Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a fighting game for the Wii, and the third game in the Super Smash Bros. series. It was designed by Masahiro Sakurai, who also made the preceeding Super Smash Bros. games, and developed by a team that was specifically created for it. The game uses a game engine called Havok that mainly focuses on the game physics, which was provided by an Irish company of the same name. After a planned release date of December 3, 2007 in North America, all regions had their release dates pushed back. It was then slated for release on February 10, 2008 in North America, and January 24, 2008 for Japan. However on January 15, 2008, it was then delayed to January 31, 2008 for Japan and March 9, 2008 for North America. It was released in Australia on June 26, 2008 and in Europe on June 27, 2008.

Nintendo announced on February 26, 2014 that online play would cease on May 20th, 2014.

Gameplay
Super Smash Bros. Brawl shares the same basic controls as its predecessors. Players attack their opponent to increase the opponent's percentage. The higher the percentage, the faster players will be sent flying. The objective is to knock opponents off the blast line to score a KO. Again, this game employs simple button inputs to perform various moves. performs basic moves in the ground or midair while has the character perform special moves. Players can do several moves depending on where is tilted. If players are knocked from the stage, they can use their mid air jump and special moves, typically and tilting up on  to recover.

Another basic, yet vital move players can do is to shield, which blocks most attacks. The shield shrinks the longer the player holds the button or if the shield blocks attacks. If the shield is too small, the player is vulnerable to attacks. If the shield breaks, the player is momentarily stunned. Grabs can also circumvent the shield. Once the player has grabbed an opponent he or she can either pummel the opponent with the attack button or throw the opponent with. Opponents can break free of grabs by moving the control stick and mashing buttons, but the higher the percentage, the longer it takes for opponents to be released.

A new battle mechanic is the Final Smash that was originally supposed to be featured in the first game of the series, but scrapped for technical reasons, which can be used only by collecting a Smash Ball. Players are now able to walk and jump while using projectile-shooting items, like the Super Scope, where in Melee wasn't possible.

As a new feature in the game, certain characters can crawl. Such characters are Bowser, Diddy Kong, Ivysaur, Lucario, Luigi, Pikachu, Sheik, Solid Snake, Squirtle, Wario, Yoshi, and Zero Suit Samus.

A new technique called the Footstool Jump is introduced. It allows players to jump on an another player's head up to five times and spring up by pressing the jump button at the right time. Players are be able to perform Meteor Smashes by doing this as well. The Tether Recovery is a returning tactic in the game. It allows players to grab onto ledges using chain-like items, such as a Plasma Whip or a Link's Hookshot. Gliding is also a technique in this game, available only to winged characters. When gliding is used, players are able to glide across the stage and be able to control the way they fly. They can direct themselves upwards or downwards, depending on the direction the or the  is pointed in.

Another feature not present in the past two games is slipping. Any character can slip. The feature has no upside for the players that slip other than the invincibility frames that are granted to the players when they get up. Players can slip when trying to run suddenly, go down slopes, turn around or walking on a Banana Peel.

The game also features three different Taunts for each character, while the past games only feature one taunt. Snake is the only character that has all identical taunts.

The game can be controlled with one of the four controlling methods:

There are a few differences between the controller methods. The Wii Remote and the Nunchuk Attachment has a special feature, the Shake Smash, allowing the players to execute Smash Attacks in the direction they shake the controller to. The Classic Controller, Wii Remote + Nunchuk Attachment, and the GameCube controller also have a function which disables the jump by tapping the control stick upwards.

The execution of standard combos has been made simpler; for many characters, the attack button no longer has to be hit repeatedly, but it is enough to hold it down for the character to start a combo attack. The effects, however, usually differ.

Players are able to set their own button configuration rather than have to play with the default configuration. The configuration can be saved on the Wii Remote's internal memory, allowing to take it to a friend's and play with one's own button configuration there. The Players are able to insert names with up to five letters, as in Super Smash Bros. Melee. In the previous game, names are only a gimmick. In this game, they now also save the players' controlling options to avoid having to select the control method each time.

Playable characters
With thirty-five playable characters (thirty-nine, if Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, and the Pokémon Trainer's three Pokémon without including Pokémon Trainer are counted), Super Smash Bros. Brawl has ten more characters than the previous installment. Twenty-one characters are available directly from the start, while the other fourteen need to be unlocked to become playable. Only five of the characters from the previous game aren't playable in this game, which are Pichu, Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Young Link, and Roy. Additionally, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the first game in the series to feature third-party characters as playable characters; Sonic and Solid Snake. The Special Moves and Final Smash for each character are listed on the right-side column.

Unlockable characters
In addition to the characters listed above, the following characters can be unlocked when certain requirements are met.

Additionally, as new characters are unlocked, they are added to the group of fighters at the beginning intro of the game.

