Editing Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary

|title=The Subspace Emissary

|image=[[File:Subspace Emissary Logo.jpg|250px]]

|caption=The official SSE logo.}}

'''Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary''' ({{ja|亜空の使者|Akū no Shisha}}, ''Emissary of Subspace''), sometimes abbreviated as '''SSE''' or shortened to '''Subspace Emissary''', is a mode in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' and the successor to ''[[Melee]]''{{'}}s [[Adventure Mode]]. It was hinted at with the [http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea01.html This world...] [[DOJO|Dojo]] update on July 20th, 2007, and fully unveiled on August 3rd of the same year. This mode was succeeded by ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''{{'}}s. [[World of Light]].

On July 20th, [[Smash Bros. DOJO!!]] was updated with a collection of enigmatic images that depicted {{SSBB|Mario}} and {{SSBB|Kirby}} transforming from [[Trophy|trophies]] into fighters (akin to the introduction of ''Melee''). After Kirby's apparent defeat at the hands of Mario, he is changed back into a trophy, but Mario reverses the transformation and Mario and Kirby shake hands. However, the sky darkens soon after, and [[Meta Knight]]’s ship, the [[Halberd]], flies over the stadium, soon followed by the appearance of [[Primid|a mysterious character]]. The screenshots were accompanied by this description:

The post was placed under a mode referred to as "???" until August 3rd when it was changed to "Adventure Mode". On August 3rd, Smash Bros. DOJO!! was updated again. This time, more information was given. The mode was dubbed "The Subspace Emissary", and a multitude of screenshots were shown, as well as a cutscene related to the "This World…" update. In the cutscene, Mario and Kirby were seen shaking hands, as depicted in the screenshots, and after waving to the crowd, the Halberd appeared as it did in "This World…". The mysterious character from before was shown to be one of apparently many odd, robot-like creatures formed from some sort of shadowy matter. {{SSBB|Peach}} and {{SSBB|Zelda}} were seen watching from the sidelines but rushed down to the middle of the stadium to assist Mario and Kirby in fighting the mysterious army. After Peach and Zelda reach the stage and help destroy the [[Primid]]s, an entity from the sky called the [[Ancient Minister]] appears on the stage. The Ancient Minister drops a [[Subspace Bomb]] on the arena, then flies off. As Mario approaches the bomb, he is hit by a cannonball and is sent flying from the arena. [[Petey Piranha]] appears and captures Peach and Zelda in cages.  

The various screenshots in the update depicted a multitude of new enemies, as well as a few familiar ones, such as a [[Hammer Bro]], who was previously confirmed as an [[Assist Trophy]], and {{b|Bullet Bill|enemy}}s. There were also a new series of enemies that were introduced that are part of the Subspace army. Some enemies of the Subspace army appear to be helpful while other ones are dangerous.

Masahiro Sakurai has stated that substantial single-player content was a core priority during the development of ''Brawl''. An adventure on the scale of a stand alone video game was decided early in development. Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Sakurai always wanted to make a mode like this for the series, but was advised to focus on the multiplayer aspects of previous games due to the relatively short development times of previous games and there already being no shortage of single-player games. The much longer development time allotted to ''Brawl'' allowed the mode to be made.<ref>[https://www.eurogamer.net/i-miyamotosakurai?page=2 Miyamoto and Sakurai on Nintendo Wii

E3: Smash Bros., Mario, more.]</ref> The initial plan was to outsource development of this mode to another studio, but no suitable contractor was available. In the end, the entire mode was developed internally by the main ''Brawl'' team. Only the cutscenes were created by a different studio.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXpFTHtlmCo&t Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Game Concepts]]</ref>

The Subspace Emissary mode is a side-scrolling adventure in the style of a platformer, inspired by the {{uv|Mario}} and {{uv|Kirby}} games. However, it retains all basic mechanics of the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]], such as a [[damage meter]], [[stock]]s, and Smash-style attacks. It can also be classified as a beat 'em up; often stages will [[ambush|pause at specific points]] and force the player to defeat a set of enemies, which prevents one from simply running through everything.

The mode features a [[Adventure Map|world map]] where stages are selected; once a stage is selected, the difficulty can be chosen, and the character(s) will enter the stage. The selectable characters will change depending on the plot. Stages that have been completed already can be played again, with the one exception being a stage being consumed by a Subspace Bomb; if this happens, the player must complete the Subspace Emissary to be able to access the stage again.

