it is an honor for me to belong on this timeline. my journey now seems like a blur in the grand scheme of things despite this, I'll never be able to stress enough *how playing SSF2 changed me* all of this still feels surreal I never ever had ambitions in life until I picked up that game. I didn't take time to peep the scene post-retirement so I've learned a lot watching this notably that Monte has been reformed and is still an icon (if you read this I'm sorry for whatever I could've said to you, you must've come a long way) as well as both Chaos0 and Zair actually once reached the top, I wish y'all could've witnessed how energetic these two goofballs were as little kids, I loved them discovering the faces of some of you after roughly 7 years makes me so emotional lool a huge thanks to everyone who invested or has been investing their time in the community PLAY SUPER SMASH FLASH 2 GUYS IT'S A GREAT GAME
man time flies i remmeber playing this when i was a freshman in highschool in the computer rooms, hiding from the teacher LOL and we would host little class room tournies it was great
I remember playing for the first time when 0.6 dropped and I was so stoked to play Sora in Smash. Never followed the game after that but I'm glad to see that a competitive scene was able to grow from it. Great job on this doc.
holy shit Bowler, you SMASHED THIS out of the park, I dreamed of an ssf2 documentary for a long time and this fit the bill. Brought back so many memories of this flash game that got me into Smash and many other games, I met so many great people in this community over the years, growing up with this game from a stupid 8 year old playing 9b on unblocked websites with my friends to wasting weekend afternoons going 0-2 to everyone, I enjoyed every bit of it, I did grow out of the game but the memories I’ll never forget 12/10, legendary
It's heartwarming to see that the SSF2 community still remembers RiVerDB / RiVer even on this day. I only heard some stories about his performances in SSF2 from himself, but it's good know there's a video to learn even more about how well he performed in the past. I was the Wario in ( 47:25 ). It still brings back good memories I had while playing with him. I still miss him.. Thank you for making this!
Man... I was so stunned by this video that I didn't know how to put into words what it means to me. As someone who has been with this game for 12 years, I still can't believe how much this scene has grown. It was always my motivation to do what I can to show the potential of this game and build further interest into SSF2. It's an honest to be a part of a game that has built such a dedicate community.
This was very fun to watch I joined right after "The old big three in Beta" at the second half of 2018 because I couldn't afford going to my local smash 4 tournaments anymore. It was sometimes frustrating but also sometimes very fun to play against this big and new cast of characters. I remember everyone's reaction when a random Sora main appeared and won Smash Island 5-1 over Kyoz, got 2nd at Space Wars III afterwards and continued to stay a threat for the end of 2018. I was really happy that I played so good because at the end I was around the top 8-10 area in the FCR and since I have never been ranked up until that point, I got really motivated and wanted to continue the grind. But like many others I dropped it once Ultimate came out. My small time in the SSF2 community was kinda nice when looking back. I feel like without it, I wouldn't be at the top of my locals as of right now. I also got to meet incredible people like Makken, Natey and other wonderful individuals. It hurt my heart when I heard that River passed away because he was by far the closest friend that I met through SSF2 and I really wanted to go to a NL Ultimate tournament and meet up with him... up until now I didn't even know that he was one of the top 3 at one point, I am so proud of him. May he rest in peace Thanks for the wonderful Video Bowler and for all that you have done for the SSF2 community. You are definitely one of the big reasons why this game is still relevant and I enjoy looking your videos from time to time. I think I will come back one day to test out the new Sora if I feel like it :D
You know the film's a big event when players got their own boss battle music written for them. Amazing work on everything from the research to the pacing, and special thank you too.
Thank you for letting me be a part of this documentary, you've got me feeling hella nostalgic about the storylines and all the people i talked to. Thanks to you and to everyone from the scene from all the way down under
I am blessed to be apart of this community and being alive to witness these moments. We went from playing this game in our computer labs or on friends computers to growing into a competitive scene. We had ups and downs ( for me it was RiVer since he inspired me to pick up this game again along others), but we pulled through and kept our heads up and this documentary showed the true rich history of some that's more than a flash game. Thank You Bowler and Everyone, here's to 2022 and even more years to come🖤♥️
Even with the limited involvement, working on this and being a part of one of the best videos i’ve ever seen was a blast. (I got to write some of the OST! -Frame Zeta)
Man I found myself going "Hey! I remember that guy!" plenty of times throughout this video lol. Even though I don't play the game anymore it amazes me seeing the names I recognize still part of the community. Awesome video Bowler!
