Students gathered in Mt. Clef Hall on Saturday, Sept. 20 to try their skill in the third annual Super Smash Bros. Tournament. Players competed one-on-one for the chance to win a $40 gift card to Chipotle.

After five rounds of vigorous button pushing, Senior Randy Viola emerged as the champion of the Super Smash Bros. Tournament. He was victorious over his roommate, Allan Ramirez who often plays with Viola in their dorm room.

“I feel good. It was pretty tough.” Viola said after his win.

He said the most difficult match was with Nolan Monsibay, a participant and RA sponsor of the tournament.

“It was a close match and I was lucky to have won that match, really,” Viola said. After the official event, the two had several rematches for fun.

Players fought in one-on-one battles, continuing until a participant had knocked the other’s character off the stage four times or the allotted eight minutes had run out. Players can be knocked off with excessive damage, heavy moves, or by simply falling off on accident.

The tournament allowed players to choose any available character they wished for the competition. Participants signed up on a sheet with their preferred character and were then placed into random pairs with the winner advancing to the next round.

Viola played as the character Ness. “He’s actually not that good of a character but he’s fun to use. He’s just really unique with his moves,” Viola said.

Players must take advantage of a character’s specific set of moves and use them to knock the opponent out of the arena. Though the game can be played with little knowledge of the specific moves by randomly pressing buttons, a good amount of skill goes into actually knowing and effectively using the attacks.

Gaining these skills takes practice. “We definitely play it in our room like two to three times a week,” Monsibay said. “[We play] like everyday, honestly. It’s like a thing in my room,” Ramirez said. Both he and first place winner, Viola practice daily.

Many students enjoyed playing the game before and after the actual tournament in a more casual manner. Daily or even weekly experience is not necessary to enjoy Super Smash Bros.

“I know a lot of people like it,” Monsibay said. “It’s been a big hit every year.”

Not only were there 18 participants, but there were plenty of spectators as well. There was even an audience of nonparticipants that stayed on through the event and many players stuck around long after they were out of the competition in order to watch the final battles.

“A lot of people just came to watch even if they didn’t necessarily play. A lot of people enjoyed it,” said Josh Summers, another senior resident assistant sponsor for the tournament.

Nintendo has announced that this holiday season, they are releasing a new version of the game for both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Students who missed the event will have another chance to participate in a Super Smash Bros. tournament.

“Next semester, since the new one’s coming out, we’re gonna do another Super Smash Bros. tournament,” Monsibay said. The date for the event is yet to be determined.

Allie Leslie

Staff Writer

Published October 1, 2014