The Nintendo 64 was a barren wasteland when it came to fighting games. Any fan of the genre could make no worse choice than this console because the high point was the Mortal Kombat ports. The Playstation had Tekken, Bushido Blade and numerous others. Meanwhile even the Sega Saturn had Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers. The only exclusive titles Nintendo fans had to brag about were lackluster efforts such as Fighter’s Destiny and Killer Instinct Gold. Third party releases were sorely lacking, and this was a genre that Nintendo had little experience with. It was big news when they announced Super Smash Bros. This was a very unusual game in that it was a mish-mash of popular Nintendo characters, and the focus was on its four way multiplayer mode. It was unorthodox, but it quickly became one of my favorite fighting games.
Super Smash Bros. is special because it combines several of Nintendo’s most popular characters into one fighting game. Playable characters include popular mainstays like Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Link and Kirby. Then we have others such as Fox Mccloud, Samus Aran, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, and even Ness from Earthbound. A big part of the pure joy of Smash Bros. is seeing your favorite Nintendo characters facing off, and I was really surprised at the spread of franchises they included here. Both Samus and Ness were missing in action on the Nintendo 64, and to see them here was really cool. Super Smash Bros. is a 2D fighting game with polygonal graphics, but it plays much differently than anything that had previously been released. For starters there’s a greater emphasis on jumping with platforms in each stage. In addition the gameplay fields are generally bigger than in other fighters.
Whereas other fighting games are focused around intricate combinations Super Smash Bros. is not. You can chain together attacks, but each hit generally knocks back your opponent and the standard attack button (mapped to A) only allows for three strikes in succession before a pause. Holding a direction while you press it (or while in the air) has different effects that vary in strength. In typical fashion each character is armed with special attacks, but to keep things non-complicated the inputs are mostly the same. The B button is generally used for projectiles, but this differs between each fighter and they have their own dynamics. Holding down while pushing the B button results in another special move, and holding up with the same button press has yet another effect. This last one is usually an aerial move that offers an aerial boost. Throws are performed with the R button, and blocks with Z. It’s all simple, but with purpose.
In the main game you and your opponent(s) lack a health bar. This is the biggest change from typical fighting games. Instead they have a percentage displayed at the bottom of the screen, and as this increases the character in question is knocked around significantly more with each strike. Special moves are generally more powerful in this regard. The only way to win is by knocking a character out of bounds of the stage either vertically or horizontally. This is a unique system that calls for a myriad of different strategies. Those looking for a more traditional experience where you’re instead wearing down your opponents health can do so, but only in multiplayer. Single player is all about the percentage system. While this is at heart a multiplayer title Nintendo did an awesome job with the single player mode by introducing unique scenarios where you’re at times facing multiple characters or even a boss. Super Smash Bros. is highly replayable even for just a single player which is refreshing for a fighting game. You need to play the main game solo in order to unlock the four hidden characters, and so this is a very good thing.
Most Nintendo 64 games were measured on the merit of their multiplayer modes. As luck would have it Super Smash Bros. just happens to be one of the most highly reputed titles in its library. I can’t recall any other fighting game from this generation in which four players could participate at the same time. With a screen full of fighters the action gets quite hectic, but most of the stages are large enough to support this and the camera is dynamic in that it zooms out when players are far apart from one another. It’s good old fashioned fun, and represents some of the best local multiplayer action of all time. What’s also cool is that you’re given a myriad of options to tweak. You can play either with the standard timer and percentage gauges (wherein the person with the most KOs compared to deaths wins) or with stock everyone has a life meter that puts them out of play when it’s depleted. There’s even a team option, and friendly damage can be turned off. You can also select from a number of different franchise themed stages with unique layouts and hazards. If you only have two players you can set the two others as CPU controlled opponents and adjust their skill level. My only disappointment is that the main game is single player only.
Super Smash Bros. is a mixed bag graphically. On one hand it looks great for a Nintendo 64 title when the action is zoomed out. The characters animate well, the framerate is steady, and the stages are full of detail and fully 3D. Unfortunately when you pause the action, or select your character, you get an up close view of the character models. These are generally quite jagged, and do not look as good as they did in the games from their respective platform iterations. Link is particularly heinous with a jagged face, but even Mario looks like something from an early Playstation game. I guess this is the trade off made to ensure the action chugs along at a steady rate, and that’s an acceptable trade off. The soundtrack consists almost entirely of classic Nintendo game remixes. They’re all instantly recognizable, and I really liked them. Super Smash Bros. even features an announcer who states the name of each character which is a nice touch.
I really appreciate the fact that Nintendo didn’t try to directly compete against the likes of Capcom, Namco, and SNK when it comes to fighting games. I imagine that had they tried this game would have been forgotten in time. As it stands Nintendo managed to carve out a unique niche and although ‘mascot based party fighting games’ hasn’t taken off as much as say, cart racers, the fact that other developers have tried to copy the formula is very telling. Super Smash Bros. is by far one of the best multiplayer games ever released, and even in the face of newer iterations it’s still well worth playing. This is a mainstay at parties.
