Upcoming Super Smash Bros. Won’t Feature Story Mode

Super Smash Bros. has been a huge part of Nintendo’s success since its release in 1999. Part battle royale, part story mode, part arcade brawler, the series utilizes the best of the Nintendo (and external secret) characters and re-imagines them in an entirely new life. However, one of those parts has been removed in the upcoming edition.

Game director Masahiro Sakurai, in a weekly column in Japanese games site Famitsu, he has removed the story mode, as well as cutscenes from the upcoming Wii U and 3DS versions of Super Smash Bros. Kotaku has translated the text from the post, allowing a better explanation behind the decisions.

"Unfortunately, the movie scenes we worked hard to create were uploaded onto the internet. You can only truly wow a player the first time he sees [a cutscene]. I felt if players saw the cutscenes outside of the game, they would no longer serve as rewards for playing the game, so I’ve decided against having them."

However, there is some good news. The 3DS version of the game will feature a mode that would “act as a separate mode from the standard versus play.” Additionally, both versions of Super Smash Bros. will feature character customization, hinting at altering gameplay as well as a possible cross-platform transferring of these alterations. Also, because some of the reveal cutscenes are being posted on the internet, we’ll be able to get fun preview videos for more reveal characters as we get close to release. Finally, the Wii U version is set to have more console-themed game platforms, while the 3DS will feature more mobile-themed game platforms.

Hopefully, with the removal of story mode, Sakurai will bring a lot more to the table when it comes to versus gameplay, as well as the extras. It was fun in previous titles to overcome great challenges, as well as see how far you can hit a huge bean bag with a baseball bat. Adding more extras to these upcoming Super Smash Bros. games will take a lot of the sting away from cutting out stories.

Super Smash Bros. will be released for the Wii U and 3DS in 2014.