« Super Smash Bros: Polygon's Interview With Series Director About Character Selection In New Games »

The upcoming Super Smash Bros. games on Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS is still in its early stages. While the series is known for carrying a strong variety of characters of Nintendo and associated, series director speaks out to Polygon on what needs to be considered to have a character available.

Masahiro Sakurai, founder of developer Sora Ltd. and co-director behind the latest Super Smash Bros. games, finds the difficult process of character selection to be stressful, "almost to the brink of death." Info featured in the piece explains the importance of a character added into the universe and the possible reaction to a character in a previous entry not returning to the latest games.

You can check out an excerpt of the piece after the jump but you can find the full piece here!

That decision-making process starts with Sakurai forming his own thoughts on who should feature in the next Smash Bros., but also factors in various surveys, he said. From there, a list of candidates is refined by evaluating their contribution to the game's roster: "What is the uniqueness of this character? What does this character bring into the Smash Bros. universe? What do they have that other characters don't? How do they complement or contrast other characters?"

Sakurai says the addition of Mega Man to the Smash Bros. Wii U and 3DS roster is a reflection of the winnowing down of candidates. He brings features and characteristics, like his ability to use various Robot Masters attacks, to the roster that you don't see in other characters, Sakurai says. Mega Man's addition came about at the behest of fans as well. After Sonic the Hedgehog — who appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl — Mega Man was the most requested guest character, Sakurai said.