Super Smash Bros.

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For the article about the series, please see "Super Smash Bros. (series)".

For the other games see Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Super Smash Bros.
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Masahiro Sakurai
Released	Nintendo 64: January 21st, 1999 April 26th, 1999 November 19th, 1999 Virtual Console: January 20th, 2009 June 12th, 2009 December 21st, 2009
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer (2-4)
Rating(s)	ESRB: E PEGI: 7 OFLC: G8+
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64 iQue Player Virtual Console Wii (backwards compatible) Wii U (backwards compatible)
Media	128 megabit cartridge Flash Card (China)

Super Smash Bros. (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, Nintendo All-Star! Great Fray Smash Brothers) often known as SSB, Smash 64, SSB64, and Super Smash Bros. 64, is a fighting game featuring Nintendo's "all-stars" as playable characters, and is the debut game of the Super Smash Bros. game series. It has five sequels: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

It was released in Japan on January 21st, 1999, in North America on April 26th, 1999, and in Europe on November 19th, 1999. It is playable on Nintendo 64 and the iQue Player and was made available on the Wii's Virtual Console on January 20th, 2009 in Japan, June 12th, 2009 in Europe, and December 21st, 2009 in North America.

Intro

Gameplay

The Super Smash Bros. series is a dramatic departure from other fighting games, such as Street Fighter. Instead of winning by depleting an opponent's life bar, Smash Bros. players seek to knock opposing characters off the stage, KOing them. Characters do not have "health bars" in Super Smash Bros.; they can take an unlimited amount of damage, however, each hit adds to the character's damage percentage. This percentage starts at 0%, but can exceed 100% and caps at 999%, and the higher the damage percentage, the farther an attack will launch an opponent, and the easier it will be to knock them off the stage. Being knocked too far above, beside, or even under the stage will KO a character. If knocked off, a character may attempt to get back onto the stage by jumping or using various "recovery" moves before they reach the stage's boundaries. Some characters have different recovery moves, while others have better jumps. Some characters are heavier, making them harder to knock off the stage, and making it harder for them to get back onto the stage, while others are lighter, making it easier for them to get knocked away, as well as easier for them to get back.

Each character possesses distinctive and unique moves, and various items which can appear during fights. These items can be melee or long-ranged weapons, throw-able items, power-ups, items that lower a character's damage percentage, and more. Items appear randomly out of thin air, but the player can adjust how often the items will appear, if at all. Some items are references to past Nintendo games, like the Star Rod or the Bob-Omb, while others were specifically made for Super Smash Bros. Poke Balls are an item, and when thrown, a random Pokemon will appear and attempt to attack all of the players except for the one who threw the Poke Ball.

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, characters in Super Smash Bros. can only move on a two-dimensional plane. Some stages also feature random hazards that can help or harm players.

Super Smash Bros.'s play controls are greatly simplified in comparison to other fighting games. While traditional fighting games require the player to memorize button-input combinations (sometimes lengthy and complicated, and often specific to a character), Super Smash Bros. features an easy-to-learn control scheme: A for standard attacks and B for special attacks, and the control stick to move. Characters are not limited to constantly facing their opponent, but may run around freely. Smash Bros. also implements blocking and dodging mechanics, as well as jumps and double jumps. Grabbing and throwing other characters is also possible. Combining these many ways to play allows different players to make the game as simple or complex as they like.

Single Player

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 is called Classic Mode in sequels. The player will choose one unlocked character, and battle against a series of characters in a specific order, attempting to defeat them with only a limited amount of lives. If the player loses all of their lives (or runs out of time, regardless how many lives left), they have the option to continue at the cost of a considerable sum of their overall points. Selecting yes cuts their score in half and restarts the battle. Selecting no or not selecting within a ten second countdown will result in a Game Over.

The "Break the Targets" minigame as well as the "Board the Platforms" minigame are two of the remaining single-player games. The objective of the minigames is to break each target or board each platform, respectively. The goal must be achieved without falling off each character-specific stage. The last one is the "Training Mode" section, where the player can choose any of the available characters and the opponent, as well as any stage. When started, a menu can be brought up to gain almost any control, such as slowed game speed, spawning any item, and telling the opponent what to do.

Multiplayer

Up to four people can play in multiplayer mode, which has specific rules predetermined by the players. Stock and timed matches are two of the multiplayer modes of play. 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 all but one player are KO'ed.

Characters

There are twelve playable characters in Super Smash Bros., eight are available from the start, while four are unlockable.

