When Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai introduced Minecraft characters in Smash Bros. Ulitmate, he discussed their in-game music. At that time, he said, “Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, it turns out we cannot use the song playing in the original Minecraft.”
Continuing, he pointed out that for such a frantic game, many of the tunes simply didn’t fit. The original music would make players relax. So, instead, music from Minecraft mini-games and spin-offs like Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Dungeons were selected and then arranged to suit the game.
In the latest Weekly Famitsu, Sakurai wrote about the challenges of scoring the Minecraft characters. According to him, “Over the whole span of Smash Bros., the toughest thing was doing the music [for the Minecraft characters].” (The exact words Sakurai used were 最大のピンチ or saidai no pinchi, meaning “hardest thing” or “even greatest crisis.”)
Once again, he stressed how, due to various circumstances, he could not use music from the original game. During development, some of the Minecraft song arrangements even had to even be abandoned.
What made it so difficult, he says, was that the original Minecraft music is relaxing, and Sakurai needed players to be pumped up for the fight.
Sakurai recalled, in particular, how the recording for both Steve and Alex was especially difficult. He says there were lots of things that didn’t go well, including the team struggling through developing this DLC during the pandemic, which complicated an already challenging problem.
I’m sure bringing Minecraft to Smash Bros. wasn’t easy, but Sakurai ended his column on an optimistic note, pointing out how truly happy he was to have a job that lets him engage with various types of content.