Super Smash Bros. (universe)

Super Smash Bros. (universe)
File:SmashBrosSymbol.png
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory Intelligent Systems Sora Ltd. Game Arts Monolith Soft Paon Namco Bandai Games
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Masahiro Sakurai
Genre(s)	Fighting
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo 64
First installment	Super Smash Bros. (1999)
Latest installment	Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)

The Super Smash Bros. universe refers to the collection of characters, stages, and properties, original to the Super Smash Bros. series, featured alongside the other licensed game characters and properties seen in the series. It may be considered the universe that "hosts" the Smash Bros. series.

Franchise description

During 1998, Kirby series creator Masahiro Sakurai, working at Nintendo second-party developer HAL Laboratory, pursued an incidental interest in making a fighting game for four players. From the outset, he did not have any ideas and used exceedingly basic character designs. When he presented the concept to his superior, Satoru Iwata - then the president of HAL Laboratory - Iwata helped Sakurai decide to find ways to make the game original, since many fighting games did not sell well, and Sakurai's first idea was to insert a wide variety of popular characters from different, established Nintendo franchises and have them fight in a crossover. Sakurai knew he would not receive permission to do this by asking, and therefore secretly created a prototype of the Nintendo 64 fighter in advance and only informed his superiors of it after carefully balancing his first four character inclusions: Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus Aran, and Fox McCloud. Fortunately, the idea was later approved, and Sakurai developed the game, Super Smash Bros., as a low-budget crossover fighter that was intended to be released exclusively in Japan. The finished product's nearly-unique spin on free-roaming, multi-directional fighting on two-dimensional platform-filled planes is said to have been inspired by an obscure 1994 arcade fighting game by Namco titled The Outfoxies.

Super Smash Bros. was released in Japan on January 21, 1999, and despite little promotion, the game was a surprise and breakout hit, ultimately selling nearly 2 million copies domestically and selling nearly 3 million copies in the United States after the logical decision was made to localize the game for international release. The game received mostly positive reviews and was praised both for being the most original fighting game on the market and for its simple-to-learn, accessible, and responsive multiplayer, with the primary focus of criticism being its lack of single-player content. It can easily be guessed that the game owed much of its popularity and success to its mix of fan-favorite aesthetics, characters, and music, with the most notable franchise represented being Pokémon, which had recently reached the height of its initial explosion of worldwide popularity.

Following the success of Super Smash Bros., Sakurai became head of production for a sequel that was intended as a borderline launch title for the next Nintendo system, the GameCube. The game was in intensive development for 13 months and was considered by Sakurai to be the biggest project he had ever led up to that point, and Sakurai described his lifestyle during this period as "destructive", with no holidays and short weekends. Unlike the first game, which was an experimental venture, Sakurai felt himself greatly pressured to deliver a quality sequel that would doubtlessly be regarded as the system's undisputed killer app. Another priority for the development was that the game would exhibit an enormous graphical advancement beyond the Nintendo 64, and to this end, the game's opening FMV was developed by HAL in conjunction with three separate graphic houses in Tokyo. The game was released shortly after the GameCube's launch in both Japan and the United States near the end of 2001, as Super Smash Bros. Melee, and received critical acclaim as both a strong fundamental improvement and a massive expansion of content over its predecessor. The game became the best-selling GameCube game, with more than seven million copies sold worldwide. By this point, the series' relevance as a potent advertisement vehicle for all of Nintendo's IPs represented within it, past and present, was apparent; the representation of two characters from the then-Japan-exclusive Fire Emblem series, who were nearly cut out from international versions of Melee, prompted Nintendo's future decision to release almost all of the subsequent installments of the series worldwide.

