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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.

General format

  • What is <series name>?: 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. Steve's presentation is the only one that did not have this section.
  • As part of Challenger Pack <number>: <Character> joins the battle!: Sakurai goes into details about the character's move-set, 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, Terry's command inputs, or Steve's mining and crafting abilities, 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 background characters that appear in the stage. In Banjo & Kazooie's presentation, Sakurai only talked about character cameos and not the stage itself and called the section Cameos as a result.
  • Let's see them in action!: After showing off just the move-set, Sakurai shows a complete run of the character in the various modes of the game. For Hero, Banjo & Kazooie and Min Min, he played a regular Smash battle. For Terry, he played his Classic Mode route. For Byleth, he played Squad Strike. For Steve, he played a few Spirit battles in his DLC Spirit Board.
  • Song Collection/Song List: Sakurai goes over the Music that is included with the fighter and shows a list of tracks 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 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. In the case of special Mii Fighter costumes (like Sans, Cuphead and Vault Boy), a small cinematic is usually shown before their game's logo appears, similar to an actual reveal trailer. After all Mii Fighter costumes are shown individually, they are all shown together at the end. In Sans and Cuphead's cases, after the trailers, Sakurai talked 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 (Joker)

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

Fighter

  • 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.

Stage

  • Mementos was first announced during the presentation. The stage will change its 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 browsing 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 live stream. 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

Fighter

Stage

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 video clips 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 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.
  • When mentioning the voice actor for Erdrick, he jokes that the King of Braves is voicing the Hero, referencing Guy Shishioh from The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, whom Hiyama has also voiced. This is also a reference to the Japanese word 勇者 (Yūsha), which can be translated as both Hero and Brave.
  • This is the only Mr. Sakurai Presents video not to be called Battling with with Europe and Oceania, being called A Heroic Presentation instead.

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

Fighter

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

Stage

  • 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 his 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

Fighter

  • Terry was fully showcased during the presentation. Like Ryu and Ken, 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).

Stage

  • 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 Ω 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.
  • When justifying the absence of Mai Shiranui—a character largely recognised for her revealing outfit—as a background character in King of Fighters Stadium, Sakurai jokingly stated that "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is for good boys and girls of many different ages". The statement quickly became memetic within the community, partly since it contradictorily does not account for characters who possess similarly revealing outfits, such as Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta.
    • In the Japanese version of the presentation, Sakurai additionally mentions that this omission complies with Ultimate's CERO A rating. This mention was removed entirely in international localisations.

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. For the first time, 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 him. 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

Fighter

  • Byleth was announced and showcased during the presentation. Like Robin and Corrin, both male and female versions are playable. In battle, he wields their 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.

Stage

  • 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 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 West), even though 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.
  • Before this video, all Mr. Sakurai Presents gameplay demonstrations were played using the Japanese version of the game. However, in this presentation, while much of it is played in Japanese, the Squad Strike demonstration was played in English.

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Min Min"

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Min Min" (Battling with Min Min in Europe and Oceania) was announced on June 19, 2020 for a premiere date on June 22, 2020 as Mr. Sakurai Presents an ARMS Fighter (Mr. Sakurai Presents a Fighter from ARMS in Europe and Oceania). Similarly to the previous presentation, the exact character was not known beforehand, although it was already announced that they would come from ARMS.

Video

Fighter

Stage

Music

Bolded tracks indicate a new remix.

Mii Fighter costumes

amiibo

Other

  • The ability to play Spirit rematches has been added to the Spirit List in the Inventory. Playing a rematch will increase a score, but will not award additional copies of the spirit.

