Throwback Thursday: Super Smash Bros.

Happy Friday Gamers! This week's Throwback Thursday was pushed back due to E3, but we've decided to spotlight a game that's inspired an entire series: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64! Earlier this week, Nintendo announced a new Super Smash Bros installment coming soon for the WiiU. The news made us curious to the beginnings of the series, so we did some digging to find its origins.

The original Super Smash Bros. was a fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the N64. It was created when Masahiro Sakurai became inspired to create a 4 player fighting game. Originally stumped for characters, he decided to use Nintendo's Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus and Fox for the prototype without permission. Only after he was sure he'd created a well balanced game did Sakurai present it to Nintendo who later approved it.

The game was created on a small budget because it was intended as a Japan-exclusive release. Little did Nintendo know, they had a masterpiece on their hands - one that would still be inspiring games today. The game received generally positive reviews across the board with the only criticism coming from the single-player mode. After it's release, the game had sold 1.97 million copies in Japan and 2.93 million copies in the U.S. as of 2008.

We gamers at GGR are excited to get our hands on the upcoming installment of the series. With that being said, we gladly welcome the original Super Smash Bros into the throwback thursday vault and eagerly await the arrival of the newest edition.