Smash Remix

ROMHack of Super Smash Bros. by a large community of fan modders, downloadable from JSsixtyfour on Github. Most recent version at time of writing is 1.5.2, released April 24, 2024

Still early in my experiences with the ROMHacking community on the N64, I still can’t imagine there’s a more impressive piece of fan-created software than what’s been done over the past few years with Smash Remix. It certainly helps to have such a large group of talented contributors, unlike most ROMHacks with only a single creator, to be able to work on so much content, even over such a long period of time as this project has been going. With versions going as far back as 2019 on the project’s source page, the steady addition of new characters and stages has been a sight to behold, particularly as Smash Remix has remained fully playable on original hardware in spite of a treasure trove of content on par with, well, every other official Super Smash Bros. release since the base game from 1999.

Without even going over the quality and attention to detail of each addition you’ll find in this package, laying it out simply for the gold mine that it is should be enough to pique the interest of even those who aren’t big Smash fans. At its core is a nearly inconceivable 30 base characters, more than double the original game’s 12, and even with many using the echo fighter trope — ie, Ganondorf, Falco, Wolf, and Dr. Mario fill their typical roles of having largely similar movesets as official characters, but fully original representations of N64 icons from second and third-party companies ultimately make for an entirely new experience multiple times over. Even looking at the full selection screen, though, doesn’t fully convey the selections available with alternate versions of some characters like regional variants (which can include slight changes to both appearance and announced name), polygon versions of each, and even some characters with alternate versions, such as Giga Bowser and the other Star Fox pilots that aren’t already playable.

Moving onto the stage selection, pages and pages of new stage options that, while not as gimmicked out due to programming limitations as the original stages, are still enjoyable due to visual variety, fan service, and modification options like Battlefield and Omega options for every single one of nearly 100 stages. And wherever possible, there are still tons of areas in these places where the toolkit available to the designers is used to great effect. A Doom stage with an antagonizing Cacodemon and harmful acid pits to avoid, a Windy & Co. stage with platforms on a rotating windmill, and, in perhaps the best implementation of existing assets, Pokemon arenas that use the voice clips of the excited announcer from the Stadium titles, even managing to play certain lines at appropriate times during the battle.

The Pokemon Stadium arenas may not have much in the way of in-fight gimmicks, but they do feature the hyped announcer from the games of the same name calling the action, and doing so accurately. It’s easily one of the most perfect touches you’ll find amongst loads of moments that will bring a smile to your face even while getting beaten pillar to post.

All of this comes with incredible attention to detail, masterful technical efficiency, and something to enjoy for every type of Smash player. A look at the credits will inform the wide talent pool in this community, including animators, modellers, and music arrangers that makes sure that nothing is utilized without being given its deserved level of care to get it right. Characters have excellent looking models, costumes, and animations on par with those of the original roster, along with move sets and balancing that would make Masahiro Sakurai himself proud. Many Smash devotees may see the N64 original as simple compared to Melee and other later iterations, but that doesn’t keep the community here from ensuring that all of the options you could want to tweak the game from a competitive setting are included. And even game modes that seem at odds with this version have been included here, with All-Star, multi-man melee, 12-man Smash, and home-run contest even made available just to add even more things to do on top of all the new combinations of matches.

Smash Remix, at this point, could never receive another update and it would still be as endlessly replayable as any Smash game we’ve ever had, but as a community project, the potential is always there. To think that there could be even more stuffed into this package is astounding, and while there are going to be plenty of passion projects made for other classic titles, like Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time and their endless fan mods, I don’t think I can imagine something that does quite as much as Smash Remix does and still stays compatible with original hardware. Whether it’s to get more out of an overshadowed original entry in a beloved series or to see some of the lesser-acknowledged classics of the N64 get some much deserved recognition from dedicated fans, Smash Remix is something that everybody with an emulator or an Everdrive should see in action.

Full character select screen, d-pad toggles alternate versions of characters where applicable such as each character’s polygon version, Japanese or PAL region presentation (left or right), and other variations (Giga Bowser, Giant DK, Kirby as the Mad Piano from Super Mario 64, up on d-pad)

Full number of voice clips, sound effects, and music tracks, as seen in the sound test menu. 311 music tracks compressed to fit on an original hardware-compatible file is truly an astounding feat, considering everything else going on in this hack.

One of five pages on the stage select menu, which includes even more inspirations such as Doom, Nier, Persona, Jet Force Gemini, Quest 64, and more among the selections.

My Streams

Commercials and Trailers

The community behind Smash Remix often shows their passion and dedication by creating fully animated announcement trailers, in the vein of the official Nintendo announcements, to accompany major updates, such as those that include new characters. Please enjoy some of their further hard work here and on their official YouTube channel.