By Robert Klimper |Staff Writer| 

CSUSB gamers competed in a bi-weekly test of skills through a Super Smash Bros. tournament hosted by the Santos Manuel Student Union (SMSU) on Jan. 25.

The tournament is set up into a two bracket system. As matches are played the winner of each match are kept in the winners bracket and those who have lost get moved to the loser bracket.

“It’s kind of surreal for me [winning], I’m pretty happy,” said Ian Hicks, winner of the tournament.

Anyone worried about losing in the first round will still have an opportunity to play again, as the winner of the winner bracket and the losers bracket have one final match to decide the winner.

A main point of the tournament is that with each tournament participants are given points for their rank, so if you want to participate in the grand tournament at the end of the quarter you should show up soon to have a better chance.

For each tournament the winner is given a twenty-five dollar Visa gift card, yet participants must be a CSUSB student to claim the prize.

“I’m here mostly for fun and a chance to win,” said Thys Feenstra, a participant with two years of previous Super Smash Bros. tournament experience.

The Super Smash Bros. series is a unique fighting game where traditional lifebars are replaced by damage percentage that increase with every hit the player takes, with the higher the percentage of damage equaling getting hit (smashed) a farther distance.

The series has two known game modes; Time and Stock.

For every ring out game the player is given two points and for every time they are knocked out they are subtracted a point. The player with the most points at the end of the set time limit wins.

“Each player has two stocks and a six minute time limit [to win the match],” said Salvador Ayala, one of the participants of the tournament. Ayala assisted in determining the rules for the tournament.

The first Super Smash Bros. game was released on January 21, 1999 for the Nintendo 64 as the brainchild from development company HAL Laboratory and Japanese game developer Masahiro Sakurai.

One of the main appeals of the franchise is the inclusion of well known Nintendo characters like Mario, Kirby, Luigi, Pikachu and several more.

Later guest characters include Sonic the Hedgehog from Sega and Mega Man from Capcom, increasing the roster past Nintendo characters.

The franchise has five games, yet only two are used for competitive play; Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

For those interested in attending the tournament in the Gamers Lounge, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is used.

The tournament had a couple of participants, with the final match being between Salvador Ayala and Ian Hicks. After a “best of five” matches, Hicks won.

Hicks was surprised and happy with his victory because he did not expect to win. If you would like to experience victory, come to the Gamers Lounge on February 8th at noon to try your hand.

“This is something so people can know about [the Gamers Lounge] more, it’s a good place for people to hangout between classes,” said Cristina Menchaca, a Information Desk student assistant, and tournament officiator.