System: Nintendo 64
Title: Super Smash Bros.
Publisher: Hal Laboratory Inc./Nintendo
Circa: 1999
Overall Rating:
85 percent

Super Smash Bros title

Intro
Back when this game first came out, no one knew how big it would become. As fate would have it, Super Smash Bros. became one of Nintendo’s Flagship games. I personally got my copy from Blockbuster with Pokemon Snap back in the latter portion of my High School career. It was like $25, then a lot of money, for the pair, but it was a purchase I never regretted. Being the President of the Gamerz Club (yes, I used a z), we had a room during our lunch we could play in. I even organized a Smash Bros tournament within the club. Even after not playing the game for an extensive period (Melee and Brawl taking more time) I was able to return to the groove and remember all my old tricks, making excellent head way through the game.

Story
The game itself shows a mysterious hand, darting back and forth over a desk, setting down Dolls of various Nintendo characters (the intro shows Fox and Mario). No story is every really given directly, though it is inferred that the game itself is the player.

Gameplay
The original Smash Bros has a serious advantage over its many incarnations, simplicity. The smashes are very fast and powerful, staples of any players arsenal. Throws seem somewhat imbalanced, especially Ness, but become key to some styles of fighting. The roster comparable is much smaller, but every character works and stands on their own. I can think of many people who beat me using a variety of characters just as I’d done to them.
Smash Bros has a different sort of damage system. Instead of the tradition life-bar, you have a percentage of damage taken. As this percentage rises, your character will fly farther and farther away, making each successive recovery attempt harder.

Super Smash Bros Roster

Mario and Luigi have a similar style, but Luigi is lighter and faster and is the only character with a damaging taunt. Mario is heavier, a bit stronger but slower.
Donkey Kong is heavy, slow but very powerful. He’s also one of the few characters with a charge move, while it lacks the range of Samus’s shot, it makes up for it in terms of raw power.
Link has more reach easily than any other character, plus his shield will protect him from projectile attacks. Using the hookshot, he’s one of two characters with a ranged grab, which also gives him another option for recovery.
Captain Falcon is fast and strong, not the heaviest character, he’s not too hard to send flying. He also has a shorter jump distance.
Samus Aran, one of the few females on the roster. She’s vicious with her charge shot and the ranged grab is always something to keep in mind. The grapple beam can be used to help Samus recover from being knocked off. Not very fast, she is solid and not easy to smack around.
Ness of Earthbound is in interesting character. Wielding a baseball and a yoyo, he is someone to be reckoned with against an experienced player. Ness arguably has some of the most powerful throws in the game. He also has the most difficult recovery jump, requiring you to hit the falling Ness with his own PK lightning at the appropriate angle to return you to the stage. Ness is also the only character who can absorb projectile attacks and recover health.
Yoshi is a fun character. Mid speed and decent strength mark it as an average character. Still, with a ranged grab and the ability to turn your opponents into eggs, it’s not to be underestimated in the least.
Kirby is a light character, but lacks speed. He has the most jumps of anyone in the game, around 5. He also has the ability to shallow his opponents and steal their powers. His cutter and stone form can be very useful for recovery.
Fox, like Falcon is speed and power. While Captain Falcon is more balanced in speed and power, Fox a bit more extreme in those regards. He is the only character who can reflect back projectile weapons.
Pikachu is a light and fast character. He doesn’t have much strength, but he is on par with Fox in terms of speed. His unique attack is Thunder, calling down a strike that that reaches vertically across the screen straight down to him.
Jigglypuff is the last character but she is a different sort of character. While the lightest character, she also packs one of the most powerful moves, Rest. Jigglypuff is very easy to knock around and even experienced players can accidently ring themselves out using some moves.

Super Smash Bros screen shot

Multiplayer
Up to 4 people can play at once. A good number of settings can be changed to allow for a good variety in terms of gameplay. It’s still a great game to bring to parties.

Controls
The controllers are quick to learn and easy to use. The only thing that takes practice are the smashes. After one is proficient at those, they are moving up.

Graphics
The game graphically for the N64 was pretty good. It never blew me away, I remember that, but I was impressed at what they managed. The Polygon Team shows most of what would need to be said here. The screen shots can say a lot more.

Sound Effects & Music
The N64 could do some great stuff here and they took advantage of this. It was very rare for anyone to play this game with the sound off/down. Everyone’s got their little sounds that they make and sometimes listening is the best way to be ready for some attacks.

Obscurity
Hardly. This is one of the most well-known series by Nintendo

Summary/Author’s Take
This is a game that I will always keep around and very little could persuade me to give it up. While 2 other entries in the series have been release, the first one will always hold a special place in my Gaming Heart. This is a game I played for years, even after the released of Melee on the Gamecube, I still found people playing this one, sometimes preferring it over the newer ones. It set a different standard to be followed in terms of brawlers. This changed what Nintendo was expected to have in their series. It’d had even been the source of some rumors around Twilight Princess and Wind Waker. It’s a game that anyone who can should play at least a little.


Story

80 percent

Inferred.

Gameplay

90 percent

Simple and easy with depth.

Multiplayer

95 percent

4 player brawling, what’s better?

Controls

92 percent

Quick to learn, timely to master.

Graphics

80 percent

Solid and Good.

SFX and Music

83 percent

Well rounded and enthralling.

Obscurity

40 percent

Well known.

Overall

85 percent

A wonderful party game.



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