Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary

The Subspace Emissary
The official SSE logo.

Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary (亜空の使者, Emissary of Subspace), sometimes abbreviated as SSE or shortened to Subspace Emissary, is a mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, similar to Melee's Adventure Mode. It was hinted at with the This world... Dojo update on July 20th, 2007, and fully unveiled on August 3rd of the same year.

Overview

On July 20th, Smash Bros. DOJO!! was updated with a collection of enigmatic images that depicted Mario and Kirby transforming from 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 a mysterious character. The screenshots were accompanied by this description:

In this world, trophies fight. They know nothing but fighting. Fighting is the sole reason for their existence. Being turned back into a trophy, being unable to fight, is much like death. Those are the rules of this world. But...When someone...or something...breaks those rules, the world will pay a terrible price...

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. Peach and 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 Primids, 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 Bullet Bills. 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.

Gameplay

The Adventure Map, after completion of The Subspace Emissary.

Mario in the Plain

The Subspace Emissary mode is a side-scrolling adventure in the style of a platformer, inspired by the Mario and Kirby games. However, it retains all basic mechanics of the Super Smash Bros. series, such as a damage meter, stocks, and Smash-style attacks. It can also be classified as a beat 'em up; often stages will 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 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 exception of some stages where the player must wait until the Subspace Emissary is beaten like Midair Stadium.

The mode also has a two-player option. 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 warp to the first player at any time (except in boss battles) by pressing the button that would normally pause the game. The first player must be present with stock left at all times; if the first player runs out of stock, the game will end and offer a continue, regardless of whether the second player still has stock left. If the second player runs out of stock, the first player can continue alone. In addition, only the first player can navigate through doors (though the second player can still utilize keys) 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 (for example) choose only three characters for a four-stock stage. 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.

The physics of many (if not all) characters are also tweaked slightly. In general, characters run slower, fall faster, and jump better than in brawls. However, the midair jumps of a character that possesses more than one will be worse than normal. Move mechanics are not altered, although the differing jump heights, jump timing, and gravity will change how effective aerial attacks are. The most significant change is the removal of stamina from Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon, which allows one to use one Pokémon exclusively. Characters are also able to swim for significantly longer. Characters retain their standard physics in boss battles. Because Smash relies on KOs by being knocked off stage, in order for the platforming nature to be retained, the camera's reaction time in following a character decreases in proportion to the player's damage.

Grabbing 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 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 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.

Difficulty Levels

Like most other single-player modes, one can select different difficulty levels to play The Subspace Emissary. At the creation of a new game file, the player may select a "default" difficulty from Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, and Intense. Stages normally use this default difficulty (which cannot be changed), although the difficulty of a stage can be altered before it is begun. The game keeps track of the hardest difficulty level at which each stage has been cleared, and when a stage is selected, it suggests a difficulty higher than the highest completion level.

As one selects higher difficulties, the game makes these adjustments:

• Enemy health goes up, sometimes considerably with bulky enemies like Greaps.
• Enemies move and attack faster; especially noticeable with the vulnerability period of large enemies and bosses.
• Additional attacks become available to enemies.
• Enemies and obstacles do more damage and have more KO power.
• Some enemy hitboxes are slightly bigger.
• Enemies are harder to flinch.
• Enemies AI generally get smarter (such as attacking more often, or Bytans duplicating nonstop).
• More (and sometimes deadlier) enemies appear during locked battles.
• Trackballs lose energy faster.
• Auroros can't be thrown as far, making it more difficult to use them as javelins against other enemies.
• Less favorable items appear, although an increased number of stronger healing items appear when enemies are defeated.
• Stock Balls may get rarer (or, in the case of Very Hard and Intense, not exist, being replaced by recovery items instead).
• Certain features travel faster, giving the player less reaction time.
  • Barrel Cannons, Slide Launchers, Minecarts, and other vehicles (such as the orange platforms in The Research Facility) move faster, therefore being harder to control.
  • Auto-scrolling areas scroll faster.
  • Moving walls, floors, and ceilings move faster, making characters more easily crushed.
  • Platforms move or fall faster.
  • Bomb block explosion chains move faster.
  • The effects of temporary switches are shorter.
• Wind speeds increase (including the wind from a Borboras), sometimes to nonsensical levels.
• Keys are easier to break.
• More, higher quality, and rarer stickers appear.
• More collectibles (CDs, trophies, stickers) appear.
• More trophy stands appear.
• More coins are given at the end of each level.

