Editing Mr. Sakurai Presents

{{Title|''Mr. Sakurai Presents''}}

'''''Mr. Sakurai Presents''''' ({{ja|のつかいかた|No Tsukai Kata}}, ''How to Use''), known as '''''Battling with''''' in Europe and Oceania, is a series of unscripted video presentations hosted by ''{{b|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' series director [[Masahiro Sakurai]] that were released at irregular intervals and detailed upcoming {{SSBU|downloadable content}} for ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. These presentations are similar to [[Nintendo Direct|''Super Smash Bros.'' Directs]], though they feature lower budgets than a traditional Direct. These presentations also briefly discuss the history of the series and how it was adapted to ''Ultimate''. Sakurai revealed in an interview that the format for ''Mr. Sakurai Presents'' was suggested by [[Nintendo]] due to [[#New Content Approaching (Joker)|Joker's introduction video]] being unexpectedly expensive to produce.<ref>https://twitter.com/KodyNOKOLO/status/1455945465409773577</ref>

The presentations for the Fighters Pass Vol. 1 characters took place inside Sakurai's studio, featuring an English voiceover in the North American versions. However, due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash|COVID-19 pandemic]], the format of the presentations for Fighters Pass Vol. 2 was slightly changed, with {{SSBU|Min Min}}, {{SSBU|Steve}}, and {{SSBU|Pyra}}/{{SSBU|Mythra}}'s presentations taking place in Sakurai's house and all of them having subtitles for all overseas versions.

*'''What is [series name]?''': After briefly introducing himself to the viewers, Sakurai talks about the series that the [[fighter]] is from, the various games in the series, the style of the games, and the fighter's role in them. Steve and Sephiroth's presentations are the only ones that did not have this section.

**In the latter's, however, instead of talking about what ''Final Fantasy VII'' is as a whole, Sakurai instead specifically talks about Sephiroth himself, and called the section, '''Who is Sephiroth?''' as a result.

*'''As part of Challenger Pack [number]: [Character] joins the battle!''': Sakurai goes into details about the character's moveset, including standard [[attack]]s, [[smash attacks]], [[aerial attack]]s, [[special moves]] and [[Final Smash]], which is always shown last. [[Fighter ability|Unique mechanics for certain characters]], like Hero's [[MP Gauge]], Terry's command inputs, or Steve's mining and crafting abilities, are also shown off and explained. In many cases, most fighters' non-special moves are given names during this section that are usually not present in the [[tips]].

*'''New Stage: [stage name]''': Sakurai talks about the [[stage]] that comes with the fighter, including its design, unique elements, and any [[background character]]s that may appear in the stage.

**'''Cameos''': In both Banjo & Kazooie's and Terry's presentations, this section was split into one section about the stage itself and another section about the background characters on the stage.

*'''Let's see them in action!''': After showing off just the moveset, Sakurai shows full gameplay of the character in one of the various modes of the game. For Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, Min Min and Sora, he played a regular [[Smash]] battle. For Terry and Sephiroth, he played their {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} routes. For Byleth, Pyra/Mythra, and Kazuya, he played [[Squad Strike]]. For Steve, he played a few [[spirit]] battles on his [[DLC Spirits (mode)|DLC Spirit Board]].

*'''Song Collection/List''': Sakurai goes over the {{SSBU|music}} that is included with the fighter and shows a list of tracks on-screen, with new remixes being labelled with an icon. During the presentation itself, whenever a new song is being played, the corner of the screen will show the name of the song for reference.

*'''Version [update number]''': After discussing the main content of the DLC, Sakurai then talks about the update that will release with the DLC and the extra content that comes in it, including new modes (like [[Stage Builder]] and [[Home-Run Contest]]) as well as smaller changes (like a time limit for the [[Final Smash Meter]]). This segment was not featured in presentations for fighters whose updates did not feature major changes besides the release of the DLC.

