'Smash' landing
DEVIN HEILMAN/Press Teammates Corey Oglesbee, right, and Colin Morin, adjacent, play a few friendly rounds of “Super Smash Bros.” with Mark Casteel and Taylor Howard during the Middle Ground “Smash Bros.” tournament Sunday.
DEVIN HEILMAN/Press Two players at the North Idaho Smash tournament Sunday concentrate on knocking each other off the stage as they play "Super Smash Bros."
By DEVIN HEILMAN
Staff Writer
POST FALLS — Their focus: Unbreakable. Their moves: Unstoppable. Their game: “Super Smash Bros.”
"There really is not any other game that is like this,” said Anthony Hunter, co-founder of local gaming group North Idaho Smash. "Other fighting games have their own characters that were made for it, whereas this one, if you’ve played video games at all, chances are you have a character that you can remember and you have a nostalgic factor for. I mean, Pac-Man is in this game."
And when Pac-Man joins the party, you know it will be a good time... unless you're a ghost, of course.
The "Super Smash Bros." trend is taking over the Inland Northwest. During the snowy afternoon and evening Sunday, about 50 "Super Smash Bros." enthusiasts gathered in the Red Lion Templin's Hotel in Post Falls to do battle on the screen and walk away with some prize money during the fifth "Smash Bros." gaming tournament in The Middle Ground series.
"People love the game, it’s crazy,” said Jake Koskella, another North Idaho Smash co-founder. "For the North Idaho people especially, from what I’ve noticed, there’s maybe 10 of us that come to these, but they’ve just made rapid progress. They play every night that they can if they’re not working. It’s just love for the game. Everybody is very competitive but it’s fun. Everybody has fun whether they win or lose, but everyone tries to get better."
"Super Smash Bros." exploded into the gaming world in 1999 when it was released for Nintendo 64 and was followed by sequels "Super Smash Bros. Melee" in 2001, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" in 2008 and "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U" in 2014.
The game pits beloved franchise characters, such as the Mario Brothers, Mega Man, Pikachu, Link and many more, against one another in a variety of colorful stages. The goal is to defeat the opposing player or team as quickly — and awesomely — as possible.
Hunter said what really sets it apart from other games is the lack of health bars; "Smash Bros." challenges players to send opponents flying off the stage instead.
But the biggest appeal, he said, is the characters.
“Most of us grew up playing this game," Hunter said of "Melee." "I was 5 when it came out. So combining the nostalgia with the fact that it still has so many people that are so willing to play this game on this competitive level, it draws in a lot of people."
The games played at the Middle Ground competition were "Melee" and the Wii U version. Participant Jess Howell of Coeur d’Alene said he enjoys the "Smash Bros." tournaments because of the shared interest and the friendships between the players.
"I think everyone here is friends, everyone knows each other. It’s a great time," he said. "It just takes one game, one really fun game, to bring people together. You don’t have to put a lot of money into it, you don’t need all the graphics or all the effects."
Hunter, who prefers to smash his opponents' characters with "Super Mario Bros." nemesis Bowser, said gaming tournaments such as the Middle Ground serve as competitive outlets as well as gatherings for like-minded folks. Gaming is all-encompassing, he said, inviting players of all ages and abilities to compete and enjoy themselves.
“The proof is in the results,” he said of gaming as an independent entertainment industry.
"We have tournaments that are drawing in hundreds of thousands of people, both in watchers and participants," he said. "Unlike sports games where you have to be gifted at least in terms of the genetics pool, video games, at least in the competitive aspect — it’s a lot more of a practice sort of thing where people who haven’t played the game at all can practice and they can do well because there isn’t a limitation based on your physical ability other than your ability to press buttons. We can have pro athletes who are handicapped. There isn’t a wall. You don’t have to be gifted in terms of being athletic to be good at it. Because of that, it draws in a lot of people."
The date for the next of the Middle Ground "Super Smash Bros." tournaments has not been set, but organizers do expect the events to happen quarterly throughout the year.
Info: www.facebook.com/groups/NorthIdahoSmash