Super Smash Bros. released for both Wii U and 3DS back in 2014 and was already a dream for long term gaming fans, as not only did we have Mario and Sonic like we did in Brawl, we also saw the addition of Mega Man and Pac-Man to the battle. These were at least thought to be possible, but everyone was shocked when it was announced that Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife was coming to the game.
Masahiro Sakurai is the director of the Super Smash Bros. series and is the go-to man for anything involving the franchise, which is why the latest issue of Famitsu held a joint interview with both Sakurai and Tetsuya Nomura, director of the upcoming Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Remake, as well as many other games.
This interview, which thankfully has been translated by Source Gaming, came about when there was discussion about how the two came together to decide to add Cloud to the game, instead of any of the other characters in the franchise that were known for being on a Nintendo platform.
Nomura discussed how he asked Sakurai on whether he was sure he wanted to use Cloud, as he isn’t in a new game right now, in which Sakurai said:
“But on the other hand, if you think about who to add from Final Fantasy, it’s hard to come up with a choice that’s not Cloud. We could have used Terra or Bartz, protagonists in their own right, but I feel like there would be some people who wouldn’t know who those characters are.”
Nomura and Sakurai both also mention the characters Strago and Fusuya as possibilities respectively, but I think they certainly made the right choice for the large majority of fans. Nomura was also impressed on how much Sakurai cared about getting characters right in Super Smash Bros. both in looks and gameplay.
You can buy Cloud Strife in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS right now, which also comes with the very fun Midgar stage as well.