During what became a seven-year hiatus for the Smash Bros. series, Sakurai left HAL Laboratory in 2003 to found his own company Sora Ltd., so that he could create games separately from the sequel-heavy schedules of HAL. Meanwhile, Satoru Itawa succeeded Hiroshi Yamauchi as Nintendo's fourth president in 2002. At a pre-E3 2005 press conference, Iwata announced that the next installment of Super Smash Bros. was soon to be in development for its next console and would be a launch title that utilized the console's Wi-Fi-based online capabilities. The announcement was a surprise to Sakurai because he was not informed of Nintendo's intent to release another Smash Bros. game, and was only asked after the conference by Iwata to again serve as director; Sakurai agreed, and development of the third game began in October 2005. What followed was a development project handled by roughly 100 individuals working full-time. The game was officially showcased at the E3 2006 conference as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but its actual dates of release early in 2008 were well over a year after the Wii console's launch. Prior to release, among the most noteworthy and publicized inclusions in the game were a vastly redesigned Pit, representing a revival of the long-dormant Kid Icarus series, and the first-ever inclusions of third-party characters in the series: Snake from Metal Gear, which rumor claims series director Hideo Kojima had asked to be included in the previous game, and Sonic from his respective series, satisfying a long-awaited crossover with historical rival mascot Mario. Brawl had also encouraged an enormous amount of pre-release hype and speculation by regularly posting five-days-a-week blog updates detailing new features, characters, and other elements about the game on the official website, the "Smash Bros. DOJO!!", for over eight months straight.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was critically and commercially successful upon release, garnering praise for its new focus on improved single-player content, a further-expanded and better-varied cast, and one of the largest video game soundtracks in history, and became the fastest-selling game in Nintendo of America's history and a seller of over 10 million units total. However, the game also drew reviewer criticism for long loading times and a laggy online experience, and the game's multiplayer aspect was controversial among the established playerbase - the competitive circles of which had long been established around the gameplay styles of Melee - for a comparatively slower pace and scale of gravity, the removal of some advanced movement and attack mechanics, and a much heavier slant towards defensive gameplay. Most universally disliked was the game's inclusion of tripping, a non-negotiable element of randomized chance that could easily dictate the outcome of a competitive match in a manner that rewarded luck over skill. In an interview two-and-a-half years after the release of Brawl, Sakurai revealed that he himself retrospectively considered Melee to be "the sharpest game in the series."

Immediately after Sakurai employed his redesign of the Kid Icarus series' aesthetic in the 3DS title Kid Icarus: Uprising, released in March 2012, he announced the beginning of development of the fourth installment in the Smash Bros. series, which would be a joint venture between Sora and Namco Bandai Games and would be co-directed with Yoshito Higuchi (who had previously directed and produced several games in Namco's Tales series). The first showcase of the project took place at the Nintendo Direct presentation preceding E3 2013, where it was shown that the series would, for the first time, develop and release a pair of titles simultaneously for separate platforms: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Prior to the showcase, Sakurai indicated that the games would receive a different development approach for measuring competitive character balance, and after the showcase, Sakurai confirmed the removal of randomized tripping.

The Super Smash Bros. series is a large departure from the traditional fighting game formula, where two characters trade and block each other's blows until one's health meter is reduced to zero; knock-outs in these games are strictly achieved by sending opponents hurtling away far enough off the stage with powerful attacks that they cannot avoid coming into contact with one of the four "Out Of Bounds" screen borders surrounding the stage. Instead of a life bar that decreases, each character has a percentage-based damage meter that raises each time they are hit by an attack, which translates into all subsequent attacks incurred by that character sending them away farther than previously. Every character is designed and intended to feel and play uniquely from the rest in terms of the different moves and movements they are capable of, among many other things about them, and when a character is sent flying away from the stage horizontally, they have the opportunity to return to the stage without falling off into the abyss below the stage with both a mid-air double jump and a special move that constitutes a third jump. Many options are available to diversify casual play, such as items that may be picked up and used, selectable stages that may feature their own dynamic hazards in their designs and layouts, and a large variety of different modes and settings for customizing matches.

However, many players and groups in the competitive playerbase and community for the series choose to play each game with very specific settings and disallow much of the available content in order to minimize luck as a factor, and this leads to developed metagames for each installment where top-tier players, often playing for prizes and prestige under accepted professional rulesets defined by players that organize Smash Bros.-centered tournaments across the world, regularly use precise skill and exploit game physics in order to compete. Like many games that allow for competitive play, such as Pokémon, each character in each game's cast of playable characters is graded by the community on how much inherently "better" or "worse" it is in comparison to other characters in competitive environments, and these "tier lists" spawn much community debate of their own. A further point of contention is the practice of creating and distributing unofficial modifications that fix perceived flaws and degenerate aspects with the core game design and character balance. However, the most publicized mod for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Project M, has since been featured alongside the official games themselves at national video gaming tournaments and events.

Every game adds new franchises, either published by Nintendo or involved with a third-party company closely associated with the history of Nintendo as a company, that may be represented with at least one playable fighter, and may additionally be represented with stages, items, and collectibles themed after that franchise. Meanwhile, existing franchises and modes receive new and expanded content:

• Super Smash Bros. (1999), for the Nintendo 64, introduces the Mario franchise and designates two of its recurring characters, Yoshi and Donkey Kong, as representative of their own respective "subfranchises". It also represents The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Star Fox, and Pokémon as primary franchises from the outset, and unlockable characters additionally represent the F-Zero series and EarthBound. The game features 12 playable characters total, and for each character, single-player content includes both a target-smashing stage and a platforming stage that may be completed for setting time records.

• Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001), for the GameCube, introduces representation for the 1984 NES game Ice Climber as an example of a defunct "retro" franchise, and unlockable characters introduce representatives of the formerly-Japan-exclusive Fire Emblem series and the historically-significant Game & Watch handheld line. A total of 25 character choices on the select screen allow a total of effectively 26 playable characters in the game. A vast amount of new content is debuted, such as special modes and scenarios and an overarching collection aspect in the form of hundreds of trophies that may be earned and viewed at any time.

• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008), for the Wii, adds Wario and identifies him as from another subset of the Mario universe, while debuting a massive redesign of Pit and the Kid Icarus series and featuring the recent Pikmin series as well. Unlockable characters introduce the first representatives of third-party franchises in the series, Solid Snake from Konami's Metal Gear franchise and Sonic the Hedgehog from SEGA's mascot series of the same name, and also recognize the historically-significant R.O.B. peripheral and give it a playable role. A total of 35 character choices on the select screen allow a total of effectively 39 playable characters in the game, and every character has an all-new "super-attack" called a Final Smash that may be made unavailable in competitive play. In addition to more of everything, such as another collection aspect in the form of Stickers, the game introduces a lengthy single player adventure mode titled The Subspace Emissary, which is the first instance of a Smash Bros. game telling a complete crossover narrative with its extensive cast.

• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014) will be the first instance of the series releasing two separate versions of the game for different platforms on the 3DS and Wii U, and there will be content differences between versions such as stages. New franchises that have been confirmed to have primary representation are Animal Crossing, the Wii Fit line of fitness hardware and software, Punch-Out!!, the third-party Mega Man franchise by Capcom, and the third-party Pac-Man franchise by Namco. Furthermore, the Mii avatars that became available for use in Nintendo hardware and software since 2006 are playable as characters. The 3DS version is expected to release on Summer 2014 and the Wii U version is expected to release on Winter 2014.

In Super Smash Bros.

The first game in the series, Super Smash Bros., can be said to feature much more than a standard universe's worth of content based on the universe introduced in the game itself, compared even to the Mario universe.

Bosses

None of the following can be considered selectable "characters" (they can't be selected and played as characters without hacking), but they can be considered computer opponents because that is what they are in the game's single player mode.

Donkey Kong fights Master Hand in SSB.

• Master Hand: A giant floating right-hand glove, this entity is described as the imaginary link between the real world and the Smash Bros. tournaments and can be considered the end-all, be-all host of the series. He features a voice that is heard calling out the names of combatants on the character select screen, as well as calling the status of matches before, during, and after matches, so he can be considered the narrator of the series as well. He functions as the "final boss" of the game in that the final match of the single-player mode pits the player's character against Master Hand in a 1-on-1 duel. He fights with a variety of unique movements and motions, and instead of a percentage meter, he carries a "traditional" health meter that lowers when taking damage from opponents, and reducing it to zero will defeat him and end the game in success for the player.

Team Characters

Ness facing the Fighting polygon team.

• Fighting Polygon Team: The "generic fighter grunts" of the game, these are purple, untextured, blocky entities whose shapes and motions are modeled vaguely after the proper fighters in the game. They appear only in the game's single-player mode in two stages: The Race to the Finish stage, in which three of them are obstacles in the player's path to the finish, and in the subsequent Fighting Polygon Team stage, where the player must battle a total of 30 of them as easy-to-KO opponents in a Multi-Man Melee/Brawl-style match. There are twelve varieties of Fighting Polygons just as there are twelve distinctive fighters in the game.

Stages

The game features a lot of environments thematically original to the game itself, and none of these are selectable in the game's multi-player mode (hacking aside); they are only available as single-player content. The following stages would work as multiplayer stages if they were available in the multiplayer mode:

• Final Destination: Known as "Master Hand's Residence" in-game, this prototypical Final Destination otherwise serves the same purpose as its successors in later games. It is a flat, featureless platform laid against a space background and is where the player fights Master Hand in the final battle of the game's single-player.
• Battlefield: As with Final Destination above, Battlefield is not referred to as such yet, but rather either "Duel Zone" or "Fighting Polygon Stage" in-game. Likewise, it has the same four-platform layout as later Battlefield stages and serves the same purpose, as the home to the Fighting Polygon Team in the penultimate single-player battle.
• Meta Crystal: A small and simple stage consisting of a big platform with a small platform above it, this is the single-player stage where the battle against Metal Mario takes place. It is based on the part of Hazy Maze Cave from Super Mario 64 wherein which Mario would find the Green P Switch.

