Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates

From 2007 up to the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Smash Bros. DOJO!!, the website dedicated to information about the game and hosted by the game's chief developer Masahiro Sakurai, underwent a redesign and proceeded to show pieces of new information about the game at a rate of once every weekday. This article covers each update provided by Sakurai to the DOJO!!, some reworded.

List of updates

This list of updates covers all updates posted from February 1 to the present.

For updates posted from May 22 to July 31, see Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates (archive).

For updates posted from August 1 to October 31, see Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates (archive 2).

For updates posted from November 1 to January 31, see Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates (archive 3).

February

With Super Smash Bros. Brawl having been recently released in Japan, the site displayed a rather large promotional image of the game, along with a slight redesign that now accommodated players who did not want to see spoilers of the game, making the main page of DOJO no longer a blog-style page where the newest update was automatically shown.

• February 1: "Ness" [1]: The first "secret feature" update was the first unlockable character since Sonic: Ness, a returning veteran. Lucas has a somewhat similar moveset to Ness', but the update went into detail how Ness and Lucas' versions of their shared special moves differ.

• February 4: "Port Town Aero Dive" [2]: The Port Town Aero Dive stage was officially explained in this update to be in the same style of moving-and-stopping stage as Melee's Mute City, but with the track now being a huge one that appears in F-Zero GX.

• February 5: "Final Destination" [3]: A second stage update in a row, this officially portrayed the returning Final Destination stage. Gameplaywise it's the same flat even stage, but the update takes the time to detail the new realistic scenery that the stage cycles through. It also mentioned that the boss Master Hand is fought on this level in various single-player modes.

• February 6: "Assist Trophies" [4]: An update covering several assist trophies at once, including Hammer Bro, Lakitu, Nintendog, Jill & Drill Dozer, Helirin, Jeff, Kat & Ana, Tingle, and Metroid.

• February 7: "Marth" [5]: The second secret character update, this time concerning the returning character Marth from Melee. Like with Ness before, his unlock method was provided, as well as in-depth tips about his special moves and his Final Smash, Critical Hit.

• February 8: "Enemies and Allies" [6]: A secret feature update which showed a movie found within the Subspace Emissary mode, a story-based mode which unfolds without a single word of audible dialogue the entire way. It shows Marth and Meta Knight interacting. Sakurai also makes a vague reference to a character that can tell the difference between friend and foe in an unusual way...
• February 8: "Zero Suit Samus: Final Smash" [7]: This update showed the Final Smash of Zero Suit Samus, which is the name of her normal form: Power Suit Samus. She changes back to her armored form in a sequence that damages nearby enemies. Also, it is detailed how one can play as Zero Suit Samus without using any Smash Balls. The first way involves holding down the shield button while selecting normal Samus' headshot on the character select screen. The second way involves pressing the up taunt, down taunt, and side taunt buttons to change from Samus to Zero Suit Samus in normal play. This allows her to be treatable as two separate characters in competitive item-less play.

• February 11: "Quick Techniques" [8]: In this How To Play update, a lot of small, subtle techniques were revealed to exist in the game, and wouldn't be covered in the game's instruction manual. The Ukemi, for example, was revealed as the official name for teching, where pressing the Shield button right before coming into contact with a wall/floor/ceiling after being sent flying by an attack will cause a slight bound that will cancel momentum. Other techniques are the Perfect Shield (formerly known as the Powershielding), a concept called Stale-Move Negation (which causes moves used repeatedly to gradually do less damage), something that can happen during attacks called Glancing Blows, the ability to swim in watery stages, the Small jump (which is literally the Short Hop, renamed for Brawl), a type of special longer-range grab every character can do called the Pivot Grab, a concept called "Eat While Reclining" which allows players to pick up and use Food items near them even if in a knocked-down state, and a concept with reflection moves that has to do with breaking reflectors in which a projectile that is reflected repeatedly gains damage and power each time.

