It all began in 1999 with a small budget, simple mechanics and an idea to mash together several Nintendo characters of varying notoriety into one, crossover fighting game. Nintendo created “Super Smash Bros.” (Smash) out of this idea, released with very little fanfare and originally distributed only in Japan. It was just supposed to be a fun, party game to be played with friends. Today, according to entertainment news website IGN, “Smash” is one of the most played video game series of all time, with “Super Smash Bros. Melee” (Melee) being the most sold game for the Nintendo GameCube (and having a robust competitive scene to boot) and “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (Brawl) being in the top 10 most sold Wii games. On Nov. 21, Nintendo will release its newest game for its newest game console, “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U” (Smash 4).

Smash 4 will feature 15 new characters, increase the multiplayer option from five to eight people and include customizable features for personalized gameplay. However, while some CHS students cannot wait for these new changes, others will continue playing the older versions.

For Tyler Patterson, competitive Smash player and senior, Smash 4’s new features were a bit of a let down. 

“I was excited. I was hoping they would make the game more towards the Melee side than Brawl, but it turns out it was the other way around actually,” he said.

The issue with the new game for competitive players like Patterson is that they are afraid Smash 4 will be another slow-paced game like Brawl. Patterson said when Melee first came out, it was meant to be a casual multiplayer game, but players soon discovered that it had much more depth.

“There were many advanced intricacies found within the game, and it grew really quickly because the things that were found made it have a lot more depth, and there are lots of ways to play it, lots of different characters, lots of different variety and different styles of playing each character,” Patterson said.

Brawl, however, was much slower and catered towards casual players who played for fun. Jordan Barkley, CHS Smash Club president and senior, said while Melee is huge among competitive players, Brawl failed to ever break onto the scene.

“The people who play (Melee) are less focused on the graphics and more so on the game play. So even though Brawl looks nicer people don’t like it as much.” he said. “There was a Brawl tournament and the only people that showed up to it were the two best in the world. And it was one game.”

In addition to worries about Smash 4 being made more for casual players, there is also an economic issue that comes with the game. According to Nintendo, the Wii U is  $300, $200 more than a regular Wii.

“Not many people have Wii U’s, so you have to wait to see if someone big in the (Smash) community to say, ‘This is cool. We should try it out,’ then people will go buy Wii U’s,” Barkley said.

Despite skepticism from high-level players, more casual “smashers” cannot wait for the game to come out. Peter Milstone, Smash Club member and sophomore, is one of them.

“I’m very hyped. Sure the last game wasn’t the best, but the newest one looks a lot better, feels a lot better and there is a lot of hype around it,” he said.

In response to the economic issue posed by Barkley, Milstone offers a different explanation.

“The problem with the Wii U right now is that it doesn’t have ‘The Game,’ to sell it. The GameCube had Melee, the Xbox had ‘Halo.’ The Wii U right now doesn’t have a killer app, except for ‘Mario Kart’ that just came out recently. I think the release of Smash 4 will raise the sales of it drastically and make it a household game,” Milstone said.

And while competitive players are not as receptive to the new game, Milstone said that only about 20 percent of Smash players play the game competitively. The remaining 80 percent, he said, are ecstatic for the prospects that Smash 4 will bring.

“When the community found out about the release of the game, they went insane. I’m part of the (Super Smash Bros) subreddit and everything was going crazy. I think we crashed a site or two, especially when the new characters were announced. Everything just exploded,” he said.

The aspect of the game Milstone said he is most excited for is the introduction of new characters, in particular Pacman and Megaman.

“It’ll bring more people from different fandoms to this new game. Pacman is in the new game; everyone loves Pacman. Megaman is in it; everyone was crazy about Megaman. It’ll bring all those people who loved Megaman, Pacman and other new games being introduced all into the community and see what is going on in the community,” Milstone said.

Although Patterson said he would not take the new game as seriously, he said the “Smash” community is extremely excited for “Smash 4’s” release. 

“’Smash’ in general is really, really big. Most people have at least played Super Smash Brothers. The competitive scene, however, is more of a niche,” he said. “Sure you can play competitively, but when it comes down to it, you can play with friends.”