Ice Climbers Axed From Smash Bros 3DS Roster due to "Hardware Limitations"

Popular Smash Bros character duo The Ice Climbers were removed from the 3DS version of the game due to hardware issues, according to one Nintendo developer.

Masahiro Sakurai, the lead designer of both Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, was paraphrased as saying that "hardware limitations" had prevented the hammer-wielding duo from appearing in the handheld edition.

This could be due to this character comprising of two independently animated polygonal models. However, Sakurai told local publication Famitsu that The Ice Climbers' relative lack of popularity--as a Nintendo franchise--helped inform his decision to scrap the characters.

However, Sakurai says the team has already prototyped the Ice Climbers running on the Wii U version of the game--a strong suggestion that the characters will appear on the home console version.

Nintendo has sold more than one million copies of Super Smash Bros for 3DS within two days of going on sale in Japan. In Europe and the US, the handheld game ships on October 3.

Fans of the popular Nintendo brawler eagerly await the Super smash Bros Wii U release date, though the latest evidence points to a late November launch. The console version will also be playable with a 3DS fashioned as a controller.

See below for a gallery of our favourite Smash 3DS images released so far.

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