• February 12: "Mario Bros." [9]: A Hidden Feature update that officially profiled an unlockable stage, which is the one based on the original arcade Mario Bros.. It being a rigidly layered stage with pixelated enemy sprites walking across to damage combatants, fighting successfully involves very different priorities.

• February 13: "Hidden Parts in Stage Builder" [10]: This hidden feature update revealed that there are parts usable in the Stage Builder mode that are unlockable, such as Ferris wheel-style platforms and springboards, and these are unlocked by extended usage of the mode.
• February 13: "Yoshi: Special Moves" [11]: Showcases Yoshi's Up Special Move, the Egg Throw, which is more maneuverable and controllable, and his neutral special move, the Egg Lay, which encases enemies in eggs as before and enemies have a harder time breaking out of eggs the more damage they have.

• February 14: "Green Hill Zone" [12]: A hidden feature update about the unlockable Sonic stage, Green Hill Zone, which is unlocked as soon as Sonic himself is unlocked. This lengthy, smoothly flowing stage has portions that will collapse as attacks are performed on them, and in the background three guest characters Tails, Knuckles, and Silver will appear racing along.

• February 15: "Luigi" [13]: Official update on the return of Luigi in Brawl. Unlike Mario, Luigi's Down Special move was revealed to stay as the Luigi Cyclone rather than a device like Mario's F.L.U.D.D., but his Final Smash is very different: Negative Zone, which causes an odd circular dimension to materialize in Luigi's immediate area, causing all sorts of status and other unorthodox effects to opponents in the field.

• February 18: "Luigi's Mansion" [14]: A hidden feature update about the unlockable Luigi's Mansion stage, which is unlocked by selecting Luigi in three group matches. The stage is based on the setting of the game of the same name, a haunted mansion. There are three floors that players can fight on, the ground floor, the upper floor, and the roof. Four pillars support the structure, two of them supporting the roof, and two of them supporting the upper floor. The pillars can be destroyed, causing the entire mansion to collapse and the leave the ground floor as the only available platforms, however the mansion will magically rebuild itself whole after some time.

• February 19: "Zelda: Special Moves" [15]: Showcased Zelda's neutral special move, Nayru's Love, a reflector shield, her Side Special Move, Din's Fire, which is a controllable projectile, and her Up Special Move, Farore's Wind, which gives her a long recovery.
• February 19: "Ice Climbers: Special Moves" [16]: Showcased the Ice Climbers' Standard Special Move, Ice Shot, their side special move, Squall Hammer, their Up Special Move, Belay, their down special move, Blizzard, and the importance of keeping Nana safe. For the most part the Ice Climbers would play the same as they did in Melee.

• February 20: "Falco" [17]: Falco's return in Brawl is the subject of this hidden character update. He seems to be a clone of Fox, but according to Sakurai, Falco's moves have changed "a lot" since his Melee appearance. His Landmaster Final Smash, for example, is weaker but can fly better.

• February 21: "Meteor Smash" [18]: Introduced the concept of meteor smashes, attacks that send people downwards quickly. He lists a few classics, like Mario and Donkey Kong's Forward Aerials, Kirby's Downward Aerial and the interesting fact that only Nana can do a Meteor Smash. He also revealed this to be the last update to the Smash 101 section of the site.
• February 21: "Bowser: Special Moves" [19]: Introduced Bowser's Flying Slam a new replacement for his Claw attack, where he grabs an opponent and sends them flying with a huge pile-driver. Those caught in the move can alter their horizontal trajectory to avoid being thrown off the edge. Also talks about the Bowser Bomb, which can now hit opponents during the rising portion into the powerful falling portion.

• February 22: "Captain Falcon" [20]: Just two days after Falco's introduction on the DOJO, another unlockable character was profiled, this time Captain Falcon. He seems unchanged from his Melee appearance in general fighting style, though his Falcon Punch is now reversible during the charge up of the move, and his Final Smash is the summoning of both the Blue Falcon and an entire racing course in a cinematic effect.

