Super Smash Bros. (video game)

Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros.
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Masahiro Sakurai
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, Nintendo iQue
Release	January 21, 1999; April 27, 1999; November 19, 1999
Genre(s)	Fighting game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer (2-4)

Super Smash Bros. (ニンテンドウオールスター!大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ, Nintendo Uōrusutā! Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu; lit. "Nintendo All-Star! Great Battle Smash Brothers") is a fighting game, released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999, and contains many of Nintendo's flagship characters. Players are able to choose from up to twelve characters, of whom four are "secret", from various games in Nintendo's history, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and Pikachu. It achieved wide popularity, in part due to a low number of unique fighting games on the N64, as well as its frantic multiplayer game.

Super Smash Bros. is the first game in the Super Smash Bros. series. It is followed by the massively successful Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube and the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii.

Story

Super Smash Bros. features no clear story, but suggests that the game's characters may actually be toys ^{[original research?]}. The introductory video depicts Master Hand pulling several lifeless characters from a toy chest (like rag dolls), and placing them on a desk. The items on the desk are then rearranged by Master Hand to form a battle arena. At the count of three, Nintendo's most famous characters suddenly spring to life and engage in the epic tournament.

Gameplay

Super Smash Bros. is different from most traditional fighting games in several ways. Beyond the vague storyline, Super Smash Bros. is also unique in that simply inflicting damage does not guarantee victory. In normal play, winning requires that the opponent be flung out of the stage's boundaries, similar to a ring out. Attacks both damage the enemy and knock him back a certain distance; inflicted damage increases that distance, and so sufficient damage must be accumulated before attempting a KO, or the opposing player may be able to jump back onto the stage and resume fighting. Blast-Line is the main hazard in Super Smash Bros. When passed through, the player is automatically KO'd. The KO is accompanied by a violent explosion.

The controls for Super Smash Bros. are easy to learn, as almost every move in the game can be accessed with one button press and a joystick tilt. Super Smash Bros. takes advantage of the N64's analog joystick by varying attacks based on whether the stick is slightly tilted or quickly tapped to one side. This contrasts with most other fighting games, which require the player to memorize long input sequences.

Items randomly appear around the arena. They may be grabbed and used by anyone. The item selection originates from a number of Nintendo games, including: the Star Rod from the Kirby series, which allows the player to fire stars at the opponent; the Heart Container from The Legend of Zelda series, which removes all damage from the player's meter; Poké Balls, which release a variety of Pokémon that attack one's opponents; and even the Motion Sensor Bomb, clearly derivative of the Proximity Mines from GoldenEye 007, which sticks to surfaces it is thrown onto and explodes when approached.

SSB is known for its frantic and entertaining gameplay, especially during multiplayer sessions in which up to four characters (which may be computer-controlled) can duke it out on a variety of stages. The game is easy to learn, but can be quite difficult to master, and contains nuances that, because they are not covered in the manual, can go totally unnoticed.

Characters

File:N64 Super Smash Bros.jpg

Link and Yoshi are two of the available characters seen fighting at Hyrule Castle.

There are twelve playable characters in Super Smash Bros., all drawn from Nintendo's most notable games. Eight characters are available at the beginning of the game. Four bonus ones can be unlocked with the achievement of certain goals.

