How Super Smash Bros. almost didn't exist

The success of the Super Smash Bros. series is even more notable when you look at its very humble start: from a simple alternative to traditional fighting games, it quickly grew to be one of the biggest games on the planet. Here's how Masahiro Sakurai's little prototype, Dragon King: The Fighting Game, evolved into Nintendo's smash hit.
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#smashbros #smashultimate #aaronitmar
Retro Arcade Background by TawnyIllustrations: tawnyillustrations.com
Thumbnail art by: / edmendozaart
Dragon King “gameplay” via Smash Remix: • Smash Remix: Version 1...
Music:
Menu - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Darkmoon Caverns - Diddy Kong Racing
Bonus Stage - Super Smash Bros.
Training Mode - Super Smash Bros.
Duel Zone - Super Smash Bros.
Battle! (Pika Cup) - Pokemon Stadium
Main Theme (Star Fox 64) - Super Smash Bros.
Gourmet Race (Dream Land) - Super Smash Bros.
Credits - Super Smash Bros.
Trophies - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Opening - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Menu 2 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Temple (Zelda 2) - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Fever (Dr. Mario) - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Multi-Man Melee 2 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Targets! - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Pokemon Red and Blue Medley - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Battlefield - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Footage Credits:
Japan in the 90s: • TOKYO HD Everyday Lif...
Slamfest ’99 photos via Ed Espinoza & Lost Media Wiki: lostmediawiki.com/Slamfest_%2...)
Game and Watch Games: • Every Game & Watch Gam...
Genesis X Grand Finals: • aMSa vs Cody Schwab - ...
Smash Summit 11 Grand Finals: • Zain vs Mang0 - GRAND ...
Smash Con 2023 Grand Finals: • SSC 2023 GRAND FINALS ...
The Smash Brothers Documentary: • The Smash Brothers Doc...
The Humble Beginnings of Super Smash Bros.
• How Super Smash Bros. ...
/ aaronitmar

[@aarushkumar3353]

Imagine beating someone so bad that you get scared that they might never play a fighting game again, and it’s so paralyzing that you make a multi-million dollar franchise.

[@orangeslash1667]

The reason Ness was added was because of the great Satoru Iwata. He was heavily involved in Earthbound's development and he was one of the producers of Smash.

[@christianparrish3292]

Super smash bros not existing would have been crazy. Because it's a great game.

[@jobulletchief8936]

Nice Bald Mario Punching ya got :3

[@Lilothestitch]

I’m glad Super Smash Bros. Series exists.

[@TheSpeedfoever]

Happy 25th anniversary to Smash Bros! Can't wait to see what the future holds for this franchise!

[@thecosplaycrafter8017]

I really wish I could find my old Melee disc... I miss that game.

[@STARKIDDSCOLLECTIVE]

approving smash bros was the best decision Nintendo ever made

[@YoshiCh1ef-je6me]

Mario with that cap off looks more like my uncle than he does Mario ngl

[@Avauladre]

14:02 let's see above #10... Marth, ok... Dosei-san, mhm... Satoshi, all right... Ah, Fire emblem characters, my favorite dude!

[@avefig5809]

Hmm james is a good choice too😂

[@TheFoolish727]

I love Mario screaming in the thimbnail

[@xpro718]

It is indeed a great thimbnail

[@TheFoolish727]

@@xpro718 facts

[@TheKirboFan_]

I hope smash brothers never dies

[@MyKevin99]

The day Melee dies is the day the universe reaches its heat death, because then you physically cannot play it.

[@goofyassgothcat]

@@MyKevin99 I mean, you can modify Ultimate to be like either game with the Custom settings.

[@davidvkimball]

Love how you included the latest info we have available to cover 64 and Melee. Great video!

[@minhv5513]

Melee was so hype when it came out. It’s amazing that a game from my childhood is still fervently played over 20 years later. Like Melee ain’t just my childhood. It’s been my whole life and I want to play Melee so badly now.

[@Dusk_Mightyena]

Imagine a universe where Smash never existed

[@GroovyFlacko]

Bad ending😂 I wonder what would end up being the big crossover game for that universe

[@_polyy]

deodorant companies are CRYING at this comment!

[@Themacattack1209]

No, I don’t think I will.