The following stages are more "mini-game"-centric stages featured as single-player content:

• Break the Targets!: Twelve separate maze-like stages are accessible as single-player Target Test challenges in the Target Test mode. There is one stage for each character, and it is specifically constructed to test the character's ability to attack all ten targets in the stage as fast as possible in the time limit. The character will be required to go through his respective Target Test stage early in the game's main single-player mode.
• Board the Platforms: Likewise, twelve separate maze-like stages are accessible as single-player Board the Platform challenges in the Board the Platform mode. There is one stage for each character, and it is specifically constructed to test the character's ability to jump onto all ten yellow platforms in the stage as fast as possible in the time limit. The character will be required to go through his respective Board the Platform stage later in the game's main single-player mode.
• Race to the Finish: This five-story stage is a single-player mini-game where the character must race from the upper left to the lower right of the stage and reach the end as fast as possible within the time limit, while avoiding obstacles such as floating bumpers, rolling bombs, and three computer-controlled Fighting Polygon opponents.

Items

A large proportion of the game's items are original to the game itself.

• Beam Sword: A powerful energy sword, this bludgeoning weapon carries sound effects similar to a Lightsaber in the Star Wars movie franchise in the Japanese version of the game, but it was changed for the U.S. release, possibly to avoid copyright trouble.
• Home-Run Bat: This bludgeoning item is the most potentially deadly offensive measure in the game; while normally featuring unremarkable power with standard attacks, a Smash attack with the Bat carries so much knockback that it often causes a One-Hit KO to the target, regardless of how healthy the opponent is. Some consider it a property native to the EarthBound franchise, but Melee's Trophy Gallery identifies the bat as having made its first game appearance in the original Smash and not EarthBound.
• Fan: The polar opposite to the Home-Run Bat and the Hammer, the Fan is weak enough that picking it up may be considered a handicap. While it can attack extremely quickly, it does tiny damage and offers no knockback, so it is not considered a helpful item.
• Bumper: A unique item not seen in the sequel (but spiritually replaced by the Flipper), the thrown Bumper creates an obstacle on the ground that knocks back any opponent that touches it, and the bumper in response slides in the opposite direction. If another opponent gets in its way, the process repeats. The Bumper returned in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• Ray Gun: This item is the standard projectile weapon, firing laser beams that do good knockback. Melee describes it as having originated in this game, contrary to the popular belief that it originates from the Star Fox universe.
• Crate: One of the game's four Item-containment units, the crate is by far the biggest. It is a giant wooden box with the Smash symbol on it, and it can be picked up, carried, and hurled at opponents as a projectile. When it crashes into the ground, it splinters and up to three items contained inside can appear.
• Barrel: Another item that can contain items within, the Barrel is somewhat less large and may contain less items than the Crate, but as a hurled weapon it can roll on its side before breaking. Some consider it a property native to the Donkey Kong franchise, but Melee's Trophy Gallery identifies the barrel as having made its first game appearance in the original Smash and not Donkey Kong. (Not to be confused with Melee's Barrel Cannon item).
• Capsule: This pill-shaped item contains a single item inside. It can be thrown as a fast projectile.
• Egg: This is a white egg that acts just like a Capsule. Some consider it a property native to the Pokémon franchise, especially considering that Eggs are scattered about by the appearance of the Pokémon Chansey, but Melee's Trophy Gallery identifies the Egg as having made its first game appearance in the original Smash and not Pokémon. All four of the game's item-containment units have a chance that they contain an explosive rather than an item, so these units can sometimes be used as Bob-ombs.

Music

These are the main musical tracks unique to the game found within the Sound Test:

• 1: The music heard during SSB 64's opening cinema movie, this is fast-paced music interspersed with parts of track 45.
• 2: Low-key music heard during the How to play segment.
• 3: Very discreet music heard in the Characters and VS Records sub-menus.
• 4: Extremely discreet "music" heard on the game's main menu screen.
• 25: This music plays on the match complete screen after one of the 10 character victory fanfare tracks plays for the winning character.
• 28: Low-key music heard while playing the Training mode.
• 32: Climactic battle music heard in the final battle against Master Hand.
• 33: Music heard on any of the Break the Targets and the Board the Platforms stages.
• 35: Discrete, low key music played at the score display screen following the Master Hand battle.
• 38: Synthesized battle music heard on the battle against the Fighting Polygon Team.
• 39: Heavy techno music that plays when battling Metal Mario in Single-player mode.
• 45: An original composition that is one of the main themes of both the game and the overall Smash Bros. series. It is heard throughout the ending credits.

