Super Smash Bros.

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This article is about the original Nintendo 64 game. For the series, see Super Smash Bros. (series).
Super Smash Bros.

North American box art
Developer(s) HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Designer(s) Masahiro Sakurai
Series Super Smash Bros.
Platform(s) Nintendo 64, iQue Player
Release date JP January 21, 1999
NA April 26, 1999
AUS 1999
EU November 19, 1999
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer (2–4)
Rating(s) ESRB: E (Everyone)
OFLC: G8+
Media 128 megabit (16 megabyte) cartridge

Super Smash Bros. (ニンテンドーオールスター！大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ Nintendō Ōrusutā! Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu?, lit. "Nintendo All Star! Great Melee Smash Brothers"), often abbreviated SSB, is a crossover fighting/action game released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan on January 21, 1999, and released on April 26, 1999 in North America, followed by Australia in 1999 then on November 19, 1999 in Europe.[1] Super Smash Bros. was the first game in the Super Smash Bros. series. It was followed by the top selling game Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube in 2001 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii in 2008. The game was developed by HAL Laboratory, who were also responsible for the Kirby and EarthBound intellectual properties, and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 console.

The game is centered on characters from Nintendo's video gaming franchises such as Mario, Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda. The stages and gameplay modes make references to, or take their designs from, popular games released by Nintendo. The gameplay system offers an unorthodox approach to the "fighter" genre as percentage counters measure the level of damage received, rather than the health bar traditionally seen in most fighting games.

Super Smash Bros. received mostly positive reviews from the media, and has sold over 3.7 million copies, with 2.3 million copies selling in the United States, and 1.4 million copies selling in Japan.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of the Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. differs from traditional fighting games in that inflicting the most damage does not guarantee victory. Instead, opposing players must force their opponents beyond the boundaries of the stage. Most attacks inflict damage and can, if enough damage is dealt, knock back the enemy. Each character's health is measured by a meter that represents the damage received as a percentage. The higher the percentage value, the farther the player gets knocked back, and the easier they are to knock off the stage.[4] Unlike other games of the same genre, most moves in the game can be accessed via one-button presses and a joystick direction.[5]

During battles, items related to Nintendo games or merchandise fall onto the game field. These items have purposes ranging from inflicting damage on the opponent to restoring health to the player.[6] Additionally, most stages have a theme relating to a Nintendo franchise or a specific Nintendo game and are interactive to the player. Although the stages are rendered in three dimensions, players can only move on a two-dimensional plane. Not all stages are available immediately; some stages must be "unlocked" by achieving particular requirements.[6]

[edit] Single-player

Ness fighting Kirby in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Ness fighting Kirby in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Although the player can choose from five difficulty levels, the game's single-player mode always follows the same series of opponents. This game mode was later called Classic Mode in both sequels.[7] The player will choose one unlocked character, and fight against a series of characters in a specific order, attempting to defeat them with only a limited amount of lives.

Two more modes of play, the "Break the Targets" minigame as well as the "Board the Platforms" minigame are the two remaining single-player games. The objective of the mingames is to break each target and board each platform, respectively. The goal must be achieved without falling off each character-specific stage.[6]

[edit] Multiplayer

Up to four people can play in multiplayer mode, which has specific rules predetermined by the players. Stock and timed matchess are two of the multiplayer modes of play.[4] This gives each player a certain amount of lives or a selected time limit, before beginning the match. A winner is declared once time runs out, or if all players except one loses each of their lives.[6]

If there is a tie between two or more combatants, the contenders are returned to the fighting stage in a "Sudden Death" battle with 300% damage each. This means players are easily knocked out, so as to quickly determine the winner.[8]

[edit] Playable characters

See also: Super Smash Bros. playable characters

Super Smash Bros. was developed by HAL Laboratory, a Nintendo second-party developer, during 1998. It began life as a prototype created by Masahiro Sakurai and Satoru Iwata in their spare time titled Kakuto-Gēmu Ryūō (格闘ゲーム竜王 ?, lit. "Dragon King: The Fighting Game"), and originally featured no Nintendo characters. However, Sakurai hit on the idea of including fighters from different Nintendo franchises in order to provide "atmosphere" which he felt was necessary for a home console fighting game, and his idea was approved.[9][10] The game had a small budget and little promotion, and was originally a Japan-only release, but its huge success saw the game released worldwide.[11]

The promotional artwork is done in the style of a comic book, and the characters were portrayed as dolls that come to life to fight. This presentational style has since been omitted in the sequels, opting instead for a more serious art style (such as using in-game models for the characters in place of hand-drawn art) and replacing the dolls with figurines, or "trophies" as the game refers to them. Originally King Dedede, Bowser and Princess Peach were going to be added as a playable characters but due to time restraints, they was cut from the list. [12]

[edit] Reception and sales

 Reviews
Publication Score
Famitsu 31 of 40[13]
GameSpot 7.5 of 10[4]
IGN 8.5 of 10[14]
Nintendo Power 7.7 of 10[15]
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler Score
Metacritic 79 of 100[16]
Game Rankings 80%[15]

Super Smash Bros. received mostly positive reviews, with criticism mostly directed towards the game's single-player mode.[4] GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann noted that the single player game "won't exactly last a long time", instead praising the multiplayer aspects of the game.[4] He praised the multi-player portion of the game, saying that it is "extremely simple to learn". He also praised the game's music, calling it "amazing".[4] IGN's Peer Schneider agreed, calling the multiplayer mode "the game's main selling point",[14] while GameCritics' Dale Weir described Super Smash Bros. as "the most original fighting game on the market and possibly the best multiplayer game on any system".[17] Brad Penniment of Allgame said the game was designed for multiplayer battles, praising the simplicity of the controls and the fun element of the game.[18]

The game has been very popular and has quickly become a Player's Choice title. 1.4 million copies have been sold in Japan[2] and 2.3 million have been sold in the U.S. as of December, 2007.[3]


[edit] References

  1. ^ Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
  2. ^ a b Japan Platinum Game Chart. MagicBox.com.
  3. ^ a b US Platinum Game Chart. MagicBox.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Jeff Gerstmann (1999-02-18). Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64 Review - Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros. Review. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  5. ^ See Nintendo 64#Other hardware components.
  6. ^ a b c d Sakurai, Masahiro. Smash Bros. Site. Smash Bros.com. Archived from the original on 1999-10-08. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  7. ^ Sakurai, Masahiro (2007-10-30). Classic. Smashbros.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
  8. ^ IGN Game Profile: Super Smash Bros.. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
  9. ^ Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Wii.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  10. ^ Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl ((Japanese)). Wii.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  11. ^ Super Smash Bros. Melee. n-Sider.
  12. ^ Sakurai, Masahiro (2007-09-24). Trophies. Smashbros.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  13. ^ IGN: Famitsu Scores Smash Bros.. IGN.com (2001-11-14). Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  14. ^ a b Peer Schneider (1999-04-27). IGN: Super Smash Bros. Review. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  15. ^ a b Super Smash Bros. Reviews. Game Rankings. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  16. ^ Super Smash Bros. (n64: 1999): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  17. ^ Dale Weir (1999-07-05). Game Critics Review. gamecritics.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  18. ^ Brad Penniment. Super Smash Bros. > Review. Allgame. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.

[edit] External links

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Super Smash Bros. series