Four controllers, a couch, and Pikachu flying off the left side of the screen while everyone screams.

On gut feeling alone, the community puts the original Smash Bros ahead of 76% of games. Solid. And the breakdown backs it up: attachment ahead of 87% of titles, fun ahead of 81%, controller feel ahead of 88% on only a couple of votes, so that last one needs confirming, but it fits. The soundtrack lands comfortably above the middle. One clear sour note, and it is blunt: art direction, close to the bottom. Those N64 polygons have not aged, everybody knows it, and the community is not pretending otherwise. Desert island sits mid pack, which makes sense: Smash is a party game, not a solitude game.

This is the founding act of an entire genre, the fighter that threw the health bar away to count damage percentages and ring outs instead. Everything Melee, Brawl and Ultimate refined afterwards starts right here.

So, who is it for? For you if you love games played with people in the same room, simple mechanics that turn deep, and nostalgia that actually has something to defend. Much less so if you play alone, or if you forgive nothing to a 1999 render.