Super Smash Brothers Brawl FAQ
By: Chris "Amazing Ampharos" Immele

I. Table of Contents

I. Table of Contents
II. Introduction
III. Character Bios
IV. Classic Mode
V. All Star Mode
VI. Event Battles
VII. Target Smash
VIII. Home-Run Contest
IX. Multi-Man Brawl
X. Boss Battles
XI. Subspace Emissary
XII. Challenge Board
XIII. Trophy List
XIV. Sticker List
XV. Other Unlockables
XVI. Speed Unlocking
XVII. Credits and Conclusion

II. Introduction

Welcome to my FAQ on Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Super Smash Brothers Brawl is,
as of the writing of this FAQ, the latest entry into Nintendo's wonderful Smash
Bros fighting series, and the game is a complete joy to play. However, it's
also a completionist's nightmare; there is a very large amount of unlockable
content that is sure to drive anyone looking for that "perfect file" mad. The
game also features a very diverse cast that is sure to prove daunting for all
but the most dedicated of fans. That's where I come in. This FAQ is meant to
walk players through unlocking everything in the game. If you just want a
rundown of the characters and some basic tips on how to use them and unlock
them, look to section III. If you want a thorough walkthrough on how to do
everything, sections IV through XI and section XV are for you. If you are
looking for a list of what there is to get without so many of the details,
sections XII through XV are ideal. If you just want to get everything you'll
need to play serious matches with your friends as quickly as possible and don't
care about any of the smaller things, section XVI is where you'll want to head.
If you want to read an overly obligatory section with little real content,
well, sections II and XVII are pretty cool.

III. Character Bios

In this section, I'll be covering the entire cast and giving a summary of how I
see them. I'm going to be candid about which characters I believe to be good or
bad; I'd be doing readers a disservice if I tried to give a positive impression
of the entire cast to avoid offending anyone. I'll also discuss generally how I
believe each character should be used. I'm not doing character guides, but I
hope I can provide enough to help players get started with everyone.

Also, I must give an obligatory disclaimer. I don't play the whole cast nor am
I necessarily the best player out there. I have studied the game in great
depth, and I have really done my best to fairly show how each character works,
but if I made mistakes or glaring omissions, don't get upset. Also, the part
where I discuss character match ups is pretty iffy. I mostly just guessed
there, and I'm probably frequently wrong. Rather than looking at the characters
I name, it would be better to look at the reasons I suggest some things might
be problems as potential holes in that character's style.

Mario

In theory, Mario is supposed to be a balanced character without significant
strengths or weaknesses. Unfortunately for Mario, theory doesn't always hold.
Mario definitely has below average range and power, and coupled with his
average speed and lack of special properties, this puts him in a bad position.
As things stand, he seems to be one of the worst characters in the game.

This is not to say that Mario is without merit. Mario has a decent set of smash
attacks that he should be quick to rely on. Of special note is his powerful
forward smash; this will be his main source of kills. His forward and down
tilts are mostly just sources of quick damage with little notable about them,
but his up tilt is a handy move for popping enemies up into the air so keep it
in mind. His running attack is a decent sliding kick which you should use for
surprise damage once in a while, but despite the ease of use, it's not good to
overuse as it gets very predictable. His jab combo is just a typical safety
move.

In the air, Mario's biggest problem is his slow forward aerial. It has a weak
hit early in the swing and a nice spike late in the swing, but it's really too
slow to be practical for general use. If approaching the enemy head on in the
air, it's generally wise to instead rely on his weak but quick neutral aerial.
Mario is at least blessed with fast and decently powerful up and back aerials,
but neither are likely to be getting a whole lot of kills. His down aerial
might seem appealing at first, but it's generally too slow to be one of his
most relied upon moves.

Mario's grab game pretty much revolves entirely around his powerful back throw.
This throw is his second and last reliable source of kills; be sure to exploit
it heavily. Mario has pretty short arms so getting grabs is generally
difficult; using his up smash out of a shield will be generally more useful
until the enemy is near killing percentages.

In terms of his special moves, Mario's only real gem comes in the form of the
Cape. This move is far worse than it was in Super Smash Brothers Melee, but
it's still a solid move that new Mario players should try their best to
integrate into their games. It turns around all attacks that hit it, completely
reversing the attack's trajectory or the enemy's momentum. It causes enemy
projectiles to become dangerous to them as well so it can be used to send
things such as Samus's missiles right back at her. If it hits a standing
opponent, it will turn them around, but it does not turn around shielded
opponents which means that it's not a safe option against opponents waiting for
you to attack. A major use is to ruin recoveries by turning them around and
causing the momentum to fling the foe away from the stage, but Mario players
will now have to jump out over the ledge to take full advantage of this as
clever opponents will be sure to still be within ledge grab range if you do it
from the ground. The last use of the Cape is for recovery. Using it in the air
causes Mario to stall and push forward very slightly. Using it consecutively is
a sure way to die, but using it just once right before the triple jump can be
useful.

Mario's other three specials are pretty lackluster. His Fireballs are weak with
poor range so they aren't of use for projectile spamming. The main use of
Fireballs is to do a short hop, throw one Fireball, and then chase after it.
This helps Mario approach the enemy as they have to deal with the Fireball
right as Mario is about to attack them. Mario's Super Jump Punch does poor
damage and leaves him very vulnerable; only use it to recover. Fludd is
generally useless, but the one scenario I have found it handy is to ruin Ness's
and Lucas's recovery. If you blast them with water as they steer Pk Thunder,
they will be pushed away but not interrupted which almost always leads to their
death.

Mario is capable of wall jumping but not crawling or wall clinging. Mario can
only jump once in the air. His roll is fairly slow but covers a lot of ground
so it can be of use sparingly, and his spot dodge is a very ordinary one.

All in all, Mario doesn't really stack up to the other fighters, but don't take
that as a sign that he's useless. Mario still has a wide array of tools and can
be used highly competently to pose a serious threat. His Cape especially is a
unique tool that in the hands of the right player can cause extreme frustration
to opponents; it's the main gameplay reason Mario should be considered over
other characters. It's especially pivotal when battling Marth, Ike, or other
characters with great range advantages on Mario; he can turn them around even
if he only hits the tip of their attacks with his cape. However, other than his
Cape, Mario has few options against such great range characters; they will
likely be his hardest opponents.

Luigi

How to unlock:

-Play 22 brawls.
-Have Luigi join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic mode without continuing.

Luigi is Mario's oddball brother, and the way he plays makes that very clear.
His voice, animations, and general style all feel just a bit odd. Specifically,
Luigi is a really upward oriented character; he has an uncanny number of moves
that are designed to knock the opponent up into the air. The fact that he
compliments this with a really solid set of aerials makes him a coherent and
effective character. I wouldn't call Luigi one of the best characters in the
game at all, but he's definitely a solid contender.

Luigi's main goal with his grounded attacks is to get the enemy up into the
air. All three of his smashes do this well, but you should primarily rely on
his quick and wide-ranged down smash. If you need a really quick move to pop
them up, his up tilt is a great option as well. His forward tilt sends them at
a horizontal angle you won't find useful, and his down tilt is a very weak
close range move with a high likelihood to trip them though it can pop them up
very usefully if they are at a high percentage. I'm sure many of you find his
running attack enthralling, but hold off on it. It's not as ridiculously unsafe
as it was in Super Smash Brothers Melee, but it's still a weak move that
doesn't lead into anything better.

In the air, Luigi's pride and joy is his great forward aerial. He does a very
quick and fairly powerful chop that can be a source of kills and a great way to
rack damage. His up, back, and down aerials are also all fast and decently
strong so he can throw a good aerial out no matter what his orientation to his
opponent. His neutral aerial is interesting insofar as it sends the enemy
straight up with a lot of power; it can be an effective tool to get surprise
star KOs.

Luigi's grab game is pretty similar to Mario's insofar as he's really concerned
with his very powerful back throw. However, if Luigi is unable to kill after a
grab, he should instead use his up throw as that puts opponents up in the air
which is right where Luigi wants them. Luigi should also occasionally use his
Super Jump Punch out of his shield for the chance to land a Fire Jump Punch,
but only do that when the opponent puts himself in just the wrong position.

Luigi's specials are a mixed bag. His Fireball is a pretty horrible projectile;
it has very poor reach and generally doesn't flow with the rest of his game.
Throw them out if the opponent tries to stay just out of arm's reach of Luigi,
but generally Luigi should look to his other moves in combat. The Green Missile
is a pretty horrible move outside of recovery. It does poor damage unless
charged up, and while Luigi can charge it as long as he wants, it's super
predictable and easy to avoid. It will do good damage if he gets a misfire
which is a 1/8 chance on each use, but Luigi is too good to need to rely on
something like that. However, in the narrow context of recovery, it is useful
to Luigi as he gets good horizontal distance from it and can continue doing any
moves in the air he wants after using it.

Luigi's Super Jump Punch is fairly mediocre for recovery and completely
pathetic with the weak hit, but if you are right inside of them when you use
it, Luigi will do a Fire Jump Punch which will deal massive damage. This is one
of Luigi's most treasured sources of kills; he should always be looking to
sneak one in once the opponent is hurt enough to succumb. A good trick is to do
one or two hits of his jab combo and to interrupt it by throwing out the Super
Jump Punch. This is very hard to impossible for them to avoid once you get the
hits from the jab, and it's a really easy chance at a Fire Jump Punch. Luigi
similarly gets a lot of utility out of his Luigi Cyclone. On the ground, he can
use it to cover distance very quickly; it is a very good way to both get
surprise attacks and approach enemies. If Luigi has not used Luigi Cyclone
since the last time he has touched the ground, he is able to rise if the player
presses B rapidly which makes it a very handy tool in ensuring Luigi always
makes it back to the ledge.

Luigi cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl. This is useful as he
can crawl under Pit's arrows, but he is too tall to crawl under any of the
projectiles from the Star Fox characters. Luigi only has one midair jump.
Luigi's roll and spot dodge are pretty much identical to Mario's; his roll is
slightly slow but covers good ground, and his spot dodge is very ordinary.
Luigi can get a fixed knock back straight up hit with his down taunt, but it's
too slow and low range to be useful. It can even spike if it hits a recovering
opponent, but unless a truly golden opportunity comes along, it's just an
obscure detail. Additionally, Luigi has unusually low traction which isn't very
important but should be kept in mind.

Since Luigi's game revolves so much around the air, Luigi's matches revolve
around how his opponents fare there. Since characters like Kirby, Meta Knight,
and Jigglypuff frequently enter the air voluntarily, Luigi should be a great
choice against them. Otherwise his matches don't tend to be particularly
notable though I would watch out for Marth and Ike whose range will give him
significant trouble. Luigi is a solid, balanced choice with an interesting and
unique play style; he's definitely worth considering.

Peach

Peach is a very interesting character mostly because of her ability to float.
If she holds the jump button in the air she will float once she reaches the
peak of that jump, and if she holds down she will automatically float without
needing to reach the peak of her jump or perform her double jump if it is still
unused. Her floating opens a lot of options for her in the air; she can be
either stationary or sliding directly horizontally while doing her aerial
attacks. This mechanic is her main appeal as a character, but all in all, she's
still probably a bit below average.

Peach's ground game isn't terribly noteworthy, but she does have some good
stuff. Her up smash is a great killing move if she hits with the sweet spot,
and her down smash of Super Smash Brothers Melee fame is still useful to
quickly score a few hits to rack up damage though it has pretty much no hope of
ever killing anyone. Her forward smash is an odd move that randomly uses either
a good knock back tennis racket, a weaker knock back but better range golf
club, or a straight up hitting frying pan. The move as a whole is a decent kill
move, but the randomness makes it hard to use it for anything else. Her down
tilt and forward tilt both are handy for knocking the opponent up into the air,
but her down tilt is generally better. Her up tilt hits with a super explosion
of hearts and love that knocks the opponent pretty far but doesn't kill until
higher percentages; it's still good to use frequently. Her running attack is
above average as well; mix it in.

Peach will usually want to be floating when she does her aerials, and all five
are useful. Her neutral aerial is her most valued one as it throws out a quick
and powerful attack that hits on both sides of Peach. Her forward aerial packs
quite a punch; she should use it mostly as a finisher. Her up aerial sends them
up further so she can continue juggles and score KOs off the top. Her down
aerial, on the other hand, is a damage racking move. If the opponent is at low
percentage and grounded, it's a very handy tool to do a lot of damage to them.
Her back aerial is a quick smack from her rear end to anyone behind her; use it
if someone dares go there. With all five of them, remember that you can do them
while floating very close to the ground, chase them with your float while the
aerial finishes, and then immediately land and do a move on the ground. This is
the core of Peach; use it and abuse it.

Peach's grab game is pretty much unremarkable as none of them can kill and she
has typical grab range, but if she does score a grab, she should use her down
throw with aspiration to lead into something more potent as it pops them up
right behind her. Since she gets fairly little out of grabs, she might want to
consider using her up smash out of a shield, but the extremely vertical
orientation of the hit on it makes that frequently unsafe.

Peach's specials are mostly pretty average. Well, Toad is excluded there; he's
just plain useless. If you were curious what he does as it's not immediately
obvious, he counters attacks, but even for a counter move he's unbelievably
slow and easy to punish. Her Peach Bomber is a pretty cool move that extremely
bad Peach players are known to use dozens of times in a row without using any
other attacks. She winds back for a bit and then hurls herself nearly
straightly horizontal a little more than a third of the length of Final
Destination. When it hits, it releases an explosion of hearts and love and does
solid if not particularly noteworthy damage and knock back. It's fairly
powerful and mobile if predictable and easy to punish; be sure to mix it in
once in a while but not too often.

Her Parasol is her nominal recovery move though in practice she usually doesn't
need it. She shoots up a small distance and begins floating down, and the
Parasol can be put away by pressing down. The really novel thing is that she
can bring it out again by tapping up so she can make her return to the stage
very unpredictable by varying her falling speed; it is the main reason she's
such a pain to kill. Her Turnips are handy to use to interrupt opponents by
tossing one at an opponent right before attacking, but their poor range makes
them bad spam. They can be caught easily as well which can make throwing them
counterproductive from time to time. Peach also cannot throw them while
floating unless the player inputs down + B, but this will only do the shorter
ranged throw. Occasionally, she gets a very powerful turnip that has a face
like that of an old man; use floating aerials and other special moves to knock
them off guard so you can kill with it. She also can pull bombs (which aren't
actually Bob-ombs as she can hold them indefinitely) which are even more
powerful, Beam Swords which turn her into a huge range machine of death, and
Mr. Saturn which when thrown with a smash throw devastates shields.

Peach cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl and has only one midair jump. She
has a somewhat fast roll and spot dodge, but her real special property is
floating which has already been covered in depth. One last trick with it though
is that she can cancel her dash with a jump into a float very low to the ground
which she can automatically end to land and be in a neutral position on the
ground. It's tricky to do; you need to basically hit forward to do a dash and
do a quarter circle motion toward down as you hit jump and then release them
all just as the float starts. This lets her vary the length of her dash however
she wants and do just about anything she wants out of it; take advantage of it
if you can get the timing down.

Peach's ability to float lets her glide right over projectile spammers so she
will match up fairly well against someone like Pit, Falco, or Snake. Characters
such as Wario, Jigglypuff, and Squirtle who can outmaneuver her in the air will
prove problematic, and characters with especially high speed or power such as
Bowser or Fox could be pretty successful at rushing or plowing past her
shenanigans. In general she will probably find herself having to work a bit
harder than most other characters to win matches, but she has enough tricks
that she should still remain on the lower end of viable.

Bowser

Bowser is advertised as the game's biggest and heaviest character, and he fits
the bill nicely on both counts. Unfortunately, he has the single worst flaw a
character can have; he is quite slow. Still, Bowser has a combination of solid
reach, great power, and surprisingly decent mobility that make him a decent if
flawed character. He doesn't really rise above the problems heavy characters
tend to have, but he puts up a decent showing.

Bowser's ground game has great power all around so he will mostly be looking
for speed and safety in his attack selection. His forward tilt is a good attack
to look to for a starter; it has huge range and is fairly quick so he can feel
confident in general throwing it out. His up tilt pops them up nicely and has
the added bonus of hitting behind Bowser as well as above him; it's a great
move to throw out with your back turned. His down tilt still has a good deal of
power for how quick it is, but it will be difficult to land hits with it. All
three of his smashes are beastly. His up smash is only useful as an answer to
opponents coming straight down on him or on a platform above him, but the
damage makes it worth it. His down smash is a wonderful way to punish opponents
for rolling about you rapidly or otherwise staying in your face and playing
evasively; it racks up really huge damage. His forward smash is the only one
you should be reserved about; it isn't particularly more powerful than his
other smashes, and while the way he recoils his head is very useful, it's
slower and more punishable than his other smashes. If Bowser needs to get an
opponent away from himself quickly, his jab combo is really his only option.

Bowser's aerial game will mostly revolve around his quick forward aerial, but
his others still have use. His up aerial does massive damage if he can connect
with it, but that's easier said than done. His back aerial is generally very
easy to hit with and pretty powerful, but it's a very unsafe move due to the
absurdly long landing lag. The best way to use it is to either use it really
high in the air where it will recover before landing or to hit the edge after
using it. His neutral and down aerials are just not very good and should only
be used in obscure circumstances where they seem like they can hit where other
things cannot.

Bowser's grab game is easily forgotten because he has a special move that is
basically a better grab, but he still has a few things he can do with them. His
general best bet is his back throw to try to get the opponent over the ledge,
but if the opponent is very hurt, his up throw will be more beneficial. His
down throw seems appealing, but he is so slow after it that he really can't
follow it up with anything. He may very well want to mostly use Whirling
Fortress out of his shield; it's a solid option for him.

Bowser's specials are split half and half between great and terrible. Let's
start with terrible. His Fire Breath really isn't very good. The fire dies down
relatively quickly, it is difficult to connect, and the damage is all around
poor. The main use for this will be to use it near the ledge angled downward to
force the opponent to take many hits from it before they can make it back. His
Bowser Bomb is also pretty poor; it's incredibly unsafe upon landing so he can
only plausibly use it if he's going to hit the ledge. Of course, in that
context, it is handy.

His Whirling Fortress is a wonderful move. It's not only useful for recovery;
it really shines when used on the ground. Bowser can slide along the ground at
a good and dangerous pace while using this move; it helps him out for
approaches and generally scoring quick damage, two things that would be quite
difficult for him otherwise. The fact that as an up special he can use it
directly out of a shield only makes it sweeter. Of course, most players are
simply enamored with his Flying Slam and with good reason. Bowser does a quick
grab motion and then slams the opponent down. Bowser and his opponent both can
direct where they land, and being at higher percentage causes either side to
have a lesser influence. This is a very safe and quick move, it is an aerial
grab, and it is a wonderful suicide attack should you choose to use it that
way. Just be smart about suicide; only do it when you are gaining an advantage
by dying at a higher percentage or are up in stock. Also, if this move doesn't
hit the opponent and finishes its animation in midair right above the ground,
Bowser gets his second jump back. He can exploit this to effectively levitate
over the stage which may throw some opponents off, but it's not a terribly big
part of Bowser's game.

Bowser cannot wall jump or wall cling which is no surprise at all, but he can
crawl for some mild humor but no actual gain. He has one midair jump and a
typical spot dodge, but his roll is fairly quick and should be used a bit more
than most characters would. His ledge attack at under 100% is also a
surprisingly good move; be sure to take full advantage of it.

Bowser's great strength will let him get early kills in all matches, but it is
usually counter balanced by the fact that faster characters will be getting
more hits. Bowser can definitely handle a character like Jigglypuff who is
extremely affected by his strength and doesn't have particularly great speed,
but characters like Sheik and Fox will probably prove too much for Bowser.
Bowser's massive size also makes him a prime target for projectile spamming
from characters such as Pit or chain throws from King Dedede or Wario; those
will be hard matches. At the very least, his great weight can be a boon against
the lighter power characters so he can approach foes such as Zelda, Lucas, and
Pikachu with a bit of confidence.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong has never been a popular character, but he's the original Smash
Bros. heavy character. He's generally a bit faster than Bowser, but he isn't
quite as powerful. Donkey Kong is a bit better in the air than Bowser whereas
Bowser is more of a grounded character. DK's range is also a bit better
overall. Still, fans of one character will probably find a kindred character in
the other even if they don't really play alike. Also, much like Bowser, Donkey
Kong is quite playable but still clocks in at below par.

On the ground, Donkey Kong will want to rely on his greater reach moves which
also happen to be his generally quicker ones. He has an excellent forward tilt
that covers a lot of distance in front of him and is quick; it should be
heavily relied on. His up tilt covers a wide arc over his head and behind him;
it too should be used frequently. His down tilt is also quick, but it is really
only useful for occasionally tripping opponents as the knock back on it is
incredibly unuseful at all percentages. His forward smash is his best smash in
terms of speed, range, and power; you should rely on it heavily. His up smash
is good for hitting opponents above him, and his down smash is good for
sweeping out rolling characters, but neither are particularly good.

In the air, Donkey Kong's main weapons will be his excellent back and up
aerials. His back aerial is extremely quick and powerful; he can string
together series of these in rapid short hop approaches for great profit. His up
aerial hits a large area as he slams with his huge head and is effective at
scoring kills off the top of the screen and should be used whenever DK managed
to get beneath an opponent. His biggest problem up here is his horrible forward
aerial; it's so slow you will never hit anyone with it. When approaching from
the front, use his neutral aerial instead. His down aerial is a somewhat handy
spike; mix it in as it's worth the effort.

Donkey Kong's grab game is really defined by his unique cargo carry mechanic.
When he grabs an opponent, he can hit forward to lift them on his back from
which he can carry them around. Other than the obvious use for suicides, this
can let him set up attacks by carrying them to more favorable places. DK should
usually cargo to up throw to attempt to follow up with an up aerial, but he can
really mix it up a lot depending on circumstance. He can also use his Spinning
Kong out of a shield which is generally a good choice.

Donkey Kong's specials are all close range hits and have mixed usefulness. His
Ground Pound can rack up damage decently if it hits just right, but it is
incredibly unsafe and pretty hard to hit with so it really should be used very
seldom if at all. His Headbutt is similarly an interesting move that isn't very
good. Hitting with it is like hitting with a damaging Pitfall item, but the
move's range is poor as is its speed so it is mostly just asking to be
punished.

The Giant Punch is a high quality move. It's a really great killing move, and
it has super armor that Donkey Kong should exploit to ensure he delivers his
powerful attacks. However, throwing the punch in midair leaves Donkey Kong
helpless until he lands so it should mostly be used from the ground. His
Spinning Kong is a very quick move coming out that deals decent damage; he
should whip it out from the ground from time to time for easy damage. It is
also his main recovery move, but it has incredible landing lag when used from
the air so he should really try to hit the ledge with it.

Donkey Kong cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair
jump. He has a typical roll and spot dodge as well; his only really special
property is his cargo throw.

Donkey Kong's matches are mostly in the same vein as Bowser's with the
difference being that his generally greater speed lets him do much better
against speedy characters like Fox. Of course, his lower power similarly isn't
doing him a lot of favors against a character like Jigglypuff or Kirby; it's a
trade off that Donkey Kong probably wins by a small margin. Donkey Kong may not
be flashy or popular, but he has his monkey business, and that makes him
somewhat viable.

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong was always everyone's favorite when playing the Donkey Kong Country
games, and he's a favorite here too. He's an all around speedy character in
both mobility and attacking, and that's an excellent thing to be. He has a lot
of quirky moves that serve him very well; he's an excellent character all
around.

On the ground, Diddy Kong really needs to know his good moves from his bad
ones. The general rule is that tilts are good and smashes are bad. His forward
smash is weak and fairly easy to punish, but his forward tilt comes out faster
and with better damage. His up tilt is a good upward hitting move, but it's
much easier to punish than his up tilt which does the same job but better. The
big exception is in the downward direction as Diddy Kong has a fast and
effective down smash while his down tilt is one directional with unuseful knock
back. Diddy Kong also has an incredible running attack. It's very fast and ends
so quickly that Diddy Kong can follow it up with other attacks without being
punished. This means that Diddy Kong should frequently rely on his running
attack for approaches as he can often flow into another move before a shield
grab would interrupt him. This is a great contrast to his jab combo which is
one of the worst in the game; never use his jab combo.

In the air, Diddy Kong's two big assets are his quick and powerful forward and
back aerials. He can approach from either direction and rely on a quick hit
that is decently powerful up in the air; his back aerial is the one with a
little more speed while his forward aerial is the one that packs the power. His
up and neutral aerials are very weak, but they are quick so he can use them to
rack damage when the enemy is very near. His down aerial is tricky to use, but
it's a wonderful spike so try to sneak it in if the opportunity arises.

Diddy's grab game leaves something to be desired, but given that his other
options out of a shield are also lackluster, he must rely on it. In general he
should go for his up throw to try to lead into aerials; his back throw sends
them too far away to do anything, and his other two throws are just generally
bad.

Diddy's specials aren't great, but he has some cool stuff here. His Peanut
Popgun is a rather lousy projectile that is extremely slow and easy to avoid;
only pull it out if the opponent is giving you an ideal chance to projectile
spam. Even then, be cautious as the peanuts can actually be caught and then
thrown back at Diddy as items. His Monkey Flip and Rocketbarrel Boost are both
quality recovery options that make it easy for him to get back to the stage,
but neither is that great otherwise. His Monkey Flip will spike them if he gets
the grab hit from it in the air, but it's tricky. Rocketbarrel Boost needs
practice to recover well with it, and if he gets hit during it, the barrels
might fly off rendering him helpless. If you want to use Diddy, spend some time
in training mode getting the timing on this move down.

His one really high quality special is his ability to summon banana peels. He
can only have two at a time, but he cannot trip on his own banana peels. He can
toss them at opponents to trip them up, but the main use is to plant them in
clever places that will severely restrict the foe's movement. When they trip,
Diddy can move in and punish while his bananas on the ground keep them locked
down. It's really hard to explain just how to plant them efficiently; the
general rule is that you should try to put one between you and the opponent and
the other in the place you figure the opponent most wants to go.

Diddy Kong can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl. He is short enough to crawl
under Pit's arrows but not any of the Star Fox characters' lasers. He has one
midair jump, a fairly quick roll, and an unfortunately slow spot dodge which he
should generally avoid.

Diddy's speed gives him advantage over the big and slow characters such as
Bowser, but he will find faster powerhouses such as Pikachu, Lucas, and Zelda a
real problem. Mr. Game & Watch and Marth's combination of speed and priority
could also be a big worry. Otherwise Diddy should expect generally even to
slightly favorable matches as he's not particularly extreme; he can expect to
perform well in a wide variety of situations.

Yoshi

Everyone is divided over who is good and bad, but few are divided over Yoshi's
standing. Yoshi is just obviously a pretty bad character, but he's really not
completely without merit. Yoshi has a slippery control in the air that,
combined with his very fast running speed, can make him somewhat unpredictable,
and he has surprising reach on several attacks. He's also surprisingly heavy.
Even if he isn't very good, he can at least be full of surprises.

