Super Mario RPG’s Geno has been a Smash Ultimate fighter candidate for many years, and a Japanese leak gaining traction online may reveal why Nintendo hasn’t upgraded the puppet to a full character.
While Geno became a Mii Fighter starting with Smash 4 on Wii U and then again in Ultimate, fans have wanted the character to be something more. Numerous fan groups dedicated to getting the RPG character in Smash have sprung up, and it seems like Nintendo is aware of his popularity.
The question then, of course, is why isn’t Geno in Smash Ultimate if the fan support is so high? After all, favorites such as Banjo, Ridley, and King K Rool were added to Ultimate, so why not Geno?
Well, according to a Japanese leaker who correctly stated that Steve from Minecraft and Dragon Quest’s Hero were coming to the game, Nintendo is confused about where his support is coming from.
In a 2018 post on the 5ch site, the leaker claimed that all Nintendo is hearing is “put him in Smash” with little to no support for a remake or new Super Mario RPG title.
“Developers are confused about this whole Smash fever situation,” the leaker claimed. “Especially from the third party side, they don’t want their characters to be established as ‘Smash’ characters, and the occasional requests for a new game are always associated with Smash representation.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
This is an interesting point and it’s easy to see why developers would look at Geno – a character from a one-off Square Enix RPG – and not want him viewed as anything more than a Smash fighter.
“This kind of attitude from fans are making the devs unsure of their real intentions,” the leak continued, noting how the internet demographic is loud and there’s no indication if fans really want the series revived.
“They just couldn’t take a chance on developing a whole new game by having Smash come in first,” it states.
If this leak is true, then it doesn’t bode well for Geno ever being added to a Smash game as anything other than a Mii fighter or Spirit.
Of course, as always, take these posts with a grain of salt, but given the leaker’s track record, there could very well be some truth to it.