Stages
There are forty-one total stages in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Ten of those stages are returning stages from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Unlockable stages
In addition to the above stages, there are several stages that must be unlocked to play on.

Items
Items randomly appear on any stage in the game, and in standard Brawl mode, the player can choose to ban certain items from appearing or increase/decrease the frequency of items appearing. In Classic and All Star mode, these options cannot be modified. Certain items from particular game series appear more frequently than they would on other stages, such as Banana Peels on Donkey Kong stages, Poké Balls on Pokémon stages, etc.

Subspace Emissary
The Subspace Emissary is the equivalent to Adventure Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee, but with a much more complex plot and more gameplay time. Subspace Emissary is set in the World of Trophies. There are five difficulties to choose from: Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard, and Intense. The player has a choice to save game process after completing each level.

The Subspace Emissary uses a team system. Two players can play in the Subspace Emissary at one time, with second player being an optional supporting character. Due to the camera following the main character, if the second character cannot follow the scroll and becomes off-screen, he or she is automatically warped. If Player 1 is defeated, and Player 2 is not, the game will still be over. Also, by pressing the Start or Plus Button, Player 2 can always warp to wherever Player 1 is. This, however, does not work during boss battles in the Emissary. The main screen shows where to go next, and the character selection screen allows the player to choose his or her team. In single player, teams are still available. However, the second character is akin to an extra life, and if the main character is defeated, the player takes control of the second character, until it, too, is defeated.

The player is able to use Sticker power-ups for the mode. The stickers are arranging on the character's Trophy Stand and give bonuses on Launch Power, Launch Resistance, and powers and resistances to several attacks like Arm, Weapon, Slash, Electric and Flame. The effects vary from sticker to sticker. When the player loses all of their lives, they can be asked to continue but stickers and enemy turned trophies will be cut in half, if they decide to quit, they will get a Game Over and lose half of their stickers but they may keep the trophies.

All unlockable characters can be unlocked by playing Subspace Emissary mode, but three of them can only be unlocked after the mode has been completed, and which then they must be beaten.

Plot
The "Subspace Emissary" is the adventure and story mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The main antagonists are the Subspace Army, which is led by the Ancient Minister. The story begins with a fight between Mario and Kirby while Peach and Zelda are watching. The Subspace Army, riding in the Halberd, interrupts the fight by setting a Subspace Bomb and several Primids. The four fight off the Primids. Mario then attempts to intercept the Subspace Bomb, but Petey Piranha captures both Peach and Zelda while a cannonball knocks Mario to the clouds. Kirby then defeats Petey Piranha and escapes with one princess while Wario captures the other. In the sky, Mario joins Pit to fight the Subspace Army, pursuing the Ancient Minister.

Meanwhile, the Koopa Troop has invaded Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's banana horde. Once they meet Bowser, Bowser attempts to fire his cannon at Diddy Kong, but Donkey Kong, at the cost of himself, knocks Diddy Kong away. During Kirby and the princess's escape, the Halberd destroys Kirby's warpstar, so the two land on it. They then notice an Arwing fighting the Halberd, but the Halberd shoots it down. The Arwing lands in a lake in the jungle, near Diddy Kong. Before Diddy Kong can realize what is happening, a Rayquaza emerges from the lake, destroys the Arwing, and snatches Diddy Kong. Fox, however, emerges from the Arwing and rescues Diddy Kong. Then, the two fight and eventually defeat Rayquaza. They adventure together and soon confront Bowser, but they eventually retreat.

In the Ruined Zoo, Ness saves Lucas from several Primids. Once they destroy a Porky Statue, they fight Porky in his spider mech. After the match, however, Wario ambushes and transforms Ness into a statue. Lucas then flees, but joins the Pokémon Trainer. Marth, notices a nearby Subspace Bombs detonating. He approaches it, fighting several Primids along the way. Meta Knight intervenes, but the two eventually ally once they realize that they are both fighting the Subspace Army. They also pursue the Ancient Minister, with Ike joining the two. The Ancient Minister escapes, however.

Luigi attempts to fight several harmless Waddle Dees, but King Dedede arrives and transforms Luigi into a trophy. Wario tries to take the trophy, but King Dedede steal Wario's trophy carriers, taking trophies of the princess, Ness, and Luigi. In a forest, Link notices the Halberd and its emitting shadow bug and chases it. Yoshi accompanies him shortly after. Inside the Halberd, Zero Suit Samus breaks in the floating island base. Zero Suit Samus then discovers Pikachu having its electricity harnessed. She frees Pikachu, but an alarm is triggered, so they must fend off R.O.B.s. Eventually, the two enter a room where Zero Suit Samus looks for her Power Suit.

