Looking back at Melee's site

[nocturnal YL]

...And learn the story of Smash's development!

Unlike in later games like Brawl, 3DS and Wii U, Melee's website talks about the game at a more personal level. Sakurai wouldn't talk that way these days, because he's acting in a more or less "official" capacity, leaving the more personal stuff to his own Twitter account and interviews.

(64's site, in comparison, is like an online guidebook. Nothing special there.)

That said, a look at Melee's site shows a little bit about the game's behind-the-scene stories. It's not something that we don't know by now, but *some* online communities just don't understand...

Anyway, I'll start by quoting a few pages that I think applies to Smash in general. As you probably know by now, my translation will try to preserve the original's structure rather than trying to "localise" anything.

---

Mario (7 Aug 2001)

少々遅れましたが、マリオの登場です！
It's a bit late, but here's Mario!

スマブラを作りはじめるときは、やはりマリオから作っていくのです。
モデリングも、モーションも、プログラムも、サウンドも、エフェクトも、パラメーターも。
At the beginning of Smash's development, of course we'll start with Mario.
This applies to all of modelling, motion, programming, sound, effects and parameters.

ひとことで説明：
Here's a simple explanation:

モデリング：
キャラ本体の外見、形状、構造などのこと
Modelling:
The character's appearance, shape, structure and so on

モーション：
パンチやジャンプなど、キャラのアニメーションのこと
Motion:
Things like punches and jumps — the character's animation

プログラム：
キャラを操作し、ゲーム機上で動かすもののこと
Program:
The character's controls and how they operate on the actual console

サウンド：
声や効果音のこと
Sound:
Voices and sound effects

エフェクト：
光やしぶきやケムリなどの画面効果のこと
Effects:
Visual effects such as light, splashes, and smoke

パラメーター：
走る速さや落ちる速度、攻撃の設定などのこと
Parameters:
Settings for things like running speed, falling speed and attack

マリオを基本にすべてが進むので、ここである程度の方針、本ソフトの性格が決まります。
そんなマリオは、こんな感じになっております。
We'll then proceed to everything from Mario, so Mario decides the direction and personality of the game to a certain extent.
That was how Mario came to be.

---

Marth (4 Dec 2001)

『ファイアーエムブレム』からの参戦です。
ファンは待っていたんでしょう？彼の登場を！
A fighter from Fire Emblem.
Are fans waiting for this? His appearance, that is!

いや、敷居は高かったんですよ。
キャラクターは任天堂だけのものじゃないし、海外では発売されていないタイトルだし。
だけれど、登場を強く望むファンのためにムリをしました。
＃ムリをするにはインテリジェントシステムズ他、多方面のご協力が必要だったわけですが・・・
No, the hurdle to get over to get him was high.
The character isn't a pure Nintendo property, and he's from a title that's not sold overseas.
Even so, due to the strong wishes from fans, we did the impossible.
# To do the impossible, the help from others such as INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS would be needed...

海外版では外す覚悟でマルスを作っていたのですが、キャラを立てた結果、海外のかたにも絶賛され、結果日本と全く同じ仕様で搭載されています。
（ゆえにマルスは日本語のままです）
We made Marth with the mental preparation that he will be excluded in overseas versions, but after the character was created, he was praised by those overseas. In the end, he was included with the exact specs as the Japanese version.
(Therefore, Marth speaks Japanese as-is)


出現条件：
基本14キャラを、レギュラー戦もしくは大乱闘で1回でも遊ぶ。
もしくは対戦ゲームの試合を400回以上行う。
Unlock criteria:
Play Regular or basic Melee at least once with all 14 basic characters.
Alternatively, play 400 multiplayer matches.

---

Trophy Gallery (7 Jul 2001)

スマブラは、さまざまな任天堂ゲームの世界観を
ミックスした、唯一のソフトです。
Smash Bros. is the only software that mixes the various worlds of Nintendo games.

たとえばマリオ系のバラエティゲームはいろいろあるわけで、
前作スマブラ販売以後のソフトで、その手のゲームが
出てくる可能性もあったわけです。
が、現状ではそれは出ておりません。
For example, there are a lot of Mario spinoffs and there are games that came after the last Smash Bros., so it's not unreasonable to have those appear here.
That said, the current situation is that they do not appear.

それはなぜか・・・は置いておいて。
For some reason... those are put aside.

今回オマケで”フィギュア名鑑”をつけ、立体物として
任天堂キャラを収集して楽しめるようにしました。
収集する方法は、まぁいろいろと。
This time, the games comes with the omake "Figure Directory" (Trophy Gallery), where you can enjoy collecting Nintendo characters as 3D models.
There are lots of ways to collect them.


