HOLY CRAP, HE ACTUALLY SHOWED THE PROTOTYPE THIS NEEDS TO BE KNOWN BY EVERYONE

The man just showed some obscure lost media footage like is no big deal, truly an absolute legend

Sakurai saying “Please take a look” with a big smile knowing what he was about to do gave me a big smile too. The man definitely knows how to excite an audience!

it just hit me how people like sakurai have some of the most insane lost media gems just sitting in their hard drive. it was great hearing the history of smash bros from sakurai himself for a change!

To think Sakurai still had footage of the prototype is mind blowing. We had no idea how the characters moved. This is massive for people, thanks Sakurai!

The story of Sakurai technically unwittingly going behind Nintendo's back to make the Super Smash Bros. prototype never fails to amuse me. For those unfamiliar, Nintendo higher-ups weren't originally a fan of using Nintendo characters, but Iwata believed they'd be convinced once they saw a prototype using Nintendo IP, so he didn't tell Sakurai they disapproved, and they continued work on the prototype using Nintendo characters. From humble beginnings!

FINALLY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS Never seen footage of Smash Bros original prototype, thank you Sakurai!! Also that RC Robot game looks freaking dope, I wish he could bring that back someday

"Yoshi is an unorthodox, unique fighter. Characters like this often have the greatest potential for those willing to put in the effort. " GG Amsa.

Also respect to iwata for putting his free time helping you in programming what a great person he was

Dude just drops Dragon King footage casually lmao This is incredible

Seeing the Dragon King footage actually in motion was crazy. With how tall and slender those models were, I can absolutely see how many of the moves shown ended up being an amazing basis for Captain Falcon. Great video!

This guy really just showed a whole minute and a half of never before seen footage of an ancient Lost Media piece searched by many people for YEARS and just moved on like it was nothing lmao i love this man so much

The game that started it all. Also, holy shit. The gameplay footage of the prototype!?

Man, seeing all of this behind-the-scenes footage and documents is _insane_ from a historic/preservation perspective. It's wild listening to Sakurai talk about how he came up with the basic ideas behind what Smash would represent way back in '96, especially now that we've seen "platform fighters" grow into a genre all its own. Like...Sakurai _invented_ platform fighters and we get to hear him talk about it like this. Incredible.

3:55 This speaks to me on a deep personal level. Sakurai and their team gets it. They know the players level of rage and frustration in that single moment and it can't be understated enough.

I’m sure the CGI artists like me are LOVING that he referenced Softimage. Anyone who doesn’t know, it was one of the first, if not THE first 3D program to really get an intuitive and artistic workflow more than the incredibly technical approach that was used for a while. It was eventually discontinued when it was bought out by the major competitor. It has been used for TONS of 90s and 2000s shows, games, and movies and while many programs now like Maya and Blender have adopted many of its features and have likely even surpassed it at this point, plenty of people remember it fondly and miss it A TON

That Dragon King demo is probably the most interesting bit of Behind the Scenes I've seen in a long time. It's honestly interesting to think how far it's come, especially since it's got most fundamentals that Smash would later have. It's kind of tragic that a lot of projects were canned during that period, especially the N64DD projects and that Mother 3 was being developed at the time. It's interesting to think what would've happened if HAL kept to other projects at the time, but considering how hectic the overall development cycle for the N64 was at the time, I think everything turned out for the best on the whole.

Ah, this is the one I've been waiting for. After working on so many videos that detailed the history of Super Smash Bros. and the original prototype of "Dragon King," it's very exciting to see Mr. Sakurai himself discuss it, let alone show gameplay of the prototype! Thank you Mr. Sakurai for helping game preservation and documentation, and thank you for finally explaining everything directly to the audience!

The simple directional inputs for a variety of attacks also reminds me of how Sakurai handled Kirby's abilities in Kirby Super Star. The game introduced movesets to the series which would later finally return in more recent Kirby 2D games. Also it's cool how this was Sakurai's other passionate creation he wanted to make. RIP 🙏 to Iwata who helped.

"Characters like this often have the greatest potential for those that put in the effort". That Yoshi bio was spot on right from the beginning. And man did it take a lot of effort. Congratulations on the win Amsa!!

HOLY HELL! Actual Dragon King footage! Damn, the story behind its development and passion is still legendary to this day.

Seeing actual moving footage of Dragon King is so surreal after hearing about it for so many years.

Thank you so much for sharing that prototype footage of Dragon King! WOW!

Coming from smash remix

I recall an interview where Sakurai said that part of his beginner-friendly approach to Smash (i.e. elements of improvisation, deemphasis on command inputs) was his experience playing King of Fighters '95 at arcades: he played the game so much, and got so good at it, that he ended up accidentally beating his less-experienced opponents to the point that they couldn't even play the game.

Woah. I was absolutely NOT expecting proper gameplay of the prototype. This is definitely fantastic to see!

I always loved how simple the controls are compared to other fighting games

It’s amazing how fluid the characters moved in the initial prototype. All they were missing were skins, really. 👏🏻 👏🏻

So glad I stayed up tonight and got blessed with this. Thank you Mr Sakurai and everyone at 8-4!

the mention of mother 3 for N64DD was a huge jumpscare.