There are also many short pieces counted as "music" heard in response to in-game occurrences. These tracks original to the game itself include 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, and 44.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

The sequel to Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, is noted for being an immensely larger game than its predecessor, and the amount of original properties featured in the game is seemingly increased proportionally.

Bosses

Like in the previous game, none of the game's characters aren't considered true "characters" in that they aren't selectable for play (without hacking, anyway). These all make specific appearances as single-player opponents.

• Master Hand: The "master of ceremonies" and "narrator" of the series returns in Melee as a "final boss" enemy like before, but it certainly is no longer the only one. With a slightly redesigned look and some new moves, Master Hand is otherwise not much different as a final boss of the game's "Classic" (Single-Player) Mode, though he can perform some two-on-one moves with his newly introduced "twin", Crazy Hand.

• Crazy Hand: The "twin brother" of Master Hand, Crazy Hand is a left hand and is a "hidden boss" in the game. It is described as the embodiment of a child who derives pleasure from destroying his creations, as opposed to Master Hand's will to play around. In the final bout of Classic mode on Normal, Hard, or Very Hard difficulty, when Master Hand has had over half of his hit points depleted, Crazy Hand will erratically enter the battle and join the fight against you, making it a two-on-one battle - obviously this is much tougher. Crazy Hand features at least three of his own unique attacks, and the two "Hand Bros." will occasionally perform a special two-hand super attack together. If the player can beat both enemies in the match, he wins with an extra Crazy Hand KO bonus. Both Hand Bros. can also be fought at Event Match 50.

• Giga Bowser: One of the most sensational entities in the Smash Bros. series, this colossus of a fighter is a heavily enlarged, powered-up, and mutated version of the Mario character Bowser, himself the heftiest fighter in the standard Melee roster. Giga Bowser, whose body is proportionally different to Bowser, has larger horns, and has a manic expression on his face, is a hidden final boss in the game's Adventure Mode. At Normal difficulty or above, when the Adventure Mode has been beaten in under 18 minutes and the final Bowser enemy has been KO-ed, Giga Bowser will appear to fight you, and if you defeat him, you gain the Giga Bowser KO bonus and the Giga Bowser trophy if you don't have it. In this Adventure Mode appearance he receives an enormous handicap; Giga Bowser also appears in Event Match 51, with less of a handicap.

Team Characters

*Fighting Wire Frames: The spiritual successors to the Fighting Polygon Team, these easily KO'ed opponents are just what their name suggests: pink wire-frame models of fighters without special talents. Their insides feature a vague skeletal and organ system, however, and a red Smash-universe symbol resides where each Wire Frame's face should be. Unlike the Fighting Polygons, however, the Wire Frames come only in two varieties: Male and Female. Male Wire Frames feature the body structure and movement/attack style of Captain Falcon/Ganondorf while the females are the same with Zelda. They appear in Adventure Mode, the Multi-Man Melee, and some Event matches.

Other NPCs

The Sandbag from the Home-Run Contest mode might be considered a character because it registers damage as an opponent, and can even be played as when the game is hacked, though it has no moveset past movement and a single jump.

There is also a character named NONE which can be selected when the game's debug mode is selected. It is most likely a removed testing character, as the game crashes upon its selection.

Stages

The game features even more environments thematically original to the game itself than the previous game. The two Multiplayer-friendly stages that follow, however, are indeed unlockable for selection.

• Final Destination: The Master Hand's Residence arena returns as the "final battle arena" of the game. The flat, featureless platform is where many single-player boss encounters take place, and it is also among the most popular stages for use in tournaments. It floats through outer space, then seems to travel through a wormhole where it will then appear in an earth-like world where landscapes are visible in the background.
• Battlefield: The Fighting Polygon Stage from SSB returns with its popularized name of Battlefield. It is the site of many stages and events such as the Multi-Man Melee competitions, and is where Fighting Wire Frames are always fought. For its basic, standard layout, the stage is very popular.

Interesting to note: The emblem for this stage is not the normal Smash Bros. Emblem, but a shattered version of it.

