A vital addition to the Nintendo 64 catalog, Super Smash Bros (released April 27, 1999) was a phenomenal critical and commercial success. It helped cement the console’s legacy of innovative four-player game design, while at the same time creating a new flagship franchise for Nintendo and starting the game’s creators, Masahiro Sakurai and particularly Satoru Iwata, on a trajectory that would eventually see them leading the industry. As such, it’s one of 1999’s most historically important titles.
Unlike many of Nintendo’s major properties, Super Smash Bros was not tapped to be a major player prior to its release. Instead, it started life as a tiny side project at second-party developer HAL Labs. The prototype for the game, entitled Kakumo-Geemu Ryuoh or “Dragon King: The Fighting Game,” had almost no time or financial budget to speak of—HAL Labs was a very prolific developer during this time, and was more focused on sure bets including Pokemon Stadium. But what the four-player battle royal project did have were two brilliant men who were passionate about the concept: current Nintendo head Satoru Iwata did all of the programming, while series creator Sakurai is usually credited with everything else.
These two managed a successful rally to get Nintendo’s biggest characters into the game, but even then it wasn’t a sure thing. Both internally and externally, there was concern that a game where Mario could punch Pikachu in the face wouldn’t resonate with fans, even though it sounds really, really awesome on paper.
Kakumo-Geemu Ryuoh
That skepticism, as we all know, proved to be unfounded. Super Smash Bros was exactly the right title at exactly the right time. It took incredible liberties with the versus fighting genre during a period when the Street Fighter model was falling out of favor, and it did so with a careful eye for both accessibility and depth. HAL Labs also treated Nintendo’s characters respectfully, turning the game into a nostalgia-fest perfectly crafted to gently stroke the pleasure receptors of longtime Nintendo fans.
This success made Super Smash Bros HAL Lab’s most iconic and best-selling title, and turned the developer into a much more important part of Nintendo’s development strategy; this was surely a factor in Iwata’s rise to the top of the company. It also ensured that Sakurai would continue to make Smash Bros games (even though this fact would occasionally be thrown into doubt), and his work culminated in 2008’s Super Smash Bros Brawl becoming the fastest-selling videogame in American history. Smaller influences of the franchise are scattered across Nintendo’s timeline: as a single example, the series is often credited with introducing the Fire Emblem franchise to America via the popularity of Melee’s Marth and Roy.
So it’s important, but that doesn’t make it all that worthwhile to go back to. Super Smash Bros has been thoroughly eclipsed by its sequels. 2001’s Super Smash Bros Melee in particular is still considered the series’ highlight, and was a favorite of professional tournaments for many years. Of course, that’s not going to keep Nintendo from selling the original: it recently appeared on the Japanese Wii Virtual Console, and it seems like an American release (perhaps on April 27th, 2009?) is inevitable.
Previously on Ten Years Ago This Week:
Requiem: Avenging Angel
X-Wing Alliance
Everquest
Army Men 3D
Silent Hill
Syphon Filter
Alpha Centauri