"DAMN that's a LOT of characters!!!"
"EVIL ZABO-MAN!?? BRO WHAT!?"
"WAITā¦ DID I JUST SEE 100 CHARACTERS!? THIS IS ILLEGAL š"
"Holy moly now I can beat Doom Guy with Mario!? That's actually insane!"
"This is gonna be pure chaosā¦ and I LOVE IT!"
"Honestly, IP aside, the ring-out mechanics look really interestingā¦ I'm really looking forward to it."
"BRO Mario vs Sonic already sold me š"
"Mega Man vs Pikachu?? This game is unhinged"
"I'm calling it nowāthis is gonna be game of the year."
"ZAGE really woke up and chose violence today huh?"
"100 charactersā¦ how am I supposed to pick just ONE!?"
"Waitā¦ if Doom Guy is inā¦ does that mean everyone is NOT safe???"
"I just realizedā¦ I can beat up my friend using HIS favorite character š"
"Finallyā¦ I can settle arguments with actual fights instead of words."
"ZAGE said 'what if we just put EVERYTHING in one game?' and actually did it."
"Bro imagine the combosā¦ this is gonna be broken in the best way."
"Ring-out system means really interesting!"
"I'm already seeing tournaments forming."
"NO WAY THEY MAKE SOMETHING THIS HARD š„"
These were just a portion of the comments from fans. When the Smash Bros trailer was released, the entire ZAGE community went completely wild. Discussions spread rapidly across forums, message boards, and chatrooms, quickly turning intense as fans debated every detail they could find. The hype wasn't contained to just one placeāit was everywhere, growing by the minute.
People began breaking down the trailer frame by frame, analyzing every scene, every silhouette, and every hint hidden within the visuals. Video creators rushed to upload analysis content, theories, and speculation, each trying to uncover what ZAGE was truly planning. Some focused on gameplay mechanics, others on character matchups, but a large portion of the discussion quickly shifted toward something deeper.
It wasn't just the massive roster of ZAGE IP characters that caught attentionāit was the lore.
For the first time, Zabo-man wasn't just a background presence or a recurring easter egg. The trailer revealed something much bigger: a structured narrative, a hierarchy, and an entire conflict surrounding Zabo-man and his variations. This alone sparked countless theories, as fans tried to piece together connections across older games.
The more people looked into it, the more they realized that this wasn't something newāit had been hinted at for years. Subtle details, hidden references, and small appearances from past ZAGE titles suddenly gained new meaning, making the entire situation feel far more intentional and interconnected than anyone had expected.
So far, Zabo-man has mostly existed as a recurring easter egg within ZAGE games, appearing ever since the very first title. He would show up in many different formsāsometimes as a hidden cameo, other times as a secret character, an NPC, a merchant vendor, a hidden boss, or even a secret playable character. His presence was always there, but never fully explained, making him feel like a mysterious constant across multiple worlds.
In some ZAGE games, the hints went even further. For example, in Chrono Trigger, there were locations that subtly revealed the existence of something called the "Zabo-man Society." Players could visit these areas, observe them, and sense that something larger was happeningābut they couldn't interact with it directly. It was as if they were only seeing a small piece of a much bigger picture.
Across other titles, similar details appearedāsmall references, hidden designs, background appearances, and unexplained moments that quietly hinted at a deeper connection. At the time, most players dismissed these as fun easter eggs, but now, with the Smash Bros trailer, all of those details suddenly felt intentional, as if they had been building toward something much larger all along.
In fact, there were countless versions of Zabo-man scattered across different games, but this was where things became even more interesting. Fans began to notice something specificāsomething that hadn't been obvious before. The Super Z, the so-called "evil" Zabo-man shown in the trailer, closely resembled a hidden version of Zabo-man from Tekken 2 arcade.
That version wasn't just any characterāit was a secret super boss. Players could only encounter him under extremely strict conditions: selecting the hardest difficulty, achieving perfect victories in every round, and never getting hit even once. Only then would this version of Zabo-man appear.
And even when players finally reached him, the challenge didn't stop there. The fight itself was brutally unforgivingāif the player took even a single hit, they would instantly lose. It was less of a normal battle and more of a near-impossible trial.
Because of this, many players had never even seen him firsthand, making him almost mythical within the community.
Ā
Zabo-man aside, the game itself became unbelievably hyped. Every single day, five new characters were introduced, and fans eagerly waited for each reveal as if it were an event of its own. One by one, their favorite characters appearedāsometimes expected, sometimes completely surprisingākeeping the excitement constantly alive. Discussions never slowed down, as each reveal sparked new debates, tier lists, match-up predictions, and endless speculation.
Throughout the rest of September, almost every conversation in the gaming community revolved around Smash Bros. Forums were filled with daily threads, reaction videos flooded the internet, ZAGE's YouTube channel consistently uploaded new videos showcasing five characters at a time, maintaining a steady flow of content that kept the momentum going without pause.
Some fans even began tracking patterns in the reveals, trying to predict which characters would appear next. Others focused on analyzing movesets, potential combos, and synergy between characters. The hype wasn't just excitementāit became a daily ritual for the entire community.
Meanwhile, rival companies couldn't ignore what was happening. ZAGE's competitors watched closely, fully aware that this level of attention was something rarely seen. The scale of the hype was unlike anything before, and it wasn't just because of the charactersāit was the timing, the presentation, and the constant engagement with the audience.
While ZAGE's rivals tried to process the situation, one thing became clear: this wasn't just another game release. It was a phenomenon.Ā
Sonaya offices.
Hikaru Kurata leaned back in his chair and let out a slow sigh, his eyes still fixed on the screen replaying parts of the trailer. After a moment, a small smile formed on his face. "They really did it, huhā¦ They actually pulled it off. I knew they had a lot of IPs, butā¦ not like this." He paused briefly, his expression turning more thoughtful. "And that Zabo-manā¦ I guess he was never just a cameo character after all."
