Project M

The logo for Project M.

Project M is a hack for Super Smash Bros. Brawl designed to make the gameplay more closely resemble that of Super Smash Bros. Melee. The development team is partly descended from the original developers for Brawl+, now known as the PMBR, or Project M Backroom. It has members from over ten countries, though as of now, only an NTSC version has been released.

Project M has been featured as a prominent event at several national tournaments, such as GENESIS 2, the Zenith series, and is on the game lineup for Apex 2014.

Universal changes

The actual version of Project M has two versions: Full Set and Wi-Fi. The former has Stock Control and Input Assistance as new features, which allow newer players to use advanced techniques better and have a stock advantage over experienced ones. However, Replays and online play won't work properly; the latter can glitch since it still detects players with unmodded Brawl games, causing the game to freeze. A similar thing happens to replays; if a Project M replay is viewed on the regular Brawl, it may cause malfunctions when beggining a match, possibly because of the stage replacement. The Wi-Fi version allows these two things to work properly, though it doesn't contain the new battle features, likely because Stock Control would have caused potential griefing within online matches.

Both versions alter the original Brawl gameplay to be more resemblant to that of Melee, along with other changes to make the game more competitive in general, while keeping other Brawl beneficial techniques such as crawl, wall cling or DACUS. These changes include:

• Default match type is 4 stock with an 8-minute timer.
• The following mechanics have been altered to match their Melee forms:
  • Air dodging applies a directional boost and causes helplessness, implementing wavedash techniques. Like in Brawl, however, they instantly grab nearby items during the first frames.
  • L-canceling halves landing lag when a shield button is pressed 7 frames before landing, and characters will flash white if performed correctly.
  • Dash dancing's timing has been reverted, and characters can shield during one.
  • Crouching cancels dashes.
  • Crouch canceling reduces knockback.
  • Consecutive jabbing is removed.
  • Hitting the C-Stick down while crouching uses a down smash (in Brawl it uses a down tilt).
  • Double jump canceling reimplemented; its usage varies slightly between characters.
  • The abilities to edge tech and edge cancel attacks have been implemented.
  • Jumps can be cancelled with grabs.
  • Powershielding can reflect projectiles during the first 2 frames.
  • Shieldstun formula reverted.
  • Edges cannot be auto-sweetspotted, so they cannot be grabbed neither from the back, nor during recovery attacks. Some moves like Raptor Boost or Bowser Bomb still use this feature, though.
  • Window for teching reverted.
  • Amount of freeze frames reduced.
  • More forwards momentum is conserved when jumping.
  • Altered camera that behaves similarly to in Melee's Camera Mode, as well as being capable of zooming out indefinitely, and rotating around the entire stage.
  • Hitstun canceling has been removed.
  • Random tripping has been removed.
  • Grab aerials cause helplessness if they miss a ledge, but can be used after an air dodge with the shield + attack combination, like in Melee. They still act as tether recoveries, though they won't restore a character's midair jumps if they drop from the ledge. They are now also more efficient since they ignore edge-hoggers; characters will still grab the ledge without affecting them, and when pulled up they perform an automatic jump get-up.
  • Characters now grunt instantly when hit by a strong attack, while in Brawl, they did a second afterwards. There are also medium-damage and high-damage groans as well, with most characters using unused voice samples from the Sound Test.
  • If an already-struck character gets hit by something else, the new knockback either replaces the old knockback (if the gap between the attacks was 10 frames or less) or has its direction and power combined with the old knockback (after 10 frames). (In Brawl, whether to replace the old knockback is based on the relative power of the two attacks, and no merging is performed.)
  • Brawl's random input delay is fixed.
  • Meteor smash angle reverted, therefore implementing spikes.
  • When dash-grabbing a foe, forward momentum is completely negated.
  • Grab physics reverted: characters can grab opponents behind them, though they cannot be grabbed by the lower legs or arms.
  • Locking is removed: characters hit when lying on the floor will instantly get up after bouncing.
• Footstool jumping is done with a taunt input.
• Tripping can be teched.
• A glide toss can be done in the air.
• Smash 64's taunt canceling returns.
• Gliding is no longer usable with a jump button: a special move must be used instead to do so.
• Stages such as Dream Land, Hyrule Castle and Fountain of Dreams replace stages such as Bridge of Eldin and 75m.
• For the Full Set version, players can now turn on Input Assistance which implements a 3 frame buffer window to help newer players master advanced techniques, replacing the "Damage Gauge" option. Wi-Fi version instead has a different Buffer option that replaces handicaps, from 1 to 30, with these numbers being the respective amount of buffer frames.
• Stock Control added (Full Set version), replacing handicaps. Players can now control the amount of stocks each player starts with before battle, from 1 to 30 stocks for each individual character. A Crew mode has been added in which the game keeps track of stocks retained after battles.
• Stage selection menu modified to include built-in stage striking control.
• Super Armor has been removed. Standardized knockback resistance system categorizes armor as Light, Medium, or Heavy. Some characters feature color overlays to indicate such armor, with more opaque overlays generally indicating stronger armor.
• Special Brawl's "Curry Mode" is being replaced by "Turbo Mode," in which all moves can cancel into any other move or action on hit or on shield.
• Timers and Starmen are removed and replaced with ordinary stickers, even for Training mode. In 3.0, Superspicy Curry will be replaced with an item that activates "Turbo Mode" on the spot. Other items remain unchanged, though.

Character changes

Melee veterans

Melee veterans should be assumed to have been reverted to their Melee moveset and properties and have been changed from there. This includes special and normal moves, properties such as gravity, weight, run-speed, air mobility but does not include sound effects, textures, or vertexes. However, some characters, due to having poor attributes and movesets in Melee (such as Ness, Kirby or Zelda), had some elements recycled from Brawl and Smash 64 or have been given entirely new buffs.

Bowser

Bowser's alternate costume in Project M.

• Significantly larger in size.
• Slightly heavier.
• Most of Bowser's attacks do much more damage, shield damage, and knockback, some examples including:
  • Forward smash no longer hits twice, but deals stronger damage and knockback than in Melee, and explodes upon contact.
  • Up smash, back air, forward air and up air all deal more damage and have slightly better knockback. Forward air was also reverted to have a neutral effect like in Melee.
  • Forward and back throws have stronger knockback.
• Flying Slam reverted to his Koopa Klaw. It can no longer bite the opponent before throwing, but its throws are significantly stronger in both damage and knockback, with forward throw dealing 20% damage, and back throw dealing 15%. They have new animations rather than claw swipes: forward throw is a head crush, and back is a single-handed throw.
• Many moves and animations now have some sort of launch resistance: crouch, crawl, and up smash while charging have light armor, while dash attack, all smashes, neutral air, Koopa Klaw, and Bowser Bomb have heavy armor (shown by a red flash).
• The second hit of down tilt is now optional, activated by pressing the attack button a second time.
• Fire Breath cancel implemented.
• Bowser Bomb no longer hits during the jump, but the fall is stronger and deals 24% damage. It also grabs ledges from both sides, and can be canceled with a jump before the max leap height when used from the ground.
• Pummel now involves biting opponents, like with Koopa Klaw in Melee. It also does 4% damage per pummel, and Bowser groans every time he does.
• He now has just one idle pose (roaring slightly while leaning his head backwards). The second idle pose is, however, used as his new down taunt, emitting a roar reminiscent of that from Melee.
• Down throw now deals 16% damage.
• Slightly faster sidestep.
• Bowser now has an alternate costume based off of the appearance of Dry Bowser in the New Super Mario Bros. series.