[@SummerToast5834]

I wouldnt exist then, long story

[@Likeagame24]

@@SummerToast5834 We need to know

[@supermariogamer1757]

So maybe that's why terry was added it was sakurais favorite character and he wanted to look back about how he thought of smash bros

[@christianparrish3292]

Probably

[@thebosh46]

Domain Expansion: blind foward aerial

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

How many leprechauns can I fit into a carpi sun?

[@tibby4503]

​@@Jelly_shy_guy_manstupid bot

[@TricksterLawlet]

Everything is Jujutsu Kaisen

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

@@TricksterLawlet How many leprechauns can I fit into a carpi sun?

[@thebosh46]

@@Jelly_shy_guy_man blue

[@MERCHIODOS]

You forgot to mention that Sakurai choose Samus as a playable fighter for Smash 64 because he wanted a female character for Smash 64 as there wasn't any when developing characters and Samus was an easy pick as she was a playable female protagonist that had a lot of moves to draw from her game franchise Metroid

[@legacytag]

0:19 If you're Armada you did both of those things XD

[@TheChaoticDarkness]

It should be noted that Smash 64 had no localization plans initially, given that all the early preview coverage only mentioned a Japan release. It was only after the game succeeded in Japan that Nintendo changed their mind. Nintendo of America originally planned to release a N64 Tetris game as their April 1999 title.

[@Mxsfit11Six]

Smash Bros. has been a part of my childhood and my life for as long as I remember, and will always have a special place in my heart

[@silveramyknux241]

20:00 Kinda weird to call it Smash Deluxe in Japan when only three stages are returning. I guess there are the revamped stages but still.

[@Compucles]

No one in my family ever could beat Event Match 51 in Melee...until I learned about the Master Hand glitch once it was discovered several years later.

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Love how Remix 64 came back full circle and gave us the ability to play as the “Dragon King”, he’s incredibly fun to mess around with! There’s even a PepsiMan skin for it too.

[@Obstagoon862]

Aren't you ever gonna finish up the victory screen origins? We've been waiting for Smash 4 forever!

[@Marco-nx8fx]

Aaron you gotta do a video on smash bros being rated M and what kind of characters and costumes we would get

[@kylelockhart5058]

0:00 BALD! BALD! BALD!

[@AlexandruCatrina-bk6jg]

2:00 yay tekken gameplay 2:11 oh never mind ki 24:54 like doshin's devilish alterego

[@AlvaroStar-zs9te]

2:11 Oh!!

[@IamNster]

Years later: *Ultimate has characters that can get one hit and do massive amounts of damage or kill you because the player memorized nearly guaranteed combos*

[@davemarx7856]

The "No Smash" AU has Power Stone 3 for the Sega Dreamcast 2

[@Goopyguts]

I totally won't take this for my social study fair next year 😉

[@Nintendude.]

I find it funny that for the most part I never had a copy of Smash64 of my own always borrow by a cosin or friend. Yet I feel that I had way more time with it than Melee while in the case of Melee got a copy of it first during the early Wii days and for Smash 64 during the WiiU era but I sorta lost it in the end.

[@Compucles]

While I agree that the gameplay in Smash 64 is too unrefined, and I find Brawl too floaty (to the point that the glide mechanic is basically useless for me, as I'll either survive or die whether or not I attempt to use it), I find that Melee plays too heavy and fast (and it's not like I could ever figure out how to wavedash, anyway). In my opinion, it's Smash 4 and Ultimate that provide the best core gameplay in the series.

[@ekyparayu1950]

THAT'S My boy dragon king yeah! DRAGON KING!!! YEAH! DRAGON KINGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!

[@TramiNguyen-oi3kp]

Why you punch my boy, Kirby?

[@drbiohazmat]

I thought the Smash wrestling event was found, at least partly with some recordings

[@landonjackson3524]

Give us a part two please

[@zachpro5475]

4:47 cinamasins

[@Luisalejandrob]

18:00 This is also the reason Marth is Japanese in this game

[@yotsuba_agi]

i need the source of the king of fighters thing dude

[@JonathanDiaz08]

I never noticed this but in 10:49 YOSHI'S FEET FALL OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@deliverysushi3777]

4:20 AYOOOO!?!?!?! SAKURAI??

[@DanBeanz]

without smash my life would be so different... This video was great, it's my first time watching you but I think I'll keep watching you from now on!

