Hidden Details: Leaked footage of Sakurai restarting the hype train (Patreon)

Since E3 is just around the corner and Sakurai will show off the new Smash Bros for the Nintendo Switch, I thought it fitting to reveal some of the hidden details in our very first animated short, "Leaked footage of Sakurai restarting the hype train"!

If you haven't seen it yet or wanna rewatch it, it's right here.

Since this is a video, I can use timestamps! Nice!

00:00: Right off the bat, you can see a little shrine for Wolf on the right in the first scene. Wolf was in Brawl, but didn't appear in Smash for Wii U/3DS. I used to play him all the time in Brawl, so I was very sad he wasn't in the new one. And yes, I really hope he returns for Smash Switch. My affinity with Wolf is also why there's no shrine for Pokémon Trainer, Ice Climbers or Snake (although the last two appear in the final scene of the short!)

00:04: Sakurai's hat says "Massive Hero Soccer Guy", which is an inside joke in the Smash community similar to people constantly spelling Benedict Cumberbatch's name wrong. A few of my favorite variations on "Masahiro Sakurai" are Mashed Potato Sack of Rye, Make A Gyro Smack A Thigh, Master Tree Rope Sock and Pie, Master Hero Pack of Lies, Mass Tomato Somber Guy and Hideo Kojima.

00:30: There's a Pichu-keychain on the set of keys, referencing another scrapped character: Pichu (who was a Pikachu clone who damaged himself), who was in Super Smash Bros Melee. Also, you can spot the first of MANY hidden Smash Bros logos on the other key!

00:30: Also, the top part of the screen already spoil what Sakurai is about to start, but I think it blends in nicely with the background and not many people noticed it.

00:51: The yellow Smash logo in Sakurai's eyes are a reference to the Inkling girl in the Smash Switch reveal trailer:

(Here's a link if you want to check out the best trailer of 2018.) 

00:53: In the next scene, you can see Captain Falcon walking his dog. This dog was supposed to super obviously be the Duck Hunt Duo dog, but it turns out that without the iconic duck, this dog looks pretty inconspicuous. It's him though!

01:06: If you freeze the video at JUST the right moment, you can see I didn't simply delete Captain Falcon, the dog and the fire hydrant. They're blown away by the emerging Hype Train, but it all goes so fast it looks like they're simply disappearing.

01:07: There are lots of hidden Smash Bros logos (the circle with the asymmetrical cross) on the train. Look at the wheels and the front of the locomotive, for example! The horrified Inkling from the Smash Switch trailer is also back!

01:07: And who's that, hidden in the shadows behind Sakurai? Yes, it's Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series, who was infamously cut from Smash, just like Wolf. Kept ya waiting, huh?

01:07: A few other passengers of the Hype Train are:

Tatsumi Kimichima - who was the president of Nintendo when I made this. He is stepping down now, and Shuntaru Furukawa is replacing him;

Crash Bandicoot - a very popular choice as a third-party newcomer in Smash Switch;

The Ice Climbers, hopefully making their grand return after being absent in the last Smash because of the Nintendo 3DS' hardware limitations (it couldn't handle a 4 player Ice Climber match since that'd mean it would have to show 8 characters on screen);

Famous YouTuber and Smash fanatic Etika;

Reggie Fils-Aimé, Nintendo of America's president;

Decidueye, a 7th generation Pokémon and the final form of Rowlet. Very popular and just as popular as a possible Smash newcomer;

King K. Rool, the big antagonist of the Donkey Kong franchise, and probably the #1 requested character in Smash Bros.

01:09: If you look closely at the air above Sakurai's house, you'll see a Mufasa-like spirit of Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's late president appearing. He looks happy and proud :)

01:09: At the very last second, there's a tiny moment where Funky Kong appears at the bottom right of the screen. Good luck pausing the video at the right time to spot him. He was a very last minute addition to please a fan!

And that's it! Although making this short was so hectic, I might have forgotten a few details or references. If you spot anything I forgot, let me know!

I'm incredibly hyped for E3. I can't believe we'll get to see a new Smash. And on the Switch, no less! We'll be doing something special as well by the way, but I won't spoil anything yet.

Cheers!

- Abel