• February 25: "Master Hand" [21]: An update about Master Hand and Crazy Hand in their returning roles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. They pretty much serve the same role in the game's Classic Mode as the previous game, and it was mentioned Master Hand appears in the Subspace Emissary mode.

• February 26: "Pikachu: Special Moves" [22]: This update was about special moves that Pikachu can perform, Quick Attack and Thunder. Pikachu's side smash does 20% damage in its first hitbox, but then lowers down to 17% and then 14% for each subsequent hit, which is an example of sweet and sour spots.
• February 26: "Samus: Special Moves" [23]: This update was about maneuvers Samus can perform, including using her Grapple Beam in midair, using her Charge Shot, and using her Missiles in the form of guided normal Missiles and straight-flying Super Missiles.

• February 27: "Clear %" [24]: Explained that as the player progresses in Subspace Emissary, a Clear % bar will be noticeable, and this meter essentially tells how much of the mode is completed. To increase the Clear % rating, the player should complete stages, open any and all unopened doors, get orange cube items, and collect character trophies.

• February 28: "Lucario" [25]: This hidden character update was about Lucario, a Gen 4 Pokémon, and it detailed the general long range of Lucario's attacks and how its attack power increases as it takes more damage. Lucario's Aura Sphere, Force Palm, and Double Team Special Moves and its Aura Storm Final Smash are detailed as well.

• February 29: "Spear Pillar" [26]: An update about an unlockable stage, Spear Pillar, based on the story-centric location in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl. The legendary Pokémon Dialga, Palkia, and Cresselia will appear in the stage's background "arena" to wildly affect the match, and the trio of Pokémon Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf will make appearances as well.

March

• March 3: "Secrets for Continuing" [27]: Explained how the game's Continue system works for the game's Classic Mode and another "certain hidden game mode", and how it is different from the Continue system used by the Adventure Mode.

• March 4: "75m" [28]: A hidden stage based on the original Donkey Kong, 75m is precisely the third stage in the original game, preserved down to the exact layout and pixelated obstacles.
• March 4: "Donkey Kong: Special Moves" [29]: A special moves update covering the meteor smashes Donkey Kong has in some of his normal attacks, as well as his Giant Punch and Head Butt special moves.

• March 5: "Item Encyclopedia" [30]: A noteworthy update that functions as a comprehensive encyclopedia to all 49 items in Brawl (Sakurai places the count as 49 because he categorizes collectibles like the Trophy and Sticker and Coins as items), complete with their official images. Items not previously covered in detail on DOJO and in previous Smash games were the Blast Box, Timer, Soccer Ball, Lightning Bolt, Deku Nut, Hothead, Spring, Unira, and Stock Ball.

• March 6: "R.O.B." [31]: The next unlockable character to be profiled in an update was R.O.B., the unexpected secret character that startled many. His four special moves, Robo Beam, Arm Rotor, Robo Burner, and Gyro were covered in detail, but not his Diffusion Beam Final Smash.

• March 7: "Snapshots Galore" [32]: This unusual update was in commemoration of Brawl's imminent release; it is a posting of hundreds of screenshots submitted by Japanese players. This was the last update before the release of Brawl in North America.

• March 10: "Mr. Game & Watch" [33]: Super Smash Bros. Brawl was recently released on March 9. This first update since then was the next unlockable character update, which is about Mr. Game & Watch's playable return appearance. Details his Judge and Oil Panic moves, and his Octopus Final Smash.

• March 11: "Flat Zone 2" [34]: A new stage which is the spiritual successor to Melee's Game & Watch stage. Flat Zone 2 is very similar in concept to the previous incarnation, having a different set of G&W homages.
• March 11: "Game & Watch: Flat Zone 2" [35]: This music file plays on the unlockable stage Flat Zone 2.

• March 12: "Hidden Masterpieces" [36]: Detailed the unlockable trial versions of games in the Masterpieces section of Brawl. They are Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario World, F-Zero, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

• March 13: "Secret Melee Stages" [37]: Detailed the secret Melee stages that can be unlocked in Brawl: Jungle Japes, Green Greens, Pokémon Stadium, and Big Blue.

