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Super Smash Bros. (JP) (lit. "Nintendo All Star! Great Melee Smash Brothers") is a fighting game that was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64. It is the first installment in the Super Smash Bros. series.
Developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo, the game allows players to fight as various characters from Nintendo's other franchises such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Pikachu, Samus Aran, and Kirby. The game was a commercial and critical success and spawned three sequels, Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2001, Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008, and Super Smash Bros. Nintendo 3DS/Wii U in 2014.
The game was available in Virtual Console for all people with gold membership for Club Nintendo in 2013.
Premise
The game has a loose premise involving a being known as Master Hand bringing to life doll versions of classic Nintendo characters to fight. This is mainly illustrated in the game's opening movie. Master Hand is the end boss of the single player mode, and after beating him a short movie plays showing the fighter return to a lifeless doll.
Gameplay
Super Smash Bros. is unlike most traditional "arcade-style" fighting games such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. Whereas most fighters task the player with depleting an opponent's health meter, in Smash Bros. the goal is to KO your opponent by knocking them off the stage. Instead of a health bar, fighters have a percentage which increases from 0% to a maximum of 999% as the player takes damage. The higher the percentage, the easier it is to be sent soaring off the stage by an opponent's attack. Stages are rendered in three dimensions, but characters are restricted to moving in two dimensions, though they are allowed to roam freely around the stage.
Most stages consist of floating islands and platforms, making it possible to be KO'd in any direction. If a fighter is knocked off the stage, they may use a series of jumps in an attempt to recover. Some characters like Kirby have many jumps, making their recovery much easier, while others like Donkey Kong have a weaker recovery but are heavier and thus harder to knock off the stage. Smash Bros. offers up to 4-player matches with twelve Nintendo characters to choose from. Each of the characters have distinctive attacks, most of the time based on their moves from their own respective series of games. For example, Mario's Fireball originated in Super Mario Bros., Yoshi's Egg Throw from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Pikachu's various electrical attacks from the multiple Pokémon video games.
Despite each character having their own move-sets, the way in which they are controlled is almost identical. In most "arcade-style" fighting games, each character has their own unique, sometimes complicated, combinations of button presses that must be executed to perform certain abilities. Smash Bros. however, uses only a one-button and control stick combination at a time for every character, offering a wide range of abilities that are all easily accessible. Other moves such as dodging, shielding, grabbing and throwing are also used.
Characters
The game features a cast of twelve playable characters, four of which must be unlocked by completing certain tasks.
Starters
| Character | Official Description |
|---|---|
| File:Mario SSB.gif Mario |
"Although best known as the mustachioed plumber who battles the Turtle Tribe with his distinct jumping action, this internationally famous hero has also acted as a referee, a driver, and even a doctor! He's been linked to Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom for years, but to this day their true relationship remains a mystery." |
 Donkey Kong |
"Donkey Kong and Mario started out as arch-rivals, but they've patched things up in recent years. These days DK spends his time searching the jungle for bananas instead of kidnapping beautiful maidens. In the past few years, other members of the Kong family have cashed in on DK's fame as well, including his favorite nephew, Diddy." |
| File:Link SSB.gif Link |
"Link is the valiant boy hero of the "Legend of Zelda" series in which he fights against the evil Ganon to recover the Triforce. Though his tools may change with each adventure, his strength and righteousness remain constant. With his trusty sword and a variety of weapons, he takes his adventures head on!" |
| File:Samus SSB.PNG Samus |
"Samus Aran is the toughest bounty hunter in the galaxy. Using a special suit powered by the technology of the bird people which allows her to execute daring acrobatic feats, Samus pursues the airborne life form, Metroid, throughout the universe." |
 Yoshi |
"Yoshi is the friendly dinosaur of Yoshi's Island. He began as Mario's partner, but has since built his own identity, and now appears in many games. He uses his unique ability to turn whatever he swallows into an egg as his foremost attack. Yoshis come in a rainbow cloud of colors and are said to have a high IQ from a very early age." |
 Kirby |
"The 8-inch high Kirby hails from a distant, peaceful star. Like his simplistic appearance, he is an easily-understood character. True to his instincts, Kirby eats when he gets hungry and sleeps as soon as he grows tired. Nevertheless, Kirby remains a formidable opponent. In addition to his distinct flying and swallowing skills, he also has the ability to copy enemy attacks for ever-changing action." |
 Fox |