[@MemeinAndDreamin]

I have that same shirt I got it at Target good price

[@Goobergal8705]

Jigglypuff absolutely destroys event 51. Giga Bowser=huge Mewtwo/Ganondorf=not huge, but still pretty big Rest=OP

[@PrinceSamTV]

Bad mr frosty? Lmaooo

[@speedylildevil]

i have that same shirt

[@OwentheDuckyboi]

4:21 - 4:30 hold up why did he say “in 2022”

[@caleb.e7880]

Do The Legend of Zelda Spirit Origins, Please

[@JAPANESE_MAPLE]

yes sir

[@vwxyz345]

You can angle moves in 64 too

[@jomama4510]

1:59:27 my favoritepart

[@morlife0273]

Can someone tell me what this guy dose with his life while he's not recording these videos ??

[@davanime877]

Does everybody remember or heard of The Outfoxies, the game before Super Smash Bros was actually made

[@zackburr7836]

I Have A Great Video Idea That I Would Like To See In The Near Future!😁 Every Costume References In Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3!😎

[@The_Mewtwo_Channel]

So a guy is asking how many leprechauns can he fit in a caprisun, I say 1 or 4 for your answer

[@maxtubegaming12]

MARVIN 0:01

[@awesomecarguy9897]

How come you haven't finished the victory pose reference videos for all the 3DS/Wii U fighters and the Ultimate fighters yet? I really enjoyed watching the victory pose origin videos, but you haven't finished the series yet which is disappointing. Anyone thinks he should make this video next? It's not like he's making videos on any other game other than Smash. I wish he would concentrate on that video. Just saying.

[@QuintarusArchived]

Nintendo might get Aaron after Mario got beat up

[@mariajimenafigueroa233]

Leave Mario alone!!

[@christianm7250]

I enjoy the games just not the community. Or Sakuri as much as some do.

[@Themacattack1209]

It’s insane the quality they used to be able to push out in short development times, with Melee and Majora’s Mask being the prime examples. Not a dig at developers now, because game development is far more complex than it used to be, just kind of crazy how they accomplished so much.

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

How many leprechauns can I fit into a carpi sun?

[@MERCHIODOS]

Super Smash Bros Melee had a short development time because Sakurai wanted that game to be a launch title for the Nintendo Gamecube, but even with how quickly Sakurai spent developing Melee it still wasn't fast enough to launch with the Gamecube and Melee released 3 months after Gamecube launch

[@Handvr]

bro forgot about brawl

[@TheYanster]

I feel like video game crossovers wouldn’t be nearly as big if it wasn’t for smash

[@NOCTACRY]

you talk like kkclue

[@CorbinLeonard-rp4et]

I'm tired of smash bros clones

[@Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus17]

Spoken like someone who doesn't like cartoon games

[@CorbinLeonard-rp4et]

@@Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus17 no I,m tired of cheep nock of,s

[@CorbinLeonard-rp4et]

​@@Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus17 I actually like cartoon games like Cuphead super Mario wonder

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

How many leprechauns can I fit into a carpi sun?

[@CorbinLeonard-rp4et]

@@Jelly_shy_guy_man I don't know

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

SPOILERS ABOUT MARIO WONDER Read more…

[@pharthuro]

You tried

[@Evixyn]

Girl Power? Metroid is a Woman :0

[@chobies5383]

Did you purposely call her Metroid?

[@TheSultan1470]

*L0L*

[@pharthuro]

She's Samus *dumbass*

[@ayoutubeperson9840]

so Sakurai built the single biggest video game/media crossover franchise OF ALL TIME because he clobbered some guy's girlfriend in kof? Wow, just wow.

[@dwinters6291]

Imagine basing your entire YT channel on one game and now it's not growing because you weren't diverse enough.

[@sandycrash8868]

Get a hair transplant or hair cut your looking balder then that Mario plus lol 😂

[@bellysbabble3415]

Imagine imagining

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

How many leprechauns can I fit into a carpi sun?

[@chobies5383]

Your copypasta has a spelling mistake, "carpisun" major oversight. @@Jelly_shy_guy_man

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

@@chobies5383 that’s to make it sound funny, I meant to misspell it

[@youtuberobbedmeofmyname]

What do you think Sakurai thinks about Nintendo shutting down people from playing his game competitively?

[@webkinzxxx]

4:25 😂