With a roster that spans now over 80 fighters, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is rich with references to classic series old and new. From conventional Nintendo mainstay franchises like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda to third-party non-Nintendo platform ones like Persona, the roster features impressive representation. However, Mr. Game & Watch was one of the more unusual additions to the series' second entry, but Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai'🐲s childhood may explain it.
According to , a detail regarding Sa൲kurai's childhood in gaming was featured in Famitsu Column 604. Sakurai had explained that, while the Nintendo Entertainment System is commonly thought of as the grandfather of consoles, console gaming reaches past the NES's inception. He listed off a few, including the likes of the Atari, Intellivision, and Arcadia.
However, Sakurai explained that there were stores in which people could use trial consoles to demo now-retro games. He elaborated that one of these games was Game & Watch "and various other LSI games."
Interestingly, in the Nintendo GameCube's Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mr. Game & Watch showed up as one of the game's many fighter𒅌s. He was one of many additions but was noted as the most old-sch🌳ool of the bunch.
The Game & Watch series spans over a decade and featured many mini-games that had who we now conceive as Mr. Game & Watch in them. A mere silhouette in appearance, Mr. Game & Watch actually packs a formidable punch and has a variety of attacks. From tossing hotdogs to dropping bombs to taking the form of a killer octopus in his Fi🍸nal Smash, Mr. Game & Watch is not to be trifled with.
Yet, his appearance in Super Smash Bros. may well be tied to Sakurai's childhood with him. Mr. Game & Watch isn't exactly a well-known video game mascot, especially as compared to Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Link. Even some of the Fire Emblem and Earthbound characters are more recognizable than Mr. Game & Watch. While the Game & Watch games deserve their due, Mr. Game & Watch may be an added fighter born out of childhood nostalgia, rather than that💯 as an iconic Nintendo character.