What was it like to experience Smash Bros when it initially came out? was it a dream come true to pit these Nintendo characters against one another
One of the most mindblowing things about Smash 64, to me, was that I don't remember any hype for it, it was almost a surprise release.At the time, I was reading video game magazines including the official nintendo one and, maybe I just missed some issues or something where they talked about it, surely, but I remember just casually watching TV one day and seeing the iconic TV ad for Smash 64 with mario, DK, Pikachu and Yoshi bashing each other to "Happy Together" as background music. That same day I went to the store and there it was, brand new "Super Smash Bros." and I bought it right away.The joy of getting this amazing game out of the blue and playing it until late at night, unlocking Jigglypuff, and then calling my friends the next day to play VS matches, it was unlike anything else.In a way, Melee was also a surprise to me, I got a Gamecube at launch and got it with the new Smash I didn't even knew was coming, and blew my and my friends' minds once again.
>>12713891thanks for the story, sounds kino
Mario is actually holding a star rod on the box.
>>12713875Nintendo characters aside it was finally a fighting game were you didn't have to guess and do stupid commands launch a single fireball, after playing Smash going back to any traditional fighter feels like such a downgrade
I thought it was amazing. And, like many others, it introduced me to EarthBound.
>Mario, DK, Link, Yoshi, Fox, and Pikachu all in one game!? This is the best idea for a game EVER!>Who the heck are Samus and Kirby though?I was only 5 when SSB came out.
>>12714035>I was only 5 when SSB came out.Same. I had to ask my parents to let my brother use dial-up so we could find out how to unlock Captain Falcon and Ness.
>>12714021>>12714035Did Smash leave you with any impressions of the games that you hadn't played before?
>>12714039Back then, I figured Metroid was basically a Contra game about hunting 'the Metroid', Kirby was a game for girls, and F-Zero was some kind of racing-fighting game. I never unlocked Ness back then.
>>12714039I thought the Fire Emblem characters were cool in Melee until I experienced those shit games.
>>12713891This sums it up well. I subscribed to the Nintendo Power magazine and had no idea it existed until I saw the TV commercial this anon mentioned. Also, it felt kino to be the only one in school who knew who Ness was.
>>12714046Oh also, I remember not understanding why Yoshi needed to be its own series. Playing Yoshi's Story made me double down on that.
>>12713875It didn't feel real. It was definitely a phenomenon to talk about it at school in 2nd grade
>>12713891Yeah this was it. I didnt know about it until the commercial. Didn't have internet and I didnt subscribe to Nintendo Power until 2000 so it was a surprise release that just suddenly existed.Melee on the other hand was something I extensively read about in NP and then on GameSpot until it ceremoniously arrived under the tree at Christmas with my new GameCube. That, Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin. What a fucking dream
I remember playing all Yoshi matches with my friends and all we'd do is eat each other and and try to shit each other off the stage. We all thought it was the most hilarious thing imaginable.I have to wonder if anyone of us got horrible fetishes from that. I know I didn't.
It sounded like a fake game made up by one of those "my uncle works at Nintendo" kids so it was a surprise that it was actually real. Then when we played it most of us didn't know who half the characters were.
>>12713875I bought this completely blind, as I did a lot of my games back in the day. Back then you often made decisions based purely off cover art.Went to a flea market with my older sister one Saturday. Think I was in 4th grade. She said I could get a game so I was rummaging around some boomer's cardboard box of used cartridges and saw this. They weren't even organized by console he had all kinds of shit in there. I saw this and was wondering how the hell Mario and Pikachu could be in the same game. I think it was like $5 or $6 dollars. We stopped at a restaurant on the way home but I was imagining what must be in this cartridge the entire time and staring at the cover the car ride back. I remember being disappointed that it was a fighting game at first because I had built up this big adventure in my head. But I went into my first match and it was so fun I didn't care. Ended up being one of my most played games. A few years later I was so hyped for Melee that I bought the game and guide book before I even had enough money saved up for the console.
It was basically the Who framed roger rabbit of videogames, minus the plot..
