In a manner similar to that of the console it is being released on, the next Super Smash Bros. is largely a mystery guarded as closely by Nintendo as the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken is protected by its creators; since being announced at the company’s E3 presentation last year, the only confirmations made in regards to the game have been that it will launch simultaneously for the 3DS and Wii U and will be developed externally by Namco Bandai. In an interview with IGN, Masahiro Sakurai, the director responsible for the series since its first incarnation on the Nintendo 64, broke his silence and let loose a handful of details that help to illuminate the cloudy picture that is the future of Super Smash Bros..

Perhaps the largest driving force behind interest in a new Super Smash Bros. game is the selection of new characters joining the ranks of its extensive roster. For seemingly as long as the series has been around, players have lobbied for the individuals they find to be most deserving of a spot in the title, an honor that has in recent years been largely bestowed upon the heroes and villains of third-party releases. Though Sakurai professed a love of both Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake, the two third-party characters included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he also expressed a desire to keep much of the focus on Nintendo and its deep software library full of compelling protagonists and antagonists.

Given the franchise’s competitive nature, Sakurai felt it important to address the way in which players can expect to control Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U; with a unique, tablet-inspired interface, the new console presents with it opportunities to expand the series beyond its traditional horizons. Sakurai does say in the interview that he and the team are looking into ways to include the GamePad in the series’ mechanics, but, at the same time, the director was adamant in his defense of the already-established system of play saying that it is “complete” and that they “don’t want to make it 3D or introduce complicated controls just for the sake of it.”

The new Super Smash Bros. will launch for both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U at an undisclosed time in the near future.