13

4 /5

Super Smash Bros. takes familiar Nintendo characters such as Mario, Kirby and Donkey Kong, and gets them to fight to the death. There are 8 fully-interactive landscapes, with one for each character, with noticeable links to their games. Controls are analogue-based, with different moves executed depending on the direction and how firmly the stick is pressed. Items like baseball bats, Bob-ombs, and healing items drop into the arenas at random, aiding any nearby characters than can make use of them. The game uses a fixed viewpoint which scrolls, although characters are rendered in 3D.

The one-player mode has 14 stages to work through. Up to 4 human players can do battle at once, with team play as well as all-against-all action. Hidden characters are thrown in for good measure, as are bonus rounds, and a battle to the end with a giant hand (you read right).

Playable characters include:

- Captain Falcoln* (F-Zero series)
- Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong games)
- Fox (Star Fox series)
- Kirby (Kirby games)
- Jigglypuff* (Pokémon universe)
- Link (Legend of Zelda series)
- Luigi* (Mario games)
- Mario (Mario games)
- Ness* (Mother/EarthBound series)
- Pikachu (Pokémon universe)
- Samus (Metroid series)
- Yoshi (Mario games)

* denotes any characters that need to be unlocked under special conditions first.