Esports Codexery

Super Smash Bros.

A crossover platform fighter series published by Nintendo.

Super Smash Bros. is a platform fighting game series where players knock opponents off stages instead of depleting life bars.[1] The series began as a prototype called Dragon King: The Fighting Game before incorporating Nintendo characters.[2][3] As of March 31, 2025, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had sold 36.24 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling fighting game of all time and the third best-selling game for the Nintendo Switch.[4]

Quick Facts

Genre
Platform fighting
Developer
  • HAL Laboratory (1999–2008)
  • Sora Ltd. (2008–present)
  • Bandai Namco Studios (2014–present)
Publisher
Nintendo
Creator
Masahiro Sakurai
Platforms
  • Nintendo 64
  • GameCube
  • Wii
  • Nintendo 3DS
  • Wii U
  • Nintendo Switch
First release date
January 21, 1999
Latest release date
December 7, 2018

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He created a prototype with three people, including Satoru Iwata who programmed on weekends.[3] Sakurai sought Nintendo's permission to use existing characters after deciding original characters would not create enough player investment.[5] The game was titled Super Smash Bros. after Iwata suggested the word "brothers" to imply friendly disagreement.[6] For Brawl, Sakurai assembled a team including staff from Game Arts and his own company Sora Ltd.[7]

Brawl introduced third-party characters, with Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog joining the roster.[8] Sakurai decided against a story mode for Smash 4 because Brawl's cutscenes had leaked online.[9] For Ultimate, Sakurai proposed including every previous playable character, making that the game's major goal.[10]

What the cited sources add

The DualShockers account notes that Sakurai originally conceived Final Smashes in 1999, even recording audio for them.[2] The Polygon oral history states that Tournament Go, starting in 2002, became the foundation for the competitive scene.[11] Major League Gaming began hosting Smash tournaments in 2004, starting with MLG New York.[11] The Shacknews guide explains that players can perform Meteor Smashes to launch opponents downward for a KO.[12]

The ESPN article states that the competitive Smash Bros. scene began in 2002, when players gathered at Matt "MattDeezie" Dahlgren's home.[13] The ESPN article notes that Travis "Samox" Beauchamp's documentary The Smash Brothers traced the community's history through past Evo and MLG events.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gerblick, "Super Smash Bros owns the platform fighter scene, so this indie has a new angle: 40-player "Smash battle royale," an idea so wild "we might not actually ship it"", GamesRadar+, 2024-09-11; Schneider, "Super Smash Bros. N64 Review", IGN, 1999-04-28 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Roberts, "The Legacy and History of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.", DualShockers, 2018-12-07. facts only, no text reused. dualshockers.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roberts, "The Legacy and History of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.", DualShockers, 2018-12-07; Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl / Volume 7: Once in a Lifetime Experience", Iwata Asks, 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kuchera, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the fastest-selling game in the series on the fastest-selling system this generation", Polygon, December 18, 2018; Crecente, "'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' Fastest Selling Nintendo Switch Game", Variety (magazine), December 18, 2018; Kerr, "Smash Bros. Ultimate worldwide sales topped 5M in first week", Gamasutra, December 20, 2018; Ryan, "Smash Bros. Ultimate Has Already Outsold Smash 3DS In Japan After Just Five Weeks", Nintendo Life, January 14, 2019; "IR Information : Sales Data - Top Selling en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]", 2022-10-20; Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl / Volume 7: Once in a Lifetime Experience", Iwata Asks, 2008; Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]", 2022-10-20; Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl / Volume 7: Once in a Lifetime Experience", Iwata Asks, 2008; Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]", 2022-10-20; Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]", 2022-10-20; Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl / Volume 7: Once in a Lifetime Experience", Iw en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]", 2022-10-20; Gerblick, "After 25 years, we finally know why it's called Super Smash "Bros" – Nintendo icon Satoru Iwata wanted the fighters to be "friends who were settling a little disagreement"", GamesRadar+, 2024-10-11; Roberts, "The Legacy and History of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.", DualShockers, 2018-12-07 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl", Iwata Asks, 2008; IGN staff, "Smash Bros. Revolution Director Revealed", IGN, 2005-11-16; Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl", Iwata Asks, 2008; Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Game Concepts]", 2023-05-19; Sakurai, "Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl", Iwata Asks, 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Penwell, "Like it or not, the Smash Bros series wouldn't be what it is without its most maligned entry", VG247, 2023-03-08; Penwell, "Like it or not, the Smash Bros series wouldn't be what it is without its most maligned entry", VG247, 2023-03-08 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nakamura, "The Next Super Smash Bros. Won't Have a Story Mode or Cutscenes", Kotaku, 2013-07-25; Bellingham, "Super Smash Bros stopped having in-game CG story cutscenes because they kept leaking before the game had released", GamesRadar+, 2023-11-10; McWhertor, "New Super Smash Bros. removes tripping; game speed between Brawl and Melee", Polygon, 2013-06-14; Roberts, "The Legacy and History of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.", DualShockers, 2018-12-07; Sato, "Why Zelda and Sheik Are Different Characters In Super Smash Bros. For 3DS", Sil en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Super Smash Bros." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [Game Concepts]", 2023-10-30; Shea, "Masahiro Sakurai Talks Piranha Plant, Spirits, And 20 Years Of Super Smash Bros.", 2018-11-21; Wong, "Smash Bros. Ultimate Director Sakurai Talks About How The Game Isn't Just "Nintendo All-Stars" Anymore", Siliconera, 2018-12-16; Sakurai, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [Game Concepts]", 2023-10-30 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Garst, "The Smash Bros. community: An oral history", Polygon, 2019-10-02. facts only, no text reused. polygon.com
  12. Mejia, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: How to play", Shacknews, 2018-12-06. facts only, no text reused. shacknews.com
  13. Smith, "The genesis of Smash Bros.: From basements to ballrooms", ESPN, 2016-01-15. facts only, no text reused. espn.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Super Smash Bros. (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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