Nora O’Byrne, Special to The Denisonian–

What’s the best way to spend a Thursday night? For Big Red Smash Club members, it’s high energy, low-stakes Super Smash Bros. battles.

Jacob Goldstein, ‘26, has been a member of Big Red Smash since his sophomore year at Denison. Now a senior, Goldstein serves as the club’s treasurer.

“For our club, we do free-for-all. It’s [Super Smash] up here on the big screen, which is a bunch of people, about six or seven, and then we usually run singles and 2v2s down here on these monitors with the other switches.”

Super Smash Bros. is a platform fighting game. The objective: knock your opponents off the platform. The higher your health percentage, the farther you’ve been launched.

“Typical meetings are just free for all, and then the smaller matches, like the 1v1s.”

The club holds competitive tournaments every other week, and players of all skill levels are welcome to participate. 

Super Smash Bros., unlike the typical fighting game, is a lot more technically challenging. 

“It’s a fighting game. It’s a lot more technical than other ones that you might think of, like Street Fighters,” said Goldstein. “If you’re consistent with what you do, it’s easier to become adaptable to what you do.”

Kian Jennings ‘26, has recently taken over as president of Big Red Smash after the founders graduated last spring. This semester marks the club’s 4th year on campus. 

“If you’re new, I recommend Bowser. He’s pretty easy to play. The main takeaway is when you fall off the stage, you want to press ‘up’ and then the ‘B’ button at the same time. This is what’s called your recovery. Every time you fall off stage, you want to up ‘B’, and then you’ll snap to the ledge.”

Being a good Smash player starts with having experience in fighting games. Adapting to your opponent’s patterns is key during gameplay, said Jennings. 

“It comes down to being good at fighting games in general. What you have to do in any fighting game is read your opponent. You adapt to what they do.”

For many of the members, the sense of community outweighs the gameplay itself.

“Being able to have the space to play the game with my friends is incredibly fun,” said Goldstein.

“I love our energy,” said Jennings. “It does get loud in here, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. People let loose in here. It’s always a good time.”

The club meets every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Fellows Hall 100C. All skill levels are welcome.