The mode also has a two-player option, using one stock to join in. When using two players, the first player will have priority over the screen, making it possible for the second player to get run off the screen if the two players are not coordinated. However, the second player has the option to [[Space Jump|warp]] to the first player at any time (except in boss battles) by pressing the [[Start-Pause button|button that would normally pause the game]]. The first player must be present with stock left at all times; if the first player is defeated with no spare stock remaining, the game will end and offer a continue. If the second player is defeated, the first player can continue alone. In addition, only the first player can navigate through [[door]]s (though the second player can still utilize [[key]]s) and temporary switches. If the second player goes into a barrel cannon or minecart they will be teleported back to the player seconds later unless the first player goes in right after. The second player can also decide when barrel cannons shoot.

When playing a level for the first time, many cutscenes will pause just before gameplay begins, showing a view of all available characters. A message will display how many stock the level allows, and a cursor will appear that allows choosing which characters to play. The order characters are chosen in is the order they will appear: they will cycle through in that order until all stock is depleted. Playing through a level again, there will be a screen before the level allowing choosing between any available characters instead of cutscenes during the level. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage: there is a wider character variety to choose from, but one cannot pick less characters than the number of stocks the stage has (meaning if a stage has four stocks, the player must choose four characters). Additionally, no mid-level cutscenes will play, including ones that would normally allow a re-pick of characters that replenishes stocks. While on many levels this makes little difference, it is very problematic on long stages like the second Subspace Bomb Factory, where a replay provides only a fraction of the stock originally given.

[[Grab]]bing mechanics are also altered. Normal enemies cannot be held onto for any length of time; they will be thrown immediately after being grabbed, making it impossible to [[pummel]] them. This means that choosing which throw to use must be done with the Control Stick during the grab animation; inputting no direction will result in a forward throw (with the exception of {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}, who cannot carry enemies, and instead will utilize his up-throw). Special moves that involve grabbing will fail to grab, like Yoshi and Kirby's standard special moves; such moves have extra Subspace Emissary-only hitboxes (for example, [[Egg Lay]] will deal 13% damage, while Pikmin will deal damage when [[Pikmin Throw|thrown]]). Bosses and large enemies cannot be grabbed; however, Big Primids can be grabbed effectively. None of these changes apply when facing an opposing Smasher due to playing like an actual Brawl, though Kirby will be unable to copy their abilities.

*Enemies' AI generally get smarter (such as attacking more often, or [[Bytan]]s duplicating nonstop).

{{main|Plot summary of The Subspace Emissary}}

 

 

 

|align="center"|[[File:PeteyRage.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Petey Piranha]]

|Kirby

|align="center"|[[File:RayquazaRoar.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Rayquaza]]

|Fox and Diddy Kong

|align="center"|[[File:PorkyBot.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Porky Minch]]

|Ness and Lucas

|align="center"|[[File:Galleomdesert.jpg|100px]]<br>[[File:Galleom tank.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Galleom]]

|Marth, Ike and Meta Knight (The Wilds I)<br>Lucas and Pokémon Trainer (The Ruined Hall)

|align="center"|[[File:RidleyWings.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Ridley]]

|Samus and Pikachu

|align="center"|[[File:HalberdBridge.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Duon]]

|Fox, Falco, Lucario, Snake, Peach and Zelda/Sheik in a party of four

|align="center"|[[File:MetaRidleyFalconFlyerSwoop.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Meta Ridley]]

|Samus, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar and R.O.B. in a party of four

|align="center"|[[File:Tabuu Fight.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Tabuu]]

|King Dedede, Luigi, Ness, Bowser, Kirby, Sonic and any fighters rescued in the previous two levels (besides Toon Link, Wolf and Jigglypuff) in a party of six

 

Due to these battles being against smashers or slightly modified versions of them, they are fought like regular brawls. Note that the player characters listed are only mandatory for the first playthrough and that other characters may be used if the level is replayed.

{|class="wikitable"

!width="10%"|Opponent

!width="20%"|Stage

!width="70%"|Fighters

|align="center"|[[File:MarioVsKirby.png|100px]]<br>{{SSBB|Kirby}} or {{SSBB|Mario}}

|Midair Stadium

|Mario or Kirby, player fights the one they did not choose

|align="center"|[[File:Lakeshore Subspace Emissary.png|100px]]<br>[[False character#False Bowser|False Bowser]]

|The Lake

|Diddy Kong and Fox

|align="center"|[[File:False Peach Brawl.png|100px]]<br>[[File:False Zelda Brawl.png|100px]]<br>[[False character#False princesses|False]] Peach or Zelda

|The Lake Shore

|Link and Yoshi (if Peach was rescued) or Mario and Pit (if Zelda was rescued)

|align="center"|{{SSBB|Mario}} and {{SSBB|Pit}} or {{SSBB|Link}} and {{SSBB|Yoshi}}

|The Lake Shore

|Link and Yoshi (if Peach was rescued; after false Peach's battle) or Mario and Pit (if Zelda was rescued; after false Zelda's battle). Ally is CPU controlled unless playing in Co-op Mode.

