Congratulations screen
The congratulations screen is a static image that is shown after the credits in the international version of Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, all versions of Super Smash Bros. 4, and after the Character Roll Call in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Super Smash Bros., the screen depicts a scene relating to the character that was used to to complete the mode, while in Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4, the screen depicts a screenshot of the character in gameplay, which is often humorous. Each character has one Congratulations screen in Super Smash Bros., from the 1P Game; three in Melee (one each for Classic, Adventure, and All-Star modes); two in Brawl (one each for Classic and All-Star modes); and two in each version of SSB4 (one each for Classic and All-Star modes). Additionally, Brawl has five Congratulations screens in Boss Battles, depending on what difficulty is chosen.
In addition to a majority of the images having the phrase "Congratulations!" on them, the announcer also exclaims "Congratulations!" when the image is displayed to the player on most difficulty levels. If the mode is beaten on the highest difficulty or finishing Smash 64's 1P Mode with at least one million points, the announcer will instead say "Wow! Incredible!".
Many congratulations screens are references to other games, and occasionally other media.
Super Smash Bros.
- SSB64 Congratulations Mario.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Luigi.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Yoshi.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Donkey Kong.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Link.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Samus.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Kirby.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Fox.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Pikachu.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Jigglypuff.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Captain Falcon.jpg
- SSB64 Congratulations Ness.jpg
References
- Luigi: a reference to the EarthBound series, where the text SMAAAASH!! would appear when performing a critical hit.
- Fox: references the original North American box art of Star Fox.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Classic
Adventure
All-Star
References
- Bowser - Adventure: evokes a humorous expression that supposes the world is carried by an infinite stack of turtles.
- Donkey Kong - Adventure: a parody of March of Progress, a scientific illustration that showcases human evolution.
- Donkey Kong - All-Star: resembles a famous scene in the 1999 movie The Matrix, where the main character, Neo, enters bullet time and dodges the bullets by bending over backwards.
- Link - Adventure: references the Swedish folktale of William Tell, an archer who was forced to shoot an apple off his son's head.
- Zelda/Sheik - Adventure: references the purported ability of ninjas being able to block swinging swords with their bare hands.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Classic
All-Star
Boss Battles
All of the Boss Battles congratulations screens are sepia-toned stills from certain Subspace Emissary cutscenes.
References
- Diddy Kong - All-Star: may reference an artwork pose from Donkey Kong Country, except mirrored.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, players must attack names in the credits to reveal the congratulations screen.
Classic
All-Star
References
- Mario - All-Star: likely a reference to a scene from the 2002 Spider-Man film, as he and Peach make the poses originally made by Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane.
- Donkey Kong - Classic: may be a reference to the ending of Donkey Kong Country Returns, where he, while flung off from the volcano, is about to punch the moon with the help of Diddy Kong.
- Roy - All-Star: a reference to how he shares his name with Roy Koopa.
- Palutena - Classic: a reference to a scene in the short Palutena's Revolting Dinner, where she is relaxing in a hot spring.
- Ryu - Classic: a reference to the win screen from Street Fighter II, with Little Mac showing a damaged face. Notably, the feature of Little Mac's damaged face is only present in the Wii U version of the game, making it the only 3DS congratulations screen that uses assets from the Wii U version.
- Cloud - All-Star: a reference to a segment in Final Fantasy VII, where he commands the Hardy-Daytona bike to escape from the Shinra Headquarters.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, players must attack names in the credits to reveal the congratulations screen.
Classic
R.O.B. (Japan)
All-Star
References
- Mario - All-Star: makes a reference to the Mario Kart series with Bowser in his blue color scheme standing in for a Spiny Shell item.
- Bowser - Classic: a reference to the Super Mario Bros. series of games, in particular the New Super Mario Bros. series, where Bowser would face Mario and Luigi in a final battle.
- Bowser Jr. - Classic: a reference to the Mario Kart series in general, as he doesn't appear in Mario Kart 8, released the same year as Smash 4.
- Bowser Jr. - All-Star: references New Super Mario Bros., in which Bowser is seemingly killed and turned into Dry Bowser after falling into lava.
- Diddy Kong - All-Star: references the minecart levels of the Donkey Kong Country series.
- Link - All-Star: references Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, in which Link could use magic to take the form of a fairy.
- Zero Suit Samus - All-Star: a parody of Sega's Bayonetta series; Bayonetta herself would later be announced as playable in her own right.