Captain Falcon

• Falcon has been almost completely restored to his Melee self.
• Falcon Punch can be turned around as in Brawl. Also instead of just 1 reversal, he can now turn around four times in addition to an initial B reversal which does not animate the turnaround. It also keeps Brawl freeze frames.
• Raptor Boost can sweetspot ledges like in Brawl, improving recovery. Also, when used towards an edge from the ground, Captain Falcon now goes into the ending animation instead of instantly becoming helpless, allowing to grab the edge and come back to the stage.
• Aerial Raptor Boost is now a spike. After it hits a foe, it makes Captain Falcon leap forward like in Brawl.
• Pressing up taunt when a sweetspotted Knee Smash connects results in Falcon exclaiming "YESZ!".
• Falcon Dive can grab edge-hogging characters as in Brawl.
• Up and down taunts have switched positions. When using down taunt, he now also speaks off a more silent "Yesz!".

Donkey Kong

• Dash attack has been changed. It is now a roll similar to that of the Donkey Kong Country series. It acts much like the original one, but has light armor and can roll off edges and platforms similar to Kirby's Melee dash attack. Can be jumped out of in midair.
• Neutral aerial is now an effective approach option; it was given more range and slight invincibility on his arms during part of the attack.
• Forward aerial comes out faster and has more KO potential.
• Down aerial's ending lag has been shortened.
• Back throw's knockback has increased.
• Hand Slap now has much wider grounded hitboxes that ground-bounce the opponent and only slaps the ground twice per button press (making it optionally much shorter); it functions well for shield pressure and tech chasing.

Falco

• Falco has been reverted to his Melee format.
• His jab is like in Brawl, but angle and knockback are that of Melee.
• Falco's dash speed is the same as in Melee, but retains the Brawl running animation.
• Reflector no longer has intagibility.
• Laser decays in damage based on distance.

Fox

Fox's alternate costume in Project M.

• Fox has been reverted to his Melee format.
• Fox's infinite capabilities removed.
• Reflector no longer has intangibility frames.
• Laser decays in damage based on distance.
• Reflector can be released during the reflect lag to go into the end animation afterwards, preventing rapid hitting projectiles like Fox's standing laser that can re-hit before the reflect lag ends from being able to trap him in it. This also applies for all other infinite reflectors.
• Fox now has an alternate costume based off of his Melee appearance.

Ganondorf

• Dashing animation was altered to and speed was increased that of his Melee incarnation's.
• Midair jumping height was improved.
• Neutral attack made identical to Melee incarnation.
• Forward tilt can now be angled, and it has less ending lag.
• New up tilt: a high-reaching stomp of reasonable speed. First hit does 8% damage, then the second one does 22% with an electric effect and significantly higher damage and knockback.
• Down tilt has less ending lag.
• Dash attack's trajectory altered to that of its Melee incarnation, though it retains its Brawl knockback and damage values.
• Forward smash's angle altered to that of its Melee incarnation.
• Up smash made identical to Melee incarnation and can now DACUS.
• Down smash's speed and power were improved to that of its Melee incarnation. The first kick additionally links better into the second kick.
• Sweetspot of neutral aerial's second kick was strengthened to that of its Melee incarnation.
• Forward aerial's startup, ending, and landing lag was significantly reduced to that of its Melee incarnation. The sourspot hitbox was additionally decreased in size and strengthened to the power of Melee f-air, while the sweetspot hitbox was given a darkness effect.
• Back aerial strengthened to that of its Melee incarnation, as well as having its hitbox duration increased to that of its Melee incarnation, and its sourspot removed. Its sweetspot was also given an electrical effect.
• Down aerial's animation changed to its Melee incarnation. Down aerial is also slightly faster, with its sourspot removed.
• Forward and back throws weakened to that of their Melee incarnation.
• Up throw's base knockback was reduced, making it much more effective at following up on.
• Down throw's trajectory was altered to that of its Melee incarnation. Its knockback scaling was also slightly reduced.
• Warlock Punch can be reversed up to five times.
• Grounded Flame Choke covers slightly more distance, and its ground damage was increased to 12%. It additionally can now be teched. Aerial Flame Choke now slightly bounces away opponents when they land.
• Dark Dive remains the same, though the grabbing attack's power was strengthened to that of the Melee incarnation.
• Grounded Wizard's Foot strengthened and its animation altered to its Melee incarnation. Its sourspot hitboxes were additionally removed. Aerial Wizard's Foot now restores Ganondorf's midair jump, with it now spiking, and its sourspot hitbox removed. Both versions also have less ending lag.

Ice Climbers

• Both of the Ice Climbers' forward aerials can meteor smash.
• Desynching abilities improved from Melee.
• Down aerial is no longer a stall-then-fall.

Jigglypuff

• Jigglypuff has been completely reverted to its Melee format.
• Neutral attack and up air now use a Fan sound effect.

Kirby

• Final Cutter can now be aimed for an horizontal slash. It can also be canceled by a jump afterwards, giving more utility to his aerials, especially forward air and down air.
• Dash attack reverted to its Melee form. It is also jump-cancelable after falling off an edge.
• Neutral aerial initiates faster.
• Back aerial has better range at Kirby's front.

Link

Link's alternate costume in Project M.

• Most of Link's normal attacks have slight speed and power increases. For example, Link's dash attack and down smash both have sooner IASA frames so that they can be acted out of sooner and are generally less unsafe to use on shielded opponents. Link's forward tilt has been sped up to match Young Link's forward tilt, making it extremely dangerous. The up smash has been sped up as well so that the three slashes can link together better.
• Depending on how the attack button is pressed, third hit of jab can now be either a single launching stab, or weak consecutive ones, like the Smash 64 and Melee versions.
• Aerials restored to their Melee power.
• Link's Hero's Bow has its charge speed increased by 33%, its knockback increased, and its knockback angle changed to send at a much more horizontal angle, but it retains its Brawl trajectory.
• Gale Boomerang replaced with a regular Boomerang, designed with a light-blue trail to feel like its Smash 64 incarnation. Like in Melee, it is stronger if thrown close to opponents. It also has a better angle. Deals damage from 13% to 7%, with the comeback dealing 5%.
• The aerial version of Spin Attack gains more additional horizontal momentum than in Melee. The attack also can no longer be charged when on the ground, instead having its Melee power.
• Link can now bomb jump consistently for recovery. By inputting a glide toss, Link can toss the bomb up the right distance to spin attack into it, allowing Link to Spin Attack again.
• Link's side taunt involving Navi has been replaced with his old Melee taunt.
• Link now has an alternate costume based off of his appearance in Ocarina of Time.

