Sakurai Enjoyed Playing King Of Fighters When He Was Younger

For the past week, rumors have been circulating that the fourth DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is none other than Terry Bogard from SNK’s King Of Fighters.

In response to these claims, many Smash Bros fans have expressed confusion about the choice as Terry Bogard isn’t exactly a well known (Joker), iconic (The Hero) or a fan favorite (Banjo-Kazooie) choice for the roster.

If the rumors prove true, an interview published by TheGuardian last year may shed some light on why Terry was picked: Masahiro Sakurai enjoyed playing King Of Fighters when he was young.

“In the arcades, when I was younger, there was a game called King of Fighters 95, and I thought I was pretty good. I had a 50-strong win streak on Street Fighter 2 around that time. So I was playing King of Fighters once – and the way arcades are set up in Japan, you can’t really see the person you’re playing against, because you’re on opposite sides of the cabinet. I was feeling pleased with myself because I was winning, and it turned out to be a total beginner with their partner, just trying to have fun, and I thought, ‘Oh no, I shouldn’t have beaten them so badly. Now they’re going to feel like they never want to play it again!’ It’s important to think about the beginner crowd.”

If Sakurai was a big fan of King Of Fighters, it would certainly make sense that he choose to include a character from the series as part of its DLC. That said, it remains to be seen if Terry Bogard is indeed coming to Smash Ultimate, but we’ll likely know for sure soon enough.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.