Stages

Every level numerically ordered:
1: Midair Stadium
2: Skyworld
3: Sea of Clouds
4: The Jungle
5: The Plain
6: The Lake
7: The Ruined Zoo
8: The Battlefield Fortress
9: The Forest
10: The Research Facility I
11: The Lake Shore
12: The Path to the Ruins
13: The Cave
14: The Ruins
15: The Wilds I
16: The Ruined Hall
17: The Wilds II
18: The Swamp
19: The Research Facility II
20: Outside the Ancient Ruins
21: The Glacial Peak
22: The Canyon
23: Battleship Halberd Interior
24: Battleship Halberd Exterior
25: Battleship Halberd Bridge
26: The Subspace Bomb Factory I
27: The Subspace Bomb Factory II
28: Entrance to Subspace
29: Subspace I
30: Subspace II
31: The Great Maze

The Subspace Emissary consists of 31 different stages. As some stages share the same name, the earlier stage is denoted with an I while the later-appearing stage is followed by a II.

Icon	Stage	Fighters available	Bosses	Unlocked fighters	Lost fighters	Recovered fighters	Total fighters	Teams
	Midair Stadium	Mario (the battle with Kirby (if he was chosen), and the battle with Subspace army), Kirby (all the phases, including the battle with Mario (if he was chosen)), Peach, Zelda (both only in the battle with Subspace army)	Kirby (battled by Mario)/Mario (battled by Kirby), Petey Piranha (battled only by Kirby)	Kirby, Peach/Zelda (because they escaped, Mario got sent flying and Wario kidnapped Zelda/Peach)	—	—	2	1, new team: Kirby, Peach/Zelda
	Skyworld	Pit (all the phases), Mario (the last sidescrolling after Pit rescued him)	—	Mario (now rescued by Pit), Pit	—	—	4	2, new team: Mario, Pit
	Sea of Clouds	Kirby, Peach/Zelda (both all the phases)	—	—	—	—	4	2
	The Jungle	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong (both all the phases)	—	Diddy Kong (because Bowser kidnapped Donkey Kong)	—	—	5	3, new team: Diddy Kong
	The Plain	Mario, Pit (both all the phases)	—	—	—	—	5	3
	The Lake	Diddy Kong, Fox (both all the phases)	Rayquaza, False Bowser	Fox	—	—	6	3, Fox joined Diddy Kong
	The Ruined Zoo	Lucas (all the phases), Ness (only the battle with Porky), Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle) (the last sidescrollings after Lucas joined him)	Porky (battled by Lucas and Ness)	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle) (Wario kidnapped Ness)	—	—	8	4, new team: Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle)
	The Battlefield Fortress	Marth (all the phases), Meta Knight (all the phases except for the first one, when Marth was alone at the first sidescrollings), Ike (only the final sidescrolling, after he joined Marth and Meta Knight)	—	Marth, Meta Knight, Ike	—	—	11	5, new team: Marth, Meta Knight, Ike
	The Forest	Link, Yoshi (both all the phases)	Toon Link	Link, Yoshi, Toon Link	—	—	13	6, new team: Link, Yoshi
	The Research Facility I	Zero Suit Samus (all the phases), Pikachu (all the phases starting with the second)	—	Zero Suit Samus, Pikachu	—	—	15	7, new team: Zero Suit Samus, Pikachu
	The Lake Shore	Mario, Pit (both fighting against false Zelda and then with Link and Yoshi, who formed the group with them), Link, Yoshi (both fighting against false Peach and then with Mario and Pit, who formed the group with them), Kirby (only in the team that Mario, Pit, Link and Yoshi joined)	False Peach (battled by Link and Yoshi)/False Zelda (battled by Mario and Pit), Mario and Pit (after Link and Yoshi had fought false Peach)/Link and Yoshi (after Mario and Pit had fought false Zelda)	—	Peach/Zelda (Bowser captured her)	—	14	5, the groups of Mario and Pit, Link and Yoshi, and Kirby joined in one
	The Path to the Ruins	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle) (both all the phases)	Wario	—	—	—	14	5
	The Cave	Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby (everyone all the phases)	—	—	—	—	14	5
	The Ruins	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur (after Pokémon Trainer got it)) (both all the phases)	Charizard, Wolf	Ivysaur, Charizard, Wolf	—	—	14	5, Ivysaur and Charizard now are in Pokémon Trainer's team
	The Wilds I	Marth, Ike, Meta Knight (everyone in all the phases)	Galleom	—	—	—	14	5
	The Ruined Hall	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard (everyone in the battle with Galleom)	Galleom	—	—	—	14	4, the groups of Marth, Ike and Meta Knight, and Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) joined in one
	The Wilds II	Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby (everyone in all the phases)	—	—	—	—	14	4
	The Swamp	Diddy Kong, Fox (both all the phases), Falco (all the phases except the first one because he joined to help his leader Fox and Diddy Kong to fight giant false Diddy Kong, and then he followed them at the last sidescrollings)	Giant False Diddy Kong, Jigglypuff	Falco, Jigglypuff	—	—	15	4, Falco joined Diddy Kong and Fox
	The Research Facility II	Zero Suit Samus (all phrases, transforming from Samus by taunting whenever possible), Pikachu (all the phases), Samus (the last sidescrolling and the battle with Ridley)	False Samus (x2) (battled by Pikachu and Zero Suit Samus), Ridley (battled by Samus and Pikachu)	Samus	Zero Suit Samus (Samus replaces her because she put on her Power Suit)	—	15	4, Samus is now with Pikachu
	Outside the Ancient Ruins	Olimar, Captain Falcon (both all the phases), Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong (both only in the battle with Subspace army)	—	Donkey Kong (now rescued by Diddy Kong), Captain Falcon, Olimar	Fox, Falco (they are not trophies, but Diddy Kong left the group, and they went on their way)	—	16	4, Diddy Kong left Fox and Falco to join Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar
	The Glacial Peak	Ice Climbers (only the sidescrollings), Meta Knight (the sidescrollings and the battle with Lucario (depending on if the player chose him)), Lucario (depending on if the player chose it in the battle with Meta Knight)	Lucario (battled by Meta Knight)/Meta Knight (battled by Lucario)	Ice Climbers, Lucario	—	—	18	5, new team: Meta Knight, Lucario, Ice Climbers replaced Meta Knight in Marth, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike's group
	The Canyon	Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby (everyone in the battle with Subspace Army)	—	—	—	—	18	4, the groups of Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi and Kirby, and Ice Climbers, Marth, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike joined in one
	Battleship Halberd Interior	Snake (all the phases), Meta Knight (after he and Lucario formed team with Snake), Lucario (after it and Meta Knight formed team with Snake (if it was not chosen previously, it is a new character to use))	False Peach and Zelda	Snake	—	—	19	4, Snake joined Meta Knight and Lucario
	Battleship Halberd Exterior	Peach, Zelda/Sheik (both all the phases)	—	Zelda/Peach	—	Fox (he returned and to join the princesses and formed group with them), Peach/Zelda (now rescued by Snake, Lucario, and Meta Knight)	22	5, new team: Fox, Peach, Zelda
	Battleship Halberd Bridge	Snake, Lucario, Fox, Falco, Peach, Sheik/Zelda (everyone in the battle with Duon)	Duon	Mr. Game & Watch (a new member of the team, rescued by Peach)	—	Falco (he returned to join the team)	24	4, the groups of Fox, Peach and Zelda, and Meta Knight, Lucario and Snake joined in one, and also added Falco and Mr. Game & Watch
	The Subspace Bomb Factory I	Samus, Pikachu (both all the phases)	—	—	—	—	24	4
	The Subspace Bomb Factory II	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar (everyone all the phases), Samus, Zero Suit Samus (by taunting as Samus), Pikachu, R.O.B. (everyone all the phases, except the first sidescrollings, when Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar were all alone before form group with them)	Meta Ridley	R.O.B.	—	—	25	1, all the teams joined: Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Samus, Pikachu and R.O.B.'s group gathered with Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, Ice Climbers, Marth, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike, and also Fox, Peach, Zelda, Meta Knight, Lucario, Snake, Falco and Mr. Game & Watch
	Entrance to Subspace	Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Falco, Fox, Ice Climbers, Ike, Kirby, Link, Lucario, Lucas, Mario, Marth, Meta Knight, Mr. Game & Watch (now a new character to use), Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), R.O.B., Samus, Snake, Yoshi, Zelda (everyone at the sidescrolling)	—	—	Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Peach, Zelda, Ice Climbers, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Meta Knight, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Lucario, Ike, R.O.B., Snake (Tabuu turned them into trophies)	—	0	0
	Subspace I	King Dedede (all the phases), Ness, Luigi (only in the sidescrollings, when King Dedede and they rescued some fighters)	Bowser (battled only by King Dedede)	Luigi, Ness (both revived due to the Dedede Brooches), Bowser (after the battle, he is in King Dedede, Ness and Luigi's side), King Dedede	—	Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Ike (every character must return if Luigi, Ness and King Dedede rescue all them)	From 4 to 19	1, new team: King Dedede, Ness, Luigi, Bowser, Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike
	Subspace II	Kirby (all the phases)	—	Ganondorf (if Kirby found Link and Zelda, who rescue him), Wario (If Kirby found him) (both formerly baddies)	—	Kirby (revived due to the Dedede Brooch he swallowed), Link, Yoshi, Peach, Zelda, Ice Climbers, Meta Knight, Lucario, R.O.B., Snake (every character must return if Kirby rescue all them)	From 5 to 31	1, Kirby, Link, Yoshi, Peach, Zelda, Ice Climbers, Meta Knight, Lucario, R.O.B., Snake and Wario joined King Dedede, Ness, Luigi, Bowser, Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike's group, and also added Ganondorf
	The Great Maze	Bowser (now a new character to use), King Dedede, Kirby, Luigi, Ness (everyone all the phases), Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Falco, Fox, Ganondorf (now a new character to use), Ice Climbers, Ike, Link, Lucario, Lucas, Mario, Marth, Meta Knight, Mr. Game & Watch, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), R.O.B., Samus, Snake, Wario (now a new character to use), Yoshi, Zelda (everyone all the phases (depending on if Kirby, King Dedede, Ness and Luigi rescued all them, in Bowser's case, it's different because he joined the group after a battle)), Sonic (only in the battle with Tabuu)	False Characters, Petey Piranha, Rayquaza, Porky, Ridley, Galleom, Duon, Meta Ridley (everybody battled by all the characters except Sonic, some characters fought them again), Tabuu (battled by all the characters even Sonic)	Sonic	—	—	From 6 to 32	1, Sonic joined Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness, Bowser, Peach, Zelda, Ice Climbers, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Ganondorf, Wario, Meta Knight, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Lucario, Ike, R.O.B. and Snake