Luigi

Luigi's alternate costume in Project M.

• Down tilt does 15% damage and acts like a Mr. Saturn, dealing zero knockback with high hitstun and the "Pwaaah" sound effect.
• Fireball travels farther and can be followed up faster.
• Green Missile misfire mechanics changed. One in six uses of the attack is guaranteed to be a misfire: if five uses are passed normally, then the next will always be a misfire. If the attack will misfire, Luigi flashes green before it goes off; continuing to charge the move past this flash will disable the misfire and cause it to occur the next time the move is used instead. This allows Luigi to control when a misfire is used.
• Forward, back and down aerials reverted to their Melee format, with the former now using a slash effect and Fan SFX (like his forward smash). Down smash also has Melee trajectory.
• He now has two helplessness animations: one for air dodging, and the other for Super Jump Punch, taken from Melee and Brawl respectively. The latter has better air speed, keeping the move efficient for recovery.
• Luigi Cyclone reverted to its Melee version. When the special button is mashed, it gives better height than in Melee, but not as much as in Brawl.
• Luigi now has an alternate costume based off of the appearance of Mr. L in Super Paper Mario.

Mario

Mario's alternate costume in Project M, based upon Dr. Mario's appearance in Melee.

Mario retains his normal models from Brawl, but players may now switch between Mario and Dr. Mario costumes, similarly to Wario's alternate costume sets for his Wario Land and WarioWare appearances. There is no difference in gameplay, although sound effects and aesthetics have been changed.

• Mario is a slight mix of himself and Melee's Dr. Mario; up smash, back air, and the beginning of forward air have Dr. Mario-like properties, and his Fireball has a trajectory more like Megavitamins. Mario's down taunt was also changed to Dr. Mario's taunt from Melee.
• Down air is now his drill kick from Melee.
• Mario can now act out of Fireball quicker.
• Super Jump Punch can be cancelled by a wall jump any time it is touching the wall, but only the first Super Jump Punch. Until Mario lands again, Super Jump Punch must touch the wall for the whole of the move.
• Down special is now his Mario Tornado move from Melee. It also has star graphics, as a reference to Super Mario Galaxy.

Marth

• Completely reverted to his Melee self.
• Down air now has less ending lag.
• Can now DACUS.
• His light blue costume has been changed to a purple one, with his default costume being used as his Blue Team costume, like in Melee.

Mewtwo

Mewtwo's appearance in Project M (left)
and its alternate costume (right)

Mewtwo is the second character announced who was not in Brawl. Like Roy, it also takes advantage of the Clone Engine's capabilities. Like Mario, Mewtwo also has an alternate costume, which features its armor from the first Pokémon movie.

• General stats modified to fit Project M's environment.
• Confusion's range is larger and launches its targets upward, which sets up for combos better. It also actually reflects now rather than simply sending the projectile off at an odd angle.
• Mewtwo can act out of Teleport with any action, except for an air dodge, giving it deadly combo potential.
• Mewtwo can hover, similar to Peach's float.
  • Ability to hover in any direction.
  • Can only hover from first jump.
  • Shorter duration compared to Peach's float canceling.
  • Hovering consumes second jump.
  • Hovered aerials have decreased landing lag.
• Forward throw has been changed to condensing the enemy in a Shadow Ball and throwing them ahead. Also known as the "Gravity Squeeze"

Mr. Game & Watch

• Forward tilt can now be interrupted as quickly as the hitbox diminishes.
• Forward smash has not only regained its former power, but its later hitbox is more powerful. The flame sourspot now also links with the attack's sweetspot, dealing more damage.
• All aerials can now be L-canceled.
• Up aerial has drastically less ending lag, and it now consists of a single hit that can be used rapidly for juggling. It no longer produces wind.
• Down aerial's landing hitbox now spike-bounces.
• His Chef attack cancels on landing, similar to Falco's lasers. It can also toss bigger foods, which deal 15% damage with a flame effect.
• Fire's parachute is removed; it appears on his neutral aerial, which functions as it does in Melee. Like in Brawl, however, Mr. Game & Watch doesn't fall helpless and can act with any action afterwards (except an air dodge).
• Oil Panic has less ending lag after catching a projectile, and will usually OHKO when it is full. It can also now be used as an attack despite the amount of oil in the bucket.
• Grab release glitch from Mr. Game & Watch has not been removed. Unlike in Brawl, he regains his midair jump, but he still cannot use his up special. This technique can be deadly if his opponent ground releases him at the ledge, which he will be unable to make it back to the stage.

Ness

• Double jump cancel returns: special moves will always DJC, whereas aerial attacks will only do so if the jump input has been released (so holding jump will prevent it).
• Sourspot of forward smash posseses the "wooden bat" SFX from Brawl, while the sweetspot produces a ping sound like in Smash 64 and Melee.
• Up smash is now faster, has further reach, and sets the opponent up for juggling.
• Down smash now travels out much further to function as an onstage edge-guarding tool.
• Neutral aerial comes out slightly quicker.
• Back aerial and up aerial were given more KO power.
• Down aerial now comes out faster, acting like in Smash 64.
• PK Flash is smaller, but moves farther and faster, similar to PK Freeze.
• PK Fire no longer halts the player's aerial momentum, and it also activates on shielded opponents.
• PK Thunder 2 now travels much farther and retains its hitbox throughout the move.
• Yoyo glitch no longer exists.
• PSI Magnet is jump-cancellable, and it now has two damaging hitboxes: one on the center that deals 4% damage with set knockback, and other at the "outlines", with deals 2% damage with no knockback and hits consecutively.
• Ness now has a secret taunt that resembles the iconic 'Fuzzy Pickles' moments in his origin game, Earthbound.

Peach

• Has been reverted back to her Melee format, but keeping her up tilt from Brawl.
• Jab now links better.
• Forward smash always follows the pattern of "tennis racket, golf club, frying pan", with the first of a match being random.
• Peach Bomber reverted to using a "typical" explosion on contact, though the heart-based explosion will occur instead if a taunt button is held. It also has Brawl length and angle.
• Vegetables reverted to bouncing off shields instead of vanishing.
• Up throw now uses a heart animation.
• Peach now has her possessed Shadow Queen form (from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door) as an alternate costume, proven by Project M's Turbo Finale video on Youtube.

Pikachu

• Most of its moveset has been restored to Melee.
• Retains wall jump and Quick Attack cancel techniques from Brawl.
• Back aerial is now its Smash 64 back kick. It deals 14% damage if sweetspotted, with average KO power.
• Party Hat Pikachu (Melee Blue Outfit) has been revealed as an alternate costume in Project M's Turbo Finale video.

Roy

Roy's appearance in Project M.

Roy is the first character announced who was not in Brawl. He will not replace any existing character, taking advantage of the newly featured Clone Engine.

• Double-Edge Dance improved from Melee, including a backwards stabbing attack.
• Sword mechanics carry on: the inside of the sword is strongest. His attacks are also stronger than in Melee when this happens.
• Down smash is a fast, full-circle sword sweep, with less ending lag and a flame effect.
• Forward tilt is a now a long range stab.
• Neutral air is now a longer range spinning attack that lingers longer and hits harder.
• Back air is a more horizontal slice, much stronger than the original one. It also turns Roy around afterwards.
• Meteor smash hitbox of down air is bigger and reliably more effective at KOing. It also has a flame effect.
• DACUS-able up smash.

