We love talking about gaming anniversaries on our site because it allows us to share gaming history with you and highlight the things that helped make certain games legendary. What’s the anniversary we’re celebrating today? Well, that would be the arrival of Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64 back in Japan. A little over 25 years ago, the legendary fighter was released in the Land of the Rising Sun and became an instant hit despite many being concerned with the “perception” of the title. Many felt the idea of Nintendo icons fighting one another was “too much” for the fans, yet they couldn’t be more wrong.
As Masahiro Sakurai noted in one of his YouTube videos, the prototype for Super Smash Bros was built very early in the days of the N64. Nintendo called upon him to use one of his prototypes to get a game out quickly. He chose the 4-player fighter because it felt the most complete and fun. Then, the plan was to put in original characters to make the game stand out from others, but the time it would’ve taken to do all that and the need to make the characters and world further stand out from other gaming franchises held things down and took out the fun.
It was decided to put in Nintendo characters and see how things went. The results speak for themselves as it became a hit game on the N64 and started a franchise that continues to this day.
The reason that the franchise has succeeded is many-fold. First off, it’s a fun game! And when you have a fun video game, people will play it constantly.
Second, Sakurai and the others who have worked on it came together over the years to improve it with each generation and iteration. From adding new characters to bringing in new modes, refining the gameplay, and inserting new elements to spice things up, each version is different from the last. The best thing they did was create the “character reveal trailers,” which added an incredible level of hype ever since they started in the 3rd entry.
Fast forward to the Nintendo Switch era, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate brought in every character from the series past, added new ones, and became the best-selling fighting game ever. While the series’ future is in question, many feel that it’s inevitable we get another title because this franchise is too good to keep on the sidelines.