|align="center"|[[File:Subspace wario.PNG|100px]]<br>{{SSBB|Wario}}

|The Path to the Ruins

|Lucas and Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle only)

|align="center"|[[File:Charizard Subspace Emissary.png|100px]] {{SSBB|Charizard}}

|The Ruins

|Lucas and Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle and Ivysaur only, Charizard is obtained after the battle)

|align="center"|[[File:FalseDiddy.png|100px]]<br>[[False character#False Diddy Kong|False Diddy Kong]]

|The Swamp

|Diddy Kong, Fox, and Falco

|align="center"|[[File:FalseSamus.png|100px]]<br>Pair of [[False character#False Samus|False Samus]]es

|The Research Facility II

|Zero Suit Samus and Pikachu

|align="center"|[[File:Lucario Meta Knight Standoff Subspace Emissary.png|100px]] {{SSBB|Lucario}} or {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}

|The Glacial Peak

|Meta Knight or Lucario, player fights the one they did not choose

|align="center"|False Peach and Zelda

|Battleship Halberd Interior

|Meta Knight, Lucario and Snake

|align="center"|[[File:SubspaceIntro-Bowser.png|100px]]<br>{{SSBB|Bowser}}

|Subspace I

|King Dedede

|align="center"|[[File:FalseDKfight.jpg|100px]]<br>[[False character#Beings made of Subspace|Newly-replicated versions]] of every fighter except Sonic, Jigglypuff, Toon Link and Wolf

|The Great Maze

|King Dedede, Luigi, Ness, Bowser, Kirby and any characters rescued in the previous two levels in a party of four

|align="center"|[[File:Toon Link Subspace Brawl.png|100px]]<br>{{SSBB|Toon Link}}

|rowspan="3"|Any character; optional post-game battle

|align="center"|[[File:Wolf Subspace.png|100px]]<br>{{SSBB|Wolf}}

|Secret door in The Ruins that teleports to the [[Lylat Cruise]]

|align="center"|[[File:Jigglypuff Subspace Emissary Brawl.png|100px]]<br>{{SSBB|Jigglypuff}}

|Secret door in The Swamp that teleports to the [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]

'''Note:''' When only one character is available to fight a boss or mini-boss in Co-op mode, the second player plays as a [[color change]] of that character. This is the only way to play as a character’s alternate costume outside of replaying a stage where a character is battled, selecting this character as any stock aside from the first and not losing enough stocks to spawn as the character before the player activates the battle, in which afterwards the player should lose enough stocks so that they spawn as this character. This only happens in four battles: Mario/Kirby vs the character not chosen by P1, Kirby against Petey Piranha, Meta Knight/Lucario against the character not chosen by P1, and King Dedede against Bowser.

*[[Porky Statue]] (The Ruined Zoo): it chases Lucas but it does not fight with him.

===Battles with Subspace Armies===

Some segments in levels, or all a level, has a battle with some enemies from Subspace. Unlike ambushes during sidescrolling segments, red dots on screen are used to indicate how many enemies are left to defeat.

{|class="wikitable"

!width="10%"|Enemies to defeat

!width="20%"|Stage

|Mario, Peach, Zelda and Kirby (after the battle between Mario and Kirby and before Petey Piranha appears)

|Outside the Ancient Ruins

|Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar

|align="center"|Fourth

|50

|Mario, Pit, Kirby, Link and Yoshi in a party of four

|Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Samus, Pikachu and R.O.B. in a party of four

==Similarities to the ''Kirby'' series==

*The beginning of [[The Ruined Zoo]] (more specifically the boss battle against the [[Pig King Statue]] and [[Porky Minch]]) is similar to the Heavy Lobster battle in ''Revenge of Meta Knight'': The player is chased by the boss, who remains invincible for this duration and plows through anything in its path. Following the chase, the boss becomes vulnerable and attacks the player head-on.

*Both feature {{b|minecart|vehicle}}s and [[Slide Launcher|special devices]] that propel characters forwards. The latter's design and function comes directly from ''Kirby Super Star''. Additionally, the slide launchers puts characters in a shield position, just like in ''Kirby Super Star''. There are also bomb blocks which function identically to those from the ''Kirby'' series.

*The [[Space Jump]] is just like how P2 from ''Kirby Super Star'' comes back to P1.

*The final boss ([[Tabuu]]) teleports around the stage repeatedly (a common feature in most final bosses in ''Kirby'' games, such as [[Marx]] and [[Nightmare]]).

*Bosses from the ''Kirby'' games, such as {{iw|wikirby|Dyna Blade}} and Marx, have similar moves to bosses in ''Brawl'', such as Ridley and Tabuu.