A good general rule with Yoshi's ground attacks is to watch whether they use
his tail. All of his tail based attacks are good whereas his head and feet
based ones are lackluster. All three of his tilts are good and will be his
primary attacks on the ground. His up tilt pops them up into the air which is
fairly useful for Yoshi; use it whenever you have an opening. His forward tilt
and down tilt serve similar purposes; both are great moves to get the opponent
away and score a little damage. Yoshi also uses his down smash like a "fourth
tilt" since it covers a wide area quickly so it's great for racking up damage.
Unfortunately, he has to rely on his slow, poorly ranged forward and up smashes
for kills; Yoshi has trouble in this department.

In the air, Yoshi's two best moves are his up and back aerials. His back aerial
covers a huge range and racks up damage very nicely; use this move as often as
possible as it's one of Yoshi's best. Yoshi's up aerial will probably be his
most important killing move as it comes out quickly and hits opponents straight
up. Don't allow this move to be worn down by stale move negation as Yoshi has
very few other good killing options. Yoshi's neutral aerial is a decent option
for a quick hit, but it's very weak so it should be used sparingly. Speaking of
using moves sparingly, only use his forward aerial when you're sure you can hit
the spike as it is extremely slow and easy to punish. His down aerial is a very
difficult move to hit with, but it should be used anyways due to its great
ability to rack up damage on a clean hit.

Yoshi's out of shield game is just pathetic. His grab has big range, but it is
incredibly slow which makes it hard to use effectively. His up and down throws
both pop opponents up nicely and can be good options to attempt to follow up
with an up aerial, but he lacks direct killing power in grabs. His saddest
problem, however, is that he cannot jump out of his shield. This means that he
must roll, grab, or drop his shield after blocking an attack; he cannot do an
aerial or an up smash or special. His roll is also a very slow roll so it
really leaves him pretty helpless after blocking.

Yoshi's specials are mostly bad. His Egg Roll leaves him very open if your
opponent has a decent sense of timing; only use it for quick retreats and
surprise attacks. His Ground Pound is generally a bad move due to how unsafe on
landing it is; it should mostly just be used when Yoshi will hit the ledge
after using it. It is also somewhat useful if you can hit the opponent on the
way up as it forms a small combo, but given the risk, it usually isn't worth
it. Yoshi's Egg Lay is handy; he can use it to somewhat replace his slow grab
with the bonus of being able to use it in the air. He really can't follow up
turning an opponent into an egg with anything; just try to get a back or down
aerial on them quickly before they break out.

Yoshi's Egg Toss is his primary special. With careful aim, Yoshi can bombard
opponents anywhere from right next to him to about two thirds of Final
Destination away; good Yoshi players absolutely must master subtle aiming with
this move as solid projectile spam is one of the few things Yoshi can really do
well. In the air, it gains Yoshi a bit of height, but the returns diminish so
much after each use that it should only be used once. It's the closest thing to
a triple jump Yoshi has by the way; his recovery is pretty easy to mess up.
Additionally, this move can be used for a pretty clever edge stall. Yoshi can
let go of a ledge by hitting back and then immediately throw an egg. The height
he gains should be just right to grab the ledge again if done right. With
practice, Yoshi can snipe at the opponent with eggs while enjoying a lot of
invincibility from constant ledge grabbing.

Yoshi cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl. Yoshi is short enough
to duck under Pit's arrows, but while crawling he gains a bit of height so he
gets hit which means he can only use crawling to very slowly approach Pit. Of
course, he cannot duck under any of the team Star Fox projectiles at all. Yoshi
has a very slow roll which he should seldom use, and his spot dodge seems
slightly slower than average. Yoshi's inability to jump out of a shield is a
huge handicap which severely limits his game, but he does have the minor
benefit of having a shield that never shrinks. It will break like every other
character's shield, but it changes colors instead of growing smaller and always
covers his whole body. Yoshi also has a tremendous weight gain when he is
starting his double jump which allows him to take many attacks without
flinching, but this only helps him in recovery. Yoshi can continue following
the path of his double jump while attacking as well which allows him to very
quickly gain height during an attack; I suggest using up aerials out of his
double jump to catch opponents coming down.

All in all, Yoshi is just a character with a lot of problems. He has a lot of
special properties which are good, but then his inability to jump out of a
shield takes it all away. His shield game as a whole turns out to just be awful
as he is cursed with a bad grab and roll; he really doesn't have much he can do
after blocking. Yoshi also is a poor character at racking up kills which just
does him no favors. I really can't say much about specific matches as Yoshi
will have trouble with most characters for the same reasons, but he should have
a somewhat palatable match with Wario due to his ability to outrange Wario and
control space. He also can have a generally good time against characters such
as Bowser and Ganondorf with very poor mobility thanks mostly to eggs, but I'm
really just struggling to find anything to help out poor Yoshi.

Wario

Wario is from the start an obviously unusual character, but his play style is
even more off the wall than you would at first expect. While he does have high
weight, he doesn't play like the heavy characters at all; he is actually most
similar to Jigglypuff! Wario uses his amazing aerial mobility and an array of
attacks with surprising speed and power to make himself into a large threat on
the battlefield, but his absolutely horrible range really limits him. He seems
above average, but his inability to threaten from afar seems like it keeps him
from the upper echelons of play.

On the ground, Wario should definitely mostly rely on his tilts. Wario has a
powerful and medium speed forward tilt that will be his main source of grounded
kills. His forward smash is a more powerful option, but it has a range so awful
that it is usually really impractical to connect with. Still, it's actually
quick so he can be tricky by comboing into it after a weak aerial such as his
forward aerial. His upward attacks are similar except his up smash is just a
damage racking move; it's a move to generally refrain from using. Wario's down
tilt is a fairly slow option, but it is still a better choice than his super
slow down smash.

In the air is where Wario really shines. Wario's forward aerial will be his
most used and relied upon move as he can jump in, attack with it, and weave
back out to land out of range of retaliation. This is the central Wario
strategy so be sure to use it frequently. Wario's neutral aerial and up aerial
can be difficult to connect with, but they are his two main killing options in
the air. His up aerial kills off the top pretty easily, and his neutral aerial
sends them much farther away. His down aerial is just a damage dealer, but it's
pretty potent with little landing lag so use it whenever the chance arises. His
one aerial to generally avoid is his back aerial since it has so much landing
lag when he hits the ground during it. It's pretty powerful though so you can
mix it in; just be sure to use it after full hops or from higher up in general
so Wario completes the move before landing.

Wario's grab game is as quirky as you have come to expect from this character.
His main killing throw is his forward throw while his back throw generally gets
poor distance which is the exact opposite of nearly every other character.
However, when you aren't going for a kill, you should look to his up and down
throws. Wario's up throw sets the opponent up for aerials, but Wario has a
chain grab out of his down throw against Bowser and Donkey Kong. After the
throw, the opponent is knocked right behind Wario so he can turn around and
grab again. While those two are the only ones against which he can pull off
long forced grab combos, he can frequently get several in a row with the
others. If they don't directionally influence, he doesn't even have to move to
continue against Ganondorf, Captain Falcon, Wolf, or Falco. Pick whatever
throws best suit the situation to make sure Wario is maintaining maximum
pressure.

Wario's special moves are pretty odd and for the most part pretty limited. His
Bite is a very short range move, but it can be used as an aerial grab and can
interrupt many low priority attacks, especially from Sonic. For the most part
this move shouldn't be used much, but it can be viable defensively. If the
opponent gets into Wario's mouth, the Wario player should press B rapidly to do
as much damage as possible. Wario can also eat various projectiles, but
explosives still hurt him so this is pretty limited. The useful things he can
eat are R.O.B.'s gyro, Peach's turnips, Wario's bike and bike fragments, Diddy
Kong's peanuts and banana peels, and Zero Suit Samus's suit parts. He can also
eat King Dedede's Waddle Dees while they walk around on the ground, but he
can't eat them as they are being thrown. Speaking of Wario's bike, it's a
pretty poor attack in general since he is very vulnerable unless he is doing a
wheelie which makes him very slow, but he can use it in the air and then leap
from it for recovery. Only one bike can be out at a time so Wario players
should try to keep the bike ready to use for this purpose.

Wario's Corkscrew is a pretty bad recovery move and has such poor range that it
can seldom be used as an attack, but, if the opponent is caught in the entire
thing, it will do good damage. It should be used very sparingly save when the
height is truly needed to make a recovery, but it can be a good surprise attack
if a golden opportunity arises. Wario's Wario Waft has some use for recovery if
it is really needed, but the best use of the move is to wait for it to fully
charge and then use it as a finishing blow. It takes approximately 1 minute and
51 seconds for the move to fully charge, but the charge is retained between
stock.

Wario cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl for little practical
benefit. Wario has but one midair jump, and he is unfortunate to have both a
slow roll and a slow spot dodge.

Wario's only big handicap in most matches is his horrible range so characters
with huge range are going to make this problem most apparent. Marth and Ike
just completely outdistance Wario, and even characters like Olimar and Mr. Game
& Watch could prove problematic. However, Wario's superb aerial control means
that characters such as Jigglypuff and Squirtle who were relying on superior
aerial control to win could be in trouble. Wario also tends to do well against
very low priority characters such as Sonic and characters who try to attack
from very close range such as Captain Falcon.

Link

This is another case where being candid won't earn me many friends, but it must
be done. Link is really bad in this game for the sole reason that Toon Link
exists and is way better at using what's essentially the same move set. The
only real reason to use Link is to be stubborn; those who want to use Link and
win should just pick Toon Link. Okay, that's out of the way. I'm going to
assume everyone from this point on is stubborn and wants to use Link to his
potential even if he's an obviously inferior character. Link has some good
stuff; he can play a solid keep away game with his three projectiles, and his
melee attacks have solid range and power thanks to his sword.

Link has a lot of good moves on the ground so he'll be spending a lot of time
here. His forward and up tilts both swing over his head and hit in front of
him, but they hit in different directions. His up tilt hits up, and his forward
tilt hits forward. Use whichever one fits your specific needs, but both are
great, quick, high range moves Link should use a lot. His down tilt is a bit
slower, but it tends to poke under shields and is nice for popping the enemy
into the air. Link's down smash is a typical one that clears out opponents
rolling around too much, and his up smash is a great damage dealer that tends
to set the opponents up in the air nicely. However, Link's real gem on the
ground is his forward smash. He does one fairly low knock back but decently
damaging swing, and if A or any direction on the c-stick is pressed somewhat
within the timing of the attack, he'll do a very powerful follow up swing. He
can vary the timing to be very unpredictable which makes this move very
dangerous. If you just want to do a double attack as quickly as possible,
simply mashing A will make it happen. Link's jab combo and running attack are
also both decent, but neither is anything special.

Link in the air is also pretty solid as he has six pretty good aerials. Yes, I
meant six. His forward aerial is a nice range and speed double sword hit; he
should be sure to throw it out at every opportunity. His back aerial is a
double quick kick of pretty average strength that he should also use a lot. His
neutral aerial is also a kick, but it is so weak that it's less useful by
comparison to the back version. His up aerial is pretty slow and has a lot of
landing lag, but it has very high priority and decent power so Link can throw
it out with confidence to approach enemies coming at him from below. Link's
down aerial is a fan favorite for its great power, but the move is very slow
thanks to huge landing lag. Only use it when you are sure to hit. If it hits
twice, all landing lag is canceled so it's a somewhat more viable move against
the Ice Climbers than normal. Link also has a sixth aerial he can use by
hitting Z in midair to fire his Clawshot. This move has literally no landing
lag, and despite how weak it is, it has solid range. Short hop approaching with
the Clawshot is a great tactic that Link should be sure to exploit, but this
move has a very long recovery time in the air so when Link is not able to
quickly land during the move he should only use it to tether the ledge as per
the move's original purpose.

Link's grab game is pretty hampered by his relatively slow grab, but for his
absolutely huge range, it's at least of a tolerable speed. None of his throws
are particularly good unfortunately, but his down throw does leave them close
enough to follow up with a quick attack if they are at low percentages. His up
smash out of a shield will be useful, but his Spin Attack should generally not
be used like that.

Link's special moves mostly revolve around the concept of spamming projectiles.
If he needs to quickly apply pressure in a nearly straight line in front of
him, he should shoot his Bow. His Gale Boomerang can be angled to hit at a wide
variety of locations, and it should be used to control space and force the
opponent to not go where he most wants to go. Unfortunately, the gale effect is
really bad; pulling the enemy in if the enemy is prepared is actually to Link's
disadvantage as he was using his projectiles to keep them out in the first
place. Be ready for it to happen, but in general, don't try to hit with the
returning Gale Boomerang. Link's last fun tool is his ability to throw bombs. </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Link should always try to be tossing these just where the opponent wants to go,
and given their high power, they will be very effective at keeping the enemy at
bay. Link will especially profit from throwing a bomb right as he's running at
an opponent to force the opponent to answer the bomb just moments before Link's
attack. If the opponent gets clever and starts catching many bombs, delay
tossing them so they explode as they reach their target. It's an easy mistake
for Link players to make to not use enough projectiles, but they are really
what make Link the character he is. At almost all times in a match, Link should
either have at least one projectile out or should be following up on the
immediate advantage gained from his projectiles that were there shortly before.

Link's Spin Attack is his recovery option, and this is getting its own
paragraph so I can make it a very clear point. The Spin Attack should only be
used for recovery. On the ground, it is slow, predictable, and fairly weak.
Charging it only makes Link even more slow and predictable, and it really can't
be used to spike like it could in Super Smash Brothers Melee. The "combo" down
throw to Spin Attack does not work. Seriously, only use this move for recovery,
and you'll be a much better Link player.

Link cannot crawl, wall jump, or wall cling, and he has only one midair jump.
His roll is a little on the slow side which limits its use, but he does have a
pretty typical spot dodge. Link can use his Clawshot as a tether in the air
both as an attack and as a way to automatically grab ledges if he is within
range. Link's shield (the one he is holding, not the one he gets by pressing a
shield button) can also be used to block projectiles. If Link is in an idle or
crouching pose and a projectile hits his shield, Link will be pushed slightly
back and take no damage. If he hasn't moved at all for a while, he sometimes
moves his shield slightly to his side which leaves him open, but crouching
prevents this from happening. Also, just in case you were wondering, Link's
shield does not block the recoil from the main cannons on the Great Fox at
Corneria.

Due to the whole outclassed factor, Link will obviously not enjoy a match
against Toon Link. His shield and wide array of versatile projectiles makes him
a great choice against other projectile abusers such as Pit, but against the
faster and stronger swordsmanship of Marth, he'll be in trouble. Small
characters that can hurt him very badly once they get inside such as Olimar and
Ness could also be issues. However, in general, Link shouldn't expect too
extreme of advantages or disadvantages in battle. He has a wide array of decent
but not spectacular options that should keep his head just above water against
most foes.

Zelda

Before talking about Zelda or Sheik, I'm going to spend a bit of time talking
about their ability to transform back and forth with their down special. In
general, this is a really bad strategy. The transformation is very slow, and
the opponent can usually hit them with a powerful attack when it ends. They are
fully invincible while changing, and since the change time lasts the duration
of the time it takes for the game to load the data on the other character, it
is not a consistent duration which makes predicting when to smash them
difficult. The transformation will happen faster if your opponent is the
character you are turning into, and pausing in the middle of the transformation
can also speed it up. However, unless you are really having trouble in the
match and feel like you could use a new character to turn things around, you
should start as the one you want to use and stick it out until the end.

Anyway, Zelda is pretty much just a powerhouse of a character. She's light and
has some speed issues, but her ability to consistently score low percent kills
is second to none. That's right, even such powerhouses as Ike and Bowser can't
kill as easily as Zelda can. Zelda is definitely an above average character who
can compete with the best though she's not really one of the best herself, and
she's a great choice if you are looking for someone with power.

On the ground, Zelda has a lot of decent, high damage options. Her forward
smash is a good move to hit opponents approaching from the front as the magical
burst is far out in front of her, and the move hits hard. Her up smash is of
similar use against aerial foes as it catches them in the magic ring doing big
damage. Her down smash has no magic and only a small hit area; reserve it for
those who like to roll too much. Of her tilts, her best is easily her forward
tilt as it pops the enemy right above her in a really useful way. At low
percentages, she can lead into an up smash for massive damage, and at higher
percentages, she can attempt an up aerial for a finisher. Her up tilt covers a
huge area so it's a nice safety move; use it when you just want to get the
enemy away. Her down tilt is just a tripping move at lower percentages that
should only be used to get a quick hit and maybe stab under a shield, but at
higher percentages, it pops the enemy up and can lead into an up smash the same
way the forward tilt could at lower percentages. Her jab and running attack
aren't particularly special, but both are good ways to push an enemy away due
to the magic burst in front of them.

In the air is where Zelda makes it clear that she is absolutely deadly. Her
forward and back aerials are pretty much identical in all but direction, and
both are ridiculously dangerous. If she hits with the tip of her foot where
there's the magic burst, the game will pause for a bit to let everyone see that
a big hit has just been landed, and then the foe will be electrocuted and fly
away with incredible knock back. This kills ridiculously early, and since Zelda
has two moves here, she doesn't have to worry about stale move negation very
much. This is how she gets kills; abuse this very heavily. Her up aerial isn't
quite as notable of a killer, but it is still great. On a weaker character, it
would probably be a main kill move. She creates an explosion above her with
good knock back; you can use this to easily score star KOs on opponents who
dare try to approach from above. Her neutral aerial isn't strong like the
others, but it hits over a wide area so it's a good option if you need a safe
move in the air. Her down aerial is a third lightning kick, but it sends foes
straight down. Use it for spikes, but the small hit area means you will
probably use it the least of Zelda's aerials.

Zelda has some prospects of killing with her back throw so it should be her
option if the opponent is very hurt, but her best trick with grabs in general
is to do a down throw followed up by a lightning kick. Her up throw is a good
choice for those middling percentages where the down throw isn't as effective
but the back can't kill; she can put them up in the air and try to threaten
them with her up aerial. You probably could have guessed that up smash out of
shield is useful for Zelda; it's a great way to rack damage against foes that
try to land behind you to avoid a shield grab.

Zelda only has three real special moves due to her transformation, but they do
their jobs. Farore's Wind is a wonderful recovery with hits in just the right
places to make it hard to punish. It should be used mostly for recovery, but
Zelda should try to be unpredictable with it and end in unexpected places.
She's covering a huge distance with it so the question is really more one of
where you want to recover to instead of one of if you can recover at all. If
she's in an unfavorable position on the course, Farore's Wind can also be an
effective way to relocate. Be sure to practice this move and the nuances of
positioning if you are serious about Zelda; it's important. Nayru's Love can
act as a reflector, but it has too much delay between uses to be effective at
that. In general, it's a pretty bad move; Zelda should only use it if she needs
a quick hit all around her body which is pretty seldom.

Zelda's really important special move is Din's Fire. She can direct this to a
large extent, and she can choose when to detonate it so she can effectively use
it to harass opponents over a huge area in front of her. It is an effective
keep away move and at higher percentages can be used to lead opponents off the
top of the screen; abuse this frequently and force opponents to come to you.
However, watch out as if she uses it in the air, she'll be helpless until she
lands. This is a bad move to use in the air in general; use it from the ground
when you think you have found a good defensive position.

Zelda cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and she has only one midair jump.
Her roll is somewhat above average speed wise, but her spot dodge seems a
little slow. Both are still within the range at which she can use them like
most characters do.

Zelda's power in the air means that the lightweights who try to approach her
from the air are going to have a hard time. That means Jigglypuff, Kirby, and
Meta Knight mostly. She can even do pretty well against such characters as Toon
Link and Mr. Game & Watch thanks to her ability to so easily score kills, but
it might be unfair to say she has an advantage. Against the heavier slow
characters, she might struggle a bit since they can actually kill her easier
than she can kill them, but in general, she shouldn't expect to find any foes
terrible problems. Ness and Lucas can answer her projectile better than she can
answer theirs and also kill really easily; she'll have some of her more intense
fights against them.

Sheik

Sheik is what happens when Zelda wonders what it would be like to be a ninja.
Much unlike Zelda, Sheik is a pure speed character. Be it attacking or just
running around, everything Sheik does is very, very fast. However, in just as
much of a contrast to Zelda, Sheik is weak and has trouble getting kills. Sheik
is overall probably a worse character than Zelda, but Sheik is not without
merit and appeals to an entirely different sort of player. If you're a big fan
of a character who is proficient at rush downs and has a surprisingly good edge
guarding game, Sheik just might be your character.

On the ground, Sheiks will mostly be relying on her very quick tilts. Her
forward tilt is easily her best; it is ridiculously fast, covers a large area,
and moves Sheik slightly forward. She can oftentimes string several of these
together on opponents to rack up solid damage. Her up tilt hits over a narrow
area but hits very high up making a great move to answer opponents from above,
and her down tilt is a quick way to poke under a shield and leads into aerials
at higher percentages. Her running attack is also very quick and pops opponents
right up into the air; it's a good choice. Her forward smash is really limited
since it has pretty much no killing potential and has a long animation, but she
should go for it when she is fairly sure she can hit since it racks damage
nicely. Her down smash is not only great for clearing out those who roll too
much but is also her best option to do right after landing from an aerial; it
just lets her keep up her constant string of attacks. Her up smash is hard to
hit with, but it's her only move from the ground that has any hope of killing
so go for it if the chance arises or a shield should break.

In the air, Sheik has a few killing options and a few damage dealers, but most
of her stuff is still quick. Her forward aerial is a quick swat that is handy
for racking up damage, but it has almost no killing potential. Her back and up
aerials can kill in their respective directions at higher percentages, and both
also come out very quickly. Her neutral aerial is just a standard weak but
quick neutral aerial that she won't be using too much, but it's not a bad move
so there's no harm in mixing it in. Her down aerial plunges her downward in a
predictable fashion with more landing lag than Sheik usually has; use this move
when you want to be generally ineffective and give your opponent a free grab.
Other than her down aerial, you will notice that none of Sheik's aerials have
noticeable landing lag; abuse this and flow from air to ground in a constant
flurry of attacks.

Sheik's grabs don't give her any kill options, but her down throw is a
wonderful throw to lead into other attacks. Depending on how the opponent
directionally influences, she will get different aerials out of it, but she can
usually hit with an aerial after a down throw. At lower percentages, she
sometimes will want to up throw to follow up with an up aerial, but that's a
nice case. If she is being shield pressured and is looking to turn things
around with a kill, she could always up smash out of a shield. It will surely
catch the opponent off guard.

Sheik's three special moves are not particularly noteworthy but are worth some
attention. Her Chain is more or less entirely useless as an attack, but it can
be used as a tether recovery over the ledge. Vanish is a teleport she can
recover with much like Zelda can, but she has a small hop before she disappears
and doesn't get a second hit after she appears again. Master teleporting around
with Sheik to make recoveries as unpredictable as possible. Her last special,
Needle Storm, is easily her most useful. Pressing B causes her to begin
charging needles, and pressing it again causes her to release. The more she has
charged, the more needles she shoots. In general, she should just double tap B
to throw one needle quickly. From the ground, it's a great way to interrupt an
opponent before rushing in to attack, and in the air, it goes at a downward
angle that can really mess with opponents trying to recover.

Sheik can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl. She is short enough to crawl under
both Pit's arrows and Fox and Falco's lasers, but Wolf's laser will still nail
her. She can even crawl under Samus's Super Missiles and Charge Shot as long as
it is not near to a full charge. Sheik has a quick roll and a typical spot
dodge as well.

Sheik's blinding speed makes her more than a match for the big slow characters
such as Bowser or King Dedede, but the characters who are not so slow but have
a lot of power and priority could be concerns. This means Olimar, Marth, and
Mr. Game & Watch could be hard matches for her. She will also do well against
characters like Pit and Snake as her speed lets her maneuver around projectiles
better than most, and she is so much faster than them up close that she can do
great damage.

Ganondorf

How to unlock:

-Play 200 brawls.
-Have Ganondorf join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic on Hard or greater with Link or Zelda.

Well, here comes Ganondorf. Ganondorf, like all characters from the Zelda
series, has a lot of fans, but he is just a catastrophe of a character. The
idea is that he's slow but has enough strength to make up for it. Ganondorf
certainly does have absolutely phenomenal strength, but slow only begins to
describe. Ganondorf is so slow that he has pretty much no ability to follow up
any attacks with any other attacks and gets punished time and time again every
time he misses anything. Ganondorf has easily the game's worst attack speed and
mobility so everyone can just take turns abusing his flagrant and nearly
insurmountable weaknesses. Ganondorf does still have a few high points that
dedicated players can focus on, but only use him if you are willing to accept
being at a disadvantage from the word go in pretty much every match.

Ganondorf has no trouble doing damage if he can hit so his main goal on the
ground is to find attacks with which he can hit. It's a pretty hopeless goal,
but let's see what he has. Ganondorf's fastest attack is unsurprisingly his
jab. He has no jab combo; it's just a single quick sucker punch. Use it to keep
enemies on their toes and to score easy damage. Ganondorf also has a pretty
quick running attack, but it leaves him open to shield grab so watch out. Of
his tilts and smashes, his somewhat decent forward tilt should be what he
primarily falls back on, but his down tilt, despite the poor hit and only
average speed, is still useful. Never, ever use his up tilt; even with the
vacuum effect that pulls them into the huge hit, it is way too slow to ever be
useful. All three of his smashes are slow but very strong; use them when the
opponent gives you a golden opportunity and is in the appropriate direction
(rolling around in the case of the down one).

In the air, Ganondorf's best bet by far is his quick and fairly powerful up
aerial. This move does a flip all around him, and it has very little landing
lag. Abuse it heavily. Ganondorf also has a good option in his back aerial as
it is quick and has almost no landing lag as well, but the hit area is very
small. Try in general to rack up damage with the up aerial and finish with the
back aerial. The forward aerial is very strong, but it's very easy to punish if
you miss so only use it occasionally. The neutral aerial is a just plain bad
move, and the down aerial is a very interesting choice. It sends the enemy
straight down and have a very nice bounce when they hit the ground. The move is
really slow with somewhat poor and awkward range, but it's often a good idea
for Ganondorf to try to position himself for this move. If he gets really
lucky, a hit from this might even lead into his up aerial, but you shouldn't
expect one move to lead into another in general with Ganondorf.

Since Ganondorf can't follow up on anything, his best option out of a grab is
to just throw them up so he can try to hit with an up aerial as they come down.
Grabbing is pretty much all he should do out of a shield as his grab is
actually a pretty quick one.

Ganondorf has exactly one good special, but let's cover the other three first.
His Wizard's Punch is exceedingly strong, but it's so laughably slow that he
should never expect to hit with it. He can tap and hold the opposite direction
while starting it up to reverse it, but that's a rare trick he should only try
to pull if he really needs to land a huge hit to come back from the opponent's
lead. Dark Dive is a below average recovery, but due to the awkward way he
throws himself up, it's very hard to hit as an attack and leaves him very open
to punishment. It's quite hilarious when he hits someone with the grab portion
of this move, but the move should really be saved for just recovery. His
Wizard's Foot seems like a fast option at first, but it is very predictable and
easy to punish even more so than most of Ganondorf's other moves. Due to the
relatively great speed at which Ganondorf flies across the course, it can be
good as a surprise attack, but leave it at that. In the air, it is a somewhat
reasonable option to get down quickly though it has enormous landing lag. Use
it just once in a while just like on the ground. Especially don't use it over
the edge; it's a suicide move all the way.