"Following his dead father's footsteps as the young leader of the Star Fox Team, Fox McCloud's piloting of the super-high-performance combat ship ARWING for the Lylatian System is still fresh in our memories. His one weakness may be his difficulty earning the trust of his teammates." |
 Pikachu |
"Pikachu, Mouse PKMN, Height 1'4", Weight 13 lbs, When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could cause lightning storms. (Pokédex excerpt)" |
Unlockable Characters
| Character | Official Description |
|---|---|
 Luigi |
"Though often hidden in his older brother Mario's shadow, Luigi is, in reality, very popular. Taller than Mario, Luigi also jumps higher. Although he didn't appear in Super Mario 64, in Mario Kart 64 he performed to the best of his ability. For one who seems to always seems to be in the background, he has many fans who eagerly await his appearance." |
 Captain Falcon |
"A regular pilot in the great galactic race F-ZERO Grand Prix, Captain Falcon is skilled at collecting prize money. Much about his past remains hidden in shadow, but it's clear that many a villain hold a powerful grudge against him." |
| File:Ness SSB.gif Ness |
"Ness was a seemingly-average kid from Onett, but in truth, he was destined for much more. When a strange meteorite landed near his hometown, the little boy with psychic powers set out to save the world. Little has been said of Ness' character, and much remains hidden." |
 Jigglypuff |
"The Balloon PKMN with the big, round eyes. It sings a soothing melody, sending those that hear it to sleep. When mad, it puffs itself up. As a Balloon PKMN, its body is light, weak, and easy to knock away." |
Stages
- Princess Peach's Castle - Mario's homestage. A Bumper flies above the middle of the playing field causing 1% damage to all who get hit
- Kongo Jungle - A short field which is Donkey Kong's homestage. A barrel at the bottom of the screen aids characters from falling to their certain death. But Watch out, because the barrel could point the wrong way and blast you off the stage!
- Hyrule Castle - Link's homestage. A large Stage that features many platforms and a tornado appears once in a while.
- Yoshi's Story -Yoshi's homestage. A large place with many platforms and clouds that hold the player up before falling.
- Dream Land - Kirby's homestage. It is really big and contains Whispy Woods as an obstacle. It is designed to be easiest when playing as either Kirby or Jigglypuff.
- Planet Zebes - Samus's homestage. Acid rises from the bottom and damages everyone who makes contact with it. Acid causes 16% and lots of knockback.
- Sector Z - Fox's homestage. The largest stage in the whole game. Watch out for Arwings that shoot players.
- Saffron City - Pikachu's and Jigglypuff's homestage. A Fairly Big Pokémon stage. Sometimes Pokémon appear and attacks someone.
- Mushroom Kingdom - Luigi's homestage. In the 3 pipes you can go down, you appear in a different location. Piranha Plants come up from the pipes and attack people. Lastly, a POW block appears and whoever hits it knocks the other players,who are on the ground, up into the air. (this stage is unlockable)
- Other Stages - Metal Mario's Residence, Battlefield (the fight with the Fighting Polygon Team), Master Hand's Residence (considered to be the original Final Destination).
Items
To make things more interesting, you can also use items. Some of these are the Poké Ball which summons a Pokémon that attacks the enemy or does something to the stage, a Bob-omb that explodes when you throw it, or if it's left on the ground for too long it starts to walk around and if it hits anyone it explodes, Motion Sensor Bombs that explode when a character walks over it, a Heart Container which recovers health, and a Fire Flower which acts as a Flamethrower when you use it.
Development
Apparently, the game was first going to be released on the SNES with the use of the Super FX Chip, just like Star Fox, though it was transferred onto the Nintendo 64. This was most likely done so the game could have better graphics and controls.
Initially when HAL was developing the game, they didn't implement characters from Nintendo's games, but rather just had standard polygonal characters in a Japanese setting (in fact in the background of one of the stages the Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto could be seen). Eventually they made the move to Nintendo characters.
The game also had a very small budget. Nintendo did not expect it to be a big hit!
Reception
Super Smash Bros. was supposed to be a Japan released game only, however the sales were great, so Nintendo released it worldwide.
The game sold over 4.9 million copies, making it one of the Nintendo 64's best selling games.
Legacy
So far, the game has spawned three sequels - Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. At Nintendo's press conference at E3 2011, they announced a sequel to Brawl that will be released for the Nintendo 3DS (the first portable Smash Bros.) and the Wii U. The two platforms will work together in some way.
It was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii for 1,000 Wii points ($10) in 2009.
Trivia
- Super Smash Bros. was originally going to be a Japan-only release.
- Jigglypuff was a last-minute addition to the game. It was chosen because its model could be easily made out of Kirby and because it was one of the more popular Pokemon of the era.
- Originally Bowser, King Dedede, Mewtwo, and Meowth were going to be playable, but weren't included. This is because Nintendo wanted the playable characters to all be heroes, not villains, for the first game. A similar thing occurred with Banjo from Banjo-Kazooie, but this was because they couldn't get the licence from his original company, Rare.