>>15818796
These are stupid questions, so expect nothing but stupid answers.
>Do you consider it a fighting game?
Every player picks a character and fights against the other players in melee combat with regular attacks, specials, ultra attacks, defending, dodging, grabbing and jumping to defeat them. Yes, it's a fighting game.
However you're not asking an honest question here since the definition of "fighting game" will be contested by the FGC niggers anyway. If you were going for the strict definition, things like Guilty Gear or Skullgirls and many others aren't fighting games either because they have or lack this one specific feature that's part of the definition.
If you want to go by that definition, then Smash is not a fighting game. But at that point you might as well replace "fighting game" with "Street Fighter clone" and leave it at that.
>Do you consider it a party game?
Again, this is not an honest question. You're asking if it's a game to be played with friends in a casual way, where serious competition has absolutely no place, you're not asking if the game is "fun with friends" or intended for a more casual audience.
If you're going by the tourneyfags definition, then it most certainly is not a party game. Removing items and stage hazards, focusing on 1v1 and restricting the characters you can use to a pre-aproved list is not acceptable if you just want to fuck around with your friends.
But if you can accept that the game will fudge things against you if you're already winning, if you can control the autism and deal with the unexpected and more importantly, if you value a serious chalenge and enjoying yourself more than simply winning, then it can be a party game.
And even then, this is meaningless. Any game with split screen or local co-op can be a party game. Guitar Hero can be played solo and still be a party game. Any game you can take turns or play together with someone else or just put out a great show for everyone else could be considered a party game.