>>12713875The commercial was super memorable and I was vaguely aware of all the characters except ness though I never player kriby/metroid. The game itself was great from the moment you picked it up. It was super intuitive and action packed. Samus/DK with the charge were the most intimidating things ever to kid me
>>12714212Yeah, Japan had crossover games for a while, what with the Shonen Jump famicom games or the Super Robot Wars games, but the west only got King of Fighters as a crossover event
>>12713875My friends and I lost our minds. It was the playground hypothetical of a crossover game made manifest and we thought it was the sickest shit ever. The game was pretty fun too. We'd play it often until melee came out. Come to think of it, we went nuts for Kingdom Hearts too. That commercial with the remix version of the main theme hitting you rapid fire with shots of Disney and Square characters was pure hype. Maybe kids just think crossovers are cool.
>>12714035>be around 5 years old>unlock ness>no idea who that kid was>had to make up something because i was the nerd of the block>nobody else knew him so i could bullshit my way through saying he was made up for the game>unlock captain falcon>"oh thats just his dad">got away with it and nobody ever asked me about it again
>>12714224Crossovers ARE cool, but adults become super jaded.
>>12714063>It was definitely a phenomenon to talk about it at school in 2nd gradeMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
>>12714247Anon... It came out almost three decades ago.
>>12714247
>>12713875I was 10 when it was released. There wasn't any hype. It wasn't mindblowing. It wasn't even unexpected. Fighting games were all the rage thru the 90s and quite literally every franchise had a fighting game. Megaman fighter. Sonic fighter. TMNT fighter. Clay fighter. Ranma fighter. Marvel fighter(s). Fucking Alien vs Predator fighter.It wasn't a surprise when Nintendo jumped into the arena. Did we have fun with the game? Hell yeah, it was great and the perfect casual game for groups of friends. But it was quite literally just another fighting game in the age of fighting games. Not really a big surprise and in fact it was really late to jump on the bandwagon which is typical of Nintendo.
>>12713875I was six when I played it for the first time plus I didn't know half the characters so the novelty of it being a crossover game was lost on me. It was still a fantastic experience since it was also my first time playing an N64 and one of the few games growing up that everyone was willing to play.
>>12714284Was Clay fighter supposed to be a spinoff of Claymates, or the other way around?
>>12714284Clearly it wasn't "just another fighting game" when you look at what it spawned. You're too dumb to be a bitter contrarian revisionist, just follow the crowd bud.
>>12714284It wasn’t just that it was a fighting game, it was a fighting game crossover between several different gaming universes. That was still pretty rare outside of Fighters Megamix (neither franchise had much of a following in America) and X Men vs Capcom (which didn’t have a home port yet).
>>12713875Holy fighting game for toddlers
It was the perfect game to get stoned with ur buddys and play for hours.It was the OG "friendslop" game, except it wasn't slop like among us, fall guys and mechachamelon etc because it was an actual video game first with a level of skill expression involved Being a 4 player multiplayer game with no split screen was pretty amazing, most games if u played 2 or 4 player the screen got split into 2 or 4 separate windows and you could barely see shit and it was awful so no one did it, smash bros having 4 players one the one big screen was amazing.Our rules were the last 2 players remaining got to keep their controllers and the losing 2 players had to hand over their controllers, so you got rewarded for winning.We'd also have mini tournaments to decide who got to smoke the last hit of the bong which was always fun and intense.Modern friendslop games seem so boring and soulless to me in comparison
>>12714315It's a nintendo property. Of course it was going to get sequels, just like everything they produce. You're just an angry fanboy.>>12714326>it was a fighting game crossover between several different gaming universes.You mean like Marvel vs Capcom? Either way it's still just another fighting game. If anything, what made it unique was the actual gameplay. But the concept of a Nintedo fighter wasn't exactly some left field thing in 1999.
>>12714360Characters from fighting games being in a fighting game with marvel characters isn't anywhere near as crazy as characters from anything but fighting games joining in one.For example Rambo wouldn't be a crazy guess character in the Call of Duty battle royal game, now Roger from American dad is.
>>12714363A Nintendo fighting game with Nintendo characters is far less crazy than a motherfucking crossover between Capcom and Marvel comics. Get your head out of your ass.