Junpei Hoshida nodded, crossing his arms as he processed everything. "Yeahā¦ honestly, the scale of this trailer is insane. It's not just a gameāit feels like a culmination of everything they've built so far." He let out a small breath before continuing. "But because of thatā¦ I think we need to be realistic. We should postpone our game to November. September and October are basically owned by ZAGE at this point."
Hikaru nodded slowly, clearly agreeing. "Yeahā¦ and besides, Sherif Juan 5 is still in critical late-stage development, right? Rushing it now would just hurt us."
Junpei nodded again. "Exactly. If anything, this gives us more time to polish it properly. We can make sure the quality actually meets our standards instead of just pushing it out."
Junpei glanced back at the screen, watching another clip of Smash Bros before speaking again. "And after thisā¦ I think we should change our pace. Maybe develop two games per yearā¦ or even three."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow slightly. "Three?"
Junpei gave a small nod. "Our engine is finally stable. It's doing more work for us now. If we plan properly, it's possible."
Hikaru thought for a moment, then smiled faintly. "Yeahā¦ you're right. That might actually be the next step for us i know i can count on you Junpei." Junpei nod
For a brief moment, both of them fell silent, the weight of the situation settling in.
ZAGE had just raised the bar.
And nowā¦ everyone else had to respond.
Meanwhile, in the Apple offices, Steve Jobs was speaking with Zanki Zagashira. Their console projectāApple and ZUSUGAāwas progressing steadily and was expected to be ready by 2001. However, despite that progress, Steve Jobs seemed more focused on something else entirely.
He adjusted his posture slightly, clearly puzzled.
"Why is this Smash Bros so hyped?" he asked, his tone filled with genuine confusion. "It's something I've never seen before. People justā¦ won't stop talking about it. Even Apple employeesāI've caught them discussing it during work hours."
He frowned slightly, trying to make sense of it.
"From what I understand, it's just a fighting gameā¦ a compilation of ZAGE characters thrown together. So what's the big deal, really?"
There was a brief pause as he looked toward Zanki, expecting a clear answer.
To him, it didn't add up.
The reaction felt disproportionate.
And thatā¦ was exactly what bothered him.Ā
Zanki sighed before answering, taking a brief moment as if organizing his thoughts. "It is a big deal, Mr. Jobs. You seeā¦ ZAGE didn't just make gamesāthey spent the last nine years building a massive fanbase. Not just one, but multiple fanbases across different IPs. And the important part isā¦ those IPs are actually good. Strong enough that each one has people who are deeply attached to them."
He leaned slightly forward, his tone becoming more explanatory.
"Think of it like this. There are people who love IP A, but dislike IP B. And then there are others who feel the exact opposite. Normally, those communities stay separateāthey don't overlap much. But Smash Bros forces them into the same space."
Zanki paused briefly, letting the idea settle.
"Now suddenly, fans who never cared about each other's games are interacting. They argue, they compare, they compete. It creates frictionābut also excitement. And that interactionā¦ multiplies engagement."
He continued, his voice steady.
"And then there's Zabo-man. For years, people thought he was just a joke, a cameo, something fun to spot. But now? He's part of a larger narrative. That changes everything. It tells players that all those little details they noticed beforeā¦ actually mattered."
Zanki exhaled slowly.
"That kind of realization hits people hard. It rewards long-time fans, and it makes new players curious. It connects the past with the present."
He glanced briefly at the screen, then back at Steve Jobs.
"This isn't just hype, Mr. Jobs. It's layered hype. Characters, gameplay, nostalgia, mystery, and now loreāall stacked together."
Another small sigh escaped him.
"And once something reaches that pointā¦ it doesn't just grow. It explodes."
Zanki then met his gaze directly.
"You need to understand games more, Mr. Jobs. Once you doā¦ you'll start to see why something like this works so powerfully."
Steve Jobs adjusted his glasses, taking a moment before speaking again. "I've triedā¦ and honestly, I do like Tetris. There's something clean about itāsimple, efficient. But aside from that, I just can't seem to find enjoyment in games, even after trying to understand them through research. That's why we partnered up, isn't it?"
He leaned back slightly, his expression thoughtful but still distant from the subject.
"I know the video game industry is a gold mine. I can see the numbers, the growth, the engagementā¦ but personally, I'm not interested in becoming a gamer. What I care about is making sure our product is good."
He paused, then continued, clearly trying to rationalize it.
"But this partā¦ I don't understand. How do people get attached to characters like that? Isn't it just something you play once, think 'that was good,' and then move on?"
Zanki let out a slow breath, clearly used to this kind of question by now. "Alrightā¦ that's fair," he said, his tone calmer, though there was a hint of fatigue behind it. "But characters in games aren't really like characters in movies. It'sā¦ a different kind of attachment."
He leaned slightly forward, trying to explain it in a way Steve might understand.
"In games, players don't just watch charactersāthey become them, even if only partially. They control them, struggle with them, win with them. That interaction builds something deeper than just observation."
Zanki paused briefly, searching for the right words.
"It's not just about the story. It's about the experience tied to that character. The time spent, the effort, the memoriesā¦ that's what creates attachment."
He exhaled again, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.
"I know it doesn't sound logical from the outside. But for playersā¦ it's very real."
Despite his tiredness, there was still confidence in his voiceāconfidence not just in games, but in what they were building.
Steve nodded slowly, though his expression showed he wasn't fully convinced yet.
"I seeā¦" he muttered, though it was clear he was still trying to grasp it.
The gap between them remainedābut not completely unbridgeable.
Aside from this there are tasks for ZAGE teams.
To be continue
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