List of regional version differences (SSB)
There are many differences between the Japanese and North American releases of Super Smash Bros., which are listed on this page. Unlike Melee or Brawl however, the regional differences are much more significant, often resulting in considerable differences in matchups between characters.
JPN to NTSC changes
General
- Smash DI is much more useful allowing the defender to get out of combos much easier and making it so most drills are useless.
- More freeze frames for attacker.
- Beam Sword given an altered sound to sound less like a lightsaber, presumably to prevent copyright infringement.
- FFA is called Battle Royal (not Royale).
- Title announcement is 'Dairantou Smash Brothers' and has a duller logo.
- Completely different sound effects for attacks landing on characters. The Japanese version have realistic hitting sounds while the NTSC have cartoon hitting sounds.
- The narrator also says "Fox" in a different tone than the Western version, and he says "Battle Royal" instead of "Free-for-all". In the Western versions, the re-recorded voices have a slightly different echo effect than the Japanese originals.
- The momentum slide has been removed for all characters.
Captain Falcon
- Runs slightly faster (from 70 to 75), but keeps less horizontal momentum from jumps.
- Lower jumps due to reduced jump power (from 25 to 24 for first jump and from 0.95 to 0.9 for double jump).
- Higher falling speed (from 60 to 66).
- Forward tilt deals 1% less damage.
- Falcon Dive covers less distance.
Falcon is considered to be better in the Japanese version due to having a much more useful recovery and due to a better short hop due to his better jump height. Falcon has a better matchup vs. one of his only weaknesses, Fox, in the Japanese version along with a positive matchup with Jigglypuff but a tradeoff in a worse matchup vs. Kirby.
Donkey Kong
- Very slightly heavier (from 0.84 to 0.83).
DK is considered to be the same in the Japanese version of Smash 64 as the changes to DI do not affect DK as much as other characters.
Fox
- Down tilt deals 2% more damage.
- Down smash has a horizontal knockback angle instead of a vertical knockback angle, making it worse for combos but better at edgeguarding.
- Blaster deals 1% more damage and has less knockback.
- Fire Fox deals 3% more damage and has a vertical knockback angle, but does not have invincibility frames.
- Reflector has a different projectile damage multiplier but deals less knockback and at a less downward angle making shine spikes much harder.
Fox is considered to be better in the Japanese version of Smash 64 due to having a much better recovery and his down aerial becoming an easy combo move without the presence of heavy Smash DI, regardless of the less useful shine.
Jigglypuff
- Down smash has more range on both sides.
- Rest does 6% more damage.
Jigglypuff is considered to be half a tier to a a tier worse in the Japanese version due to the much worse Rest and its susceptibility to even earlier KOs, as drills combo Jigglypuff easier.
Kirby
- About 3% smaller (from 0.94 to 0.91).
- Up smash and down smash both deal 2% less damage.
- Up air deals 2% less damage on the clean hit and 1% less on the middle hit.
- Forward throw has a more diagonal angle removing most of its vertical KO ability.
- Final Cutter covers less distance which in combination with the Final Cutter allowed Kirby to move large distances while using the move grounded.
- Stone deals 2% less damage.
- Rolls are shorter.
Kirby is considered to be better in the Japanese version of Smash 64 because the lack of SDI makes his forward and down aerials impossible to DI out of, and because his forward throw can KO more reliably.
Link
- Sword very slightly shortened.
- Walks slightly slower (from 0.4 to 0.37).
- Shorter jumps and recovery due to higher gravity (from 3.2 to 3.4).
- Slightly larger shield (from 260 like Mario to 280 like Fox).
- Up tilt deals 5% less damage, is much more punishable after shielding, and has a more sideways knockback removing its ability to combo into itself at low percents for easy combos.
- Up smash deals 2% less damage (total).
- Neutral air has more knockback and a more diagonal angle.
- Forward air deals 1% less damage in spots.
- Back air's first hit strikes 1 frame slower; second hit has a more diagonal angle.
- Down air deals 2% less damage.
- Boomerang covers less distance and only causes knockback past 100%, removing most of its usefulness in combos.
- Spin Attack does 1% less damage in spots and covers less distance in the air.
- Bombs deal 1 less damage when thrown down and 2 less when thrown any other way. It also has more knockback at any percent which makes comboing easier.
Link is considered to be 1 tier to 1.5 tiers better in the Japanese version due to a longer recovery and his up tilt becoming one of the best in the game, being able to combo easier and sending opponents on a more favourable angle, along with a more useful Boomerang.
Luigi
- 12% larger.
- Lower airspeed (from 26 to 22.5).
- Fireball does 1% more damage but doesn't travel as far and has less hitstun.
- Super Jump Punch gains slightly more distance, has slightly less knockback, and sends the opponent less to the side.
- Rolls travel farther.
- Throws have been switched in terms of damage.
Luigi is considered to be better in the Japanese version due to his reliance on drill combos which are much harder to Smash DI out of regardless of the worse recovery.
Mario
- 12% larger.
- Fireball does 1% more damage but it doesn't travel as far and has less hitstun.
- Super Jump Punch gains more distance.
- Rolls travel farther.
Mario is considered worse in the Japanese version of Smash 64 due to the worse recovery and his general combos being less affected by Smash DI. He also has a less advantageous matchup against Captain Falcon.
Ness
- Up tilt has more knockback but deals 1% less damage.
- All smash attacks deal 2% less damage.
- Up air deals 2% less damage.
- PK Fire deals a total of 9% more damage, but travels shorter.
- PK Thunder 2 deals 5% less damage, lasts for less time, and has more landing lag.
Ness is considered to be between 1.5 and two tiers better in the Japanese version due to a much more useful recovery, an up tilt that combos much more easily, an up air which can KO 10% earlier, and a somewhat more useful down smash.
Pikachu
- Dash attack has more knockback.
- Forward smash has more range.
- Thunder Jolt covers less distance.
Pikachu is considered to be slightly worse in the Japanese version due to a less useful forward smash and due to being more susceptible to KOs as it is more difficult to escape combos via Quick Attack, due to the increased hitstun.
Samus
- Up smash only hits two times while grounded instead of one.
Samus is considered to be the same to slightly better in the Japanese version due to less DI making her Screw Attack more useful.
Yoshi
- Faster air speed (from 40 to 44).
- Slightly smaller jumps due to higher gravity (from 2.7 to 2.8).
- Higher falling speed (from 55 to 58).
- Down smash does 1% more damage.
Yoshi is considered to be sightly better in the Japanese version due to less SDI making his down aerial much better and easier to use, along with a a slightly better short hop.
NTSC to PAL (AUS) changes
General
- Kirby's Fun Pak referred to as Kirby's FAN PAK ('FAN' being a typo)
- Star Fox referred to as STARWING
- Star Fox 64 referred to as LYLATWARS
PAL (AUS) to PAL (EUR) changes
General
- The language can be set to English, French or German.
- In the European version of the game, when set to the German language, the German announcer does not have separate voice clips for "Captain Falcon" or "Team Battle".
