Super Smash Bros. (series)

Super Smash Bros.  (also known as SSB, Smash Bros., and Smash) is a series of crossover/fighting games published by Nintendo, with characters from various franchises that try to knock each other off the screen.

It has become one of the quickest-selling and most popular series in Nintendo's history, and Super Smash Bros. Melee is the best-selling Nintendo GameCube game. Masahiro Sakurai has directed all five games in the series, the latest being Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. (1999)
The first installment released on the Nintendo 64 in 1999. It included 12 characters from various Nintendo video games, including Mario, Pikachu, Link, Yoshi, Samus Aran, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Fox McCloud, Ness, Luigi, Captain Falcon and Jigglypuff.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
The second installment, released for the Nintendo Gamecube, featured a much larger cast of characters including all of the originals, in which some were still locked others were available from the start. Some new characters were Peach, Bowser, Zelda and Ice Climbers.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
The third installment for the Wii, featured a slightly larger cast then Melee, including a lot of "character replacements" since some of the characters from Melee are gone from this one. Perhaps the most effective replacement on the Smash community was Lucario replacing Melee's Mewtwo. Some new characters were Pokémon Trainer, Lucas, Pit, Olimar, Diddy Kong and Meta Knight. The first one in the series to contain third party characters (Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake) and is the first game in the series to include the Final Smash. This game introduced a fully-fledged Story Mode.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014)
 The fourth and fifth installments was released for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The two titles have the ability to trade custom fighters. The two games also share a roster but, they both otherwise have numerous different features, with the Wii U version having the most content. It was also confirmed by Nintendo that Namco Bandai developed the game to increase production. New 3rd party characters were; Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, Cloud, and Bayonetta. While Solid Snake was completely removed from the games roster.

Playable characters
There are 66 playable characters in the series as a whole. Super Smash Bros. has 12, Melee has 26, Brawl has 39, and 3DS/Wii U has 58. Some characters are playable from the start, but some are unlockable through achievements. Bold indicates that a character doesn't need to be unlocked through any special criteria, but isn't seen on the character select screen at the start of the game.

Competitive Community
The Super Smash Bros. series has a dedicated community known for playing an older entry over newer ones. Super Smash Bros. Melee is by far the most played game. It has also quite a large following in general, being one of the most watched streams at EVO.

Brawl was received incredibly poorly by the community, so much so, that there were a few quite a few mods that took off. Notable ones include Project M and Brawl Minus.

Reception
Reviews for the Super Smash Bros. series are usually positive. The multiplayer mode in every title has been highly praised. However, single player modes have not been viewed as highly.

Super Smash Bros. has received praise for its multiplayer mode. Nintendo Power listed the series as being one of the greatest multiplayer experiences in Nintendo history, describing it as infinitely replayable due to its special moves and close-quarters combat. There were criticisms, however, such as the game's scoring being difficult to follow. In addition, the single-player mode was criticized for its perceived difficulty and lack of features.

Super Smash Bros. Melee generally received a positive reception from reviewers, most of whom credited Melee's expansion of gameplay features from Super Smash Bros. Focusing on the additional features, GameSpycommented that "Melee really scores big in the 'we've added tons of great extra stuff' department." Reviewers compared the game favorably to Super Smash Bros.—IGN's Fran Mirabella III stated that it was "in an entirely different league than the N64 version"; GameSpot's Miguel Lopez praised the game for offering an advanced "classic-mode" compared to its predecessor, while detailing the Adventure Mode as "really a hit-or-miss experience." Despite a mixed response to the single-player modes, most reviewers expressed the game's multiplayer mode as a strong component of the game. In their review of the game, GameSpy stated that "you'll have a pretty hard time finding a more enjoyable multiplayer experience on any other console."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl received a perfect score from the Japanese magazine Famitsu. The reviewers praised the variety and depth of the single-player content, the unpredictability of Final Smashes, and the dynamic fighting styles of the characters. Thunderbolt Games gave the game 10 out of 10, calling it "a vastly improved entry into the venerable series". Chris Slate of Nintendo Power also awarded Brawl a perfect score in its March 2008 issue, calling it "one of the very best games that Nintendo has ever produced". IGN critic Matt Casamassina, in his February 11 Wii-k in Review podcast, noted that although Brawl is a "solid fighter," it does have "some issues that need to be acknowledged," including "long loading times" and repetition in the Subspace Emissary.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U both garnered critical praise and were commercially successful, holding current ratings of 85/100 and 92/100 on Metacritic and 86.10% and 92.39% on GameRankings. Reviewers have particularly noted the large, diverse character roster, the improvements to game mechanics, and the variety of multiplayer options.

Some criticisms in the 3DS version include a lack of single player modes and issues concerning the 3DS hardware, such as the size of characters on the smaller screen when zoomed out and latency issues during both local and online multiplayer. There were also reports of players damaging their 3DS Circle Pads while playing the game excessively. The Wii U version's online play quality was mildly criticized for some inconsistency, but has overall been critically acclaimed.

Daniel Dischoff of Game Revolution stated "It's true that Super Smash Bros. evolves every time with regard to new features, items, and characters to choose from. While your favorite character may not return or a few annoying pickups may force you to turn off items altogether, this represents the biggest leap forward Smashers have seen yet." Daniel Starky at GameSpot criticized the inconsistent online performance in the game, but still called it an "incredible game", noting "With the Wii U release, Smash Bros. has fully realized its goals." Jose Otero from IGN, praising the replayability of the game, states "Nearly every aspect of Smash Wii U seems fine-tuned not only to appeal to the nostalgia of long-time Nintendo fans, but also to be accessible to new players." 

Super Smash Bros sold 1.4 million copies in Japan, and 2.3 million in the U.S. Melee sold over 7 million units worldwide, becoming the best-selling GameCube title. Brawl sold 1.524 million units in Japan as of March 30, 2008,and sold 1.4 million units in its first week in the United States, becoming Nintendo of America's fastest selling title. The 3DS version sold over a million copies in its first weekend on sale in Japan, and has sold more than 3.22 million copies worldwide as of October 2014. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U became the fastest-selling Wii U game to date, selling 3.39 million units worldwide within just two months of availability, beating the record previously held by Mario Kart 8.

Trivia

 * In Kid Icarus: Uprising, Palutena mentions a parody of it named, "Super Bash Sisters".


 * Playstation All Stars: Battle Royale is a game made on the concept of this game but instead of Nintendo characters, it is replaced with with Playstation characters.
 * It was originally suggested by the series creator and director, Masahiro Sakurai, that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was supposed to be the last game he would direct.