In 1999, a little game known as Super Smash Bros. released on the N64. A fun platform fighter featuring many of Nintendo’s most popular characters, the series would become instantly beloved and would spawn several sequels over the years.
In honor of Smash turning 25 this year (with Europe's release anniversary being next month), we asked several SmashBoards contributors to answer several questions relating to the Smash series. The questions they were asked are as follows:
- Favorite Smash Bros character?
- Favorite Smash Bros stage?
- Favorite Smash Bros memory?
- What would you most like for Smash’s future?
- Who is your most wanted playable character?
Perkilator
, @pidgezero_one, and
Sari
. You can check out all of the responses below:-------------------------------------------
Favorite Character
Prompt: Write about your favorite playable Smash character and why you’re glad to have them in Smash.
@Ze Diglett
Favorite Character: Mewtwo
I already professed my love for the Genetic Pokemon back in our Pokemon Retrospective, but to reiterate: Mewtwo’s been a favorite of mine since I first saw the original Pokemon movie. Seeing that “Challenger Approaching” screen and finding out I could play as Mewtwo in Melee blew my mind as a kid, and I had a blast reliving the telekinetic, Shadow-Ball-slinging action of the first Pokemon movie in one of my favorite games. It nearly broke my heart to see him not return in Brawl (for clearly prejudicial reasons), but that made his legendary comeback in SSB4 all the sweeter. While I wish he was stronger in Ultimate (I miss Smash 4’s Down Tilt combos), Mewtwo fits my playstyle to a T with his quick speed, strong kill moves, and extremely powerful projectile. Though I haven’t had great luck getting characters I want into Smash, Mewtwo’s a character I’ll always be glad to put my cursor over. (Honorable mentions go to R.O.B., Dedede, and Game & Watch, whom I’ve all called my main at some point and I love very much.
@Scribe
Favorite Character: Terry
I’ve been a huge fan of the King of Fighters series for a long time, and really SNK fighting games in general. I’ve always loved how their games have some really interesting design ideas that you wouldn’t really see from other developers - stuff like Fatal Fury’s lane system, Samurai Shodown’s focus on high single-hit damage over long combos, and the King of Fighters series’ approach to movement and defense mechanics.
As such, I was incredibly excited to see him get revealed as the fourth character in the first Fighter Pass, to the point that he's the reason I built my own box controller. I already had experience using a custom-built leverless controller for traditional fighters, and I can't stand doing motion inputs on an analog stick, so it seemed like the natural progression from there.
And I don't regret that decision at all, since it turns out that Terry also happens to be one of the most fun characters to play on a box controller. There is something immensely satisfying about the tactile experience of performing motion inputs using directional buttons. While Ryu, Ken and Kazuya are also fun to play on a box controller for very similar reasons,Terry is the one that I enjoy the most.
@Megadoomer
Favorite character: Snake
I find that Smash Bros. makes for an excellent gateway series, introducing people to series they might not have heard of and helping them find new favorites. I only vaguely knew about Snake prior to his Brawl announcement through older issues of Nintendo Power; I’d read the articles about Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and the Metal Gear Solid game for Game Boy Colour, but I hadn’t played the series before. Snake’s inclusion in Smash got me to check the Twin Snakes out, and Metal Gear Solid quickly became one of my favorite series. (I bought a used PS3 in large part to play Metal Gear Solid 4).
On top of that, I found Snake to be a ton of fun to play as. No other character in Smash gives that “exactly as planned” feeling of timing a mortar just right, or placing a C4 on the ground and then detonating it when it’s been completely forgotten about, which is why his removal in Smash 4 was so disappointing to me - nobody played in a way that was similar to him.
Perkilator
Favorite Character: Sora
Sora has been my most wanted character ever since I became a fan of Kingdom Hearts back in 2015. I’ve followed the entirety of Kingdom Hearts III’s development all the way to release, played the series on PS4, and have been part of the Kingdom Hearts community for a while now. Throughout the entirety of Smash Ultimate’s speculation period, I constantly campaigned for Sora to be playable. Needless to say, I was ecstatic upon Sora’s confirmation.