Samus

• Samus is now able to crawl, using an animation similar to her roll.
• Charge Shot can now be charged in the air.
• The ability to Super Wavedash is retained from Melee, and its input window has been extended to 2 frames.
• Samus can now use side taunt to switch beam types: down tilt, forward aerial and up smash gain an icy effect and get different properties, reminiscent of her Ice Beam from Metroid games. The latter two attacks also become a single faster hit of stronger knockback.
  • Forward smash now also has a flame effect, and can be beam-switched for a frozen arm cannon bash.

Sheik

• Reverted to her Melee format.
• Sheik's down throw has been altered to have an angle between her PAL d-throw and her NTSC d-throw, making chainthrows much harder. To compensate, the animation and throw happen faster, and her back-throw now has the perfect angle and knockback to use for DI confusion when chain grabbing and tech chasing.
• Needles can no longer block disproportionaly stronger projectiles but can still be hit out of the air, done by removing the needles' hurtboxes and allowing the hitboxes to clang.
• Unlike Melee, the chain's hitboxes are unable to clank out projectiles. The electric tipper hit also cannot hit aerial targets, so the effective range is reduced somewhat against people in the air. Brawl mechanics have blessed the chain with the drag maneuver though, which allows the hitboxes to refresh very quickly when the chain is maneuvered with a repeated 2323_2121 motion with the chain flat along the ground. This can deal a great amount of damage in very little time, especially if they dare attempt to crouch-cancel their way out of it.
• Vanish has stronger knockback and damage than in Brawl.
• Transform has been sped up to match Melee's version, and both Sheik and Zelda are able to act out of it sooner.
• Chain Jacket glitch from Brawl has not been removed.

Yoshi

• Yoshi can now jump out of his shield.
• Up tilt reverted to its Smash 64 form.
• Double-jump cancel implemented.
• Neutral aerial reverted to its Melee form.
• Sourspot of forward aerial removed.
• Egg Roll can be canceled quicker.
• Down throw has less ending lag, possesing deadlier juggling follow-ups.

Zelda

• Neutral air's multiple hits link into each other much better (an improvement that is also seen on the rest of her moveset) and the hitboxes are larger.
• Zelda's forward and back aerials have two sweetspots: a larger Melee sized one that is weaker than in Melee but still deals good knockback and damage, and Brawl sized sweetspots that are extremely powerful. They deal 18% and 22% damage, respectively. They also have an electric flub sourspot (15%) and a body hitbox sourspot (8%).
• Up air has an early hitbox at the base of her fingertips which deals 3% electric damage and links into her up air sweetspot. The explosion also deals 12% or 18% damage depending on where it hits, with the sourspot being located below it.
• Down air has also been made to sweetspot on grounded opponents in addition to aerial opponents. On grounded foes, sweetspot deals 18% damage while sourspot produces 8%, while on aerial foes they deal 20% and 9% respectively.
• Nayru's Love is land cancelable after the attack frames end, and the ground based version has improved invulnerability but no such cancel.
• Din's Fire functions significantly differently. Upon releasing a fireball, instead of quickly exploding it stops and hangs in the air for several seconds before exploding. Touching a suspended fireball does 8% damage. Using the move again resets the timer on fireballs that already exist (up to three can exist at once). In addition to these changes, the control of fireballs is massively increased to the point where fireballs can almost loop in circles. After the fireballs are suspended for too long, they explode (like the original attack), possesing wide hitboxes that deal 12% damage each with strong knockback.
• Farore's Wind can air dodge to interrupt teleporting from the ground, giving Zelda the ability to waveland or pseudo-wavedash any time during the duration of the move. The disappearing hitbox also has its Melee power.
• Pummel now does 4% per use, racking up damage better. Up throw also has weaker damage (9%) and knockback, allowing her to chaingrab opponents, while down throw deals stronger damage (16%).
• Sidestep has a magic effect.
• Down taunt now emits the "Puzzle Solved" jingle.
• Shares Transform changes with Sheik.

Brawl Newcomers

Players should assume that most of the Brawl newcomers' gravity and speed have been changed to reflect the playstyle of Melee.

Charizard

• Pokémon Trainer is gone, and Charizard (along with his other Pokémon) are their own separate characters.
  • When breaking a Smash Ball, Charizard gets nothing and the ball just vanishes. This also applies for Ivysaur and Squirtle.
• Several of its ground attacks now act as launchers. These include:
  • Jab is now a single swing of its wing, dealing 7% damage.
  • Forward tilt is now a powerful bite that can be angled and deals 12% damage if sweetspotted, with its old forward tilt being moved to its down tilt.
  • Up tilt has better knockback.
  • New up throw: Seismic Toss from the Pokémon anime, where it flies with its opponent upwards and then slams down, creating a huge explosion. Deals 15% damage with very powerful knockback.
• Forward aerial has been replaced with a flaming claw move akin to Mewtwo's forward aerial, with deals 17% damage with powerful diagonal knockback.
• Rock Smash has been replaced with a new move called Heat Wave, using a similar animation to its old forward aerial. It provides backwards momentum when used in the air. Like the Brawl forward air, it is stronger up close. It hits consecutively and can deal up to 25% damage if close enough to the foe.
• Fly now has an actual fire effect, and is renamed as the Fire Spin.
• Pokémon Change has been replaced with a different version of Fly. It causes Charizard to crouch and then leap into the air higher than any jump. The move can be charged to fly higher. When used in the air, Charizard instantly glides, and can use a glide attack afterwards. It no longer glides by holding the jump button.
  • Glide attack is also stronger, dealing consecutive hits that sum up to 17% damage, with strong knockback and a flame effect.
• Down throw is now a meteor smash that knockes foes down on the floor, akin to Fox's and Falco's d-throws. It can be teched instantly, though, but still acts as a tech-chaser.

Diddy Kong

• Like Donkey Kong, his dash attack now can move off ledges, setting up offstage KOs.
• The peanuts from Peanut Popgun now travel in straighter arcs and are much more powerful. A fully charged peanut can travel across the entire distance of Final Destination. Diddy can also air dodge out of his Peanut Popgun allowing him to waveland between shots.
• Monkey Flip had its distance increased. Pressing the attack or special attack button causes the attack to send opponents upward while pressing the jump button sends opponents downward.
• Rocketbarrel Boost has its distance increased. Furthermore, Diddy has more control over both its arc and launch angle allowing for better and trickier recoveries. Its power has also been increased making it a viable combo finisher.
• Thrown Bananas no longer cause grounded opponents to trip; they send opponents at a low semi-spike angle towards the floor, acting like a stronger version of Peach's turnips from Melee. Bananas lying on the ground however, will still cause opponents to trip. This also goes for actual Banana Peel items.
• His up taunt has been replaced with a juggling animation, probably referencing his idle animation in Donkey Kong Country 2. Diddy will continue to juggle as long as the taunt button is held. His old up taunt is moved to his down taunt.
• For his side taunt, he now leans his head forward and puts a hand in his mouth with a burly expression, as if trying to contain his laughter from a foe.

