over (for now) but it's been amazing. Even when/if it's back it will never top Ultimate. And it's not news about why he didn't do cinematic videos for the game again, but I like many don't agree with him. Really wish we got more, but the reveals are great too. Love knowing that Sakurai and the team got a lot of motivation from fan reactions.

[@KidAL0]

I feel like it went without saying, but it was still good to hear that the overwhelming popularity of the reveal trailers served as encouragement for the dev team

[@RebelliousTreecko]

The fighter splash screens with all the puns, as well as the large art pieces made by members of the team of the series the fighter was from were an incredibly satisfying part of Smash 4, and I'm glad part of that was brought over for Ultimate.

[@MizunoKetsuban]

Fun fact on the first bit, that's actually strictly a localization thing. In the original Japanese versions they effectively all just say the character joined the battle.

[@cassiebelmont993]

Mr. Sakurai is revealing the secret sauce to making great teaser trailers.

[@emperormegaman3856]

Is that I-no on your profile pic ?

[@cassiebelmont993]

@@emperormegaman3856 yes

[@emperormegaman3856]

@@cassiebelmont993 Could you tell me who is the artist, please ? i think i've seen this pic, but i can't remember where.

[@Rodanguirus]

I've always been drawn to Smash more due to my love of several of the source games than Smash's own mechanics, and by Ultimate, these fighter intros were definitely my favorite aspect. These lovingly detailed cinematics of the characters and games I adore just felt so perfectly tailored to me. Smash's musical arrangements and trophies (RIP) are two other elements that I hold dear. Hearing chiptunes revisited and reinterpreted (often by other legends of the industry) or seeing 3D models of characters like Baby Bowser or Meta Knight back in 2001 is a huge part of Smash's appeal for me.

[@dannypalin9583]

Has anyone seen the Japanese 3DS commerical with the AKB48 Miis? That is one of the most epic CG Smash skits ever made. I've long had the suspicion that it was the original Mii Fighter reveal trailer. I still remember when screenshots were leaked online with the original poster saying it was the intro.

[@lionheart4424]

Smash reveals were events on themselves. This is top marketing and it only shines because of your passion and dedication. Thank you so much! 5:59 it even made nuns happy! :D

[@tatanga]

Ha appropriate that they put the Banjo video up when talking about the global response, my man definitely watched the Nintendo Store reaction

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Smash 4 is was also the first time we saw the famous Smash Invitation, it worked well for Villager and Isabelle especially with the setting of the games.

[@Rubberman202]

Once again, Sakurai complaining that people were putting cutscenes from Subspace Emissary online. Like, I get why he's frustrated, but that's something you just have to accept is going to happen with games like this. I think it really sucks that story-heavy adventure modes were scrapped partly because of this; like the fighter reveal trailers are fun, but they don't really get a chance to showcase characters interacting with each other like they did in Subspace Emissary. That's why I was excited, and subsequently disappointed, with World of Light's reveal trailer, because I thought we'd get something like that again... and then we didn't.