Super Smash Bros. (Video Game Review)

Video Game Review
Super Smash Bros.
Nintendo 64
1999
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo

It wasn’t exactly a unique idea because school children had debated this stuff for decades and other franchises have tried the formula. Leave it to Nintendo to release a fighting game called Super Smash Bros. which became one of the most popular fighting franchises of all time. It started off small on the Nintendo 64 which was a system that had already coughed on the dust on the original Playstation. It gained such a cult following that only its sequel that offered more features on a more powerful console managed to dethrone it as the choice fighter for the genre’s enthusiasts around the globe. Even today, many people will still play the original game due to its charm and simplicity. Even though there is bigger and better out there, it is still an enjoyable trip and better than many of the fighting games coming out today.

The idea is really simple. Take Nintendo’s most popular mascots and have them fight each other. Although many would think this was a no-brainer formula, Nintendo had to pay close attention to other franchise cash-ins like Sonic the Fighters to see how other easy-money ideas can crash flat on their face. The game offers a fighting system that was previously rarely used in that players had a health bar but depleting it (or in this case, making it hit 100% from 0%) did not necessarily mean defeat. The fighters fought on various platform arenas modeled from the universes of the various mascots. The only way a player could be defeated was if they were tossed or fell from the floating arena. If a player is good enough in the game, they can withstand a large amount of damage and still survive. The health meter serves as a way of showing how far a player will get thrown by being hit by a strong blow. If the power meter is close to zero, not very far. At around 100%, a toss might knock a player off but not far enough that they won’t be able to jump back on. Nearing 200% and beyond will result in something simple like a love tap causing a player to be tossed from one end of the screen to the other as long as there are no obstructions in the way impeding the fallen player’s trajectory. It’s a refreshing way to play a fighting game considering that most games have a fight-until-you-have-no-more-energy system. Plus you get to beat the living tar out of Pikachu so it really does offer something special.

The game is mostly a multiplayer game although it can be played single-player with the computer controlling the opponents. Options may seem a bit limited but are actually robust all things considering. You can decide if you want to base the battle on a set number of lives or winner gaining the most points within an allotted amount of time (you basically get a point for killing someone, lose a point for dying). There are also options that allow you to turn on and off weapons and other things that allow you to tweak the fight. While the meat and potatoes of the game is the multiplayer there are also a number of single player options. The main one is the adventure campaign which is just a series of battles and challenge stages that you must complete in order with the last fight being a climactic battle against a giant hand. There are also challenge stages that can played through (which are different for each of the games characters) that require you to break all the targets or land on all the special platforms within a time limit. There’s enough available that players who aren’t able to have people over for a gaming session on a regular basis will not feel left out of this package.

The game design is well done. All the major characters that are important are their like Mario, Link, and Samus. There are also a few unlockable characters but there are some characters that are tragically missing (no Wario or Ganon, yet). The real treat though is the arenas. Some of the battlefields are really simplistic like Peach’s Castle and others that offer more complexity like Planet Zebes which has rising lava levels that require you to keep going up onto higher platforms for safety. For the most part, they’re no-frills that allow for some interaction without it interfering with the gameplay. Even for the battlefields that do offer more diverse gameplay elements, it becomes interesting as stategy does come into play like setting up traps and knowing when and where is the best place to pull off a risky maneuver. Items make themselves available at random times during the battles. These can be health items, attack items, defensive items, or duds.

The game has controls so basic that even those who have never played a video game, let alone a game in the fighting genre will be able to enjoy the action. The analog stick moves the character around with up also allowing for jumps (which can also be performed with any of the C buttons). The A and B buttons serve as the attack buttons with the A button being used for the generic punch and kick attacks and the B button dishing out attacks unique to the character being controlled dependent on which direction the analog stick is being held. Pressing the A button and click the analog stick either to the left or right simultaneously will cause you to execute a smash attack which is a more powerful attack that if the enemy fighter’s energy is low, will toss them from one end of the arena to the other. The Z or R buttons provides a shield from attacks that can only withstand a couple of hits before being broken and stunning the user which prevents players from relying on it to heavily. The Z or R buttons also serve to grab someone to throw them if you’re close enough to an enemy. If you feel victory is at hand, you can also use the L button to taunt your opponents although I would think that a hearty “you suck” with your tongue sticking out at your friend would be more dignified a taunt than watching Yoshi do something adorable.

Graphically, the game looks like you’d expect on the N64. The backgrounds look good since the game doesn’t scroll much which mean there’s little the system has to do to render them. The characters themselves look blocky although this was par for the Nintendo 64 at the time (except for Donkey Kong who looks like about six brown polygons stapled together). The music sounds good as each theme is representative of what you’d expect each arena’s soundtrack would be. The Mario stage has a remix of the very first level of the original game while the Hyrule stage is reminiscent of the Zelda games. They may not be digital quality but they have a certain warmth to them that not only feels acceptable but is welcomed. The sound effects sound a little over the top but that goes with the territory.

The biggest problem with this game is the same reason why it is so accessible to many. It’s a button masher and there’s little technique involved. While it doesn’t guarantee victory, using only the A button will get even the poorest player an occasional victory. Although it could be argued that Super Smash Bros. isn’t really a serious fighter; actually, it may be more appropriate to say that the game makes fun of itself. However, the point of the game is more to have a fun time with three friends rather than to be the king of the pack. Some serious fighting enthusiasts may disagree but those who don’t take videogames too seriously would be too busy having fun with their friends playing this game to care about if one person wins 10% of the time with no talent whatsoever.

It would have been nicer to have had more characters in the game. Considering that this game was experimental in Nintendo’s eyes and almost didn’t see a North American release, it’s understandable. The roster of characters is solid enough as is but with their only being twelve characters available after completing the game, it does feel a bit lacking considering Nintendo’s large roster of mascots.

Like most fighting games, it’s an experience that is meant to be played with at least another person, if not several other people. The game feels robust enough and the AI provides enough challenge for solo play to not feel boring but it is far more entertaining to play this game with a bunch of friends. The single-player campaign is over before it really begins and doesn’t offer any hooks to keep the player entertained for more than a couple of hours. Beyond that, it feels like practice before playing with friends. Some may be able to really enjoy themselves for more than ten hours playing the game themselves while others will begin to twitch after a few minutes and feel the need to invite people over. The single player modes feel like extra features rather than part of the main game. Fundamentally, it’s not bad but the single player does feel on the light side.

Super Smash Bros. is a great game but has been surpassed by other games in the series. However, despite this, it still holds up well. In fact, some may actually prefer this game because it doesn’t have some of the newer games feature like final smash attacks and one-hit kill items that may feel like additions to the series that have watered down the action to make the series even more accessible to novice players. Super Smash Bros. is fun and seeing Pikachu getting his furry face get kicked in is still very enjoyable on the N64 today as it was when the game was first released.

☆☆☆☆