Characters available from the start of the game

Mario (from the Mario series) - Mario is a well-rounded character with no particular strengths or weaknesses. Resembling the power he has with a Fire Flower, he can release fireballs.
Donkey Kong (from the Mario, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Country series) - Donkey Kong is a heavyweight: slow, but with powerful physical attacks. He is the only character that can pick up Crate or Barrel while walking.
Link (from The Legend of Zelda series) - Link uses some of his common weapons throughout The Legend of Zelda series, primarily a sword but also a boomerang, hookshot, and bombs and his ability to spin his sword rapidly, propelling him into the air. Link's bombs can hurt himself.
Samus Aran (from the Metroid series) - Samus, in her only N64 appearance, is suited toward aerial fighting. She uses most of her weapons from the series, some of which include Bombs, the Grapple Beam and the Charge Beam. Also present is her signature Screw Attack.
Yoshi (from the Mario and Yoshi series) - Yoshi has many egg-themed attacks: in his shield, he turns into an egg, throws explosive eggs and he can also swallow characters and turn them into eggs. Most of these attacks do not cause much damage. However, Yoshi's hip drop is particularly effective. He has no third jump, but can flutter going a huge distance.
Kirby (from the Kirby series) - Kirby is a lightweight that can float like a balloon for a short time. He can turn into a rock, use a sword attack and suck up opponents to absorb their powers.
Fox McCloud (from the Star Fox series) - Fox's physical attacks are centered in kicks. His special attacks include a blaster, reflector (deflects projectile attacks) and Firefox (a "rocket jump"). He's also lightweight and is very speedy, yet his attacks are on the weak side.
Pikachu (from the Pokémon series) - Pikachu is small, so it can walk under big enemies such as Donkey Kong. Pikachu is very agile and has 3 kinds of electric attacks. It also can use "Agility", which allows it to do an aerial dash to two different points when executed properly.

Secret characters

Template:Spoiler Once the goal for a secret character is met, the player is challenged by that character in a one-on-one battle, in which the player uses whichever character he used last. If the challenge is won, the secret character will be available in all modes, if not, the player will be challenged again the next time the goal is met.

Luigi (from the Mario series) - Luigi has abilities similar to those of his brother Mario. Luigi's moves tend to do large chunks of damage and send his opponents further instead of quickly doing small amounts of damage. His dash is unique in the fact that it hits several times with low damage instead of a single quick strike. Luigi's tornado hits characters once and sends them flying. His fireballs have less range, but move in a straight line instead of bouncing. His jump punch is nearly useless, unless you are standing very close to your enemy, in which case it will do massive damage and send your opponent a long way, as well as making them burst into flames. Luigi is the only character whose taunt can actually hurt an opponent, although it only damages the opponent about 1%.
Captain Falcon (from the F-Zero series) - Captain Falcon is the fastest runner in the game. He has no ranged moves, but packs a punch with his devastating melee attacks, such as his Falcon Punch.
Ness (from EarthBound/Mother 2) - Ness has many psychokinetic powers, such as a healing shield (PSI Magnet), and two attacks that he really doesn't own in EarthBound: PK Fire and PK Thunder (used by Paula and Poo). His PK Thunder attacks can be controlled. If he hits other players with it, it does a small amount of damage, but if he hits himself with it, he will briefly become an electrified projectile that does a lot of damage to enemies. Ness also has a super powered throw that in most circumstances, he cannot be touched while doing. In addition, it can hurt other players in addition to the one being thrown.
Jigglypuff (from the Pokémon series) - Jigglypuff is light and floats, just like Kirby, and has an attack that puts enemies to sleep. Though physically weak, with practice Jigglypuff can easily knock off other players with its "rest" attack. One limitation unique to Jigglypuff is when its shield breaks, it gets blasted into the sky.

Non-playable characters

Giant Donkey Kong: A larger and stronger version of DK, he is the sixth-stage opponent of single-player mode. In this stage, the player allies with two randomly selected computer players to defeat Giant Donkey Kong. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Super Mushroom item will make a character Giant, similar to Giant DK, although not quite as large. This will also make the character heavier.
Metal Mario: A metallic version of Mario, he is the ninth-stage opponent of single-player mode. His attacks are identical to Mario's, but he is much heavier, has higher defense, and lacks a voice. Knocking him off the platform generally requires damage well above 300%. For most enemies, only about 50%-100% is required. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Metal Box item will make a character metallic, heavier, and harder to knock off, as well as remove any vocals.
Fighting Polygons: 3D purple polygonal characters that resemble and mimic the 12 playable characters, obviously because the polygons are the bases for all the characters. They have no special attacks or voices, and appear in the second-to-last stage of single player mode and the third bonus stage. The Fighting Polygon Team only use the moves accessed with the A button, but they deal far more damage. The offset of this is that it takes very little to send them flying. Analogous to the Fighting Wire Frames in SSBM.
Master Hand: A giant floating glove, he is the final boss of the single-player mode. He is also seen in the introductory movie. Unlike all other characters, he has hit points instead of a damage counter. He cannot be thrown off; instead the player must erode all his health. He could be based off of Wham Bam Rock, both the final boss in The Great Cave Offensive game portion and the boss of Cavios in the Milky Way Wishes game portion from Kirby Super Star, who used similar attacks with his hands. Also he could be representative of the "hand" that controls these video game characters (in essence, that of the player).

