As I walked out of brunch last Saturday, I was greeted by the sounds of “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash emanating from the TV lounge in the Student Union.
As I approached, I noticed a bro-tank wearing man trying to holding two Nintendo Gamecube Controllers as he moved a table laden with pretzels and off-brand sodas. Curious, I stopped to help him move the table, and asked about the snacks.
The bro-tanked man was Sam Cassels, a senior and one of the founders of Hillsdale Smash League. They were setting up for the league’s first ever Super Mario Smash Brothers Tournament.
The Strehle twins, Shad and Dylan, were setting up speakers for a commentator’s platform opposite the large TV in the Union.
“The game is incredibly easy to learn and watch, that is what makes it so fun. It’s just two characters on a platform trying to kill each other,” Dylan Strehle explained.
He was right. I had already become intensely invested in the game which I had walked in on only 10 seconds earlier. I instantly spotted the underdog, and as soon as I noticed a potential comeback, I was hooked.
In 2018, Clifford Atiyeh wrote an article in “Car and Driver” magazine, comparing spectator attendance in different motorsport series.
“The number of passes in a given race is a fair yardstick of a series’ entertainment value,”
Atiyeh wrote.
Atiyeh was writing about motorsports, but as spectators in any sport, we like to see drama. As humans we can’t help but become invested in a good story, sport — or even, yes, video game with a strong storyline. Because of its engaging characters and the simplicity of gameplay, Smash brothers really is universally accessible and engaging.
By 1:00 p.m. all the TVs in the Union, as well as a few which students had let the HSL borrow, were all being used for gaming warm-up matches.
The air was full of a nervous excitement, the competitors were eager to see how they stacked up against the rest of their classmates, and the event organizers were hoping everything would run smoothly.
Cassels explained how the event got its start.
“The Hillsdale Smash scene has been underground more than anything,” Cassels said. “Guys play in their dorms or in their own separate friend groups. We all kinda know we play, but we never do any big events.”
However, ever since Smash Bros Ultimate came out in December, Cassels said there was a lot of excitement.
“We had always had these underground scenes where we were playing Smash more. We started to realize this new game is out and everyone’s excited, we should have a big corporate event,” he said.
Getting wrapped up in the energy of the tournament, I decided to add my name to the 44-player roster. Around 1:30 p.m., roll was called and the official Smash tournament rules were given.
It was a two-loss tournament: whoever won rock-paper-scissors got to choose the battle platform first.
I ended up in one of the first matches, which I promptly lost. I am no expert, but with very little video game experience I was able to figure out how to jump, run, attack, and dodge. I was severely impressed with how easy the game was to play.
Sophomore Hayden Greb, who placed first in the tournament, said he believes the ease of play is what draws so many people to the game.
“It follows Nintendo’s philosophy of game-making,” he explained, “which is, easy to learn yet hard to master. I think smash bros exactly follows that philosophy.”
He is not wrong. As I entered my second game, I felt I was learning with each mistake. Even though I lost, I felt the urge to try again because I felt myself tangibly improving.
“It’s cool to take different ideas from different people. I think the game is beautiful,” Cassels said with a chuckle. “But I have put a lot of time into the game.”
