Video Game Blog 036: Smash Binge Part 1

I predicted last year as I was binging on the various Mario Kart games I hadn’t gotten around to, that this year I would end up doing the same for Super Smash Bros. And I was absolutely right. We’re not even a month in and I’ve logged over a dozen hours into Super Smash Bros Melee alone! I’ve already moved on to Brawl and I feel now would be a good time to talk about this series and my impressions of it so far.

But first a disclaimer. I’ve never felt the need to do this with any other video game I’ve covered over my three dozen posts, but I really think it’s a good idea to do it with this franchise. Basically I want to say that I am not good at this game. I know there are a lot of gamers out there who take Smash very very seriously. There are even those elite who play it competitively and make a living off of it. If that’s you, cool. That is totally and utterly not me. I’m not, and never will be, good at this game. I play it because I enjoy it and I like unlocking things and hitting Nintendo characters in the face. (That didn’t come out right…)

So, yeah, just wanted to get that out of the way before I get made fun of for playing some modes on easy or not being able to unlock Luigi and Ness on Smash 64 or things like that. I know I’m opening myself up to that with this post, but I’ve been having fun with the games and wanted to share my thoughts on them. Thank you and let’s get going.

Part of a long line of characters. (Credit: Nintendo)

Super Smash Bros is a franchise published by Nintendo that started in 1999. Since then they have released five games, one title for each system. (The 3DS and Wii U had ports of the same game with minor differences.) Over the years this has proven to be a hugely popular franchise, but I only played it a few times with my brothers. I did not do well, but remembered having fun with it.

Although I never fully delved into the games, I did get the first two games since I’m a game hoarder, and a couple of years ago I casually played through the first one, although I was unable to unlock everything. It’s one of those series I was always saying “I’ll get around to it when I have time.“ (Like Mario Kart.) Well, the time is now.

This game gets chaotic. (Credit: Nintendo)

The gameplay is pretty simple. You button mash, try not to fall off the edge of the world, and attempt to throw your opponent off screen. The more damage you do to them, the farther they fly. Items periodically appear on screen that you can use to attack your opponents or heal yourself.

The premise is even more simple but also confusing: various Nintendo characters (and outside Nintendo in later games) from different franchises are somehow in the same world and fighting. Maybe they’re toys, I dunno. But it seems like there’s a giant gloved hand behind the whole thing. Look, there’s not much lore it’s just video game characters beating on each other. Don’t overthink it.

Let’s take a look at the first three games in the series, as that’s how far I’ve gotten so far. I’m not going to talk about multiplayer mode, because I played these solely as 1-player. Just know that each game has multiplayer with up to 4 players.

Smash 64 title. (Credit: Nintendo)

Super Smash Bros was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. It began life as a fighting game called Dragon King with generic placeholder fighters. Early in development the idea came to include popular Nintendo characters in a free-for-all fight and everything fell into place from there.

Smash 64 Characters. (Credit: Nintendo)

The game includes 12 characters (8 initially and 4 unlockable) from different Nintendo franchises. Represented are Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, F-Zero, Pokémon, Starfox, Kirby, and Earthbound/Mother. There are 9 stages you can play on.

As you can tell by the above screenshot, I still have two characters to unlock. For Luigi you have to complete Break the Targets with all 8 starter characters. I can’t even beat it with one. Ness is unlocked by winning on Normal without continues and with 3 lives. I may be able to do this with practice, but I don’t know… I’ve moved on to newer and shinier games.

A note about unlockable characters… in most of the games you have to fulfill certain requirements and then defeat the character in battle to unlock it. (In Brawl you can unlock them without battle by gaining them in Adventure Mode.)

Monkey go splat. (Credit: Nintendo)

There isn’t much here when compared to the games that follow. Aside from the multiplayer mode, there is a single player mode where you select your character, difficulty, and number of lives. You then battle through ten stages defeating opponents. There are two minigames to break up the battles: Break the Target and Board the Platforms.

There are very few unlockables in this game, just four characters, one stage, and two additional game modes. (Also Mew as a Pokéball summon, but he’s random.) The later games introduce much more unlockable content.

The deathmatch you never thought you needed. (Credit: Nintendo)

Thoughts: This is my least favorite game in the series, but I appreciate it for being the one that started the franchise. I find the characters hard to control and the difficulty prohibitive. This game, while clunky and primitive, does have that nostalgic charm that many 64-bit games from the era have. It’s a creative concept and I have to give it kudos for setting the stage for later enhancements. I’m still not really good at this game, but I did do much better after putting several hours into Melee. I’m still not good enough to unlock Luigi or Ness, though.

