The creator of the Super Smash Bros. and Kirby series, Masahiro Sakurai, stated that originality remains one of the least important factors in the commercial success of video games. Yet it is unusual ideas that allow projects to stand out against numerous imitators and offer players a fresh experience, Sakurai-san says.
In an interview with the Japanese publication Denfaminicogamer, the developer noted that modern games are increasingly built on already proven concepts, as audiences are more willing to pay attention to what they already know.
As I have repeatedly said, originality has a very low priority in terms of whether a game can sell. But I try to bring something new or original to my projects. If a game offers the same thing, it is better to just play the original.
As an example, Sakurai cited his own projects. Super Smash Bros. belongs to the fighting game genre, yet it differs noticeably from traditional entries in this direction. Instead of the usual one-on-one battles with health bars, the series uses a damage accumulation system: the more damage a character takes, the further an opponent can launch them.
If Super Smash Bros. had been an ordinary fighting game with Nintendo characters, it might never have made it to market or would have gone down in history merely as an unusual experiment.
Even if the game had still been released, it probably would have been dismissed as nothing more than a quirky novelty, and the story of Super Smash Bros. could have ended right there.
Sakurai nonetheless admits that creating original mechanics is becoming increasingly difficult. Modern games have become significantly more complex, and developers must account for numerous interconnected systems, which limits the room for experimentation: it is not enough to simply abandon popular mechanics; one must carefully think through alternatives and understand why they can make the gameplay engaging.