▲これがフィギュア名鑑。　　　　　
説明文とフィギュアがセットに。
This is the Trophy Gallery.
Descriptions are paired with trophies.


▲そしてなめるようにズーーム！　　　　　　
これはメトロイドのフィギュア。 　　　　
サムスが"メトロイド"だと思ってませんか？
And we zoooom it close!
This is the Metroid trophy.
Did anyone think Samus is "Metroid"?


▲うわぁ。本当に１から作ってる。
たいへんだぁ。なんて。
Whoa. We really start from 1.
Seriously. Whatever.

それぞれ説明文がつき、そのキャラクターの背景や
代表作がわかるようになっています。
（もちろん、説明文は私が書いています）
Descriptions are attached to all of these, letting you know the characters' backgrounds and notable games of origin.
(Of course, the descriptions are written by me)

・ゲーム中にあるネタでも、ネタの元を知っていると楽しさが違う
・メジャーなキャラからマイナーなキャラまで、
　スマブラに参戦してほしいキャラの要望が寄せられる中、
　マイキャラで作るのがムリであっても、
　すこしは要望が満たせる
- Even with in-game references, knowing their origins will make you enjoy them differently
- From major characters to minor ones,
among the character wishes for Smash,
even though it's impossible to make them "my chara" (playable),
this can fulfill those wishes just a little

・・・などが、この仕様を入れた主な理由です。
...et cetera, these are the main reasons to include this spec (trophies).

正直言って、１つのフィギュアを完成させるのは
想像を越える労力がいります。
が、古き良き歴史を持っている任天堂ゲーム内において、
こういう楽しみを提供するのも『スマブラ』の役目ですので、
病的にがんばっています。
To be honest, to complete even 1 trophy requires labour beyond imagination.
Even so, to provide fun through the old, nice history of Nintendo games is also Smash's job, so we tried hard obsessively.

ちなみにフィギュア総数はまだナイショです。
というより、これからできるだけ作ります。
By the way, the total amount of trophies is still a secret.
A better way to put it is that we'll make however many we can.

いろいろ画像も流れているようですが、
くれぐれもマイキャラとして使えるものだと
誤解しませぬように。
There are lots of images circulating around, but pretty please, do not mistaken them for playable characters.


▲彼にもスマブラ参加招待状を送ったのですが、
マンションに出張中で留守でした・・・。　
We sent him a Smash invitation too, but he was away on his trip to the mansion...


▲ちょっとした告知！
７月７日公開された”劇場版ポケットモンスター『セレビィ～時を超えた遭遇～』”で、
スマブラのオープニングムービーが予告編として劇場に流れます！
短く編集したバージョンですが、乞うご期待！
A little announcement!
In the Pokémon movie "Celebi — Voice of the Forest" released on 7/7, there will be a preview of the Smash opening movie!
It's a short, edited version, but please look forwad to it!


▲・・・な、なんじゃこりゃぁ～！
っていうかやりすぎました。　
...Wh, what's these stuff~!
I mean, we went overboard.

今回のスマブラは、
フィギュアどうしがイメージの世界の中で戦う
という設定になっています。
In this Smash Bros., the setting is that trophies fight in an imaginary world.

任天堂のキャラをすべてマイキャラとして入れることは
もちろんムリですが、
フィギュアになったキャラクターをながめ、
「これがスマブラに出るとしたら、どのようになるのだろう？」
と夢をはせるのは良いのではないでしょうか？
Of course, it's impossible to include all Nintendo characters to be playable, but isn't it nice to look at the trophy characters and dream "If this character is in Smash Bros., how will they fare"?

---

(Oh, and since the last post made a Luigi joke, here's Luigi's page even though it doesn't tell much about Smash itself)

Luigi (27 Nov 2001)

私は「ルイージは出ません」とはひとことも言っていませんよ。
ルイージが純粋にスタメンとして発表されるより、みんな楽しい発売前をすごせたに違いない、と思います。
なにより、この人には最初は隠れていてほしかった。
I never said "Luigi won't appear" even once.
Rather than simply announcing Luigi as a starting member, we thought it would be fun for everyone to spend the pre-release this way.
More than anything, I wanted to hide this person from the beginning.

ルイージはスマブラをプレイしたことのない人にとっては、マリオの色変えだけのようにしか見えないかもしれませんが、キャラの特性は顕著に変わっています。
前作でも、マリオが好き、ルイージが好き、という人がはっきり分かれていましたが、今回もさらに個性が分かれ、2人を同類項と見なすのはちょっとムリがあります。
For someone who has never played as Luigi in Smash, He feels like Mario's palette swap and nothing more; but his property has changed a lot. Even in the previous game, there were people who obviously preferred Mario or Luigi; but with further changes made this time, it doesn't make sense to think of these two as the same.

