User blog:Plasmaster/Happy Birthday Melee and Smash Wii U!

Hey Smashers! Plasmaster here, and if you didn't know already, Super Smash Bros. Melee turned 15 today, which is a pretty big milestone. Also, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U turned 2 today!

Both of these games were huge for the history of Smash Bros; Melee is the game that started the major Super Smash Bros. competitive scene and was the foundation for the Smash Community we all know and love today. Smash Wii U was the first Smash game to have DLC, all of which were absolutely HUGE, historical, and dare I say monumental for not only Smash Bros. but for all of Nintendo as well. We got Mega Man, Pac-Man, Sonic, and Mario all in the same game, and then who else to join a fighting game than Mr. Fighting Game Himself, Ryu of Street Fighter. Then came the bombshell; Smash DLC wasn't even getting started, Sakurai had more tricks up his sleeve. It was the one and only Cloud Strife of Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII, and boy wasn't everyone glad that that wasn't leaked because MAN, I still go back and watch that trailer today and find it unbelievable. Oh yeah and Sakurai let US pick one of the DLC characters too, and though I wasn't and still am not particularly excited about Bayonetta's inclusion, it was still really exciting for a lot of people and she marks the first character ever voted into a Smash Bros. roster by Smash fans.

These two games are also very special for me personally. Though I don't play Melee today, Melee was the first video game I ever played and it introduced me to so many characters that I hold dear like Link, Samus, and Marth. It was the game that introduced to me the rest of the Smash series, which changed my life and is still a huge part of it today. Seriously, I have a golden Smash Bros. Trophy Stand Coin that I got at Smash Con, Smash Bros. prints and posters signed by Alpharad, ZeRo, EWN, Trela, ESAM; heck, at Smash Con I got to play a set with Larry Lurr. Honestly I had no idea Smash would become such a big part of my life ten years ago when I first picked up a GameCube controller and played on Hyrule Temple with my friend Trevor as Mewtwo with items on.

Then Smash 3DS became the first Smash game I ever owned, which was made alongside Smash Wii U, so I guess with that logic Smash Wii U has been a big game to me as well.

Then the community, oh man! The community for Smash is amazing as well! I have so many friends today that I would never have if it weren't for Smash Bros.: XenoRalph, Tibarn, Lasatar, NyanMeowstic, Toxic_the_Eevee/Morningwalker, the list goes on.

We have SmashTubers and Top-Level Players like Nairo, ZeRo, Dath, Alpharad, Introspecktive, Etika, ESAM, Mew2King, Relax Alax, Mango, Hungrybox, Trela, Larry Lurr, Sol, Abadango, Mr. R, SUperGirlKels, Ally, MagicScrumpy, Izaw, Beefy Smash Doods, Omni, Mr. Danish, Girthquake, this list could go on forever so I'm stopping it there. Point being, Smash has it's own circle of celebrities that the rest of the world wouldn't understand unless they've played Smash.

Smash Bros. has sparked fan projects as well like Super Smash Flash 2, Rivals of Aether, Super Smash Land, Project M and more.

Smash has memes and quotes all on its own. 'Wombo Combo', 'Walk Up Slowly and Down Smash', 'Disrespect Everybody', 'That Was A One-Frame Punish', 'Hoo-Hah', 'Beep-Boop', and 'Mega Man! The SUPER FIGHTING ROBOT!' just to name a few.

I just wanted to take some time to appreciate how far Smash Bros. as a series and how we as a community have come by looking back at moments, names, and memories we all share. Tell me in the comments what you love most about Melee, what you love most about Smash Wii U, what your first time playing Melee was like, and what your favorite moment from Smash Wii U has been so far. Here's to another fifteen years! Happy Birthday Melee, and Happy Birthday Smash Wii U!