Ganondorf's one real point of pride is his excellent "Flame Choke" which is his
forward special. This move lets him cover ground quickly, but it has enough lag
afterward that he can't immediately follow up with an attack. However, if he
can hit with it which isn't that hard, he'll do some damage and plant the enemy
right on the ground. He really has nothing to follow this up with, but it's a
good way to deal damage. Your best bet is probably to try to predict the
enemy's movement and time well to follow up with this move again, but don't
expect to pull off long strings. Used in the air, this move slams opponents to
the ground and leaves them there so it's pretty much the same thing and handy
to escape juggles. If you slam them down over a pit, the predictable happens
and Ganondorf does a "suicide throw" to both of your demises. However, if you
miss, Ganondorf is left in a helpless state and will probably die alone so only
use this over a pit if you're sure to hit. Speaking of pits, watch out as
Ganondorf can kill himself if he goes over the edge with this move.

Ganondorf cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair
jump. His roll is just a tiny bit slow, and his spot dodge is very ordinary.

Ganondorf really has trouble against the entire rest of the cast, but due to
the extreme nature of the differences, his greatest problems will come from
speed characters such as Fox and Sonic. Ganondorf is at his best against very
light and floaty characters such as Jigglypuff and Kirby who he can kill with a
very small number of attacks and against whom he can more easily exploit his
few quick aerials.

Toon Link

How to unlock:

-Play 400 brawls.
-Have Toon Link join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic mode after clearing The Subspace Emissary.

Those unfamiliar with Toon Link might not be sure about what makes him better
than Link. The main thing is speed; Toon Link is ridiculously fast. He has one
of the highest running speeds in the game, all of his attacks are quick, and he
has a combination of floatiness and solid aerial control that lets him do what
he needs to do in the air. Factor in the fact that his projectile game is even
better than Link's and you have what is rightly considered by many to be one of
the best characters in the game.

Toon Link's ground game is essentially just a faster, lower range version of
Link's. Toon Link's forward and up tilts both swing overhead and in front of
him, and each one sends the enemy in the direction its name indicates. Toon
Link has a down tilt that just sends the enemy away weakly, but his down tilt
is very quick so he can easily use it to get the enemy away if he gets in
trouble. Toon Link's down smash is a really great move; it can not only clear
out rolling foes but generally does big damage to everyone it hits. He hits
enemies toward him instead of away with his down smash so he can frequently hit
with both hits, and the knock back on it is pretty high. Toon Link's up smash
is a quite powerful single hit that not only hits above him but in front of
him; he should use this to go for kills off the top as it is quite effective.
Toon Link has the same double forward smash Link has, but due to his small
size, it's far more deceptive. Toon Link should delay the second hit as long as
possible to sucker opponents into trying to approach, and then he can use it to
hit way out in front of him with an exceedingly powerful strike. Toon Link also
has fast and useable options in his running attack and jab combo; nothing he
has on the ground is bad.

Much like Link, Toon Link also has six solid aerials. However, Toon Link mostly
gets single sword strikes instead of multiple hits. Toon Link's forward and
back aerials are both quick slashes in the appropriate direction, and he should
use both to generally attack foes on either side. His neutral aerial is weak
but hits all around him so it's a good defensive move, and his up aerial, much
like Link's, is a high priority option to hit above him. However, unlike with
Link, Toon Link doesn't have a terribly large amount of landing lag on his up
aerial so he can use it more frequently with confidence. Toon Link's down
aerial is a very interesting move; he plunges down on his opponent with great
speed, but if he hits, he bounces upward. After a second hit, the move
automatically ends and he can do another move. With good timing and spacing,
Toon Link can bounce from opponents many times in a row to rapidly rack up
large damage, but watch out as the move has a substantial recovery time upon
landing. Toon Link can also use his Hookshot as a decent attack in the air by
pressing Z to try to exploit a move with literally zero landing lag, but the
range is a bit too short to rely on it very often. However, it recovers much
faster than Link's in the air so he can use it from higher up without as much
risk.

Toon Link's grab game mostly comes down to his down throw while being mindful
of his slower than average grab. None of his throws are likely to kill, but his
down throw puts opponents in the best position for Toon Link to follow up with
his powerful arsenal of dangerous attacks. Toon Link should also use his up
smash out of a shield somewhat often; it's a powerful option that lets him do
big damage all around himself.

Toon Link's projectile game is essentially the same thing as Link's so I'm
going to save the repetition and only point out how it is different. Toon
Link's Boomerang has a weak hit on the return instead of a gale effect so he
can use it to control space much more effectively. The hit on the way back is
weak, but it stuns the enemy. Toon Link can approach from the front and his
Boomerang comes back to hit them from behind, and the combined attack will be
very hard to answer. Toon Link's bombs are also slightly weaker but with a much
better blast radius; he can use this fact to control space even better with
them. His arrows are also a bit slower, but due to his better Boomerang, he
doesn't lose out on his ability to control the space in a line right in front
of him. The arrows are still useful if the Boomerang is out on another mission;
be sure not to neglect them.

His Spin Attack is still a strictly recovery move. He gets a ton of air from it
much unlike Link, but on the ground, it sucks the opponent in to rack up damage
instead of knocking them away. The damage really isn't that great, and the move
is dangerous. Seriously, I repeat again, only use the Spin Attack to recover.

Toon Link can wall jump, but he cannot wall cling or crawl. He has only one
midair jump, a slightly slow roll, and a slightly quick spot dodge. His shield
has the same properties Link's does right down to the trouble during idle
animations; read Link's section for more information.

Toon Link doesn't have trouble against any characters really. He's just a
ridiculously powerful character who has an answer for everything. Marth can
give him some trouble if he gets past the wall of projectiles, and characters
who are very quick in the air such as Meta Knight or Jigglypuff have more hope
than most of getting past the flurry of projectiles and then catching the
speedy Toon Link behind them. Toon Link is clearly one of the game's best
characters so he can go into any match with confidence that he has the tools he
needs to win. Play Toon Link like the champ that he is and strike fear into
your enemies' hearts.

Samus

Samus has historically been a big projectile spammer, but she's less effective
at it in this game. She's actually just a not very effective character all
around. She's slow and overly floaty with a move set that doesn't really
benefit from her floatiness, and despite being a 6'6" tall woman in a giant
robotic suit of armor, she frequently has trouble getting kills.

Samus's ground game is largely a lead in to her air game; her down tilt is a
quick blast to knock opponents into the air, and her up tilt is a slow but wide
range kick that does the same thing. Her down smash also sends opponents up and
is fast so she can use it for that as well as the usual punishment of overly
zealous roll abusers. Her forward tilt is quick but has poor and unuseful knock
back so it's just a move to get opponents away, but her forward smash is one of
her main killing moves. Her up smash creates several blasts over her head that
are great for racking up damage on an opponent coming down on her; perhaps this
move would work well with another that knocks the opponent into the air? She
also has a pretty standard fare jab combo and running attack that she can mix
in.

In the air, Samus has a few quality options. Her back aerial is very quick with
just enough knock back so it can be quite dangerous if she attempts to chase
with it. Her up aerial has very poor knock back, but if she can catch an
opponent in it, it racks up damage nicely. Her forward aerial works on the same
principle but hits over a pretty huge area; she should use it when she needs to
just cause damage. Her neutral aerial is pretty standard fare with a quick but
weak hit, but the knock back is enough so that she could throw it out, land,
turn around, and then edge guard with the back aerial in hope of a kill. Her
down aerial is actually a pretty good move. It hits over a small area, but it's
a high damage spike. Don't use it a whole lot since it's not a move you can
expect to hit with often, but it will always be rewarding when it does hit.
Samus also has her great "sixth aerial" in her Grapple Beam. By pressing Z in
the air, Samus shoot out her very long Grapple Beam which has absolutely no lag
upon landing. She mostly will make approaches by doing this move after a short
hop over and over again to rack up damage from a very safe distance.

Samus is a character with very few options out of a shield as her roll is
awful, and her grab is very slow. If she does get a grab, her two main choices
are to either do a down throw followed up by a forward aerial or an up throw
followed up by an up aerial. Her up smash probably won't be very handy out of a
shield, but she can use the Screw Attack out of her shield for some decent
results.

Samus's special moves are all useful to her. Her Charge Shot and Missiles
should both be used to constantly harass opponents. She should rain Super
Missiles on opponents to rack up damage and even kill the more weakened ones
and use free moments to charge up the Charge Shot which is a great finisher for
when an opening arises. If the opponent has made himself difficult to approach,
standard homing Missiles can be used to make the position indefensible. For the
unaware, she does a "smash" motion to fire a Super Missile while a "tilt"
motion fires a standard Missile. Additionally, Samus cancels her Missile firing
animation if she hits the ground while doing it so firing one just at the right
height so it will come out as she lands is a great way to shoot a bit more
quickly or to do any attack or even rush at the opponent right after a shot.

Samus's Bombs are useful to let her get down without opponents harassing her
from above, and she can lay a bomb between herself and her opponent to
effectively control space for a short period of time. In the air, she can bomb
jump by laying a bomb, not pressing anything else, and then laying a second
bomb to stall her in the air just as the first bomb would hit her. This is
handy in recovery; serious Samus players should definitely practice it. Her
Screw Attack is a handy recovery move and also is effective at racking up
damage. It leaves Samus pretty open if she misses, but it's a good move to mix
in every once in a while.

Samus can wall jump but not wall cling or crawl. Samus has the single slowest
roll in the game that she should almost never use, but her spot dodge is
decent. If a Samus user inputs up taunt, down taunt, up taunt extremely
quickly, Samus will do a one way transformation into Zero Suit Samus.

Samus won't like Snake as he accomplishes what she does with her projectiles
with his much better. Pretty much all other characters with solid projectile
games such as Link, Pit, or Falco will cause her trouble. Very fast characters
such as Fox, Sonic, or the mildly ironic Zero Suit Samus can rush her down
pretty effectively as well. Being a projectile user, she will like fighting
slower targets such as Bowser, and she should be able to handle herself against
even quicker power characters such as Lucas and Zelda.

Zero Suit Samus

Zero Suit Samus may be a fan favorite for all the wrong reasons, but as an
actual character, she's pretty interesting. She's very fast with good range and
a few moves that have a handy "stun" effect. She generally lacks power and has
what is probably the single worst grab in the game, but otherwise she's a solid
contender worth serious consideration.

On the ground, Zero Suit Samus has fast tilts and wide range smashes that
compliment each other nicely. Her forward tilts and jab combo both have very
little knock back but great speed and are essentially just tools to knock the
opponent away. Her up and down tilts both pop opponents into the air, and her
down tilt sends low percent opponents low enough that she can sometimes follow
up with a running attack. Her running attack is actually pretty decent; she can
use it once in a while. Her forward smash isn't very powerful, but it hits an
absolutely huge range in front of her and is decently quick so she should be
sure to use it. Her up smash racks up decent damage and sends the opponent back
up into the air so it's a great move for juggles. Her down smash is her most
interesting move; it stuns the opponent which gives her time to do whatever she
wants. She can go for loops with her Plasma Wire or try for a finisher with the
Plasma Whip; she has choices. Yes, her down smash does suspend aerial foes in
midair; it's quite cool.

In the air, Zero Suit Samus has a bit of an odd problem. She has a delay after
jumping during which she cannot attack that means she can't do aerials until
the peak of her jumps. That makes her aerials far less useful to her than they
would be to other characters. Her forward aerial is a weak double kick in front
of her that is only good for damage racking, and her neutral aerial causes her
to spin her whip around her for weak but safe damage. Her up aerial starts off
with horrible knock back, but the damage scaling is nice so it can be a source
of off the top kills for her. Her back aerial also has some decent power and
speed so it's useful. Her down aerial is a horrible diving move that just
leaves her open; I suggest against ever using it. Despite having her
prominently featured whip, she actually doesn't have a "z" aerial attack so
this is all she has to work with.

Her grab game has a lot of problems. Her only good throw is her down throw
which she can lead into a Plasma Wire which is generally a pretty productive
choice; if the opponent really messes up, she can do loops like this. However,
getting that grab will be hard. She has what you will notice is the slowest
grab in the game so despite its bad reach it's pretty bad. However, that's only
the beginning of her woes. If the opponent is too far away and sufficiently
short, he can duck under her grab! Even big opponents like Charizard can duck
under it at the right ranges so in effect it's just very unreliable. She might
consider using her up smash and Plasma Wire out of a shield instead, but both
only hit right on top of her and above her.

Zero Suit Samus has some interesting specials. Her most useful one is her
forward special, Plasma Whip. This move has one and only one use, and that is
as a fantastic kill move. It hits far in front of her and has great knock back.
She could also use it to tether ledges, but that's not really practical. Her
Paralyzer is also an interesting move since it's a ranged stun attack, but the
way she has to charge it to get any respectable distance or stun time makes it
very limited so she should not use it very often. Her Flip Jump has no
attacking properties when used normally, but if she hits a wall during it, she
will automatically do a wall jump. It's useful for recovery. She can press B
after using it to do a kick that is surprisingly powerful, but it's not an
attack that can be used very often due to the way this move repositions her.

Her Plasma Wire is a very interesting move. It hits above her like her up smash
racking up good damage, but the hit at the tip is a spike. She can use this on
opponents near a ledge for great profit, but more commonly she uses it to plant
the opponent right back on the ground in front of her. This can set them up for
a down smash which lets her try to make this into a loop. She really can't keep
that up for very long since they can use directional influence to escape, but
it's a nice attempt that she should go for. This is also her main recovery
move, but watch out when dangling from the tether and not grabbing the ledge as
this does not restore her double jump. If she has used three tethers within
range of a ledge since actually standing on solid ground, this move won't come
out quite right so be careful.

Zero Suit Samus can wall jump and crawl but not wall cling. While crouching she
gets hit by Pit's arrows, but while crawling she moves lower to the ground and
can avoid them. She is even low enough to the ground while crawling to avoid
the lasers of Fox and Falco as well as Samus's Super Missiles and uncharged
Charge Shot. Just remember to keep moving if using this tactic. Zero Suit Samus
has a fairly ordinary roll and spot dodge she uses like most characters can use
them. If you were wondering how to start a match as her, you just hold a shield
button during the transition to the character select screen. Assuming you
picked Samus as your character, you will start as Zero Suit Samus. When she
enters battle, Zero Suit Samus drops several armor fragments she or other
characters can pick up and throw as weapons. They stick around for quite a
while and are pretty dangerous; take advantage of them at the start of a match.

Zero Suit Samus's speed makes her more than a match for the slowest of
characters, and her range could make her a problem for the very poor range
Wario and Sonic. Her difficulties in the air, however, will make her easy prey
for characters such as Jigglypuff, Kirby, and Meta Knight, and the great
priority Olimar, Marth, and Mr. Game & Watch have little to fear from her.

Pit

Despite being from an almost literally unknown game from well over a decade
ago, Pit has quickly become a fan favorite in brawl. Pit has multiple jumps, an
up special that lets him literally fly, a weapon which causes most of his
attacks to have disjointed hit boxes, a very spammable projectile, and two
different moves that reflect projectiles. However, I'm going to burst some
bubbles. Pit is wildly overrated. He's definitely a good character, but he's
not really one of the best. Pit is surprisingly slow, and that means his game
largely degenerates into arrow spamming. He's still potent, and there's still a
lot to learn, but don't see his list of strengths at a glance and assume too
much of him.

Pit's better moves for the most part are actually on the ground; he has some
good stuff here. His forward smash comes out and goes away quickly, but the
hitting part of it sticks around for a long time in front of Pit which makes it
a wonderful move to use if the opponent has broken through your wall of arrows.
The best part is that it knocks them away in just such a way that you could
resume shooting arrows! His up smash is like a faster version of Link's and is
a solid option to nail opponents coming down on him, and his down smash is
mostly just a punishment for those who like to roll around him which is pretty
common if they've started using rolling to get past arrow spam. His forward
tilt is really horrible; don't use it. His down tilt is a really good move to
knock opponents in the air which is not something you typically want to do, but
if you find it something you suddenly need to do, remember the move. His up
tilt is a double flip kick that is used in pretty much the same circumstances
as the up smash but only when you need a bit of a faster move. It won't see
much play, but it's not a bad move. Pit's jab combo is also good for knocking
opponents away, but his running attack is poor and should be avoided.

Pit's aerials are shockingly disappointing. His best one is probably his down
aerial which is a wide slash beneath him. The move is fairly slow, but it hits
a wide area. Pit's forward and back aerials are quick, and his back aerial has
decent power, but they both have pretty horrible range so they are of limited
use. Pit's neutral aerial is extremely weak, but it hits all around him so it's
a good move to throw out when you need to get them away from you. His up aerial
has some power and damage racking potential, but it's very slow and hits over
an awkward area so it won't see a lot of use. Also, Pit may have multiple
jumps, but his aerial mobility is surprisingly poor. He really can't chase
opponents in the air nearly as well as one would think.

Pit's grab game is fairly poor, but if he does get them grabbed, he'll mostly
just be using it to throw them forward or backward so he can continue with the
arrows. If they are at a very high percentage, his up throw will be the first
throw to kill. Pit's up smash hits to his sides so up smash out of shield is
also a viable option for him.

Pit has some interesting and very useful special moves that Pit players should
learn well. Let's start with the most important one in his arrow. Pit can press
B to shoot an arrow in a straight line. If he presses up or down while it is in
flight, he can arc it. He can vary this quite a bit so he can really hit over a
much bigger area than it would at first seem. If he holds B instead of just
tapping, he can charge the arrows to do more damage, and he can aim the bow up
or behind him. When he fires up, he obviously hits left or right to arc it
instead of up or down. Pit can fire arrows in rapid succession so he can really
use them to shut people down. I'm not going to beat around the bush; the best
way to play Pit is to stay away from them and rain arrows. A few characters
have easy ways to reflect or absorb them, but those few aside, Pit can just
abuse arrows all day. If they jump in at you to interrupt the arrows, just use
a smash to knock them away and continue. Eventually the smash will just kill.
Pit also uses these while recovering as he can fire one after each jump without
really losing recovery ability, and it makes attacking him while recovering
much more difficult.

Pit's Wings of Icarus are his recovery move, and they literally let him fly.
After bringing them out, simply direct Pit with the control stick to fly
wherever you want. These last for a super long time; Pit can use them to fly
underneath a lot of stages. Stalling by constantly flying under the stage will
be banned in any reasonable rule set, but Pit can still exploit this to recover
to the opposite ledge to get past an opponent or other such nonsense. For the
record, yes, you can fly under Final Destination. Pit can interrupt this by
attacking, but watch out as if Pit for whatever reason terminates using this
move, he cannot use it again until he touches the ground. That includes being
hit; make sure using this is the last thing you do before hitting the ground or
the ledge. Pit's forward special is a spinning blade attack that is nearly
useless, but it does reflect projectiles at least. The main use for it is to
use it while on ice to slide forward very quickly while having a constant whirl
of death before you. Pit's last special is his Mirror Shield which is actually
very useful to him. It's an unbreakable shield in one direction that he can
keep out as long as he wants, and in practice, it works similarly to Mario's
Cape. If they attack it, they will just be pushed back, but moves such as Fox
and Falco's Illusion or Meta Knight's Drill Rush will be reflected causing them
to fly in the opposite direction. This also reflects projectiles so Pit is sure
to always have an answer to obnoxious projectile spammers other than himself. A
lot of Pit players neglect this move, and it's a huge mistake as it's a very
valuable part of Pit's arsenal that he needs to integrate into his game for
maximum effectiveness.

Pit cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he can glide and has three
midair jumps. Pit's roll and spot dodge are both decently quick and will be of
good use to him.

Pit's matches pretty much go by how well he can spam arrows. Ness, Lucas, Fox,
Falco, and Mr. Game & Watch instantly say no to his arrows so they will be big
problems. Characters like Jigglypuff and Meta Knight who can easily float over
the spam and then outperform Pit up close will be hard matches, and Snake will
be a very hard match as he can not only do far more damage than Pit with the
stuff he's tossing out, but Snake can easily duck and crawl under Pit's arrows.
Pit should expect to do very well against all the big and heavy characters,
especially Ganondorf with his poor mobility.

Ice Climbers

The Ice Climbers are not a very popular character, but given how exceedingly
good they are, they sure should be. Having two characters at once is a huge
advantage, and the fact that they are both very strong with disjointed hit
boxes from many attacks thanks to the hammers only helps. Due to the
difficulties of using two characters in unison, the Ice Climbers are the
hardest character to master, but the rewards are well worth it. I must caution
that, more than with most characters, I will only be scratching the surface of
the Ice Climbers here. They are too deep of a character for me to do adequate
justice, and either way, I'm not an especially skilled user of them.

The Ice Climbers more than any other character really like to keep their feet
on the ground, and this is largely due to their great ground based attacks. All
three of their smashes are quick and powerful, especially if they both hit.
Their up smash hits both in front of them and above them, and it is effective
at scoring kills off the top. Their forward smash delivers good knock back to
anyone in its way in front of them, and it has solid speed and range. Their
real pride is their amazing down smash. It's very fast, deals loads of damage,
and has great knock back. It even sweeps all around them to not only punish
roll abusers but generally anyone near them. They can seriously use this move
over and over again as it does everything a smash should ever be expected to
do. Their jab combo, forward tilt, and down tilt are all slightly different
ways of simply knocking the opponent away weakly, and each can be used in the
subtly different circumstances that would call for them. The up tilt is a
hammer spin that does great damage; mix it and the up smash up to deal with
enemies from above. Their running attack pops enemies up into the air, and it's
their quickest way to do that.

In the air, they have four decent options and one horrible option. Their back
aerial is really quit and does a lot of damage if both climbers hit; use it
frequently. Their up aerial is somewhat powerful and quick; it's a good way to
kill very weakened foes off the top. The forward aerial is slow, but unlike
most slow forward aerials, the speed makes up for it. Additionally, this move
has the odd quirk that Popo's hits horizontally while Nana's hits straight
down. The neutral aerial is a standard weak knock the foe away attack that's
good for some breathing move, and the down aerial is a standard down plunging
move that's really horrible and really shouldn't be used.

Grabs are definitely what define higher level Ice Climbers play. I'll start
easy and get more complicated. The simplest thing to try with the Ice Climbers
is to abuse Nana's ability to attack independently out of a grab. Try tapping
different directions on the c-stick while the opponent is grabbed (don't hold
Z). Popo will do his grab attack, and Nana will hit them with smashes! Next try
hitting down and B. Popo will do a down throw while Nana hits them with
Blizzard if you do it right, and this is a very nice way to rack up some
damage. The extra bit of delay from Blizzard also makes it easier for the Ice
Climbers to follow up with other attacks. With subtle motions, you can easily
make Nana do a Hammer Squall or forward tilt to a grabbed opponent, but notice
that the second attack Nana hits with always launches the opponent. This is to
prevent the infinites from Super Smash Brothers Melee from existing again, but
you can exploit this to have Nana hit with a forward tilt and then a forward
smash. You can also press X or Y to jump with Nana while you have an opponent
grabbed; this is handy to do a powerful down throw to forward aerial combo. The
Ice Climbers can chain grab with their down throw, and in fact Popo alone can
do it. Just do a down throw and then do a running grab forward. You should be
able to get another grab. This only works at lower percentages, and some
characters break out sooner than others. It's still a great trick you should
learn. The last trick I have to share is the forward throw infinite. I cannot
do this consistently, but the general premise is to do a forward throw and then
as Popo is throwing input a dash grab. If you do it just right, Nana will run
up and grab the opponent. You can repeat this alternating between Popo and Nana
for an infinite combo. It may seem like this was a huge section on grabs, but
this is really only the surface. If you're serious about the Ice Climbers, you
will find that what I've written here is a minimal introduction to their grab
game.

The Ice Climbers have some really handy specials as well. Their Ice Block is a
rather handy projectile that accelerates logically based on the slant of the
ground it is on. They can use this to harass foes at a distance, and if they
can desynchronize, they can fire these in an alternating pattern that makes
them very difficult to deal with. Their Hammer Squall is useful for recovery
and grab combos, but otherwise it shouldn't be used much. Do note that mashing
B very quickly while recovering with it improves the air you can get. Belay is
their other recovery move, and it's pretty handy. They jump up connected by a
rope, and if Nana grabs the ledge, she will pull Popo to it. A lone Ice Climber
can still get a little air from using this move so it's still worth trying
right below the edge even without Nana. Their Blizzard is a handy damage
racking move. It hits on both sides if used on the ground, but if used in the </pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
air, both Ice Climbers shoot forward. That being said, the best use is to do a
short hop before using Blizzard. It is also very useful in grab combos, but
then again, everything is.

The Ice Climbers cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and they have only one
midair jump. Their roll and spot dodge are very average as well. They only
count as dead if Popo dies, but Nana has her own invisible damage counter.
Nana's shield also depletes separately, and I believe but am not sure that they
have independent stale move negation. They can be desynchronized, but both
still accept inputs which can have different impacts on them. The two easiest
ways to do this are to either get a grab which leaves the other one free to do
whatever or to hit a shield button and a direction simultaneously. For some odd
reason, Nana will roll the wrong direction which puts them out of synch. The
Ice Climbers are able to share a ledge which is very handy, but either climber
occupying the ledge will prevent any enemy from grabbing it. Lastly, the Ice
Climbers ignore the slippery effect of icy surfaces. They don't slide on them,
and they don't trip more often on them.

The Ice Climbers tend to do well against most characters, but their greatest
fear are light characters who can make safe attacks on them from the air. Light
characters break out of grab combos easier, and the Ice Climbers are less
powerful in an aerial contest so that's no good. Mr. Game & Watch and Meta
Knight are two characters that come quickly to mind, but even someone like
Jigglypuff or Kirby could do somewhat well against the Ice Climbers. Bowser and
Donkey Kong in particular can expect a very hard match as their combination of
size, weight, and falling speed makes them the easiest characters for anyone to
do grab combos against. Being that the Ice Climbers are grabbing experts,
that's no good for them.

R.O.B.

How to unlock:

-Play 160 brawls.
-Have R.O.B. join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Collect 250 different trophies.

R.O.B. is a character that seems to have few fans; being an obscure NES
accessory probably isn't helping him. However, being unpopular does not make
him bad. R.O.B.'s ability to fly even better than Pit, solid projectile game,
array of surprisingly quick and powerful attacks, and unique momentum based
attacks make him a solid contender. He has in some respects inherited the
spirit of Peach from Super Smash Brothers Melee, but that comparison breaks
down if analyzed too deeply.