特にルイージ、性能的には長所も多いが短所も多い作りになっています。
キャラクター的には・・・まぁ見てやってください。
Especially for Luigi, who we gave lots of both strengths and weaknesses.
As for Luigi's character (personality)... well, see for yourself.

ちなみに、開発中はルイージマンションのことはほとんど知らなかったので、ワザにそうじき（オバキューム）などは出てきません。
By the way, since we knew next to nothing about Luigi's Mansion during development, the vacuum cleaner (Poltergust) doesn't show up as a move.


それと、これからは隠しキャラのトピックなので出現条件も書いておきます。
With that, from now on I'll also write the unlock criteria of the hidden characters.

出現条件：
レギュラー戦＞アドベンチャーのステージ1-1で、残り時間秒の下1ケタが2秒のときにゴールし、ルイージを1分以内に倒してゲームクリアまでプレイ。
もしくは大乱闘もしくはスペシャル乱闘の試合を800回以上おこなう。
Unlock criteria:
In Regular > Adventure's stage 1-1, get to the goal with 2 seconds in the units digit of the seconds in the timer, defeat Luigi in 1 minute, then finish the rest of the game.
Alternatively, play 800 matches in basic Melee or Special Melee.


出現条件は多少特殊ですが、こんなに特殊なキャラは少ないのでごあんしんを。
The unlock criteria is more or less unusual, but we don't have many unusual characters like this, so rest assured.

---

Why, Sakurai? Hiding Luigi is one thing that I think never made any sense since after 64.

Oh, and a little note here: I took liberty in assigning first-person pronouns here. In most instances of "I" or "we", I'm not sure who that really refers to — Sakurai himself, of Smash staff in general — because the original text is pronounless.

[Manspeed]

Two things that caught my eye:

- The mistakes in various trophy bios suddenly make sense, as apparently they were all written by Sakurai himself.

- Sakurai straight up admits that the story of Smash Bros. is a bunch of trophies fighting each other in a world of imagination. And this is as far back as Melee. I bet if he got his way, we'd have gotten a story mode like Subspace Emissary even sooner.

[Boo Destroyer]

I think he's just explaining what the general setting of Smash is. Even if he did have his way, I don't think that meant there would have been a full-blown story mode at the time.

Also, Brawl's trophies were written by not Sakurai (Melee's trophies definitely were, as he was also noted in the credits for that), but two other people: Takeshi Hariu and Hisashi Obara. They're mentioned in the credits for that too. (And the English text for trophies in both Melee and Brawl isn't entirely the same as the Japanese text)

[nocturnal YL]

I've had these ready a while ago, but didn't have the chance to polish them up while I scream like an excited kid at Robin and Lucina. I'd have never thought my top 2 most wanted newcomers would both join, and showing up in the same trailer.

Anyway, with all those talk of those two, as well as the clone Ganondorf and the Star Fox cast, who aren't really clones but share specials, I guess it'd be a good time to put a few posts on character selection here. Here are the posts for the Ice Climbers and Pichu, explaining character selection and clones respectively. Also, for an unrelated reason, I was asked to do Mr G&W's post as well, so here it is.

Ganondorf and Falco's posts not included. Falco's post had nothing interesting there, though I may go through Ganondorf's later, as well as a post talking about stage creation.

---

Ice Climbers (5 Oct 2001)

まさかこんなカタチで復活するなんて！
とちまたでウワサのアイスクライマーです。
They really got revived in this form!?
It's the Ice Climbers of the street legends.

「なぜアイスクライマーを選んだの？」とはよく聞かれたりします。
I often got people asking me, "why choose the Ice Climbers?"

まず、ファミコンオリジナルのキャラクターから代表して１つ出そう！と決めたら、あとは消去法でした。
First off, we wanted a single rep from characters originated from Famicom! After that was decided, we made our pick by elimination.

　バルーンファイト・・・風船割られてだめそうだし
　アーバンチャンピオン・・・ワザが少なそうだし
　クルクルランド・・・どう戦っていいのかわからないし
　エキサイトバイク・・・ジャンプ台つくらなきゃだし
　　　　　　　　　　　　（そういう問題でなく）
Balloon Fight -- he won't do anything after the balloons are popped
Urban Champion -- too few moves
Clu Clu Land -- we don't know how can she fight
Excitebike -- we'll have to give him jumping ramps
　　　　　　　　　　　　(that's not really the issue)

それと、キャラ選別には「そのキャラにしかできないこと」があることが重要です。
Also, in character selection, whether they have "things only this character can do" is important.

