Name Entry glitch
The Name Entry glitch is a glitch for Super Smash Bros. Melee. It was discovered in 2008 on a German gaming website by Smashboards' Exchord92, and was posted to Smashboards in June 2009. Among other things, this glitch allows you to play as the Master Hand.
Performing the Glitch
The Name Entry glitch can be performed to achieve one of four different purposes. These purposes are to: 1) Play as the Master Hand (discovered by Exchord92) 2) Use an all-black character (discovered by Exchord92) 3) Perform a 0-Second Melee (discovered by Exchord 92) 4) Play alone (discovered by REVOLUTION324)
General Execution
There are two ways to perform the Name Entry glitch, one using one controller, and the other using two controllers:
Method One
Place the cursor of player three's controller over the name field on the character select screen. On this controller, press A and B simultaneously. Release A, but hold onto B. Scroll down to the "Name Entry" button. If you press A again at the same moment that the game attempts to go back to the menu because of the B button, the game will skip to the Stage Selection screen. Select the stage. If it loads properly, the game has not frozen and you will be playing as Master Hand!
Method Two
Using two controllers in VS. Mode, hover one cursor over the "Back" button and the other over the "Name Entry" button in the name field. Press A simultaneously on both controllers. The game should skip to the Stage Selection screen. If the stage you selected loads up properly, you have performed Method Two of the Name Entry glitch with success.
Specific Scenarios
Master Hand glitch
The Master Hand glitch is the most popular of the four scenarios. It is performed by not selecting a character on one, some, or all of the four slots (note that although you can use four Master Hands, that he can only be controlled through Port 3). Perform the glitch normally (note that if Method Two is used, at least one character will not be Master Hand). Select the stage (using controller 3 to minimize chances of freezing). When the match starts, Master Hand will fly in laughing maniacally. However, the announcer still says "Ready.. GO!" like in a standard match. If you are able to use Master Hand with controller 3, you have successfully performed the Master Hand glitch!
Controlling Master Hand
Master Hand can be controlled as follows. Note that the move names are not official.
Move | Name | Notes |
---|---|---|
A^ | Rocket | Master Hand makes a vaguely plane-like shape, then flies into the background. It attempts to fly into the player, then flies in from the right. 10-30% |
A> | Shieldbreaker Punch | Master Hand flies off the screen, then appears in the background as a fist. It attempts to slam into the player, then flies back onto the stage from the top of the screen. 34% |
Av | Crush | Master Hand flies off the top of the screen, then appears in the background. It attempts to flatten the player. 30% |
B^ | Lasers | Master Hand shoots a laser beam from each of his fingertips. Only the endpoints do damage. 9% each |
B> | Gun | Master Hand makes the shape of a gun, and fires sets of bullets. It fires 1 set if above 100 HP, and three sets if below. 10% (one set) 6% (three sets) |
Z ^ or > | Grab | Master Hand grabs his opponent and begins to crush them. They can escape by button mashing, but, if they fail to do so, Master Hand will toss them away. 13%/crush, then 18-20% afterwards. Depending on the direction pressed with Z, Master Hand will throw the opponent differently. If up is used, he will throw them upward behind him. If right, he will slam them into the ground. |
R< | Poke | Master Hand pokes the air three times. The third poke is more powerful. 7-34% |
R> | Charged Punch | Master Hand hovers over the target, then quickly punches down. 24% |
Rv | Charged Slap | Master Hand slaps the ground. 26% |
R^ | Drill | Master Hand flies up, then slams down while spinning in a drill-like fashion. 1-48% |
L^ | Swat | Master Hand makes a swats the opponent across the platform |
L< | Cross Stage Slap | Master hand slaps across the stage. 25% |
Lv | Walk | Master Hand "walks" using his pointer and middle fingers. When he reaches his opponent, he "kicks" them. 10-30% |
Black Character glitch
This glitch can be used to play as an all black character.
Set the mode to Team Battle. Next, select four of the same character and have them all on the same team. Perform the glitch normally. Player 4 will be a black silhouette of the character. Note that because all players are on one team, stock matches will end immediately, and CPU characters won't attack, as they have no opponent to fight (although they will recover, and use certain items, like Poké Balls). Friendly Fire can be turned on to simulate a normal time match.
0-Second Melee
This glitch can be used to play a melee that lasts 0 seconds.
Set the mode to stock, number of stocks to whatever you wish. Next, choose your character, but choose no opponent. Use Method One of the glitch. The melee should end the second the announcer says, "Go!"
Single Person Melee
This glitch allows you to play alone, with no opponents.
Set the mode to time, bonus, or coin, time limit to whatever you wish. Next, choose your character, but choose no opponent. Use Method One of the Name Entry glitch. If you performed the glitch correctly, you should be fighting alone.
Note that this and the master hand glitch can be done at the same time if you don't choose a character; however, if you attack the game will freeze as he has nothing to home in on.
Explanation
The Name Entry glitch forces the game to receive two inputs at once: Back and Name Entry. In its confusion, it advances to the Stage Selection screen. The reason that the Master Hand Glitch works is because all characters in the game are assigned an ID number. The game is programmed not to let the players progress to the Stage Select menu if not all of the players have valid ID numbers. The default number, zero, is also Master Hand's number and is not supposed to be accepted by the game. However, when the glitch is performed, it forces the game to the Stage Select screen, leaving the players' numbers as zero, thus loading Master Hand as their character. The All Black Character Glitch works, because when two or more of the same character are on the same team, those same characters have to be the same color. To help identify who's who, the game has sub- colors it throws on these characters. P1 has no sub-color, P2 is lighter, And P3 is darker. Normally, there aren't supposed to be 4 people on one team, but in this case there is, so the game loads the next sub-color, which happens to be all black (there is also an "all grey" sub-color, only available through the Debug Menu.)