Kai_Mao said:
A lot of the characters look similar from Wii U, but they’ve been reanimated and upgraded from Wii U so copying and pasting is pushing it. You can utilize a previous game as a basis while still provide a new rendering engine and reanimate characters and adjust the properties of their move sets. Unless you want to tell us how copy/pasted Link, DK, Zelda, Ganondorf, Mario, Pikachu, etc. are. Im also sure you can compare Kongo Falls, Magicant, Bridge of Elden, Green Greens, Prism Tower, Great Bay, and Saffron City as well ;) |
This is really the first iteration of the Smash series where the previous entry in the series was on comparable hardware. When jumping from N64 to GCN, using the N64 meshes would be inexcusable. With each entry in the series, the characters have needed to be completely re-worked.
The Switch is more powerful than the Wii U, but using Wii U models are "pass"-able, and from Nintendo's perspective, it would be to their benefit to utilize assets from the Wii U version so they can get the game out sooner.
In fact, Sakurai practically said it himself: "Changes could number in the tens of thousands". There is no way they could have re-built an entire Smash game with the full roster from every previous installment in such a short time without heavily relying on Smash 4.
But here's the thing: the idea of re-using assets from Smash 4 causes controversy, and makes haters state things like "Smash Ultimate is just a Wii U port of Smash 4", so it needs to be sugar-coated and described in ways that may not be entirely accurate, but they please the majority of non-tech-savvy individuals.
My take: I admit I haven't done much research on this topic, and am simply using my knowledge to draw a hypothesis which I am fully aware could be entirely false. However, using the skills I've obtained over the many years of being an app developer by trade, I can say with fair confidence that Smash Ultimate will re-use a very large number of assets from Smash 4. And if it were me in Sakurai's shoes, it's the same approach I would take as well, given the task and the timeline. It's not something that even needs to be refuted, but people are quick to take it as an insult and become defensive.
