Team Battle

The Team Battle option as shown on the character selection screen in Melee. The current setup shows a 2 vs. 1 vs. 1 team setup, with Players 1 and 2 fighting solo and Players 3 and 4 on a team.

Team Battle is a Versus Mode setting present in all games of the Super Smash Bros. series. As the name suggests, players (whether human or CPU) fight alongside others on their team, against the opposing team(s). Team Battle can be toggled on and off in the upper left hand corner of the character selection screen by selecting the word "Free-for-all" in Smash 64, or the word "Melee"/"Brawl"/"Smash" in subsequent games.

Gameplay

A team battle can contain red, blue, and green teams. Prior to Super Smash Bros. 4, characters are required to use alternate costumes matching their team color; if two or more players are using the same character on the same team, they will be differentiated by a light or dark tint. In Smash 4, a character's allegiance is instead indicated by a colored outline (this is so that the player can choose which color costume for their character to use). The following team setups are possible (not including those with only one player per team):

• 2 vs. 1
• 2 vs. 2 (known as doubles in competitive play)
• 3 vs. 1
• 2 vs. 1 vs. 1

Additionally, when playing an 8-Player Smash in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, an additional team color, the yellow team, can be selected. With a maximum of eight characters that can participate in a match, further team setups become available beyond 2 vs. 2 battles:

• 3 vs. 3 (sometimes but uncommonly known as triples in competitive play)
• 4 vs. 4
• 2 vs. 2 vs. 2
• 2 vs. 2 vs. 2 vs. 2
• 3 vs. 3 vs. 1 vs. 1
• 4 vs. 2 vs. 2
• 5 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1
• 3 vs. 2 vs. 2 vs. 1

Considering teams of different sizes, there are numerous combinations opened up in 8-Player Smash, such as matches with up to seven fighters teaming up against a lone opponent, and matches with two large teams and one or two rogue contenders.

Since team battles are a regular type of Versus Mode, the usual options of Time, Stock, and Coin Battle matches can be selected, along with Special Smash rules as well. In Time and Coin matches, the score (or coins collected) of each team is the combined score of its members and if multiple teams have the same total by the end of the match, then Sudden Death will occur between all members of the tied teams. Stock matches are played in essentially the same manner; each player starts with a set number of lives and the objective is to deplete the stock of the opposing team(s). However, in Team Stock matches there is a feature known as Share Stock where, when one player on a team loses their last stock and has a teammate with two or more stocks, the fallen teammate may borrow one of their teammate's stocks and re-spawn as usual.

With the default setting, members of the same team cannot attack each other. However, turning on Friendly Fire on the options screen will allow players to damage their allies. This can lead to techniques such as easily using Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic move, giving Kirby a copy ability using Inhale, healing Ness or Lucas with PSI Magnet, or hitting a recovering ally with a low-knockback projectile, allowing them to reuse their up special move after becoming helpless.

Team battles are also available when playing With Anyone online. This requires four players, who are randomly split into red and blue teams for a two-minute time match with Friendly Fire disabled.

In the first three games, all members of the winning team will perform their victory poses simultaneously. In Smash 4, only one of the characters (the player with the highest score/stock count) will perform a complete victory animation and even then, only one of their animations can ever play, usually being the least special effects heavy (Mewtwo, for example, can only use the victory animation where it turns its head towards the screen after facing away, and can never use its other two). In Ultimate, the members of the winning team go back to performing each of their victory poses simultameously.

Gallery

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  Team Battle flags in Brawl.

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  The final five seconds of a team battle in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS on Yoshi's Island.

Trivia

• In the original Super Smash Bros., selecting the blue team was the only way to use Samus' or Captain Falcon's Blue color, and selecting the green team was the only way to get Captain Falcon's, Mario's, Kirby's, and Donkey Kong's green color, due to these colors not being available using the C buttons.
• In 2 vs. 1 or 3 vs. 1 battles, despite there being only one opponent to attack, the Bully, Predator, and Stalker penalties will still be given out to the members of the multi-player team for only attacking a single participant.
• Because Wario has two sets of outfits, each with its own team setup, he is the only character who has a choice of clothing in team battles prior to SSB4.
• In Super Smash Bros. 4, parts for the Dragoon and Daybreak are shared among teammates. If the item's other two parts were each picked up by other teammates, the teammate that picks up the last part will have the item fully built and ready to use. This is in contrast to teammates using the Dragoon in Brawl, where if two parts were picked up by different teammates, the Dragoon cannot be readily built as Dragoon parts cannot be dropped unless the players are damaged enough or KO'd
• Strangely, shield and blast line colors in Brawl for the green team will be yellow instead of green. However, if players play against CPUs, shield colors will then always be based on controller port (red=P1, blue=P2, yellow=P3 and green=P4)
• In the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS victory screen, the background will match the color of the winning team.
• If playing Team Battles in With Anyone, the player can't choose their character until another player has joined.