It's honestly incredible that the "Dragon King" prototype is still out there and new footage was recorded for this series. Also, when talking about complicated button inputs, I was legit thinking of Geese's "pretzel-stick" Raging Storm when Sakurai just showed it on screen lol

"Fighting game commands were starting to get intense" *Immediately shows SNK games starting with Raging Storm* lol yep

I can't be the only one who misses the specific "Board the Platforms" and unique "Break the Targets!" I played those endlessly when I was a kid

Smash 64 is a very special game to me. my older cousin would play this game with me when we were kids, he was like an older brother to me. he'd be about 5 years older than me today, I miss him

I love how Sakurai casually shows the input for Geese’s Raging Storm.

Absolutely love Sakurai’s point at 3:33. Before fighting game devs figured out things like damage scale or combo breakers, combos straight up broke fighting games. They remained prevalent for looking cool, but in a way probably contributed to fighting games becoming so niche. It just seems silly that an attacker’s reward for one good read is eliminating half of the victim’s health bar (or more). There’s little/no opportunity for comebacks/reactions: it is essentially the first hit that determines the win, like many COD-like braindead online shooters today. Props to Sakurai for dropping knowledge like this. Something looking cool/hype =/= good game design.

That dragon king footage is incredible!! It’s so nice to finally see it. Also it’s funny seeing that name get used. It’s a literal translation of the city, it’s interesting that it stuck around.

It's incredible to watch the footage of the Dragon King prototype and recognize how much they incorporated it into Smash. For example, one of the fighters in Dragon King uses Captain Falcon's chain of punches when you tap the A button, along with his aerial Up + A (backflip kick). Really cool to see!

To all of us, that footage is a piece of video game history. To him, it was Thursday

I'm so grateful to Sakurai for making these videos. What a delight it is to see the prototype footage.

HOLY COW, FOOTAGE OF DRAGON KING?? THIS IS INSANE!!! THANK YOU MR SAKURAI!!!!

Man I remember seeing the commercial for this together with my siblings and we were all blown away at what we were looking at! The game that started it all! And actual footage of the prototype fighting game too! To think how it started and what it turned into, truly amazing!

This game sounds like a thing some random Nintendo fan would turn into a flash game,but now that Nintendo turned it into a actual first party game and turned it into one of the biggest franchise that Nintendo has to offer makes it wholesome that the concept now gets to shine and I am very grateful for it 😊

Amazing to see how Cap. Falcon's model was based off the original Dragon King fighter mesh - a lot of those moves even look identical.

RIP Iwata 💐

When he revealed the prototype I got excited. Who would say that we can finally see the gameplay footage from the beta after too many years, thanks Sakurai.

Just remember that Sakurai’s decision to add Nintendo characters to a fighting game is the reason we can now play Mario against Steve and Sans

Seeing lost footage of prototypes is something I wish more devs did. I wish Nintendo did that more too. This is the preservation of history as well as how the industry grew over the years. Seeing stuff that didn’t make the cut is just as important as stuff that did.

a friendly reminder to all of the folks out there: if Mario didn't trip Yoshi, Smash Bros wouldn't have happened

I feel like this is the one video we were all waiting for.

Respect to Sakurai for knowing about pretzel motions being unnecessarily complex. Whew, that SS2 motion for Haohmaru still traumatizes me...

Who imagined which that Dragon King demo would ended up on one of the best fighting games franchises of the game industry? Simply amazing to know and think about. Very inspiring! Thank you, master Sakurai.

It's 4am here and we get the next installment of this incredibly hype series? RIP sleep schedule.

special thanks to Mr. Iwata for helping make great things happen time and time again.

Smash 64 introduced me to a variety of new series when I was a young child and I played it with my auntie back in the early 2000s. Thanks Mr Sakurai for the good memories!

Oh my god Melee is next I await to hear the triumphs and tribulations of what that 13 month development time was like

OH MY GOD, ITS DRAGON KING, WE SEE FOOTAGE OF IT YESSSSSSSSSS

Mr. Sakurai and Mr. Iwata creating the most popular gaming franchise of all time, they deserved every accolades!

3:33 Dang, these are the exact reasons I gravitated towards the Smash Bros. series.

Jesus the Smash Remix people really recreated every move as much as they could huh

Those videos are a goldmine for everyone, game designers and non GD alike

It's so cool to finally see gameplay footage of the prototype! Also kudos to sakurai already nailing the concept 3 years ahead of release

Sakurai, you are a blessing on the earth, it’s amazing get to peek into the making of these games, thank you for making these videos

Was waiting for this, since Dragon King was already well known and there was potential for Sakurai to elaborate more on it. Can't wait for the Melee development video as well.

So the prototype greatly inspired Cpt Falcon's moveset huh

Whoa, it's such a privilege to get to see the prototype for what would become one of my favorite game series of all time.