アイスクライマーなら、２人同時プレイをもじって２人同時に動かすのも面白そうだと思い、晴れて参加となりました。
With Ice Climber, we thought it's interesting to translate that game's simultaneous 2-player play to the 2-character mechanics here, so that's how they joined in.

アイスクライマーを相手にするとやっかいな感じです。
２人同時のコンビネーションは想像以上にてごわい反面、操作しているプレイヤーにはあまり強いという印象を与えにくく、知らずのうちによく勝っている、なんてこともありそうです。
If you fight the Ice Climbers, you'll find them cubersome.
Combos with both of them will be powerful beyond imagination, but those who know how to use them will tend to find it hard to leave such impression, while those who don't may actually win often.

ただ、アイスクライマーには、「空中横移動速度が遅い」という、原作に忠実かつスマブラでは致命的な弱点も作ったので、両極端なキャラになりそうです。
（最近の調整でそうでもなくなったような？まだわかりませんが）
With the Ice Climbers, their mid-air horizontal movement is slow, which is a fatal flaw of them that's faithfully translated from their own game to Smash. This makes them rather extreme as combatants.
(Are the recent adjustments not going for this direction? I still don't know, but...)

ちなみにポポとナナは、おさななじみ的な男女だそうです。
友達以上恋人未満というか。
By the way, Popo and Nana are a childhood friends-like boy-and-girl pair.
The "closer than friends, not yet lovers" kind.


(Some online dictionary suggested "friendzone" for "closer than friends, not yet lovers". I don't think that's an appropriate thing to say in any occasion...)

---

Pichu (11 Dec 2001)

スマブラには「モデル変えキャラ」というものが存在します。
In Smash, there's this thing called "model swap characters".

基本キャラ１４体、隠れキャラ５体というのが基本ですが、キャラ選択画面の隅にいるキャラのバリエーションがいて、キャラ枠を超えたところに出現してくるのです。
The basic 14 characters and the hidden 5 make up the basics, while in the character selection screen's edges there are the character's variations appearing outside of the characters' slots.

開発中は、作成可能なキャラ数はどんなにがんばっても16体ぐらいが関の山ではないかと思っていました。
が、そうは言ってもお客さんはより多くのキャラの参戦を望んでいるし・・・
During development, we thought we couldn't make more than 16 characters however hard we try.
That said, the customers would want to have even more...

そこで、必殺ワザとモーション（動き）を何らかのキャラとまったく同じにすることでプログラムとモーションを作成する時間を節約、外見や操作感は異なるキャラクターを用意しました。
前作のマリオに対するルイージのように。
There, we prepared characters who share Special Moves and motion (moves) with some other characters in order to save programming and motion creation time, while looking and feeling different.
Just like Luigi to Mario in the previous game.

・・・実はモデル作ったりキャラ枠を確保したりするのもとても大変なので言うほどカンタンではないし、誰よりパラメーター（攻撃力とかジャンプ力とか）を調整している私がめちゃくちゃ大変になるのはわかっていたのですが。
が、選択肢は「ない」か「ある」かしかないのであれば、「ある」ほうが絶対いいだろうと思い、ねじこみました。
（これらをカットしてもキャラが増やせるわけもないですから）
Actually, even making the character models to secure their slot is not easy, and I know that having to adjust parameters (like attack power and jump) would make me busier than it would anyone.
That said, between the choices "don't" and "do", it's definitely more desirable to make these clones, so that's how the work started.
(That's because even if these are cut, there will be no increase in the number of characters)


で、「ピカチュウに対するピチュー」を用意しました。
実際遊んでみると、ピチューとピカチュウとはかなり異なります。
So, with respect to Pikachu, we have prepared Pichu.
When you actually play with them, you will find Pichu and Pikachu to be very different.

今回のスマブラは、最弱の座をピチューに託しました。
前回、一応最弱としていたが、工夫次第では相当強かったプリンと異なり、電撃をおびた攻撃をおこなうと、しびれて自分もダメージを受けてしまうという、物理的なハンデがあります。
体重も全キャラの中でもっとも軽く、全体的には攻撃力もそんなにありません。
With this Smash Bros., the honour to be the weakest is bestowed to Pichu.
Last time there was Jigglypuff who, while being weak, can be rather powerful when worked on. Pichu is different from that — when it attacks with electricity, it will shock itself and take damage. Which is to say, it has a physical disadvantage.
Its weight is the lightest among all characters too, and its overall attacks are not powerful, either.

逆に言えば、このキャラで勝てれば相当カッコいいです。
このキャラを大会の上位戦で使うような豪の者がいたら、拍手してあげてください。
To put it the other way, if you can win with this character, you'll look really cool.
If you see some master using this character in high level tournament matches, please applaud for them.