• March 14: "Latecomer Assist Trophies" [38]: This update gave the official descriptions for the five Assist Trophy characters that must be unlocked: Custom Robo, Isaac, Infantry and Tanks, Barbara the Bat, and Shadow the Hedgehog.

• March 17: "Boss Strategies" [39]: An update giving in-depth coverage of most of the main boss encounters in the Subspace Emissary following Petey Piranha, which were Rayquaza, The Pig King Statue, Porky, Galleom, Ridley, Duon, and Meta Ridley.

• March 18: "Ganondorf" [40]: This update pertained to Ganondorf and how he is unlocked. Details include: Special Moves, including his new forward special Flame Choke, a taunt with his sword, strategies, and his Final Smash, Beast Ganon.

• March 19: "Pokémon Encyclopedia" [41]: In the same vein as the previous "Item Encyclopedia" update was this field guide to all the Pokémon that come out of Poké Balls. Pokémon not previously covered in detail on DOJO and in previous Smash games were revealed as Weavile, Gulpin, Torchic, Metagross, Gardevoir, Latias & Latios, and Jirachi.

• March 20: "Smash Taunt" [42]: Revealed that the taunting trick Snake can perform on Shadow Moses Island and the Star Fox characters can perform on Lylat Cruise and Corneria is named the Smash Taunt. It is performed by pressing the button for the down taunt extremely briefly.

• March 21: "The Subspace Emissary: The Great Maze" [43]: This update covered in detail the final portion of the Subspace Emissary mode, the giant stage called The Great Maze.
• March 21: "Peach: Special Moves" [44]: This update covered in detail Peach's Toad Special move and Vegetable Down Special move, and it reveals that the chance a powerful stitch faced vegetable has a 1/58 chance of being plucked.

• March 24: "Stadium: Boss Battles" [45]: The update on the Boss Battles mode within the Stadium, giving it similar coverage like with the other updates about Stadium modes earlier. One thing in particular to note was that the five later bosses would apparently be stronger than the five earlier bosses.

• March 25: "Jigglypuff" [46]: The next character update in DOJO's series of hidden characters in Brawl was Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff is essentially meant to fulfill the role of the "ultimate midair brawler" in Sakurai's words, with its multiple midair jumps actually faster than it running across the ground. Its Rest move, while less powerful now, now puts a flower on each target's head, and its Final Smash is Puff Up.

• March 26: "Hanenbow" [47]: The update on the hidden stage Hanenbow, from the Electroplankton universe. It is unlocked by clearing Event 28 and does not have an entry in My Music, because the stage itself makes music in response to player's actions.

• March 27: "Character Roll Call" [48]: This update detailed the ending sequence that plays whenever one completes the Classic mode, which is a shooting minigame named the Character Roll Call similar to shooting the credits in Melee, but this gives coins and the targets are all the characters and trophies collected. For each target, consisting of a picture and a name, twice as much credit is got for shooting the picture as the player do the text.
• March 27: "Sheik" Sheik's special moves in Brawl were revealed to be Needle Storm for her standard special move, Chain for her side special move, Vanish for her up special move, and Transform for her down special move.

• March 28: "Toon Link" [49]: Approaching the end of DOJO's update run, this late hidden character reveal was about Toon Link. The update goes in depth on how he differs from the normal Link.

• March 31: "Wolf" [50]: The last of the hidden character updates, concerning Wolf O'Donnell. The update detailed his Blaster, Wolf Flash, and Reflector special moves and his version of the Landmaster Final Smash. It was now stated on the site that the daily updates would stop on April 14th.

April

• April 1: "Pirate Ship" [51]: The update about the unlockable stage Pirate Ship. It is the only stage that's fully surrounded by swimmable water at almost all times. It was also announced that the updates would end on April 14.