On the ground, R.O.B.'s game mostly revolves around his down smash. This is a
very fast and very powerful move with almost no delay after it finishes so
R.O.B. can just throw out another one. R.O.B. should be using his down smash at
every opportunity as it really is his best choice in most grounded
circumstances. It's especially effective against rolling opponents or right
after R.O.B. lands from an aerial, but don't hesitate to use it in a variety of
situations. His forward smash is also a solid choice, and it has more killing
power than his down smash. It's slow enough that he has to show some degree of
caution using it, but it's a solid move to throw out as a finisher thanks to
its incredible range. His up smash is probably his single best killing move,
but he should use it seldom as the hit area on it is very small. If you can get
a clean hit, it's a pretty likely star KO, but recognize that isn't terribly
likely. R.O.B.'s up tilt is a great move to pop enemies up in the air, and his
forward tilt and trip inclined down tilt are both great ways to knock enemies
away. All three tilts are very quick so R.O.B. shouldn't hesitate to throw them
out. His tilts largely obsolete his jab combo, but it's not bad, and he has a
good enough running attack that he should mix it in.

In the air, the general rule with R.O.B. is to mostly try to attack with his
arms. His forward aerial is not a move that will get many kills unless he can
string several of them together, but it's very fast and safe. It should be
R.O.B.'s main option for approaching opponents. His up aerial is a wonderful
damage racking move that's also very safe, and it gives R.O.B. great incentive
to try to put enemies up in the air. R.O.B.'s other three aerials utilize his
jets which makes them pretty interesting but difficult to use. His neutral
aerial is quite hard to hit with due to the slow way R.O.B. spins, but it is
actually quite powerful so it is R.O.B.'s main way to look for KOs in the air.
The back aerial is a jet burst that pushes R.O.B. forward which requires a lot
of practice to be able to integrate. The momentum shenanigan makes R.O.B. very
hard to punish after this move, but it also makes it easy to dodge. The plus
side is that the hit area on this move is deceptive; it covers R.O.B.'s whole
body. Try to mix it in against opponents you have under pressure; used well it
can make their situation far worse. His down aerial is a jet burst that knocks
him upward, and it's a great spike. This move should can be used while falling
to make R.O.B.'s decent unpredictable, and over pits it's a great way to get
easy kills. Those are about the only two contexts in which it is useful;
refrain from using it otherwise.

R.O.B. has a very speedy grab with a solid array of throws. His up and down
throws both pop opponents up nicely, and both his forward and back throws have
quite a bit of power. His forward and back throws also have very quick
animations so they can be effective to keep enemies off base; they will be
flying before they realize they were even grabbed. Use whichever one fits the
specific need.

R.O.B. has two good projectiles, the ability to fly, and a totally useless move
as the sum of his specials. Arm Rotor is the useless one; never use it.
Seriously, this move has absolutely no redeeming qualities and only leaves
R.O.B. open; it's a candidate for least useful attack in the game. His laser
and gyro are his two main projectile options, and he mixes both up to apply
great pressure. His laser is constantly charging, and the current degree of
charge is indicated by the LED on R.O.B.'s head. In general this move should be
fired at full charge when the enemy is off guard to score a quick amount of
solid damage after which R.O.B. can charge in, but don't hesitate to use a
weaker version at need. However, since his laser has charging issues, his main
weapon is his gyro. He can press down + B to begin charging and again to fire
prematurely. If he has a full charge, he'll blink and can fire by pressing down
+ B just once. Once fired, the gyro flies along a low arc until it skids to a
halt on the ground. It then spins on the ground hurting everyone except R.O.B.
who comes in contact with it. Anyone can grab it and toss it around as well;
R.O.B.'s ability to run up to it without getting hurt makes that easier for
him. It flies farther if it is more charged, does more damage, and also lasts
longer on the ground. The uses for this move are nearly infinite. R.O.B. should
be charging his gyro if he has free time during which he would do nothing else,
and he can fire it safely as most grounded opponents. If they shield, the gyro
just disappears which is no loss. If it hits, it knocks them off base and lands
on the ground to control valuable space. He can fire this from the air for
great surprise attacks, and the threat of him doing this really multiplies the
amount of space he can control at any time. It's a great anti-recovery move
even as it falls along a nice path that can be an unstoppable wall that
prevents an opponent's ascent. The only downside is that only one gyro can be
on the screen at once; be sure if one is out that you are somehow using its
presence to your advantage. If it is not being helpful, just toss it off screen
to destroy it.

R.O.B.'s recovery option comes in the form of his incredible jet engines. By
pressing up + B, R.O.B. can literally fly around. He will be firing the jet if
he holds up or B, and otherwise after using this move he will be in a "ready to
fly" state that limits his options. He can attack right out of it with any
aerial, but he cannot air dodge or use special moves. After attacking, he
leaves the flying state. He can use this move infinitely in the air, but he has
a fixed time for which his jets can be firing. Once it is exhausted, he must
stand on the ground to recharge it over time. The recharge time is actually
very quick, but be careful as clinging to a ledge does not count. He not only
can use this move to make pretty much any recovery he wants, but he can chase
opponents way over ledges with confidence that he'll make it back. He can also
jet to reach opponents super high in the air to follow up with up aerials for
star KOs. If he finds himself needing to cancel his flight mode to air dodge or
fire a projectile, his quickest option is to use his forward aerial due to the
very fast animation though his down aerial's ability to stall him in the air
makes it sometimes a better choice.

R.O.B. cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair jump.
He has a fast roll with tons of invincibility frames that may be the best roll
in the game so he should abuse it heavily, but his spot dodge is a bit slow.
R.O.B. also has a very rigid body that doesn't change size much when he
crouches or performs attacks so watch out for that.

R.O.B.'s combination of keep away tactics, a clear out down smash, and unique
aerial options give him odd matches. He tends to struggle against very fast
characters who can dance around his game and harass him; Sonic is an unusually
hard match for R.O.B.. However, his supreme over the edge abilities make him
very dangerous to characters such as Ike, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Ganondorf,
and Ivysaur who have few options to alter their trajectories in the air.
R.O.B.'s great down smash and projectile game also mean that characters who
have a lot of difficulty approaching from the air will have some trouble with
him; this mostly applies to the Ice Climbers.

Kirby

Kirby used to be a fan favorite back in the days of the first Super Smash
Brothers, but ever since his atrocious showing in the sequel Super Smash
Brothers Melee, Kirby has been a character few are willing to use. In this
game, Kirby is a somewhat decent character, but he lives in the shadow of his
fellow Dreamland denizen Meta Knight. Kirby actually has some decent priority
on his attacks, and he has generally more power than Meta Knight. In some ways
Kirby manages to be a middle ground between Meta Knight's hyper fast version of
floaty and Jigglypuff's slow but strong version so pick Kirby if you want a
floaty character but the others just aren't working for you.

Kirby's ground game is mostly a source of KOs and lead ins to aerials as you
would expect from a floaty character. His up tilt, down smash, and up smash all
knock opponents into the air, and all three have somewhat different uses. His
up tilt is an extremely fast close range move that Kirby should go for if he
wants to try to lead into something else. His up smash is a slower and more
powerful and widely ranged option that is also an occasional source of star
KOs. His down smash is fairly unreliable for popping them into the air since it
only does that near the base of Kirby's feet whereas the tips send them
horizontally, but the move is quick and sweeps around Kirby so it can both
punish those who roll too much and generally sweep out if Kirby does not know
where they will be. Kirby also has an excellent forward smash that is quick and
powerful; it will be one of his main KO moves. His down and forward tilts are
mostly just safety moves with his down tilt having the added bonus of being the
natural move from his very safe crouching position; use them as such. Kirby's
jab combo is rather bad unless he can pin an enemy against a wall, but his
running attack can be a decent damage dealer and will tend to poke through
weakened shields.

Kirby's aerials give him a wide array of good options in all directions, but
his best is probably his simple back aerial. It's just a quick kick to his rear
that he can frequently hit with and then chase to apply pressure. His forward
aerial is also good and racks up damage quickly, but it's slow enough so that
it should mostly be used when you know it's the last hit you are going to get
before letting them away. His up aerial is a quick flip that knocks the enemy
right back up. Kirby can also chase with this move, and it keeps the enemy in
the air where Kirby wants them. Kirby's down aerial is a solid air to ground
attack as it racks up damage nicely if all the hits connect, but it also has a
spike at the end so Kirby can use it over the ledge for great profit.
Unfortunately, Kirby's neutral aerial is just too weak and slow to be worth it;
only mix it in when you absolutely need to get them away in the air.

Kirby's grab game is mostly about down throws against low percent foes and up
throws against more injured ones. The down throw pops the enemy up fairly near
Kirby so Kirby can keep up the pressure, and the up throw does the same with a
bit more height and the added bonus of ending with Kirby actually in the air.
Kirby's up smash out of a shield is also handy so be sure to use it once in a
while.

Kirby has an array of interesting but mostly bad specials. His Hammer is quite
strong but also very slow; only use it once in a while to keep opponents
guessing. It's somewhat safer in the air and gives Kirby KO power in the air
where he otherwise would have lacked it and cancels somewhat quickly when
hitting the ground, but it's still a very slow move. Kirby can exploit a glitch
with this move actually; if the move ends in the air right above the ground,
Kirby will regain all of his midair jumps. It's seldom useful, but if Kirby
masters the timing, he could theoretically never actually touch the ground.
However, if Kirby wants to hit the ground very quickly, the Rock is a good
option. Actually, descending quickly to outrace an opponent is about all the
Rock is good for, and it should usually be canceled before actually hitting the
ground as the move is pretty much begging to be grabbed.

Kirby's Final Cutter is handy for recovery if you somehow need help there, and
it can be a generally good surprise move once in a great while. The shockwave
it sends out is a projectile that is sometimes useful, but it's more of a
novelty than a serious combat weapon. Kirby's Inhale is certainly very cool,
but don't overlook the move's use when not eating foes. Once a foe is in
Kirby's mouth, he can press down or B to eat the foe while pressing A or Z will
spit the foe out. If the foe is someone like Peach who has a very bad power,
spitting for some damage is usually better. Kirby can also walk around with
them in his mouth and jump from the ground, and this is the source of his great
suicide game. Kirby uses Inhale either over or very close to a pit and falls
into the abyss with them. Kirby can even sometimes spit opponents out very low
and toward the stage from which they cannot recover, but Kirby can. However, in
terms of stealing powers, Kirby just has to look at what's useful. Taking the
great projectiles from the Star Fox characters, Pit, or Snake will certainly be
a great choice, and the powers he gets from Mario, Donkey Kong, Ice Climbers,
Samus, R.O.B., Ivysaur, Lucario, and Ike can be handy from time to time.
Otherwise, stealing powers is probably not worth the effort, but you might want
to note anyway that Kirby has somewhat different properties on several moves.
Don't worry though; he can still do reverse Falcon Punch! Also, if you have a
change of heart about a power, Kirby can taunt to drop them. Kirby's down taunt
is the quickest choice by a large margin.

Kirby cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he has five midair jumps.
Kirby has a nice, quick roll but a somewhat slow spot dodge. Kirby's crouch is
also super low so he can use it to duck under a lot of attacks.

Kirby does well where floatiest usually do well and poorly where they usually
do poorly. He can float above the problems that projectile spammers bring, but
powerful opponents such as Ike or Bowser could be an issue. Kirby's poor range
could make Marth a concern as well, and his general trouble scoring kills in
the air will make Jigglypuff a hard match.

Meta Knight

Everyone loves Meta Knight, and it's not just because he looks cool. Meta
Knight's attack speed is unparalleled, and his floatiness lets him pressure
foes in a way that most other characters can only dream of. He does have
serious issues with securing kills, but all in all, he's still a very dangerous
character who can hold his own against the best.

On the ground, Meta Knight will either be looking for kills or looking to send
the opponent into the air. His forward tilt is actually a three move combo that
pops enemies up, but his main tool will be his up tilt which is very quick move
that sends the target straight up. His down tilt isn't useful knock back wise,
but it's so ridiculously fast that he can use it to poke under shields very
safely. All three of his smashes have killing potential and are quick enough to
be relatively safe, but they slow down Meta Knight's pressure game so he should
only use them for finishers. Obviously his up smash goes for off the top kills
which his forward smash aims for the side. His down smash is a kill move mostly
for foes to the back and that are rolling; the back swing seems generally more
powerful. His jab combo is fun, but it shouldn't be used in a serious match,
and his running attack is mediocre.

In the air, the general plan is to just do an aerial in whatever direction the
enemy is. All of them are quick damage dealers with little KO power so they're
pretty interchangeable. The forward and back aerials are multi-hit attacks that
should be used when the enemy is already in trouble more than the up and down
aerials which are single hits that cover a wide area. For approaching the down
aerial is a generally solid option due to the wide hit and the general ease
with which Meta Knight can maneuver to the high ground. The neutral aerial,
however, is simply bad. Don't use it often.

Meta Knight doesn't get a lot out of his grab game, but his best seems to be
his forward throw. This pops them into a perfect position to chase with a
forward aerial. His down throw can somewhat accomplish the same thing as well,
and his back throw scales up to be somewhat powerful against high percent foes
so remember them. His Shuttle Loop out of shield is a big thing he can do;
expect to get many kills this way.

Meta Knight's specials all have utility in recovery, but most are pretty
limited otherwise. The Tornado is a surprisingly hard move to punish, but the
damage is weak on it so Meta Knight shouldn't use it much for his pressure
game. Drill Rush can rack up damage very nicely with a clean hit, but it often
leaves Meta Knight vulnerable so use it sparingly. His Dimension Cape lets him
do a short range teleport to get out of trouble, and he can hold B to do a weak
attack right afterward. It's another one of those moves that you should use
sparingly, but it's a great move to keep in mind for a tight spot. His main
special is his Shuttle Loop. This move does a slicing loop and then puts Meta
Knight into a glide which robs him of all of his jumps once complete. The
initial swing from it is very powerful; it's Meta Knight's main kill move. Use
it and abuse it, especially out of a shield which allows Meta Knight to score
kills when he seems to be at a disadvantage.

Meta Knight cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he has five midair
jumps and can glide. His roll and spot dodge are very typical ones that he can
use like most characters would.

Meta Knight's aggressive swordsmanship and floatiness put together make him the
worst nightmare of characters like Pit and Snake that like to keep enemies at
bay. Speed characters such as the Star Fox characters will also likely find
Meta Knight difficult as his attack speed is every bit as good as their and he
has a sort of aerial movement they can only envy. Of course, powerhouses like
Ness and Donkey Kong will relish Meta Knight's relative difficulty scoring
kills, and characters like Ike, Marth, and Mr. Game & Watch will give him a run
for his money by outranging and out prioritizing him.

King Dedede

King Dedede is a very silly character. He's not only silly in the sense that
he's a floating self proclaimed penguin king with a giant hammer either. King
Dedede is big, heavy, and slow, but he has multiple jumps and a generally great
recovery along with a solid projectile. That's a very non-traditional
combination, and it is pretty effective. I would hardly put King Dedede as a
top class character, but he's solid and very useable.

King Dedede has quick, useful tilts and very powerful smashes that form the
core of his ground game. His down tilt is very quick so even if the knock back
is bad, he can use it as a nice safety move. His forward tilt, on the other
hand, just has huge range for its speed. He can use it to harass foes from
safety, and due to the range he can easily form a combo with it out of his down
throw. His up tilt pops foes up nicely with solid damage scaling that actually
lets it kill at very high percentages. His up smash is another great source of
star KOs, and for the speed, it's generally a great move. His forward smash is
actually very slow, but it does massive damage. King Dedede should use it
seldom, but when he finds an opening, it's the perfect move to punish an unwary
opponent. His down smash also sends opponents upward which lets him lead into
aerials, and it clears out pesky rolling foes as an added bonus. King Dedede
also has a quick and damaging jab combo, but don't use his slow running attack
even if you really love the Kirby nostalgia.

In the air, King Dedede's main claim to fame is his amazing back aerial. It's
quick with good enough knock back to eventually kill but not enough so that he
couldn't chain them together. King Dedede's multiple jumps also move him fairly
little in the air so he can use them with the back aerial in rapid succession
to lead opponents across stages; it's wonderful. His forward aerial is somewhat
outclassed because of this, but it's still useful due to the large hit area and
the way it scales up to pretty high power as the opponent takes damage.
Dedede's up and down aerials have no real killing power, but both are great at
racking up damage so they should be used against lower percent foes. His
neutral aerial is just a typical "knock them away" move so use it as such.

King Dedede's grab game revolves almost entirely around his chain grabbing down
throw though it should be noted that his back throw has some KO potential. In
general, King Dedede should do a down throw and then do a running grab to
regrab his opponent. This isn't really forced very often, but it's a pretty
powerful tactic anyway. Do note that it won't work at all against lighter
characters such as Mr. Game & Watch and Jigglypuff. Against Donkey Kong, Mario,
Luigi, and Samus, he can quickly regrab them before they complete bouncing
away, but he must use his grab attack to slow the stale move negation if he
wants to continue indefinitely. Bowser can almost be caught in an infinite
combo the same way, but King Dedede must move forward slightly if he wants to
do that.

King Dedede really only has one good special so let's cover the others first.
His Inhale is pretty much the same thing as Kirby's except it's slower,
stronger, and can't take powers. Of course, since it can't steal powers,
pressing down does nothing and either A or B eject the foe. Read Kirby's
section for more in depth about this move, but it's generally not that great.
His Jet Hammer seems cool and does big damage, but it's just too slow to be
practical. If his opponent has a broken shield, he can use it by charging to
the point where he starts taking damage by holding the charge too long as a
great KO move, but it's really not even better there than King Dedede's forward
smash. His Super Dedede Jump is pretty interesting; he can direct which way he
moves as he begins his ascent and then follows a set path until he crashes into
the ground, creating stars like Yoshi does with his ground pound. King Dedede
cannot grab a ledge during this either, but he can cancel the move by hitting
down on either the control stick or the c-stick which lets him directionally
influence and grab ledges. If he cancels too low to the ground, he'll suffer a
funny but highly disadvantageous animation as he struggles to get up.

Waddle Dee Toss is really King Dedede's main and best special attack. He
randomly throws Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, and Gordos with a ratio of 35:10:4
respectively. Waddle Dees are a quick projectile that can be used to harass
opponents well; they're like a better version of Peach's turnips as they can't
be caught even if they are attackable. Waddle Doos are pretty much the same as
Waddle Dees, but when they wander on the ground, they occasionally shoot
lasers. Gordos simply fly off the screen after being thrown, but they do much
better damage and knock back than the other two. King Dedede can only have two
minions on the screen at once, and they can be eaten by his or Kirby's Inhale
or Wario's Bite. He can rethrow ones on the ground even if they once belonged
to an enemy as well. Generally, they are just a wonderful space controlling
projectile; use them as such.

King Dedede cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he has four midair
jumps. His roll is quick and useful, but his spot dodge is simply average.

King Dedede largely does well against other heavy characters due to his ability
to more easily grab combo and projectile spam them as well as survive to high
percentages with his great weight and recovery. On the other end of the
spectrum, characters with serious priority problems like Sonic may find Dedede
a bit tough to handle. However, most very quick characters and characters with
great aerial control such as Wario will be able to outmaneuver King Dedede and
generally make the game hard for him.

Olimar

Olimar is a very misunderstood character. Notably, he's far less unusual and
hard to master than everyone thinks. His big claim to fame is that he uses his
Pikmin to do all of his smashes, grabs, and special moves as well as his
aerials other than the neutral air. Olimar can have up to six Pikmin following
him at once, and each color has different properties. Red Pikmin are fire
Pikmin, and yellow Pikmin are electric Pikmin. Each have some resistance to
attacks of those elements but are mostly normal. White Pikmin are poison and do
more damage when they are latched onto foes, but they have poor vitality. Blue
Pikmin tend to have greater range on attacks and are the only Pikmin not
automatically killed when submerged in water. Purple Pikmin do more damage and
knock back with worse range. This may seem bizarre, but the fact of the matter
is that Olimar can pluck Pikmin so quickly that he should never, ever run out.
Adding to the nature of this is the fact that Pikmin are invincible when
closely following Olimar and not being used in attacks. Of course, mastering
the Pikmin and carefully selecting colors will be of great use to a master
Olimar player, but it isn't really that big of a deal if Olimar players don't
worry about which Pikmin they are using and just take advantage of Olimar's
small size combined with his incredible range and power that make him such a
potent character.

Olimar's tilts are all quick but weak attacks that don't utilize the Pikmin.
His down tilt is a short range quick move that very nicely pops opponents up
into the air. Olimar is very powerful in the air so this move should be used
frequently to work with that. His forward tilt is a quick move to knock
opponents away, but due to Olimar's wide range of better options, it shouldn't
see much play. His up tilt is a somewhat decent damage racking move that pops
opponents up into the air; Olimar can exploit this for decent profit though his
excellent up smash tends to outshine it. His jab combo and running attack also
don't use Pikmin and both are pretty average, but his running attack at least
pops opponents up into the air. However, his smashes do use Pikmin, and that's
where things get interesting. His forward smash just causes him to hurl a
Pikmin a set distance ahead of him depending on color. It's not particularly
powerful and is pretty slow, but the ridiculously huge range makes it a viable
and useful move for Olimar, especially when used with blue Pikmin. His up smash
is a quick Pikmin toss upward which does good damage, sets up for aerials, and
can kill at higher percentages. Use the up smash frequently. His down smash
sends his next Pikmin in line forward along the ground and the one after that
behind him; it's a useful move if the opponent is unpredictably moving around
and has good power; also use it frequently. However, with the down and forward
smashes, take caution. These can cause Pikmin to be hurled to an early end if
used near a pit.

Olimar's power on the ground was nice, but his aerials are just top notch. His
neutral aerial is a fairly decent damage racking move that hits all around him,
but it's not a Pikmin using move so it has poor range and generally isn't all
that great. Olimar's forward aerial, on the other hand, is a quick swing with a
Pikmin that does great damage with really good priority. His back aerial is
also a quick swing with a Pikmin that does great damage with really good
priority. Both swings are about a Pikmin's length wide regardless of color so
they are especially effective with the powerful purple Pikmin. His down aerial
is also a short range swing like his forward and back aerials, but it swings
straight down and is a very effective spike; it's a great way to abuse
opponents over ledges. His up aerial is more of a damage racking move with less
KO power than his other aerials even when used with a purple Pikmin, but being
a Pikmin move, it still has pretty good range and great priority. It's not one
of his better aerials, but when chasing opponents upward, sometimes it is the
only viable option, and the damage return is nothing to snuff at.

Olimar's grab game is incredible. His throws aren't anything special, but his
grab is just a Pikmin toss that pulls them in. It has the speed of a standard
grab with the range of a tether grab; it's all around spectacular and gives
Olimar a great out of shield game. The range is especially good with blue
Pikmin, and with those long range grabs he can use his down throw to set up for
aerials. Blue Pikmin also do more damage than other Pikmin with throws; they're
really a great choice even at high percentages when you are looking for a kill
with a back throw. I really can't stress enough how much this helps Olimar and
opens doors to him. He should use his shield more liberally than other
characters, and even if his opponents try to pull back after hitting his shield
with an aerial, he can still get a grab in. Even if his grab misses, it is fast
so it's safe. Olimar can and should use his up smash out of his shield as well;
given the way most opponents tower over him, he'll have a pretty easy time
hitting with it.

Olimar's specials all revolve around utilizing the Pikmin in unique ways. His
Pikmin Pluck is his source of new Pikmin and should generally be used at any
safe moment on the ground to get him right back up to six Pikmin. His Pikmin
Throw is a somewhat useful projectile that causes his next Pikmin in line to be
thrown. If it is a color other than purple, it will latch onto opponents upon
contact and cause residual damage until killed or knocked off. The damage is
much greater if the Pikmin is white; white Pikmin should be thrown liberally.
Purple Pikmin simply do fairly poor knock back when thrown, but they are the
only ones that cause the opponent to stagger on hit so this is still useful to
clear off ledges as Olimar goes for his dangerous recovery. Olimar's Pikmin
Order simply summons his Pikmin to him. The first time it is used in a match,
it arranges his Pikmin in the order red, yellow, blue, white, and purple. Each
subsequent use it queues the type of Pikmin that was last in front to the back
while retaining the previous order otherwise. If Olimar does not have any of
the type of Pikmin that are next to be in front when he uses it, the next color
in the new queue is taken as the front color and he can skip ahead in the
rotation. Dying or using Pikmin Order when Olimar has no Pikmin does not affect
the order. This causes all Pikmin to leap in line, grants short invincibility,
and can be used in the air so it's very handy while recovering to summon your
allies together.

Olimar's Pikmin Chain is his unfortunately poor recovery move. It's a tether
recovery which strings all of his closely following Pikmin together to reach
for the ledge, but even though it's just a tether, it leaves Olimar helpless
after use. If the opponent is on the ledge when he uses this move, he can knock
them off but won't be able to grab the ledge anyway which causes Olimar to die
in most cases. The danger here means that Olimar should quickly attempt to
recover before his opponent can prepare any defense; if he rushes for the
ledge, he can frequently save himself from a horrible death. If he is being
edge hogged and can't make it to solid ground, he shouldn't give up hope. He
can use Pikmin Order to cycle Pikmin until a purple is next and then should use
Pikmin Throw to knock opponents off the ledge, allowing him to latch on with
his remaining five Pikmin in Pikmin Chain. If he does not have any purple
Pikmin, he will be forced to rely on his forward aerial which probably will not
work as he very well may not be able to reach, but he should at least try
something. Pikmin Chain does not alter the order of Olimar's Pikmin following
him since it uses every Pikmin. It can also be used as an attack on the ground
for its great reach, but it's slow and weak so it should be used sparingly.

Olimar cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair jump.
His roll is fairly slow, but he has an average spot dodge. Olimar spawns with
three random Pikmin on his first stock or in Sudden Death, but after respawning
from a death, he will have no Pikmin. Each Pikmin has its own properties as
described in fair detail earlier and a short independent amount of HP which
determines how long it can survive. Blue and purple have the most, red and
yellow have a medium amount, and white have the least. Overall, blue Pikmin are
probably the best Pikmin, but all of them are useful.

Olimar does well against most characters, but he does especially well against
characters who typically rely on being able to avoid shield grabs such as Mr.
Game & Watch, Wario, and Jigglypuff. On the other hand, he will have the most
trouble against characters with great reach such as Marth or characters like
Pikachu who can take the fight up into the air and quickly murder most of his
Pikmin. Unfortunately, despite what that scene in The Subspace Emissary would
suggest, Captain Falcon has no special Pikmin murdering skills and is actually
one of the easiest opponents for Olimar.

Fox

Fox is the character who has always insisted upon being good. Notably, of the
twelve characters who originally appeared in the original Super Smash Brothers,
Fox is the only one who has been clearly above average in all three games.
Super Smash Brothers Melee fans will especially recognize the overwhelming
dominance of Fox as he was the best character in the game there. He's not the
best character in the game anymore, but he's still very good as he has high
speed in both attacking and mobility, a projectile reflecting move that's also
one of the fastest techniques in the game, a good projectile in his laser, and
really great vertical killing power. If it sounds like Fox doesn't really have
any downsides, it sounds right. He's pretty much just all around good. He is
one of the game's lighter characters, but that is seriously almost completely
unimportant.