Ike

• Ike's general speed has significantly increased to fit Project M's mechanics.
• All tilts sped up.
• The second hit of down smash is optional and must be activated with an attack button press.
• Eruption (and Great Aether) have been recolored to blue instead of red. When fully charged, it also acts much like Roy's Flare Blade, dealing 50% damage with OHKO potential, plus a semi-spike trajectory.
• Quick Draw will only attack upon pressing the special button, while it will attack automatically as in Brawl if the attack button is held. The move can also be cancelled with a jump or a wall jump.
• Aether's super armor is replaced with light armor.
• Counter starts slightly quicker. The move is jump-cancelable eighteen frames after Ike successfully counters an attack.

Ivysaur

• Its jab and all its tilts and throws were significantly buffed; they are more powerful and combo better than they did in Brawl.
• Jab now hits just twice.
• Forward aerial is weaker, instead possesing a sweetspot at the tip of the whips that has the Brawl power. It allows better follow-ups into other aerials or a SolarBeam.
• Back aerial deals stronger damage (up to 11% if sweetspotted).
• Bulb attacks (up smash, up aerial, and down aerial) now have a sweetspot that flowers the opponent and slightly heals Ivysaur. The two aerials are also stronger and apply more vertical force to Ivysaur. The aerials heal 5% to Ivysaur, while the up smash heals 8%.
  • Pummel also heals 1% to Ivysaur per use, though without flowering.
• New neutral special: Synthesis and SolarBeam. Holding the special button slowly heals 1% to Ivysaur and builds up charge. Once the charge is full, using the move fires a powerful energy beam diagonally upwards, dealing 25% damage with strong knockback, and serving as a powerful edge-guarding attack. It can also be charged by connecting with Ivysaur's bulb attack sweetspots. The powerful energy beam can be absorbed by PSI Magnet or Oil Panic, but it cannot be reflected by various reflecting attacks.
• The non-smash thrown Razor Leaf can now hit multiple targets. The smash thrown version is a single, quicker hit. It also hits consecutively.
• Vine Whip's sweetspot is stronger, dealing 17% damage with the ping effect.
• Down special is now Seed Bomb, which sends a powerful projectile vertically similar to Snake's up smash, dealing 10% damage. It releases Stun Spores upon hitting the ground, which stun grounded opponents in range.

King Dedede

• King Dedede's jab combo now links properly, with the infinite hitting significantly faster.
• Forward tilt deals stronger damage (12% as opposed to 6%).
• Dash attack now posseses heavy armor when the hitboxes appear.
• Has three mid-air jumps as oppossed to four.
• Forward smash has larger range, but slightly slower start up.
• Up smash has also gained larger range.
• Down smash now sends opponents behind Dedede.
• Forward aerial is now a full hammer sweep from below. It covers a longer range and does more damage then the previous forward aerial.
• Up aerial now is just a single hit of 12% damage.
• Down throw sends opponents at a more downward angle towards the floor, removing chain throws, but allowing for deadly tech chases.
• Super Dedede Jump no longer has super armor on the move, but has a hitbox during the initial jump and has medium armor throughout the rising portion. Cancelling the move will negate his momentum.
• Jet Hammer applies a momentum boost on swinging based on the level of charge. Dedede also gains light armor while charging. The hammer also comes out slightly more quickly.
• Forward and back throws have been slightly balanced each other on damage.

Lucario

• All of Brawl' aura mechanics have been removed, so current percentage no longer has an effect on damage or projectile size.
• Lucario has been altered to act more like a traditional fighting game character in two main ways.
  • Connecting with moves allows Lucario to immediately cancel it into another move of a specific type. This forms a "magic series" of moves that can be strung together very quickly. The two series are Jab/Dash → Tilt → Smash → Special and Aerial → Special.
  • Dealing damage gives Lucario "aura points" equal to 1.2x the damage dealt (half that if shielded). Accumulating 50 points gives Lucario an "aura charge". Aura charges are used by pressing the attack button during a special move in order to use a super version of that move. Lucario can hold 2 aura charges and loses all charges and points when it is KO'd.
• Neutral aerial is now a spinning hurricane kick that does 15% damage, and lingers after a strong initial hit.
• Up smash is now an leaping uppercut with repeating hitboxes leading to a strong final hit. It deals up to 19% damage, and can be jump canceled on hit and turned around during start-up.
• Aura Sphere moves slower the more charged it is and only has four charge levels. A "fifth level" of charge can be used by launching the projectile two frames before it is fully charged. The super version of this attack is an extremely large Aura Bomb that moves even slower than the normal fully charged version and does much greater knockback and damage (26%). It also has hitboxes around Lucario on startup.
• Force Palm functions as a grab that can be used in a magic series. In the air it will also grab, but will instead meteor the opponent. The grounded super version gains knockback, and the aerial version will spike the opponent instead of meteoring them and sends at a more diagonal angle.
• Extreme Speed deals slight damage and knockback with repeating hitboxes (up to 13%). The super version cancels the move with a pelvic thrust that does 3% damage with slight knockback, which can be canceled into any action except another Extreme Speed.
• Double Team is no longer a counter. It is now a short dash which grants invincibility. While in the air, Lucario will dash diagonally downwards. It can be canceled by any normal attack at the cost of one aura charge.

Lucas

• Lucas can now double jump cancel, with the same mechanics as Ness.
• Lucas's jab combo has changed; Lucas now uses PSI instead of kicking. He also attacks only twice, and his arms contain sourspots.
• Up tilt is now a flash kick in an arc-like fashion, which deals 10% damage if sweetspotted.
• Down tilt has more ending lag and deals 6% damage, but is a meteor smash and has stronger knockback, acting much like Zelda's d-tilt, and removing wall infinites.
• Can now DACUS.
• Zair now has a hitbox, dealing 8% damage.
• Lucas' up smash now has a faster startup, but deals slightly less damage (from 30% to 28%) and knockback.
• Forward aerial deals slightly more damage (13% if sweetspotted).
• Down air now only hits three times, dealing 15% damage, but it no longer modifies Lucas's momentum, and is a bit faster, acting as a better edgeguarding option.
• PK Freeze is replaced with a new special move called "Offense Up". When the special button is pressed, the move begins to charge, and the charge will also push enemies back slightly. After a few seconds, Lucas's hands glow with power and the next smash attack that he performs deals greater damage, shield damage, and knockback (up smash, for instance, deals up to 42% if fully charged). While Offense Up is charged, Lucas can also press the special button to produce an electrical attack around himself, for a maximum of three times, dealing 10% damage. The charge can be paused, held, and continued later, but a partial charge has no effect.
• Lucas' PK Fire has changed slightly. It now uses the graphic of PK Freeze, has much more range, less knockback, and produces a large amount of hitlag. It also cancels upon landing. It deals 5% damage.
• Lucas' PK Thunder is now noticeably shorter, and PK Thunder 2 only deals at most 33% damage.
• PSI Magnet is jump-cancelable, and it can now deal 2% damage consecutively.
• When using up taunt, holding the input will actually make Lucas trip, allowing mindgames. However, this cannot be teched.