I have never been a competitive SSF2 player, but this game has molded my childhood... my love for Smash, my love for sprites, my love for fangames, it represents everything my younger self enjoyed on the Internet... It's more than just nostalgia, it's a part of my very being. I owe this game a lot, actually.. I wish I could do something to help it grow or become a better version of itself, but sadly, I can't... this comment however, as well as my name, probably shouldn't be taken seriously unless I prove otherwise (which, I can only wish I could)... but if you've made it this far into my comment... I wish you the best of lucks on whatever you must do after closing this video.. and please, keep enjoying this wonderful game!
so many things to say about this 1 i dont like documentaries but this is a surprising exception 2 ive been grinding out trying to get better but now i may jus join a tournament 3 honestly respect to all the ppl who have been top players at this game 4 i honestly cant wait to see whats next
From a lurker since 9B, that wasn't into competitive, this was a nice summary of those other guys across the fence I'd see occasionally. It's great to see this game's history properly chronicled
Holy shit, this brought me back to when I played this game in the 0.9b and early Beta days. I remember being an Anther's scrublord masher, getting energized over ranked matches. I remember bragging to my friends in high school I was going to play in a SSF2 tournament that night like that wasn't the cringiest thing ever. I remember getting tagged in a Reddit post about Tails advanced techniques because I was legitimately one of the more knowledgeable Tails mains, and feeling proud of myself for that. I remember getting top 35 on Anther's ranked and feeling proud. I remember getting encouragement from Chaos0 about how much my Tails had improved and feeling proud. I remember the "dickin' on Agate" meme. I remember taking ranked Anther's games off of Chaos0 and Gax and feeling excited over it. I remember taking a match off of Nos in Anther's ranked and feeling like I was somebody, as if an Anther's win really meant anything lol. I remember entering a tournament, waiting 30 minutes for my match to check in, losing that match, the tournament getting canceled because it was the TO's bedtime, and vowing to myself right then and there I'd never play another tourney again LMAO. I remember drama in the SSF2 Paccord over Kyoz hiding the Key Jacket from everyone. I remember the NinjaLobsterStudios TAS videos. I remember genuinely looking forward to Bowler uploads. I remember working so hard on a Tails combo video, uploading it, and making it private a couple years later because I just couldn't handle the self-cringe. I remember introducing SSF2 to my old boyfriend, and him not giving a shit because it's just a little flash game, nbd. I remember going off to college, and eventually forgetting all about SSF2 for like 4 years, until now. This flash game was such a huge part of my late teens. Tiny, internet-based gaming communities are always the most interesting and fun. God-level video Bowler, holy fuck. This was one of the best things I've watched in a while.
Thank you so much, this is genuinely one of the best comments I have ever received. I recognize your name from back then, although I don't think we talked much, but much love man.
undeniably gonna be a great watch edit: undeniably an outstanding watch. this is an incredible retrospective on the community for every player new and old. I do love this scene a lot and bowler, you and your team have put together a labor of love and I cant thank you enough for documenting the scene like this
i’ve followed this game since the debut build. i was in 8th grade in the back of my science class on a free day. every single build, every single character, everything about this game was always so cool to me.
Amazing job, glad I got to play a small part in what this community became today to the point where we have enough to even make a doc, let alone one this good
i love this game man. will always hold a place in my heart. growing up with this game, making new friends and being part of this community. amazing vid Bowler 🔥
This is an incredibly well made documentary man, props to you. Also I honestly had no idea that I was considered one of the 8 best EU players at 0.9b's time (hi it's me TheBlue10)
It's kinda crazy to see the simple flash game that you've played on your school's computer almost a decade ago, being a part of your childhood, having such an interesting community's history. I'm glad that I'm putting more interest in this game and its community in the recent years.
I’ve been waiting for this ever since you announced it coming and MAN DID YOU DELIVER!! THIS IS AMAZING!! This really gives a whole new perspective to competitive ssf2 for newer players and for players who didn’t look into ssf2’s past!! Thanks for this vid, it was a hell of a ride to go through ssf2’s past!
This is so well made, and how it was elaborated from all the way back to the the 1st game and until the recent update. This is so underrated and needs more attention to the fans who play ssf2.
This game is legendary in it's own way, it predicted a lot of future characters and their moves. It's a FRICKING FLASH GAME, it implemented a lot of mechanics from past games, and it has Goku. This was the Smash Ultimate that we wanted.
I also remember playing it back to 2014, when 0.9 was new, I remember because that DS stage was new, there was the opening, new characters, and the game seemed more polished like the character selection screen.