Fox's attacks on the ground are all around solid. His up tilt is his best tilt
as it pops enemies nicely up into the air close to Fox. The down tilt also
knocks enemies into the air, but it also sends enemies away from Fox a bit too
much to be useful. His forward tilt is a pretty standard quick knock away move
that he won't be using much at all thanks to his great reflector. His smashes,
on the other hand, are all great kill moves. His up smash in particular is just
beastly; it's both quick and extremely powerful and will score Fox many, many
star KOs. His forward smash is also a good quick killer, and his down smash not
only clears foes out but has KO potential. He has a fairly quick running attack
and jab combo, but given his other great options, he shouldn't use either very
much.

Fox is one of those characters who is blessed with five good aerials. His
forward air is a multiple hitting combo that is really incredible for racking
up damage; against low percent foes, it's Fox's best option for transforming
them into high percent foes. Fox's back aerial, on the other hand, is insanely
fast with good knock back. Fox can do a short hop back aerial, land, and then
follow up with another short hop back aerial in quick succession to apply
really great pressure. His up aerial is a great move for star KOs; a clean hit
has incredible knock back. The move, like pretty much everything Fox has, is
also quick so it's even a safe move to throw out. Fox's down aerial seems bad
at first as just a weak drill, but like his forward aerial, it's a very quick
move. It is easier to hit grounded opponents with than the forward aerial so
it's the damage racking move of choice there. It's also a classic Fox tactic to
follow up his drill with his Reflector to keep up a constant flurry of
pressure. This isn't as effective in Brawl as it was in past games, but it's
still a good trick to try. The drill also weakly sends opponents downward in
the air so it can be used to get surprise kills off the bottom, but it's not
particularly good for that. Fox's neutral aerial is a pretty average safety
move at first glance, but it has classic Fox speed and especially low landing
lag even for Fox. This is the aerial of choice if Fox wishes to leap in with an
aerial and immediately follow up with an attack after he lands. That's a very
dangerous game to be playing, and Fox is very good at it.

Fox's grab game is merely average with him not having anything particularly
great out of it, but his up throw is probably his generally best attempt as it
sends enemies straight up to be ready to take a hit from Fox's up aerial. Fox
should also be up smashing out of his shield a lot; his up smash is too good to
waste.

Fox gains a lot from his specials in both recovery options, melee combat
options, and projectile spamming options. The Fox Illusion is a fairly quick
recovery option for straight horizontal recoveries which makes it adequate for
most scenarios. Fox can even press B partway through the move to prematurely
terminate it to fake out opponents. It may be tempting to try to use this move
frequently as an offensive option, but it has a clear auditory telegraph that
makes it easy to predict and counter. It's great once in a while (as in once or
twice a match) as a surprise, but in general, this move should be used mostly
for recovery. The Fire Fox, on the other hand, should be used pretty much
entirely for recovery and even then fairly rarely. It's a solid recovery move
even if a bit slow, but the fact that the Fox Illusion exists means Fire Fox is
limited to the cases in which Fox finds himself below the stage or needs to
slow down his recovery to elude an edge guard. On the stage, Fire Fox is slow
and predictable so it shouldn't be used offensively, but if you must, the best
plan is to use it in the air and slam into the ground which gives Fox a large
bounce effect that can make him somewhat difficult to punish.

Fox's Blaster is just a quick move that is a source of free damage. He can use
it in either the air or the ground, and he only has to mash B quickly to keep
up a stream of continual linear damage. It has no stun so it should only be
used from a range, but whenever the foe gives you a free shot, take it. Fox
uses this to force the opponent to stay on the offense as sitting back and
playing defensively will only result in Fox firing hundreds of lasers. Fox's
Reflector is his pride and joy of a special, and it's so beloved by the
competitive community that it has a special nickname, the shine. His Reflector
can reflect projectiles, and if the opponent dares spam projectiles at Fox, he
can use it to counter them very efficiently. While his Reflector is in the
reflecting animation, he can even do anything he can do out of a shield. That
means he can instantly cancel his Reflector for no lag into a grab, roll, spot
dodge, or jump as long as he times it just as a projectile hits. The Reflector
can also be used in the air to greatly slow Fox's descent which makes him
highly unpredictable and can be a stalling tactic against a foe with a
dangerous temporary advantage or just a trick to turn Fox around as he can turn
freely as long as the Reflector is up. It's also a great attack that comes out
very, very quickly (it was 4 frames in Super Smash Brothers Melee, and I think
but am not sure that it's the same in this game) and knocks opponents at a
downward angle which means he can use it to spike opponents. Do note that the
move recovers faster in the air than on the ground; try to use this move after
a short hop. Really, this is probably Fox's most important offensive move.
Abuse it constantly.

Fox can wall jump, but he cannot wall cling or crawl. He has only one midair
jump, a slightly below average roll, and a good spot dodge.

Fox's myriad advantages make him a dangerous foe to any opponent, and his lack
of real weaknesses means that he can only find himself at a disadvantage
against opponents who simply have more advantages. Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, and
Olimar have a combination of range and priority that could cause Fox some
issues, but he has his own tools to deal with them so they are at worst soft
counters. Fox can look forward to having strong advantages against the slower
characters such as Bowser as well as the projectile abusing characters such as
Pit, and even if his opponent is someone like Luigi against whom he has no
special favor, he's still a scary and dangerous foe as he has some many great,
threatening options. Fox is here to stay, and he's likely to continue to be a
force for the rest of the history of the Smash Brothers franchise.

Falco

How to unlock:

-Play 50 brawls.
-Have Falco join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear 100-Man Brawl.

Falco will remind many of you of Fox, but he's quite different from Fox. He has
a lot of spinning moves, and generally his average move is less potent.
However, he makes up for it by having a few moves which are way better than
Fox's versions. So, while Fox is the character with something good in
everything, Falco is the character with a few very good things and then mainly
average things. Falco will especially appeal to you if you like abusing a
linear projectile like your life depended on it; Falco is very good at that.

Falco's tilts are pretty similar to Fox's function wise but with different
practicality. His up tilt pops enemies up still, but it's slower so it's less
useful. He makes up for this with his down tilt not sending enemies at as
extreme of an angle; he can use his down tilt to pop the enemy up for an
aerial. Since his Reflector isn't as quick as Fox's at all, he will actually
find the quick, safe nature of the forward tilt to be handy though it still is
far from one of his staple moves. His up smash is mostly just a weaker version
of Fox's move, and his down smash has pretty much no killing potential. His
forward smash is somewhat unwieldy, but it's a good killing move so Falco will
be making extensive use of it. His running attack is also a decent move to pop
enemies up, but his jab combo is awful and should be avoided.

In the air, Falco has the best of times and the worst of times thanks to his
huge jump off the ground. Falco can chase opponents up better than just about
anyone, but he has trouble applying pressure to the ground because of it. He
can still be technical with low short hops; it just takes effort. His big moves
over Fox are his forward and down aerials. His forward aerial is a spinning
attack that is similar to Sonic's forward aerial. It's a generally harder way
to rack up damage than Fox's forward aerial, but the way it turns Falco himself
into a spinning attack gives it some utility and maneuverability that Fox's
version didn't have. His down aerial racks damage a little worse than Fox's,
but a clean hit from it delivers a very powerful spike. Falco will be using
this a whole lot, especially near ledges, to claim kills. Falco also has a back
aerial that is very quick and can be chained together just like Fox's, and his
up aerial is like Fox's except missing the clean hit requirement in exchange
for a good deal of power. His neutral aerial is actually a big improvement.
It's a spinning attack that racks damage nicely, but it has almost no landing
lag just like Fox's so he can still follow it up with a grounded move just as
he lands.

Falco's grab came has one basic premise, and that's the fact that he has a
chain grab with his down throw. He just does a down throw, runs forward, and
grabs the opponent before he can recover. It won't work on light and floaty or
heavily damaged characters, but it's one of Falco's main big advantages that he
should really be exploiting. Do be sure to mix in grab attacks while chain
throwing since you're limited by the length of the stage. Milk that combo for
every percent it is worth.

Falco's recovery options are overall arguably better than Fox's, but they're a
bit different. His Falco Phantasm is impossible to cancel with B in midair, but
it spikes opponents. This really makes Falco dangerous to edge guard as chasing
him out could very well end with the attacker becoming the fallen. Falco can
even use this to edge guard his foes by jumping out after them and just using
the Falco Phantasm to a ledge. Much like the Fox Illusion, Falco Phantasm is
fairly predictable so don't use it much at all as a standard attack over the
platform. Fire Falco gets much less distance than Fire Fox did so it's even
less useful. It deals more damage with less knock back on contact with enemies,
and the bounce effect when he slams into the ground with it is a bit better.
It's still not worth using save when really needed for recovery.

Falco's Reflector is a thrown object almost like a projectile, but it's not
really a projectile as it can't be reflected. He can't use it to reflect
projectiles well himself since it has that long cool down time, but he can use
it effective as an attack. It comes out quickly and pushes the enemy nicely
away; Falco uses that to keep foes out of his face. Down throw to Reflector is
also a combo against many characters so he has that utility as well. Of course,
keeping foes out is very handy for Falco because of his last special move, the
Blaster. Falco's version of this move is just too good. It fires slower than
Fox's, though still very fast, and it travels such a large distance that it
might as well be infinite. It also stuns enemies, and it does a fine job of it.
Falco should be shooting his Blaster constantly as though it were going out of
style. He can do a short hop and fire two of them to retard aerial approaches,
and on the ground he can just make a wall of interruption that many characters
will be hard pressed to get past. In the air, he can also use his Blaster to
turn around by tapping the control stick slightly right before he fires or by
tapping it more strongly at the very moment he's shooting. That means he can
run away, jump immediately, and then send some fire back to where he used to
be. I'm sure some people think the idea of centering a game style around
constant interruption from a projectile is lame. I might even be one of them.
However, if you are one of those people, don't look for alternate tactics here.
Just don't use Falco.

Falco can wall jump, but he cannot wall cling or crawl. He has one midair jump
and very nice and quick options in both his roll and spot dodge that will let
him play as defensively as possible to keep firing that lovely Blaster.

Being one of the heavy duty projectile characters, Falco will naturally not
like to see Fox, Wolf, Ness, Lucas, or Mr. Game & Watch and will naturally tear
Bowser and friends apart. That aside, Falco is fairly diverse and should do
well against most of the cast, but R.O.B. and Pit are two notable points of
possible trouble as both can recover from Falco's spikes easily, have their own
spam options that can cause Falco trouble, and each have one extra thing that
gives Falco problems. R.O.B.'s down smash will be a real pain for Falco to
overcome, and Pit's Mirror Shield is just a further refutation of Falco's
Blaster strategy.

Wolf

How to unlock:

-Play 450 brawls.
-Have Wolf join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Boss Battles with Fox or Falco.

Wolf is quite the unusual character in how he moves. He tends to lunge around a
lot which makes him quite unpredictable. If you like Fox and Falco's vague feel
but want a character with far less rigid movements, Wolf is the character for </pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
you. He is also quite good with an excellent blend of speed and power that
keeps him a notch above the competition.

Wolf's style is showed nicely by his jab combo which is not just a standard
move to knock the foe away as it also moves Wolf forward a good amount. He has
a fairly good forward tilt that knocks the opponent pretty far, but it doesn't
scale up in damage very well so it is relegated mostly to a pressure move to
force the opponent over the ledge. His up tilt, on the other hand, is a nice
quick move to pop opponents up that he will use frequently. His down tilt
probably won't see a lot of play as it's pretty much just a worse range but
lower hitting version of his forward tilt, but he can use it to poke under
shields. Wolf's forward smash is one of his greatest points of pride; it has
good power and throws him forward to a large degree. Use this move frequently
to punish unsuspecting foes. Wolf's up smash is like a stronger version of his
up tilt. It is slower, but it does more damage and knock back so use it when
you need to pop more vulnerable opponents up. Wolf also has a quick, powerful
down smash that is good for sweeping out rolling opponents or generally anyone
near him. Wolf also has a really interesting and useful running attack; it
stops him and pops the opponents right up so he can run in, send his foes into
the air, and then immediately chase with an aerial of his own.

Much like Fox and Falco, Wolf has a very quick back aerial he should use
frequently. He can do a short hop, attack with his back aerial, and then land
in time to be able to jump right back up and continue. Wolf's forward and up
aerial both send the opponents straight up fairly weakly, but both are good to
quickly keep the opponent up so Wolf can juggle them. At over 150%, the forward
aerial also gets some KO power so that's handy. Wolf's neutral aerial is a
quick safety move that doubles as a solid damage dealer; Wolf can use it when
he's being chased into the air to turn the tides quickly. Wolf's down aerial is
a fairly slow spike that he won't be using very much, but if he catches the foe
unaware over a pit, he has this tool to end it quickly.

Wolf's main two throws are his up and down throws, and both are pretty handy.
His up throw simply sends the opponent straight up; it should be used to set up
for Wolf's generally good juggling game. Wolf's down throw is an odd move that
pushes the opponents into the ground; he can really exploit this near ledges to
place opponents in a dangerous position, and he can try to follow up a down
throw with a running grab for a semi-chain throw that will probably only last
for a few tosses but is a good thing to try. Wolf also has a very quick attack
against grabbed opponents; be sure to use it frequently to score that little
bit of extra damage. Wolf's up smash is also a solid choice out of his shield;
it allows him to continue working toward his excellent juggle game.

Wolf's specials are very similar to Fox and Falco's, but the differences are
important. His Wolf Flash is his main recovery tool, but it has even less
utility on the ground than the Fox Illusion and Falco Phantasm due to the
upward angle. It does have a spike in it just like Falco's move so he should
try to exploit that, and much as with Falco's move, he can only cancel it with
B from the ground. His Fire Wolf, which amazingly has no fire effect, is
actually a nice improvement over team Star Fox's version as it comes out much
faster, gets good distance, and has a very quick bounce when it hits the
ground. Don't feel bad about using this frequently as a recovery option over
the Wolf Flash; it's a solid choice. His Reflector is very similar to Fox's,
and he has most of the same tricks out of it. The only differences are that it
has a bigger hit area, does not knock foes downward, and does not stall Wolf in
the air. He should still use it frequently for quick damage.

Wolf's Blaster is used in much the same was as Falco's Blaster; it's an
excellent move to keep opponents locked down, to control space, and to
generally force the opponent to come to you. However, Wolf's Blaster has
limited range and does more damage closer to him so Wolf will want to position
himself closer to his foe. It even has a hit as he swings the actual gun. While
Falco used his Blaster mostly to stall, Wolf uses his to move in, force
approaches, and then punish mistakes with his forward smash or juggling
abilities.

Wolf can wall jump but not wall cling or crawl. Wolf has but one midair jump,
an average roll, and a very quick spot dodge that he should abuse frequently.

Wolf's matches are largely similar to Fox's in terms of who he does well
against, but the way he lunges forward and can stun with projectiles will make
him a better match against a well ranged foe such as Marth. At the same time,
the generally greater commitment his attacks entail will give him trouble
against Fox himself no matter how much he can't let Star Fox do that. Other
very quick attackers such as Meta Knight and Sonic will also likely be
proficient at messing up Wolf's game.

Captain Falcon

How to unlock:

-Play 70 brawls.
-Have Captain Falcon join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic on Normal or higher in under 12 minutes.

Before the fight has even started, Captain Falcon has already won the contest
to be the most awesome and manly character not only in Super Smash Brothers
Brawl but most likely in the entire world. Being contented with his victory
there, he must not have concerned himself too much with actually winning
standard fights as he is quite bad at that. Captain Falcon's super fast
movements are canceled by long delays after his attacks, and the extreme
tightness of his motions just doesn't work very well for him in the floaty
world that is Super Smash Brothers Brawl. He's really a very weak character who
will require extreme dedication to play decently, but at the very least, he's
still super cool.

Captain Falcon has nice tilts; he can get a lot of use out of them. His up tilt
is a fairly slow kick that sweeps over his head and has a good deal of power;
it's a quick way to score kills on highly wounded foes and generally sends
opponents far. His forward tilt knocks opponents away in a generally
uninteresting way, but his down tilt is a very weak move that pops the
opponents upward. This is actually just what Captain Falcon needs; he can leap
after his opponents and attempt to connect with his knee. Captain Falcon has
powerful but fairly standard options in all of his smashes as well. His forward
smash is slow but a good kill move, his up smash is slow but a good damage
dealer and way to knock foes into the air, and his down smash is almost quick
but mostly just useful to sweep out rolling opponents. He also has a really
terrible jab combo and a fairly average running attack; don't use either very
often.

Captain Falcon's air game is largely centered around his knee. The knee is his
forward aerial, and it stands out for having a very powerful sweet spot. It's
very hard to hit with, but Captain Falcon players absolutely must be adept at
hitting with it. He should do this out of a short hop at opponents who he has
knocked upward a small distance in the air, and it serves as one of his primary
sources of kills. After scoring a fatal hit with this move, it is imperative
that Captain Falcon do his down taunt. It may seem useless, but it helps him
establish his manly aura on the battlefield. Captain Falcon also has a very
good back aerial that he can throw out. It's quick and strong and can transform
into his main aerial attack if the knee isn't working out which it often will
not. Captain Falcon also has a good up aerial that hits all around him and can
score star KOs at higher percentages; use it whenever you find yourself beneath
an opponent. His neutral aerial really isn't very good, and his down aerial is
pretty much just a standard slow spike with limited use.

Captain Falcon should pretty much always down throw out of a grab so he can
attempt to follow it up with a knee. That's about all there is to say for his
out of shield game.

Captain Falcon's specials look amazing, but they aren't really very good for
the most part. His Falcon Punch is very powerful and can be reversed by tapping
and holding the opposite direction as he uses it, but it's not very useful in
general. If he does manage to get a hit, it's absolutely mandatory that he use
his down taunt afterward, but that's about all there is to say about it. Falcon
Kick is pretty much useless save as a rare surprise attack on the ground; it's
nothing but a suicide attack in the air. Falcon Dive causes Captain Falcon to
latch onto foes, explode, and proclaim "Yes!". Interpreting this is an exercise
left up to the reader, but as per using it, it's a very unsafe move so it's
pretty much strictly limited to recovery. Raptor Boost pops opponents up nicely
and can be a pretty nice way to move in and get some action going, but it
should not be used all that often since it's fairly predictable. It's also a
bad option near ledges; Captain Falcon will happily lunge out to his own death.

Captain Falcon can wall jump but not wall cling or crawl. He has only one
midair jump, a somewhat quick roll, and a somewhat slow spot dodge. His
amazingly awesome down taunt finishes faster and can be used more frequently if
he is facing to the left while doing it.

Captain Falcon will find most opponents difficult, but small targets who can
quickly harass him such as Pikachu and Olimar will especially decimate him. On
the other side of the coin, big slow opponents such as Bowser and Donkey Kong
are just big knee targets; Captain Falcon should do well there. Captain Falcon
may be a generally poor fighter, but he at least looks awesome doing it.

Pikachu

Pikachu has had a rough ride through the series. He was the best character in
the game in the first Super Smash Brothers, but he was pretty awful in the
sequel Super Smash Brothers Melee. So where does that leave him in this game?
Well, he gained a lot back he lost and has some more cool stuff to boot. He
can't hope to claim the title of best character in this game by any means, but
he has a desirable combination of quick movements, small size, and great power
that make him a great force.

Pikachu has three very good and powerful smashes. His up smash has decent power
and sets up nicely for Thunder, his forward smash is an amazing and long range
killer, and his down smash is just crazy. His down smash racks up massive
damage, can kill, tends to hit through shields, and sets up for Thunder. It's
even quick so he can do it soon after landing from an aerial to cause massive
damage. Pikachu also has a nice and quick up tilt which pops the enemy up into
the air and sets them up for Thunder. The forward tilt and down tilt just knock
the enemies away and aren't too useful, but his jab combo is ridiculously fast
and racks up damage very nicely. His running attack is bad; don't use it.

Pikachu has a pretty nice array of aerials he mostly uses to rack up damage; it
compliments his very fatal ground game nicely. His back aerial just racks up
damage very nicely; he should use it to say no to opponents that dare approach
from behind. His forward aerial doesn't rack damage quite as well, but it has a
bit more priority and some knock back so it's a safer option. His down aerial
isn't quite as useful, but if he hits the ground during it, he sends out a
second shock wave so it's a great way to rack up damage on grounded opponents.
Pikachu's up aerial is just a very quick but safe move that should only be used
when you need the safety, and his neutral aerial is a slower but more reliable
version of the same concept.

Pikachu's grab game mostly centers around hitting opponents into Thunder, and
to that end, his up throw is king. His ability to up smash out of his shield
will also set up for Thunder. His down throw on low percent opponents can also
sometimes become a chain throw so it might be worth the effort to try that. His
back throw is also an easy killer on stages with walk off ledges, but otherwise
stick to the up and down throws.

Pikachu has some pretty useful specials that really help him out. Well, his
Headbutt is useless; don't use it ever. Thunder Jolt is a decent projectile
that Pikachu should throw out to control space along the ground and force
opponents to approach from the air. Pikachu can also use this like Mario uses
his fireballs by throwing it out and chasing it to make his approaches more
powerful. Quick Attack is a great recovery move that Pikachu players must
practice with. Pikachu can tap another direction after the first jump to do a
second one, but he must move at a sufficiently far angle from his first
movement to get the boost. The minimum is 38 degrees if you were curious.
Thunder is also amazing; it's powerful and fairly safe due to how it protects
Pikachu. It can hit opponents above him with ease, and he can jump out of the
way by using it while moving to create barriers in front of him. He can combo
into it with a number of things, and this is one of his most important tactics,
but the specifics have already been covered in great detail.

Pikachu can wall jump and crawl but not wall cling. He is sufficiently short to
duck under Pit's arrows and Samus's stuff easily, but he can only duck under
Falco's lasers while not moving which makes crawling under them tricky but
possible. Pikachu has only one midair jump and very average options in his roll
and spot dodge.

Pikachu's comboing ability makes him very dangerous in general, but speed
characters will especially find their main edge stolen away. Expect Pikachu to
do well against team Star Fox and Sonic. Pikachu's electric attacks fry most
colors of Pikmin very easily so he's a dangerous match for Olimar as well.
However, Pikachu has really serious issues against Ness, Lucas, and Mr. Game &
Watch due to their total ability to absorb Thunder and Thunder Jolt. They rob
Pikachu of a lot of his most important options, and that's just a big problem
for him.

Pokemon Trainer

Pokemon Trainer is interesting insofar as he is simultaneously three characters
and one. By clicking on the portraits, a player can choose to start with any of
the three Pokemon or can choose Pokemon Trainer himself to start with a random
Pokemon. Pokemon Trainer can use Pokemon Switch at any time to cycle to his
next Pokemon in the order Squirtle then Ivysaur then Charizard. If a Pokemon
falls in battle, he will automatically switch to the next Pokemon on respawn.
Each Pokemon comes out with two minutes of "stamina" which depletes constantly
while the Pokemon is out. An additional second is removed every time a Pokemon
does an attack other than a grab. Once a Pokemon is out of stamina, it does
significantly less damage and knock back but will continue to move at the same
speed. It will droop down low during idle animations to indicate its
exhaustion, and if it is swapped out, it will recover stamina at a rate of two
seconds recovered for every one second out of battle. Since switching Pokemon
forces the game to load the next Pokemon, the time it takes depends on the
loading times and will be shortened if your opponent is using the Pokemon you
are switching to. The general best strategy to take advantage of this is to
decide ahead of time if you want to use two or three Pokemon. If you want to
use just two, lead with the one that comes right after the one you aren't using
in the rotation. For instance, if you aren't using Charizard, lead with
Squirtle. If you are using all three, you should pick the Pokemon Trainer
himself to be unpredictable. Don't switch during battle in general; let the
switches after death take care of you unless you have a good opportunity. Do
try to switch ASAP if you find yourself in battle with a Pokemon you have
decided not to use, but be sure to do it at the safest possible time.

Squirtle

Squirtle is the speedy member of Pokemon Trainer's team, and analyzed as an
independent character, he is probably the best. Squirtle has a high attack
speed and incredible aerial mobility that allow him to press grand offensives,
but he has poor range and priority coupled with what is easily the worst set of
special moves in the entire cast. Still, he's a solid option that almost all
Pokemon Trainer players will want to be using.

Squirtle's ground game pretty much revolves around his upward options. His up
tilt is a quick move that pops opponents up into the air which is very handy
for Squirtle, and his up smash is just a really good kill move that hits all
around him. It isn't terribly fast so it can't be overly abused, but it's still
a really key move to Squirtle that should be always kept in mind. That being
the case, his down smash is nearly useless since his up smash has the clear out
properties to punish rolling foes. His down tilt is a solid damage dealer to
hit under shields, but given the poor range, Squirtle won't be using it much.
His forward tilt is a standard safe move to knock opponents away which is just
occasionally useful like all moves like it, and his forward smash is a somewhat
decent kill move he won't be using much just because of how amazing his up
smash is. His jab combo lunges him forward a decent amount so it's a good
surprise move, and he has a highly abuseable running attack that ends with him
behind a shielding opponent and pops foes into the air. Use the running attack
frequently.

Squirtle's real claim to fame comes in the air. The primary tactic is to short
hop at the opponent, do a forward or back aerial, and then pull back. Squirtle
has the aerial mobility to do this and harass shielding foes. If he gets a hit,
he should press toward them instead of pulling back, land, and leap up to
repeat the assault. Squirtle also has a good up aerial that knocks the
opponents straight up. It won't be scoring any kills until quite high
percentages, but if you can't get in a forward or back aerial, it's a good
option to send the opponent upward to keep them up in the air. Squirtle's
neutral aerial is a good safety move to knock opponents away in the air, but
his down aerial is just mostly bad. It could be useful to try to hit through a
shield if you have committed too much to an attack to pull back, but that's
about it.

Squirtle's most useful throw is his up throw since it pops opponents straight
up, but his down throw can sometimes have the same sort of utility. At higher
percentages his down throw is actually a kill move as well; keep that in mind.
His up smash out of a shield will be ridiculously useful as up smash is his
only real kill move; he should abuse that whenever appropriate.

Squirtle's special moves are nearly useless. His Water Gun is just like Mario's
Fludd, and it's about as useful. He can charge it whenever he has a spare
moment, but even fully charged, it won't be doing much of anything except
occasionally ruining a Ness or Lucas recovery. Withdraw seems handy at first
since it has surprisingly high priority, but it does almost no damage even on
hit so Squirtle should use the move very seldom. Waterfall is his recovery
option and his best special, but the set path makes it awkward. The long
landing lag also makes it unsafe. Only use Waterfall as an attack if the
opponent makes the mistake of jumping right into the set path; it does rack up
damage nicely.

Squirtle can crawl and wall cling but not wall jump. Of course, he might as
well be able to wall jump since he merely has to cling to the wall for a moment
to be able to leap off of it. Either way, Squirtle sticks very low to the
ground while crawling and can easily crawl under every projectile but a nearly
fully charged Charge Shot from Fox, Falco, Pit, and Samus. Squirtle has only
one midair jump, a quick roll, and a quick spot dodge.

Squirtle's poor range and priority are his biggest problem, and they will prove
a substantial handicap as he attempts to take on foes such as Marth, Mr. Game &
Watch, and Olimar. However, his great aerial control allows him to easily
harass slower foes such as Ganondorf or Donkey Kong. His size and speed
combined also make him more than a match for the projectile spammers such as
Pit and Falco.