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Stages

Available from start

Princess Peach's Castle (from the Super Mario series) - The castle of Princess Peach has moving platforms, ramps above the ground on the 2 sides and hovering bumpers. This level is considered disappointing for Mario fans, as there are no actual Mario gimmicks in this stage. The Mushroom Kingdom stage, however, makes up for that in the eyes of many. You can also see Princess Peach's Castle from Super Mario 64 in the background of this stage.
Kongo Jungle (from the Donkey Kong Country series) - This stage features a DKC standard: a barrel cannon, that rotates under the ground, and can throw characters in any direction, usually upwards.
Hyrule Castle (from the The Legend of Zelda series) - Hyrule Castle is divided into 3 parts (including a gazebo). The stage features a climbable tower and occasional tornados.
Planet Zebes (from the Metroid series) - A dark futuristic level featuring acid that can sometimes rise over all but the highest platform.
Yoshi's Island (from the Yoshi series) - Yoshi's Island has inclined platforms and clouds on which one can stand, but they dissolve after a few seconds. The clouds are nonexistent in 1 player mode.
Dreamland (from the Kirby series) - A small level consisting of only 3 platforms and one hazard: Whispy Woods, who occasionally blows wind in a random direction.
Sector Z (from the Star Fox series) - Many like this level because of its large size, which helps characters hide. An Arwing occasionally flies above the stage and fires at everything in its sight.
Saffron City (from the Pokémon series) - Saffron is divided into 3 buildings (Silph Co., a heliport, and a moving platform). Pokémon will routinely pop out of a door (especially if a player is near when it opens); these pokémon include Charmander, Venusaur, Chansey, Electrode, and Porygon.

Secret stage

Template:Spoiler

It is possible to unlock the Mushroom Kingdom stage, playable in multiplayer mode, by using all 8 original characters to clear Classic mode, and then play a Vs. Mode Match at all the original stages. This is a 3D-style level based on the original world Mario adventured through in Super Mario Bros. It features falling platforms, POW boxes and Piranha plants in Warp Pipes (which in turn can also be used by the players). Unwary players using the pipes can be caught off guard by an exit only warp pipe inside the wall of a pit, although characters only occasionally emerge from this pipe, and all characters can escape from the pit after exiting the pipe. The music is taken directly from the overworld music of the NES version, as well as the graphics. Some of the graphics were taken from the Super Mario All-Stars version.

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Non-playable stages

There are several stages that cannot be played in versus mode unless Debug Mode is activated.

Metal Arena - A very simple arena where Metal Mario is fought. It's based off the metal cave in Super Mario 64.
Battlefield - The simple arena where the Fighting Polygons are fought. This stage is playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Final Destination - The simplest stage in the game, this is the stage where Master Hand is fought. The background scenery changes as you progress on lowering Master Hand's HP. However, this stage is playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
How to Play Stage (seems to be based on the Kirby series) - Seen in the "How to Play" tutorial, with Mario and Luigi showing you the basics of the game. One must leave the game at the title screen for a few seconds to view this. This stage is actually the stage of Dreamland during its early development ^{[citation needed]}.
Opening Movie Stage - When the game turns on and the opening movie starts, a table with a checkerboard and a pipe on it will have two dolls dropped on it, where they become characters. This is actually a variation of the Peach's Castle stage.

Bonus stages

These may also be played in Versus mode with debug mode, but may not function properly. Achieving the goal in the stage (Destroying 10 Targets, Boarding 10 Platforms, or touching the Exit) will cause the game to end like normal.