So within the past month, I got ssf2 because I remembered a vid of yours from a year ago. I am so grateful that I got the game, as it’s some of the most fun I’ve had, and so I wanted to learn more about the competitive scene, but couldn’t find too much easily. So I thank you from my heart for making this video
I never thought that Smash Flash 2 had such a history. As a fairly new SSF2 player myself, I learned a lot today, of the game, the community, the players. I never thought that the original Smash Flash had came out years ago. Very good documentary, I love this type of videos. 🔥
Wow this game is full of memories for me! I remember playing the very first version of the game with my brother on our super old computers needing out about each character! It's awesome to see what the community has evolved into and I'm extremely proud to have been a part of this community! Thank you for this Bowler
After fulling watching I realized saying everything I want about this doc is simply impossible, the way it makes me feel is something I can't explain in few words, one of the things that did make me happy was recognizing tags of players I had heard of before, some who inspired me to play more and try and get better at the game, and some who I had randomly played online in beta (and got washed by) thinking back to those times made me realize that this game means a lot to me, and through the years that I've played it its made a huge impact on my life, I haven't made any friends from it(yet) or joined my first tourney, but one thing is certain, no matter how I perform, or what happens in my life, I'll never forget the memories I've made with this game, thank you bowler for making this a truly memorable and great time in my life.
Man i can literally feel the tension me and my lil bro had sharing a keyboard playing this ALLLLL NIGHT UNTIL THE SUN CAME UP CLEOD9 and all affiliates i appreciate you all because this game was and still is pivotal both games had me and my brother LITTTT SO THANK YOUUUU!!!
beautiful doc, I’m a melee kid and have never even seen this game before. such a unique and rich take on smash. I’ll most definetly need to try my hand in ssf2 soon
I remember 0.9b, playing it in the middle school library with my bros watching the epic Final Smashes. I remember in high school, practicing combos and watching creators like Bowler teach me so much. I never knew about the competitive scene, probably because I was in 8th grade during the peak, but now I'm definitely glad to see this. Lemme brush up on my Luffy, Sonic, and Pit. Then I'll see you in a tournament, hopefully.
I finally downloaded flash 2 today on my laptop. I wanted to over a year ago but I didn’t have a computer that could run it but now I do and oh man I’m already addicted, I’m playing a lot of Isaac. This was a very good and informative video and it’s definitely gotten me more interested in the competitive scene of ssf2
Amazing video! As an ex-developer the perspective of how the game has progressed can be quite diferent from the average player, but even though Im not as involved with the game as I used to, this is a reminder of how great this game is.
Watched it through 4 times now. Really well put together, love these kinds of videos that summarise so many years of disparate events into a good story.
God I love video essays like these dude, fantastic work! This makes me so much more passionate for not only smash flash 2, but smash bros as a whole. So many awesome players and big names for this game, it’s crazy. Thank you for such an amazing video for me to watch and get invested into, god bless
Wow this took me back! I started playing competitively in fall of 2017, and retired near the end of 2019. However, I've been playing this game casually since the very beginning, and seeing so many players I've played against in here brought me nearly to tears. Dany2Theny, Artmagic, and Aka, if any of you see this, y'all are still some REAL ogs I had a ton of fun playing with! I may be the one black mage that was highlighted in tournaments for how bad I was (especially my hot-pocket ichigo which got shredded by commentators), and I might have been in some number of prolific combo videos with how violently he floored me, I'll always love this game. It's been a long time since TWS introduced me to competitive SSF2, and my only tournament win in the community as a whole may have been a connect 4 tourney, but I'm so glad to see the game is still alive. Perhaps if the playerbase has become less toxic I'll dust off my newly minted competitive smash experience, break out my Black Mage, and finally reach towards my old goal of being the next Drarky.
Man I remember playing super smash flash back in middle school and following this sequel since before it ever launched. It's been years since I've even heard of it, what a blast from the past.
Wanna know what annoys me? The lack of views this masterpiece gets! The original soundtrack, the 1 on 1 interviews from competitive players, and the amount of effort and love that went into this video, only for it to get 23k views. Really a hidden gem in your channel.
I actually owned SSBU for a little while but never played it, and one school day in 2019 I remember the name of a game I'd seen older kids play years back and showed my friends and played SSF2 for the whole year, and eventually is what sparked me as a competitive SSBU player and becoming ranked in my region, so I actually owe this game a lot and would love to get into it for real. Thanks SSF2!
Wow! I remember the day my brother Introduced me to ssf2, as he was doing an online match. A few years later I'm on my school computer and bored as heck, and I remember the game suprisingly let alone the name of it to. And I was amazed on how different it was from how I remembered it. Man I hope this game never gets shut down, Sadly I can't play it anymore because my school block it. I love the documentary I now know the full ssf2 competitive history. Thxs. And it's been awhile tell me how have you been??