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Mr. Sakurai Presents

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Mr. Sakurai Presents (のつかいかた, How to Use), known as Battling with in Europe and Oceania, is a series of unscripted video presentations hosted by Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai at irregular intervals which details upcoming downloadable content for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. These presentations are similar to Super Smash Bros. Directs, though they do feature lower budgets than a traditional Direct. These presentations also briefly discuss the history of the series and how it was adapted to Ultimate.

With the exception of Joker, each downloadable fighter part of a Fighters Pass has had a presentation hosted by Sakurai. Joker's presentation was released unannounced on April 16, 2019, and was done in the style of standard Nintendo Directs.

General format

  • What is...: After briefly introducing himself to the viewers, Sakurai talks about the series that the fighter is from, the various games in the series, and the style of the games.
  • <Character> joins the battle!: Sakurai goes into details about the character's whole moveset, including standard attacks, smash attacks, aerial attacks, special moves, and Final Smash, which is always shown last. Unique mechanics for certain characters, like Hero's MP Gauge or Terry's command inputs, are also shown off and explained.
  • New Stage: <stage name>: Sakurai talks about the stage that comes with the fighter, including its design, unique elements, and all of the characters that appear in the background of the stage.
  • Let's see them in action!: After showing off just the moveset, Sakurai shows a complete run of the character in the various modes of the game: For Hero and Banjo & Kazooie, he played a regular Smash battle. For Terry, he played his Classic Mode route. For Byleth, he played Squad Strike.
  • Song Collection: Sakurai goes over a list of soundtracks that are included with the fighter, and shows a list of them on screen, with new remixes being labelled with an icon. During the presentation itself, whenever a new song is being played, the corner of the screen will show the name of the song for reference.
  • Version <update number>: After discussing the main content of the DLC, Sakurai then talks about the update that will release with the DLC and the extra content that comes in it, including new modes (like Stage Builder and Home-run Contest) as well as smaller changes (like a time limit for the Final Smash Meter).
  • Mii Fighters: Each DLC comes with a wave of Mii Fighter costumes that can be purchased separately. After the logo of the costume's game is shown next to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo, the costume is then shown in action, usually with music from their series accompanying them. After each costume is shown individually, the end of the trailer shows all of them together. In the case of special Mii Fighter costumes (like Sans and Cuphead), Sakurai briefly talks about their inclusion and the music track that comes with them.
  • amiibo: Towards the very end of the presentation, Sakurai shows what amiibo are next in line for release and when they will release.

New Content Approaching

This presentation was uploaded unannounced on April 16th, 2019, and featured content from the upcoming 3.0.0 update, including Joker. A gameplay reveal trailer, known as "The Masked Rebel", played at the start of the presentation.

Video

Characters

  • Joker's moveset was first showcased during this presentation. When he fills his Rebellion Gauge, his Persona Arsene will assist him in battle, powering up his attacks.

Stages

  • Mementos was first announced during the presentation. The stage will change color scheme and appearance depending on the music playing. The other Phantom Thieves will watch the battle from the background.

Music

Bolded tracks indicate new remixes.

Spirits

  • Morgana
  • Ryuji Sakamoto
  • Ann Takamaki
  • Yusuke Kitagawa
  • Makoto Nijima
  • Futaba Sakura
  • Haru Okumura
  • Goro Akechi
  • Caroline & Justine
  • Igor
  • Phantom Thieves of Hearts

Modes

  • DLC Spirits is a group of special Spirit Boards available after downloading a Challenger Pack, themed around the series of origin of the challenger. Unlike the standard Spirit Board, Spirits available here do not expire.
  • Stage Builder returns from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, with many new options available for creating stages.
  • Video Editor
  • Shared Content is an online mode that allows to browse for stages, replays, video montages and Mii Fighters created by other users. Content uploaded to Shared Content can also be browsed through the Nintendo Switch Online app service Smash World.

Mii Fighter costumes

Trivia

  • This was the only character presentation to not have been hosted by Masahiro Sakurai.

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Hero"

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Hero" (A Heroic Presentation in Europe and Oceania) was announced on July 28, 2019 for an upload date on July 30, 2019. Unlike future Mr. Sakurai Presents videos, this video was not premiered via livestream. It detailed information about Hero, previously confirmed during Nintendo's E3 presentation, and other content that would be coming to the game as part of his challenger pack. It is the first presentation in the Mr. Sakurai Presents series.

