Sakurai says Smash Bros. roster selection stressful "almost to the brink of death"

Super Smash Bros. designer Masahiro Sakurai doesn't take character selection for the popular fighting game series lightly. Speaking with Polygon, Sakurai said the decision process comes with almost more stress than he can handle.

"The amount of stress I feel, it's almost to the brink of death," Sakurai said.

Selecting a roster for the upcoming Wii U and 3DS Smash Bros. game was no walk in the park because balance, animation, graphics, and sound must all be considered when choosing a new character, Sakurai said.

"Because it's not just a matter of me personally thinking this character or that character is going to be in the game," he said. "It's that we also have the game balance, animation, graphics, and sound to think about in order to make that character fully fleshed out in that universe. I have to think about all of that when I go through this decision-making process."

New characters confirmed thus far for the new Super Smash Bros. game are Mega-Man, Wii Fit Trainer, and Villager. Series mainstays like Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox, and Pikachu will also appear in the game.

The new Super Smash Bros. game for the Wii U and 3DS launches in 2014 and will not support cross-platform play. It is the first entry in the series since 2008's Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which has sold 11.49 million copies to date.