While we don’t celebrate them that often, gaming anniversaries are a pretty fun thing. Especially when the games we celebrate are staples of the gaming community in one form or another. Or even better, the franchises we celebrate are ones that we honor and love to play to this day. On January 21st, 1999, Super Smash Bros arrived in Japan on the Nintendo 64. Making today its official 20th anniversary.
On Twitter, the co-creator of the game, Masahiro Sakurai, commented on the anniversary and thanked those who played it for all these years:
“Smash Bros. is 20 years old today! Over these 20 years, I’ve seen so many people enjoy this series in so many ways – at home, at hangouts, at conventions, even in business offices! Development has always been hard on me, but I’m supremely happy. Thank you so much for playing.”
Nintendo’s Twitter also got in on the action:
“Also on this day: the first “Super Smash Bros.” went on sale 20 years ago (on January 21st, 1999). It’s thanks to all of your loyal support that we’ve been able to keep this series going even today. Thank you so much!”
It may seem unbelievable to think about right now given that Smash Bros Ultimate sold 5 million in its first three days, but when the game was being made, it was only supposed to be a Japan only title. The team didn’t think that they would like to see these beloved Nintendo characters fighting each other.
But, when the game shot up to the top of the charts, they knew that they had something, and so they translated it and sent it to the US, where it became a hit yet again. Then on the Gamecube they improved just about everything with Melee. Brawl brought online and the first third-party characters in Snake and Sonic, the Wii U/3DS versions had their own unique features and additions (including the new staple of reveal trailers for characters), and now, Ultimate has arrived.
No one knows if the series will go beyond Ultimate, but one thing is for sure, Smash Bros will live for a long time.