Video

Characters

Stages

Music

Spirits

  • Slime
  • Dracky
  • Golem
  • Liquid Metal Slime
  • Great Sabrecub
  • Cetacea
  • Hero's Comrades

Modes

Mii Fighter costumes

amiibo

Other

  • The FS Meter now has a time limit.
  • Very Easy difficulty setting has been added to World of Light.
  • The ability to bet on the winner has been reintroduced to Spectate, although there is no longer a risk component in betting on the wrong player.
  • Screenshots can now be inserted in videoclips done with the Video Editor.
  • Video can be played consecutively in Shared Content.

Trivia

  • The Mii Fighter costume section unusually uses the standard Battlefield remix of Lifelight (otherwise heard at the beginning and end of the section), rather than any of the Dragon Quest music.
    • It is also the only presentation to have no other music in the Mii Fighter costume section, due to there only being Dragon Quest-based Mii costumes included in update 4.0.0.
  • While most of the Dragon Quest heroes do not have canonical names within their own games, Sakurai gave names to each hero in their demo video, corresponding to their most popular fan names in Japanese—Eleven, Arusu, Solo and Eight.
    • Though "Eleven" and "Arusu" are more commonly used names for the first two Heroes in Japan due to "Luminary" and "Erdrick" being titles, the latter two are more commonly used for them in English.
    • Though the Dragon Quest III hero is commonly referred to as "Erdrick", the title they earn at the end of the game, "Arusu" is occasionally used in promotional material for Dragon Quest III. Within Ultimate, "Erdrick" is used for the Mii Swordfighter costume based on the legendary armor that the same character later wears.

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Banjo & Kazooie"

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Banjo & Kazooie" (Battling with Banjo & Kazooie in Europe and Oceania) was announced during the September 4, 2019 Nintendo Direct, and premiered immediately after the Direct finished. This video contained an overview of Banjo & Kazooie's moveset, along with other content in their challenger pack.

Video

Characters

  • Banjo & Kazooie were showcased during the presentation.
  • Gameplay footage of Terry was briefly teased at the end of the presentation.

Stages

  • Spiral Mountain was showcased during the presentation, with its rotating properties detailed. Characters from Banjo-Kazooie will appear in the background.
  • King of Fighters Stadium was teased for the first time at the end of the presentation, with a brief segment of gameplay of Terry being showcased on this stage. The name of the stage, as well as its unique mechanics, were not revealed.

Music

Sakurai has talked about how this time he had worked with two Western composers, Grant Kirkhope and Toby Fox, who arranged remixes for tracks that they composed for the original games. Because Kirkhope was the first composer from out of Japan he worked with, he was a bit nervous about communication difficulties, but in the end he was pretty satisfied with the final result.

Bolded tracks indicate a new remix.

Modes

  • Home Run Contest was revealed as a returning mode. It was said to be "pretty much" the final mode added to Ultimate.

Mii Fighter costumes

amiibo

Other

  • Mii Fighters downloaded through Shared Content can now be edited.

Trivia

  • During the presentation, Masahiro Sakurai encouraged viewers to play the Banjo-Kazooie games through Xbox, specifically through Rare Replay on Xbox One. This subsequently sparked a surge of searches in Japan, a market where Microsoft historically struggled to establish a foothold, causing the word "Xbox" to become the #1 trending word on Twitter in Japan during that day.[1]

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Terry Bogard"

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Terry Bogard" (Battling with Terry Bogard in Europe and Oceania) was announced on November 4, 2019 as Mr. Sakurai Presents "Terry Faces the Fury!" for an upload date on November 6, 2019. This presentation included a detailed overview of Terry's moveset, content coming in the Terry challenger pack, as well as the fourth batch of Mii Fighter costumes. At the end of the video, an extended version of Terry's trailer seen in the September 4, 2019 Nintendo Direct was shown.

Video

Characters

  • Terry was fully showcased during the presentation. Like Ryu, he possesses command inputs much like those from his home series. He has access to two Super Special Moves after he takes more than 100% damage (or has less than 1/3 of his HP remaining in Stamina Mode).

Stages

  • King of Fighters Stadium was named and showcased during the presentation. The stage features two invisible walls on the side that can be destroyed if they are hit by a character suffering enough knockback. Characters from various SNK series will watch the fight from the background.

Music

Originally, Sakurai wanted to include a few music tracks outside of the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series. He sent a selection of 50 songs to SNK, expecting only around 10 or 20 to be picked, but to his surprise, the whole selection was approved. Additionally, certain music tracks guarantee the appearance of a corresponding character on King of Fighters Stadium.

Bolded tracks indicate a new remix.

