Play Nintendo All-star! Dairantou Smash Brothers Online

I first played Nintendo All-Star! Dairantou Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64 back in 1999. It was developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo, arriving at a time when the console was full of platformers and racing games. This one stood out immediately because it was different; it threw familiar characters into a fighting game that didn't play by the usual rules.

You control a Nintendo character like Mario or Link on a single screen stage, and your goal is to knock opponents off the platform. Instead of a health bar, you have a damage percentage that rises when you get hit; the higher it goes, the farther you fly from attacks. You build damage with a variety of moves, from standard punches to special attacks unique to each fighter. The pacing is fast, and matches can turn quickly when someone gets a strong hit at a high percentage. It feels chaotic and unpredictable, a game where a single mistake can send you flying, but a clever move can secure a win from the edge of defeat.