Super Smash Bros.

Super Smash Bros., known in Japan as 'Nintendo All-Star! Dairantō Smash Brothers' (ニンテンドウオールスター! 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ, Dairantō meaning "Great Melee"), is a fighting game for the Nintendo 64 created by Nintendo and HAL. It was commercially successful, and had two sequels: Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. All fighters are famous Nintendo characters from the company's various franchises. Players must defeat their opponents multiple times in a fighting frenzy of items and power-ups; an original health system; and on unique, Nintendo-themed stages.

Although Super Smash Bros. is not a part of the Mario franchise, the game is heavily influenced by the Mario series, more so than any other franchise

Gameplay
Super Smash Bros. has a considerably different fighting style than other fighting games a la Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Rather than each player having a life gauge that begins full and gradually decreases with each attack taken and then dying when it depletes, Super Smash Bros. has a unique system. Each player starts at 0% damage, and with each hit they take, the percentage rises depending on how powerful the attack is. As the percentage gets higher, each time a player is hit, they are blown further away with each attack. The objective of the game is to knock out the opponent from the screen so they cannot recover to the stage. This is called a "Fall." In time mode, this results in a loss of one point, while in stock mode this counts as a loss of one life. Given that the player has remaining lives or there is time left on the clock, the player descends onto a floating platform at the center of the stage which they can exit by either moving or waiting a few seconds. The player is invincible for a short amount of time after they exit the platform.

Items are also an important component of the game. Depending on the settings set in the menu, the frequencies and types of items appearing can be altered. Some items are more powerful than others, while some are used to heal the user rather than attack an opponent.

Below are specific rules and differences between the two fighting modes: Time and Stock.

Time
In Time mode, falls count as one negative point for the player that is knocked out of the screen. The player that caused them to fall receives one positive point and is recorded as a "KO". If a player accidentally or intentionally falls off the stage without being influenced by other players, they lose one point while nobody gains a point. At the end of the time period, the player that has the most points is declared the winner.

If there is a tie, there will be a Sudden Death. The two or more players tied will have a quick stock battle with one life, and both starting with 300% percent damage, which will usually cause an instant KO when hit. Also, after a certain time, Bob-ombs will start falling at random places on the stage, and if a player is hit, will be instantly KO'd. The winner of the Sudden Death wins the whole battle.

Stock
In stock mode, there is no point system. Each player begins with a set amount of lives. Each time a player falls, they will lose one life. Unlike Time mode, the number of kills are irrelevant to the final results, as it is a game of survival. This also means that matches could theoretically be endless. However, there is an option to set a time limit to stock matches; in this case, the player with the most remaining lives at the end of the time period is the winner.

If, at the end of the time limit, there are multiple players with the most lives, the match will enter a Sudden Death in which all players begin with 300% damage and one life, and the last one standing wins.

Players can fight alone or in teams.

Playable Characters
There are 12 playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Three are from the Mario series, one is from the Donkey Kong series, one is from The Legend of Zelda series, one is from the Metroid series, one is from the Kirby series, one is from the Star Fox series, two are from the Pokémon series, one is from F-Zero and one is from the game Earthbound part of the Mother Series.

Legend:

Pokémon

 * Beedrill
 * Blastoise
 * Chansey
 * Charizard
 * Clefairy
 * Hitmonlee
 * Koffing
 * Meowth
 * Mew
 * Snorlax
 * Starmie

Enemies

 * Fighting Polygons
 * Kirbys
 * Yoshis

Bosses

 * Giant Donkey Kong
 * Metal Mario
 * Master Hand

Items
There are many items throughout the game that help fire up the battle. All items will disappear after a period of time it is unused or if it is used to a certain extent. The following is a full list of them.

One-player Game
In single-player mode, before a player starts the game, they can choose their character, difficulty level, and number of lives. The difficulty levels range from Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, to Very Hard. The number of lives can be set anywhere from 1 to 5 lives. The number of lives carries over from the previous match, so any lost lives are not restored each level. Once the player loses all of their lives, they will get a Game Over. However, they have the option to continue for the price of points get subtracted from their score.