Break the Targets! - Arenas that vary from each character. One must destroy all ten targets to win.
Board the Platforms! - Also variable, this arena features 10 platforms for the characters to board.
Race to the Finish - A long raceway with three random Fighting Polygons in it, as well as numerous other hazards. Same for all characters.

Items

Crate- The Crate holds up to three items. Throwing it to the ground will destroy it. Only DK can hold it while walking. Occasionally, crates contain no items and instead explode when thrown or destroyed through damage.
Barrel- Like the Crate, it can hold up to three items. However, it is not automatically destroyed when it is thrown. It rolls until it hits a wall or an enemy. Like the crate, occasionally explodes rather than holding items.
Chansey's Egg- The Egg contains one item. Occasionally explodes when thrown or destroyed, rather than disgorging an item.
Bob-omb- This bomb can cause massive damage when thrown. If it stands still for a while, it'll start walking until its timer reaches zero.
Motion Sensor Bomb- The Motion Sensor Bomb can be used as a great booby trap. If a character or item stands on it or hits it, it explodes, dealing substantial damage.
Bumper- Getting hit by the Bumper will cause 1% damage and "bump" the victim in the direction that is opposite the one in which they were moving.
Poké Ball- Poké balls release Pokémon that damage only enemies of the character that threw them.
- Blastoise: Blastoise uses Hydro Pump. As it uses its attack, it's pushed back, and can fall of ledges.
- Charizard: Charizard uses Flamethrower. It spits flames to the left and right.
- Meowth: Meowth uses Pay Day. Flying coins deal damage to enemy characters within a certain radius.
- Beedrill: Beedrill uses Fury Attack. A swarm of Beedrills swoops across the stage, badly damaging any enemies in their way.
- Onix: Onix uses Rock Throw. It flies off the top of the screen, and shortly thereafter begins bombarding the stage with rocks that damage enemies.
- Hitmonlee: Hitmonlee uses Low Kick. It leaps at the nearest enemy, and does substantial damage if it hits. It is known to sometimes miss.
- Goldeen: Goldeen uses Splash. It usually doesn't do anything, but will occasionally damage an enemy.
- Koffing: Koffing uses Smog. Toxic gases spew from its body, dealing damage to enemies within a certain radius..
- Snorlax: Snorlax uses Body Slam. It flies off the top of the screen, then returns moments later, damaging any enemies in its path.
- Starmie: Starmie uses Swift. First, Starmie targets an opponent,then fires golden, star-like projectiles repeatedly.
- Clefairy: Clefairy uses Metronome. This can replicate the attack of any other Pokémon.
- Chansey: Uses Softboiled to produce eggs, which may contain items.
- Mew: Mew rarely appears from a Pokéball, and merely sparkles, then flies off the screen, but if you touch him, he will decrease your damage toll
Beam Sword- The Beam Sword acts as a real sword.
Fan- The Fan is great for a quick attack. It is also useful for flinging at foes, as it flings them high into the air if they're hit.
Home Run Bat- Use a Smash Attack with the Home Run Bat and it may instantly kill a foe.
Hammer- The Hammer deals massive damage to any opponent it hits. Three hits from a Hammer is sufficient to KO an enemy.
Star Rod- Use a Smash Attack to shoot stars from the Star Rod.
Fire Flower- The Fire Flower spews fire until it reaches a preset limit; thrown, it sets an enemy aflame (dealing them damage).
Ray Gun- The Ray Gun contains 16 shots, which can render your opponent nearly helpless (and in the case of Samus, naked as well).
Maximum Tomato- Lowers your damage by 100% (damage can go up to 999%).
Heart Container- Heals you to 0% damage.
Starman- Makes you temporarily invincible to items, hazards, and opponents. Leaving the screen in any direction can still kill you, however.
Red Koopa Shell- Once thrown, the red koopa shell moves back and forth across the platform it's on. It homes in on the player closest to it.
Green Koopa Shell- When it is thrown, the green shell spins and can deal substantial damage, and falls off if it reaches the edge of the platform.