Official artwork of the default cast of Super Smash Bros.

The character-selection screen of Super Smash Bros. (all characters unlocked).

The Gang is all here!

Playable Characters

Bold: Donates unlockable

Image	Name	Series	Debut
	Mario	Mario	Donkey Kong (1981)
	Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong (1981)
	Link	The Legend of Zelda	The Legend of Zelda (1986)
	Samus	Metroid	Metroid (1986)
	Yoshi	Yoshi	Super Mario World (1990)
	Kirby	Kirby	Kirby's Dream Land (1992)
	Fox	Star Fox	Star Fox (1993)
	Pikachu	Pokémon	Pokémon Red/Green (1996)
	Luigi	Mario	Mario Bros. (1983)
	Ness	Earthbound/Mother	EarthBound (1994)
	Captain Falcon	F-Zero	F-Zero (1990)
	Jigglypuff	Pokémon	Pokémon Red/Green (1996)

Non-playable characters

• Giant Donkey Kong
• Metal Mario
• Fighting Polygon Team
• Master Hand

Stages

There are a total of nine stages, eight starter stages and one unlockable stage.

Playable Stages

Stages
Peach's Castle	Congo Jungle	Hyrule Castle	Planet Zebes	Mushroom Kingdom
Yoshi's Island	Dream Land	Sector Z	Saffron City

Shown in bold, Mushroom Kingdom is the only unlockable stage in Super Smash Bros. 64

All nine playable stages in Super Smash Bros.

1P Game-only stages

• Battlefield
• Final Destination
• Break the Targets
• Board the Platforms
• Metal Mario's Stage
• Race to the Finish

Non-playable stages

• Beta Dream Land 1
• Beta Dream Land 2
• Tutorial Stage

Items

Image	Name	Description	Type	Heavy?	Series	Debut
	Crate	Contains many items. Has a one-in-eight chance of exploding when thrown, or hit with enough force to break.	Container	Yes	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Barrel	Once thrown, struck, or landed on a slope, may roll across the stage and damage what it hits before breaking. Has a one-in-eight chance of exploding.		Yes	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Capsule	Contains a single item. Has a one-in-eight chance of exploding.		No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Motion-Sensor Bomb	Attaches to the stage once thrown; characters that approach it after a short time cause it to explode.	Throwing	No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Home-Run Bat	An extremely powerful item. Its forward smash is among the most powerful attacks in all four games, being a one-hit KO in every one. As a throwing item, it maintains its high knockback and is a semi-spike.	Battering	No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Beam Sword	Starting in Melee, gets longer when swung depending on character. Peach has a rare chance of plucking one when using Vegetable.	Battering	No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Fan	Fastest-swinging battering item. High shield damage.	Battering	No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Ray Gun	Fires blasts of energy that have infinite horizontal range.	Shooting	No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Bumper	Can be placed on the stage, where it will knock away characters that touch it. If two or more are present, they can be used to momentarily trap characters by bouncing them back and forth.	Throwing	No	Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
	Fire Flower	Produces a continuous stream of short-range fire.	Shooting	No	Mario	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
	Super Star	Bounces across the stage, and makes whoever it touches invulnerable to all damage and knockback for a short time. Users can still be KO'd if they fall off the stage with it.	Status	No	Mario	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
	Green Shell	When thrown, attacked, or landed on, slides across the stage and damages everything it hits. Can be stopped by jumping on it.	Throwing	No	Mario	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
	Red Shell	When thrown, attacked, or landed on, slides across the stage and damages everything it hits. Aims for nearby characters and avoids sliding off edges.	Throwing	No	Mario	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
	Bob-omb	Very powerful explosive. If not grabbed within a few seconds of its appearance, it lights its own fuse and begins walking around, exploding on any character it meets. If it doesn't meet a character it will blow itself up after a while.	Throwing	No	Mario	Super Mario Bros. 2 USA (1987)
	Hammer	One of the most feared items in the game due to its range, damage, and knockback. However, it limits the user to walking and a single jump; the user cannot even choose to drop the item. May randomly lose its head and become useless.	Battering	No	Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong (1981)
	Heart Container	Strongest recovery item, recovering up & reset player health to 0%.	Recovery	No	The Legend of Zelda	The Legend of Zelda (1986)
	Star Rod	Has a limited supply of long-range star shots produced on f-tilt or f-smash.	Battering	No	Kirby	Kirby's Adventure (1993)
	Maxim Tomato	The third most powerful recovery item, healing up to 100%	Recovery	No	Kirby	Kirby's Dream Land (1992)
	Poké Ball	Once thrown and lands on the ground, unleashes a random Pokémon to aid the user.	Summoning	No	Pokémon	Pokémon Red and Green Versions (1996)