King Dedede passes Kirby and the rescued princess. Kirby, abandoning the princess, chases King Dedede. Bowser attacks the princess, transforming her into a trophy. Then, Bowser creates a clone of the princess, and the princess attempts to transform Mario and Pit (if the princess is Zelda) or Link and Yoshi (if the princess is Peach), but it fails, and the princess clone is destroyed. Link (if the clone is Zelda) or Mario (if the clone is Peach) sees his princess be defeated by the opponent pair. He and his partner then attack the two. The losing team is transformed into trophies. King Dedede tries to nab these trophies, but Kirby intervenes and saves the losing team. Then, Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, and Kirby chase King Dedede. Ganondorf, under Master Hand's allegiance, orders Bowser to follow King Dedede. In King Dedede's castle, after King Dedede places badges on top of his trophy captives, Bowser finds him. Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, and Kirby also enter King Dedede's castle and attempt to attack Bowser, but Bowser retreats to the Halberd in his Koopa Clown Car. The Ancient Minister plants and detonates a Subspace Bomb in King Dedede's castle. Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, and Kirby try to attack the Ancient Minister once more, but during the fight, a nearby Subspace Bomb detonates, so the group leave hastily.

While Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer approach a mountain, they notice a Charizard and follow it. Wario interrupts them, but he loses the rematch. Then, the two enter the temple, catching Ivysaur and eventually Charizard. Marth, Ike, and Meta Knight fight and beat Galleom, and Galleom collapses where Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer is. They land the finishing blow on Galleom, but Galleom reveals to have a Subspace Bomb encased in itself. It grabs Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer, attempting to self-detonate midair. Lucas severs one of its arms, and Meta Knight rescues them. The resulting Subspace from the explosion then engulfs the defeated Wario.

When Fox and Diddy are adventuring, Bowser shoots Diddy Kong. Falco enters, however, and destroys Bowser's gun. Bowser retreats once more while Fox and Falco fight a giant false Diddy Kong. Once Diddy Kong is restored, the three find the ship that has Donkey Kong hostage. The three then pursue it by boarding the Great Fox.

After some fights with Samus clones, Zero Suit Samus and Pikachu find Samus's Power Suit. Shortly after, the two engage in a fight against Ridley and defeat him.

Captain Falcon assists Olimar and his Pikmin against a giant R.O.B.. The two eventually find a ship that carries Donkey Kong. While Fox, Falco, and Diddy Kong are trying to rescue Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar help them, and they rescue Donkey Kong.

While being with Marth, Ike Lucas, and the Pokémon Trainer, Meta Knight notices the Halberd dueling with the Great Fox near a mountain. He leaves his group behind, joining the Ice Climbers. During the climb, Lucario challenges Meta Knight to a fight, but once the fight is over, the two ally. The fight with the two ships cause an avalanche, however, making the Ice Climbers tumble. Lucario and Meta Knight then enter the ship. Primids attempt to fight the Ice Climbers, but Marth, Ike, Lucas, and Pokémon Trainer join to fend off the Primids. Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, and Kirby also join and form a large group.

On the Halberd, Lucario and Meta Knight recruit Snake. The three proceed to rescue the princesses after a fight with their clones. While the three tell the princesses to stay, after they leave Zelda transforms into Sheik, and Peach and Sheik enter the deck of the Halberd. Fox, ejected from his Arwing, and Sheik almost fight, but Peach helps them ally. Meanwhile, Meta Knight, Lucario, and Snake discover Mr. Game & Watches piloting the Halberd. The Mr. Game & Watches transform into Duon, engaging in a fight with Sheik, Peach, Fox, Snake, Meta Knight, and Lucario, while Falco joins. Once Duon is defeated, Mr. Game & Watch joins the team. Meanwhile, Meta Knight takes control of the Halberd.

In the island base, Samus and Pikachu find a room filled with R.O.B.s, Subspace Bombs. They also encounter the Ancient Minister. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Olimar, and Captain Falcon also enter the room. Ganondorf orders the R.O.B.s to deploy the bombs, but the Ancient Minister, reluctant to sacrifice more of his R.O.B.s, refuses. Ganondorf forces the R.O.B.s to active the bombs while telling the R.O.B.s to attack the Ancient Minister to prevent him from intervening. This makes the Ancient Minister's clothes burn. During an attack with Auroros, the fire burns off the Ancient Minister's clothes, revealing the Ancient Minister to be an R.O.B. himself. The group then take R.O.B. and escape from the island base in the Falcon Flyer. Meta Ridley attacks them along the way, but he is defeated. The group at the mountain notice the Halberd and the Falcon Flyer fly toward a giant subspace, so they board the ships.

During the flight, a gigantic battleship aims a huge subspace cannon and fires at the Halberd, destroying it. Smaller ships, however, emerge from the explosion, saving the protagonists. During the gun fight, Kirby in his Dragoon flies and destroys the cannon in one hit. Bowser and Ganondorf, disappointed, retreat into the Subspace. Ganondorf, however, shoots Bowser and transforms Bowser into a trophy. Ganondorf realizes, however, that Master Hand is manipulated by Tabuu. Ganondorf attempts to free Master Hand, but Tabuu is too strong and transforms Ganondorf into a trophy. Then, Master Hand tries and fails to defeat Tabuu. When the protagonists emerge, Tabuu transforms all into trophies.