Sora was designed to be a relatively simple character in Ultimate and is really fun to play as. He’s been my main ever since he came out, and I’m glad to have fought for his inclusion all the way to the end. Here’s hoping he can come back in the next Super Smash Bros. game.
@pidgezero_one
Favorite character: Jigglypuff
Everything about Jigglypuff is hilarious. Ever since her introduction in Smash 64, Jigglypuff has been a cute and light character that is easy to underestimate — at least until you got too close to her and found yourself getting OHKOed. I describe her as a “walking meme.” I even like using her in Brawl (where she’s only inches above the bottom of the tier list), and have many fond memories of running dual Jigglypuff teams with fellow Puff enthusiasts such as Soulpech and Shiny Mewtwo. It’s comforting to have this franchise mainstay continue to show up in every iteration of the game alongside her eleven contemporaries from 1999.
When I first dipped my toes into the competitive 64 community in 2014, I became good friends with YBOMBB, who at the time was a top Jigglypuff player. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t drawn to him at least partially for his character choice. We already had players in Toronto who used the green and blue bows, so I claimed the red bow for myself. CTG, a top Puff player from the south, started using the red bow to carry on my torch when I retired from competing, so I made sure to show him this tattoo I got in celebration of my favorite fighter:
Sari
Favorite character: Wario
Wario’s representation in Smash is admittedly kind of bad. There’s barely any Wario Land content, the Smash version of Wario plays a bit too much into his grosser side (rather than his strong/adventurous side), and three games to get a decent shoulder bash (with Smash 4 removing it entirely) is actually insane. I could go on about how Wario in Smash can be improved in a lot of areas, but at the same time I always find myself playing as this funny little gremlin. His wackiness and fun moveset always makes him a blast to play. Great recovery, a useful biting move, and the Wario waft that always keeps opponents on their toes are just some examples of why I loving using my favorite Mario series plumber in these games. Shortly after Brawl’s release I decided to get into WarioWare series, and that series has only cemented my love for Wario ever since.
Honorable mentions are Dr. Mario, Isabelle, and Terry
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Favorite Stage
Favorite Stage
Prompt: Write about your favorite Smash stage.
@Ze Diglett
Favorite Stage: Fourside
I adore all the stages in Melee, but Fourside’s stood the test of time as my favorite. I’m an absolute sucker for nighttime cityscapes, and Fourside might just be to blame for that. Long before I knew what EarthBound was, I was entranced by the stage’s uniquely chill atmosphere, and that haunting UFO sealed the deal. Needless to say, I was thrilled by the HD glow-up this stage got in Ultimate, and to this day it’s still one of my faves to play casual games on. I will give shoutouts to my other casual favorites like Hyrule Castle, Rainbow Cruise, Mute City, Delfino Plaza, Halberd, Spear Pillar, Summit, and Garden of Hope.
@Scribe
Favorite Stage: Smashville
At least from my perspective as someone who prefers 1v1s and 2v2s over free-for-alls, Smashville has always been an easy stage to love. It’s always been one of the most neutral stages in every Smash game it’s appeared in, but at least in Brawl and Smash Wii U, it still had a dynamic element in the form of the moving platform. It’s kind of a shame that the platform is stationary when hazards are disabled in Ultimate, since I think the moving platform opens up some interesting strategic possibilities, and is just a huge part of the stage’s identity. There’s a reason that it sits alongside Battlefield, Final Destination and untransformed Pokemon Stadium as one of those stage layouts that nearly every other platform fighter riffs on.
@Megadoomer
Favorite Stage: Spiral Mountain
Banjo-Kazooie has been one of my favorite games ever since it came packaged with my Nintendo 64, and seeing these characters and this world brought back with such care and attention to detail (they even brought back Tooty, who hasn’t been seen since the original game) puts a smile on my face.
Perkilator
Favorite Stage: Battlefield and Final Destination
I know this is kind of a boring answer but it’s the first one I thought of since I usually play on Battlefield and Ω forms. They’re just simple stages that they’re my favorite just for this reason. It’s the perfect design that allows for casual or 1-on-1 matches that makes them so replayable. Hopefully Battlefield and Ω forms make a return in the next game.