I've been playing Smash Bros. since it released on N64. Back then, seeing Ness as a character blew my mind. I was the only one of my friends who knew him, but they all played Earthbound after seeing Ness in action. Fast forward to Ultimate and Joker's inclusion introduced me to Persona, which is one of my absolute favorite titles now. Not to mention Terry, Cloud, Sephiroth, Kazuya, and many more of my all time favorite characters being represented. Imagine if the sales team had won the argument and Smash Bros. had never existed... what a dark world that'd be for gamers.

Still play this game on my 64 regularly with my family, certified classic

The fact that Mr. Sakurai showed us the early prototype for Smash Bros. is really incredible to see. It's cool to see actual footage of the game where we were left with just screenshots of.

The game series we've been waiting for.

>barges in >shows you obscure media thought to be lost >elaborates

What a nice video. Sakurai is breaking down those complex and lengthy processes with such ease and charme, the man is truly a legend. And the part where he mentioned Iwata was really wholesome, when you think where both of their careers took them and how early Iwata had to leave us.

This may be my most anticipated topic on this channel.

Today is the day I dropped everything I had to watch this.

1:24 when the footage of Dragon King: The Fighting Game is shown

Sakurai Fighting game iceberg just keeps growing 5:30 i never thought i would hear Zero Divide come out of a sakurai video

I don't want this video to end ❤

WHHAAAT Dragon King footage!!

Wow, people are going crazy to see actual footage of the prototype. Shows how little we actually knew about the thing. Can't wait for Melee, personally.

The fact that we're getting actual footage from Dragon King after decades is insane

"wow it's the prototype" "HOLY SHIET IT'S THE PROTOTYPE THAT WAS LOST FOR YEARS"

That Smash Bros prototype footage is definitely going to be discussed all around the community and I can't wait to see how people react to it!

Literally among the *GREATS* of N64 games, and my entire childhood! Watching the Dragon King footage for the first time at 1:24, we can _definitely_ see where Captain Falcon got his modeling and moveset from...

Finally, a good look at Dragon King! What a momentous occasion. That K.O scream though. Roy's Smash Ultimate Star K.O scream has some competition! (Hearing Sakurai say "MOTHER 3" like that shook me a little, but I'm okay.)

3:32 So knockback prevent players from stuck in combos to return to the neutral state and also added position mind game that didn't exist before.

Seeing gameplay footage of the Smash 64 prototype was amazing. It's a highlight of the channel for me so far, along with seeing Sakurai's posed figure sheets for Ultimate.

Sakurai at the end of the video: “Oh boy, now we gotta talk about Melee…”

Seeing that prototype footage dragon king of smash in motion is super COOL, its always so interesting learning more of gaming history!

Smash was such a rare gem that managed to appeal on so many fronts at once. A breath of fresh air to fighting game preconceptions, one of the pioneers of exploring analog controls, the father of crossover appeal, and one of the most accessible games to all skill ranges to date To think it was essentially just an experiment in new gen N64 concepts. Early game development was so wild.

HOLY SHIT DRAGON KING FOOTAGE

I'm insanely pumped for the melee video.

There’s something achingly beautiful about how Battlefield is almost completely unchanged from the quarter-century-old prototype.

3:47 Love how you mentioned this, sir! Been playing Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter for a while with my nephew, but he always beats me up so easily! He's too fast clicking buttons and I can barely do anything as well. When we play Smash Bros, though, I have my chances to spotlight and defeat him for once, using improvisation rather than clicking everything

Sakurai created a whole subgenre of fighting games.

Amazing to see footage of the dragon king prototype!

3:39 The fact that people are misinterpreting this point is terrible Sakurai literally made smash because he smoked someone so bad in KOF 95 as lori that he felt bad

Increasing knockback with damage is such an elegant solution to the combo problem Sakurai described. You become harder to combo the more the opponent hits you, but your opponent is still rewarded for their effort by gaining ground towards victory. Also, increased knockback during the mid-game resets neutral, allowing the losing player to attempt a comeback. Looking at it like this, the rage mechanic makes sense. It doesn't "reward losing" as much as it keeps the ability to win within the loser's grasp.

I remember seeing this game many times at the local video/game rental store as a child. It blew my mind that so many familiar faces were on the cover. I was only allowed to rent games when my parents were busy during the weekend, so when the next opportunity to pick a game came up, I already knew I wanted to play it. At first I was disappointed. I hadn't played many fighting games, as I was a little young to play violent games and in general they didn't appeal to me. I didn't understand it was a fighting game, and I thought the game would allow me to move in full 3d, not just display 3d characters. I didn't understand game genre, and thought all games should aim for full 3d worlds. However, I quickly discovered it was very fun to play with my siblings. We didn't have the game manual, which happened a lot with rental games. So we didn't know about smash moves at first. I remember noticing I would accidently do these weird moves with my character, and eventually figured out I had to slam the stick in a specific timing to get the move to work. I lorded the secret knowledge over my siblings for a while before finally telling them. Eventually we had to take the game back, but we were able to purchase it 2nd hand and it is still one of my favorite games to this day.

That prototype footage is fascinating.

A simple little concept and prototype, but the very beginning of what became one of the best fighting game series of all time. It became what it did thanks to innovation and risks being taken, something that is rarely seen with video game (or really any type of media) developers these days. What more can I say, other than "Wow! Incredible!"