The following stages are more "mini-game"-centric stages featured as single-player content:

• Target Test: Like in the previous game, each character has his or her own separate maze-like stage that is accessible as a single-player Target Test challenge in the Target Test mode. There is one stage for each character, and it is specifically constructed to test the character's ability to attack all ten targets in the stage as fast as possible in the time limit. The character will be required to go through his respective Target Test stage early in the game's Classic mode. A total of 25 target test stages reside in the game for normal play; a 26th is locked away, however, available only through hacking. This stage belongs to Sheik but it was cut for some reason.
• Race to the Finish: The successor to the previous game's Race to the Finish, this stage is laid out very differently; it is now a left-to-right path dotted with potential exits, and the aim is to get as close to the end as possible in the time limit.
• Trophy Collector: This bonus stage in Classic mode is a mini-game where a platform has a container of sorts in the middle, and three trophies will fall down from the sky. The character is to try and attack the falling trophies so they will fall into the container, in order to earn them, and collecting all three will yield the Collector bonus.
• All-Star Rest Area: This grassland environment is the hub between matches in the All-Star Mode. It contains three Heart Containers, a portal in the center that transports you to the next bout, and in the background the progress of the All-Star Mode is displayed; trophies of the opponents defeated thus far stand on the ground, while portraits of the next opponents are displayed in the air above. This features music from the Kirby series.
• Home-Run Stadium: This baseball stadium is the site of the Home-Run Contest mini-game. On an elevated platform, the Sandbag resides, and in ten seconds the character must damage it without knocking it off the platform, then use the nearby Home-Run Bat to send Sandbag flying east, where the distance traveled is recorded. The stage seems to stretch on endlessly to the east.

Like the previous game, there are some environments that can be seen only through hacking. Test is intriguing; it is a very wide white-ground stage with several aerial platforms shaped differently. Like the previous Kirby Beta Stage 2, this is clearly the "testing ground" the developers used during development. The background actually features a photograph of a pub. Hidden in the game's Debug menu are the titles of two other stages that crash the game when selected: 10-2 and DUMMY. DUMMY can be opened up with a special hack, however, and the stage reveals itself to be completely empty, black space without any death-line borders. For fun, some players like to hack in death lines and activate an infinite double-jumping hack to allow for a completely aerial bout.

Items

Compared to the characters and stages, Melee's collection of original items is not much different at all from its predecessor.

• Beam Sword: Returns from Smash as a bludgeoning weapon, but the length of its blade now changes based on the power of the attack swinging it. Its power and knockback have been degraded to an large degree.
• Home-Run Bat: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.
• Fan: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.
• Ray Gun: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.
• Food: A new item that randomly spawns as tiny health-replenishers. There are 27 varieties of food in the game, and they restore usually 3% or so health per item.
• Party Ball: A new containment unit, this is a big yellow ball that can be carried and hurled like the other containment units, but after it is thrown it will float up, make a noise, and open up to drop a bunch of stuff. Sometimes it drops random items, sometimes it drops a load of Food, and sometimes it drops Bob-ombs.
• Crate: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.
• Barrel: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.
• Capsule: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.
• Egg: Returns from Smash essentially unaltered.

Music

• 0: Opening: The music heard during Melee's opening FMV, this is the official theme song of the game, orchestrated with slight bits of chorus.
• 51: Metal Battle: Fast and heavy music that plays whenever your character in Single Player is set up against a metal opponent.
• 52: Battlefield: A techno remix of the Menu 1 music, this is heard as the primary track on the Battlefield stage outside the Multi-Man Melee mode, and in the Race to the Finish mode.
• 53: Final Destination: This is a climactic orchestration of the ending credits music of the original SSB, used as primary "final match" music only on the Final Destination stage.
• 54: Menu 1: The epically orchestrated music heard as the primary track in Melee's menu screens. This has been remixed as stage music for Battlefield in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• 55: Menu 2: A more laid back track heard as the secondary track in the menu screens of Melee. It is a medley of the official Super Smash Bros. Melee opening theme and Menu 1.
• 56: How to Play: Music heard when you view the How to Play video within Melee's Archives section.
• 57: Targets!: The techno music heard in almost all characters Target Test stages, as well as the Home-Run Contest.
• 58: Multi-Man Melee 1: Synthesized rock variant of the opening theme, heard half the time in the Multi-Man Melee mode, and also as the secondary track of Battlefield in Vs. mode.
• 59: Multi-Man Melee 2: A more fast-paced rock variant of the opening theme, heard half the time in the Multi-Man Melee mode, and also as the secondary track of Final Destination in Vs. mode.
• 61: Tournament 1: Heavy music heard half the time outside of battle during a Tournament Melee.
• 62: Tournament 2: Heavy music heard half the time outside of battle during a Tournament Melee.
• 63: Trophy: Soft synthesized menu music heard at the Trophy Lottery and the Trophy Collector.
• 78: Warning Siren: Troubling music heard during the part of the Adventure mode that occurs in the Brinstar Escape Shaft.