Honorable mentions to the following stages: (Hazardless) Rainbow Cruise, Temple, Fountain of Dreams, (Hazardless) Wuhu Island, and Hollow Bastion.
@pidgezero_one
Favorite Stage: Smashville
It’s kind of a boring pick, but Smashville is the stage you go to in Brawl if you don’t feel like going through all the rigamarole of stage striking. My entry into competitive Smash was during Brawl’s heyday, so hearing this stage’s music (especially the tracks that you’d hear at tournaments that went way past 8pm on Saturdays) brings back so many happy memories from a phase of my life where I was just discovering the joys of being part of something much greater than myself — a community that spanned across the world. Any musical track from Smashville transports me back to the days of A&C World, a converted karate studio that housed our Brawl locals in Toronto in an era when getting 20 people at a tournament was a big deal.
I also love the early Animal Crossing games, so there’s that, too.
Sari
Favorite Stage: Temple
Just looking at the above image is enough to make the Melee Temple theme loop inside of my head. I guess that’s a testament to how many memories I have with this stage.
If you’ve played on Temple just once then you probably already have a good idea of all of the crazy hijinks this stage has to offer. The notorious cave of life area where you and your friends can duke it out for minutes before someone loses a stock. The ledge at the right of the screen that can be used to fall down to the bottom platform of the stage (or you can do the opposite and go from the bottom platform to the top right ledge depending on your character). Heck, that bottommost platform in general which can lead to some of the craziest brawls.
Most other stages have some sort of wacky/moving gimmick to spice up the stage. Temple however is just this random piece of rock floating in the air, which makes its entertainment all the more amusing for me looking back on it.
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Favorite Smash Memory
Prompt: Write about your favorite Smash related memory. Can be just about anything. “That cool kill I got on my cousin when we were young”, “[Character’s] reveal trailer”, “Getting Brawl on Christmas”, “That time I spent a year training competitively”, etc.
@Ze Diglett
Favorite Smash Memory: Getting Brawl on Christmas
It’s probably the most 2008 memory imaginable, but the Christmas that I got a Wii with Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy was something special. I remember playing the Subspace Emissary all the way through to The Battlefield Fortress that evening because I was just that stoked to have a new Smash game in my hands, even if it didn’t have my favorite character from the last one. Brawl was the last Smash that felt truly “special” to me, maybe because I was a kid at the time, but my memories of playing it that Christmas are a big part of why Brawl is one of my most nostalgic games.
@Scribe
Favorite Smash Memory: Building and testing my own box controller
As I mentioned above when talking about my favorite Smash character, I built my own box controller shortly after Terry was revealed. The actual process of putting everything together was immensely satisfying, and actually using the controller for the first time was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
There's nothing quite like playing a game you're incredibly familiar with, but using an input method where none of your existing muscle memories from any of the games you’ve played carry over. Knowing exactly how everything works without that ingrained sense of what to do with your hands is absolutely surreal and I'm still chasing that high.
Now, the layout I designed for it was… pretty scuffed to be honest. Not only did I later cannibalize the internals to use for a new controller with an improved layout, but I’ve also since switched again to a pre-built box controller (specifically Junk Food Custom Arcades’ LBX, which as of writing has been discontinued). That said, if you’re interested in trying a box controller but you don’t want to drop at least $180 on a pre-built one, building your own can be a great budget option if you have the tools and you are comfortable using a soldering iron.
@Megadoomer
Favorite Smash Memory: Sonic’s reveal trailer
I can clearly remember the building expectations as the lead-up to Brawl went on. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games had been announced with such suddenness that people thought it was an early April Fool’s Day joke at first. The idea of Sonic being in Smash Bros. had been an April Fool’s Day joke years back, in the days when gaming magazines were commonplace, but now it seemed more and more likely. Snake had been added which showed that third party characters were on the table, but it wasn’t as clear how often these characters would be added. Would Sega cooperate? I grew up in the 90s when the Mario vs. Sonic rivalry was a big part of gaming culture, so the idea of the two being in Smash always felt like a dream.