*'''Mii Fighters''': Each presentation includes a trailer showcasing the next round of [[Mii Costume]]s that can be purchased separately. After the logo of the costume's game (occasionally being replaced by a wordmark of the character's name) is shown next to the ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' logo, the costume is then shown in action, usually with music from their series usually accompanying them. In the case of special Mii Fighter costumes (like [[Sans]], [[Cuphead]] and [[Vault Boy]]), a small cinematic is usually shown before their game's logo appears, similar to an actual reveal trailer. After all {{SSBU|Mii Fighter}} costumes are shown individually, they are all shown together at the end. In Sans, Cuphead, Vault Boy, [[Bomberman]], [[Shantae]], [[Dragonborn]], and [[Doom Slayer]]'s cases, after the trailer ends, Sakurai briefly talks about their inclusion and, in the cases of Sans, Cuphead, and Shantae, the music tracks that come with them. In Sephiroth's and Sora's presentations, Sakurai started with the Mii Fighter costumes rather than showing them at the end.

*'''amiibo''': Towards the very end of the presentation, Sakurai shows what ''Super Smash Bros.'' series [[amiibo]] are next in line for release and when they will release. This segment was not in Sephiroth or Pyra/Mythra's presentation, however, likely due to a previously-announced amiibo wave not having released yet.

*{{b|DLC Spirits|mode}} is a group of special Spirit Boards available after downloading a Challenger Pack, themed around the series of origin of the challenger. Unlike the standard Spirit Board, spirits available here do not expire.

''Mr. Sakurai Presents "Hero"'' (''A Heroic Presentation'' in Europe and Oceania) was announced on July 28, 2019 for an upload date on the 30th. Unlike future ''Mr. Sakurai Presents'' videos, this video was not premiered via live stream. It detailed information about Hero, previously confirmed during Nintendo's E3 presentation, and other content that would be coming to the game as part of his Challenger Pack. It is officially the first presentation in the ''Mr. Sakurai Presents'' series.

*Screenshots can now be inserted into video clips made with the Video Editor.

*Videos can now be played consecutively in Shared Content.

***The Mii Fighter costume section uses the standard Battlefield remix of Lifelight (otherwise heard at the beginning and end of the section), rather than any of the ''Dragon Quest'' music; it is the only presentation to have no other music in the Mii Fighter costume section, due to there only being ''Dragon Quest''-based Mii costumes included in update 4.0.0. Both of these are likely due to the ''Dragon Quest'' music being owned by the late series composer {{s|wikipedia|Koichi Sugiyama}}, rather than [[Square Enix]].

**this one does not have Sakurai discuss the inclusion of any specific Mii outfits.

**the section that is usually titled "As part of Challenger Pack #: [Character] joins the battle!" in Joker's video and future presentation instead uses Hero's trailer tagline (The Hero Draws Near!).

**after Hero's general introduction, his moves are introduced in a sub-section called "Hero's Moves". In future presentations, the character's introduction and moveset are part of the same section.

**Sakurai does not individually talk about Hero's standard attacks (like smash attacks, aerial attacks, grabs, etc.). While he talks about special properties like the smash attacks' Critical Hit and the side tilt's shielding abilities, he does not talk about every move as a whole.

*While most of the ''Dragon Quest'' heroes do not have canonical names within their games, Sakurai provides names to each Hero in their demo video, corresponding to their most popular fan names in Japanese: Eleven, Arusu, Solo and Eight.

*This is the only ''Mr. Sakurai Presents'' video not to be called ''Battling with'' in Europe and Oceania, being called ''A Heroic Presentation'' instead.

*At nearly 49 minutes in length, this is the longest ''Super Smash Bros.'' video presentation to date.