- Meta Knight - All-Star: a parody of the cover art of Kirby & the Amazing Mirror.
- King Dedede - Classic: a reference to how the Kirby series appeared monochromatically on the Game Boy before being given color in later titles.
- Jigglypuff - Classic: a reference to its first appearance in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
- Lucario - All-Star: a reference to a scene in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, where Lucario is offered some chocolate by Max, who is represented as a Villager. Pikachu also appears, likely representing Ash's Pikachu.
- Lucas - Classic: a reference to the ending of Mother 3, in which a brainwashed Claus is seen perishing in his arms.
- Ike - All-Star: a reference to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, in which one conversation reveals he has a large appetite and deeply enjoys steak and ribs.
- Lucina - Classic: a reference to boxart for Fire Emblem Awakening.
- Corrin - Classic: a reference to a piece of promotional art for Fire Emblem Fates, with the two sides of the game's conflict facing off; Robin replaces Leo, Ganondorf replaces Xander, Palutena replaces Azura, Pit replaces Takumi, and red Bowser replaces Ryoma.
- Corrin - All-Star: a reference to the fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
- Pit - Classic: a reference to both Medusa's Final Battle, the ninth chapter, and Lord of the Underworld, the twenty-third chapter of Kid Icarus: Uprising, in which he equips the Three Sacred Treasures at the start of the chapters.
- Pit - All-Star: a reference to Magnus and the Dark Lord, the second chapter of Kid Icarus: Uprising, in which he and Magnus team up to defeat Dark Lord Gaol (the boss of said chapter). It is also worth noting that, while Palutena is present in said image, she is absent in the chapter (save for dialogue).
- Little Mac - All-Star: references ring girls featured in real-life boxing, who indicate which round is next. Alternatively, Peach could be referencing the referee, who distinguishes the winner in a match.
- Sonic - All-Star: a reference to Sonic Unleashed, in which nighttime would transform him into Sonic the Werehog.
- Ryu - All-Star: a reference to Akuma from the Street Fighter series as a Yoshi with its black color scheme parodies Akuma's pose. The reference also includes the aftermath of his Raging Demon attack, with the difference that, rather than the "天" (heaven) kanji, the screen backdrop is the Ultra Combo Finish splash shown when Ryu's Shin Shoryuken connects.
- Cloud - Classic: a reference to the boxart for Final Fantasy VII.
- Cloud - All-Star: a reference to the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth, and the common theme of him being surrounded by flames in cutscenes.
Trivia
- In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U the short video cutscene that plays after Peach's congratulation screen makes various references to Princess Daisy. In one scene, Peach in her Daisy color scheme is shown grabbing Luigi, and in another scene, Peach along with another Peach in Daisy's color scheme are shown floating away from a Chain Chomp together.
- In Brawl, there is a different font used for "Congratulations!" depending on the universe.
- In SSB4, five different fonts are used for the word "Congratulations!":
- Characters from the Mario universe and its sub-universes (except Yoshi for unknown reasons) use the font used for large text in newer Mario games.
- Ryu uses a unique serif font in all capital letters, used in the characters' names in the Street Fighter II selection screen.
- More realistic characters use a serif font, used for character names on the character selection screen.
- Less realistic characters use the blocky font used for large text in SSB4 (this same font was used for minor purposes in the previous three games).
- Notably, Pit and Palutena use the "realistic" font while Dark Pit does not. This same distinction between realistic and unrealistic characters is used for the sound made when tripping; Meta Knight uses the "unrealistic" font but makes the "realistic" tripping sound, while the opposite is true for R.O.B.
- Cloud uses a serif font, used in the logos for the Final Fantasy games. The black ink stripe behind the text is colored with a white-to-pale-green gradient, mimicking the meteor in the logo for Final Fantasy VII.
- Mega Man's Wii U All-Star congratulations screen and Mewtwo's Wii U Classic congratulations screen are actually impossible to reenact in-game due to the impossibility to assign more than one equal character with the same palette.
- Link and Fox's 1P ending images in Smash 64 are the only ones not to feature any text.
- Donkey Kong's 1P ending image in Smash 64 reuses artwork originally from Donkey Kong Country.
- Bayonetta's Wii U Classic congratulations screen is strikingly similar to an image from the official Smash Bros website, but added the original Bayonetta costume in the background.