出現条件：
イベント戦37「伝説のポケモンたち」をクリア。
もしくは対戦ゲームの試合を200回以上おこなう。
Unlock criteria:
Clear Event 37: Legendary Pokémon.
Alternatively, play 200 multiplayer matches.

・・・もうお気づきだとは思いますが、対戦ゲームの回数を重ねるだけでも、全隠れキャラを登場させることができます。
カンタンなかわりにすこししんどくしていますが、対戦だけしかしないかたにもOKな条件設定です。
You probably have noticed it already, but you can unlock all characters by just racking up the number of matches played.
While it is simple yet a little bit tiresome, we've made it so that even those who can't play any modes other than versus matches can get all characters.


("しんどくしています" took me forever to translate. Turns out that it comes from "しんどい", which in Kansai dialect means "tired".)

---

Mr. Game & Watch (25 Jan 2002)

知る人ぞ知るLSIゲーム機シリーズ、『ゲーム＆ウォッチ』のキャラクターです。
ある意味反則なチョイス？
A character from Game & Watch, an LSI (large scale integration circult) game system series that people in the know would appreciate.
A rule-breaking choice in a certain way?

ゲーム＆ウォッチは’80年から販売。
海外ではなんと’93年になるまでリリースされ続け、全世界で4000万個を越えるほどの数を出荷しています。
そういう意味ではマリオに負けないぐらいメジャーと言えるかもしれませんね。
Game & Watch units were sold since '80.
Overseas, the system was sold all the way until '93, and more than 40 million units were produced worldwide.
In that sense, one can say it was a major phenomenon that rivals even Mario.

ゲーム＆ウォッチにはカートリッジはありません。
1つのゲーム機に1つのソフトが対で入っており、真っ黒な人が液晶画面の上をピコピコ動きます。
Game & Watch doesn't use cartridges.
1 Game & Watch machine corresponds to 1 game, with pitch black figures moving in a "beep beep" computer-like way.

で、スマブラのキャラ「Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ」は、そのキャラを再現してみました。
なんと、通常ワザや必殺ワザが、それぞれ別々のゲームのネタになっています。
（どれだけわかるかな？）
So, the Smash character Mr. Game & Watch is a reappearance of said character.
Why, his normal attacks and Special Moves are all references to individual games.
(How many can you identify?)

ちゃんと平面で描かれていて、モーションも液晶的にパタパタとコマを送ります。
実は開発中は、移動なども液晶的にピッピッと動くものも作ったのですが、あまりに遊びにくかったので現状のものになりました・・・
He is drawn in a perfect flat style, and his motion is moving in a frame-by-frame LCD-like way too.
Actually, during development, we thought to make his movement LCD-like too, but since that makes him difficult to play as, we keep him the way as seen in the game.

なお、今ゲーム＆ウォッチ本体を手に入れるのはさすがに困難ですが、『ゲームボーイギャラリー』シリーズで楽しめるほか、カードeにも移植されます。
On a side note, while it's hard to buy Game & Watch units now, you can play it through the Game & Watch Gallery series. They were also ported to Card-e.


出現条件：
Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチを除くすべてのキャラクターでシンプルorアドベンチャーorターゲットをこわせ！をクリア。
もしくは対戦ゲームの試合を1000回おこなう。
Unlock criteria:
Besides Mr. Game & Watch, clear Simple (Classic) or Adventure or Break the Targets! with all characters.
Alternatively, play 1000 multiplayer matches.

ターゲットをこわせ！のクリアが手っ取り早いですが、自信がなければシンプルなどで狙うといいでしょう。
While you can get him quicklier by clearing Break the Targets!, you can also tackle modes like Simple (Classic) if you're not confident with it.


(Actually, Game & Watch-e fell apart, and only Manhole can be played that way.)

[TV Eye]

Jul 16, 2014 20:08:54 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

Some online dictionary suggested "friendzone" for "closer than friends, not yet lovers". I don't think that's an appropriate thing to say in any occasion...

Not yet lovers just seems to imply that they'll get together when they get older.

Jul 16, 2014 20:08:54 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

Actually, even making the character models to secure their slot is not easy, and I know that having to adjust parameters (like attack power and jump) would make me busier than it would anyone.
That said, between the choices "don't" and "do", it's definitely more desirable to make these clones, so that's how the work started.
(That's because even if these are cut, there will be no increase in the number of characters)

Graagh!! This is why alt costumes should've always been a thing! Then we wouldn't have to deal with shitty characters like Pichu or clones in general!