Modes

1P Mode

• 1P Game
• Training mode
• Break the Targets
• Board the Platforms

Vs Mode

• Versus Mode

Development

After development on the Kirby Super Star wrapped in 1996, creator Masahiro Sakurai wanted to create another property. He developed two different prototypes concurrently: a stealth and exploration based RC robot adventure game, and a four player free-for-all fighting game with no health bars. A long-time fan of fighting games, particularly games developed by SNK, he was interested in making a beginner friendly fighting game for four players. A specific inspiration for such an idea came from an experience at a local arcade where he had a winning streak on The King of Fighters '95 and felt pleased with himself, only to feel guilty upon realizing his opponent was a beginner and their partner. This made Sakurai realize that not everyone is a master, so a game designed for newcomers to have fun regardless of skill level would be a good idea. He also was concerned about how the fighting game genre was becoming increasingly combo-centric and how that invalidated the skills of the player being combo'd. Command-input moves were also becoming increasingly complex, and Sakurai wanted controls that tested speed and reflexes instead of muscle memory, which culminated in tilt attacks and smash attacks that can be performable with a wide range of skill levels while still having a level of depth and strategy.

His initial design for the game was called Kakuto-Geemu Ryuoh (Dragon King: The Fighting Game), which featured simple characters. After presenting the game to co-worker Satoru Iwata, he helped Sakurai continue on with the project. Realizing that the RC game would take much longer to develop, he shelved the concept and went all in on this fighting game. Sakurai understood that many fighting games did not sell well, so he tried to make his game original. After presenting a pre-alpha demo to HAL Laboratory, he was approached by a fellow employee who suggested the game should include famous Nintendo characters as a way to market the game. Initially hesitant about the idea, he was later convinced and began retooling his demo. Sakurai has since claimed that filling a game with preexisting characters is more welcoming to new players instead of bombarding them with many original characters they are unfamiliar with. Knowing full well that he would not receive permission to do include their characters, Sakurai created a prototype of the game without sanction from Nintendo and did not inform them until he was sure the game was well-balanced. The prototype he presented featured Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus Aran, and Fox McCloud as playable characters. The idea was later approved.

HAL Laboratory was assigned as primary developers, as Sakurai was employed by them at the time. While Sakurai and Iwata were initially the only developers, as other projects in HAL Laboratory either were finished or fell through, more employees were brought on the project to assist them. Multiple characters, including Marth, King Dedede, Bowser, and Mewtwo were planned to be playable at one point, but were all cut for various reasons.

Super Smash Bros. features music from Nintendo's most popular gaming franchises. While many tracks are new arrangements for the game, some songs attempt to directly emulate their sources. The music for Super Smash Bros. was composed by Hirokazu Ando, who later returned as sound and music director for Super Smash Bros. Melee. A complete soundtrack was released on CD in Japan through Teichiku Records in 2001.

Marketing teams and wholesalers were initially skeptical on the market viability of Super Smash Bros., as they were unsure how the public would respond to Nintendo characters beating each other up. Resistance from fighting game players were also met during the launch period, as they had many preconceptions of what a fighting game is and were uncomfortable with a wildly different product labeling itself as a fighting game. To alleviate this tension, Sakurai created the Smabura-Ken website that delved deep into all the new and different concepts.

To promote the launch of the game, Nintendo of America staged an event called "Super Smash Bros. Slamfest '99", hosted at the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 24th, 1999. The event featured a real-life wrestling match between costumed performers dressed as Mario, Yoshi, Pikachu, and Donkey Kong, in addition to booths set up for attendees to preview the game. The event was live-streamed on the web via RealPlayer, and was available to be re-watched via a download from the event's official website for several months afterwards. Despite this, no video footage of Slamfest '99 is known to survive, and is currently considered to be lost media.

Tournament play

Unlike Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. never had a large professional competitive scene, but interest in Super Smash Bros. has been renewed in recent years with the popularity of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Players can play Super Smash Bros. online through Kaillera using the Project64k emulator. However, there have been more and more tournaments of Super Smash Bros. recently due to an influx of new players. Most Super Smash Bros. tournaments are paired up with Melee or long events and most (offline) Super Smash Bros. tournaments are located in California, Central Canada, or New Jersey.

