There has been a new Super Smash Bros. game on every home Nintendo console since the series debuted on the Nintendo 64. However, the series' director Masahiro Sakurai recently confirmed that after just two installments, Nintendo needed to have a backup plan in place which would have meant Super Smash Bros. Melee being ported to the Wii in place of the console getting its own installment via Brawl.
Sakurai spoke all about Brawl and its development during the latest video posted to his YouTube channel (thanks, Eurogamer). Before getting into the nitty-gritty of it all, Sakurai explains he had gone freelance between the end of Melee's development and the start of Brawl's. That meant Nintendo needed a plan B just in case he wasn't interested in returning to continue work on the series.
“I had already gone freelance, and had I turned the work down, they might have left Super Smash Bros. Melee's 26 fighters completely untouched, and simply release the game as-is for the Wii. That's what [Satoru] Iwata once told me” Sakurai revealed.
There have been discussions in certain Smash circles for years suggesting Nintendo considered simply porting Melee to the Wii rather than making a new game. However, as far as I'm aware, this is the first time someone connected to the series has confirmed that. Since Melee arguably remains the most well-loved entry in the series, it certainly makes sense that Nintendo would have simply extended its shelf life with a port, especially if Sakurai turned down the chance to make Brawl.
Thinking about a world in which Melee got a Wii port in place of Brawl will spark all sorts of thoughts for Smash fans and the alternate timeline that decision might have created. It could have meant no new Smash games after Melee and Nintendo simply porting the game from one console to the next. Although Ultimate added characters to its roster through fighter passes, that method could have instead been employed when the next Melee port launched, adding new fighters to its roster every time it arrived on a new console.
That would have potentially meant no Ultimate which has been the only contender to Melee's Smash crown so far. Then again, you'd imagine Nintendo would have had to make a new Smash game eventually rather than an endless stream of Melee ports every few years, even without Sakurai on board.
Sakurai had a lot to say about Brawl's development in his latest video. Perhaps even more interesting than his Melee port confirmation is the director's admission he doesn't think Smash and online play are a good fit. Sakurai reveals he only added online functionality to Smash when working on Brawl because Nintendo requested it.