Meta Knight

Meta Knight's new down aerial.

• Sword trail is primarily blue as opposed to white/yellow.
• Has four mid-air jumps as oppossed to five.
• No longer glides by holding the jump button: just with Shuttle Loop.
• Jab can no longer be held, but the latter hit has stronger knockback.
• Neutral aerial's sourspot can no longer link with the sweetspot.
• Last hit of forward aerial has less knockback, but is faster, and, combined with Project M's physics, allows wall of pain combos.
• Back aerial is now a single swipe that deals 14% damage and has high KO potential.
• Down aerial has changed into a semi-meteor attack where Meta Knight falls while thrusting his sword downward similar to how he does it in Kirby Super Star. When falling, it hits consecutively downwards with weak knockback dealing 1% damage per hit, and does 6% when landing with powerful, vertical base knockback. It has a high falling speed, giving Meta Knight a risk of self-destructing, though he can slightly move sideways during the move to prevent this. He cannot grab ledges with it, though. It is also possible to slightly aim it left or right from the start.
• Down throw kicks less times and deals just 8% damage, but has a horizontal angle, which allows for tech-chases.
• Mach Tornado's duration and acceleration have been decreased.
• Drill Rush's duration has been lowered, but it is more combo-oriented.
• Shuttle Loop has a smaller range and is more a vertical finisher. If performed correctly, it can link into the glide attack at low percentages.
• Glide attack now deals 13% damage.
• When using Dimensional Cape, flicking the C-Stick before teleporting will perform a quick slash, dealing 14% damage. The original hit now also deals 16% damage.

Olimar

• Attacks of bud and flower Pikmin give stronger knockback.
• Up aerial is now a single hit with strong knockback.
• White Pikmin latched on foes now explode after some hits.

Pit

• Pit's attacks now do more damage at the hilt of the bow daggers.
• Forward aerial now does 15% damage.
• Up aerial has been sped up and made a single-hit juggler of 14% damage.
• Down aerial now has a sweet spot at the tip of the blade where it deals 12% damage and can spike, similar to Marth's.
• Second hit of forward smash is now optional, done by another press of the attack button. The first hit still has low knockback, but this allows for canceling into other moves.
• Palutena's Arrow's knockback increases quicker than the damage when charging.
• Angel Ring is replaced with a new version Wings of Icarus; he no longer glides by holding the jump button. Pit will use his wings to launch forward into a glide, even while grounded. This glide has a high initial velocity, but quickly settles at a lower speed. Using Wings of Icarus more than twice while airborne or after getting out of it once without landing causes a brief glide on the third use that immediately transitions into helplessness. This glide can be canceled by an aerial attack or a jump.
• The original Wings of Icarus is replaced by a new move called Shield Bash. When initiated, Pit will swing his mirror shield above him in a powerful attack while leaping upwards, falling helpless afterwards. When used on the ground, it deals 3% damage then 7%, and when used on mid-air, it is a single hit of 14% damage, both variations having strong knockback.
• Mirror Shield can now be held only for a maximum of one second.

R.O.B.

R.O.B.'s alternate costume in Project M.

• Has a helpless pose for his air dodge, in which he falls looking down while flicking his arms slowly.
• Up aerial is an eyeblast, similar to his forward smash, that arcs quickly over his head, dealing 15% damage with an electric effect.
• Down aerial is more mobile and has more flexibility.
• The time to fully charge Robo Beam has been shortened.
• Robo Burner and aerial Arm Rotors have been replaced with Robo-Booster. R.O.B. can quickly boost himself sideways or upwards. He can boost three times before he must land, and landing replenishes all his boosts instantly. Grabbing the edge will only give him one boost back if he has run out. R.O.B.'s grounded Arm Rotor is similar to its Brawl incarnation, but moves him forward more quickly, and always aims diagonally downwards instead of having a changeable angle.
• Gyro now shoots out with significantly less velocity. This hinders its ability to be used at long range, but it greatly enhances its uses for stage control, and lets R.O.B. pick it up quicker. Its range and power can still be extended by charging it up. R.O.B. can still perform aerial attacks when he has a Gyro in hand by doing them out of a Robo-Booster.
• R.O.B. now has an alternate costume designed to look like a fusion of the Robotic Operating Buddy and the Virtual Boy.

Snake

• Significantly lighter; he is now only slightly heavier than Captain Falcon and Link.
• Up tilt has been replaced with an uppercut that deals 12% damage and combos well at low percents.
• Has a different attack while crawling as opposed to just crouching: he will stab using a knife instead of using a spin kick. This deals 5% damage with low knockback, but can set up combos.
• Forward smash has been replaced with a knife combo, slashing twice. It has low knockback and deals up to 16% damage when fully charged.
• Down smash's mines can now KO at lower percentages, can be planted quicker, and have a larger detection radius. They also explode faster, so that Snake has to escape quickly with a roll or jump to prevent the mine from exploding on him.
• Down aerial's last stomp is now a meteor smash.
• Can drag grabbed enemies sideways by using the left and right taunt buttons.
• Forward and back throw have very little knockback growth so it is easier to throw people into mines and C4s.
• Grenade now explodes quicker, but only one can be out at a time.
• Remote Missile now always deals 18% damage, regardless of its speed.
• C4 no longer transfers between players, and doesn't disappear unless Snake dies or sets it off. Snake can stick C4 to players on the ground, and it has more KO potential. In addition, it can be planted much quicker and with no distinctive sound effect, while the detonation can be canceled by holding the special button for some sort of "feint".
• His blue costume is more noticeable as a Blue Team costume.
• His Cypher now emits electricity when used, and causes opponents to take 8% damage flinch when in close radius. The vertical distance covered by it, however, has been shortened, and Snake now cannot air dodge out of it.

Sonic

Sonic's up taunt from Project M Demo 2.6.

• More obvious team colours.
• Most standard attacks do higher damage.
• Up tilt now produces a foot uppercut with a single hitbox instead of a double high kick. It does 10% damage.
• Forward smash has been given greater knockback.
• Up smash ends much faster, and has only two hitboxes, the first being weak, the second being stronger and having more launch power. They deal slightly more damage than the original up smash, and also have a slash effect.
• Down smash has been changed to a "break-dance" move, reminiscent of the Heavy Attack from the game Sonic Battle for the GBA. It hits twice on both sides, the first hit dealing up to 21% on the front if fully charged.
• Neutral aerial now looks slightly different and has a bigger hitbox, with a slash effect. It is inspired by Sonic 3.
• New forward aerial: a front-flip kick that deals 11% damage and meteor smashes at the tip, akin to the Sonic Eagle from "Sonic Battle".
• Up aerial links better and spacing for the tips of his shoes can yield early KOs. Deals 13% damage total.
• Down aerial is now faster and deals 9% damage, plus having better utility thanks to L-canceling.
• Homing Attack now fires straight at the opponent and can be cancelled into a jump or any other special move when it hits. It can also launch instantly if attack button is pressed during start-up, though without homing on enemies. Sonic strikes a pose after a successful hit.
• Side special is a fast-starting spin attack, dealing damage from 7% to 3% (depending on speed) with knockback that pops up foes for combos. It can either launch straight from the ground or produce a jump if the special button is held. Pressing the attack button turns the attack into a sliding kick that causes 9% damage, and holding special allows Sonic to spin further. It also cancels upon falling off a ledge.
• Spring Jump falling animation replaced with a variation of his helpless animation that lacks the black overlay. With the change of air dodges, Sonic now cannot use one afterwards. As an additional graphic, Sonic now also spins horizontally during the rise.
• Down special is still his Spin Charge, but has gained most of the nuances the Spin Dash had while retaining all of its own properties.
• Up taunt now features a horizontal spin and finger wag, similar to his pose from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
• Grab release glitch on Sonic from Brawl has not been removed.

