Sakurai on the importance of faithful recreations in licensed games

Masahiro Sakurai is back with yet another installment in his game development video series, and today’s installment slots into the “Game Essence” category.

Sakurai knows that it’s best if a game is fun, but when it comes to licensed properties, Sakurai says you can’t just make whatever you want. According to the Smash Bros. creator, for games like these, there’s something else that comes first.

Sakurai has worked with countless licenses when crafting the Smash Bros. series, and those efforts have only grown in size and scope as the franchise rolled on. If any developer out there knows what it’s like to work with licenses from other companies, it’s definitely Sakurai!