Classic Mode (SSBM)

The classic mode seen in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Before a battle, these portraits are used for the character that the player is playing as...

...and the opponent that the player must defeat to advance forward.

Classic Mode is a 1-player mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Following a structure similar to that of the 1P Game mode from the original game, the player chooses a single character, stock, and difficulty level, then battles through 11 different stages, culminating in a final battle with Master Hand (and, depending on the situation, Crazy Hand). In addition to standard battles, three bonus rounds are also included, allowing for players to further increase their score and potentially gain other rewards from the mode. If the player loses all of their stock, they can potentially continue, assuming their supply of gold allows for it.

While Classic Mode does have a fixed order concerning the themes of battles and the presence of bonus rounds, the characters the player may fight against or fight alongside of are randomized from a pool of characters. Furthermore, the player's selected character will be excluded from inclusion as an opponent or ally, thus making mirror matches impossible.

Completing Classic Mode can yield a variety of rewards for the player, alongside all gold awarded for completing the various stages. The player's score is also recorded, assuming it has surpassed the previous high score for the character.

Classic Mode Stages

Stage 1

This stage is a regular 1 vs. 1 battle. There is a 5 minute time limit. On Very Hard difficulty, the opponent will wear the 4th costume.

Foe	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	1	0.60x	1.75x
	2	0.85x	1.20x
	4	1.00x	1.00x
	7	1.00x	1.00x
	8	1.20x	0.90x

Stage 2

This stage is a 2 vs. 2 team battle. There is a 5 minute time limit. On Very Hard difficulty, the first opponent will wear the 4th costume.

Ally	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	8	0.80x	0.90x
	7	0.80x	1.00x
	6	0.80x	1.15x
	4	0.80x	1.30x
	3	0.80x	1.50x

Both foes	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	2	0.70x	1.60x
	3	0.85x	1.20x
	5	1.00x	1.00x
	6	1.00x	0.90x
	8	1.15x	0.80x

Stage 3

The first bonus stage is Target Test, where the player is tasked with breaking all ten targets in their character's target test within two minutes. Failing to break all ten targets will not cost the player any stock, though they will lose out on potential end-of-game bonuses.

Stage 4

This stage is a regular 1 vs. 1 battle. There is a 5 minute time limit.

Foe	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	2	0.75x	1.40x
	4	0.90x	1.10x
	6	1.00x	1.00x
	8	1.15x	0.85x
	9	1.35x	0.70x

Stage 5

This stage is a 3 vs. 1 battle against a giant opponent. There is a 5 minute time limit.

Both allies	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	6	1.00x	1.00x
	5	1.00x	0.90x
	2	1.00x	0.80x
	1	1.00x	0.80x
	1	1.00x	0.80x

Giant Foe	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	2	0.70x	3.60x
	3	0.80x	2.40x
	5	0.90x	1.80x
	7	1.00x	1.40x
	8	1.20x	1.00x

Stage 6

The second bonus stage is Snag the Trophies, where players are tasked with preventing three trophies from falling off the stage. The player is awarded any trophy they rescue, and getting all three yields an end-of-game bonus. The stage ends in failure if none of the trophies are saved, if players fall of the stage, or if the two minute time limit expires.

Stage 7

This stage is a regular 1 vs. 1 battle. There is a 5 minute time limit.

Foe	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	3	0.85x	1.30x
	4	1.00x	1.10x
	6	0.90x	1.30x
	8	1.00x	1.10x
	9	1.10x	0.90x

Stage 8

This stage is a 1 vs. 10 multi-character battle, where all opponents are the same character. There is a 5 minute time limit.

Foes	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	1	0.60x	4.00x
	3	0.70x	2.60x
	4	0.80x	2.00x
	5	0.90x	1.55x
	7	1.10x	1.20x

Stage 9

The final bonus stage is Race to the Finish, where players have to race through an obstacle course within a varied time limit. The farther the player makes it through Race to the Finish, the more points and coins they receive; getting KO'd at any point or running out of time, however, forfeits both.

Stage 10

This stage is a 1 vs. 1 battle against a metal opponent. There is a 5 minute time limit.

Metal Foe	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	2	0.80x	1.80x
	3	0.90x	1.30x
	5	1.00x	1.00x
	8	1.10x	0.85x
	9	1.25x	0.68x

The battle always takes place on Battlefield, and no items appear in this stage. Due to this, the player will always receive receive the "Item-less" bonus.