Squirtle

• Shellshifting has been retained and Squirtle now has even more follow up options, most notably a long jump canceled grab.
• Pivot now has a hitbox that deals 3% damage and weakly launches enemies away with high base knockback, leading better into shellshift techniques, most notably the Hydroplane for a KO.
• All attacks involving Squirtle's shell have heavy armor. The stronger the attack, the heavier the armor.
• Down tilt now hits just twice.
• Neutral aerial now features a vertical shell spin, but otherwise it's the same.
• First hit of up smash is now on Squirtle's jump, with the pumps hitting just once. This allows the first hit to link better with the second.
• Down smash hits consecutively and deals more damage.
• Water Gun now deals consecutive damage and can clash with other projectiles. It can deal up to 6% damage if not charged, and 14% if fully charged. Water Gun can now be absorbed by PSI Magnet or Oil Panic.
• Withdraw is now immune to projectiles and can now change directions. It can also be canceled into a fast damaging jump called Aqua Jet by using the A button, dealing 9% damage, though Squirtle falls helpless after this.
• Waterfall is now stronger and can reliably KO.
• Pokémon Change has been replaced by a new move called Bubble which trips ground opponents and can gimp aerial ones. It has three hits of 3% damage each. Like Water Gun, Bubble can be reflected, or absorbed by PSI Magnet or Oil Panic.
• Down throw is stronger in terms of damage, dealing 14% with a water effect. It also keeps its powerful knockback from Brawl.

Toon Link

Toon Link's alternate costume in Project M.

• Many attacks have been altered to match those of Young Link and Smash 64 Link, these including:
  • Forward tilt is slightly faster.
  • Dash attack is now a fast stab forward, dealing 10% damage with horizontal knockback.
  • Neutral aerial is now a sex kick like that of Link. It behaves much like Young Link's, dealing 12% damage.
  • Down aerial is no longer a stall-then-fall, and does higher damage if it hits late (17% compared to 14%). At the hilt of the sword, it also has powerful flaming hitboxes that meteor smash opponents; one at the center of the hilt that does 22%, and others at the sides that deal 16%.
  • Forward smash changed to a jumping slash downwards, similar to that of Link in Smash 64. It deals up to 21% damage if fully charged, and is a powerful launcher, but is weaker at the tip of the sword.
  • Arrows from Hero's Bow are set on fire, like Young Link's. After shot, they also stick in the ground for a few seconds to damage enemies, dealing 3% with no knockback.
  • Aerial Spin Attack doesn't give as much height, but gives a single hit of 16% damage, serving as a powerful KO move.
  • Bombs hit up to four times each, dealing up to 10% damage.
  • New side taunt that acts like Young Link's. If Toon Link is not interrupted during the drinking portion, it also heals 5%.
• Third hit of jab is now an upwards slice.
• Down tilt is now a crouching stab reminiscent of the shield-stab from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and can meteor if a character is hit with the tip of the sword. It deals 8% damage and displays a magic effect at the tip.
• Up smash is now a two-slice move, with a strong initial hit that can kill the opponent that is quickly followed by a second cut that is better for comboing that also provides him additional coverage and damages shields.
• Boomerang has a better angle.
• Grounded Spin Attack can be moved sideways based on charge level and fall off edges. Toon Link enters edge slipping animation after falling off one. The attack is also better at damaging, possesing more hits that deal up to 12% (if uncharged), similar to Young Link's.
• Has his Outset clothes as an alt costume as shown in Project M's Turbo Snake video.

Wario

• Default costume is now plumber's outfit as opposed to biker's outfit.
• New walking and running animations.
• Forward tilt can be wound-up by holding the attack button, dealing damage from 11% to 14% depending on how much it is charged.
• New down smash: Wario punches the ground to create an earthquake similar to Charizard's down smash, and inspired by "Wario Land: Shake It!". It deals about 24% damage (if charged), with set knockback and a meteor smash angle.
• New forward smash is a jumping front kick with extreme ending lag as Wario attempts to regain balance. It is as powerful as the original one, though without launch resistance.
• Forward aerial is stronger, dealing 11% damage.
• Back air has been replaced with a back punch, which does more damage and is similar to his forward tilt.
• Up air now has a sweetspot at the tip with a slash effect, dealing 13% damage. The rest of the attack is weaker, though.
• Down air has been replaced with a ground pound which launches Wario downwards and meteor smashes enemies. If it connects, Wario will bounce off his opponent, allowing for safer recoveries if used offstage. Deals 14% damage.
• Dash grab looks like the new side special (explained below) for increased mindgames. Wario can also go a further distance by holding the grab button.
• Pummel has the coin effect.
• Forward throw is replaced with a simple single-handed throw that is similar to the throws from Wario Land 4. Deals 8% damage.
• Old forward throw is now his back throw. Wario can now move left or right whilst using it.
• Chomp hold duration reduced, but can now throw enemies backwards after biting them. When performing the move in the air it keeps momentum. It now also bites just once before throwing, dealing 13% damage total.
• Wario Bike has been completely replaced with a Wario Land-style Shoulder Bash. The Shoulder Bash makes Wario dash forward similar to his old forward smash, dealing more damage as he travels. Wario can jump while dashing to continue the attack in the air or crouch to cancel the attack and slide forwards. The move renders Wario helpless if initiated in the air and causes him to bounce off walls he hits (for reduced height each time). Depending on dash speed, deals damage from 11% to 20%.
• Corkscrew has more control going left and right when flying up. It also hits more times and faster, dealing a total of 18% damage.
• Farting victory pose replaced with posing from Wario Land 4.

Wolf

File:PMWolfAlt.jpg

Wolf's alternate costume in Project M.

• Forward tilt no longer has extense freeze frames.
• Dash attack changed into a new claw swipe attack, though it functions similarly to its Brawl equivalent.
• Hits of neutral air connect better.
• Up smash is now a half-circle claw swipe upwards, covering a wider area and dealing up to 20% damage when charged.
• Wolf's Blaster has been changed. Projectiles are slower than before, but do more damage and are larger. The endlag of the blaster can be canceled by an air dodge, allowing Wolf to waveland out of it.
• Wolf Flash has been slightly changed so that if Wolf hits with the end of the animation, he won't go into helpless, allowing him to then use another recovery move to get back on stage. It also only sends at a horizontal angle in the direction Wolf is facing.
• Fire Wolf is now is a single-hit aerial dash attack that will send foes flying in the direction which he is traveling yet not cause tumble. Does 8% damage.
• Wolf's Reflector sends opponents at a diagonally upward trajectory, allowing for potentially deadly juggling combos.
• Reflector no longer has intangibility.
• Wolf has an alternate costume based on his classic appearance.