Favorite Characters: Pikachu for sure. He’s the first one I played as when I played against my brothers and he’s stood the test of time. Donkey Kong is a close second.

Least Favorite Characters: I’m terrible at Captain Falcon. I can’t get the hang of how he moves and his Falcon Punch always throws me off the edge.

Smash Melee title. (Credit: Nintendo)

Super Smash Bros Melee was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2001. It features an upgrade in graphics and music to fit with the enhanced system it was released on.

Got ‘em all. (Credit: Nintendo)

The original 12 characters return with many new faces. In addition to the franchises represented in the first game, we also get Ice Climbers, Dr Mario, Fire Emblem, and the Game & Watch series. Interestingly enough, Fire Emblem was a Japan-only game at the time of this game’s release. The inclusion of the characters Marth and Roy spiked enough interest that the game was brought to America and ended up doing very well. (I’ve never played any of the Fire Emblem games, but I know my brothers love them.)

There are 25 possible characters and 29 stages, some of both have to be unlocked through various means.

And just gaze upon the glory of the above screenshot… I unlocked every character in this one!

Kirby steals Pikachu’s powers. (Credit: Nintendo)

There is a lot more to this game than the first one. In addition to multiplayer and single player (renamed to Classic Mode) there is also Adventure Mode. I really liked this mode. You fight your way through different worlds fighting the characters from those worlds. At times you switch to platforming, such as wandering through the Mushroom Kingdom stomping Koopas, or dodging race cars in F-Zero. At the end you face Giant Bowser. (For those that are really good you can also fight Giga Bowser… I’m not that good.)

In addition to all that there are minigames, Events, 100-man Melee, and All-Star Mode. Melee is simply a battle where you defeat wave after wave of wire-frame fighters to see how many you can defeat before getting knocked out. All-Star Mode is unlocked by earning each character in the game and you face off against each one with only a few healing items in between battles. Events are a series of 51 challenges that charge you with completing specific objectives, sometimes with specific characters. These get gradually more difficult the further you go in them. Some of the events are required to unlock two of the characters and one stage.

This game also introduces the trophy system, where you can unlock trophies or find them lying around in stages. The trophies add to your collection and give you some text related to the games they appear in. The trophies look exactly like Amiibos, the real-life collectible statuettes that unlock content in some games.

This kid has a hard head. (Credit: Nintendo)

Thoughts: I love this game. I had so much fun playing through, unlocking everyone, attempting the events, and getting as many trophies as I could. This is the game that really got me hooked on the series.

Favorite Characters: I started off favoring the first character I unlocked— Dr. Mario. As the game went on, though, I got way better with DK and Marth. Pikachu is a solid character as well due to his Thunder. I also like Mr. Game and Watch because his design is so creative.

Least Favorite Characters: Again Captain Falcon, but I was also terrible at Fox. He just moves too fast. Falco as well to a lesser extent. I also couldn’t do much with Ness and had trouble getting Jigglypuff’s overpowered Rest move to work.

My trophy collection. (Credit: Nintendo)

Game Completion: I mainly consider this one done. I unlocked all the characters and played through Classic, Adventure, and All-Star with each one of them. I did all the Events I could finish, but got stuck on a couple of them. I never saw Giga Bowser and I doubt I could get to him regardless of how long I play. I’m sure I’ll come back to it now and then to try and find more trophies and complete the rest of the events, but for now I call it finished.

Smash Brawl title. (Credit: Nintendo)

Super Smash Bros Brawl was released for the Nintendo Wii in 2008. Although many games for the Wii from this time included motion control, this game did not. To play you hold the Wiimote sideways like a normal controller. Which I found awkward. But as I was researching this I learned you can use the nunchuck or the classic controller. I tried with the classic controller and it’s way better, so that will be my preferred method of play going forward.

This is all I have so far. (Credit: Nintendo)

This game has 39 characters. There are 41 possible stages. New franchises are Warioware, Pikmin, Kid Icarus, Metal Gear Solid, and Sonic the Hedgehog. (Yep, it’s not just Nintendo characters anymore.) Some characters from Melee are excluded, such as Mewtwo and Dr. Mario.

As you can see above, I only have 24 so far, so I have a ways to go.

Kirby vs Link… to the DEATH. (Credit: Nintendo)

This game comes with a huge upgrade in graphics. There are twice as many trophies available and they have added more collectibles in the form of stickers and music CDs. The music adds to the options for themes that can play in matches. Stickers are decorative and can be arranged in scenes.

