Super Smash Bros. (video game)

Super Smash Bros. launched in 1999 as the debut title in its series, a crossover fighting game for the Nintendo 64. HAL Laboratory handled development, with Nintendo publishing. Japan saw it first on January 21, 1999; North America followed on April 26, 1999; and Europe on November 19, 1999. A later release for the iQue Player in China arrived on November 15, 2005. The game pulls characters and settings from franchises like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Metroid, F-Zero, Mother, Kirby, and Pokémon. Players use each character’s unique abilities and stage hazards to damage opponents, increase their damage percentage, and knock them off the stage.

Critical reception was generally positive. Commercially, it performed well, selling over five million copies worldwide by 2001—2.93 million in the United States and 1.97 million in Japan. IGN gave it an Editors’ Choice award for “Best Fighting Game,” and it became a Nintendo 64 Player’s Choice title. The game kicked off a series of sequels for each subsequent Nintendo console, beginning with Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube in 2001.

**Gameplay**

Unlike traditional fighting games that drain a life bar, Smash Bros. aims to launch opponents off the stage. Each player has a damage percentage that rises as they take hits; higher percentages send characters flying farther. To score a KO, a player must knock an opponent beyond the stage’s open boundaries. Characters can use jumping moves to return to the stage after being knocked off, though some have longer jumps and recover more easily.

Controls are simplified compared to games like Street Fighter or Tekken: every character uses the same button combinations for all moves, and players move freely rather than facing opponents. The game emphasizes aerial and platforming skills, with larger, dynamic stages instead of flat arenas. Blocking, dodging, grabbing, and throwing are all possible. The Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak is supported.

Items and power-ups appear randomly on stage, drawn from Nintendo franchises—Koopa shells, hammers, and Poké Balls, for example. Nine multiplayer stages, such as Planet Zebes from Metroid and Sector Z from Star Fox, are rendered in 3D but played on a 2D plane. Stages feature moving platforms or dramatic changes that affect strategy.