#23 –Super Smash Bros.
(49 Points) 4 of 16 Lists - Highest Ranking – #10 – Johnny Unusual
Show me your moves!
Release Date: January 21, 1999
Just the facts/Stuff I wiki'd:Super Smash Bros., released in Japan as Nintendo All Star! Dairantō Smash Brothers, is a fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on January 21, 1999, in North America on April 26, 1999, and in Europe on November 19, 1999. Super Smash Bros. is the first game in the Super Smash Bros. series, followed by Super Smash Bros. Melee for GameCube in 2001, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii in 2008, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, expected to release in 2014 on the 3DS and Wii U systems.
The game is a crossover between several different Nintendo franchises, including Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Kirby. Super Smash Bros. received mostly positive reviews from the media and was commercially successful, selling over 4.9 million copies, with 2.93 million sold in the United States and 1.97 million copies sold in Japan.
The Super Smash Bros. series is a departure from many fighting games; instead of winning by depleting an opponent's life bar, Smash Bros. players seek to knock opposing characters off a stage. Each player has a damage total, represented by a percentage, which rises as damage is taken and can exceed 100%, with a maximum damage of 999%. As this percentage rises, the character can be knocked progressively farther by an opponent's attacks. To KO an opponent, the player must send that character flying off the edge of the stage, which is not an enclosed arena but rather an area with open boundaries, many suspended in an otherwise empty space. When knocked off the stage, a character may use jumping moves in an attempt to return; some characters have longer-ranged jumps and may have an easier time "recovering" than others. Additionally, characters have different weights, making it harder for heavier opponents to be knocked off the edge, but reciprocally harder for them to recover once sent flying.
While games such as Street Fighter and Tekken require players to memorize relatively lengthy and complicated button-input combinations often specific to only a particular character, Super Smash Bros. uses the same control combinations to access all moves for all characters. Characters are additionally not limited to only facing opponents, instead being allowed to run around freely on the stage. The game focuses more on aerial and platforming skills than other fighting games, with relatively larger, more-dynamic stages rather than a simple flat platform. Smash Bros. also implements blocking and dodging mechanics. Grabbing and throwing other characters are also possible.
Various weapons and power-ups can be used in battle to inflict damage, recover health, or dispense additional items. They fall randomly onto the stage in the form of items from Nintendo franchises, such as Koopa shells, hammers, and Poké Balls. The nine multiplayer stages are locations taken from or in the style of Nintendo franchises, such as Planet Zebes from Metroid and Sector Z from Star Fox. Although stages are rendered in three dimensions, players can only move within a two-dimensional plane. Stages are dynamic, ranging from simple moving platforms to dramatic alterations of the entire stage. Each stage offers unique gameplay and strategic motives, making the chosen stage an additional factor in the fight.
Up to four people can play in multiplayer mode, which has specific rules predetermined by the players. Stock and timed matches are two of the multiplayer modes of play. This gives each player a certain amount of lives or a selected time limit, before beginning the match. Free for all or team battles are also of choice during matches using stock or time. A winner is declared once time runs out, or if all players except one or a team has lost all of their lives. A multiplayer game may also end in a tie if two or more players have the same score when time expires, which causes the round to end in sudden death.
With only a small budget and little promotion, Super Smash Bros. was intended to be released only in Japan, but its huge success there saw the game released worldwide. Super Smash Bros. was commercially successful, and became a Nintendo 64 Player's Choice title. In Japan, 1.97 million copies were sold, and 2.93 million have been sold in the United States as of 2008.
Pak's Thoughts – This game is pure gaming euphoria for any fan of Nintendo. The fact that it contained 2 of my personal favorite Nintendo characters (Ness and Jigglypuff – Too bad they didn’t control well…) was just icing. It kept me busy, too, because there always seemed to be something new to unlock.