Spirits

  • Andy Bogard
  • Joe Higashi
  • Kim Kaphwan
  • Geese Howard
  • Ryo Sakazaki
  • Kyo Kusanagi
  • Iori Yagami
  • Haohmaru
  • Nakoruru
  • Athena Asamiya
  • Ralf & Clark

Mii Fighter costumes

amiibo

Other

  • Online Arenas have been improved.
    • It is now possible to send short pre-made messages.
    • Rules can now be changed from inside the Arena by the host.
    • A setting for picking both Battlefield and Omega form stages has been added.
    • Elite Only has been added as a type of Arena.

Trivia

  • At 48:52 minutes, this is the longest Super Smash. Bros video presentation so far.
  • The newly-introduced "Elite Only" type for Battle Arenas is discussed, but its counterpart, the Beginners Only type, goes unmentioned.
  • Although Mai Shiranui is a major character in the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series, she doesn't appear in the background of King of Fighters Stadium. During the presentation, Sakurai explains that she was omitted to maintain the game's CERO A rating, due to her revealing outfit. In the international localizations of the video, this part is translated with Sakurai saying that "Super Smash Bros. is for good boys and girls of many different ages", a statement that the community found fairly ironic because of inappropriate content posted on Shared Content and the revealing outfits of some other playable characters like Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta.

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth"

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth" (Battling with Byleth in Europe and Oceania) was announced on January 14, 2020 under the title of Mr. Sakurai Presents "???" for a premiere date on January 16, 2020. Uniquely, the subject of this video was not announced in a separate presentation beforehand, and was instead revealed alongside the video. Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses was confirmed in this presentation, with a release date of January 28, 2020, and Sakurai went over his moveset and other content coming with them. When this presentation was reuploaded as Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth" on the exact date the original premiered, it removes the beginning introduction by Sakurai, instead beginning immediately with Byleth's reveal trailer.

Video

Characters

  • Byleth was announced and showcased during the presentation. Like Robin and Corrin, both male and female versions are playable. In battle, he wields his signature Sword of the Creator, as well as the sacred weapons of the house leaders, known as Heroes' Relics, each assigned to a specific directional input.

Stages

  • Garreg Mach Monastery was announced and showcased during the presentation. It is a travelling stage that will move around various locations in the monastery. Characters representing the titular three houses and the Church of Seiros will appear in the background watching the fight.

Music

Bolded tracks indicate a new remix.

Spirits

  • Dorothea
  • Ingrid
  • Hilda (Fire Emblem)
  • Seteth
  • Edelgard
  • Dimitri (Fire Emblem)
  • Claude
  • Rhea
  • Sothis

Mii Fighter costumes

  • Altair (Swordfighter)
  • Rabbid hat
  • X (Gunner)
  • MegaMan.EXE (Gunner)
  • Cuphead (Gunner)
  • Ancient Soldier Gear (Swordfighter), available as a bonus for purchasing the Fighter Pass Vol. 2.

amiibo

Other

  • The Fighter Pass Vol. 2 was formally announced during this presentation. It would feature six new characters, to be released by December 2021. Similarly to the first Fighter Pass, each individual challenger pack will also include a stage and additional music tracks, and will be sold at the same price as the prior packs.

Trivia

  • In the thumbnail for Mr. Sakurai Presents ???, Sakurai is seen doing a mysterious hand gesture. During the presentation, he does this gesture while hand counting to 17 in binary, as Three Houses is the 17th game in the series if Heroes is counted. When Sakurai was showing how to count in binary, the hand sign for the numbers 10 and 11 had him only sticking up a middle finger, which caused many memes to spawn of Sakurai "flipping" the viewer off (as the middle finger is considered an obscene gesture in the United States), in spite of the fact that his pinkie finger (and thumb in the former) was sticking out as well.
  • Also, following the reveal trailer, Sakurai is seen hanging up the presentation's poster, and his expression upon turning around and looking at the camera has become a minor meme, used to emphasize Sakurai's playful personality.
  • Oddly, even though the Altaïr Mii Costume is listed as coming from the Assassin's Creed series in the Japanese and European/Oceanian versions of the video, the North American version instead describes his universe as being "Altaïr," which is the name of the character himself. It is unknown why this change was made.

Mr. Sakurai Presents an ARMS Fighter

Mr. Sakurai Presents an ARMS Fighter was announced on June 19, 2020 for a premiere date on June 22, 2020. It is the first presentation to not use the Battling with name in Europe, instead using a slight variation, namely Mr. Sakurai Presents a Fighter from ARMS. Similarly to the previous presentation, the exact character was not known beforehand, although it was already announced that they would come from ARMS.

Trivia

  • Because of lockdowns in Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation was recorded at Masahiro Sakurai's house.

See also

References

  1. ^ https://kotaku.com/smash-bros-creator-just-made-xbox-trend-on-twitter-i-1837892382
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