Zero Suit Samus

• Down aerial uses a new stomping animation. It is no longer a stall-then-fall, instead being a meteor smash of about 12% damage, and also makes Zero Suit Samus bounce after a successful hit. It is similar to Sheik's in that it pops out foes for aerial combos.
• Paralyzer can now be dash-canceled.
• Sweetspot of Plasma Whip is weaker, and instead drags foes above Zero Suit Samus to lead better into aerials. It now also has an actual electric effect.
• Flip Jump has a new somersaulting animation. Pressing the attack button no longer creates a meteor smashing sex kick but instead results in her down aerial from Brawl. Pressing the special button near aerial foes results in a footstool jump, knows as a "flipstool", which also deals 3% damage and causes tripping.

Stages

• Battlefield
• Big Blue
• Brinstar
• Castle Siege (skips second stage)
• Dracula's Castle (replaces Luigi's Mansion)
• Corneria
• Dreamland 64 (replaces Green Greens, as well as its theme with Smash 64's Dream Land theme.)
• Final Destination (with custom model and background resembling that of Melee's version)
• Flat Zone 2
• Fountain of Dreams (replaces Mario Bros., as well as its theme with Fountain of Dream's.)
• Fourside (replaces New Pork City, and replaces "Porky's Theme" with Fourside's.)
• Frigate Orpheon
• Green Hill Zone (Made into a neutral stage with 1 rotating platform. The Green Hill Zone of Brawl can be seen in the background.)
• Halberd
• Hyrule Castle (No tornado hazards; replaces Bridge of Eldin. Also replaces "The Hidden Village" theme with Hyrule Castle's.)
• Jungle Japes
• Kongo Jungle (Replaces 75 m. Also replaces "25 BGM" theme with Kongo Jungle's.)
• Lylat Cruise
• Mario Circuit
• Metal Cavern (Remade Meta Crystal, replaces Mushroomy Kingdom. Also replaces "Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros.)" theme with Meta Crystal music from Smash 64.)
• Norfair (different layout with no hazards)
• Onett
• Pictochat
• Pirate Ship
• Pokémon Stadium 2 (no stage transformations)
• Pokémon Stadium
• Rainbow Cruise
• Rumble Falls (made into a neutral stage with a bridge and 3 platforms)
• Saffron City (No Pokémon; replaces Spear Pillar, as well as "Victory Road" theme with Saffron City's.)
• Shadow Moses Island
• Skyloft (replaces Hanenbow, using "Hyrule Field Theme")
• Skyworld (without breakable platforms)
• Smashville
• SSE Jungle (the final stage in The Lake, replaces Distant Planet, revamped in 3.0 to resemble Distant Planet.)
• Summit
• Temple
• Temple M (removed in favor of Skyloft)
• Warioware (without microgames)
• Yoshi's Island (SSBB)
• Yoshi's Story (replaces Yoshi's Island (SSBM), as well as "Super Mario Bros. 3" theme with Yoshi's Story's.)

Release history

Demo 1.0

Logo of Demo 1.0

Released February 8, 2011

• 14 characters available
  • Captain Falcon
  • Falco
  • Fox
  • Ganondorf
  • Jigglypuff
  • Link
  • Lucas
  • Mario
  • Marth
  • Mr. Game & Watch
  • Sheik
  • Snake
  • Sonic
  • Zelda

Demo 2.0

Logo of Demo 2.0

Released April 17, 2012

• Added 15 characters
  • Bowser
  • Charizard
  • Donkey Kong
  • Ike
  • King Dedede (shown as "Dedede" on the character selection screen)
  • Lucario
  • Luigi
  • Ness
  • Peach
  • Pikachu
  • Pit
  • R.O.B.
  • Toon Link
  • Wario
  • Wolf

Demo 2.1

Logo of Demo 2.1

Released May 23, 2012

• Major bug fixes

Demo 2.5

Logo of Demo 2.5

Released December 29, 2012

• Added 4 characters
  • Diddy Kong
  • Ivysaur
  • Squirtle
  • Zero Suit Samus
• Ledge Teching implemented
• Melee Knockback Stacking implemented
• Input Assistance implemented
• Stock Control implemented
• New aesthetic changes which include new palette swaps and new menu designs.

Demo 2.5b

Released January 6, 2013

• Various Minor Bug Fixes

Demo 2.6

Logo of Demo 2.6

Released July 17, 2013

• Added 1 character
  • Meta Knight

The PMBR announced Project M 2.6 along with their new website design.

Demo 2.6b

Logo of Demo 2.6b

Released August 15, 2013

• Various Bug Fixes

Demo 3.0

Logo of Demo 3.0

Release: December 9, 2013

• Added 7 characters
  • Ice Climbers
  • Kirby
  • Olimar
  • Samus
  • Yoshi
  • Mewtwo
  • Roy
• Turbo mode added.
• Princess Peach's Castle added, Norfair revamped, Distant Planet revamped. Another stage that seems to resemble a Project M Online Practice Stage has been confirmed too.
• 8 alternate costumes for several characters added, including Dr. Mario.

An April Fools' video announced that 3.0 would contain a universal gameplay change where all moves can cancel into any other move or action on hit or on shield. While the change being universal was a joke, it will be available for play as "Turbo Mode" in Special Brawl, replacing the "Curry" option. Project M 3.0 will mark the first version to contain the entire Brawl roster, along with Roy and Mewtwo. 3.0 will also feature Dr. Mario as an alternate skin for Mario, akin to Wario's biker and plumber skins. Other confirmed skins are Melee Fox, Shadow Queen Peach, OoT Link, Dry Bowser, Party Hat Pikachu, armored Mewtwo, Mr. L, Virtual Boy R.O.B., and Outset Toon Link.

Downloading instructions

Project M can be downloaded here and only requires a SD card, non-PAL Wii, and Brawl disc.

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Developers

• Project Leaders: Shanus, SHeLL, Magus, Strong Bad, jiang, Shadic, haloedhero, Yeroc

• Magus: Magus
• Playtesters: Historically, the PMBR has had playtesters such as Hungrybox, Mango, Lucky, KirbyKaze, Amsah, and many more. The current playtester team consists of Gimpyfish62, TheReflexWonder, Fuzzyness, Professor Pro, Fly Amanita, and Jolteon, among many, many others.
• Graphics/Menu Design: FireBall Stars, ds22
• Animation: haloedhero, SiLeNtDo0m
• Stage Design: Mewtwo2000, Shadic, Vanguard, SOJ

Applications to the Project M Backroom can be made at the application subforum.

External Links

• Official website
• Project M demo download
• The Project M forum