In addition, a lot of tracks original to the Smash Bros. series are listed as "music", but do not loop and are merely short pieces meant to signify occurrences. These include 64: Classic Intro, 65: Adventure Intro, 66: Stage Clear 1, 67: Stage Clear 2, 68: Continue, 69: Game Over, 70: New Trophy!, 71: Rare Trophy, 72: Challenger!, 73: New Feature 1, 74: New Feature 2, 75: New Feature 3, and 79: Ending. There is also a remix of Track 53 that plays only when battling Giga Bowser on Final Destination.

Full Trophy List

• Master Hand
• Crazy Hand
• Giga Bowser
• Fighting Wire Frames
• Male Wire Frame
• Female Wire Frame
• Food
• Ray Gun
• Beam Sword
• Home-Run Bat
• Fan
• Party Ball
• Crate
• Barrel
• Capsule
• Egg
• Smash Coins
• Target
• Sandbag
• Battlefield
• Final Destination

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Master Hand's appearance in Brawl.

Crazy Hand's appearance in Brawl.

There were plenty of things introduced in the Smash Bros. series not introduced elsewhere appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Most prominent among them is a major single-player mode of the game called The Subspace Emissary, a side-scrolling Adventure Mode game where characters contend with the machinations of an interdimensional force called the Subspace Army.

Characters

The following distinctive entities who are original to the series make big appearances:

• Sandbag: Sandbag reprises its role in the Home-Run Contest, as well as appearing in the Online Practice Stage, sometimes unofficially dubbed the "Wi-Fi Waiting Room". In both modes, it acts as it did in Melee: immobile and living up to its name as a punching bag. In addition, it appears in the main modes of play as an item, which releases other items when hit - a property exploited in "CD Factories". Like all returnees, it has a more detailed model than it did in Melee.

• Master Hand: Reprises his role as the boss of the Classic Mode, as well as making an appearance in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary.

• Crazy Hand: Reprises his role as Master Hand's partner in classic mode, though he does not appear in the Subspace Emissary.

• Tabuu: The final boss of the Subspace Emissary.

Common Enemies

In The Subspace Emissary, characters are to contend with all sorts of common enemies, with many classes and distinctive builds of generic enemies and obstacles new to the Smash Bros. universe seen in screenshots and trailers. The most famous example is a type of dark robot that was shown on Super Smash Bros. DOJO!! in both updates and a mini-trailer, and later identified as the Primid. R.O.B.s are also seen as henchmen whose purpose is to detonate weapons of the Army called Subspace Bombs. However, the R.O.B. is not a Smash Bros. universe property because it has appeared in many other games as well as a real-life product.

Bosses

Of the ten bosses in Brawl (all fought in the Boss Battles Mode), five are original characters while the other five hail from other game franchises:

• Duon
• Galleom
• Master Hand
• Crazy Hand
• Tabuu

Team Characters

• Fighting Alloy Team: The spiritual successors to the first games' Fighting Polygon Team and Melee's Fighting Wire Frames. This time around, they come in four distinct types: Red Alloy, Blue Alloy, Yellow Alloy, and Green Alloy, having the movesets of Captain Falcon, Zelda, Mario, and Kirby, respectively. They are only appear in the Multi-Man Brawl mode.

Stages

• 
  Battlefield: The earliest stage revealed for this game is a newly visually designed version of the Battlefield stage from Melee, with natural and architectural elements and floating above an expansive canyon below. It goes through a day and night cycle.

• 
  Final Destination: Like Battlefield before it, Final Destination has been visually redesigned for Brawl. It still serves as the location of the battle against Master Hand. Unlike the previous game, this and Battlefield are considered starter stages.

