From the Outside Looking In: Super Smash Bros.

It was sometime in 1996 when Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby and then-employee of HAL Laboratory, worked alongside Nintendo president Satoru Iwata (at the time, president of HAL) to develop an unlicensed 3D brawler for the Nintendo 64. Unknown to them, the project would soon evolve into the beloved crossover beat-'em-up we all know and love as Super Smash Bros.

The idea behind Super Smash Bros. was simple — take a bunch of Nintendo mascots and put them up against each other in a free-for-all fight to the death. Therein lies the appeal of the series; it's not entirely about the gameplay mechanics or the storyline (which are both fantastic), but playing as some of the most iconic video game characters of all time. Alongside these playable fighters are stages, items, music, and other goodies from a slew of Nintendo favorites.

I was drawn into Super Smash Bros. back when it came out in 1999. At the time an obsessive player of Ocarina of Time and huge Pokémon fanatic, seeing Link and Pikachu in the same game, as well as faithful recreations of Hyrule and Saffron City, totally sold me on the product. Not only were they in the same game together, but they behaved just as they did in their original series. Watching Link nail Pikachu with his trademark spinning sword attack (whilst yelling "HYAAAAAH," by the way) was too much for an eight-year-old me to take in. The series is all about nostalgia. If you aren't a fan of Nintendo or if your knowledge of Nintendo trivia is a bit rusty, then this probably isn't the game for you. An incredible game in its own right, it's not worth the trouble if you don't appreciate Nintendo history. Super Smash Bros. introduced me to a number of games I probably wouldn't have played otherwise (Kirby and EarthBound come to mind). After playing these games, going back to the Smash versions of the characters was all the more satisfying. I now knew why Kirby sucked people up to copy their abilities and who the fuck Ness was.

In order to "get" Smash Bros., you need to really like Nintendo. A lot. Part of the game is being starstruck by the assortment of characters from different worlds. From the mainstream (Mario, Pikachu, Link) to the obscure (Mr. Game & Watch, Ice Climbers, R.O.B.), Smash Bros. offers tons of options. Remember the Mario vs. Sonic "feud" of the '90s? I do. And with Brawl, I can recreate that feud. Not only that, but I can do so in the Mushroom Kingdom or the Green Hill Zone, to the musical stylings of Koji Kondo or Jun Senoue. If that doesn't make you the least bit excited, then this isn't the game for you.