Notes

When only one character is available in Co-op mode, P2 will control an alternate costume of that character. This happens in nine stages: Kirby (in the Midair Stadium vs Petey Piranha and the entirely of Subspace II), Pit (in The Skyworld, before having Mario join), Lucas (in The Ruined Zoo when he runs from the statue), Marth (in The Battlefield Fortress, before joining Meta Knight and Ike) Zero Suit Samus (in The Research Facility before she joined Pikachu), Meta Knight/Lucario (in The Glacial Peak, only in the battle against the character P1 didn't choose, Snake (in the Battleship Halberd Interior, before he joined Meta Knight and Lucario) and King Dedede (in the Subspace I, only in the battle against Bowser). A ninth battle is at the beginning of the game, where Mario and Kirby duel. This also applies to Diddy Kong when replaying any stage after completing the Jungle before completing the Lake.

• 

  A map of the stages and which characters are available in each one, not counting Wolf, Toon Link, and Jigglypuff.

Bosses

These battles are fought with the bosses having a specific amount of health; once their health runs out, they are defeated.

Boss	Stage	Fighters
Petey Piranha	Midair Stadium	Kirby (because Mario got sent flying while Peach and Zelda were caged by Petey)
Rayquaza	The Lake	Fox and Diddy Kong
Porky	The Ruined Zoo	Ness and Lucas (before Lucas joined Pokémon Trainer as Wario captured Ness afterwards)
Galleom, Part 1	The Wilds I	Marth, Ike, and Meta Knight
Galleom, Part 2	The Ruined Hall	Lucas and Pokémon Trainer
Ridley	The Research Facility II	Samus and Pikachu (after Samus gets her Power Suit)
Duon	Battleship Halberd Bridge	Fox, Falco, Lucario, Snake, Peach, and Zelda/Sheik in a party of 4
Meta Ridley	The Subspace Bomb Factory II	Samus, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, and R.O.B. in a party of 4
Tabuu	The Great Maze	King Dedede, Luigi, Ness, Bowser, Kirby, Sonic, and any rescued fighters in Subspace (all characters besides Toon Link, Wolf and Jigglypuff) in a party of 6

All the bosses return in The Great Maze.