Online Play

Although Super Smash Bros. does not feature online play, emulators have the ability to do so. Project64k and Mupen64k are the most used emulators of playing online.

Gallery

The logo for Super Smash Bros..

US cover art

PAL cover art

Japanese cover art

Title screen

Trailers

Super Smash Bros Commercial (N64)

Japanese Super Smash Bros. commercial

Trivia

• It was revealed in an interview with Nintendo's then-president, Satoru Iwata, that Masahiro Sakurai had intended for Final Smashes to be included in the original Super Smash Bros.. He claims that he has proof in the form of recorded voices for when characters used their Final Smash. Hacking into the debug menu of the game, Ness' and Captain Falcon's voice clips for final smashes. But there also exist voice clips for Pikachu, Kirby, and Fox that might have been intended for final smashes as well. The idea, however, was never actually implemented until Brawl, most likely due to software issues.
• According to the wife of Sakurai, Michiko Sakurai, the "in-house" nickname for Dragon King was "Pepsi Man".^{(citation needed)}
• Although never acknowledged by Sakurai or any developers behind Super Smash Bros., third party sources have identified Namco's 1995 fighting game The Outfoxies as a possible inspiration.
• The starting eight characters are placed in the order of when they first appeared in their respective titles on the character selection screen, starting with the oldest, Mario and Donkey Kong, and leading to the most recent, Pikachu.
• When a character is chosen, they perform a brief animation in their player's display box below the character-select array. This is the only game in the series to have this feature.
• In the credits, Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario and Luigi, was misspelled as "Charles Martinee".
• In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the characters are trophies that have been brought to life, as demonstrated in their intro sequences and continue screens. This is not the case in Super Smash Bros., in which the characters are instead toys that have been brought to life by Master Hand, and the stages are dioramas.
• The Japanese Version lacks the "Congratulations" screen when players complete 1 player mode.
  • The Japanese Version also has completely different sound effects for the hitting of the characters, which are much more realistic like those in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl and other arcade fighting games. This was probably a change done to make the game's sound effects more exaggerated and less realistic to be consistent with the cartoony violence and unrealistic environments/characters the game consisted of. Some speculate, however, that this was actually done for censorship reasons.
  • The narrator also says "Fox" in a different tone than the Western version, and he says "Battle Royal" instead of "Free-for-all". In the Western versions, the re-recorded voices have a slightly different echo effect than the Japanese original.
• In the European version of the game, when set to the German Language, the German announcer does not say "Captain Falcon" or "Team Battle" in German.
• Some items (excluding battering items and containers) and all Pokémon are actually 2D sprites.
• It's impossible (without hacking) to clear all the eight digits on the counter that tells how many points the player has earned in 1P Mode.
• This is the only game in the series to receive a rating of E for everyone. Its sequels Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are both rated T for teen, while Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are rated E10+.
• This is the only game to exclusively feature Nintendo's heroes. Future installments included playable villains (Bowser, Ganondorf, etc.).
• The playable characters are all veterans that return in future Super Smash Bros. installments.
• The Mario and Pokémon universe are the only universes to have more than one playable character in this game. The Yoshi and F-Zero universes have only one playable character in all iterations of Super Smash Bros.
• In the Japanese version, Mario and Luigi have slightly larger heads than in any other version.
• Samus is the only female playable character. Ten characters are male, including: Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Luigi, Captain Falcon and Ness. Jigglypuff has not been confirmed to be male or female.
• This game actually allows the player to fight characters in Classic Mode that have not been unlocked yet (Luigi is teamed up with Mario in the 2v2).
• The playable characters in the original Super Smash Bros. are all starter characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Ness and Jigglypuff are unlockable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
• Super Smash Bros. is the only game to show all the unlockable characters in the intro, being Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness, and Jigglypuff.
• There was supposed to have a Racing Mini Game, but it was scrapped.
• Super Smash Bros. was meant for a Christmas release in December 1998, but was pushed to 1999 for unknown reasons. As the final build of the Japanese version of the game was dated 12/11/1998. (Source: The Cutting Room Floor and SourceGaming).
• In the intro video the Pokémon Trainer that is walking by Pikachu is possibly was Ash Ketchum from the Pokémon anime series. The Trainer's shoes closely matches of Ash's shoes from the original series.

External Links

• Wikipedia's Super Smash Bros. article
• Official Super Smash Bros. Japanese website
• Official Super Smash Bros. English website (archive)