[Manspeed]

Speak for yourself. I liked Pichu and Dr. Mario. :\

[Johans Nidorino]

Jul 13, 2014 9:02:49 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

This is the Metroid trophy.
Did anyone think Samus is "Metroid"?

lol

Jul 13, 2014 9:02:49 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

A little announcement!
In the Pokémon movie "Celebi — Voice of the Forest" released on 7/7, there will be a preview of the Smash opening movie!
It's a short, edited version, but please look forwad to it!

This is very interesting.

[TV Eye]

Jul 17, 2014 9:20:44 GMT -5 Manspeed said:

Speak for yourself. I liked Pichu and Dr. Mario. :\

Which confuses me to no end.

[Manspeed]

Good.

[8bitretroshit]

I like Pichu too! I dunno, I just like extremely weak joke characters. A small part of me is rooting he'll make it as a much hated DLC character in SSB4's future.

Dr.Mario can die in a carfire however

Jul 16, 2014 23:08:58 GMT -5 TV Eye said:

Graagh!! This is why alt costumes should've always been a thing! Then we wouldn't have to deal with shitty characters like Pichu or clones in general!

But changes in stats can make a huge difference in playstyles! Come on, it's pretty funny to use Young Link's crazy tornado spin or to grind someone into the pavement with Ganondorf's down-A air attack.

By the way, thanks Young Link for translating these. These are fun and informing to read

[TV Eye]

Jul 17, 2014 14:23:10 GMT -5 8bitretroshit said:

I like Pichu too! I dunno, I just like extremely weak joke characters. A small part of me is rooting he'll make it as a much hated DLC character in SSB4's future.

I'd like him more if he wasn't Pichu. Having two clones is one thing, having them look exactly the same is another. This is why I like Toon Link more than Young Link as well.

Dr.Mario can die in a carfire however

Agreed.

But changes in stats can make a huge difference in playstyles! Come on, it's pretty funny to use Young Link's crazy tornado spin or to grind someone into the pavement with Ganondorf's down-A air attack.

Yeah, clones like Roy never really bothered me. Ganondorf is pretty inexcusable though. He's had plenty of games to pick moves from. Making him a clone of Captain Falcon just makes no sense. I guess it sort of does from a gameplay perspective, but if they wanted to make a Heavy Captain Falcon clone, then just out in Mach Rider or Goroh.

By the way, thanks Young Link for translating these. These are fun and informing to read

Agreedx2

[nocturnal YL]

I've been doing other productive stuff such as "slacking off" and "not working". Anyway, here's the last batch of the posts!

---

Ganondorf (18 Dec 2001)

覇王降臨。ガノンドロフ！
ガノンドロフとは、『ゼルダの伝説』での最終ボス『ガノン』の人間時の姿。
『時のオカリナ』に登場しておりました。
Here comes the conqueror. Ganondorf!
Ganondorf is the human form of the final boss of The Legend of Zelda, Ganon.
He appeared in Ocarina of Time.

ガノンドロフはラッキーなキャラでした。
実はスマブラに登場させる予定はなかったのですが、都合の良い要件がいろいろとあったために参戦が決まりました。
（モデルの提供を受けられていたとか、特徴がはっきりとしていたとか、身体のバランスがキャプテンファルコンと同程度だとか、なにより人気が高かったとか）
Ganondorf was a lucky character.
He was actually not planned to appear in Smash, but thanks to multiple coincidences, we decided to make him join the battle.
(We have got his models, he had clear features, his body ratio is similar to that of Captain Falcon's, and more than anything he was popular)

操作してみるとわかるのですが、なにより鈍重で、非常に重たい感じがします。
その分攻撃力が高めで、重たいゆえにふっとばされにくい長所を持っています。
力のガノンドロフ、技のファルコンみたいな。
You will know this once you control him and see for yourself: Ganondorf feels really heavy and more unwieldy than anything.
On the other hand, he has high attack power, and being heavy means it's hard to send him flying.
It's like this: power Ganondorf, skill Falcon.

また、得手不得手がはっきりしそうなキャラを作ってしまった・・・。
Again, I have made characters with clear differences in strengths and weaknesses...


出現条件：
イベント戦29「トライフォース集結」をクリア。
もしくは対戦ゲームの試合を600回以上おこなう。
Unlock criteria:
Clear Event Match 29: Triforce Gathering.
Alternatively, play 600 multiplayer matches.

---

Battle Stages (13 Jul 2001)

スマブラでは、対戦ステージも楽しみの１つ。
なんといっても、いろんなゲームをモチーフにした
ステージが、小さく凝縮されて
音楽とともによみがえるわけですから。
In Smash, the battle stages are one thing that makes the game fun.
We say that because these stages take motif from
various games, shrinked to a small size
with music that brings it to life.

