Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Discusses Her Love for Super Smash Bros

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan grew up a Nintendo fan. The breakout star of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and the movie Best of the Best was not allowed to play violent games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto on Xbox and PlayStation. Her household relied on the DS and GameCube instead. Her all-time favorites list includes mid-2000s titles straight out of Kyoto: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Kirby Superstar Ultra, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Super Princess Peach, Pokémon Pearl, Luigi’s Mansion, and Super Paper Mario.

She is a dedicated Smash player. Her mastery of the game came after years of using a low-quality third-party controller with a chewed-up joystick. “I was really, really bad as a kid. But I kept playing. And I slowly started understanding, like, wait, you don’t have to spam things. It’s not random. You can actually choose moves and combos. There’s a method and strategy to this. Once I learned that, I started getting way better and then started beating my cousins all the time,” she explained. “And that’s why I have a Kirby tattoo. That was my first tattoo.”

To anyone doubting her skills, she offers a warning: “I could kick your ass without using down-B once.” She adds, “I actually love to use down-B as a fake-out, because I stop it midway and do something else, and then boom, you’re done.”

Given that her new Netflix movie centers on a Bollywood dance club at UCLA, people might assume Ramakrishnan is an accomplished dancer. That is not quite true, though she is skilled at rhythm games. “I don’t know if the people who make Just Dance know, but they were a part of my education for Best of the Best.”

When asked if she had a favorite item in the shop she wanted to examine closely, her tastes leaned toward the old-school. She selected the original Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, turning the gray cartridge over in her hands with the respectful reverence usually given to a museum specimen. She was not even alive when it was released in 1999.

Yes, of course you have time to watch another Shelf Quest!

Source: Polygon