Waking up that morning and seeing the trailer released for Sonic the Hedgehog in Smash Bros., with Live & Learn blaring in the background, was a huge deal (even if it came alongside an announcement that the game would be delayed). There are plenty of Smash trailers that came afterwards which might have gotten me just as excited (Bayonetta, Ridley, K. Rool, Banjo-Kazooie, etc.), or were bigger surprises, but Sonic’s reveal felt like the first “momentous” character addition, at least to me.
Perkilator
Favorite Smash Memory: Sora joining the roster
I remember initially thinking the final character was either Cinderace or a Dark Souls character because of the fire that appeared next to Mario. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I was thrilled to see that familiar Mickey Mouse keychain. Sora flying across the room still gives me a childlike smile nearly three years later.
Of course, there are other moments I look back on fondly. When Ridley was revealed, I was in utter disbelief that they got him down to a size that would work for a platform fighter. When Piranha Plant was revealed, I remember laughing for five minutes straight.
@pidgezero_one
Favorite Smash Memory: Just Dedede things
I secondaried Dedede in Brawl, and in my local community it was a running gag that I was always blessed with the most opportune gordo RNG when using Dedede’s side-B. The most memorable example of this was during game 3 of a doubles set where it came down to 1v1 and I ended up winning the set with a lucky gordo throw. Headphone warning, but that moment can be found here, starting at around the 15:40 mark.
Even my grandma watched this.
Sari
Favorite Smash Memory: Checking the official DOJO!! site each day for Brawl news
Getting news during the internet days of 2007 was a lot different than how things are now. Back then I only had my shared family computer to use, and even then it could barely load sites like GameTrailers.com before crashing. Thankfully though there was one website that I could always rely on: the official Smash Bros DOJO!! Website.
Before Nintendo Directs, Miiverse Pic of the Days, and Sakurai Presents, all of the reliable info on the upcoming Smash game came directly in the form of a single website where Sakurai would post news each day. These news ranged from stages and characters to even things like music, items, and game modes. Every entry came with Sakurai’s lighthearted commentary that made the long awaited release for Brawl more bearable.
I highly recommend you check the site out. It will either be a trip down memory lane, or a unique look at one of the most memorable ways official Smash news has been delivered.
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Thing you would most like to see in Smash’s future
Prompt: Write what you would most like to see in Smash’s future. Can be something like a new mode, a new concept, improved functionality, a new direction the series should take, etc.
@Ze Diglett
Hope to see in the future: Overhauled mechanics
If there’s one thing I can’t stand about Smash after playing other platform fighters, it’s the movement. In the years since Ultimate’s release, I’ve been playing a lot of other platform fighters with more robust movement such as Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl with its fully actionable airdash and Rivals of Aether with its wavedash that makes even the slow characters feel fast. Coming off of those games, Smash simply feels bland by comparison. I don’t ask for much - we don’t outright need wavedashing back, as sick as it’d be - but actions as simple as airdodging and turning around after a dash should feel a LOT less sluggish in my opinion. Aside from that, reflector parries, dedicated light and Smash attack buttons, and maybe even some sort of universal meter would all be great additions to the next Smash game. At this point, after three (four?) games that have largely played the same, I kind of just wanna see something different.
@Scribe
Hope to see in the future: Hitting the reset button
At this point, Smash has kind of painted itself into a corner with the “everyone is here” for Ultimate’s base game, and the sheer number of iconic characters featured as DLC. Sakurai himself has said that he doesn’t think they’ll be able to pull off the same thing again, and it’s going to be hard, if not impossible to top this. So what if the development team for the next Smash game just… didn’t?
I’m kind of envisioning something similar to what Guilty Gear Strive was to prior Guilty Gear titles: a game designed with the intent of starting from basic principles and re-examining everything that came before.