＃音楽がまた今回はいいんですわ。良すぎて犯罪。
＃でもその話題はまた今度ということで・・・。
# The music this time is, once again, great. So criminally great.
# But that's not the topic this time...

あのゲームが、あらたな解釈で一部よみがえるなんて、
考えただけでもワクワクしませんか？
New interpretations are given to parts of those games,
isn't that a thrilling thing to think?




▲ピーチ城。今回は上空ではありません。
Peach's castle. This time it's not the airspace above.



スマブラの背景づくりは、すごく難しいです。
デザイナーにもとても苦労をかけさせてしまっていますが、
口をすっぱくして指示するのでした。
It's really hard to make the backgrounds for Smash.
It's hard on the designers' part,
and even giving instructions alone was mouth-souring.

・キャラの視認性を損ねてはいけない
　　キャラが小さくなりがちなスマブラだから、
　　背景色が際だちすぎてキャラをつぶしてはなりません。
- The characters' identifiability cannot be compromised
　　Since Smash will make characters appear small and hard to see,
　　we cannot make background colours too pronounced to make the characters invisible.

・乗れる床は色濃く、乗れないところは薄く
　　プレイヤーにとっては、判定のある場所だけが命です。
　　すこしぐらい不自然でも、配慮しなければ。
　　同じように厚みについても気にかけています。
- Boardable platforms have saturated colours, things that cannot be stood on are unsaturated
　　To the player, the hitbox is of utmost importance.
　　Even the slightest discrepancy will be frowned upon.
　　Similarly, the platforms' thickness is to be carefully considered.

・左右80度、上45度、下20度までのカメラ移動による
　破綻はおこさない。
　　カメラモードがあるためです。
　　処理の軽減を考えたら、横や後ろは描かないほうが
　　良いのですけれども。
- Errors should not arise from moving the camera
　by 80 degrees sideways, 45 degrees up or 20 degrees down
　　That's because there's a camera mode,
　　even though not drawing the sides and back parts
　　is better for reducing processing time.

・原作に忠実かつイメージをふくらませる
　　スマブラにおいては基本かもしれません。
　　忠実なのはいいのですが、スマブラのルールにのっとって
　　しかも新しく見おとりしないようにするのはタイヘン。
- Create them in faithful image to the originals
　　This is perhaps a basic thing to have in Smash.
　　Since it's nice to be faithful, even with alterations to fit Smash's rules
　　it's important to avoid creating new discrepancies.

・描きこみすぎず、軽くしすぎない
　　もう複数の世界観が混在していますから、
　　描きこみを深くしたほうが良いものと、
　　軽くしたほうがいいものがあります。
　　各面の違いが激しいため、そのなかで同じキャラを動かすのもナニですので
　　原作を再現するだけでなく、適度なトータルバランスも取っています。
- Do not draw in excessive or insufficient details
　　Because this is a mix of multiple worlds,
　　there are ones that are better of with more details,
　　and ones that are better off with less.
　　Since the difference between stages is large, to make them not to look out of place with the same characters
　　on them we need to not just recreate the original, but also have an overall balance between them.

・・・・・・など。
.....And so on.






▲コンゴジャングル。大瀑布とログハウス。
Kongo Jungle. Great waterfall and log house.




▲プププランドの夢の泉。おぉファンタスティック。
でもこういう面こそ見にくくなりがち。
Dream Land's Fountain of Dreams. Ooh, fantastic.
But it's harder to see things on this stage.



特に視認性などについては、かなり多くの3Dゲームで
つまづいているところだと思っています。
が、そういうところに極力注意していても、
スマブラはサイドビューですから、
どうしても見にくくなってしまいます・・・。
With particularly the visibility, I think this is an area that
a lot of 3D games fail in.
That said, if we pay extreme attention to make it look good (as a 3D game),
Smash will, because of its side-view angle,
look rather bad no matter how we try.

背景の色あいを薄めたりするのは、
極上のグラフィックを狙うところから
すこし離れてしまうことかもしれませんね。
でも、ゲームは遊びが命ですから、
そちらを優先にしつつがんばっております。
By making the background look unsaturated,
perhaps we are going away from the target
of having the highest graphics quality.
But since in a game the gameplay is its life itself,
we're working with that as a priority.





▲アイシクルマウンテン。
　これはアイスクライマーのステージ。
　もちろんスクロールしっぱなし！
Icicle Mountain. This is the Ice Climbers' stage.
It is, of course, a scrolling stage.



ステージの仕掛けもパワーアップしております。
でも、さすがにミュートシティは
悪ノリしすぎたかなぁ・・・。
The stages' gimmicks are also powered up.
But Mute City really lived up to its name
with its over-the-top trickery.