Ivysaur

Ivysaur's main use on the Pokemon Trainer's team is to be the Pokemon with good
range, and he does that well. Ivysaur also is decently fast and has great
power. He is in many ways similar to Olimar, and this includes his abysmal
recovery. Ivysaur relies on a bad tether move for his triple jump, and that
tends to leave him doomed over the ledge. Ivysaur is still a really good
Pokemon who is probably Pokemon Trainer's second best Pokemon, but those who
can't resolve themselves to his recovery might prefer Charizard.

Ivysaur's ground options have the nice benefit of all having great range. His
forward tilt is a spinning leaf attack that is quite safe and racks up good
damage if the enemy is in Ivysaur's face so it's a good move to use if the
enemy has managed to penetrate your range. His up tilt sends him up a decent
amount and pops enemies up into the air; he can frequently follow it up with
his great up aerial. His down tilt is a very long range move that knocks
enemies away and pokes under shields; use it for general harassment. His down
smash hits with the range of his down tilt on both sides with a little more
sloth; use it to give a pretty absolute no to anyone daring to roll around you.
His forward smash has some KO potential, but it runs into the same problems
Squirtle's forward smash did. Ivysaur has a ridiculously powerful up smash that
will be his main kill move; abuse it heavily. His running attack also pops
enemies up and can lead into his up aerial, but it has poor range and is easy
to punish so don't use it often. His jab combo is bad due to the commitment,
but the first hit of it is a nice way to get in a quick hit at a range.

Ivysaur is really incredible in the air; he has both amazing killing power and
range depending on his choice of aerials. His back aerial hits over a huge area
behind him, is fast, and has little landing lag. Ivysaur can easily and safely
approach by just doing short hop back aerials over and over. He doesn't even
need to get too close and move in for real attacks; he can just sit at the tip
of his back aerial's range and use it over and over again. His forward aerial
is also a nice range move, but it is slow and awkward so it should only be used
if the opponent has gotten right in front of Ivysaur in the air. The up and
down aerials both have ridiculous power that rivals the up smash and are
incredible KO moves. They hit in their respective directions and should be used
for KOing in the air depending on the orientation of the opponent, but watch
out as they are about as slow as the up smash with substantial landing lag.
Still, both come out a bit faster than the up smash so a short hopped up aerial
can be a substitute option for a KO in the proper circumstance. His neutral
aerial is a safety move that is usually pointless thanks to his great back
aerial, but at very close range and very low to the ground, it can lead into an
air to ground combo.

Ivysaur's grab is slow, but he has really solid range. Both his up and down
throws can lead into his up aerial, and his back throw has KO power. Ivysaur
also has the perpetual threat of up smash out of his shield; a shielding
Ivysaur is at no want for dangerous options.

Ivysaur's special moves of use are essentially projectiles. His Razor Leaf is a
handy projectile that controls space in front of him nicely and will travel
through destructible terrain. He should use it frequently to generally lock
opponents down; it's a wonderful move. Bullet Seed is nearly impossible to hit
with, but it is worth remembering anyway. If Ivysaur can catch the opponent in
Bullet Seed, it does insane damage. The best way to exploit it is to not try to
combo opponents into it but instead just wait. See if you can run under them as
they fall, and if they are foolish enough to come straight down, let loose with
Bullet Seed. Against a skilled opponent this will pretty much never work, but
the mere threat that it could happen means that Ivysaur will never, ever be
attacked from straight above. Vine Whip is useless as an attack and should be
strictly used for recovery though it can be ruined just like Olimar's Pikmin
Chain. Do your best to get onto that ledge ASAP as if the opponent gets on
first, you have no hope of recovery save the remote hope of knocking them off
with a Razor Leaf with time left to recover.

Ivysaur cannot wall jump or wall cling but can crawl. He has the odd property
of being short enough to crouch under Pit's arrows but might sometimes get hit
while crawling due to the way he bobs upward slightly. He can't avoid any other
notable projectiles by crawling. Ivysaur has one midair jump and pretty
ordinary options in his roll and spot dodge.

Ivysaur's range will allow him to easily harass opponents such as Wario and
Sonic, but speedy attackers with more priority such as the Star Fox characters
or Meta Knight will be able to dance around him and punish him more heavily.
Otherwise Ivysaur has generally neutral looking match ups, but it should be
noted that the stage Castle Siege is excellent for him due to the relatively
low ceiling and especially the second area which not only negates his problems
with tether recovery but also lets him abuse his projectile when no other
character can.

Charizard

Squirtle is the aerial specialist for Pokemon Trainer, and Ivysaur is the
ranged specialist? Where does that leave Charizard? Well, he's supposed to be
the team tank. He is much bigger and heavier than the other Pokemon, and his
average power is bigger. However, he doesn't quite measure up in several areas
he seems like he should. He actually has less KO scoring ability than Ivysaur,
and his recovery, while the best of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon, is so slow that
it is below average among the whole cast. Charizard is not really a bad
Pokemon; he has several quick, useful moves as well as a general heavyweight
feel that some players will find desirable. He's probably the most ignorable of
Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon, but he's not really a bad character.

Charizard's one nice thing on the ground is that he has pretty good tilts that
should form the core of his ground game. His up tilt pops the enemy up in a
very quick and useful way; Charizard will rely on this move a lot. His forward
tilt is not terribly strong or dangerous, but it's a very quick and safe move
so he will want to use it a lot anyway. His down tilt is similar to his forward
tilt in application, but it's a bit slower with a chance to hit below a shield.
Charizard's forward smash is as slow as a typical heavyweight smash attack, but
it has great KO power so he can rely on it fairly frequently. His up smash is
more of a damage dealing move, but it hits over a large area so he can use it
to generally deflect enemies that try to approach him from any upward
direction. His down smash is his best smash easily; it is quick and powerful
with a penchant for sending the opponent straight up. His jab combo is a very
ordinary one, and his running attack is yet another move of his that sends the
opponents straight up.

Charizard's aerials are very important to him just because he has so many moves
that send the opponents upward, but he doesn't really have a whole lot of great
stuff here. His best aerial is easily his forward aerial; it's very safe and
quick and generally great for racking up damage. His back aerial is a double
hit move that has a fiery sweet spot on the second hit. It's generally poorly
ranged and weak even when it hits the sweet spot, but be aware that the sweet
spot is there. In general when Charizard needs to protect his back, his
sweeping neutral aerial will be best. It's not exactly quick, but due to the
way he swings in a circle, it's pretty safe. His up aerial is also a quick
move, but like his back aerial, it has poor range and little KO power. It is
what Charizard is forced to rely on as a follow up to a lot of his juggles, but
it's really somewhat lacking which holds Charizard back a lot. His one aerial
with some power is his somewhat slow down aerial. It's a solid spiking move
that, much like Ganondorf's spike, is very handy for popping opponents right up
off the ground. It also has a bit of KO potential, but expect to have to rack
up a lot of damage first.

Charizard doesn't really have much of anything notable in his grab game. His up
throw is yet another option to send opponents upward which is good if you have
nothing else to do, and his short range back throw is a good option if he wants
to dash in and keep up pressure. Don't expect to get a chain grab or anything,
but it's worth a try. Charizard can also kill with his down throw at high
percentages, but don't expect it to come into play often. Charizard's poor grab
game might make up smash out of a shield seem really tantalizing, but it's less
rewarding than it might seem.

Charizard has a set of three special moves of limited but worthwhile merit. His
Flamethrower is a generally poor move, but he can angle it downward near ledges
to cause some trouble. It's pretty much exactly identical to Bowser's move so
that might make its extremely limited merit a bit more apparent. Fly is his
disappointing recovery move, but it actually deals solid damage when it
connects as an attack. Since Charizard has so many options to get the opponent
into the air, he can use Fly to rack up damage up there. However, this should
only be done sparingly and at that in really sure hit situations as Fly is a
very unsafe move. Rock Smash is his best special by far; it is slow but deals
obscene damage with a clean hit. It also has KO power so it's really a suitable
move for opponents at all percentages. The way it works is that it has one big
strong hit in the middle with several weaker hits that fly out in all
directions. A good hit connects with the middle hit and several of the fringe
hits, but at higher percentages, only the middle hit will connect which is a
good thing as it might KO.

Charizard cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but he can glide. Charizard
has two midair jumps, a somewhat slow roll, and a quick spot dodge. Also,
despite what logic would indicate, Charizard has the fastest running speed of
the Pokemon.

Charizard will do well against other big and slow characters due to Rock
Smash's added utility and his added ability to abuse his forward aerial; King
Dedede and Bowser need to be careful. His multitude of fire based attacks make
him more dangerous than most characters to Olimar as well. Quick characters who
can easily outmaneuver him in the air will prove devastating; Meta Knight will
probably be his hardest match.

Lucario

How to unlock:

-Play 100 brawls.
-Have Lucario join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear every level of Target Smash.

Lucario can be a hard character to pin down. He seems to have quick attacks,
but he also seems to have trouble approaching. His aura based attacks seem to
hit way out in front of him, but sometimes they seem like they aren't able to
hit things they should be able to. Sometimes he seems able to get nice, low
percent KOs, but other times he seems to really struggle for kills. Lucario
ultimately plays more like one would expect Regigigas to. He can be really
devastating once he gets it going, but he can have trouble doing that. Lucario
also has the unique position of being the "spiritual successor" to Mewtwo from
Super Smash Brothers Melee; he inherited Mewtwo's solid mobility and generally
awkward feel, but he is, much unlike Mewtwo, able to be somewhat effective.
He's probably just about average as a character, but he has enough good stuff
to be very interesting.

Lucario has a decent array of grounded moves for both combo and KO potential.
His up tilt is a really fantastic move that quickly hits all around his body
while popping the opponent straight up. Use this move very liberally, and keep
in mind that if the opponent is very uninjured, it sometimes combos into
itself. His forward tilt is also a pretty fast move, but it trades useful knock
back and sweeping range for a bit more potential in racking up damage due to
the double hit it has. His down tilt also knocks opponents away quickly, but
it's at a less useful upward angle that Lucario will struggle to use
effectively. His forward smash is a powerful killing move that hits way out in
front of him, but it's somewhat slow and has a very distinctive animation that
makes it quite predictable. His up smash has some KO potential, but it has
really awful range and is generally not a good choice. His down smash is his
safest power option as it sweeps out all around Lucario; rely on it heavily.
Lucario also has a nice dash attack that knocks the opponents upward and a
surprisingly well ranged jab combo.

Lucario's real claim to fame in the air is his unique and dangerous down
aerial. It stalls Lucario in the air as he hits all around his lower side with
it. It racks up damage very well and can send opponents flying in different
directions with fairly decent knock back depending on their orientation with
Lucario. Master using this move for great profit. His up aerial is just a quick
juggling move which he should throw out if he can't get off a better hit on an
opponent he has up in the air, and his neutral aerial is a very laggy "safety"
move he should only throw out if he really needs to knock the opponent away
from him. His forward and back aerials are both fairly quick with decent range
so he can chain them together well while chasing opponents with short hops
across the stage. His back aerial is quicker with a sweet spot right below his
arm, but his forward aerial hits over a bit wider of an area.

Lucario's grab game mostly centers around his amazing up throw. It places the
opponents in the air right above Lucario which makes it all too easy for him to
leap up and follow up with an aerial. His forward and back aerials are also
decent options if you want to get the opponent over the ledge, but both scale
pretty poorly so he can't get kills as easily with them as he would like.

Lucario has pretty much just one good special, and that's Aura Sphere. Aura
Sphere is a very abuseable projectile that gets way stronger as Lucario's
damage increases. He can charge Aura Sphere by simply pressing B, and he can
release it again by pressing B. The sphere is damaging while charging, and he
can cancel the charge partway by shielding, air dodging, or rolling. He doesn't
even need to throw up his shield to roll out of the charge; it is very nice.
Generally Lucario should be trying to send large numbers of Aura Spheres at the
enemy to tie them down and restrict them, and this move will become his staple
tactic if he can't make an approach otherwise. Force Palm is generally just an
awful move; it's very slow and punishable. He does have a somewhat decent grab
attack if he uses it very close to the enemy, but it's mostly not worth it.
Extremespeed does no damage and pretty much is just a non-dangerous but better
range version of Fox's Fire Fox which makes it a mediocre recovery move. It
does have the quirk of causing him to automatically wall cling if he hits a
wall while doing it, but he cannot do another Extremespeed after leaping from
the wall. Double Team is a pretty generic countering move that has surprising
range but otherwise is pretty awful as it's very, very slow and easy to punish.
Use it very sparingly just to keep the enemy guessing.

Lucario can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl. He can crawl under Pit's arrows,
but he cannot crawl under Falco's laser. He has one midair jump, a quick spot
dodge, and a ridiculously large range, high invincibility, fast roll that he
should be abusing very heavily.

Lucario's continual problems with approaches are going to make characters like
Marth and Mr. Game & Watch who were pretty good at keeping foes at bay already
really hard matches for Lucario, and it also means that Lucario is going to be
one of Snake's dream opponents. However, seeing as Lucario can be so effective
once his attack begins, characters who need to get up close and personal to
fight him such as Wario, Jigglypuff, or Sheik might find Lucario a difficult
match.

Jigglypuff

How to unlock:

-Play 350 brawls.
-Have Jigglypuff join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear 20 single player events after clearing The Subspace Emissary.

Jigglypuff is an often misunderstood character. She seems like a joke character
to a lot of new players who are quite apt to make statements about how she's
obviously the worst character in the game. This is simply a wrong outlook;
Jigglypuff is a serious character who is far from the worst character in the
game. She has far more power than it initially seems, and her superb aerial
mobility combined with her five midair jumps lets her apply pressure with a
barrage of aerials in a way no other character can. She does have several
problems that will ultimately doom her to being below average, but she's less
far below than one would think.

Jigglypuff's ground game has two purposes: KOs and set up. Her only really
useful tilt is her up tilt as it pops enemies upward in a nice and quick way;
she can quickly follow this up with up aerials or even Rest if she's bold. Her
forward smash is a great kill move, but it's not a very safe move. Jigglypuff
needs to use her aerial mobility to confound opponents into making incorrect
responses such that Jigglypuff will get an opening to use this smash as a
finisher. Her up smash is like the middle ground between her up tilt and
forward smash. It has some of the safety and upward set up potential of the up
tilt, and it has some of the KO power of the forward smash. Use it when that
middle ground is desirable. She also has a decent running attack that should be
mixed in once in a while as a surprise move. Jigglypuff's constant jumping
tends to set a baseline expectation about what she will do next so just running
right at the foe with an attack can be very surprising and effective. None of
her other ground attacks are really worth mentioning; all of them are just
"safety" moves she uses to knock opponents away and earn some breathing room.

Jigglypuff's aerial game is really the only reason anyone should use her. Her
forward and back aerials are the jewels of her aerial game; they have both
solid power and great speed. Jigglypuff has two main tactics that stem from
these moves; she can "push" forward to lead opponents off the edge or "pull"
backward to make the attacks ridiculously safe. The "push" tactic stems from
hitting the opponent with either aerial, jumping again immediately after the
hit, and then moving straight at the opponent to hit with another aerial. If
she is quick and precise, Jigglypuff can connect with many aerials in a row and
potentially even combo the opponent right into the blast zone. However, this
can be risky as, if the opponent blocks Jigglypuff's assault, she can be
punished. Her "pull" tactic is just throwing out one of these two aerials, most
likely hitting a shield, and then jumping again while immediately moving
directly away from the opponent. She should usually land after doing this right
before she repeats it again so she can retain all five jumps. This lets her
easily wear down shields, and it ensures that she will at all times have
control over the match. It does require solid timing and spacing to make
Jigglypuff truly unpunishable, but it's still a great tactic. As per
Jigglypuff's other aerials, her up aerial is great for juggling opponents
straight above her and should be used heavily, but her other two are more
limited. Her neutral aerial has a lot of recovery time when used in the air so
it's really only good as a move to knock opponents away as quickly as possible
without concern about being able to follow up. Her down aerial is just all
around poor; it racks up some damage but leaves Jigglypuff vulnerable.

Jigglypuff's grab game centers around her down throw and back throw. Her back
throw is a high percent killer and can also be useful to put opponents over the
ledge which is exactly where Jigglypuff wants them. Her down throw is pretty
similar to her up throw which could be used as a substitute, but the down throw
is slightly weaker knock back wise so it is preferred. Jigglypuff is just
knocking the enemy up into the air where she can harass them with up aerials.

Jigglypuff only has one good special, but new Jigglypuff players sometimes
think otherwise. Rollout is flashy and fun, but it really is a pretty bad move.
Jigglypuff can charge it a bit to make it a powerful attack, but it leaves her
ridiculously vulnerable. It can occasionally be useful when the opponent has so
few options that Jigglypuff can pull this off, but for the most part,
Jigglypuff can just forget this move. Speaking of forgetting moves, Jigglypuff
players should just forget Sing. It is just about the least safe move in the
game, and it doesn't even offer a huge reward for a hit. The only nice part is
that Jigglypuff can cancel Sing by hitting a ledge. Rest is an improvement over
these two as, if Jigglypuff's body is directly on top of the opponent's body as
she uses Rest, she will plant a flower on the enemy's head and send him
straight up with great force. It tends to kill at around 50% which is a little
too high for how dangerous the move is, but if Jigglypuff has a chance to hit
with a fatal Rest, she should definitely take it.

That just leaves Pound which is easily Jigglypuff's least inspiring special
move. I guess it's fitting that a move so uninspiring would be a staple move in
Jigglypuff's game. Pound just smacks opponents straight up a fairly weak
distance with a hit, but Jigglypuff's way of reeling back and then quickly
pushing forward makes it unusually hard to punish and a great mix up with her
forward and back aerials due to the different timing needed to counter it.
Pound can also be used repeatedly for recovery, and Jigglypuff can even
influence the direction of Pound by shifting the control stick up or down
during the initial animation of the move. Doing the more useful upward input
lets her perform a rising Pound which, when alternated with her regular jumps,
lets her make spectacular vertical recoveries. Be sure to master this move;
it's an important one.

Jigglypuff cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, but she does have five
midair jumps. Jigglypuff has fairly quick options in both her roll and spot
dodge as well. If Jigglypuff's shield gets broken in battle, she will be
propelled upward helplessly. This is almost always fatal to Jigglypuff, but, if
she hits a ceiling on her way up, she can survive. It should also be noted that
Jigglypuff's statistics are very extreme. She is the game's slowest runner,
lightest character, and slowest faller in terms of both regular and fast
falling speed.

Jigglypuff's extreme lightness combined with her reliance on fairly short
ranged aerials means that she won't like fighting powerhouses such as Ike or
Bowser. On the other hand, her ridiculous floatiness lets her easily bypass any
volume of projectiles, and her amazing aerial control makes her a formidable
opponent to any who would challenge her in the skies. Pit will certainly meet
his match in Jigglypuff, and characters such as Wario, Snake, and Meta Knight
won't like her either.

Marth

How to unlock:

-Play 10 brawls.
-Have Marth join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Classic mode.

Marth is a character that everyone should come to understand well for the sole
reason that he's obviously one of the best character in the game. Marth has
speed, range, and power in a pretty much perfect combination; it's easy to
predict that Marth is going to be one of the characters that everyone will have
to be ready to defeat if there is to be any hope of long term victory. A Marth
player should certainly feel great confidence in his choice for a character;
Marth more than almost all the rest of the characters is a guarantee to
experience many situations of strength and few of weakness. Also, in the
interest of not having to repeat this constantly, I am going to point out now
that almost all of Marth's attacks have a sweet spot right at the tip of his
sword that deals great damage. Always be sure to hit with the tip of his sword;
learning that spacing is pivotal to Marth.

Marth's ground game is mostly centered around his moves that hit over a huge
area. His famous forward smash swings in a huge arc from slightly behind his
head to down to his feet. This move is slow enough to be punished, but, when it
connects with the sweet spot, it kills very easily. Given the huge area this
move hits over, Marth can easily rely on it to score many kills. Marth also has
a sweeping up tilt that covers the entire top half of his body. It usually pops
opponents straight up so it's a great set up for aerials. Marth's down smash
also sweeps around him, but it is more like a typical down smash and just
sweeps around his feet. It's quite quick and dangerous; it will easily prevent
opponents from abusing rolls against Marth. Marth's forward tilt sweeps in the
opposite direction of most of his moves as it travels from his feet up to his
head, but it has the benefit of being very safe and hitting over a large area.
Marth can use this to frustrate opposing approaches very well; abuse it. His
jab combo is mostly just a worse version of his forward tilt, but given that it
is slightly faster than the forward tilt, it still has some use. His down tilt
is just a poke, but it also has great speed. Marth should throw out his down
tilt from time to time to poke under shields. His up smash is mostly outclassed
by his up tilt and up aerial, but a clean hit from it is quite powerful so it
should be used sparingly. His running attack is actually pretty fast too, but
since Marth has all these other great moves, he really shouldn't use it.

Marth may be good on the ground, but he's even better in the air. Marth's
forward aerial is ridiculously fast, cover a large area, has somewhat decent
power, and is quite safe. Marth can do a short hop and follow up with two
forward aerials before landing; Marth will want to abuse this frequently to
rack up large amounts of damage and to chase opponents off the ledge. Marth's
back aerial is slower, but it also has substantial killing power with a sweet
spotted hit so Marth can rely on it as a finisher. Marth's down aerial hits
over his entire lower body, and it is a spike. Marth should use this liberally
when over the ledge for spikes on top of his already great usage just to punish
everyone below him. Marth's up aerial is pretty much the opposite as hit hits
all over Marth's upper body and knocks opponents straight up. Marth can chase
opponents into the skies and get easy juggles with this great move. Lastly,
Marth's neutral aerial is a wonderful safety move that hits on both sides of
him quickly. Marth can't really use it aggressively, but if the opponent gets
too close, this move will send them away and do great damage to boot.

Marth cannot do a whole lot out of his grabs, but his general best attempt is
to do an up throw and follow up with aerials. Marth does have one other very
odd trick that works on Ness and Lucas very well but can be generally effective
on the whole cast. Do a grab and beat up on the opponent until an escape.
Regrab immediately and repeat. He will have to very quickly do a dashing grab
for most character, but he can snag Ness and Lucas without moving so he can
just hold shield and mash attack to do a very long combo on them. It can be
escaped if they use a jump to break out of the grab, but Marth gets a free
aerial out of that which is definitely to his advantage.

Marth's specials mostly just serve to give him even more great sword based
attacks. His Shield Breaker is the ultimate shield punishment move as even
uncharged it will take a full shield down to nearly empty. Marth should throw
this out once in a while to greatly soften the enemy defenses; it's a solid
move. Fully charged it can also be used for recovery, but due to the long
charging time, it is not useful at all in that context. His Dolphin Slash is
his recovery move first, but it's also a good attacking option second. Marth
flies up very quickly and does good damage with Dolphin Slash; use it against
high percentage opponents to get kills or just generally as a surprise move.
Dancing Blade is just a ridiculously good move as it racks up damage very well
and can be used to kill. Marth can hold up or down once the move has started to
do variations on the combo. The first hit is always a red slash, the second hit
can either be an upward blue slash or a red slash, and the third hit can be a
red slash, an upward blue slash, or a downward green thrust. The final hit is
the big one as it's either a potent upward blue slash, a quick red slash, or a
very damaging rain of green downward thrusts. Marth should pretty much always
use the red attacks for his first two moves, and he can mix up between the
slightly faster red third move and the low hitting green third move depending
on situation. The real choice comes with the fourth move. The blue hit should
be used as a finisher, the red hit should be used if Marth needs to terminate
the combo quickly, and the green hit should be used to rack up great damage.
This move also stalls Marth in the air which can be useful and make him </pre><pre id="faqspan-5">
unpredictable; learn to love the Dancing Blade. Marth also has a Counter which
is fairly useful as a surprise move to force the opponent to be more cautious
in attacking, but it's generally not very good.

Marth cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one midair jump.
Marth's roll and spot dodge are completely ordinary as well.

Marth can expect to do well in almost every match for the most part, but he can
expect to be especially potent against opponents with range problems such as
Mario, Wario, or Captain Falcon. Marth does have to fear Toon Link to some
extent; Toon Link is only a slightly less potent swordsman, and Toon Link's
projectiles will give Marth a lot of trouble. It probably seems after this
description that Marth is just ridiculously overpowered and can use nearly his
entire move set to create fluid styles that have the potential to tear apart
nearly any opponent. It seems that way for a very good reason; Marth is just
like that.

Ike

Ike is supposed to be the super slow character with huge power and range, and
he accomplishes that wonderfully. Of course, being an extreme character, Ike
will find himself at extreme advantages and disadvantages more often than most
characters so aspiring Ike players should be ready for a roller coaster ride.
All in all, Ike is probably slightly above average, but due to his skewed
nature, he is going to have uneven matches across the board.

On the ground, Ike's main tool is his really nice jab combo. Simply tapping A
three times causes Ike to send out a nice punch, kick, and slash combination
that racks up damage very well and is surprisingly quick. However, Ike won't be
killing with this so he needs other tools. All of Ike's tilts and smashes have
killing potential so I suggest relying primarily on the two fastest options in
his up tilt and forward tilt. His down tilt can pop them into the air, but it
is too slow to be one of his important moves. In terms of smashes, his up smash
should be the move he generally goes for when he sees an opening as it kills at
ridiculously low percentages and hits over a huge area like all of Ike's
smashes, but it leaves him less vulnerable than the others. His forward smash
should only be used when you see the opponent making a big mistake; it's way
too slow and risky. Seriously, I know the move is cool, but good Ike players
should not use their forward smash very often. As per the down smash, it can
answer those who try to roll around Ike nicely but is quite risky against those
who know what to expect from it so only use it often enough to keep the enemy
on guard for it.

In the air, Ike really boils down to his neutral and back aerials. Ike's
neutral aerial hits in a huge arc covering nearly his entire body which makes
it a very safe option to get them away from you while doing good damage if they
try to come at you from any angle in the air. Ike's back aerial should be his
main aggressive option as it's his fastest move and has solid killing power.
The other three aerials are very strong, but they should be used sparingly as
they are very easy to punish due to a combination of extreme sloth and awkward
swing patterns.

Ike's best throw is easily his down throw. At low percentages it pops the enemy
up into the air which gives Ike a few options to follow up on an attack, and as
the enemy takes damage, it transforms into Ike's best killing throw. Ike's huge
arms make getting grabs easy so use them frequently as tools to rack up damage,
but if you shield a really slow attack, Ike can really profit from using his
beastly up smash out of the shield.

In terms of specials, Ike has a set of four useful but niche moves. Eruption
seems pretty bad at first, and it is bad on the ground save for its general
effectiveness in stopping opponents coming off the ledge. However, in the air,
it shines. The reason is that it has super armor while Ike is doing the
downward swing so Ike can jump at or fall on opponents while doing this move
with complete impunity. This move also hits extremely hard so the opponent
really can't afford to gamble on hitting the narrow timing windows outside of
the super armor; it puts Ike at a complete advantage while above an opponent
which is a situation only Ike is likely to find himself in. Ike's Counter, on
the other hand, is not so handy. Counter can occasionally be used to force an
opponent to prematurely end an attack, but the problem is that it has a
somewhat lengthy animation, and Ike only is actually able to counter-attack
during the middle of it. That means if they attack too quickly Ike can't
retaliate, and they can punish Ike if he misses.