>>12714380Capcom making yet another fighting is not crazy at all, what the fuck are you talking about
>>12714380Nobody gave a fuck about Marvel in the 90's, they almost didn't survive that decade. Them whoring out their IPs was constant at that time, Capcom just so happened to be good at making games.
>>12714360>You mean like Marvel vs Capcom?Did you even read my post?
>>12714381Good thing I didn't say that you ingenuous turd.>>12714382and yet a Marvel comics crossover fighting game with Street Fighter etc is far more fantastical than Nintendo making a fighting game using their IPs. God, Nintedo fanboys really are just fucking awful autistic retards. Every single time.
DUDE I was FIVE YEARS OLD when this game came out and it was TOTALLY THE CRAZIEST MORE UNEXPECTED THING EVER
It's still played competitively to this day
>>12714387The versus games were like 90% reused assets from Marvel fighting games and Street Fighter Alpha. It wasn't that revolutionary, especially when Capcom were releasing several new fighting games in the arcade every year.
>>12714360>>12714363>>12714380>>12714380>>12714381>>12714382no one gives a shit about your gay argument especially from some faggot being elitist because ssmb isnt tekken jfc shut the fuck up the op just wants stories about smash bros not your gay fucking blog about which fighting game is superior seriously kys retard why do insufferable retards like you even exist
>>12714387Seeing Donkey Kong fighting against Samus is more unexpected than Ryu fighting once again, just against Marvel characters this time
>>12714404I'm pretty sure smash bros is actually deeper than tekken
and there you have it, naked nintendo fanboyism by a zoomer moron who was 5 years old in 1999
It's frankly intriguing how some of you will always find a way to turn every thread into nonsense arguments
>>12714406Virtua Fighter is 10 times more deeper than Tekken, you know the game Tekken is ripping off
>>12714416Nintendorks get irrationally angry when somebody says anything that even implies any given Nintendo game wasn't an earth shattering revolution.
>>12714416It's Nintendo related, one of at least three Chris-chan tier autists will reply guaranteed. As you can see one of them had to correct the record. He'll be here for days on end if the thread goes on.
Say his name, Kevin Smith
>>12713875yes it was epic, i always heard people talking about it, saying the name 'super smash bros', but i had no clue what it was until i really saw it for the first time.it really seemed like a game ahead of its time when it came out. really cool levels, characters, interface, cutscenes, and great movement and fighting mechanics.was the perfect game to get for N64 and play with your friends or family on the couch.
>>12714419I honestly am not following the shitposts but the moment I start reading buzzwords like "nintendork" I know the low effort shitposting has arrived.Most of the thread is people saying it was a surprise not because nobody made crossover games or fighting games, but because it was hardly talled about before it released.Any other argument in this thread is perobably from /v/tards who have a faggy console war agenda>Noooo stop saying it was surprising! Nintendo didn't invent anything arrrrgghhh
>>12714406Tekken is one of the most diffucult games to play competitively though. Unless Smash is deeper than the majority of fighting games it's not deeper than Tekken.
>>12713875I only learned about it through the commercial. It was definitely a sleeper hit. I think it was originally supposed to be Japan-only. I thought it kicked ass, and even after Melee, my friends and I still occasionally played it. I didn't know who the fuck Ness was, but eventually I discovered emulation and played EB that way.
>>12714448>side step faggotry were both sides are afraid to hit each other is good!Play a real 3d fighter like VF or DoA
>>12714463I will check the new VF out when it comes out but I have doubts about it becoming a new competitive standard. Tekken will likely stay at the top for a bit longer. DoA has stopped being relevant a long time ago. It has never been played at a truly high level anyway.
>>12714504Dead or alive worked when it was a technical and graphical demo for Xbox hardware. When it went multiplatform it was over
>>12714427This is not a Mortal Kombat or a Fatal Fury thread.
>>12714432>t. same nintendo fanboyAt least try to be subtle next time
>>12714410>>12714417>>12714419>>12714423I do not give a single shit about Nintendo, or fighter games.I just think you are a gigantic faggot for turning a thread that was simply asking people what it was like playing smash bros back in the day into some kind of "NOOOO MY LE HECKING FIGHTER GAME WAS 10000X BETTER".Like holy fuck are you one socially unaware retard, no one gives a shit what fighter game you think is good or bad, this is a thread for people to talk about playing smash bros back in the day and it really is that fucking simple that even an autistic retard like yourself should understand.