Back in King Dedede's castle, King Dedede's badge revives Luigi and Ness. Luigi and Ness proceed to revive King Dedede, and the three rescue the trophies of their allies. Once they revive Bowser, Bowser attempts to fight King Dedede, but fails. King Dedede then convinces Bowser to join while Link and Zelda revive Ganondorf. Kirby, also revived from a King Dedede badge he had swallowed earlier, also retrieves the rest of the trophies. Once Kirby reunites with King Dedede, Wario also attacks, but Wario sees the team and agrees to help defeat Tabuu.

The group, revived, then head through The Great Maze, defeating all bosses and dark versions of themselves. Once they reach Tabuu, Sonic interrupts and destroys Tabuu's wings so Tabuu cannot transform the group back into trophies. A final fight ensues, with the group being victorious. This causes the entire Smash World to return to normal, and the group is seen in a horizon at sunset.

Classic mode
Classic mode returns from Super Smash Bros. Melee, acting the same way. Players pick a character, and then go through a barrage of fights. Each stage appears in a certain order, with a Legend of Zelda stage appearing first, and a Pokémon stage appearing third. Like the last game, certain conditions are set in a few matches. A few examples are the player and two teammates fighting a giant version of an opponent, or the player fighting a metal version of another player. A small heart appears next to a teammate's logo in the matches with allies. When a level is finished, the score is added up, and coins are earned. These can be used in the Coin Launcher. Clearing this mode will give the player a trophy of the character used to complete it.

All-Star mode
All-Star mode returns from Melee, while basically the same it has had some slight modifications. It can now be played with two players and opponents are now sorted by Series rather than in a random order. No more than two foes appear at the time. The Pokémon Level has the most enemies as Pokémon Trainer uses each Pokémon separately. It is unlocked by unlocking all the characters. Beating rewards the player with a a trophy of the current charcter preforming their Final Smash. Also, if All-Star is beaten with Co-op mode, Final Smash Trophies of both characters are rewarded. The order of the fights are also the order the games came out. Also, in Co-Op mode, the players must fight two Olimars in the last level.

Events
Events are an updated version of Super Smash Bros. Melee's Event Matches. They are pre-defined missions to be completed by the player; most of them have the objective of defeating certain opponents. Each event is represented by a small preview screenshot on the event list, and a difficulty (Easy - Normal - Hard) can be selected. Several events are also available in the co-op mode, which allows two players at a time to play. In this mode, they cooperate, thus cannot fight each other. The events are:

Co-Op mode
This mode requires two human players, and has different events from the single-player mode (excluding one which was also an event in Single-Player Mode).

Stadium
The Stadium offers several mini-games, as previously in Super Smash Bros. Melee and one new mode.

Home-Run Contest
The Home-Run Contest returns with quite a few differences. A shield surrounds the platform, preventing players from accidentally pushing Sandbag off the platform. However, the shield shatters if it is knocked around by the Sandbag too much. The shield disappears when the ten seconds are up. Two players can work together in cooperative play, with the two having to work together in order to set a good record. Two players can also challenge each other in two player alternating play, which features two characters taking turns to see who can punch Sandbag the farthest. Both of these modes can be played in Wi-Fi Connection mode, under the With Friends mode.

Target Smash!!
Also available in the Stadium mode is Target Smash!!, a slightly altered mode of the Target Test from the previous games. There are five different levels that all characters can play on, and the replays can be sent to other players via the Wi-Fi Connection. It is also possible to play Target Smash!! with two players simultaneously.

Multi-Man Brawl
Another returning feature is the Multi-Man Brawl, known as Multi-Man Melee in the previous game. In this mode, players fight the enormous Fighting Alloy Team. Objectives include defeating a certain number of Alloys, fighting them off for a set period of time, or fighting endlessly for a high score. 10 Man, 100 Man, 3 Minute, 15 minute, Endless and Cruel Settings all return. Various rewards from the challenges section are obtained in this mode.

New additions to the mode include its inclusion in two-player mode, whereas in Melee the mode was strictly single player. The Fighting Wire Frames have been replaced by the Alloys. While there were only two types of Wire Frames, there are four types of Alloys. All alloys resemble and act like a certain character. Red Alloys act like Captain Falcon, Blue Alloys act like Zelda, Yellow Alloys act like Mario, and Green Alloys act like Kirby.

