Who would have thought having a collection of cute characters smashing each other will be such a huge for Nintendo?
Super Smash Bros is a series of crossover characters fighting video fames published by Nintendo. The character includes many people’s favourite character: Pikachu, Mario, Zelda and Cloud, from all kinds of games Nintendo produced. Smash Bros may seem like street-fighter with cuter characters but some argues that the game play objective is knocking off opponents from the stage instead of depleting life bars.
Super Smash bros. 64 was created in Japan in 1999. It was starting to sell in North America 4 months after its release and it sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
Background information
Super Smash was created by the creator of Kirby Masahiro Sakurai and future Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in their spare time. Sakurai wanted a project on fighting games but abides to the core idea of all Nintendo games – easy-to-learn controls and free-for-alls.
According to Sakurai at an interview, the game was originally called “Kakuto-Gemmu Ryuoh” (Dragon King: The Fighting Game)
“The appeal of Smash Bros. lies in the fact that it offers ever-changing entertainment born of chance and player improvisation, and it’s my sincere hope that players enjoy these features of the game,” said Sakurai when the Iwata interview him.
Sakura pointed out that he wanted to have an alternative to the two-dimensional fighting games which the market was saturated.
“I also wanted to see if it was possible to make an interesting 4-player game that offered a new experience every time you play,” said Sakura.
Iwata said that in the beginning, the prototype had four completely faceless characters, adding that it was only when Sakurai suggested to use Nintendo characters that the game took off in a completely different direction.
Challenge
According to an interview with Sakurai and Iwata on the Nintendo website, it was a risky move to have fights against different characters from the company. “Nowadays we take it for granted,” said Iwata, “but at the time, people had reservations about mobilizing an all-star cast of characters.”
Iwata explained that it was because customers are “emotionally” attached to their characters and fans would get “upset” by the idea of having their favourite characters punching one another.
“We had a hard time convincing [the fans] the fun and depth that were so obviously present in the Smash Bros. trademark fighting style,” said Sakurai in an interview in 2008.
Once-in-a-lifetime
Iwata and Sakurai both agreed that Smash Bros is a “once-in-a-life-time experience” because the game offers a unique experience each and every time you play.
Sakurai added that “Super Smash Bros. Brawl acts as a nexus for many things. This is evident in its online aspect, as well as the fact that the game links so many characters together.” He pointed out that while doing the project even the development team staffs connect with one another.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
In the last year, Nintendo released Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch, which by far the largest installment in the series. Ultimate is now become the best-selling game in the franchise, moving more than 13 million copies in four months worldwide.
Instead of the original four players setting, the Ultimate version allows eight players to be involved. Players can use various items to attack enemies or grant them power-ups, including Poke Balls and Smash Balls.
In June, Team Japan won the Super Smash Bros Ultimate World Championship 2019 and besting their opponent, Team Europe, with characters like Cloud and Samus.
Writer’s choice
As an amateur Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player, my favourite character is Greninja from the Pokémon series. He is a fast character and his recovery is especially strong. The B button allows the character to teleport and reappear with a quick kick upon the opponent.
However, the easiest character to use is definitely Ike without a doubt. This character has strong attacks, and his recovery could be strong if you used it right. Ike can shoot long distance and hit with his knife in short distance. Either way his attacks are detrimental.
Overall, Super Smash Bros Ultimate is easy to pick up and it is not bored to play it battle after battle.