>>12713875I was too young to remember anything about marketing or commercials. I remember going over to a friend's house and we would just play this really fun video game. I liked Samus a lot.
I didn't like it
>>12713875>was it a dream come true to pit these Nintendo characters against one anotherNo. I played Mario and Kirby games for platforming, Zelda and Metroid for adventure, Star Fox for shooting shit up and Pokemon for collecting and battles. I never once thought that kicking the shit out of Kirby as Mario was an interesting idea
>>12714387>a Marvel comics crossover fighting game with Street Fighter etc is far more fantastical than Nintendo making a fighting game using their IPsbut you're so fucking wrong it's absurd
>>12714514Not really but you're proving me right: you are fixated with a nuntendo fanboy boogeyman.I already told you, this thread is about Smash being a surprise releasd for most, not because "nintendo is/is not original!!!1!1!" but because most of us don't recall magazines talking about it before release and by the time the TV ad was on, the game was already at stores.>noooo but I want to make the discussion about whether nitnendo is original or notWhatever
noooo but I want to make the discussion about whether nitnendo is original or not
>getting this assblasted because someone who wasn't literally five years old in 1999 told you that a fighting game wasn't special in 1999 when there were dozens of other fighting games for every ip out thereNintendo autists really are a special breed.
>>12714978You're still shouting this, but again, this thread is mostly about the surprise release of the game (no magazine previews, no hype, it was a surprise), it's not about if Nintendo invented crossover fighters or not, that's a war you're fighting mostly in your head.
>>1271497899% of all previous fighting games were not crossovers between multiple series and were limited to 1vs1 and shitty commands inputs though, Smash is literally one of the most unique fighting games of the 5th gen alongside Evil Zone and Psychic Force, you know things that are not Street/Virtua Fighter clone #590
>>12715135If you're not samefag, stop entertaining the NDS guy
>>12715128>>12715135Like clockwork. You are severely mentally ill. I was actually around in 1999, Smash Bros wasn't a big deal like you're insisting. It was a cool game but that's it. There was no real hype or anything like, say, Mario 64 or Zelda OoT. It was seen a sideshow gimmick game because, you guessed it, IP fighters have flooded the market. Is Smash Bros a great game? Yeah and it's gameplay is unique. But again in 1999 there was no real fanfare for it. That's just a historical fact you're going to have to seethe about.
>>12715147>There was no real hype or anythingThat's what I'm saying, idiot: >>12715128I don't care if Nintendo invented shit or not, that's your war
>>12715147Oh and to add: Smash Bros Melee was actually a much bigger deal than the original Smash Bros because while the first game didn't garner much expectation it had quietly built up a good reputation and so its sequel was greatly anticipated.
>>12715151You're mentally ill dude. You keep insisting shit that doesn't exist. Take your fucking pills. You're been raging ever since I dropped facts on your 5 years old ass.
>>12715147>muh anecdotal evidenceAnd no one in my school gave a fuck about final fantasy VII or jrpgs besides pokemon in general, does that make final fantasy VII not special? No.
>>12715159and there we go, naked nintendo fanboyism seethe. Nintendo fans are the biggest autists in the gaming world, bar none.
>>12715161>provide exactly the same anecdotal evidence argument you're just with ps1 game instead of n64 game >Boohooo seetheSo you were just seething about nintendo all this time?
>>12715164>>provide exactly the same anecdotal evidence argument you're justNo you didn't. Keep seething you mentally ill autismal tardface.
>>12713891Pretty much my same memory of it. Unless you were reading game mags, it wasn't uncommon to miss out on upcoming titles unless they had a huge marketing push. I know for melee my hype was in the form of buying the players guide which for some reason was on same before the game where i lived.
>>12715168>but my experience was...>so my experience was...Yeah I did retard
>>12715157I told you I agree with you that Smash 64 had no hype. 99% of this thread is saying that.If you want to insist on fighting a fictitious war abiut whether "nintendo invented" or not, that's on your own mental illness. I never cared about Nintendo inventing.
>>12715178Nothing you said is remotely comparable to what I stated. You are quite literally mentally ill and have an extremely low IQ.