Aether is a favorite move of many new Ike players and with good reason. This
move has super armor for nearly the entire attack which makes Ike nearly
uninterruptible as he recovers. It also allows Ike to fairly safely leap up and
get some free damage on opponents who put themselves in range. However, outside
of recovery, Aether should be used sparingly. It is very hard to interrupt, but
it has a long cool down time after Ike slams into the ground which leaves him
wide open. If they shield Aether, they have a very easy free grab. One last
note about Aether which can be either fun or annoying is that it makes a great
ledge stall. If Ike hits down to drop from the ledge and immediately uses
Aether, his sword will hit all those too close to the ledge, and then he'll
leap up and grab the ledge. If they pull off a well timed edge hog, Ike is
dead, but if Ike finds himself in trouble, this can be a good tactic to fall
back on to give them a chance to mess things up.

Quick Draw is a great move as well, but Ike uses it in an odd way. Quick Draw
lunges Ike forward and, if the enemy is in range, Ike does a fairly slow strike
at them. The secret is to not be in range but just barely outside of range; Ike
uses this to cover ground quickly and can attack immediately out of it with a
move such as his jab combo. Three uncharged Quick Draws cover most of the
length of Final Destination, and charging Quick Draw approximately doubles the
distance it gains. When separated from the foe with Ike, try to carefully
position yourself so Quick Draw can close the distance just right. Quick Draw
is also of some use in recovery, but it leaves Ike helpless so only use it when
you need pure horizontal distance at all costs. One last note is that Quick
Draw stops at the edges of platforms when used on the ground; Ike need not fear
killing himself with this move.

Ike cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and Ike can only jump once in the
air. Ike has a quick roll that covers a fairly large amount of distance so he
can rely on it relatively frequently, and his spot dodge is nothing out of the
ordinary.

All in all, Ike has a lot of interesting tools that give him some unique
advantages. Other characters that rely on range and priority tend to find Ike a
very difficult match; Ike can approach such foes as Mr. Game & Watch, Olimar,
and Marth with confidence. Ike should also find himself in a favorable
situation against other characters who primarily focus on power so Ike would be
a great choice against an opponent such as Donkey Kong, Pikachu, or Ness.
However, Ike has serious trouble with very fast characters such as Sonic or the
Star Fox characters. Ike also has huge problems dealing with characters with
quick, spammable projectiles such as Pit and the Star Fox characters. Notice
the repetition here; Ike will have a very hard match against the Star Fox team.

Ness

How to unlock:

-Play 5 brawls.
-Have Ness join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Reflect 10 projectiles in brawls.

Ness is treated by smash fans much like Earthbound is treated by video game
fans in general. He has a cult following that really loves him, and everyone
else has a great aversity to him. Many players also believe Ness to be totally
outclassed by Lucas, but this is quite false as Ness and Lucas play very
differently from each other. While Lucas is about little more than power, Ness
focuses more on racking up damage and general aerial control though, like
Lucas, he is also very strong. At the end of the day, it's hard to say just how
good Ness is. He seems pretty average, but he has several unique tools that let
him compete with the best.

Ness's ground game is mostly just a lead in to his aerial game. His up tilt is
very quick and effective at popping opponents into the air, and his sweeping up
smash can fulfill a similar role. His down smash is just a rather poor clear
out move around Ness's feet that is nearly totally outclassed his up smash, but
I mention it now as it shares a unique property with the up smash. Both yoyos
can hit opponents while Ness is charging the smash. The up smash starts in
front of Ness, and the down smash starts behind him so by cleverly charging
either of them, Ness can create a barrier between himself and his opponent.
Ness also has a great running attack that racks up damage easily and pops
opponents up into the air; use it frequently while watching out for shield
grabs. Ness's forward smash is a very powerful baseball bat that reflects
projectiles if it strikes them, has deceptively huge range, and has a sweet
spot at the tip. Ness should use this move to secure kills, but it is quite
slow and punishable so Ness must be prudent with it. Ness's down tilt is
ridiculously weak, but it is also ridiculously fast so he can throw out a large
number of down tilts quickly to get in some easy damage. Ness just has to be
careful to stop doing it before he gets punished, but given how fast the move
is, that's solely an issue of player timing. Ness's forward tilt is
surprisingly powerful and fairly quick; Ness can use this to kill very high
percentage foes and otherwise as a safe option to knock the enemy away. Ness's
jab is mostly standard, but Ness has a trick. If his opponent misses a tech,
Ness can jab once, step forward, jab again, and repeat. If executed with
perfect time, this is an inescapable combo that only ends when Ness has led the
opponent off the edge of the stage.

Ness's true power is in the air; he is one of the most dangerous characters up
there. His main finisher in the air and in general is his amazingly powerful
back aerial. This hits all over Ness's body, but will score a very weak hit if
the opponent is not somewhere on the horizontal line with Ness's feet. Ness
also has a great damage dealing forward aerial. It creates fun sparkles in
front of Ness that often entrap opponents, rack up damage, and then push them
just far enough way so that they can't do anything to Ness in retaliation. Ness
uses this to control the space in front of him very effectively, and it has
some use for approaching grounded opponents due to the multiple hits being able
to stab through shields. Just be careful as connecting with the edge of the
range of this move will only hit once or twice weakly and will leave Ness open
to be punished. Ness's up aerial is also pretty powerful, and in general it's
just a great move to use for juggles. Combined with Pk Thunder, Ness can use
his up aerial to keep foes up in the air and taking constant hits for quite a
long time. Ness also has a quick and safe neutral aerial to knock opponents
away, and he has a somewhat slow spike in his down aerial. The hit on this is
exceedingly powerful so it's nearly a sure thing kill over a pit, and the hit
on it sticks out for quite a while after Ness uses it which makes it fairly
dangerous. Still, the move is quite slow so Ness players need to be careful to
regulate the use of it.

Ness's grab game mostly comes down to the fact that his back throw is overall
the best killing throw in the game. Ness should always be mindful of his
ability to score kills this way, but if the opponent is not in killing range,
he should use his other throws to avoid weakening his back throw. His down
throw is best at very low percentages to set the opponent up for a forward
aerial, and his up aerial works better at the middling percentages where he can
try to go for juggles.

Ness's specials give him both great projectile options and great defensive
options. His Pk Fire is slow and punishable, but it racks up damage very well
when it hits and controls space in front of him very well. If should ideally be
used when the opponent is right at the tip of the range of Pk Fire as a
pressure move; the only real response to Pk Fire is to jump at Ness so Ness can
use Pk Fire and then follow up with his forward aerial. Ness can also gain
great profit by shooting Pk Fire at course obstacles or Olimar's Pikmin to
create pillars of fire that inhibit the enemy's movement but not Ness's. Pk
Flash is another move that Ness mostly uses to control space. If the enemy is
approaching from above, Ness can actually profit from throwing out a completely
uncharged Pk Flash to protect his upper body and then rushing to attack
wherever the opponent chose to flee to. Fully charged it can have some use as a
ledge guard, but it is generally pretty ineffective.

Ness's Pk Magnet is a staple defensive move. It can absorb "energy" projectiles
which means that when they hit Ness will heal for the damage they would have
done. The full list of energy projectiles that can happen in a match without
items is as follows: Mario and Luigi's Fireballs, Bowser's Fire Breath, Yoshi's
stars from the Ground Pound, Zelda's Din's Fire, Samus's Charge Shot, Zero Suit
Samus's Paralyzer, Pit's Arrows, Ice Climbers' Blizzard, R.O.B.'s Laser,
Kirby's energy blast from Final Cutter, King Dedede's stars from Super Dedede
Jump, the laser from Waddle Doos thrown by King Dedede, the lasers from Fox,
Falco, and Wolf, Pikachu's Thunder Jolt and Thunder, Charizard's Fire Breath,
Lucario's Aura Sphere and non-grab version of Force Palm, Ness's and Lucas's Pk
Fire, Pk Flash, and projectile version of Pk Thunder, and the lasers fired from
the ships on Corneria, including the main cannons from the Great Fox but not
the recoil they create when they are stood on. If Ness acts while the absorbing
animation is active while he is on the ground, he can do anything he can do out
of a shield out of Pk Magnet. This means he can instantly roll, spot dodge, or
jump which makes it a great move to use while approaching foes such as Pit and
Falco. A final minor note is that Ness's Pk Magnet weakly pushes opponents when
he puts it away. This has no real strategic use but is good to know.

Pk Thunder is Ness's final special, and it is probably the most interesting. It
creates a steerable projectile that Ness can direct wherever he wants. Ness is
helpless while using this for the most part, but opponents who get very close
to Ness will be shocked. The hit from Pk Thunder is mostly weak, but it knocks
opponents upward so Ness can attempt to juggle with it. If it is avoided,
sometimes the tail from the move will hit and do weak damage while not
canceling the Pk Thunder itself. It ends after being out for a set time or
hitting any object, including an opponent. If Ness is in trouble while using
this move, ramming it into the ground is frequently wise. Ness can also hit
himself with this move as a recovery technique and a very powerful killing move
that is roughly equivalent to Jigglypuff's Rest. Using it as an attack can be
very predictable and easy to punish, but fooling the opponent into thinking you
will use the projectile and then striking yourself can be effective. If Ness
wishes to move directly horizontal on the ground, the easiest way is to steer
forward briefly before hooking back behind Ness. Mastering this move is
essential to playing Ness; it is simultaneously his main recovery move, a great
projectile, and a potential KO move.

Ness cannot wall jump, wall cling or crawl, and he has but one midair jump. The
jump follows an unusual path that hooks Ness backward a bit; he can use his in
conjunction with aerial attacks to control space in unusual ways. Ness also has
a very average roll and a quick spot dodge.

Being a light power character, Ness could have some trouble against heavy power
characters such as Ike. On the other hand, Ness's Pk Magnet makes him a
ridiculously good answer to energy projectile spammers such as Pit and Falco.
Ness can also use his generally solid ability to control space to greatly
harass Olimar and to frustrate the quick actions of speed characters such as
Fox and Sonic. Ness, however, needs to really watch out for Marth. Marth can
consistently outrange Ness, dance around Ness's projectiles, and has a really
nasty grab combo on him. Toon Link can be a similar problem. He may not have
the grab combo Marth has, but his projectiles are very difficult to handle and
are not absorbed by Pk Magnet.

Lucas

Lucas stole Ness's thunder when he was thrust into the smash scene, but he
really shouldn't be considered in the same vein as Ness. While Ness chains hits
together with clever aerials to deal potent damage, Lucas is more apt to keep
his feet on the ground and generally centers his game around powerful single
hits. Lucas also has a ton of shenanigans that evolve from his substantially
different version of Pk Fire; he really should be looked at as a completely
separate character who is potent in his own right though probably about
equivalent to Ness in overall ability.

Lucas has some extremely powerful moves on the ground that will be the core of
his game. His up smash is a very slow, ridiculously powerful psychic explosion
that hits a huge area over Lucas's head. This is one of the most powerful
attacks in the game and kills absurdly easily, but Lucas is very easy to punish
if he misses it. His forward smash is also very powerful and can reflect
projectiles like Ness's, but it's far less easy to punish than either Ness's
forward smash or Lucas's up smash so it should be Lucas's main source of KOs.
Lucas's down smash, on the other hand, is slow and one directional with less KO
power than his other smashes; it should be avoided. Lucas has an up tilt that
has a nice double hit and pops the opponent up right above him, and his forward
tilt is a very quick "safety" move that has surprising KO power at higher
percentages. His down tilt is just silly; it has almost no knock back but is
one of the fastest ground attacks in the game so he can spam it until right
before he will be punished at which point he can shield. Lucas also has a
pretty typical jab combo and a rather unsafe running attack whose only virtue
is popping opponents up into the air.

Lucas has some interesting options in the air for racking up damage, but he has
some trouble getting kills up here. His down aerial is a devastating barrage of
psychic blasts beneath Lucas that will probably be his main option for fighting
in the air at close range. His forward aerial is his closest thing to a kill
move in the air; it's a quick single hit that has some decent knock back. Lucas
can use this while approaching and attempt to pursue damaged opponents with
strings of these to secure kills. Lucas's back aerial is, despite how it looks,
a spike. It's really not very good, but if the opponent gets caught over a pit,
it's nice to have. Lucas's neutral aerial is a somewhat slow but rather potent
damage racking move. The range is pretty awful, but if the opponent makes the
mistake of getting too close to Lucas in the air, this is the move to use.
Lucas's up aerial is a fairly powerful upward smack that's great for juggles;
this is what Lucas follows moves like his up tilt up with.

Lucas's grab game is hampered by his slow grab, but once he has ensnared a foe,
he can follow up with either his down throw to attempt to set up a juggle or
his back throw to try to get a kill. Lucas might also consider doing his up
smash out of a shield. It's going to be too slow to punish most things he will
shield, but the surprise factor could let him score some unexpected KOs.

Lucas's specials are pretty easy to compare to Ness's so Ness's section will be
heavily referenced. Pk Freeze is just an awful move that shouldn't be used; it
is very risky and has a very low reward if it hits. Pk Thunder is similar to
Ness's in mechanics, but it does not stop when it hits other players, travels
more slowly, and is able to make sharper turns. Lucas also scores multiple weak
hits when he rams himself into an opponent with Pk Thunder. All in all, Lucas's
version is worse since he cannot use it as a kill move or as an effective
projectile, but as a recovery he can at least benefit from it being harder for
him to die by his Pk Thunder being blocked. Lucas's Pk Magnet, despite what it
might seem, is just a larger version of Ness's and hence completely superior.
It also has a damaging hit when put away as opposed to just a push effect, but
that's again a strict advantage.

Lucas's Pk Fire is where things get interesting for him. It's a single hit that
sends him back a good amount. Lucas can spam this move as an effective
projectile, and he should use it to control space, lock down the opponent, and
generally rack up damage. It can even kill near the edge of walk off ledges.
However, Lucas also has more tricks with Pk Fire. If he does his double jump
and Pk Fire on the exact same frame, he will fly up a huge distance which is
very good for recovery; Lucas actually has the best vertical recovery in the
game if this technique, commonly called "zap jumping", is mastered. Lucas can
also assign special moves to the c-stick and hit back on the c-stick while
holding forward on the control stick to launch himself backward very far while
using this move. Actually any character can do this with any of their specials
that alter their momentum, but with most specials, the effect is so small that
it doesn't matter. Lucas flies ridiculously far so he can use this both to
recover and to attack with complete impunity. Throwing up Pk Magnet in the air
after doing this also extends the distance he gets, but it can be dangerous if
he won't make it back to the ledge.

Lucas cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has one midair jump that
follows the same odd arc that Ness's does. He has a very ordinary roll and spot
dodge as well.

Lucas, much like Ness, will find the heavier slow characters such as Ike and
Bowser to be problems. Ness himself will also be a problem as Lucas's Pk Fire
assaults get negated, and Ness can generally cause him great trouble with the
higher speed. Lucas like Ness can use Pk Magnet to just say no to energy
projectile spam, especially from Pit and Falco. His lack of aerial control
means he has less solid, though still decent, matches against characters such
as Wario and Meta Knight, but at the same time, his power gives him more of an
answer to Toon Link. Marth's nonsense still completely destroys him just like
it destroys Ness, of course.

Mr. Game & Watch

How to unlock:

-Play 250 brawls.
-Have Mr. Game & Watch join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Clear Target Smash on any difficulty level with 30 characters.

Mr. Game & Watch is a character who has been slow to get attention. He is
pretty obscure, and he was pretty awful in Super Smash Brothers Melee. However,
as time goes on, he's causing some heads to turn. The reason is obvious; Mr.
Game & Watch is a shoe in for top tier and, if not the best character in the
game, is in close contention for best. Mr. Game & Watch is very fast and very
powerful, has great range, can easily counter most projectiles, has an amazing
recovery, and has a move that can easily devastate shields. His only semblance
of a weakness is his very light weight, but that really doesn't matter much at
all.

Mr. Game & Watch has a wide array of extremely effective attacks on the ground.
His down smash is the greatest gem here; it is probably the single best killing
move in the game. Mr. Game & Watch hits on both sides of himself very quickly
so this move is very safe and can be used multiple times in quick succession
just in case Mr. Game & Watch misses. It has great reach as Mr. Game & Watch
stretches his arms far for the hammers. If it hits, it either gets a sweet
spotted hit which tends to kill off the top at below 100% or a sideways hit
that is still a really good kill move itself. Don't let this move get worn down
by stale move negation, but rely on it for kills as it's very good at securing
them. His forward smash is also a great killing move even if somewhat less
powerful and safe. The great attribute it has is that it sticks around for a
very long time so opponents who attempt to spot dodge or shield grab it
frequently get hit anyway. His up smash is actually more powerful than even his
down smash, but the hit area is small. It's not something he should use often,
but if the opportunity comes along, he should throw it out. His down tilt is a
faster ground option; he can throw out barrages of this move to poke under
shields and get quick hits. It is especially effective at shutting down the
approaches of the speed characters; Sonic has very few moves that can get past
this. His forward tilt is also a fairly quick hit, but it has substantial lag
after it is used to balance the fact that it has solid knock back. His running
attack is also good as a follow up to his down throw but is otherwise a bit
risky. His up tilt hits all over his head and is good but hard to find a good
use for just because he has so many other good moves. His jab combo is his only
really bad move here; it's completely terrible.

Mr. Game & Watch is actually even better in the air than he is on the ground.
His turtle he calls forth with his back aerial could very well be the single
best move in the game. This is quick and safe, does massive damage, and plows
through shields. It's almost a sure thing to hit through a shield; Mr. Game &
Watch can use this move to approach with utter impunity if his spacing is good.
Use it and abuse it. His forward aerial has substantial lag upon landing so it
must be used carefully, but it's a fairly powerful kill move if it hits right
as it comes out. His down aerial is a very handy key plunge. He hurls himself
downward while stabbing with the key. This move has very high priority so it's
pretty safe if your opponent is attacking from beneath, and Mr. Game & Watch
can directionally influence himself as he plunges. He can land behind shielding
foes with this technique to avoid shield grabs and generally be unpredictable.
This move does have substantial landing lag so be sure to not overuse it. His
neutral aerial is a quick fishbowl that racks up damage above him very well and
should be his go to move when juggling foes. His last aerial is his up aerial
which has a very small hit area with somewhat decent knock back, but the best
thing about it is that it has a push effect upward over a rather huge area
above Mr. Game & Watch. This means he can throw this out to keep enemies in the
air, and since it's not actually hitting, it doesn't grant their jumps back.
It's a great way to reposition them for a more favorable attack later.

Mr. Game & Watch's only remotely good throw is his down throw. With this move
he plants the opponent on the ground right in front of himself. The opponent
can directionally influence the planting to end up behind Mr. Game & Watch, and
the actual planting can be teched. If the opponent tech rolls away from Mr.
Game & Watch and then spot dodges immediately, Mr. Game & Watch gets nothing
out of this throw. However, the timing on this is very hard, and even many
skilled opponents don't see to realize that all of this is possible yet. If the
opponent doesn't tech at all and lands in front of Mr. Game & Watch, he can
follow up with a lot of different moves. The easiest to hit with move here is
his down tilt, but as slow of a move as Oil Panic's release can work. If the
opponent doesn't tech but does roll immediately after being planted on the
ground, Mr. Game & Watch can chase and follow up with another grab. He could
also do this for opponents who just stand right up or do get up attacks, but
it's somewhat harder in that case. If the opponent actually does tech, the best
option is usually to do a running attack or a running grab. If they shield,
they will be grabbed again. If they do literally any non-shielding option that
is not a spot dodge, the running attack will hit them. Mr. Game & Watch can
also use his up smash out of a shield when the opponent is pressing too close
for a nice chance at a low percent kill; it's a useful tactic Mr. Game & Watch
players need to master.

Mr. Game & Watch's specials are a mixed bag. Judgment Hammer is in the bottom
five specials in the game easily; it's truly a worthless move. It seems good
because one of the nine possible numbers is a nearly instant kill move, but
consider the risk reward. Hammers 2-6 are very weak hits that accomplish very
little. The number 7 hammer is also weak, but it spawns some food which seems
handy until you realize that the opponent could grab it almost as easily as Mr.
Game & Watch. The number 8 hammer is more powerful than 2-7, but it is still
very weak compared to how slow Judgment Hammer is. The worst part by far though
is the number 1 hammer. It does 12% damage to Mr. Game & Watch even if he does
not connect with the move, and if he does hit, it does only 1% and fails to
stun which is pretty much a guarantee that the opponent will hit with a very
powerful attack. Judgment Hammer is also a very slow move with mediocre range;
it's very easy to punish Mr. Game & Watch for attempting it. Given that Mr.
Game & Watch has some of the best kill moves in the game in his smashes, why
would a Mr. Game & Watch player ever use this worthless, unreliable move? Chef
is also pretty bad; it's a completely mediocre projectile that should only be
used if the opponent is simply refusing to come near you.

Oil Panic is the first move that makes things interesting. Mr. Game & Watch can
store up to three energy projectiles with this and then return them powered up
to a maximum of 60% in a slow bucket dumping move. Two things make this a
really good move. The first is that the absorb area around Mr. Game & Watch is
ridiculously huge; if a projectile hits anywhere near him while the bucket is
out, he will get it. That means he can really use it to shut down all forms of
energy projectile spam as it is completely reliable. Secondly, the move is
ridiculously strong. Stuff like Zelda's Din's Fire or Ness's Pk Thunder can
actually fully charge the bucket, and when at that power, it kills even at 0%.
Even slightly weaker things such as Pit's arrows produce great power; the only
energy projectiles that aren't going to produce great results are the fire
breaths of Bowser and Charizard. Mr. Game & Watch can even quickly turn around
while the absorption part of this move is out; rely on it heavily in the
appropriate matches to just say no to energy projectiles.

Fire is Mr. Game & Watch's recovery move, and it is truly incredible. It's
invincible on most of its very quick journey up, and then at the peak, Mr. Game
& Watch deploys a parachute which lets him drift slowly downward. He can drift
left and right, and he can cancel the parachute with any aerial attack or
special move. He can also simply tap up or down to put the parachute away. He
cannot air dodge or jump directly out of the parachute, and doing a grab input
will result in an attack. After he has used this move in the air, he cannot do
it again without landing, but he can do anything else he could ordinarily do in
the air, even use his double jump if he still has it. This is a safe move to
use as an attack in nearly all contexts and is especially great to chase
opponents upward. When coming down with the parachute. Mr. Game & Watch should
cleverly vary doing back aerials and down aerials at various points in his
descent to keep his opponent guessing about just when he is going to come down.

Mr. Game & Watch cannot wall jump, wall cling, or crawl, and he has only one
midair jump. He has a fairly slow roll and fairly quick spot dodge, is the
second lightest character in the game, and has a very low crouch despite being
such a human looking character.

Mr. Game & Watch can mostly expect to do well in all matches; the only
opponents to which he must give pause are Marth, Ike, Olimar, and Toon Link
with somewhat of an honorable mention to Link. Marth and Ike are dangerous
because they actually have the range to compete with Mr. Game & Watch, but in
either case, the match is pretty close to even as Mr. Game & Watch also has
huge range and even better priority. Toon Link and his worse version Link are
just obnoxious because really well spaced attacks from the Bow and Boomerang
are really difficult for Mr. Game & Watch to answer due to the way they prevent
his favorite turtle approach. Olimar is probably the worst as his small size
makes hitting him difficult, and his ridiculous range and priority, especially
on grabs, just matches up in all the wrong ways with Mr. Game & Watch. Mr. Game
& Watch still can put up a great fight; his spacing on the turtle just has to
be nearly perfect. He really doesn't need to worry about anyone else, but Mr.
Game & Watch especially enjoys fighting Pit and Sonic. Between Oil Panic and
Mr. Game & Watch's great priority, he totally shuts the two of them down.

Snake

How to unlock:

-Play 130 brawls.
-Have Snake join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Play 15 brawls on the Shadow Moses Island stage.

Snake is a character that doesn't really seem to fit in with the smash
universe, and he exemplifies that in his completely novel fighting style. Snake
has a lot of explosive attacks that are universally very powerful but often
slow and that generally enable him to create the most deadly form of projectile
spam this game has to offer. Snake all around is a ridiculously powerful
character, but his aerial abilities manage to out snail even Ike and Bowser. He
counters this by having tilts with such speed, range, and priority that you
might almost confuse him for Marth. Snake even has multiple advanced techniques
that either only apply to him or matter for him more than they matter for every
other character. Snake's actual quality as a character is somewhat hard to
evaluate. Many see him as a shoe in for top tier, but in some ways he seems
like he might be just awful. The real answer is that it's just too early to say
anything remotely sure about him.

Snake's ground game revolves around his jab combo and tilts. If the opponent
deigns get anywhere near Snake's front, he should unleash his jab combo. This
is fast and has good range, and most of all it racks up loads of damage. If the
opponent ends up in front of Snake at higher percentages, he should instead do
his two hit forward tilt. This is a kill move, and it has just about as much
speed as the jab combo. It also has really ridiculous range that hits way out
in front of Snake's actual animations so don't be discouraged by how
uninspiring the move looks when it doesn't hit. Snake's up tilt is another move
that has a hit area that looks nothing like the actual animation. He hits way
above and in front of himself, and this move also has solid KO potential and
speed. His down tilt is less exceptional, but it's still a handy move to throw
out to poke under shields and pop opponents into the air. Snake's forward smash
is an insanely powerful but slow killing move. It should only be used
sparingly, but it's so dangerous that it's always the best option if it can
connect. Snake also has a great, quick running attack that will end with him on
the other side of the opponent even if his foe shields. He can also cancel it
into his up smash which causes him to do a sliding version of the up smash that
can be quite dangerous and generally hard to punish. His up smash is a mortar
shot upward that can be charged to vary the height and is generally a great
option to control space above Snake; combining it with the dash attack cancel
lets Snake control huge amounts of space. The easiest input to cancel the dash
attack is to use down on the c-stick to do the attack and then up + grab to do
the up smash, but anything works so long as it is early in the dash attack
animation. Be sure to master it as it is quite important.

Snake's aerial game can only be described as lackluster. He has some serious
power up here, but his sloth is pretty unbelievable. His back and up aerials
are quick attacks in those directions that he should mostly rely on in the air,
but the landing lag on the back aerial is pretty large so be sure to be hitting
with the tip of Snake's feet if you are going to have to land while doing it.
His neutral aerial is very powerful with the multiple kicks, but it takes an
eternity to finish in the air so it is a move Snake should use lower to the
ground with the intent of landing during it. It racks up great damage so it's a
good option for Snake to use to mix things up with some short hop aerials.
Snake's down aerial also racks up great damage but has a little more landing
lag; it's best used over the neutral aerial in situations where hitting is
nearly guaranteed. The forward aerial does have a nice spiking sweet spot at
the tip of the foot, but it's pretty ridiculously slow and unsafe so it should
be used very seldom.