Mini-Bosses

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.

Opponent	Stage	Fighters
Kirby or Mario	Midair Stadium	Mario or Kirby, player fights the one they did not choose (after the battle, they joined with the princesses Peach and Zelda in one team)
False Bowser	The Lake	Diddy Kong and Fox
False Peach	The Lake Shore	Link and Yoshi (if Peach was rescued)
False Zelda	The Lake Shore	Mario and Pit (if Zelda was rescued)
Mario and Pit or Link and 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; after the battle, Kirby joins all of them in one team.
Wario	The Path to the Ruins	Lucas and Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle only)
Charizard	The Ruins	Lucas and Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle and Ivysaur only, Charizard is obtained after the battle)
Giant False Diddy Kong	The Swamp	Diddy Kong, Fox and Falco
2 False Samuses	The Research Facility II	Zero Suit Samus and Pikachu (after the battle, Samus puts on her Power Suit)
Lucario or Meta Knight	The Glacial Peak	Meta Knight or Lucario, player fights the one they did not choose (they join in one team after the battle, the Ice Climbers are spectators)
False Peach and False Zelda	Battleship Halberd Interior	Meta Knight, Lucario, and Snake
Bowser	Subspace I	King Dedede (only him, without Ness or Luigi, who helped Dedede to find trophies)
Subspace copies of almost all characters	The Great Maze	King Dedede, Luigi, Ness, Bowser, Kirby, and any characters rescued in Subspace (Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Peach, Zelda, Ice Climbers, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Ganondorf, Wario, Meta Knight, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer, Lucario, Ike, R.O.B. and Snake) in a party of 4 (everyone but Sonic, he joins only in the battle agaist the final boss, Tabuu)
Toon Link	Secret door in The Forest, that teleports to the Pirate Ship	Any character; optional post-game battle
Wolf	Secret door in The Ruins, that teleports to the Lylat Cruise	Any character; optional post-game battle
Jigglypuff	Secret door in The Swamp, that teleports to the Pokémon Stadium 2	Any character; optional post-game battle

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. For 12 years, this was initially thought to be the only way to play as a character's alternate costume. 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.

Other special enemy battle

• 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.

Order	Enemies to defeat	Stage	Fighters
First	30	Midair Stadium	Mario, Peach, Zelda and Kirby (after the battle between Mario and Kirby and before Petey Piranha appears)
Second	30	The Battlefield Fortress	Marth and Meta Knight (Ike joins later)
Third	40	Outside the Ancient Ruins	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar
Fourth	50	The Canyon	Mario, Pit, Kirby, Link and Yoshi
Fifth	50	The Subspace Bomb Factory II	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Samus, Pikachu and R.O.B.

Similarities to Kirby Super Star and other Kirby games

The Subspace Emissary contains gameplay elements similar to the sub-games of Kirby Super Star and other elements from Kirby games. This is likely intentional, given Masahiro Sakurai's work on both games.

• The Halberd plays a very strong role in both games, and in both, it's destroyed and crashes in the ocean.
• The beginning of the 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 minecarts and 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 Dyna Blade and Marx, have similar moves to bosses in Brawl, such as Ridley and Tabuu.
• Bosses do not flinch.
• Enemies cannot survive underwater; they will be KO'd immediately upon touching it.
• Roaders are similar to Kirby's Wheelies.
• The Bucculus attacks in a similar way to Leap
• The planet Floria in Milky Way Wishes has a similar concept to the day-changing doors, except that it has four rooms and they are based on seasons instead of day and night.

Differences from other game modes

Gameplay

Despite characters using the same moves and using much of the same engine as in the other modes of Brawl, the gameplay of the Subspace Emissary differs from that of ordinary brawls:

• The walking speed, running speed, and air speed of most characters has been normalized; slower characters move faster, while faster characters move slower. This is quite noticeable with Captain Falcon and Sonic's dashing.
• Player 2 will receive a significant walking speed, running speed and jump height increase as their distance from player 1 increases. This is presumably to prevent them from falling behind too much, but happens regardless of whether they run ahead or fall behind.
• All characters jump 2 frames faster, jump 18% higher, have slightly higher gravity, and have a 19% faster falling speed. As a result, vertical movement is in general faster, while some characters' recoveries (such as Jigglypuff and Pit) are indirectly nerfed by the heavier physics.
  • Peach's double jump has 40% more force; no other character has a change of more than 10%.
  • Snake's double jump has 12% less force.
  • Some special moves that grant temporary hovering, such as Diddy's Rocketbarrel Boost, can't keep up with the increased gravity and so are also indirectly nerfed.
• 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.
• All characters can swim considerably longer.
• The Stamina mechanic of the Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon is removed.
• Grab-only special moves such as Inhale and Egg Lay deal damage to enemies instead of grabbing.
• In addition to blocking most attacks, Mirror Shield can also now do damage.

