Metal Box
Metal Box | |
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Metal Box artwork from Brawl. | |
Universe | Mario |
Appears in | Melee Brawl |
Item class | Transforming |
Article on Super Mario Wiki | Metal Box |
The Metal Box, known in Japan as Green Block (緑ブロック, Midori burokku), is an item from the Mario series that appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Metal Box encases the character's bodies with metal for a short period of time. Images of each character's metal form can be found here.
Description
The Metal Box encases the character's body in metal. It both games, it has the following effects:
- It lasts about twelve seconds, but the time limit decreases as the user takes damage, especially from fire attacks like Bowser's Fire Breath. Powerful multi-hit attacks, such as Peach's down smash, however, can instantaneously cause the effect to wear off.
- User becomes heavier (about 3 times more), thus received knockback will be reduced.
- Slightly increases jumping height.
- Doubles a character's falling speed, making recoveries harder (in Melee, it's much harder to recover than in Brawl), and more vulnerable to chain grabs.
- Reduces speed slightly.
- Attacks performed by a metal character deal slightly more knockback, although the damage dealt remains unchanged.
- Metal characters receive more knockback resistance; in both games, weak projectiles such as Link's Arrows and an uncharged Shadow Ball and most jabs will merely deal damage, with no knockback.
- Removes any character's voices (although, as sound effects are still retained, Samus and Mr. Game & Watch are unaffected by this). However, getting knocked beyond the blast line of any stage will make the character scream as usual.
The effect of the Metal Box is not quite as drastic as the various Metal fights in Classic Mode, which last the whole battle and does not wear off. Additionally, the character will still lack voices of any sort when KO'd.
Super Smash Bros.
The Metal Box does not appear in SSB, but Metal Mario appears as a foe the player must battle in the 1-Player Game. Metal Mario here can take far over 300% damage before being sent flying off-screen.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
The Metal Box makes its debut in Melee. In this game, when characters break the Metal Box with a physical attack (or a direct attack such as a sword), their whole body will be encased with metal. The metal condition lasts around twelve seconds and then fades away. During this period they are approximately 3 times heavier than normal. If a projectile destroys the Metal Box, then no one can receive the metal condition. Interestingly, Ness' dash attack destroys the box, but does not give him the metal status. His yo-yo does, however. Characters can fight Metal Mario and/or Metal Luigi in Adventure Mode. In addition, they also fight a random metal character in Classic Mode. The Metal Box also appears as a collectible trophy.
Depending on the weight and walking style of a character, when characters walk, they make a distinctive sound.
Sounds:
- Heavy: "CLUTCH!"
- Medium: "CHANK!"
- Light: "TING!"
Heavy characters such as Ganondorf, Samus, and Link and light characters such as the Ice Climbers and Zelda all make middleweight stepping sounds, despite being nowhere near medium weight.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Metal Box appears again in Brawl with its effect unaltered, although it will not react to projectiles. In addition, a "Metal" option exists in Special Brawl, which gives every player a permanent Metal Box effect. It also has an effect on the new ability to swim; while characters will not sink as Metal Mario did in Super Mario 64, they will submerge deeper when falling into the water, which is used to reach a secret area in the Glacial Peak level of the Subspace Emissary mode (3 metal boxes are provided nearby). In Classic Mode, the player must also fight a random metal character. Additionally, the Metal Box also appears as a collectible trophy. The walking sound effect in Brawl is not the same as in Melee; everyone has the same sound when walking.
Trophies
Trophy Description (Melee)
First spotted in Super Mario 64, the Metal Box holds the power to turn your character briefly into heavy metal. Your mass is exponentially greater while metallic, making it difficult for others to throw you. Be careful, though: not only will you move a bit slower, but you'll also fall much more quickly than you ordinarily would.
Super Mario 64 9/96
Trophy description (Brawl)
A green box that transforms whoever attacks it into metal. In metal form, you're a lot heavier than normal, so middling and even strong attacks don't move you too much, and standard attacks won't even make you flinch. The time you spend in metal form decreases with the damage you take. In Super Mario 64, the weight of the metal form allowed you to walk underwater.
Origin
Metal Boxes come from Super Mario 64, wherein Mario could destroy them (only after activating them by pressing the Green "!" Switch) so that they release a Metal Cap. Once Mario puts this cap on, he himself becomes metal. He becomes powerful, able to walk underwater, and immune to all damage, but is much heavier and more sluggish that he can't swim. These effects are similar in Melee and Brawl.
Interestingly, Metal Boxes were never referred to by that name in Mario 64; they were simply referred to as "green blocks". Also, although they completely remove characters' voices in the Smash Bros. series, Metal Mario only loses his voice while underwater.
Trivia
- Interestingly, being metal does not affect gliding whatsoever.
- Also, Peach is still able to float without falling in metal form.
- Though the box itself turns a fighter into metal in the Smash universe, the Metal Box was not what turned Mario into metal in its debut; it was actually the metal cap it housed.
- Mewtwo does not make any sounds while metal, even after landing from a jump.
- Mr. Game & Watch is the only character that makes sounds in metal form (perhaps because he actually has no voice like Olimar, and the beeps he makes are from his attacks, which are not silenced in metal form). He also appears to be 3D due to the metal texture.
- Olimar's whole helmet becomes metal, so it is not possible to see his face behind it unless the camera in pause is positioned inside the helmet, which is near impossible.
- Olimar's Pikmin do not become metal, despite doing so when facing Metal Olimar in Classic Mode.
Items in Super Smash Bros. Melee | |
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Normal | Barrel Cannon · Beam Sword · Bob-omb · Bunny Hood · Cloaking Device · Fan · Fire Flower · Flipper · Food · Freezie · Green Shell · Hammer · Heart Container · Home-Run Bat · Lip's Stick · Maxim Tomato · Metal Box · Motion-Sensor Bomb · Mr. Saturn · Parasol · Poison Mushroom · Poké Ball · Ray Gun · Red Shell · Screw Attack · Star Rod · Starman · Super Mushroom · Super Scope · Warp Star |
Containers | Barrel · Capsule · Crate · Egg · Party Ball |
Other | Smash Coins |
Items in Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |
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Normal | Assist Trophy · Banana Peel · Beam Sword · Blast Box · Bob-omb · Bumper · Bunny Hood · Cracker Launcher · Deku Nut · Dragoon · Fan · Fire Flower · Food · Franklin Badge · Freezie · Golden Hammer · Gooey Bomb · Green Shell · Hammer · Heart Container · Home-Run Bat · Hothead · Lightning Bolt · Lip's Stick · Maxim Tomato · Metal Box · Motion-Sensor Bomb · Mr. Saturn · Pitfall · Poison Mushroom · Poké Ball · Ray Gun · Screw Attack · Smart Bomb · Smash Ball · Smoke Ball · Soccer Ball · Spring · Star Rod · Starman · Super Mushroom · Super Scope · Superspicy Curry · Team Healer · Timer · Unira · Warp Star |
Containers | Barrel · Capsule · Crate · Party Ball · Sandbag · Rolling Crates |
The Subspace Emissary |
Key · Stock Ball · Trophy Stand |
Collectibles | CD · Coins · Sticker · Trophy |
Other | Smash Coins and Bills |