Stage 11

Classic Mode's final battle takes place on Final Destination, against Master Hand.

Master Hand	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	5	0.50x	—
	6	0.75x	—
	7	1.00x	—
	8	1.50x	—
	9	2.00x	—

Crazy Hand	Level	Knockback given	Knockback taken
	—	—	—
	—	—	—
	7	1.00x	—
	8	1.50x	—
	9	2.00x	—

Unlike all other foes previously fought, the player has to defeat Master Hand by lowering his HP to 0, instead of knocking him off the ledge of the stage.

Master Hand's HP varies on the difficulty selected by the player, with higher difficulties causing him to have higher HP values.

Difficulty level	Master Hand's HP
	150 HP
	250 HP
	300 HP
	330 HP
	360 HP

If the player is playing on Normal difficulty or higher and has made it to the final stage within 5 minutes and 50 seconds, then Crazy Hand will spawn when half of Master Hand's HP has been depleted. Crazy Hand's starting HP also depends with the difficulty (Normal, Hard, or Very Hard), matching to the HP that Master Hand started with from the beginning.

Beating Master Hand and, if applicable, Crazy Hand, finishes the mode. After the screen fades to white and the final results screen is shown to the player, a small cinematic plays, showing their selected character dropping into the Collection room turning into a trophy and displaying all other character trophies they have attained in the mode. The credits then play, followed by a small cinematic and Congratulations image for the player's selected character.

Types of battles

Regular battle

All characters except Ganondorf, Roy, and Mr. Game & Watch are eligible to battle the player throughout the mode's three 1-on-1 battles, with their home stages listed below. In this mode, neither Poké Floats nor any Past Stages are used. In Stage 1 on Very Hard Difficulty, the opponent will wear its third alternative costume. In Stage 7 on Hard or Very Hard, the computer will usually try to avoid the player at all costs, sometimes by walking off the screen.

Some fights have unique music: Mewtwo's battle will play Poké Floats, Marth's battle will play Fire Emblem, Dr. Mario's battle will play Dr. Mario, and Young Link's battle will play Saria's Theme. The battle with Yoshi has a chance of playing Yoshi's Island N64 as its alternate music.

Character	Stage(s)
Bowser	Princess Peach's Castle	Battlefield (if unlocked)
Captain Falcon	Mute City	Big Blue (if unlocked)
Donkey Kong	Kongo Jungle	Jungle Japes
Dr. Mario	Mushroom Kingdom
Falco	Corneria	Venom
Fox
Ice Climbers	Icicle Mountain
Jigglypuff	Pokémon Stadium
Kirby	Fountain of Dreams	Green Greens
Link	Great Bay	Temple
Luigi	Mushroom Kingdom	Mushroom Kingdom II (if unlocked)
Mario	Princess Peach's Castle	Rainbow Cruise
Marth	Great Bay
Mewtwo	Pokémon Stadium	Final Destination (if unlocked)
Ness	Onett	Fourside (if unlocked)
Peach	Princess Peach's Castle	Mushroom Kingdom II (if unlocked)
Pichu	Pokémon Stadium
Pikachu	Pokémon Stadium
Samus	Brinstar	Brinstar Depths (if unlocked)
Yoshi	Yoshi's Story	Yoshi's Island
Young Link	Great Bay	Temple
Zelda / Sheik	Temple

2 vs. 2 teams

Below is the list of all the teams the player can fight in Classic Mode, each of which have a loose theme. For instance, the Kirby/Ice Climbers team is a likely reference to Kirby's Hammer Ability and the Ness/Peach team is a likely reference to Paula Polestar, a party member and Ness' love interest in EarthBound. Both the characters for each team and the stage fought on is listed. There are a total of 29 teams. All playable characters aside from Zelda/Sheik and Roy can fight alongside the player. Allies all use their first alternate costume. On Very Hard Difficulty, the first opponent wears its third alternative costume. When fighting a team of Mario and Bowser on Battlefield, Princess Peach's Castle will play.