In Smash’s case, they could go a variety of ways with this. Examples could include anything from a significantly smaller roster (think somewhere in the range of 30-40 characters) and major changes to the core mechanics, to re-examining existing movesets to give more dated designs a more timeless feel. Even more superficial aspects like overhauling the game’s art direction could benefit the series well. Perhaps something that really leans into the “toys/figurines come to life” concept from the first three Smash titles (and to a lesser extent Smash 3DS/Wii U).
@Megadoomer
Hope to see in the future: Varied modes
Modes like Break The Targets and Board The Platforms were fun additions that helped with learning the character’s movesets and movement options, and while I realize that gets unfeasible as the roster gets larger and larger (there’s a reason why they stopped being personalized after Melee before being dropped altogether), I figure that there’s plenty that could be done to change Smash’s gameplay up. The Tekken series, for example has had Tekken Ball (mixing fighting game mechanics with volleyball), Tekken Force (a side-scrolling beat-em-up), and bowling - I’m not saying that Smash has to copy those, but I think it would be fun to add casual modes that mix up the gameplay a bit. Though I wouldn’t say no to a 2D side-scrolling beat-em-up that uses enemies like the ones that were in Smash Run.
Perkilator
Hopes for the Future: Less crazy stages
What I want are more stages that are unique in their own right without making it feel like you’re fighting the stage more than your opponent like 75M. Hollow Bastion is a great example of a stage that combines a relatively simple layout with lively background details.
I guess my ideal stage layout for the next game would be something along the lines of Smash 64. Stages with relatively simple layouts where more of the effort would go into background details. They can add cameos and background details to their heart’s content as long as the stage itself doesn’t disrupt the fight. Even Midgar’s summon mechanic doesn’t make the stage any less fun to play.
@pidgezero_one
Hopes for the Future: Subspace 2
I’m a huge sucker for both ensemble casts and weird crossover fanfics (I played Love Live: School Idol Festival All Stars religiously, if that’s any indication for the weebs in the crowd), so it’s no surprise that Subspace Emissary was one of my favorite additions to the entire series. I’d love to see a story mode come back with Smash’s expanded roster that takes on a similar cinematic direction to Subspace.
Sari
Hope to see for the Future: Better single player experience
Not everyone buys Smash just so they can fight people online all the time. Lots of people such as me like to indulge themselves in the single player aspects of Smash, which unfortunately I feel have been lacking in the more recent games. While Smash Run was a neat time killer in the 3DS version of Smash 4, Smash Tour in the Wii U version was boring as heck. World of Light in Ultimate wasn’t really my thing either, as I basically viewed it as a more dragged out and less exciting version of the standard Event mode.
There’s a lot of directions you can take Smash’s singleplayer that even I’m not sure where to begin. You could do a new Adventure mode, bring back old challenges like Break the Targets or Board the Platforms, or create an entirely new game mode that feels a lot different from the usual Smash experience. Ultimately I can’t even really pick an exact singleplayer addition I would like to see, but I just hope that Smash’s single player will be as addicting as it was in the Melee and Brawl days.
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Most wanted Character
Prompt: For this part, talk about your single most wanted character for a new game.
@Ze Diglett
Most Wanted Character: Geno
I don’t care much about who gets in Smash anymore, but to me, it just feels right for Geno to join at some point. I love Super Mario RPG myself, and you’ve gotta respect the dedication of a fanbase that campaigns to have their favorite game remade and ACTUALLY gets it. Geno would simply make an excellent fighter, and regardless of any misconceptions that Smash is some sort of exclusive VIP-only club (a notion with which a certain potted plant might disagree), SMRPG is a super influential game that absolutely deserves some proper representation. Get my guy in here!
@Scribe
Most Wanted Character: Kunio
With my current tastes, a lot of my favorite game characters would be more at home in Fraymakers or as a guest character in Rivals 2, but if I had to pick a character to add to Smash, I think Kunio could be a fun addition.
There's some nice potential in Kunio’s moveset for a fun twist on a simple brawler moveset. I imagine that Kunio in Smash would be something akin to the traditional fighter characters like Ryu, except with some item play mixed in and potentially not having motion inputs. Kunio feels like a long-overdue third-party pick considering how Sakurai has directly cited Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari—known in North America as River City Ransom and in PAL regions as Street Gangs—as a direct source of inspiration for the item mechanics in Smash.