Reaction

Reviews for Super Smash Bros. were almost universally positive. The game was very popular and became a Player's Choice game very quickly. There were, however, a few criticisms, such as the removal of the traditional health bars, though this has slowly come into acceptance and somewhat fixed in Melee with the addition of Stamina mode. In addition, the single-player mode was criticized for its lack of features.

Development

The game was developed by HAL Laboratory, Inc., a Nintendo second-party developer (of Kirby fame), through 1998. The game had small budget and promotion, and was originally a Japan-only release, but the huge success made the game be released in the US [1]. The game sold an excess of 5.55 million copies worldwide[2], paving the way for the sequels.

In an interview, it was stated that both Bowser and Princess Peach were intended to appear as playable characters, but were omitted due to space constraints. Both appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee. ^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

In the Japanese version of the game, the Beam Sword item sounds very much like a Star Wars lightsaber. The sound is different in the U.S. and PAL releases of the game, and in the sequel (Super Smash Bros. Melee). It is widely believed that George Lucas or his representatives requested this change, but it is equally possible that Nintendo of America requested the change preemptively. Furthermore, the sounds of "hitting" in the American and European versions of the game were changed from a slightly more violent "Whack" sound to a sound more similar to that of a bowling ball hitting pins. [3].
There is a method (not a cheat, per se) in training mode that allows you to get the computer up to 999% damage in a few seconds. First, you get as many Green shells as you can onto the stage. Then, you use Mario's Down-B. The game will freeze, there will be a loud noise, but the computer's damage will keep going up and up (it will eventually unfreeze).
While item containers (barrels, capsules, crates) occasionally explode upon opening, if a VS match is played at Hyrule Castle with items on VERY HIGH and every item off except for the Maxim Tomato, every container will explode without delivering an item.
The stages Dreamland, Kongo Jungle, and Yoshi's Island were placed in the sequel Super Smash Bros. Melee as unlockable classic stages, along with the same music.
PSI Magnet is the only move of Ness' which used it's "Earthbound" title (as opposed to it's "Mother 2" name , as all spoken attacks used) because Ness doesn't actually say its name when he uses it.
Various kinds of attacks can actually deflect projectiles. In at least one possible (although unlikely if not performed intentionally) scenario, this can actually freeze the game. In this scenario, Ness launches a PK Thunder at Fox, who then deflects the PK Thunder with his reflector. If aimed correctly, the PK Thunder can actually head directly back towards Ness. If Ness uses his baseball bat to again deflect the PK Thunder, the game will freeze and the PK Thunder will appear to have two tails, as the shot is doubling back on itself.
Fox's reflector can repel both red and green koopa shells. However, the third or fourth time the reflector is hit by the same shell, the reflector breaks, leaving Fox stunned. This is true even if he is under the influence of a Starman, and therefore theoretically invincible. In this way, it is possible for an invincible Fox to be frozen in place for the duration of his invincibility by a knowledgeable and skilled player, given the right circumstances.
One small feature that seemingly gained immense popularity unintentionally was the pause screen itself. It was in many ways quite unique from those of other fighting games of the era, and allowed for a somewhat posable camera angle. This was greatly improved upon in the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and even seemed to inspire Melee's Camera mode. The posable pause screens in the Super Smash Bros. series became quite famous for "Pause Posing", where people would create humorous (and often crude) positions with their characters and pause the game for a better look. Melee also introduced the ability to turn the pause off - potentially to stop losing players from disturbing the others with frequent pauses.
For Samus's electrocution animation, she is shown "naked" for a split second, although she appears mostly as a deformed set of golden colored boxes, and is non-explicit. However, this may have sparked controversy anyway, as it was removed from Super Smash Bros. Melee. It can be argued though that Samus does indeed shed her armor in the event of a Game Over in the 2D Metroid games.

External links

Official

Unofficial

Super Smash Bros. wiki guide at StrategyWiki (previously hosted by Wikibooks)
Super Smash Bros. at MobyGames
Super Smash Bros. at IMDb
IGN page
GameFAQs entry for Super Smash Bros.