Dialogue

While various characters in the Smash series have one-liners through taunts, battle cries, and the like, the cutscenes of The Subspace Emissary have very little spoken dialogue. The vast majority of character interaction takes place through actions, gestures, and expressions, augmented by short grunts or exclamations. Some cutscenes feature moves that have battle cries where the character says the move's name, such as Ness and Lucas using their PK Thunder or Captain Falcon using his Falcon Punch. The only character who speaks in more than one scene is Pikachu, who only "speaks" via yelling its own name. In Jigglypuff's only scene, the crowd chants its name, making them the only non-playable character to say a line.

Only one character in all of The Subspace Emissary ever speaks in a full sentence; in Battleship Halberd Interior, Snake directly says to the player, "Kept you waiting, huh?" after revealing himself. This is a classic line from the Metal Gear series. In Brawl, it references the extensive voicework in the Metal Gear Solid games, the frequent breaking of the fourth wall in the series, and the fact that the player had seen a brief glimpse before already in a much earlier cutscene.

Trivia

Mario's trophy coming to life in Melee's opening, compared to in the Midair Stadium of the Subspace Emissary.

• The Subspace Emissary's camera is programmed to only be able to move through certain area, and will lock if the player goes outside these areas. However, if the player goes a sufficiently large distance above or below the stage's vertical origin, this restriction will inexplicably be bypassed. It's possible that this was programmed in as a failsafe, but this is never possible in normal gameplay, due to the game using a local blast zone system based on the camera's location, and the different behaviour of the upper blast zone. Thus, this phenomenon can only occur if the local blast zones are modified to extend much further out.
• 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: Kirby, Pit, Lucas, Marth, Zero Suit Samus (transforming from Samus by taunting whenever Samus must be chosen), Snake, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Diddy Kong, either Link or Yoshi, either Olimar or Captain Falcon, and one of either Peach, Zelda or Sheik.
  • Co-op mode adds Mario, Ness, Donkey Kong, Fox, Pokémon Trainer's Squirtle, Ice Climbers and 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 I or Subspace II, it is possible to finish the Subspace Emissary with only 6 characters available in the player's roster: Luigi, Ness, King Dedede, and Bowser from Subspace I, Kirby from Subspace II, and Sonic, who appears at the end of the Great Maze.
• Palutena is the only character in The Subspace Emissary who is neither a villain/enemy nor playable.
• As far as playable characters go, Wario, R.O.B., and Sonic are the only universes that do not have a song played at any time.
  • In addition, Star Fox (excluding the hidden room in The Ruins) and the universes mentioned above are the only universes that do not have a song played in normal gameplay.
• 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 (Squirtle appears in all six levels, Ivysaur appears in four levels, and Charizard appears in three levels) and both of Samus' versions (Zero Suit Samus appears in the first two levels, and Samus in the last five levels)), Zelda or Peach, Donkey Kong, and Fox are playable in five; Lucario can be playable in four or five; Marth, Ike, Falco, Captain Falcon, Olimar, and Snake are playable in four; Ness, Ice Climbers, and R.O.B. are playable in three; Mr. Game & Watch, Luigi and King Dedede are playable in two; Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, and Sonic are playable in one; and Jigglypuff, Toon Link, and 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.
  • In addition, Mario's trophy coming to life in the first cutscene could be a reference to the beginning of Melee's opening 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 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 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 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'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 bosses) 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.
• While all characters use their in-game models during cutscenes, certain parts of characters such as loose clothing and hair have increased polygon counts in order for them to deform smoother. Examples of this are Marth's cape, Link's hair, and Lucas's shirt.

See also

• List of cutscenes in The Subspace Emissary
• Adventure Mode (SSBM)
• Adventure Mode: World of Light

External links

• Adventure Mode index