"DAMN that's a LOT of characters!!!"
"EVIL ZABO-MAN!?? BRO WHAT!?"
"WAIT… DID I JUST SEE 100 CHARACTERS!? THIS IS ILLEGAL 😭"
"Holy moly now I can beat Doom Guy with Mario!? That's actually insane!"
"This is gonna be pure chaos… and I LOVE IT!"
"Honestly, IP aside, the ring-out chanics look really interesting… I'm really looking forward to it."
"BRO Mario vs Sonic already sold 💀"
"ga Man vs Pikachu?? This ga is unhinged"
"I'm calling it now—this is gonna be ga of the year."
"ZAGE really woke up and chose violence today huh?"
"100 characters… how am I supposed to pick just ONE!?"
"Wait… if Doom Guy is in… does that an everyone is NOT safe???"
"I just realized… I can beat up my friend using HIS favorite character 😭"
"Finally… I can settle argunts with actual fights instead of words."
"ZAGE said 'what if we just put EVERYTHING in one ga?' and actually did it."
"Bro imagine the combos… this is gonna be broken in the best way."
"Ring-out system ans really interesting!"
"I'm already seeing tournants forming."
"NO WAY THEY MAKE SOTHING THIS HARD 🔥"
These were just a portion of the comnts from fans. When the Smash Bros trailer was released, the entire ZAGE community went completely wild. Discussions spread rapidly across forums, ssage boards, and chatrooms, quickly turning intense as fans debated every detail they could find. The hype wasn't contained to just one place—it was everywhere, growing by the minute.
People began breaking down the trailer fra by fra, 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. So focused on gaplay chanics, others on character matchups, but a large portion of the discussion quickly shifted toward sothing deeper.
It wasn't just the massive roster of ZAGE IP characters that caught attention—it was the lore.
For the first ti, Zabo-man wasn't just a background presence or a recurring easter egg. The trailer revealed sothing 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 gas.
The more people looked into it, the more they realized that this wasn't sothing new—it had been hinted at for years. Subtle details, hidden references, and small appearances from past ZAGE titles suddenly gained new aning, 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 gas, appearing ever since the very first title. He would show up in many different forms—sotis as a hidden cao, other tis as a secret character, an NPC, a rchant 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 so ZAGE gas, the hints went even further. For example, in Chrono Trigger, there were locations that subtly revealed the existence of sothing called the "Zabo-man Society." Players could visit these areas, observe them, and sense that sothing larger was happening—but 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 appeared—small references, hidden designs, background appearances, and unexplained monts that quietly hinted at a deeper connection. At the ti, 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 sothing much larger all along.
In fact, there were countless versions of Zabo-man scattered across different gas, but this was where things beca even more interesting. Fans began to notice sothing specific—sothing 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 character—it was a secret super boss. Players could only encounter him under extrely 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 unforgiving—if 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.
Zabo-man aside, the ga itself beca 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 appeared—sotis expected, sotis completely surprising—keeping the excitent 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 ti, maintaining a steady flow of content that kept the montum going without pause.
So 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 excitent—it beca a daily ritual for the entire community.
anwhile, rival companies couldn't ignore what was happening. ZAGE's competitors watched closely, fully aware that this level of attention was sothing rarely seen. The scale of the hype was unlike anything before, and it wasn't just because of the characters—it was the timing, the presentation, and the constant engagent with the audience.
While ZAGE's rivals tried to process the situation, one thing beca clear: this wasn't just another ga release. It was a phenonon.
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 mont, a small smile ford on his face. "They really did it, huh… They actually pulled it off. I knew they had a lot of IPs, but… not like this." He paused briefly, his expression turning more thoughtful. "And that Zabo-man… I guess he was never just a cao character after all."
Junpei Hoshida nodded, crossing his arms as he processed everything. "Yeah… honestly, the scale of this trailer is insane. It's not just a ga—it feels like a culmination of everything they've built so far." He let out a small breath before continuing. "But because of that… I think we need to be realistic. We should postpone our ga to November. September and October are basically owned by ZAGE at this point."
Hikaru nodded slowly, clearly agreeing. "Yeah… and besides, Sherif Juan 5 is still in critical late-stage developnt, right? Rushing it now would just hurt us."
Junpei nodded again. "Exactly. If anything, this gives us more ti to polish it properly. We can make sure the quality actually ets 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 this… I think we should change our pace. Maybe develop two gas per year… 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 mont, then smiled faintly. "Yeah… 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 mont, both of them fell silent, the weight of the situation settling in.
ZAGE had just raised the bar.
And now… everyone else had to respond.
anwhile, in the Apple offices, Steve Jobs was speaking with Zanki Zagashira. Their console project—Apple and ZUSUGA—was progressing steadily and was expected to be ready by 2001. However, despite that progress, Steve Jobs seed more focused on sothing 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 sothing I've never seen before. People just… won't stop talking about it. Even Apple employees—I'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 ga… 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 that… was exactly what bothered him.
Zanki sighed before answering, taking a brief mont as if organizing his thoughts. "It is a big deal, Mr. Jobs. You see… ZAGE didn't just make gas—they spent the last nine years building a massive fanbase. Not just one, but multiple fanbases across different IPs. And the important part is… 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 separate—they don't overlap much. But Smash Bros forces them into the sa space."
Zanki paused briefly, letting the idea settle.
"Now suddenly, fans who never cared about each other's gas are interacting. They argue, they compare, they compete. It creates friction—but also excitent. And that interaction… multiplies engagent."
He continued, his voice steady.
"And then there's Zabo-man. For years, people thought he was just a joke, a cao, sothing 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 before… actually mattered."
Zanki exhaled slowly.
"That kind of realization hits people hard. It rewards long-ti 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, gaplay, nostalgia, mystery, and now lore—all stacked together."
Another small sigh escaped him.
"And once sothing reaches that point… it doesn't just grow. It explodes."
Zanki then t his gaze directly.
"You need to understand gas more, Mr. Jobs. Once you do… you'll start to see why sothing like this works so powerfully."
Steve Jobs adjusted his glasses, taking a mont before speaking again. "I've tried… and honestly, I do like Tetris. There's sothing clean about it—simple, efficient. But aside from that, I just can't seem to find enjoynt in gas, 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 ga industry is a gold mine. I can see the numbers, the growth, the engagent… but personally, I'm not interested in becoming a gar. What I care about is making sure our product is good."
He paused, then continued, clearly trying to rationalize it.
"But this part… I don't understand. How do people get attached to characters like that? Isn't it just sothing 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. "Alright… that's fair," he said, his tone calr, though there was a hint of fatigue behind it. "But characters in gas aren't really like characters in movies. It's… a different kind of attachnt."
He leaned slightly forward, trying to explain it in a way Steve might understand.
"In gas, players don't just watch characters—they beco them, even if only partially. They control them, struggle with them, win with them. That interaction builds sothing 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 ti spent, the effort, the mories… that's what creates attachnt."
He exhaled again, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.
"I know it doesn't sound logical from the outside. But for players… it's very real."
Despite his tiredness, there was still confidence in his voice—confidence not just in gas, but in what they were building.
Steve nodded slowly, though his expression showed he wasn't fully convinced yet.
"I see…" he muttered, though it was clear he was still trying to grasp it.
The gap between them remained—but not completely unbridgeable.
Aside from this there are tasks for ZAGE teams.
To be continue
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