There are a variety of modes in Multi-Man /Brawl:


 * 10-Man Brawl - KO 10 enemies.
 * 100-Man Brawl - KO 100 enemies.
 * 3-Minute Brawl - Fight for 3 minutes.
 * 15-Minute Brawl - Fight for 15 minutes.
 * Endless Brawl - Fight until the player gets KO'd.
 * Cruel Brawl - Fight until the player gets KO'd.

Additionally in Cruel Brawl the Fighting Alloys are stronger, and are capable of making one hit KOs, while no items appear.

Boss Battle Mode
This mode is similar to All-star mode, except the player must fight all of the bosses that appear in the game. The player is provided only with three Heart Containers that heal all damage, and they only have one life. Unlike All-star, however, enemies are in random order (except for the final boss, Tabuu), and there is no option to continue after being defeated; players are instead taken directly back to the Character Select Screen. If the mode is cleared, the time taken is recorded for the high score. If not, the number of bosses defeated will be. Players can set the difficultly level to the same ones as other modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, or Intense. The difficulty levels will affect how fast the bosses will move, along with how much damage their attacks will inflict.

It is unlocked by clearing Subspace Emissary for the first time, and by defeating Classic Mode at least once. Crazy Hand does not have to be fought to unlock the game mode. Also, like All-Star mode, Boss Battle Mode can be played with two players simultaneously. If done so, there will be five Heart Containers total at the healing area.

Training
The Training mode returns from Super Smash Bros. Melee. It allows the player to learn to play the game properly, or to experiment with certain functions and items. The player fights one to three characters, which can be controlled by the CPU, the player, or not move at all. The player can create any item to test it, as well as the Smash Ball to practice Final Smashes. The hit damage of the CPU can be predefined, and the game can be put in slow or quick motion.

Brawl
Very similar to previous games, in which 2-4 players or computers may battle. The players can select their characters, who also have alternate costumes, and choose the stage to play on. As the battle begins, while the announcer is counting down, each character appears with their specific entrance. For example, Samus comes out of a teleporter and Mario out of a Warp Pipe. These entrances were present in the original Super Smash Bros., but not in Super Smash Bros. Melee, for unknown reasons.

As in the last two games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has Handicaps to help beginners in battles. However, this time, handicaps do not affect the player's attack strength and knockback resistance, but instead, changes a player's starting damage percentage. The handicap can be from 0% to 300%. For example, one player can start at 0% damage, but the other starts at 50%, even after that player has been knocked out. This allows players to test their skills, or just to give them a challenge, as well as helping beginners learn the basics.

For characters with multiple forms, the character selection screen allows the player to choose which character they will start with, by clicking the alternate form (i.e. Sheik). This means characters like Zelda can be used to select Sheik. Depending on the choice, that will be the character the player starts as in the beginning of the match.

Rules
This feature allows the player to control a wide variety of settings for Group mode. These settings do not affect any other mode. These three settings are the most basic rules players can change:

Default Rules

 * Time: In these matches, fighters will score a point for each KO and lose a point for each fall or self-destruct. The fighter with the most points when time runs out wins the match. If there is a tie, the game will go into sudden death mode. In this situation, there is no time limit but each fighter has only a single life and starts with 300% damage. The last one standing wins.
 * Stock: Each fighter has a set number of lives. They lose one each time they fall off the stage. When a fighter loses their last life, they obviously do not reappear. The last fighter standing wins.
 * Coin: Fighters collect coins to increase their score, which is displayed above their damage gauge. Bronze coins are worth 1 point, silver coins are worth 3 points, and gold coins are worth 6. There are also bills. Coins are created when a fighter receives damage. The value of the coins corresponds to the strength of the attack. However, these coins are not subtracted from the victim's score. Fighters have unlimited lives, but their score is cut in half when they fall off the stage (100 if they have 200 coins or more). Whoever has the highest score when time runs out wins the match.

Players can also set handicap and damage ratio. With handicap, fighters can start matches and respawn with automatic damage. Damage ratio adjusts the total knockback. It can be set from 0.5 to 2.0 at intervals of 0.1. By default, it is set at 1.0. The higher the number, the higher the knockback. Players can also determine what chooses stages. They can freely choose the stage, for instance, or have the loser of the match pick the stage. Players also have the ability to determine which items appear and how often.

More Rules
These additional rules can be unlocked by players score 200 KOs in Group mode. Players can sets time limit for a stock match, turn on team attack, turn off pausing, enable score display, or hide percentages. When all stages are unlocked, players can adjust which stage is allowed to be selected at random.

Special Brawl
A new feature is the Special Brawl. Using this, players are able to customize the battle themselves. This means they can attach items, set stats, and add appearance differences to all the players, right from the start of the battle, without having to collect the items themselves. The Special Brawl, thus, allows players to try a variety of settings such as Invisible Bunny Brawl, instead of the settings given on a certain type of battle, as seen in previous with the Special Melee modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Records involving Special Brawl are not saved. Also, in Stamina Mode, unlike in Super Smash Bros. Melee, players can choose how much HP they'll start with; from 1 HP, all the way up to 300 HP.

