Harada Praises Sakurai: Probably the Only One Who Could Properly Make Smash Bros.

ign.com:

Tekken's Katsuhiro Harada is no stranger to Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai. After all, Sakurai was a regular sight at Bandai Namco, which played a large role in developing Super Smash Bros.

Towards the end of Smash Bros' development, Harada and Sakurai worked together on adding Kazuya Mishima as a Smash Bros. DLC character. Asked whether he gained any insight from the experience for Tekken 8, Harada used the opportunity to praise Sakurai, calling it "quite a shock."

"We knew quite well what to expect and his personality," Harada told IGN in the first exclusive interview for Tekken 8. "And even that said, we were also surprised when it came time to make Kazuya for Smash Brothers, because we thought since we're the experts at Tekken, maybe he was going to ask about the points he needed to definitely get right to make it feel like Tekken, but actually that wasn't the case. He already had his own thoughts about what makes 'Tekken Tekken.'

So it was surprising but also refreshing to see that he came in and didn't ask questions, but said, 'I've played a lot of Tekken and studied it, and this is what I feel is important for the game,' right off the bat. So that was quite a shock, I mean in a positive way."

Harada says that the experience left him feeling as if Sakurai was the only one qualified to make Super Smash Bros. — a sentiment that Sakurai himself has shared at points despite concerns for his health amid a grueling schedule.

"It made us think that he has all these characters from other different franchises and games in Smash Brothers, so to know so much to a deep extent about all of these different IPs to be able to do that… he's probably the only one that could properly make that game," Harada says. "In