*[[Roader]]s are similar to ''Kirby'''s {{iw|wikirby|Wheelie}}s.

*The [[Bucculus]] attacks in a similar way to {{iw|wikirby|Leap}}.

==Differences from other game modes==

===Gameplay===

*During side-scrolling stages, the player cannot get [[Star KO]]'d - the player crashes into the top of the screen, leaving behind the colorful explosion. Players are only Star KO'd or Screen KO'd in ambushes, boss battles, and fights against Subspace clones.

[[File:MarioTrophyTransform.jpg|thumb|Mario's trophy coming to life in ''Melee''{{'}}s opening, compared to in the [[Midair Stadium]] of the Subspace Emissary.]]

*While the mode effectively encourages players to use almost every character in the game, it is possible to complete The Subspace Emissary using as few as twelve characters, or barely one-third of the roster: {{SSBB|Kirby}}, {{SSBB|Pit}}, {{SSBB|Lucas}}, {{SSBB|Marth}}, {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} (transforming from Samus by taunting whenever Samus must be chosen), {{SSBB|Snake}}, {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, {{SSBB|King Dedede}}, {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}, either {{SSBB|Link}} or {{SSBB|Yoshi}}, either {{SSBB|Olimar}} or {{SSBB|Captain Falcon}}, and one of either {{SSBB|Peach}}, {{SSBB|Zelda}} or {{SSBB|Sheik}}.

**Co-op mode adds {{SSBB|Mario}}, {{SSBB|Ness}}, {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBB|Fox}}, Pokémon Trainer's {{SSBB|Squirtle}}, {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} and {{SSBB|Pikachu}} alongside both pairs (instead of just one) of Link and Yoshi, Olimar and Captain Falcon, Peach and either Zelda or Sheik to the required list.

*Assuming the player rescues no other characters in either [[Subspace (Part I)|Subspace I]] or [[Subspace (Part II)|Subspace II]], it is possible to finish The Subspace Emissary with only 6 characters available in the player's roster: {{SSBB|Luigi}}, {{SSBB|Ness}}, {{SSBB|King Dedede}}, and {{SSBB|Bowser}} from Subspace I, {{SSBB|Kirby}} from Subspace II, and {{SSBB|Sonic}}, who appears at the end of the [[Great Maze]].

*{{SSBB|Mario}} and Kirby are playable in more levels than any other character, with a total of nine.

**Pit is playable in eight levels; Link, Yoshi, and Diddy Kong are playable in seven; Peach or Zelda, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer, Meta Knight, and Samus and Pikachu are playable in six (if one count all Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon ({{SSBB|Squirtle}} appears in all six levels, {{SSBB|Ivysaur}} appears in four levels, and {{SSBB|Charizard}} appears in three levels) and both of Samus' versions ({{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} appears in the first two levels, and Samus in the last five levels)), Zelda or Peach, {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}, and {{SSBB|Fox}} are playable in five; {{SSBB|Lucario}} can be playable in four or five; Marth, {{SSBB|Ike}}, {{SSBB|Falco}}, Captain Falcon, Olimar, and Snake are playable in four; {{SSBB|Ness}}, {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}}, and {{SSBB|R.O.B.}} are playable in three; {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}}, {{SSBB|Luigi}} and {{SSBB|King Dedede}} are playable in two; {{SSBB|Bowser}}, {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, {{SSBB|Wario}}, and {{SSBB|Sonic}} are playable in one; and {{SSBB|Jigglypuff}}, {{SSBB|Toon Link}}, and {{SSBB|Wolf}} are absent until after completing The Subspace Emissary.

*The opening battle between Mario and Kirby in The Subspace Emissary may be a reference to the [[opening movie]] of ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', where the two face each other near the end of the movie.

*The Subspace Emissary is the only mode in the ''Smash Bros.'' series thus far that allows players to unlock characters without fighting and defeating them. ''Ultimate''{{'}}s [[World of Light]] bypasses the usual "Challenger Approaching" battle, but it still requires the player to fight the character that will be unlocked.

*The Subspace Emissary is mentioned several times in {{forwiiu}} in [[Palutena's Guidance]] during the conversation of Mario and [[Mr. Game & Watch]] and the North American English boxing alias for [[R.O.B.]] Also, some enemies from The Subspace Emissary return in {{for3ds}}'s [[Smash Run]] mode. The Subspace Emissary is also referenced in one of the riddles regarding Tabuu, located in the [[Mysterious Dimension]] sub-world of World of Light.

*The health bars for [[enemies]] (not including [[boss]]es) are compressed at the left hand side, so a length of health bar represents more health at the left of the bar than the right. This makes attacks appear to deal less damage the closer an enemy is to dying.

 

[[Category:Single-player modes]]