Rotation
The Rotation mode is an enhanced version of the Winner Out/Loser Out Tournament modes of Super Smash Bros. Melee. It allows more than four players to play at the same system, by passing the controllers on after each battle. Up to sixteen players can be put into the queue, with each given the possibility to use their name and their personal controller configuration. However, this is not required. There is still the option between Winner Out and Loser Out, where the winner or the loser of the match pass the controller on to the next player after the match, respectively. Additionally, players have the option to pause, i. e. moving themselves at the end of the queue. The mode is available when two or more controllers are connected to the Wii. Players can change their character in the middle of the Rotation Mode, like in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Tourney
The Tourney Mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee (then "Tournament Mode") is in Brawl, acting the exact same way as it did in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Players are able to brawl in a tourney, that can have up to thirty-two players, and must fight their way to the championship, eventually earning a cup if they win. It is possible to play with friends, or battle CPU characters. Apart from decreasing the total number of players from sixty-four to thirty-two and letting players put in more characters on stage than controllers (such as four characters when there are only 2 controllers connected), nothing has changed compared to Melee.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is a new feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, similar to what happened with Mario Strikers Charged, the game tends to slow down and fail when the players are playing far away. The further away the players are from each other, the more the problem worsens. So, playing a game from Japan to America will slow the game down, and cause some problems in the battle. Regardless, the game is still capable of connecting overseas. The two modes are With Friends and With Anyone.

When playing with friends, players use friend codes in order to brawl with each other. They choose an emblem to represent themselves. Emblems can be the games' series emblems, the characters' icons, or Miis. In this mode, players are able to send messages to each other in-game, using the Taunt command. Players can send four different kinds of messages, one for each direction: up, down, left, and right. Results are recorded only in this mode. The Home-run Contest and Multi-Man Brawl are also playable in this mode.

When brawling in the With Anyone setting, players are unable to send messages to each other in-game, and neither can they see the name or details of their opponent. Also, the results of the battle are not recorded in the With Anyone mode. There are several modes in the With Anyone setting. In the Basic Brawl, players play against each other without teams. However, the rules are set to 2-Minute Brawl and cannot be changed. However, players can individually change their item settings. The game will randomly use the item setting of one of the combatants. If there are less than four players, there will be CPU enemies present to make there be four characters. When a player disconnects from the Wi-Fi connection while battling, a CPU takes over their character.

Unlockable characters are also available in this setting for a player who has unlocked them. Because of this, Nintendo recommends players not to use the Basic Brawl setting if one is not wanting to get the unlockable characters spoiled. A different mode in the With Anyone setting is the Team Brawl. While the game is loading, or while the players are waiting for other opponents, they can practice the game by attacking the Sandbag from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Players can choose to be spectators of the battle, and even bet coins on who will win.

Vault
Here, various content can be found, such as content that is received when players achieve certain tasks.

Trophies
Trophies return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. They act the same way, some being collected the same way, but there are now new trophies, and they are more easily stored, as an image of the trophy will be seen when players select a trophy. They can also be displayed the same way they were in Melee. When a trophy is selected, a description of the character or object portrayed will be displayed. There are a total of 544 different trophies to collect. In the Subspace Emissary if the finds a Trophy Stand and throws it at an enemy it turns it into a trophy. Many trophies can be placed as a part of dioramas. There are also more backgrounds that can add to this new feature.

Stickers
Throughout the game, players can find Stickers, which show up at random points during Brawls. Unlike trophies, however, the items will be much easier to find and are simply pieces of 2D game artwork rather than 3D models. Stickers are stored in an album. They can be used to power up characters in the Subspace Emissary. Stickers however have one use and once used, the player cannot acquire them back unless they happen to collect the same kind of sticker again.

Similar to the Trophy Hoard, stickers can be used to decorate a screen. Different backgrounds can be selected, and pictures can be taken.

Coin Launcher
The Coin Launcher is a mini-game available in the Vault, replacing the Lottery mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee. In this game, the player uses the coins which they have won in the Classic Mode, the Subspace Emissary, the Group mode or by betting on the winner in the Wi-Fi connection's Spectator Mode, to get trophies and stickers. The player controls the Coin Launcher, a cannon that shoots the coins the player has collected. Several moving objects appear at regular intervals, of which there are a few different types. Each different type moves in a different formation and direction across the screen. If the player shoots all the enemies in a particular group formation, the player will often gain a sticker as a reward. However, the main aim of this game is to hit the Trophies to win them. These appear quite regularly, and move across the screen in a random path, although these are predetermined. A trophy must be hit with two to four coins to be collected. There are some hazards in this game; mainly the missiles which appear and aim for the Coin Launcher. Each one takes two hits to destroy, but some move much faster than others, and occasionally a large group will appear all at once. If a missile hits the Coin Launcher, the player loses ten coins, and a special green gauge decreases. This gauge, located on the bottom left corner of the screen, if filled up completely, allows the player to rapid-fire coins for a short time when it is filled. It is filled slightly whenever a missile is destroyed, or a certain number of moving objects.