>>12714243Crossovers are cool when they are not obvious corporate shilling or going against an established vibe or theme. As a not retro example, the first sega all stars racing is a great love letter game, but the sequel got all fucky with adding retarded shit like danica patrick. The new sonic racer is kinda like that too, focusing more on fortnite tier cross promotions.
>>12715182You're fucking nuts. No one is fight a "fictitious war abiut whether "nintendo invented" or not" you stupid motherfucker. It's annoying interacting with someone like you who is falsely insisting shit that doesn't exist. Like you don't even have anything to fight me about yet you're just making something so you can keep replying indefinitely and try to get the last word in because you're insanely immature and a loser irl who has to try and win on the internet instead. Holy fuck get a life.
Anyway, who do you guys like to play as in Smash 64?As a kid, my first pick was Yoshi, but I wasn't able to grasp how to get good as him so I went with Link as my main.Nowadays though I definitely main Yoshi, he's really good.
>>12714380How is another fighter from the company that already made marvel fighters with secret capcom characters in it, surprising?
>>12714387>the company known for making THE fighter of all time, making a new fighter that features an ip they already had made a fighter for, is far more surprising than the mario company making anything resembling a fighting game
>>12713875> was that I don't remember any hype for it, it was almost a surprise release.Opposite for me. I was in the 8th grade and the idea of Nintendo making a fighting game was a dream project. My friends and I discussed it at length at the lunch table.
>>12715197>>12715204See? You just keep going because you're absolutely nuts, a typical autistic nintendo fanboy. It's nintendo! So whatever they have to do is the best and most exciting!! Get real you freak. You're the ponyfags of vidya.
>>12715206It's not that there was no hype as in "nobody cared", there was no hype because there wasn't much information, if any, before the game released. Some magazines might have commented on the japanese release but there wasnt a huge pre release campaign as far as I remember, like other games got. When the ads appeared on TV, the game was aleeady out
>>12713875Smash Bros was really strange, like other anons have noted there was basically no hype or buildup to its release at all. I found it on a Toys R Us shelf one day right after it came out, saw Mario and Pikachu on the cover, and bought it. Wasn't terribly familiar with several characters on the roster at the time, so it wound up introducing me to several other franchises by proxy. Ness confused me the most of all because he had such a strange unlock condition and I'd never even heard of Earthbound before. And there are other weird elements like the Fighting Polygon Team plus how Metal Mario and Master Hand are presented, the game has this bizarre otherworldly feel to it that they never fully recaptured.Played the absolute shit out of it despite being terrible at the game, had friends over to play it all the time.Was late to getting a Gamecube but when I eventually got Melee it was such a wild trip to see such a humble but super fun game expanded into something on another level completely with even more characters I'd never seen before. Had friends gaslighting me about a secret fight where it's revealed that Master Hand and Crazy Hand are Luigi's gloves and shit like that. Good times.
>>12713875I was confused by the marketing. Having never played power stoner, I never really had seen anything like this as a kid. Once I got a copy it was unbelievably fun and played it to death w a buddy.
>>12715213idk about you, but I was not surprised seeing Street Fighter vs Capcom, it just seemed like the next Street Fighter game
>>12714348Or, if you were in your early teens like me when this came out, instead of weed me and a buddy just drank Unhealthy copious amounts of sweet tea all night until 4-5am playing matches and never getting bored.
>>12715195I used Kirby because it pissed off my buddy. He couldn’t figure out a way To counter his falling brick. Absolutely hilarious to see him rage over Kirby.
>>12713875I remember saving money all year and at some point in Jan/Feb 1999, I went and bought F-Zero X, Super Smash Bros. and Turok 2.I still remember the smooth carton boxes, how heavy they felt with the cartridge and manual inside; always with bombastic colour schemes and lots of screen shots and promotional text in the back. I remember opening them up very carefully, so as to not crease the packaging and slowly take out the white internal carton holding the cartridge. Getting excited as soon as I see the plastic wrap holding the cartridge, which was much smaller than the box. I will forever remember the smell of a new cartridge and the manual, which I would hold with great care, until weekend came by and I was allowed to play...Smash bros was really cool at the time and definitely the best when you could play with friends, but Turok 2 and F-Zero were much more memorable as single player experiences, especially back in those times.The N64 was really special, last good console before the onslaught of bootleg PS1/PS2 CDs flooding the market with shovelware and FMVs...
