New Zero Suit Samus Skin For Super Smash Bros.
Zero Suit Samus’s position as Nintendo’s fan service appeal was cemented Tuesday after Super Smash Bros. Game Director Masahiro Sakurai revealed a new alternate costume for the character.
Sakurai revealed a screenshot of the new costume in a Miiverse update depicting both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the outfit. Notably, the costume takes the design of an armorless Samus from the Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zeo Mission games, where players could unlock an image of an armor-less Samus by beating the game under a specific time limit and unlocking a certain number of items.
Alongside the new screenshot Sakurai wrote, “Pic of the day. Looking at the number of days we have left for development, it would be an impossible task to create this… That’s what I told my staff. But thanks to the determination of her female designer, these Zero Suit outfits got completed in time. From the ending of Metroid: Zero Mission, here’s Samus in shorts!”
Pictured above, the new costume’s design is notably barer in fabric content than the standard Zero Suit design, and judging by Sakurai’s comments, the inclusion of the alternate skin appears to be a last minute decision. Sakurai’s update also made sure to note that the design was completed by a female designer, possibly to allay accusations of overt fan service.
Also revealed in Sakurai’s update was the return of Melee’s classic Brinstar map, which can be seen as the stage of the 3DS version’s screenshot.
Though it should be noted that unarmored Samus’ design has always been rather skimpy since the original game, whereupon she wore a bikini.