The Super Smash Bros. video game series has become one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises. Since the days of the Nintendo 64, Super Smash Bros. has had the company’s biggest mascot characters duke it out. Since then, other titans of gaming, like Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, and Ryu from Street Fighter have joined the ever-growing roster. Between the massive amount of beloved characters, the endless multiplayer mayhem, and the well-designed gameplay, it’s no surprise the series has become a hit. 

However, the gaming world was shaken when Masahiro Sakurai, game director and developer behind the series, announced his retirement after the latest DLC installment was released for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. With someone new eventually taking charge of the series, and after how massive Ultimate felt, it makes one wonder where the hit video game series will go next. 

One of the first things that come to mind is the gigantic roster. Will there be as many playable characters going forward? Will there be more or less of them? It obviously makes sense for there to be more, otherwise fans may be deterred from returning. Getting some of the third party characters, like Sora from Kingdom Hearts may be easier said than done. If Nintendo truly wants to use Super Smash Bros. to celebrate the history of gaming, they’d hopefully find ways to extend their reach into third party characters. 

Some may ask “what video game characters are even left?” For starters, there are gaming mascots who aren’t represented whatsoever, like Crash Bandicoot. There are franchises that are represented by one or two characters but could use another roster spot. Tails, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman would be perfect additions, as would Chun-Li and M. Bison. There are also characters in the game but only as Assist Trophies who absolutely deserve to be playable, like Bomberman and Waluigi.

Not only should there be more characters, there should definitely be more stages and items as well. They’re both fantastic ways to further represent gaming franchises while also shaking up the gameplay. There are even some stages, like Poké Floats, that were used in older Smash games but were not present in Ultimate. Bringing in every stage like they did with every character would be a smart move.

Something that fans have been craving from Smash Bros. is a more robust story mode.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl had an adventure mode known as “The Subspace Emissary” in which characters interacted in cutscenes in a story that had them saving the world from destruction while also being playable as they cooperated through platforming levels and combat. There have been single-player modes since, but nothing on the same scale as “The Subspace Emissary.” If something like that but with as many characters as there are in Ultimate is ever attempted, it would be a true gift to the fans.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate offers quite a bit of customization with Mii Fighters and stages. People have been able to do tremendous things with them. That being said, there’s a little bit of jank when it comes to the player generated levels. Imagine how great they could be if the customization was expanded on further in a future game. Anything could really be made in Super Smash Bros. at that point.

The Super Smash Bros. series is chock full of various game modes, like Stamina Mode, Coin Battles, and more. Each installment in the series adds more modes. It’s a safe assumption that more will be added for the next game as well. There could be a tag mode or a sports mode with scoring goals. The possibilities are endless.

There is, of course, online multiplayer in Ultimate. That being said, it’s far from the best online seen in a video game. It’s laggy, tough to find a good match, and even harder to get into a match with rules and settings you prefer. The online multiplayer can easily be improved in a future Super Smash Bros. game. 

Just because Sakurai has moved on from Super Smash Bros., it doesn’t mean that the series is done for. There will almost definitely be new games in the franchise, and there are a lot of directions they can go in.

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