>The N64 was really special, last good console before the onslaught of bootleg PS1/PS2 CDs flooding the market with shovelware and FMVs...jfc just execute every nintendumbass on this planet please
>>12715712He's right, though.
>>12713875>Was it a dream come true?No, because I didn't really even know most of the cast except Pikachu and Mario. I even learned about Link is not called "zelda" from this game. Was my first real introduction to Nintendo since I grew up with a PS1 mostly.The game was insanely good though, and I remember the presentation being so much slicker and further ahead in artistry than basically any other game I played at that point. Melee was a boring rehash for me honestly, the original Smash Bros. is the game that still has all the soul and art.
>>12715213You're the tard that is acting surprised people thinking X-Men Children of the Atom 5: Featuring Mega Man from CapwefuckingmadeSF2com isn't that surprising, compared to the company that makes baby games making a fighting game featuring their baby friendly characters.
>>12713875Let’s be real, most of us didn’t know who a third of the characters were, and it’s not like the Mario and Zelda fans were at each others throats. We were just sick of Pikachu and wanted to punch him in his fat face.Game ended up being mind blowing because 4p gameplay alone was still a novelty, let alone with a genuinely fun and creative formula on top of it. It created a genre that to this day no one else has been able to figure out.
>>12715994The only character I didn't know was Ness, I was also a bit confused about who Capt Falcon was, but that's because I had forgotten about the F-Zero manual, and somehow F-Zero X went completely under my radar back then... I played it many years later.But yeah even though I hadn't played kirby or metroid back then I knew who they were.I don't remember "pikachu fatigue" quite yet in 1999, in fact to me it was kind of exciting that this brand-new franchise that had just appeared was already also in a game like Smash. It made the game feel very trendy and up to date.
>>12715926X-Men characters like Captain America, Hulk, War Machine and Venom amirite
>>12714570So what you're saying is that you would sperg out if your Mom accidentally put the noodles on top of the mashed potatoes
>>12713891Pretty much the same for me
this was a huge "going into games machine" game at the time
>>12715994>We were just sick of Pikachu and wanted to punch him in his fat face.You were a little psycho, huh?
>>12717048To be fair that is probably the exact reason they added this little shit later on.
>>12713875The gaming mags talked about it, but it felt genuinely unreal to me until it actually came out. The "happy together" commercial was so fucking good. It was the first "crossover" game I had ever played. The idea of Mario Link and Pikachu in the same game was mind blowing to me. 4 players? A fighting game that I could ACTUALLY play? Using special moves, using items. The idea that you didnt have a "life bar" exactly. It went against so many other trends. No split screen, just everyone on the same screen. The first time someone got a star KOd (knocked off from top of screen so they fly off in the background) I remember thinking it was a reference specifically to Team Rocket from Pokemon. I was a big pokemon kid, so playing on the Saffron City stage and just yelling out the pokemon names when they came out of the balls or the little door was awesome. It also did get me to try out games I never played. Earthbound and Metroid specifically. It was truly magic.
>>12713875Played this at the friend's house a lot where we'd gather to play Mario Kart 64 and other fighting games like Soul Calibur and Tekken.We didn't have a concept of tiers or meta back then, just "cheap" characters.Usually one guy would insist on picking Pikachu or "Pikacheap" and we'd try to gang up on him.No websites really to look up things on, so we were discovering things in real time. Ness's baseball bat hit blew everyone's minds. I liked playing as Captain Falcon.Didn't get into Melee or the later iterations quite as much. The fun arcadey-ness seemed to diminish in later entries.I even sold my Gamecube to buy a PS2 so I could play Final Fantasy and GTA.
https://youtu.be/wn8-4vymRMU?si=AVzSIyMdHfs9KmWCLove this sort of chill "behind the scenes" sounding music
I was a tad disappointed by the lack of Wario and Banjo and always thought jiggly was a dumb inclusion instead of someone else, but all together it had the best presentation of the franchise, though shit like trophies and events in melee were also cool.