Stage Builder
Players create custom stages using this mode. When making the stage, players first pick the size of the stage, and then creating a background pattern, as well as the music from the game that will play on the stage. Once done, the player can start adding pieces to the stage, whether it be simple platforms to ladders to spikes. However, each of the four control types have different ways to move the pieces, however, they are all able to flip, resize, zoom, swap palettes and erase pieces of the stage.

After building a fraction of the stage, it can be tested out before being saved. This can be done several times, if it is necessary. After the stage is finished, the name and comment can be chosen, as well as an option to change the music of the stage. It can be sent to other players via Wi-Fi Connection, but cannot ever be played on using the Wi-Fi connection. At one point, it could have been sent directly to Nintendo using the "Submit" option on the Stage Builder screen. Every day, Nintendo would send a selected stage to every player with Wi-Fi and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so they could try out the stages that other people have made. The stage was removed after a day had passed, and a new one was brought in the next day. This allowed players to make and try out new stages for themselves every day. However, this ability to send vault data to Nintendo was discontinued.

Challenges
All three kinds of collectibles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl - trophies, stickers and CDs - can be alternatively won in the Challenges mode. Stages, Masterpieces, and Stage Builder parts can also be unlocked. The Challenge mode has many closed windows which contain the prizes. When the player unlocks an item by winning a challenge, for example playing the Target Smash level 1 with 10 different characters for the Stafy trophy, the collectibles left and right to Stafy's trophy, which are currently not won and invisible, appear in a red silhouette, and their method of unlocking is displayed. The player can also win Golden Hammers, which they can use to automatically get any window of his or her choice open, getting the item inside. However, not all windows can be destroyed with a hammer; objectives related to the Boss Battles mode cannot be opened. There's a total of 128 objectives in the Challenges Mode.

Album
Throughout the game, the player is able to take screenshots while pausing the game. In contrast to Super Smash Bros. Melee, there is no special camera mode needed. The screenshots can be either saved on the Wii's internal memory or an SD card.

Replays
A new feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is Replays. This can be used on a single Brawl in Group Mode, Target Smash!!, Home-run Contest, and Multi-man Brawl. They can be recorded by pressing Z after the brawl or the challenge has ended. The maximum time for a replay to be recorded is three minutes. They can later be accessed and replayed from the Vault, or be sent to an SD Card. Players could also submit Target Smash!! and Home-run Contest records to Nintendo, via WiiConnect24. However, the service was discontinued after June 30th, 2009.

Masterpieces
In this mode, the player can play restricted demo versions of classical Nintendo games via the Virtual Console. The player does not have to connect to the Wi-Fi connection for that. The available demos are the following:


 * Super Mario Bros. (1:00)
 * Ice Climber (0:40)
 * The Legend of Zelda (NES) (2:00)
 * Kid Icarus (1:00)
 * Kirby's Adventure (2:00)
 * Fire Emblem (Japanese version only) (3:00)
 * Super Metroid (3:00)
 * EarthBound (Japanese version only) (5:00)
 * Star Fox 64 (3:00)

Some must be unlocked. These games include the following:


 * Donkey Kong (0:30) (Play for 10 hours or more total.)
 * Super Mario World (2:00) (Play on Yoshi's Island (Melee) three times.)
 * Super Mario Bros. 2 (1:30) (Play as Peach and win five matches in VS Mode.)
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (5:00) (Play as Toon Link ten times in VS Mode.)
 * F-Zero (0:45) (Get Captain Falcon to join the party in The Subspace Emissary.)

All titles have a restricted time they can be played in. However, some, like Super Metroid, come with save data.

Chronicle
Here, the player can view a list of many video game titles that have been released by Nintendo and when they were released. The titles are sorted and separated by which system they were for (e.g. Game & Watch, Game Boy Advance, Wii). More titles are added as trophies and Stickers from those games are collected.

Options
Players can toggle with various settings and features. For instance, they can adjust the aspect ratio of their screen, or set the graphics appearance. They can also adjust the rumble feature and set control schemes to save on names. They can also adjust the music and sound effect volume while having quick access to the Sound Test. Finally, players can erase certain records of their data or erase everything.

My Music
Rather than restricting each stage to one music track, as in the previous games stages have a selection of music tracks usually from the game series the stage is from, and players can choose which music track they want to play on the stage using the My Music mode. For example, on the Delfino Plaza stage (image shown on the right), players can choose between the Delfino Plaza theme from Super Mario Sunshine, the title/ending theme of Super Mario World, the main theme to New Super Mario Bros., and many more. Players can set how commonly the track may appear on the stage. To add more music to the collection, the player must collect CDs, which randomly appear across the entire game, in many of the numerous modes of play. They can also be earned by completing challenges and certain game modes. After all music tracks have been collected, the CD will appear no more.