@Megadoomer
Most Wanted Character: Dante (Devil May Cry)
My most-wanted admittedly switches back and forth between a few different characters, with one of them having already been written about, but Dante’s one of my most-wanted picks. I’ve written what’s basically four or five movesets for him, plus a moveset for his twin brother Vergil, and I’ve likely only scratched the surface of what’s possible.
Dante would almost certainly be a DLC character rather than one who’d be included in the base game (his Style system alone could be worth an entire Sakurai Presents depending on how it’s handled). He’s a character who’s a ton of fun to see in motion regardless of which game we’re talking about (well, maybe not Devil May Cry 2, but I picked up Devil May Cry 5 because his movement and attacks looked so satisfying to use even from video footage). I would also love to see him get an official crossover with Bayonetta outside of mobile games. There are plenty of Capcom characters that I’d like to see, but Dante stands head and shoulders above them all as far as I’m concerned.
Perkilator
Most Wanted Character: Waluigi
I already got my most wanted character in Sora. So if I had to pick someone else, it would be Waluigi purely because I think he deserves it. Three games in a row as an Assist Trophy just feels wrong for a guy like Waluigi, you know?
It’s no secret that Luigi’s self-proclaimed rival has surged in popularity over the years. I initially didn’t understand the hype until after Ultimate’s DLC, and now I’m a genuine supporter of his promotion from Assist Trophy to full-fledged fighter.
Honorable mentions to Bandana Waddle Dee and a Sonic series newcomer, both of which I think are equally overdue.
@pidgezero_one
Most Wanted Character: Geno
No surprise here as the resident Super Mario RPG speedrunner/romhacker in the writers’ room: my pick is Geno. He’s not even my favorite SMRPG character (that’d be Booster), but I agree with Sakurai that he’d be the best pick for a fighting game. SMRPG is a truly special game that was made by a team of young Mario fans who clearly wanted us to love playing their game as much as they loved creating it, and I’d say they were successful, given how meaningful the game is to its fans. Not only has it left a lasting impact on game design (timed hits, anyone?) and Mario series canon (one word: “wagahai”), but it has also shaped my life in innumerable ways—including introducing me to my life partner—and it’d be wonderful to see it get some meaningful representation and immortality in the form of an original character fighter in Smash.
I’ve also recently spoken with some of the major players from different eras of the Geno for Smash campaign, and it’s very clear to me that the effort, while notorious in its own right, is well known for good reason. The SMRPG fandom story is a fascinating and impressive one of being knocked down countless times over 27 years, but standing right back up every time. That hard work has recently been rewarded with a SMRPG remake—history will remember that, but it won’t remember the haters.
Sari
Most wanted character: Heavy (Team Fortress 2)
I’ve played many games throughout my years, but none of them have been a big part of my life as much as Team Fortress 2 has. With over 4,000 hours clocked into TF2 as of this writing, it’s impossible for me to not at least hope of the game being represented in one of my favorite crossover series. Sure you can probably make stronger and more convincing arguments for other Valve series such as Half-Life or Portal, but TF2 just speaks to me more.
Of the nine playable mercs, Heavy I feel would be the best to represent TF2 in Smash. Apart from essentially being the face of TF2, Heavy would be a fun heavyweight fighter equipped with a minigun, sandwiches, and all of the other wackiness TF2 has to offer.
Honorable mentions: Quote (Cave Story), Crash (Crash Bandicoot), Kyo Kusanagi (King of Fighters)
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Closing
And with that, we have reached the end of our Smash Retrospective! Let us know in the comments your thoughts on everything. Feel free to answer these questions yourselves as well.
Once again, thank you to all of the writers who contributed to this piece (and sorry for not getting around to publishing this for so long!).
Credits:
Writers/Contributors: @Ze Diglett, @Scribe, @Megadoomer,
Perkilator
, @pidgezero_one, and
Sari
Editing:
Sari
Thumbnail Graphic: @Zerp
Special Thanks: SmashWiki and the official Smash Dojo site for several pictures used
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