Stage	Teams
Battlefield	Bowser + Mewtwo			Bowser + Peach			Bowser + Zelda			Mario + Bowser
Big Blue	Captain Falcon + Falco						Samus + Captain Falcon
Brinstar	Samus + Fox
Corneria	Fox + Falco
Fountain of Dreams	Kirby + Pichu
Fourside	Ness + Mewtwo
Great Bay	Link + Young Link				Marth + Link				Zelda + Young Link
Green Greens	Kirby + Jigglypuff						Kirby + Pikachu
Icicle Mountain	Kirby + Ice Climbers
Kongo Jungle	Donkey Kong + Fox
Mushroom Kingdom	Link + Luigi						Luigi + Dr. Mario
Mushroom Kingdom II	Mario + Peach
Mute City	Fox + Captain Falcon
Onett	Ness + Peach
Pokémon Stadium	Pikachu + Jigglypuff						Pikachu + Pichu
Temple	Link + Zelda				Peach + Zelda				Zelda + Marth
Yoshi's Island	Yoshi + Ness
Yoshi's Story	Yoshi + Luigi

Giant battle

Just like the teams, the giant characters the player fights are picked randomly from a group that has already been predetermined by the game. All playable characters aside from Zelda/Sheik and Roy can fight alongside the player. The first ally uses the second alternate costume, while the second uses the first alternate costume. During the battle against Giant Young Link, Saria's Theme will play, and during battle against Giant Dr. Mario, the track Dr. Mario will play.

Giant Character	Stage
Donkey Kong	Kongo Jungle
Mario	Princess Peach's Castle
Dr. Mario	Mushroom Kingdom
Luigi	Mushroom Kingdom II
Bowser	Fountain of Dreams
Captain Falcon	Mute City
Jigglypuff	Pokémon Stadium
Link	Great Bay
Yoshi	Yoshi's Story
Young Link	Temple

Multi-character battle

Just like the teams, and the giant characters the player fights, the multiple-character fight is picked randomly from a group that has already been predetermined by the game. This level consists of ten multiples of one of nine different characters. During the battle against ten Donkey Kongs at Jungle Japes, Kongo Jungle will play.

Character (×10)	Stage
Donkey Kong	Jungle Japes
Mario	Rainbow Cruise
Luigi	Mushroom Kingdom II
Captain Falcon	Mute City
Jigglypuff	Pokémon Stadium
Pichu	Pokémon Stadium
Kirby	Fountain of Dreams
Mr. Game & Watch	Flat Zone
Ness	Onett

Metal battle

All characters except Ganondorf, Roy, and Mr. Game & Watch are eligible to appear as a metal character in this 1-on-1 battle against the player. The stage will always be Battlefield, with the track Metal Battle playing.

Rewards

• Clearing as Mario without using any continues will challenge the player to defeat Dr. Mario, and beating him will unlock him.
• Clearing with any character on any difficulty will challenge the player to defeat Jigglypuff, and beating it results in unlocking it.
• Clearing with 10 characters will challenge the player to defeat Young Link, and beating him will unlock him.
• Clearing with all starter characters will challenge the player to defeat Marth, and beating him will unlock him.
• Clearing with Marth will challenge the player to defeat Roy, and beating him will unlock him.
• Clearing with all 24 other characters will challenge the player to defeat Mr. Game & Watch, and beating him will unlock him.
• Clearing with Mr. Game & Watch will unlock the Flat Zone stage.
• Clearing with all characters gives the player the Donkey Kong Junior Trophy.
• Clearing on Hard or Very Hard without using any continues gives the player a trophy of Master Hand.
• Clearing on any difficulty with any character will give the player a trophy of the character used based on their appearance in one of their games. Both Zelda and Sheik's trophies are obtained simultaneously.

Trivia

• Unusually, some characters do not appear in Classic Mode, despite having the required poses in the game's data.
  • Ganondorf can never appear as an enemy fighter, though he can potentially be an ally.
  • Mr. Game & Watch can only appear as an enemy in the multi-character fight for stage 8, though he can potentially be an ally.
  • Sheik never initially appears, and can only appear if Zelda transforms into her.
  • Zelda herself cannot appear as an ally.
  • Roy is completely absent and neither spawns as an enemy nor an ally.

See also

• 1P Game
• Classic Mode (SSBB)
• Classic Mode (SSB4-3DS)
• Classic Mode (SSB4-Wii U)
• Classic Mode (SSBU)