Cruel mode

Cruel Melee and Cruel Brawl are Multi-Man modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl, respectively. They challenge the player to defeat as many opponents, with high handicaps and increased aggressiveness, as possible (Fighting Wire Frames in Melee, and Fighting Alloys in Brawl) before falling from the stage or self-destructing themselves. In Cruel Brawl, the Fighting Alloy opponents mimic the characters Mario, Kirby, Zelda, and Captain Falcon, though they cannot make use of the corresponding characters' special attacks, making them slightly easier to knock-out as they have little ability to recover using their own moves, because they can't grab edges, either. These are unarguably the most challenging of all Multi-Man Melees and Brawls, as the opponents faced are immensely harder than those who appear in the other modes.

The high scores of Cruel Melee and Brawl are recorded by the amount of opponents knocked out.

Strategies

Pikachu

Melee only! A very simple way to gain 5 kills in Cruel Melee with Pikachu is to gather all five Wire Frames in one corner and use Pikachu's Down Smash. The Wire Frames should fly out of the attack early with just enough knockback to keep them from returning to the stage.

Another strategy is to drop off one of the ledges and use Thunder (Down+B), then using Agility (Up+B) to return to the ledge, and repeating. "ssmb4ever," a youtube account name, has gotten 99+ kills with this technique in Brawl. It cannot be done in Melee because if Pikachu uses Thunder in that game, it becomes helpless.

Roy (SSBM)

Using Blazer is an effective way to KO the wire frames. The best time to use it is when five of them are together.

Toon Link (SSBB)

Simply hang on the ledge, use a jump so you're positioned diagonally from the ledge, and use Spin Attack to return to the ledge. If an Alloy gets far enough from the ledge, d-air them, and use the "bounce" and his recovery to return to the ledge. After jumping, you can use any of your projectiles. You could also hang on the ledge, drop down, and use his uair to attack through the ledge, then use Spin Attack to rise up to the ledge.

Jigglypuff

Simply float away from the stage, baiting the Alloys to jump off the ledge, and return to the ledge to refresh jumps. An example of 10+ KOs: [[1]] Another effective way is to jump of the ledge and quickly jump back on (Use 4 of your jumps).

Kirby

Jump off the ledge and go under the ledge, then use Final Cutter. Another effective way is to jump of the ledge and quickly jump back on (Use 4 of your jumps). Another strategy is to repeatedly jump high up, so that the wire frames/alloys gather below you, then use down+B. Make sure that you hit all enemies, and jump up again as soon as possible, because Kirby is extremely fragile and any left-over enemy will easily finish him off when he's jumping back up.

Ike (SSBB)

In the Cruel Brawl, just hang on the edge of the stage. When all the alloys are grouped together quickly drop and use Aether. The alloys should jump after you. Some will hop to safety off of others heads. Some will fall to their doom.

Pit (SSBB)

Use your B-up to fly under the stage from one ledge to the other. Like Ike's strategy, the alloys will jump after you. You can KO ten alloys this way in under three minutes.

Samus

Grab onto one of the ledges with your Grapple Beam, and use your ledge attack to knock the alloys away, and if any alloys are knocked away from the platform, use your d-air to spike them.

Zero Suit Samus (SSBB)

Do a Full Jump off the side of the main platform, then use Plasma Whip (Side+B) to grab the ledge. When all of the alloys group together at the edge, do a ledge attack (press A twice in rapid succession to ensure you go up to the ledge and attack almost instantly, before they can hurt you), then jump back and grab the ledge with Plasma Whip again. If your Whip is too short, drop down and use Plasma Wire (Up+B) to grab the ledge again. You can KO ten alloys with this method very quickly, as the lower you are from the ledge, the more likely they are to SD below you.

Sonic (SSBB)

Go to the bottom of the stage and spam Homing Attack. If done correctly, Sonic will spin up, then bump the bottom of the stage. The Alloys should SD themselves.

Ganondorf (SSBB)

Jump on the ledge of the platform, then do a ledge-attack(Only use this if ALL enemys are near the ledge). Some enemys will fly behind you off the stage, so you can easily KO them by using A-Down. Then jump with second/third jump back to the ledge. You have to take care you don't jump over the ledge, the alloys will KO you. Do this again until you've made enough KO's

Lucas

Hang on to the ledge of the platform, and jump up and away from the platform. Direct PK Thunder so that it propels Lucas into the Alloys and racking up damage (the first hit most likely will not kill the Alloys). Repeat, swapping sides whenever necessary. PK Thunder should guard against most aerial attacks, and some Alloys will SD themselves trying to reach Lucas. Repeat as necessary.

Snake (SSBB)

Similar to Ike's. Use Cypher while under the ledge. Snake should grab the ledge. Drop and repeat. The super armor in this move makes it nearly impossible for the alloys to attack you while using it, and they will eventually SD.

Mario=

Brawl Only! Grab the edge of the stage, then drop off and use Super Jump Punch. The Fighting Alloys should jump off and eventually SD. Sometimes they will be stage spiked by the Super Jump Punch. The green alloy can take more time to KO, since he mimics Kirby and is able to float.

Rewards

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Defeating five opponents in Cruel Melee will result in unlocking the Mr. Resetti trophy.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Defeating five opponents in Cruel Brawl will result in unlocking a trophy depicting the Red Alloy.
Defeating ten opponents in Cruel Brawl will result in unlocking a sticker depicting Liquid Snake.

Trivia

The Super Smash Bros. Melee incarnation of this mode is famous for its involvement in the Sonic and Tails Rumor spread by Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. The rumor suggested that after defeating 20 Fighting Wire Frames in a single round would challenge the player to defeat Sonic and Tails of the Sonic series, where victory would result in unlocking the characters. This rumor was proven false both in premise and in practice. Cruel Melee strategies proved very quickly that Sonic and Tails did not actually appear after knocking out 20 opponents.

External Links

[2] Jigglypuff Demonstration
[3] Marth Demonstration
[4] Kirby Demonstration
[5] Toon Link Demonstration 1
[6] Toon Link Demonstration 2
[7] Luigi Demonstration
[8] Meta-Knight Demonstration

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