Sanrio World Smash Ball
From CS196 Games Research
Pictures: 
Title: Sanrio World Smash Ball!!
Tagline: None ("Get Smashed")
Developer: Ape inc.,
Year of Release: 1993
Genre: Party Game
Target Audience: Children to Young Adults; fans of Sanrio
Goal: There are two modes, two player and one player. In one player, an AI plays the opponent; in two player, A friend does. Gameplay is as follows: a red, white, and blue disc is placed in the middle of an arena filled with blocks with varying abilities, items, and distractions. Each player stands at an opposite end of the level, guarding a goal. By pressing A, the character makes a "smashing" motion, used to propel the disc in the desired direction. By holding B, the player uses "charge." Charge causes the player to "Super Smash," which results in a prolonged spin and an extremely powerful "smash."
The players face off in the "hot n' heavy," attempting to maintain control of the disc. The disc moves around the course much like a puck on an ice rink. When the disc strikes a block, that block migh vanish, lose "health" and eventually vanish, or permanently deflect the disk. Other attractor and detractor items alter the trajectory of the disc as well.
Powerups allow the player to gain more speed or a more powerful hit. Of the four characters, each has a different set of skills which, in general, are quite balanced. Once a player scores three goals off the other player, the round ends in that player's favor.
Innovative: Sanrio World Smash Ball isn't "technologically" innovative; instead, its design is where it challenges the norm. The game is one of the earliest examples of a hyper-competitive, dumb, non-stop, 1-on-1, action party game out there. It presents very simple gameplay with good enough graphics and a good enough engine and a good enough theme and lets the actualy gameplay speak for itself- and speak it does. Though simple, the game is immensely addictive and challenging. Players seek to one-up one another time and time again. Sanrio world smash is a fine- if quirky- example of a simple game that provides hours upon hours of fun not due to length or challenge, but by virtue of the sheer competitiveness that the video game encourages. It is a party game at its best- the granddaddy of all party games, in fact. This game is innovative because it is simple, elegant, and to the point; it is powered not by a fancy graphics engine, but by the friends heckling you as you attempt to smack a disc through a goal not two thousand pixels away. Sure, it is campy as hell- but it created a new niche; and for this reason, it is still fun even today (though it can be stored in but a few kilobytes of space and is poorly translated at best).
Fun: This game is fun because it takes the machismo traditionally found on basketball courts and football statdiums and soccer fields, and brings it to the colorful, animated world of sanrio, and thus, your best pal's living room. This game is so much fun that you're likely to hear grown men egging keroppi on, demanding that keroppi "smack up" ponpokopon, to "smash that disc like its 1999." The game is simple. The game is competitive. And the game thrives in the party atmosphere that it anticipated more than ten years ago. This is a party game; this is one of the original party games.
Influences: Here's the thing. This game is an original; it is inspired by classics like BrickOut and Air Hockey. It is also inspired by old SNES soccer games. But it a quirky synthesis of these serious- or classic- video hits; a virtual sport that is perfect for a gathering of friends to play during a standard hangout session. Games that have taken note of this game either directly or indirectly include: Mario Party 1, Mario Party 2, WarioWare, and Super Smash Brothers.
