Super Smash Bros. (video game)

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Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. box cover
Developer(s)HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Designer(s)Masahiro Sakurai
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
ReleaseJapan January 21, 1999
North America April 27, 1999
Europe 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 All-Star Dairantō Smash Brothers in Japan) 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.

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 Wii.

Story

Super Smash Bros. features no clear story, but suggests that the game's characters may actually be toys. The introductory video depicts Master Hand pulling several lifeless characters from a toy chest (like a rag doll), 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 and knock the enemy a certain distance; inflicted damage increases that distance, and so sufficient damage must be accumulated before a KO. If a player is insufficiently propelled, he can "recover" and reach the stage using mid-air jumps, and then resume normal combat. The other player, however, can "edge-guard", preventing his enemy from reaching the stage. This is also known as "Edge Tacticing".

The controls for Super Smash Bros. are easy to learn, and each move is activated by one button press. Some require the joystick to be tilted. 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, for example: 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.

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

  • Donkey Kong (from the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Country series) - Donkey Kong is a heavy-weight: slow, but with powerful physical attacks.
  • 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 light-weight and is very speedy, yet his attacks are on the weak side.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Pikachu (from the Pokémon series) - Pikachu is small, so it can walk under big enemies such as Donkey Kong. He is very agile and has 3 kinds of thunder attacks. It also can use "Quick Attack", which allows it to do an aerial dash to two points when executed properly.
  • 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 and the Charge Beam.
  • Yoshi (from the 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 particulary effective. He has no third jump, but can flutter going a huge distance.

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 next time.

  • 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.
  • 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 Jigglypuff, with practice can easily knock off other players with it's "rest" attack. One limitation unique to Jigglypuff is when its shield breaks, it gets blasted into the sky. Its gender is under speculation.
  • 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 almost right next to the character, when it has contact with an object it will do massive damage and distance. Also the character will burst into flames. Luigi's the only character whose taunt can actually hurt an opponent.
  • 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). Ness also has a super powered throw that in most circumstances, he cannot be touched during the throw and can hurt other players that the person being throw hits in mid-air.

Non-playable characters

  • 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. It is based from the final boss in The Great Cave Offensive game portion from Kirby Super Star, who used similar attacks with his hands.
  • Fighting Polygons: 3-D 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 A moves, 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.
  • 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% (300% Damage is a respectable number, and takes some time and skill to do). 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.
  • 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.

Template:Endspoiler

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.
  • 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 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) - Players consider it the worst level because of rising acid which makes ring-out complicated.
  • 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.
  • 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 and Porygon.
  • 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.

Secret stage

Template:Spoiler

  • It is possible to unlock the Mushroom Kingdom stage, playable in multiplayer mode. 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, and possesses graphics similar to those of Super Mario Bros.

Template:Endspoiler

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.

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 arenas feature 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.

Development

The game was developed by Hal Laboratory, a Nintendo second-party developer (of Kirby and Mother/Earthbound 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

Fun Facts

  • 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 hideous noise, but the computer's damage will keep going up and up. (It will eventually unfreeze)
  • 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.
  • For n00bs: A great way to start pwning at Super Smash Bros. is by playing characters like Kirby, who is very easy to use and is best at flying. This is important because generally new players tend to fall down a lot and pwn themselves very quickly. With Kirby this drawback is minimized.
  • For pros: If you've already identified yourself as pro at Super Smash Bros. you may choose to play characters such as Fox and Captain Falcon. These characters are uber intense - extremely fast and powerful. Their flight abilities are worse than Kirby's but when you've gone pro you don't need to worry about that since you'll be the one delivering the vast majority of the pwnage. Mastering these characters takes a lot of time, dedication, and love for the game. Examples of Super Smash Bros. pros who've been pwning (see: delivering spanks) in this suggested method include Niv B. (Vancouver, Canada) and Jeremy teh_pwnerer (Toronto, Canada).

See also

External links

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