• April 2: "All-Star" [52]: The hidden update that goes in-depth with the game's All-Star mode, which is different and longer than the previous game's because there's 37 separate opponents in all. Like before it appears upon unlocking all the hidden characters. But this time around, the fighters are grouped by series and the fights are in order based on the Japanese debuts of the character. For characters like Zelda and Samus, whom have multiple forms, only one of their forms will appear in battle. However, all the individual Pokémon of Pokémon Trainer must be fought during the Pokémon themed match.

• April 3: "Full Song List with Secret Songs" [53]: Essentially an expansion of the "First Songs in My Music" update, this is a mostly thorough listing of all the music that appears in the game.

• April 4: "Final Smash Trophies" [54]: The update about the trophies of each character performing their Final Smash, each of which is collected when the player beats the All-Star mode with a character on any difficulty.

• April 7: "Revealing Brawl's Secrets" [55]: Similar to other late updates in the past for Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros Melee's Japanese websites, this update contains a comprehensive list of literally every single unlockable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, complete with each item's unlock effect.

• April 8: "All Trophies" [56]: Likewise, this update links to a list of the names of every collectible trophy that exists in Brawl. It is presented as a checklist that can be printed out, and it distinguishes whether or not the trophy is collected in the Subspace Emissary.

• April 9: "All Stickers" [57]: Continuing the site's end-of-period run of encyclopedically arranged updates, this update links to a list of the names of every collectible sticker that exists in Brawl. It is presented as a checklist that can also be printed out.

• April 10: "Mysteries of The Subspace Emissary" [58] With a warning of major spoilers, finer details of the Subspace Emissary storyline are revealed, revealing such things as Master Hand's identity, Ganondorf's true intentions, and how King Dedede knew to create the Dedede Badges. This is canonical information about the storyline that is not explained in the game itself.

• April 11: "Screenshot Collection #2 [59]: A follow-up to the "Snapshots Galore" update, featuring many more new shots submitted by players. This time, the American and Japanese sites have their own sets of images, submitted from their own region. Sakurai invites browsers to check out both galleries. Sakurai also mentions that he has received a large amount of screen shots of a sexual origin (such as panty shots of female characters), and reminds players that such images will never be sent via Smash Service or appear on the Dojo. However, there is at least one screenshot that could be considered as such on the Japanese page. This update has since been updated with the ability for both English and Japanese users to view the captions for each other's galleries in their native language, and the name changed to "Snapshots Galore #2", to match the previous Snapshot update.

• April 14: "Smash Trivia" [60]: The last update to reveal new information about the game. It is a large collection of various details about the game itself in categories such as gameplay quirks, stage details, and easter eggs.
• April 14: "Notice: No Further Updates" [61]: The final update to Smash Bros. DOJO!!. A personal message from Masahiro Sakurai where he thanked all the fans and staff involved with both the site and Brawl itself, and where he states the site would be kept up for Brawl players to use as an information resource. The most interesting statement Sakurai made was is that "there’s always a chance that [he] will need to update sometime in the future with some kind of announcement."

Post-run updates

After the year-long week-by-week run of updates, a scant few updates concerning player-submitted data were posted sporadically.

On June 27, 2008, the update "Snapshots Galore #3" was posted to commemorate the release of Brawl in the UK. [62] This time around, the Japanese version of the update [63] can have its captioned viewed in any of the 5 languages Smashbros.com supports.

Following this, in mid 2009, a notice was posted that announced that as of June 30th, 2009, the service that accepts user-generated snapshots, stage designs, and replay data would no longer be available. However, Nintendo would continue to distribute such data after that date.

On August 22, 2008, the original version of the update "Target Smash!! and Home-Run Contest World Records" was posted. By that point, many replays of the Target Smash and Home Run Contest modes have been submitted from across the globe to the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. From these videos Sakurai compiled a text-based list of "world records" for these modes, listing individual world records for each of the 39 playable fighters in each of the five Target Smash levels and the Home-Run Contest (as well as the top three co-op pairs for each of these modes). This list has since been replaced with a final, updated version up to date as of July 16, 2009, though the original update's text containing the link to the now-newly revised list has not been changed accordingly [64].