Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Game: 43

43: Super Smash Bros. series (with Melee in particular) (N64/Gamecube/Wii)
Developer: HAL Laboratories
Year: series began in 1999

Finally, the last game on this infernal list without a major plot line of some kind to tie it all together. Phew, never thought we’d make it here. So, what’s to like about my favorite fighting game series ever? Well, the original advertisement for the game was awesome on its own (link posted already), so there’s that. But the major thing of note is that, in a genre that either takes itself too seriously and succeeds with dramatic narratives, or fails and falls on its face, few games come out that simply aim to offer fun with no in-jokes or necessary mastery of combos to win (here’s looking at you, Soul Calibur!), the Smash Bros. games provide an outlet to beat upon friends for hours with nothing overly goal-oriented: just button mashing and bruised Pikachus.

The Wii game introduced a plot into the series, kinda, with Subspace Emissary which, to be fair, I haven’t played through, mostly because I don’t go into a SB game for the deep plot… I go to use Samus to beat the shit out of plumbers and Hylian swordsmen. So, not one character in the game really has a story… within the game, anyhow. And that’s awesome, to be quite honest. It allows for things like an understanding of your chosen fighter to be based either on knowing the game series he/she comes from, or simply not caring. My secondary character when I play Melee is Marth, a character from Fire Emblem? I think? I don’t know what his deal is, or why he’s a chick, but I like his style. His story isn’t important in a game where my goal is to hack and slash at Kirby and Jigglypuff. I just know he wears a cape and kicks a ton of ass.

So, speaking of ass kicking, why is the Smash Bros. series so high up this list? Well, tight-as-hell controls, is why. Each character on the roster has their own select moves, but they’re all based on the same button combination, for the most part. So, while some of them have better projectile attacks and others have better physical combat abilities or speed or any of those other aspects to their style, they’re easy enough to learn because –>+A does the same thing for all of them. Now, while I say its easy to learn, mastering each character, when to use their double-jumps, and how best to lay on the hurt differs from person to person. This is why the series is so damn good, really. While other games require you to master 500-button combos, those don’t require any time spent with a character, just time spent mashing a pad. Learning all of Samus’ moves and how best to utilize them and when is key. The other thing I really love is that you don’t have health bars, you have hit percentages, meaning the more damage you take, the farther you fly when hit. And flying off the combat platform results in a loss, which you don’t want. Of course, the ever-present bonus items can really mess up someone who has spent countless hours gaining perfect timing, as a single well placed baseball bat swing to the chin will send anyone off screen.

The visuals continue to impress with each new installment, one at a time presenting the best looking models for the characters and locations you fight in. The soundtracks, too, are inspired, presenting remixed or orchestral versions of Nintendo classics. The Dreamland themes, for example, are awesome and well constructed and really help sell the epicness of the games. And each level is designed after a character’s series. Samus fights on Zebes, Mario in Subcon, Sonic amongst the Green Hills, etc. So, while the Wii version has the best looking visuals, why isn’t it my favorite? One reason is that I haven’t spent nearly as much time with it as I have the previous games. The other reason, though, is that it starts to fall into the realm of “too many games, now, so we have to keep adding shit to make it different enough” that each series eventually goes through. Melee had the right number of characters and levels and power-ups, while Brawl introduced some odd choices that I don’t think anyone was really clamoring for (seriously? Lucario?). This meant that each character in Melee was balanced better against the smaller roster. The other reason, of course, is that the Wii’s online system sucks.

All in all, the Smash Bros. games are my favorite fighting game franchise. That’s dumb, I know. One Mortal Kombat game and then this. Where’s the Street Fighter? Where’s the King of Fighters? They’re on other peoples’ lists, where they belong. I’m not really big into fighting games, or the most part, so it takes a special kind of game to really make me pay attention. A game where I can pick Princess Peach up with Donkey Kong and jump to my death, taking her with me? That’s my kind of game. So, while I’m not someone who can really create a list of best fighting games, I can say that this one is my favorite (which is the point of this list, actually). Having said that, however, I’d love to hear your opinions on best fighting games.

Classic Moment:
Classic moment in a fighting game, huh? Hmm… Probably The first time you fight Giga Bowser. That guy was huge…?

Why Smash Bros. Melee > Dead Space:
Tons of replay value and party game value, too. Dead Space is a great game with a good run time, but it pales in comparison to this game. Compared to every single game out there (aside from Rock Band, perhaps) there is unlimited jump-in-and-fight gameplay to be had by any number of players. Just best.

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Added March 14, 2017
The glory days of Melee and the original title are long gone, but the fun memories remain. I had a character for whoever I fought against. Zak was Link? Samus. Zak was Falco? Marth. Pete was Kirby? DK. It was great.
And sometimes I was Ness for the hell of it, even though – back then – I had no idea who he was.