Super Smash Bros. (series)

Super Smash Bros. (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ, Great Fray Smash Brothers) is a series of fighting video games in which Nintendo characters come together and battle each other. There are five games (six, if both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4 are considered seperate games) in the series: Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. All games star Ness, the star from the EarthBound game itself, while Super Smash Bros. Brawl onward adds Lucas from Mother 3.

Super Smash Bros.
This game was the first in the series, first released in January 1999 (Japan) and April 1999 (United States). The game contains 12 playable fighters: 8 are playable from the start, and 4 are unlockable. The game has 9 playable stages, with 1 being unlockable. It had Ness, the star of EarthBound, as an unlockable character. Ness is unlocked by playing 1-player game on normal difficulty or higher, having 3 stocks or less, and completing it without using a continue. This game debuted on the Nintendo 64 before being available on the Virtual Console part of the Wii shop channel.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
This game was the second in the series, first released November, 2001 (Japan) and December, 2001 (United States). It showed the stages of Onett and Fourside, as well as the return of Ness, this time not being needed to be unlocked. This game was released on the Nintendo GameCube.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In the third game in the series, released in January 2008 (Japan) and March 2008 (United States) after many delays. Players now can play as Lucas, who is a character available from the start. Ness is again unlockable, as he was in the original Super Smash Bros. game. This game is available to be played on the Nintendo Wii. It also featured the return of the Onett stage, under the Melee games category, as well as the introduction of the New Pork City stage. Said stage also features the Ultimate Chimera.

Subspace Emissary
The Subspace Emissary stars every playable character in the game, which includes Ness and Lucas. It also includes Porky as a boss, inside of a machine. Later, the three are seen in the Great Maze level.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Ness appears in both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4, as an unlockable character in the 3DS version, and as a starter character in the Wii U version. Magicant appears as a stage in the 3DS version, with its design based on the Magicant from EarthBound Beginnings, while Onett from Melee returns in the Wii U version. Jeff and Starman appear as Assist Trophies, and Lucas from Mother 3 has returned to this game as DLC on June 14, 2015.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, released on December 7, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch, features Ness and Lucas as unlockable characters. Jeff and Starman return as trophies. The Ramblin' Evil Mushroom is a new item, with Mr. Saturn and the Franklin Badge reappearing. Onett, New Pork City Fourside and Magicant also return as stages.

Ness


Ness, the protagonist of EarthBound, first appeared in Super Smash Bros. and has been playable ever since, being a member of the. Many were suprised to see Ness in his debut in Super Smash Bros., particularly outside of Japan, where he was initially thought to be a curious cult character of Nintendo's '90s days, however he has become one of the most beloved characters in the series since. The series has considerably boosted his public appearence to the point where Ness is recognizable among Nintendo fans. Ness uses a variety of PSI attacks for his specials, being PK Flash, PK Fire, PK Thunder, and PSI Magnet, and his final smash is PK Starstorm. Other attacks he uses are his baseball bat for his side smash, and his yo-yo for his up and down specials. In EarthBound Ness could not learn PK Fire, PK Thunder, PSI Magnet, or PK Starstorm, instead Paula uses the former three, while Poo uses PK Starstorm, with PK Flash being the only move he could originally use. The trophy discription for Paula in Melee mentions she possibly taught Ness how to use those PSI attacks, and his PK Starstorm trophy in Brawl mentions Poo taught him how to use it.

Lucas


Lucas first debuted in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and has been playable in every game since. Lucas was also a surprise to see as he was from a Japan-only game, however much like Ness his appearence was much applauded. Lucas shares several attributes with Ness, especially in his special attacks, however he has many differences from Ness to the point where he is his own unique character. PK Freeze is Lucas's unique special move, while he shares PK Fire, PK Thunder, PSI Magnet, and his final smash PK Starstorm with Ness, however all of them function differentally from Ness. Lucas also uses a stick for his side smash, while his up and down smashes uses hexagonal PSI attacks, presumably PK Love. Much like Ness, Lucas could not use PK Flash PK Fire, PK Thunder, PSI Magnet, or PK Starstorm, instead they are learned by Kumatora. Like Ness it is assumed that Kumatora taught Lucas how to use them.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, every Super Smash Bros. game through Brawl can be played on the Wii, with the original being on Virtual Console, the second being a GameCube game, which can be played on earlier Wii models, and the third being released exclusively for the Wii.