All stages work with the stock system, and the opponents have one life each. There is a time limit of 5 minutes per match.

Training Mode


Training mode is, as the name suggests, a mode primarily used to practice and simulate battles for improving skills or for beginners to learn controls and moves. There is no time limit nor set number of lives, and nothing that happens is Training mode is recorded.

There are multiple adjustable factors within the mode that are not available in regular Vs. mode. Firstly, the computer players actions can be set to any of: Stand, Walk, Evade, Jump, or Attack. In any case, if the computer player is about to get knocked off the stage, they will make an effort to recover. Another ability available from the pause menu is to be able to make any item spawn. Up to four items can be on the stage at once. The speed of the game is also adjustable. Besides normal speed, it can be set to 2/3, 1/2, or 1/4 speed. Lastly, the camera view can also be changed from normal to close-up; close-up view follows the player at a close angle.

Unlike Super Smash Bros. Melee or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the computer player cannot be controlled using a controller, and only one computer player can be present at a time.

Bonus Practice
The final mode in single-player mode is Bonus Practice. There are two games, "Board the Platforms" and "Break the Targets." Both games appear as bonus stages in the One-player mode.

Board The Platforms
Each character has a unique stage that has 10 platforms of various sizes. The objective is to land on each of the 10 platforms in the least amount of time possible. Some platforms move while others must be jumped on with the correct timing or the player gets damaged. If the player falls from the stage, it is a Failure, and the player will be sent back to the character selection screen.

Break the Targets
Similarly to Board the Platforms, Break the Targets has a unique stage for each player. The objective in this game is to break 10 targets placed throughout the stage by hitting them with an attack. Like Board the Platforms, some targets move, while others are stationary. There are no extra lives, so once a player falls, the trial is a failure, and the player will be brought back to the character selection screen.

VS Mode
In VS Mode, the player can pick up to four fighters to fight in a battle. A fighter selection screen is seen, and the player(s) are able to pick which fighter he or she wants. The player is also able to set rules for this match, such as in a time match, the player can pick the amount of time that can be played, and in a stock match, the player can pick the amount of the stocks he/she and the computers have, and also pick the items that will appear in the match (not in an order, as they are picked randomly), and set the handicap up for the fighters. The next screen is the stage selection screen, where one will pick the stage to play on, and then the battle starts.

Besides the default Free-for-all mode in which each player fights for himself, there is also team battle. Players can divide into up to three teams, and fight against the other team(s). Also, lives are shared, so if one player is eliminated from a team, given that another team mate has 2 or more lives remaining, the eliminated player can recover by stealing one of the lives of a teammate by pressing the Start button. Teams are distinguished by costume color of each player.

In Super Smash Bros., VS Mode is notable for being the only multi-player mode in the game.

Reception
Super Smash Bros. was commercially successful, and quickly became a Player's Choice title. In Japan, 1.97 million copies were sold, and 2.93 million have been sold in the United States as of 2008.

Super Smash Bros. received mostly positive reviews, with criticism mostly directed towards the game's single-player mode. GameSpot's former editorial director, Jeff Gerstmann, noted the single-player game "won't exactly last a long time". Instead, 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". GameCritics.com's Dale Weir described Super Smash Bros. as "the most original fighting game on the market and possibly the best multiplayer game on any system". There were criticisms, however, such as the game's scoring being difficult to follow. In addition, the single-player mode was criticized for its perceived difficulty and lack of features. It was deemed one of the ten best Mario games of all time by ScrewAttack from GameTrailers. It was given an Editors' choice award from IGN.

Development
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. 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.

Beta Elements

 * For a list of this game beta elements, see here.

Glitches

 * For a list of this game glitches, see here.

Trivia

 * Super Smash Bros. is the only game in the Super Smash Bros. series to receive an ESRB rating of E for Everyone. Its successors are both rated T for Teen.
 * When the player chooses a character, the character will do a short animation in the player's box; so far, this is the only game in the series that does this.