*When justifying the absence of {{s|wikipedia|Mai Shiranui}}—a character largely recognized for her revealing outfit—as a background character in King of Fighters Stadium, Sakurai jokingly stated that "''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is for good boys and girls of many different ages". The statement quickly became memetic within the community, partly since it contradictorily does not account for characters who possess similarly revealing outfits, such as {{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSBU|Bayonetta}}, as well as characters that come from a primarily M-rated franchise, such as {{SSBU|Snake}} and {{SSBU|Joker}}.

**In the Japanese version of the presentation, Sakurai additionally mentions that this omission complies with ''Ultimate''{{'}}s {{s|wikipedia|CERO}} A rating. This mention was removed entirely in international localizations.

*When the Mii Fighter Showcase video ended, the sides on the purchase were tangerine instead of blue, this also applies to the separate Mii Fighter costume showcase video.

When this presentation was reuploaded as ''Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth"'' on the exact date the original premiered, it removes the beginning introduction by Sakurai where he tells viewers not to be upset at the character choice, instead beginning immediately with Byleth's reveal trailer.

*Ancient Soldier Gear (Swordfighter), available as a bonus for purchasing the Fighters Pass Vol. 2.

*The Fighters Pass Vol. 2 was formally announced during this presentation. It would feature six new characters, to be released by December 2021. Similarly to the first Fighters Pass, each challenger pack also includes a stage and additional music tracks and was announced to be sold at the same price as the prior packs.

**In addition, during this segment in the North American version, the release year for ''Three Houses'' is mistakenly labelled as 2017, when it actually released in 2019.

*Following the reveal trailer, Sakurai is seen hanging up the presentation's poster, and his expression upon turning around and looking at the camera has become a minor meme, used to emphasize Sakurai's playful personality.

*The ability to play Spirit rematches has been added to the Spirit List in the [[Inventory]]. Playing a rematch will increase a score, although it will not award additional copies of the spirit.

*As in Banjo & Kazooie's presentation, none of the new DLC spirits were revealed in this presentation. They were instead revealed in the update itself.

''Mr. Sakurai Presents "Steve & Alex"'' (''Battling with Steve & Alex'' in Europe and Oceania) was announced on September 30th, 2020 under the title ''Mr. Sakurai Presents "???"'', similar to Byleth's presentation before he was announced. Unlike previous ''Mr. Sakurai Presents'' videos, the presentation is broken down into two videos. The [https://youtu.be/TaDhtEcX1TM/ first video] was released on October 1st, which only contained the reveal trailer and a brief message from Masahiro Sakurai discussing Steve's challenging development process. The second, more in-depth video covering all of the content was released on the 3rd.

*This marks the first time that the Alex skin is explicitly referred to as female in any officially sanctioned Minecraft media. Previously, it was only implied in [https://youtu.be/8jI4Qfj7U6Q one video's description] on the Minecraft YouTube channel.

''Mr. Sakurai Presents "Sephiroth"'' (''Battling with Sephiroth'' in Europe and Oceania) was announced on December 10, 2020 following the official reveal at [[The Game Awards]] 2020 and premiered on the 17th.<!--December 18, 2020, in Eastern Europe, Asia and Oceania-->This Presentation details Sephiroth, other content coming in his Challenger Pack, and the limited-time promotional mode, the [[Sephiroth Challenge]], which launched later that day.

*This is the third presentation to not reveal new spirits. Like the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' and ''ARMS'' spirits, the ''Final Fantasy VII'' spirits were left to be discovered in-game instead.

*This is the first presentation in which Sakurai does not discuss upcoming amiibo.

*Unlike the previous Fighters Pass Vol. 2 presentations and like the entirety of Fighters Pass Vol. 1 (minus Byleth), Sakurai's gameplay demonstration was done using the Japanese version of ''Ultimate'', rather than the English version.

*Despite Pyra's spirits using her uncensored design in ''Ultimate'', both she and Mythra's models in the game (alongside the latter's spirits) are censored due to age ratings, giving them tights and covering up the latter's cleavage. Despite this, figurines of both Pyra and Mythra are present on Sakurai's desk, using their uncensored designs, while gameplay of ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'' shown also uses their uncensored designs. This is likely due to the presentation not being bound by the same age rating restrictions as the game itself.