▲ミュートシティはF-ZEROグランプリ中。
　マシンが飛び交う！豪快!!マシンはなんと破壊可能!!!
F-ZERO Grand Prix in progress in Mute city.
Machines fly and cross! Exciting!! The machines are actually breakable!!!





▲マザーからは、オネット登場。
　落下がないかわりに、クルマが走ってます。
From MOTHER, Onett appears.
to compensate its lack of falling pits, cars run around here.



それと今回、実は１モチーフ（１世界観）につき
２つのステージがある場合もあります！
はたして全ステージ数は何ステージになるのか？？
乞うご期待！
Also for this time, there are actually cases where
there are 2 stages in 1 motif (1 game world)!
How many stages are there in total??
Please look forward to it!


(Extreme translationese in this post! That's one reason I didn't want to do it before. Everything's not hard to understand, but hard to rewrite in European or even fellow East Asian languages. And this just explains why I don't like Smash Wii U's Pac-Land. Everything's so hard to tell apart.)

---

(Bonus post: Dr. Mario because it's kind of a hot topic here. I originally wanted to translate Kirby's but I don't think anyone besides me in this forum actually cares about Kirby...)

Dr. Mario (1 Jan 2002)

ドクターマリオは、モデル替えキャラの中でも、『異ならないところが異なるところ』として製作をすすめました。
Even among model swap characters, Dr. Mario was made with "the non-difference is the difference" as his theme.

スマブラでは、「そのキャラにしかない特徴」をかならず入れるようにしています。
それは、モデル替えキャラも例外ではありません。
In Smash, "properties possessed by only this character" are always present.
That holds for even model swap characters.

モデル替えは、元となるキャラの必殺ワザやモーションを別のものに置き換えられないとしても、それなりの個性と性能差をもって、元となるキャラとは違う遊びを引き出せるようにしています。
With model swap, even with no changes in the Special Moves and motion, personality and performance are changed, so that they play and feel differently from the original character,

が、ドクターマリオは、マリオと同一人物という設定ですから、あまりムチャなことはできません。
コスチュームを替えたからといって、いきなり倍の速さで走ったり、ジャンプ力が半分になったりしたらヘンですので。
But for Dr. Mario, since he is the same person as Mario, there really aren't that many differences.
It would be weird to make him suddenly run twice as fast or jump half as high just because his costume is changed.

ですが、そこを逆手に考えて、「もしも元となるキャラとかなり近い性能のキャラがいたら、その微妙な違いを使いわけられるだろうか？」ということを念頭に置きました。
実際、マリオとドクターマリオは「ほとんど同じ」という人と「ぜんぜん違う」という人は結構分かれているのではないでしょうか？
（後者はやりこんでますね！）
But then, thinking in the opposite way, we have this in mind: "Even with similar performance as the original character, how will that miniscule difference play out?"
Perhaps it will turn out that there are roughly the same number of people who think Mario and Dr. Mario are "almost the same" or "completely different"?
(The latter are really serious about the game!)

また、ドクターマリオは、「医者」という明確な職業を持っている人ですから、ワイワイ遊ぶときはその設定を活かしたスラングが続出しているところもあるかと思います。
おもいっきり他キャラを診療してしまってください。
Also, since Dr. Mario has an explicit occupation of being a physician, I think this will give him the chance to get lots of related slangs (jokes) while some play as him.
Now please diagnose the other heavily-beat characters.

なお、もう1つドクターマリオを入れたい理由として、「ドクターマリオの音楽をスマブラに入れたい」というものがありました。
その理由はいずれまた・・・
Also, for 1 more reason to have Dr. Mario in, there was "I want to have Dr. Mario's music".
Yeah, I know...


出現条件：
マリオでレギュラー戦をノーコンテニュークリア。
または対戦ゲームの試合を100回以上おこなう。
Unlock criteria:
Clear Regular with Mario without Continues.
Or play 100 multiplayer matches.

[8bitretroshit]

Aug 24, 2014 19:10:06 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

Dream Land's Fountain of Dreams. Ooh, fantastic.
But it's harder to see things on this stage.

It's true. I didn't notice the background had a bunch of objects from old school Kirby games until I goofed around with Project M's free range camera few weeks ago. It's why the stage is so clear though, something a lot of stage hackers tend to forget

Anyway, thanks again YL! These translations rule

[kirbychu]

Huh, I never noticed that about the saturation before. That's cool.

And YL, I care about Kirby. I care about Kirby a LOT.

[nocturnal YL]

Aug 24, 2014 19:36:27 GMT -5 kirbychu said:

And YL, I care about Kirby. I care about Kirby a LOT.

That means I have an audience then. Great. I'll work on Kirby's page later in that case.