Trivia

  • Because of lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, this is the first Mr. Sakurai Presents to be recorded outside of Nintendo's office, namely taking place in one of Sakurai's homes. Sakurai also indicated that the message had been filmed on May 2, 2020.
    • For similar reasons, Sakurai is not translated into English by a voiceover in the North American version of the video, instead having subtitles accompany him like in the international versions of prior presentations.
  • The beginning of the presentation showed two shots of Sakurai's video game consoles, including a Mega Drive Mini with a Mega-CD Mini plus a mini cartridge of Space Harrier II inserted. The closer shot clearly showing the cartridge was removed from the American broadcast.
  • Similar to the reveal of the Altaïr Mii Fighter Costume not listing Assassin's Creed in the broadcast for America, Vault Boy is just listed as "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate X Vault Boy" rather than Fallout in the North American version.
  • During the presentation, Sakurai mentions that image results when searching for "Spring Man" in Japan "show a certain enemy from a certain manga", referring to the character Springman from the Kinnikuman manga series.
    • Coincidentally, Springman was defeated by Ramenman in his Mongolman persona, matching how Spring Man was passed over for Min Min. Min Min's Japanese title in ARMS also parodies the Kinnikuman spin-off, Tatakae!! Ramenman.
  • Although Sakurai can be heard mentioning social distancing, it is not written in the subtitles in the American broadcast.
    • In Japanese, Sakurai begins this line with "密です", literally translating to "it is dense", but often used to mean "too close". This was famously said by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, resulting in it becoming a popular meme in Japan in April 2020.
  • Sakurai mentions that Ryō Horikawa, Captain Falcon's voice actor, is also the voice of Vegeta in the Japanese dubbing of Dragon Ball, making it the first time a non-video game series has been directly referenced in an official Smash presentation.
    • Sakurai mentions that Captain Falcon has been using the same voice clips since the Nintendo 64, but this is untrue as Captain Falcon received new voice clips for Melee and Brawl. It is possible that these "new" voice clips were already recorded for the Nintendo 64 game, as voice clips for Blue Falcon are unused in SSB64's files, which would make the statement not technically false.
  • Unlike previous Mr. Sakurai Presents and like the Squad Strike demonstration in Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth", seemingly all of Min Min's gameplay was demonstrated using the English version of the game.
  • This is the second presentation after Mr. Sakurai Presents "Banjo & Kazooie" to not reveal new spirits, instead letting them be revealed in the update itself.

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Steve & Alex"

Mr. Sakurai Presents "Steve & Alex" (Battling with Steve & Alex in Europe and Oceania) was announced on September 30th, 2020 under the title Mr. Sakurai Presents "???", similar to Byleth's presentation before he was announced. Unlike previous Mr. Sakurai Presents videos, the presentation is broken down into two videos. The first video was released on October 1st, 2020. It only contained the reveal trailer and a brief message from Masahiro Sakurai discussing Steve's challenging development process. The second, more in-depth video covering all of the content was released on October 3rd, 2020.

Video

Fighter

Stage

Music

Bolded tracks indicate a new remix.

Spirits

  • Zombie
  • Creeper
  • Skeleton
  • Slime (Minecraft)
  • Enderman
  • Villager & Iron Golem
  • Ghast
  • Piglin
  • Ender Dragon

Mii Fighter costumes

amiibo

Trivia

  • This is the second Mr. Sakurai Presents video to initially go by the title Mr. Sakurai Presents "???".
  • Despite a Zombie and an Enderman also being playable as alternate characters alongside Alex, they are not mentioned in the presentation's title.
  • Sakurai stated that when Nintendo approached him about adding Minecraft content, he was at first skeptical of the idea, before deciding to go through with it. This has been misinterpreted by some to mean that he did not desire to do so.
  • This is the only Mr. Sakurai Presents to not include a brief discussion about the franchise/game the newcomer is coming from.
    • This is also the first Mr. Sakurai Presents to have two videos dedicated to one fighter.
  • Despite no music from the Tumble minigame being included alongside Steve, it is mentioned along with Battle and Glide during the Song List portion of the presentation.
  • This is the only Mr. Sakurai Presents where all of the newly added music is played.
  • This marks the first time Alex is explicitly referred to as female in any officially sanctioned Minecraft media. Previously, it was only implied in one video's description on the Minecraft YouTube channel.

See also

References

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