Mr Game & Watch

Mr Game & Watch is one of the oldest video game characters in history, even older than Pac-Man. He comes from a series of consoles called the Game & Watch, of which he was the main character, a man who got himself into all kinds of situations.

History

The story of Mr Game & Watch begins with a Japanese man named Gunpei Yokoi. While on a train, Yokoi saw a businessman so bored that he was playing with a calculator. This gave Yokoi an idea: what if there was handheld console that people could play with on their way to work? Thus, the Game & Watch was born.

In 1980, the first Game & Watch console, Ball, was released. Unlike most other consoles, which use pixels, the Game & Watch consoles used a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, similar to that of a calculator. Each Game & Watch contained two versions of a simplistic game, as well as an alarm clock (Ball, for example was a juggling game, with the two variations of the game allowing him to juggle two or three balls at once). The games were controlled by two buttons, one on either side of the screen.

The Game & Watch series would go on to include 59 different consoles, but was sadly discontinued in 1991. However, Mr Game & Watch lives on in the world of Super Smash Bros.

Super Smash Bros Series

Mr Game & Watch was first added to Super Smash Bros in the 2001 game, Super Smash Bros Melee, and has been a recurring character ever since. This was also the first time that he was given the name of Mr Game & Watch. His attacks have him utilise the various equipment from the Game & Watch consoles, with one such attack allowing him to juggle opponents like in the original Ball.

In Super Smash Bros Melee, Mr Game & Watch was one of the worst characters in the game, with very few defensive options, slow and sluggish movement, and very situational moves. That and his extremely light weight mean that he could be defeated incredibly easily.

However, in the following game, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mr Game and Watch was significantly more powerful, going from absolutely dreadful to above average. Good enough for me!

In Super Smash Bros 4, Mr Game and Watch was weakened slightly via losing some techniques he could perform in Brawl. As such, he was considered average by most.

And in the latest game, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Mr Game and Watch has had a massive overhaul to his attacks, making them much more powerful. As a result of this and a few other minor tweaks, he is now considered to be one of the best characters in the game, being widely considered to be the 8th best character.

In Smash Bros Ultimate, I like to play Mr Game and Watch, and he is one of my most used characters. I'm not really sure why I started playing as him, but I did and was immediately charmed.

From the forerunner of Nintendo, to Smash Bros fame, Mr Game and Watch has had quite the journey. Where will he go next, I wonder?