As you play through Classic Mode, you earn coins. There is a coin shooter minigame to unlock more trophies. Coins can also be used to continue in Classic Mode.

Look at that little hero. (Credit: Nintendo)

Events, Melee, and minigames return from Smash Melee. Events now have a difficulty setting. The Melee mode is renamed to Brawl mode but appears to work the same. Minigames are now called Stadium Mode. There is an option called Challenges that give you hints on how to unlock certain things in the game. There are also playable demos of older Nintendo games you can try out.

Oooh, that’s gotta hurt. (Credit: Nintendo)

The biggest upgrade is in Adventure Mode. This is a massive story mode involving all the characters in the game. I’m only about a quarter of the way through it, but I’m really enjoying it. Similar to portions of Melee’s Adventure Mode, this one has platforming levels and enemies to fight as you proceed. You can find trophies in the stages and even get a trophy base item to make your enemies into new trophies. The story involves a mysterious alien and some of the bad playable characters turning the good characters into trophies and kidnapping them for unknown purposes.

Oh, Donkey Kong, that’s not how you play Mario Kart! (Credit: Nintendo)

Thoughts: I’m still at the beginning of my play in this one, but so far I’m really liking it. I think I’ll like it even more now that I know I don’t have to play with the Wiimote. (The jumping was a little iffy on that.) I had gotten so accustomed to the way Melee played that I have to get used to the new pacing and handling of this game. My favorite part so far is Adventure Mode and I really like the easier method for unlocking characters.

Favorite Characters: I don’t have them all yet but so far DK is the front-runner. I do like how Mario controls in this one, but I’ll have to try him out with the classic controller to see if he jumps better. I really like the creative way they added Pokémon Trainer / Red to the game. You don’t control Red directly, rather he sends out his Pokémon: Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. (I also like that it’s one evolution stage of each original starter.) It could be my imagination but DK’s ground slap and Pikachu’s Thunder seem nerfed in this version. I’m certainly not hitting as many people with them.

Least Favorite Characters: I’m not very good with Ness or Lucas. Some of my difficulties with Mario and other characters may be solved with the controller change, we’ll see.

I have a long ways to go.

Game Completion: I’m a long ways away from finishing this game. Above are the trophies I’ve gotten so far. I’m loving the sheer amount of things to unlock. I’m well on course to get all the characters. I’m maybe a quarter of the way through Adventure Mode. My understanding is that all or most of the characters will be unlocked once I’ve finished it, but I could be wrong. I’m not looking up much for this game yet… just seeing what I can unlock without hints.

Yoshis, Yoshis everywhere. (Credit: Nintendo)

So those are the first three games in the Smash Bros series and my experiences with them. I’m having a lot of fun with the series so far but to not get burned out, I’ve slowed my pace a lot. I really played through Melee quickly, unlocking nearly everything in the first two weeks of the new year.

Kirby swallowed Mr. Game and Watch. (Credit: Nintendo)

I can certainly see why people get so attached to these games. There’s a lot of appeal with the variety of characters, stages, franchises, and collectibles. I’m not competitive, but I can see the appeal of that aspect of it as well. When my brothers and I get together we’re more likely to play board games or Mario Kart, but I wouldn’t mind trying Smash with them again now that I’ve logged many more hours into three of the games.

Ugh, Master Hand sucks. (Credit: Nintendo)

And while I’m excited to see the later games in the series, I’ll keep playing through Brawl at a reduced pace to what I did with Melee. I’m really looking forward to getting to Smash Ultimate. I’ve heard it’s really good and I really want to play as Sora. (I already bought all the DLC for it, haha.) But I do have other games to complete this year, so I figure I will go back to Brawl throughout the year and update you all on my progress in my Year End Review post. I will also let you know if I manage to get Luigi or Ness on Part 1, but don’t hold your breath on that happening.

Still, I imagine I’ll get started on the 3DS version way later this year. There will be a Part 2 to this post after I have played that one and Ultimate. (Still not sure how I’m going to get screenshots for the 3DS version and I wish I hadn’t sold my Wii U version. Bleh. I didn’t know I was going to be writing about the games and wanted the 3DS one. I’m regretting it now.)

That’s a weird sunset. (Credit: Nintendo)

Thank you for joining me as I begin my Super Smash Bros journey! I appreciate you following me as I blossom from a Smash newb to a Smash casual player. (And no further than that!) I’ll be back soon with more video game goodness!

Aww, look at the cutie. (Credit: Nintendo)