Super Smash Bros.
It’s sort of amazing how over 15 years ago not a single person would’ve imagine a family friendly fighting game being widely regarded as one of the best out there. When Nintendo released Super Smash Bros. on the N64 back in 1999, not many knew what to think about its rather unique premise. Here were a dozen of Nintendo’s iconic characters, duking it out arenas from all of their more popular properties beating the ever living crap out of one another. Cute characters, such as Jigglypuff and Pikachu, were pit against the likes of Captain Falcon and a fire shooting Mario. What seemed like a niche little party game at first, eventually grew to unimaginable proportions.
Super Smash Bros. Melee used the success of the first to build an even greater game. It doubled the roster, added new game modes, and even included its very own trophy collection system. Fast forward more than a decade to the release of a handheld and Wii U Super Smash Bros. standing toe to toe with some of the biggest names in fighting games. The game has grown so much that developers are even polling fans for what new challengers to include in upcoming DLC.
The folks led by the plumber in the red hat have created a fighting game that still has nowhere to go but up, and that is something special. There may have been naysayers when it was first thought up, but there is no doubting now that Super Smash Bros. is a truly great fighting game franchise.