*This is the first ''Mr. Sakurai Presents'' video to not have the character's splash art tagline from their reveal trailer captioned on the thumbnail, instead simply saying, "Pyra/Mythra Join the Battle!" This is likely due to Pyra and Mythra being two distinct characters and thus having two distinct taglines (while Byleth also had two taglines, they are two genders of the same character).

''Mr. Sakurai Presents "Kazuya"'' (''Battling with Kazuya'' in Europe and Oceania) was announced immediately after the showing of Kazuya's trailer during the [[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3 2021]] [[Nintendo Direct]] on June 15th, 2021 for a premiere date on June 28th, 2021. In a similar vein to Steve's presentation, after Kazuya's trailer was shown in the Nintendo Direct, Sakurai briefly appeared to talk about him and the date of his full presentation. Afterwards, a short video showing each of Kazuya's moves and their names was presented.

*{{SSBU|Kazuya}} was showcased in this presentation. Coming from a fighting game, he brings with him a lot of different moves and combos from his home series. He can also transform into his devil form for several of his moves. When sustaining enough damage, he will be powered up by Rage.

 

**In the Nintendo Direct, Sakurai was shown with his English voiceover, Raymond E., for the first time since Byleth's presentation. However, the voiceover was not used in the actual presentation.

*Sakurai mentions during the video of himself briefly going over {{SSBU|Kazuya}}'s moveset in the [[E3]] 2021 presentation that the official Mr. Sakurai Presents video had yet to be recorded as of the completion of said video.

**This marks the second time a teaser to the official video was made, the first being made for {{SSBU|Steve}}.

*This is the only time Sakurai is shown losing a match during the "Let's See Them in Action" segment.

**Despite this, Sakurai can be heard saying "''Skyrim''" when talking about Dragonborn's inclusion, though it isn't referred to by name in the subtitles.

*At the beginning of the presentation, Sakurai jokes that a "voice from the heavens" told him to put a ''Tekken'' character in ''Smash''. In Japanese, this is a pun on how the name [[Nintendo]] features the kanji 天 (''ten''), which means "heaven", and is a reference to how Nintendo decides all of the DLC fighters for the game before Sakurai approves them.

*Much like Pyra and Mythra's presentation, the thumbnail for the North American presentation simply says, "Kazuya Joins the Battle!" rather than his trailer tagline ("Kazuya GETS READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE!"), though this may be due to it being too long to put the entire caption on screen.

*{{SSBU|Sora}} was showcased during this presentation. Wielding his signature Keyblade, he specializes in air combat and utilizes certain [[Magic]] spells to turn the tide of battle. The magic that he can use for his neutral special rotates after each use.

 

*Much like other presentations, the logo for ''Doom'', the series the Slayer hails from, is absent in the American version of his Mii Costume reveal trailer, being replaced with a wordmark featuring the character's name, in this case, Doom Slayer, despite featuring the franchise's name. However, like Kazuya's presentation, the European versions also censor the names, similar to the how the North American versions do it. Furthermore, Sakurai does not mention ''Doom'' by name unless one counts "Doom Slayer" or "Doomguy", but refers to it as "the series that originated the first-person shooter genre".

*After presenting the Mii Costumes, Sakurai mentioned that he has heard the original ''Doom'' can run on any computer. This is a reference to [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/it-runs-doom It Runs ''Doom''], a meme involving programmers trying to port the original ''Doom'' on to as many devices as possible, due to its low system requirements and having its source code officially released.

*Following this presentation, the hashtag #ThankYouSakurai began trending on Twitter and reached #1 later that day, thanking Sakurai and the ''Smash'' team for their work on ''Ultimate'' as well as the series at large. This went on to be acknowledged by Sakurai.<ref>https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1445431158238441475</ref>