Kentucky Men's Basketball Team Can't Get Enough Smash 64

[TewnLeenk]

The NCAA Kentucky Wildcats are tearing up the College basketball scene right now. They are currently undefeated with 36 victories and are getting ready to 4-stock the competition at the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The stakes are high and the pressure is on. But the team has a secret weapon to help them relax and focus on basketball: Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64.

Alex Poythress, one of the team members, brings along his Nintendo 64 on road trips so he and the rest of the team can unwind and play some endless rounds of Super Smash Bros all night long.

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They get pretty into it too, but in the end, it's all in good fun. Despite the competitive community here, it's a nice reminder of where so many of us came from, playing Smash 64 with our friends until the sun went down.

TewnLeenk is a writer for Smashboards and loves seeing stories like this. Follow and chat with him on Twitter @TewnLeenk.

 

[waygu]

'WHO THA 3RD BEST?!?!'

 

[BananaBolts]

Dang. you beat me to the punch, Tewn.

Edit: "4 stock the competition" Smash 64 is 5 stocks, yo

 

[Z1GMA]

Makes me happy to see them duke it out with a classic like that.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Pretty interesting.

 

[O1DsLeNdYwHiTe]

This honestly brought a smile to my face. Not just because it's the number one college basketball team playing a game we all know and love. But it really brings me back to before I became involved with the competitive Smash community, where my group of friends and I would come to my house after a long Saturday of rough housing outside, and tormenting the grouchy next door neighbor, plug in my n64 or GameCube, and just play smash 64 and Melee all night long; laughing, celebrating, and getting salty till we all just straight up crashed.

Really brings back memories, and certainly provides some insight on the fun of the game, and how it can bring friends together.

 

[AirFair]

lol that's pretty funny. Imagine them at a tournament.

 

[mark welford]

Great to see 2 of my favorite things come together sports and smash! And I picked them to win the NCAA tourney!

 

[The Derrit]

I love this for the same reason as @ O1DsLeNdYwHiTe - it's just them having an awesome time around the game and not sweating the details. They're having unadulterated fun. Something that feels like we forget about a little too often in the competitive community.

 

[Nixon Corral]

I find that a lot of otherwise non-smash folks have a lot of nostalgia for 64. Which is great cause it gives me an excuse to talk about it. :D

 

[9Tales]

"In Real Life? I'm Still Kirby."

XD

 

[BWG_Zeta]

Yes more glory to smash64!!! I still love the original so so muchmuch

 

[Claire Diviner]

Some play it competitively, while others play it the way Sakurai intended: For fun.

There's really no wrong way to play.

 

[Deleted member]

I know what team I want to win March Madness now.

 

[Captain Zack]

when that guy said no cheat codes i thought he was gonna say no wave cheating

 

[Z25]

Ha, nice, gotta love smash 64!

 

[The Soap]

Some play it competitively, while others play it the way Sakurai intended: For fun.

You say this as if playing competitively isn't fun.

 

[JimmyTheCaterpillar]

That was really cool to see. I'll definitely be rooting for them here on out if I ever happen to be watching a basketball game.

 

[Zantetsugun]

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing SB!

 

[Ganreizu]

You people make it sound like competitors aren't also casuals. It's two sides of the same coin. Reminding us that people play for fun and that there aren't only people who play competitively is completely unnecessary.

 

[Gunslinger]

Pros in basketball, casuals in Smash

 

[Claire Diviner]

You say this as if playing competitively isn't fun.

Yeah, questionable choice of words in hindsight. Oh well, I play it competitively because it's fun that way for me, so there.

 

[DestinNotDustin]

Nostalgic! I played Smash 64 more than any other fighting game to date.

 

[Sen. Sawft]

YOU SAT AND HID THE WHOLE GAME.

 

[Tino]

Playing for fun is what the Smash Bros. games is all about. Good thing they're having fun with a classic like Smash 64.

 

[WolfieXVII ❂]

MICHIGAN STATE FOR FINAL FOUUURRRRR

 

[indio]

lmao this is dope. my friends and i are all brawl/ pm players but im really trying to get my hands on the n64 and smash it looks like alot of fun

 

[Kahnu]

FINALLY SMASH 64 JESUS THANKYOU BASED NEWSWRITERS

 

[Cuban]

Damn, they made me remember the good times I had with smash 64. Me, my bro, my cousins, and smash 64. That's all we needed to have a blast.

 

[Gidy]

When you realize Smash Space Jam is becoming a real thing.

 

[SmashRayner]

these guys could probably beat isai

 

[L9999]

these guys could probably beat isai

Speaking of Isai, where is he?!

 

[the_irish_dude]

these guys arent even old enough to remember when this game came out

 

[Nixon Corral]

these guys arent even old enough to remember when this game came out

Eh, the juniors and seniors would be.

Also, there are probably more people on SmashBoards that meet that qualification than you might think.

 

[volbound1700]

I host a get together every year called Smash Madness which is a pun on March Madness. However, reading this article takes the meaning to a whole new level!

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Super Smash Space Jam.
Come on and slam.
And Welcome to the jam!

 

[MarthZ]

just because fox has a really good up smash and he looked up an Isai combo video deosn't mean theres hax people say that about Marth and falco in melee and people talk trash about jigglypuff because of rest its just skill and how good the person is plus glitches in smash 64 are hard and take along time to pull off but they don't even have a gameshark so... yeah

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Isai appears!

 

[\\Killer//]

lol that's pretty funny. Imagine them at a tournament.

They wouldn't last long to be honest. Doesn't like these guys can even Z cancel. lol

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Wait....why is this on the front page? Shouldn't news articles be solely dedicated to competitive Smash and Smash 4? What sort of BS is this? I demand my money back that I didn't pay for these news articles.