Data
A variety of content is stored here including records from group matches. This section of Gameplay records has 4 different pages. The first page is a chart showing the total number of KO's each fighter has performed on each fighter. The second page shows the top 5 fighters for each of sevaral stats, such as KO's, falls, self-destructs, victories, losses, peak damage, walking distance, swim time, drownings, etc. The third page lists all the same stats for each individual character. The fourth and final page similarly lists all the same stats for each name; as well as the fighter used most, second-most, and least.

Players can view also various gameplay records of gameplay; including, but not limited to total time playing this game, matches played, total damage, trophy count, and fighter most used. Notices, special messages that congratulate the player and appear when certain accomplishments are done, such as unlocking important things and clearing game modes for the first time, are saved in the order that they appeared.

When cutscenes are viewed in The Subspace Emissary, they can viewed again. There are also five pre-installed videos: a How to Play video, the E3 trailer, another introductory video, and videos that each focus on a new third-party characrer. Songs and sound effects in the game also can be listened to here. Some songs need to be unlocked by completing challenges or picking up CD's. The game that each song originated from is displayed when the song is selected.

Staff


Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Kirby and the Super Smash Bros. series, is heavily involved during this production, being the director. Masahiro Sakurai is also a former member of the HAL Laboratory game company, and he is now part of the Sora company. The game also uses the havok game engine, a trait shared by various other nonNintendo games, making it the first Super Smash Bros. game and the only Nintendo game to do so. Other companies have been involved in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's development, especially for its extensive soundtrack, including Camelot Co., Ltd., Namco Bandai Games Inc., and Monolith Software Inc..

Beta elements
Early in development, a damage system would have been implemented that would cause characters to shown signs of visible damage and strain during prolonged battles. Among those found included Meta Knight's mask that would develop large cracks, or Captain Falcon's helmet whose visor would crack to reveal a part of his face.

Play as a giant Jigglypuff
First, the player must select the Bridge of Eldin stage. The player should also have a Final Smash prepared. King Bulbin will eventually come and destroy part of the bridge with a bomb. Soon after, a portal will restore that part of the bridge. When the matter begins to rebuild the bridge, the player has to use the final smash in midair in the gap. Jigglypuff will begin to inflate while the bridge is getting mended. When the bridge is completely fixed, Jigglypuff should bounce up onto the bridge and remain giant. Its attacks are completely the same, only that they have a much longer reach. Its movement seems to have slowed somewhat as well. It also becomes a very easy target and is simple to KO, as the slightest touch of the KO range will take it out. With this glitch activated, having Yoshi perform his Egg Lay attack will make Jigglypuff grow even bigger.

Mario series

 * A01 - Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. (CS: Koji Kondo, AS: Koji Kondo)
 * A02 - [[Media:Undergroundbrawl.OGG|Underground Theme]] - Super Mario Bros. (CS: Koji Kondo, AS: Kentaro Ishizaka)
 * A03 - Underwater Theme - Super Mario Bros. (AS: Shogo Sakai)
 * A04 - Underground Theme - Super Mario Land (A: Koji Hayama)
 * A05 - Airship Theme - Super Mario Bros. 3 (A: Motoi Sakuraba)
 * A06 - [[Media:SSBB SMWCastleSMB3Boss.ogg|Castle / Boss Fortress]] - Super Mario World / Super Mario Bros. 3 (AS: Yusuke Takahama)
 * A07 - Title / Ending - Super Mario World (AS: Shota Kageyama)
 * A08 - Main Theme - New Super Mario Bros. (AS: Shogo Sakai)
 * A09 - Luigi's Mansion Theme - Luigi's Mansion (AS: Shogo Sakai)
 * A10 - Gritzy Desert - Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (AS: Yoko Shimomura)
 * A13 - Delfino Plaza [Original] - Super Mario Sunshine
 * A14 - Ricco Harbor [Original] - Super Mario Sunshine
 * A15 - Main Theme [Original] - Super Mario 64
 * A16 - Ground Theme 2 - Super Mario Bros. (A: Masaaki Iwasaki)
 * A17 - [[Media:SSBB MarioBros.ogg|Mario Bros.]] - Mario Bros. (AS: Shogo Sakai)
 * A20 - Mario Circuit - Super Mario Kart (AS: Yusuke Takahama)
 * A21 - Luigi Circuit - Mario Kart 64 (AS: Yasufumi Fukuda)
 * A22 - Waluigi Pinball - Mario Kart DS (AS: Kentaro Ishizaka)
 * A23 - Rainbow Road [Original] - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!