Super Smash Bros.

What if Mario, Pikachu, Link and Kirby faced off in a single brawl? This crazy fan fantasy became reality on the Nintendo 64, and from it was born one of the most influential titles in the history of fighting games. Super Smash Bros. took Nintendo's icons and herded them into a fight that breaks the rules of the genre in every way.

Unlike classic fighting games, this isn't about depleting the opponent's health. Instead, every hit increases the opponent's damage, and the higher their percentage, the farther they fly after being struck. The goal is to knock the opponent off the platform and off the screen. This inverted logic makes Smash something entirely different, a game about position, control of space and timing, one that even a complete beginner will grasp but that can be played at an incredibly high level.

The magic of the first installment lay in its accessibility and mad fun. Platforms full of items that can be collected and thrown, diverse arenas inspired by the worlds of the individual characters, and the option to launch a chaotic brawl of up to four players at once — all of this formed a recipe for endless evenings of laughter and rivalry. The simple controls based on a single attack button and a direction meant that truly everyone jumped into the game.

Yet beneath that accessible shell hid surprising depth. Each character controlled differently, had its own special attacks and style, and mastering movement, knockouts and defense turned the game into a serious competitive discipline as well. This dual nature, fun for everyone and room for masters, became the cornerstone of the whole series.

Super Smash Bros. launched one of Nintendo's most successful and most beloved brands, which over the years grew to include dozens of characters from many gaming worlds. But the first installment on the Nintendo 64 remains the moment when an entirely new kind of fighting game was born, one that fundamentally changed the idea of what a fight between characters could look like.

Why play it: For the birth of one of the most influential fighting games of all, which unites Nintendo's icons into chaotic fun for four and into depth for competitive players.