Items

• Smash Ball: Likely the most important item of all, the Smash Ball can be picked up by a character, and that character will be able to perform a spectacular move unique to that character called a Final Smash.
• Assist Trophy: A special trophy that, when grabbed, brings a random helper into the battle for a short period of time. While technically a Smash Bros. item, its main purpose is to summon characters from various other Nintendo franchises.
• Gooey Bomb: A spherical explosive encased in a gooey bubble. It is a variant on the old Motion-sensor Bomb in that it is an explosive that can be thrown at something, it will stick to it, and explode after a certain period of time. The Gooey Bomb, however, can now stick to characters the bomb is thrown at, and it has a chance to transfer between characters when characters pass by each other.
• Cracker Launcher: A large cylindrical cannon that launches firework projectiles. Unlike most projectile items, it can be aimed vertically.
• Bumper: The classic bumping item from the original Super Smash Bros. finally makes a return appearance with the same functionality and the added function of being able to be placed in midair like Melee's Flipper.
• Smoke Ball: A non-damaging device that emits thick smoke to distract and disorient combatants. It can be picked up and thrown again while it's emitting its contents. It can also be stuck to players.
• Crate: Returns from Melee, although it comes in several varieties now, any of which may be on wheels.
• Barrel: Returns from Melee seemingly unaltered.
• Home-Run Bat: Returns from Melee, although the wind up time for the smash attack is much longer.
• Beam Sword: Returns from Melee seemingly unaltered.
• Party Ball: Returns from Melee seemingly unaltered.

Music

• Super Smash Bros. Main Theme: The game's main theme, composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Is used on the menu.
• Menu 1: A rearranged version of Melee's Menu 1 music is used on the stage Battlefield.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Menu 1:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Menu 1 Remixed:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Menu 1 Remixed 2:
• Super Smash Bros. Melee - Menu 1: Plays on the Main Menu.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee - Menu 2:
• Battlefield: Plays on the stage Battlefield.
• Battlefield Ver. 2: Plays on the stage Battlefield.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee - Battlefield: Plays on the stage Battlefield.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Final Destination: Plays on the stage Final Destination.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee - Final Destination: Plays on the stage Final Destination.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee - Giga Bowser Theme: Plays on the stage Final Destination. This song also plays during Bowser's Classic Mode credits.
• Super Smash Bros. 64 - Credits Theme: Plays on the stage Final Destination.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Adventure Map:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Step: Plains:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Step: Caves:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Danger Ahead:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Boss Theme:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Final Boss Theme:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Target Smash!!:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Tournament:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Tournament Setup:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Trophy Mode:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Coin Launcher:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Trophy Collection:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Stage Builder:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Sticker Center / Album / Chronicle:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Wi-Fi Waiting Room:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Brawl Results Screen:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Classic Results Screen:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - All-Star Results Screen:
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Credits:

Trophies

See main article, List of SSBB trophies

• Primid
• Sword Primid
• Scope Primid
• Fire Primid
• Boom Primid
• Metal Primid
• Big Primid
• Glunder
• Greap
• Roader
• Spaak
• R.O.B
• Master Hand
• Crazy Hand
• Subspace Bomb
• Ancient Minister
• Trophy Stand
• Assist Trophy
• Rolling Crate
• Cracker Launcher
• Gooey Bomb
• Bumper
• Smoke Ball
• Smash Ball
• Box
• Barrel
• Crate
• Food
• Banana Peel
• Sandbag
• Stopwatch
• Beam Sword
• Ray Gun
• Fan
• Motion-Sensor Bomb
• Party Ball

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Characters

• File:MiiFighterIcon(SSB4-U).png
  Mii Fighter: The Mii Fighters are Miis which are revealed during the Nintendo Digital Event during E3 2014. There are three versions of the Mii Fighter: the Mii Brawler, based on Boxing in Wii Sports, the Mii Swordfighter, based on Swordfighting in Wii Sports Resort and the Mii Gunner, based on the minigame Metroid Blast in Nintendo Land. While not created for the Smash Universe, Mii Fighters use the Smash Bros Symbol.

Stages

• Battlefield: Battlefield is returning in both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game. It has slightly different aesthetics and a completely different background from the Brawl version, while it maintains the day to night transitioning. Compared to the Wii U version, the 3DS version has simpler less detailed textures and a different background.
• Final Destination: Final Destination is also returning in both versions, complete with the usual psychedelic background imagery and single futuristic platform. A new feature is that Final Destination can take on the form of other stages in the game, adopting their overall aesthetics and music while retaining its basic single-platform layout.

Items

• Capsule: The Capsule is back with a new design, being shorter in height with a greater width.
• Smash Ball: The Smash Ball has been confirmed to return.
• Home-Run Bat: The Home-Run Bat is back and redesigned, now being a black aluminum bat.
• Ray Gun: Like other returning Smash items, the Ray Gun has been redesigned as well, sporting a noticeably less realistic look.
• Assist Trophy: The Assist Trophy has been confirmed to return. The Assist Trophies confirmed so far are Ashley, Skull Kid, Nintendog, Mother Brain, and Waluigi. Starfy and Andross have been shown in screenshots, though it has not been explicitly confirmed yet if they retain their role as an assist trophy.
• Bumper: The bumper returns with a red redesign.