Why Care About Super Smash Bros?
Shouts erupt across the ball room of the Royal Dearborn hotel in Dearborn, Michigan. The spectators have congregated like faithful disciples. The matches are intense. The excitement runs high. Even in just the preliminary rounds, a sea of people have gathered to see one of the best, if not the best Sonic specialist Joe “Seagull Joe” Raucher face off against the reigning champion, Gonzalo “TSM | ZeRo” Barrios.
The sound, “And the winner is… Sonic!”, is played by the speakers. As it is played, no amount of words can describe the noise that deafens any other. The man, Seagull Joe, is carried by the crowd and chants bearing his name can be heard from all over.
This is the sight that attendees witnessed at The Big House 5, one of the largest grassroots Super Smash Bros. events of all time with over 2000 attendees. Why did so many players from all over the world come to Michigan of all places to compete in a gaming tournament? Why was there so much excitement to see a 6th grade science teacher beat a Chilean teenager?
What Is Super Smash Bros.
For the uninitiated, Super Smash Bros. is a series of not-exactly platforming and not-exactly fighting games (hence the moniker “Platform Fighter”) by Nintendo. Whilst traditional fighting games which have original characters , the roster is comprised of a colorful cast of Nintendo all-stars ranging from familiar faces like Mario and Pikachu to the lesser known characters like Fox and Captain Falcon.
The game-play is easy enough: knock your opponent off the stage’s borders in any way possible be it horizontally or vertically. The playing area, known as a stage, is a rectangular box that is themed after various Nintendo franchises. Matches can range from 8 man free-for-all fights to one-on-one showdowns. The simplicity and the variety of playing methods is what makes the game appealing to the casual gaming audience.
Another thing that new players will notice is the lack of a health bar. In it’s place is a “percentage meter”. The meter gains “percent” through by being attacked. Essentially, the more percentage a player has, the knock-back or the distance he or she will go when attacked is increased.
It may seem simple on the surface, but there is a much deeper game hidden within the one-on-one metagame. Theorycrafters such as Corey “LoF | False” Shin have dedicated time and effort in order to optimize and play the game in the most efficient ways possible. In fact, the competitive community thrives on in-game breakthroughs and educational content. As a result, competitive play, is an entirely different beast when compared to casual play.
Dedication
The year is 2015 and when one hears the word “eSports”, the first things that come to mind are millions of dollars in prize pools, hundreds of thousands of viewers and a multitude of corporate sponsors. Super Smash Bros. doesn’t fit any of those. It wasn’t even meant to be a competitive game.
Even the fighting game community, as grassroots as it is, receives more support towards competitive play by the developers and outside organizations. It was only recently that organizations like Cloud 9 and Team Solo Mid have supported the scene. The largest contribution that Nintendo themselves have done is the lending of game hardware to tournaments. While it is certainly helpful, it’s a far cry when compared to the support Capcom gives to Street Fighter.
Nonetheless, a competitive scene thrives up to this date and is still going strong with thousand man tournaments happening quarterly. Players haul gigantic CRTs, a type of television households would have if they were in the 90’s, from city to city and in some cases, even country to country all for the sake of minimal input lag when compared to modern televisions.
The compensation? At the most, participants who bring equipment receive a small discount towards the registration fee. In most cases, nothing. It is this level of dedication that kept the community steady for years ever since its inception during the early 2000’s.
Storylines
What spectator sport is complete without some drama to spice things up? Just like the WWE and others, Super Smash Bros. comes with it’s own fair share of storylines. Some of these are very recent like the feud between William “TSM | Leffen” Hjelte and Weston “Tempo Storm | Westballz” Denis, whereas others like the age-old rivalry of Juan “Team Liquid | Hungrybox” Debiedma and Joseph “Cloud 9 | Mango” Marquez have been present since 2007.
While highly technical and fast-paced gameplay is one thing that keeps viewers hooked, the history between two players fighting makes the match much more meaningful. The image storylines paint onto top players helps viewers relate to them in a way the wouldn’t if they were just watching them play.
In Dreamhack Winter 2015, an emotional Hungrybox poured his heart out in a post-victory interview about how his father never approved of his gaming career. A normally disliked player, both his supporters and naysayers shared tears with him as he cried tears of joy on livestream.
Yes, Dota 2, League of Legends and other eSports have storylines too. Who could forget the bromance between Jacky “Secret | Eternalenvy” Mao and Artour “Evil Geniuses | Arteezy” Babaev?
The one thing that separates Super Smash Bros. professional and the ones of other games. It’s that there is little to no difference between a pro and “normal” player.
Community
That’s right. A person who just started the game a week ago can approach any top player and be treated like a friend. In fact, the community frowns upon top player worship.
Photo by Ryan Izach “Blank” Josue
In contrast with other eSports, who have tournaments at large arenas and stadiums, the average tournament looks like this. You could say that it resembles a gathering of friends rather than a tournament.
What makes the experience are the people. Many community members such as Daniel “Tafokints” Lee, a NASA engineer, dedicate hours of their time to provide world-class content for the community. Tournament organizers like Robin “Juggleguy” Harn spend thousands of dollars to host large scale events not for profit, but for players’ enjoyment
To top it all off, the community is welcoming to any and all new players. Come to any tournament and someone will definitely teach you the ropes without expecting anything in return except for more competition.
Fun
Of course, the series wouldn’t be relevant at all if they weren’t fun. From casual to competitive play, millions all over the world enjoy Super Smash Bros.
Play Super Smash Bros. Whether it’s friends or glory, it’s something you should try.
Where?
For those living in Asia, check out SmashAsia for updates on the Eastern scene. Likewise, Melee It On Me, Smashboards and /r/smashbros are the places to go for the Western scene. Everyone in the Philippines can also join Smash Bros Philippines.
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