Snake's grab game mostly centers around his unique down throw. He simply sets
the opponent on the ground in front of him, and unlike Mr. Game & Watch's
ground planting move, this action cannot be teched or directionally influenced.
The opponent can only do a get up attack, stand up normally, roll left, or roll
right. Snake should do a dashing grab to regrab in the case of either roll, and
he should shield grab in the case of a get up attack or simple standing. Snake
must predict the opponent, but if he is accurate, he can chain his down throw
together many times in a row. Snake also has a solid up throw that can lead
into his up tilt easily so he should use that against very low percent
opponents.

Snake's special moves are all about controlling space. His Nikita missile is a
pretty bad projectile in most cases as it is very slow and easy to punish, but
his ability to steer it gives it niche use. The main trick is to use it to edge
guard or to dislodge extremely well fortified opponents. Be sure when steering
it to try to go in straight lines as much as possible as it flies faster that
way, and remember that it can be canceled at any time by shielding. This also
causes the missile to drop straight down and explode on contact with the
ground. Snake also has mines he can plant with his down smash and down special.
The down smash version is a proximity mine that can be charged to be powered
up. It is pretty slow to plant so Snake can't use it often, but if he's given a
chance, he should plant one just out of range of his forward tilt and jab combo
in front of himself. That will make his opponent's job of doing well spaced
attacks much harder. The down special version is a remote mine that can be
planted very quickly so Snake can try to always have one on the ground, and it
can even be used in the air to create a dropping remote explosive. Snake should
keep these a little farther away than the down smash mines so he will have time
to detonate them, but the same principle applies. They are tools for
controlling space. In the air, Snake can use them to recover by dropping one
and then blasting himself with it; this will give him back his Cipher. Snake
can even stick these on his opponents by using the move very close to them;
that's pretty much a guaranteed solid hit that Snake can easily follow up on by
positioning himself just right before detonating.

Snake's Cipher is his recovery technique, and it's really not too great. Snake
very predictably and slowly ascends a good distance, but the good news is that
he can attack after it. That lets him do a neutral aerial as he is landing for
defensive purposes, and it lets him alternate the Cipher with his down special
mine to make ridiculous recoveries. Snake also can use grenades, and they give
him a lot of options. By either tapping forward, nothing, or back while
throwing a grenade, Snake can vary the distance he throws it, but this is not a
useful way to use them. A better trick is to hit shield while holding a grenade
to drop it on the ground from which it can be picked up as a standard item.
Snake should try to time the throws so they arrive at his opponents just before
they are about to explode, but even if he is too early, he can force flying
grenades to instantly drop to the ground by using his shield to drop a second
grenade. This will knock grenades out of enemy hands even; it's very useful.
Snake should generally always be sending a volley of grenades at the enemy if
he is not being forced to fight in close quarters; they are a solid projectile
that can actually kill.

Snake cannot wall jump or wall cling, but he can crawl. He ducks extremely low
while crawling and can pass under Pit's arrows, Fox and Falco's Blasters, and
Samus's Super Missiles and uncharged Charge Shot. Snake has one midair jump and
completely ordinary options in his roll and spot dodge. All three of Snake's
taunts summon a box that he can stop hiding under early by tapping A, Z, or the
c-stick. As Snake removes the box, it becomes a very weak attack. The opponent
can also strip the box from Snake while he is under it and throw it as a
projectile. This has little practical use, but it exists.

Snake's matches are as hard to predict as his overall quality, but his ability
to create explosions right on top of opponents does have the positive result of
letting him not worry about Fox, Falco, and Wolf's Reflectors like other
characters must. Big and slow characters such as King Dedede and Ike who cannot
easily avoid Snake's nonsense will find him difficult, and characters such as
Wario who must get very close to Snake to attack him will find his close range
game extremely difficult to handle. Snake's only true fear is of characters who
have both the speed to evade him and the range to not be punished by his close
range game. That pretty much means just Toon Link, Olimar, Marth, and Mr. Game
& Watch.

Sonic

How to unlock:

-Play 300 brawls.
-Have Sonic join your party in The Subspace Emissary.
-Accumulate 10 hours of total time in brawls.
-Clear Classic with 10 characters.

Sonic is pretty easy to sum up as he pretty much has only one real strength.
Sonic has insanely high mobility which makes him all around very fast.
Everything else about him is pretty mediocre. He has low power, and his range
and priority can only be described as awful. Even his attacking speed isn't
really all that great, but it's at least average which is good enough to work
with his mobility. All around, Sonic is not really terrible, but his extreme
nature means that his matchups are extreme. Against some characters he can do
really well, but against others there is just about nothing he can do. All
around he seems somewhat average, but expect a rollercoaster ride with him
either way. Also, I will mention this now since this is far more important of a
technique to Sonic than to any other character. The fastest way to end a run so
that a standard attack can be used is to crouch.

Sonic should spend most of the match with his feet glued to the ground so he
can take advantage of his ridiculous running speed. Luckily his running attack
is quick and ends with him behind the opponent. That makes it hard to punish
and generally a good option to mix in while running all over the place to rack
up minor damage. His up smash is the other easy move he can do out of a dash,
and it is a bit more punishing as it racks up nice damage and pops the opponent
up. Unfortunately this leaves Sonic open to a shield grab so only use it when
you are sure to hit. Sonic's forward smash is his only real kill move on the
ground, but it requires him to stop moving, is somewhat slow, and only has
nominally better range than Sonic's other options. It should be used sparingly
as a surprise KO move, but in general it's not a safe bet. Sonic's down smash
is a great clear out move that will stop anyone who tries to counter his
running with rolling, but like most moves, it requires Sonic to stop moving to
use. Still, it's a good attempt and usually pretty safe. Sonic actually has a
great up tilt as it is fairly quick, racks up damage nicely, and pops the
opponent straight up. His down tilt also pops opponents straight up, and it has
the added benefit of hitting low under shields so it's a good move to use to
set up juggles as well. Sonic's jab combo is a nice safety move in a tight
spot, and his forward tilt is pretty much just a worse version of his jab
combo.

Sonic has some good options in the air, but he has to be careful as he is not
anywhere near as mobile in the air as he is on the ground. In general the best
option is to hit the opponent up into the air and use an aerial as a chase for
some damage and maybe a KO but to otherwise let your opponents come down to
you. Sonic's up aerial will see a lot of play given this strategy, and it is
pretty quick and safe. Unfortunately, it has almost no KO power so Sonic needs
to look for other options. Sonic's back aerial is the closest thing he'll get
to a KO move in the air, but unfortunately, it's still not strong and has a
very small hit area. Sonic will have to aim carefully, but it's worth the
effort. Sonic's forward aerial is a solid damage dealer that has a reasonably
powerful hit at the end, but it's not really useful when the opponent is coming
down. If Sonic finds himself wanting to do short hop aerial approaches, the
forward aerial is his best bet, but he should only do this as a secondary
approach plan to his running game. The neutral aerial is generally pretty awful
given the total lack of range, but it does at least have knock back that is
good for Sonic. The down aerial is a favorite of new players, but it's really a
bad move due to how unsafe it is. Sonic can use it to stall on his spring on
the ground or once in a great while as a surprise, but in general, this move
should be avoided.

Sonic gets a lot out of his grab game as running grabs are one of the main
things he can do while approaching. Unfortunately, his grabs don't really help
him get kills with the exception of his back throw's silly efficiency on walk
off ledges, but they are all useful for repositioning opponents. His back throw
sends opponents at a very horizontal trajectory which makes Sonic's pursuit
really easy so it should be a staple, and as a mix up, the down throw can be a
worse version of the same plan. The forward and up throws both send the
opponents up into the air so if Sonic feels like mixing in some juggles, they
are good choices. Sonic also has a pretty good up smash so if he's caught
shielding, up smash out of the shield is a good choice. Sonic's Spring Jump out
of a shield is also a solid choice if he just needs to get out of there.

Sonic's specials mostly look the same at first, but they're quite different. In
any case, Sonic players should be smart about how much they abuse their
spinning attacks as all of them are somewhat easy to punish. His Homing Attack
is a great move to edge guard and to generally make aerial approaches that
would otherwise not be possible, but if this move is used more than once in a
while, it becomes extremely predictable. Do be sure to always mash B while
using it to make it execute as quickly as possible; Sonic cannot afford any
delays. The Spin Dash is nearly useless; only use it for rare recoveries. The
Spin Charge is probably Sonic's best spinning move as the mechanics are nearly
identical to Sonic's classic Genesis technique. Just mash B very quickly for a
short time after beginning the charge and then release down to spin at the
opponent pretty quickly. It has poor knock back and can be punished if
overused, but it's a great thing to mix in to other running attack styles as it
moves as quickly as Sonic's run and can be leapt out of at any time.

The Spring Jump is Sonic's recovery move, and it's pretty useful to him on a
lot of levels. Sonic can attack right out of it so he can easily make great and
safe recoveries. The extremely quick vertical ascent also allows Sonic to chase
foes up into the air with this move, and it is something he should do
frequently to keep up pressure. If Sonic uses this move in the air, the spring
itself falls beneath him; this can be used as a very effective edge guarding
trick. On the other hand, if he uses the spring on the ground, the spring will
stick around on the ground for a while and will be a standard course hazard.
Sonic can stall on this with his down aerial, and in general, he should be
quick to use his down aerial to land on the spring which will cancel all the
landing lag. One last note is that Sonic's height gain is greatly altered by
the gravity setting at the time. During the Flying form of Pokemon Stadium 2 or
the sliding portion of the Summit, Sonic will gain great height, but during the
ascending portion of the Summit, Sonic will get almost no height.

Sonic can wall jump, but he cannot wall cling or crawl. Sonic has but one
midair jump and quick options in his roll and spot dodge. He will still seldom
want to roll as his ridiculously fast run should be used for pretty much all
movement.

Sonic's biggest problem in the long run is his horrible priority so characters
that have tricks to exploit it will be huge problems. Mr. Game & Watch's down
tilt shuts down nearly all of Sonic's moves on the ground, and Marth's sword in </pre><pre id="faqspan-6">
general will prove the end of Sonic. Wario's Bite beats out nearly all of
Sonic's moves which makes Wario a hard counter, and foes such as Link, Toon
Link, Olimar, Meta Knight, Ivysaur, and Jigglypuff all have ways of changing
the nature of the fight to one in which Sonic will not do well. However,
Sonic's great speed makes him ridiculously efficient at taking down slow
characters; Bowser, Donkey Kong, King Dedede, and Ike have much to fear. Even
the slower projectile spammers such as Pit and Samus really don't have much on
Sonic; he can run up to them before they can start to keep him out. Sonic will
also like fighting R.O.B. and the Ice Climbers. The former just finds Sonic a
little too fast to handle, and the latter have issues with Sonic picking on
Nana.

IV. Classic Mode

In this mode, you must defeat much of the cast in a series of variously
gimmicked battles. In the first ten battles, you might have to randomly fight a
single opponent, metal opponent, giant opponent (sometimes with an ally or two
on your side), team of two opponents (sometimes with an ally on your side), or
a team of ten of the same character with that character being very weak. You
always fight on stages affiliated with the characters, never on melee stages,
and R.O.B. steals the Mario Bros stage from the Mario series. There are two
target tests you do as minigames in the middle. The first corresponds to the
difficulty level of Classic you are playing, and the second is the next
difficulty step up. If you are playing on Intense, you play the fifth target
test twice. On the eleventh battle, you just fight against a team of three
opponents with team attack on, and for the final battle, you fight Master Hand.
If you got that far on hard or higher fairly quickly without continuing, Master
Hand will be accompanied by Crazy Hand. Which characters you battle depends on
the stage number; random characters from the options for that stage are picked,
but you'll never see teams of characters from different series against you. The
progression is as follows:

Stage 1: Zelda series
Stage 2: Donkey Kong and Yoshi series
Stage 3: Pokemon series
Stage 4: Mother and Fire Emblem series
Break the Targets 1
Stage 5: Kirby series
Stage 6: Pikmin and Metroid series
Stage 7: Star Fox and F-Zero series
Stage 8: Mario series
Stage 9: Kid Icarus, Game and Watch, and Ice Climber series and R.O.B.
Stage 10: Metal Gear, Wario, and Sonic series
Break the Targets 2
Stage 11: Three random characters not in previous levels
Stage 12: Master Hand

As per tips, well, just fight normally. Use Multi-Man Brawl style strategies
against teams of ten characters, try to keep metal characters over edges as
they frequently fail to recover, and have fun pummeling the very easy giant
opponents. Tips for the hands can be found in the Boss Battles section, but be
warned that they have a few combination attacks that aren't in boss battles.
Also, if you game over against the hands, Crazy Hand will be gone when you
continue. You are healed between every match, but your stock count carries
over. Just don't die, and it's pretty simple.

V. All Star Mode

All Star mode is pretty cool. You fight against the enemies in order of their
series release. If a series has multiple characters, you fight against all of
those characters on a team two at a time with substitutions whenever you defeat
one of them. The game randomly decides between Zelda and Sheik and Samus and
Zero Suit Samus, but you must fight all three of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon. You
fight on a random stage from the series the characters are from, but no melee
stages will appear. Additionally, R.O.B. steals the Mario Bros. stage from the
Mario series to have his own stage; he always appears there, and team Mario
never appears there. And for the curious, yes, Final Destination, Battlefield,
Smashville, Pictochat, and Hanenbow never appear in All Star mode. After each
match, you go to a waiting area where there are three hearts you can use to
heal at any time. Since you don't restore health between matches, you have to
use these wisely.

For those who don't know the order of the series, it is this:

Game and Watch -> Mario -> Donkey Kong -> Ice Climber -> R.O.B. -> Zelda ->
Metroid -> Kid Icarus -> Metal Gear -> Mother -> Fire Emblem -> Yoshi -> F-Zero
-> Sonic -> Kirby -> Star Fox -> Wario -> Pokemon -> Pikmin

Completing this mode scores you the final smash trophy for the character you
are using. You must beat it separately with Sheik and Zero Suit Samus for their
trophies, but you only have to beat it once with the Pokemon Trainer. If you
play with a teammate, you have five hearts instead of three and get both final
smash trophies. However, you must defeat two Olimar at the end instead of just
one, and the run does not count toward the challenges that require you to beat
All Star with a certain number of characters. You also get a game over if
either of you dies.

In terms of tactics, All Star mode is pretty simple. It's normal fighting so
just do that. You are allowed to continue if you fall so beating it even on
Intense isn't that difficult. As per when to use hearts, your needs will vary,
but I find good target places to use them are before the Mother team, before
the Kirby team, and before the Pokemon team. It gets harder as it goes on so
using them mostly toward the end makes sense. However, do use them as you need
them. It would be foolish to enter team Zelda with over 100% and die because of
it.

VI. Event Battles

Event Battles are a series of gimmick battles in which you must participate to
unlock a few CDs and stages and to generally get completion. Each event has
three difficulty settings; this FAQ will only be concerned with the hard mode
which really isn't that hard on most of them. If you do find it hard, just play
on a lower setting and odds are it will not matter. CD prizes are listed in the
challenge board section if you're curious, but I'll be sure to mention unlocked
stages alongside the events. There are also co-op events which are overall more
difficult than the single player events, but they have no reward. You're going
to have to unlock the secret characters first if you want to play single events
21 and higher or cooperative events 9 or higher.

Single Events

Event 1: Two Trouble Kings
Character: Mario
Strategy: Just kill them both; this is really easy. If you have no idea how to
use Mario, well, try spamming his running attack, neutral aerial, forward
smash, and back throw. Things should go smoothly.

Event 2: Landmaster Ignition
Character: Fox
Strategy: Hit B to use your final smash which you always have access to. Have
fun with the Landmaster, and don't commit suicide. This is a freebie.

Event 3: Pink Ball Repulsion
Character: Meta Knight
Strategy: You have to kill Kirby before the platform lands on the Halberd which
isn't too hard. Just rush him down with a barrage of aerials, and use either
your forward smash or up special as a finisher.

Event 4: Cleaning House in Skyworld
Character: Pit
Strategy: You just have to break all of the terrain, and it doesn't respawn.
Just don't get killed by Wario (kill him if he gets in the way) and abuse Pit's
down smash to quickly shatter all of the terrain. No, that occasional platform
way near the bottom doesn't count.

Event 5: Become the Champion
Character: Pokemon Trainer
Strategy: This is just a standard three stock match against another Pokemon
Trainer. The battle is really easy if you're proficient with any one of Pokemon
Trainer's Pokemon, and they're diverse so you should be able to find one that
can easily let you win this.

Event 6: Super Bowser Bros.
Character: Bowser
Strategy: Haha, this is an awesome event. You have to keep up with a very
quickly scrolling Mushroomy Kingdom 1-1 as three AI Mario attack you. Just run
away; there's no reason to ever attack here. Stay near the front of the
scrolling to avoid the Mario, and you should be through with this pretty
easily.

Event 7: Diddy Kong Panic
Character: Donkey Kong
Strategy: Hmm, it's an event against a large number of weak characters, and
they were so generous as to give you Donkey Kong. Well, use your down special
to kill them all easily, and be sure to thank the game makers for giving you
the character who can most easily do this. Be sure to stay under the side
platforms for maximum safety, and mix in some up aerials if they give you a
chance.

Event 8: Go! Triple Finish!
Character: Pikachu
Strategy: It's a three versus one, but you have two stocks so it’s not so bad.
They are pretty weak and low leveled AI so you can just get away with spamming
Thunder and his down smash (as well as any good items that come your way) to
easily clear this.

Event 9: The Monster beneath the Earth
Character: Ike
Strategy: You start off fighting two Diddy Kong, and once the fight progresses
to the underground portion of Castle Siege, a giant Donkey Kong appears. The
easiest way to win is to just rush down and kill the two Diddy Kong before
Donkey Kong arrives, ending the event, but if you can't manage that, just be
sure to fight Donkey Kong with Ike's safer moves. Those would be Aether and his
neutral A combo; this shouldn't be too bad.

Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars
Character: Choose
Strategy: Just have to beat the eight starting characters from smash 64 who
appear in the picture if you forgot who they were. Pick whoever your best
character is and just go all out fighting; you only fight two at any given time
so it's not too bad. Be warned; the events start getting a lot harder after
this one.

Event 11: Yoshi's Rainbow
Character: Ice Climbers
Strategy: Okay, this is a very obnoxious event. You have to kill all the Yoshi
in rainbow order. If they kill themselves out of order which is pretty common
given that you're fighting on Rainbow Cruise, you lose. They also seem to avoid
attacking you if they're next in order for some reason. Either way, the
strategy is to rush them as quickly as possible to avoid the suicide
possibility. The Ice Climbers have three powerful smashes and a solid back air
to help you out; good luck.

Event 12: Sleeping in the Eggs
Character: Yoshi
Strategy: This is a very easy event. Just use your neutral B to turn both of
them into eggs. If you find it too hard to get the second one quickly, rack up
some damage so they'll stay in the eggs longer.

Event 13: Dragoon Strike
Character: Kirby
Strategy: The goal here is to kill all three Wario with the Dragoon. This can
be tricky. Basically, you want to spam Kirby's down special rock move to rack
up a lot of damage on them so they drop Dragoon parts easily, and then only go
for "safe" Dragoon parts. Don't worry; you can recollect the Dragoon if you
don't kill all of them on the first pass.

Event 14: Sproutage of the Flower Pikmin
Character: Olimar
Strategy: Pull six Pikmin and then just spend the whole match running away.
Eventually they'll all bloom and you'll win. Always be sure to have six Pikmin
out, and don't sacrifice them. You win when all six of your Pikmin have flowers
so just play conservatively.

Event 15: The Hammer of the King
Character: King Dedede
Strategy: Okay, you have to kill the giant metal Dedede, but at least you have
two allies. First and foremost, stay on the ground. His up smash will kill you
instantly, and he likes to use it if you are above him. Secondly, just play
conservatively, Throw Waddle Dees frequently, rely on items, and generally only
go for the safe hits as you rack up damage on him. Eventually you'll get him
over the ledge where, like all metal AI, he'll kill himself.

Event 16: Power Suit ON!
Character: Zero Suit Samus
Strategy: Just get a Smash Ball that appears and use your final smash. That's
all there is to it.

Event 17: Super Waterfall Climb
Character: Zelda
Strategy: Ugh, this event is hard. Just rush upward as quickly as you can, and
ignore the Ice Climbers. If you get ahead of the screen a good amount, switch
to Sheik for an easy win. The reason this is hard is because Zelda falls very
slowly; be sure to aim every jump so you are not far above the ground as you
come to each platform. That way you get another chance to jump again.

Event 18: Dark Link Duel
Character: Link
Strategy: You have two choices. You can either try to wear down his stamina or
try to kill him. If you want to try the former, just abuse Link's projectiles
to do 200 HP of damage fairly easily. If you want to do the latter, go near the
edge and try to grab and back throw him off the edge of the screen. Either way,
this is a pretty easy event.

Event 19: Wario Bros.
Character: Wario
Strategy: Okay, this event is the one in which you unlock the Mario Bros. stage
so it's worth your hassle. This is actually a pretty easy 2v1 against Mario and
Luigi. If you are having trouble, just hit the various creates roaming the
stage from underneath and throw them at your opponents. They're pretty
effective, and they make winning this pretty simple.

Event 20: All-Star Battle x 1
Character: Choose
Strategy: It's just like the last All Star battle except with all the
characters new to brawl and initially available except Ike and King Dedede. Go
about it the exact same way too.

Event 21: Visit to Onett
Character: Lucas
Strategy: It's just a 1v1 against Ness on Onett. It's a straight up and simple
fight, and if you're having trouble, I recommend sticking near the middle of
the stage and relying on Lucas's excellent up smash for kills. In that area,
only very vertical attacks tend to kill which puts you at a solid advantage
over Ness.

Event 22: Monkeys Unite
Character: Diddy Kong
Strategy: Hey, Donkey Kong isn't a monkey; he's an ape! Anyway, this is just a
straight up 2v2 fight on Rumble Falls, and your ally Donkey Kong is huge. He's
actually mostly just a distraction, but you can win this event pretty easily by
focusing on using back throws to kill Lucario and Sheik off the side of the
stage and outrunning the stage so they get killed by the scrolling.

Event 23: Molten Norfair
Character: Samus
Strategy: This is really just a survival test until the capsule arrives. Focus
on using Samus's missiles and bombs to keep them at bay until it does, and then
get in and abuse down smashes to keep them out. You automatically win if you
are inside the capsule as the lava wave passes. One more tip is to stay in the
respawn bubble after losing your first stock to stall for as long as possible
waiting for the capsule to appear.

Event 24: Come On, Blue Falcon
Character: Captain Falcon
Strategy: You have to kill the two R.O.B. before the track crosses the finish
line, and you must do it with your final smash. Just focus on racking up damage
until a smash ball appears, and then when you get your Final Smash, use it
remotely close to them to get the cool cut scene of Captain Falcon running them
down with his car.

Event 25: The Aura Is With Me
Character: Lucario
Strategy: You unlock Spear Pillar from clearing this event so stay sharp. You
must beat Sheik and Ness in a 2v1, and you start at 182%. The bad news is that
you are at a massive disadvantage. The good news is that Lucario hits very hard
when he's that injured. Abuse your Aura Sphere to keep them at bay and if
necessary just run circles around the course thanks to that lovely lower area.
Spear Pillar is such a silly stage that it will kill them if you can just last
long enough.

Event 26: The Slow and Easy Life
Character: Ness
Strategy: You have two minutes and fourteen seconds to kill the three tiny
Olimar; this is really easy. Just abuse Ness's running attack and forward smash
for an easy win.

Event 27: Three-Beast Carnage
Character: R.O.B.
Strategy: Just run away; you have no hope of winning in a straight up fight.
There are two factors that make this event possible. First of all, they can and
frequently do attack each other. The longer you run, the more likely one of
them is to die to the random fury of his allies. Second, the Ultimate Chimera
will instantly kill anyone who is foolish enough to get hit by him, and they
are foolish enough to get hit by him. When he appears, rush toward him to lure
them nearby and then move to the other side of the Ultimate Chimera. More often
than you would think, they'll just kill themselves by jumping into the Ultimate
Chimera. In the worst case scenario, you can just abuse items to win.

Event 28: Flower Blooms in the Echoes
Character: Peach
Strategy: Okay, you unlock Hanenbow for beating this event. This is also a very
obnoxious event. You just have to turn the six leaves on the right plant red.
For starters, feel free to kill Olimar if he's annoying you; he just gets in
the way for the most part. For two, the only move you really should be using to
do this is Peach's down smash. This quickly racks up "damage" on the leaves and
moves them toward their most red color. On the upper two layers, if you stand
close the edge of the leaves facing the middle of the plant, you can hit two at
once with your down smash to make this go much more smoothly.

Event 29: All-Star Semifinal Regulars
Character: Choose
Strategy: It's just like the last two All-Star matches except you only have to
beat half as many characters (the unlockables from Smash 64 this time), and you
do it on Yoshi's Island (melee). This isn't too bad; just fight as hard as you
can, and you should win easily. Abuse back throws off the right ledge if you
can't win any other way.

Event 30: Sonic Boom
Character: Sonic
Strategy: Just abuse Sonic's down aerial to quickly kill the fifteen other
Sonic.

Event 31: The Ultimate Bodyguard
Character: Marth
Strategy: You can't let Zelda die, but all she does is sit there crouching.
Luckily, you only have to win a Marth versus two Ganondorf who each have two
stock fight in the process so that's not too bad. Really, this fight is pretty
much won by the fact that Marth is too good. Just abuse your forward B and try
to keep the Ganondorf coming at you instead of at Zelda by staying in between
them. It should be a pretty easy win.

Event 32: Bird in Darkest Night
Character: Falco
Strategy: You just have to win a two stock match against Mr. Game & Watch on
Brinstar. The stage randomly goes dark, but you can still see both characters
so it ends up still being really easy. The acid will kill him for you if you
can't so just play defensively if you can't fight with Falco at all.

Event 33: Advent of the Evil King
Character: Ganondorf
Strategy: You have to win a 3v1 against Pit, Link, and Zelda on everyone's
favorite level, Hyrule Temple. This level actually does help you out quite a
bit; just go to the little island in the lower area and abuse throws and
Ganondorf's powerful up and forward smashes as well as his quick neutral A jab
to win without too much trouble. If you get to a high percentage, go to the
passage that leads to the lower part of the course and hang out there; you live
to absurd percentages if you stay in there. This really shouldn't be hard even
as a 3v1; just fight it out!

Event 34: All-Star Battle Melee
Character: Choose
Strategy: It's another All-Star match, this time against the characters who
debuted in Super Smash Brothers Melee, and this time it's on Pokemon Stadium.
Like the others, just fight as hard as you can. I personally just used Mr. Game
& Watch and abused his powerful down smash and aerials, but this will be
easiest with whoever your personal best character is.

Event 35: The Visitor to Flat Zone
Character: Mr. Game & Watch
Strategy: You have to win a 3v1 against Toon Link, Peach, and Jigglypuff, but
all three of them look like Game and Watch characters which is incredibly cool.
I only wish those were alternate costumes available in the multiplayer. Anyway,
this is pretty easy as long as you have some level of skill with Mr. Game &
Watch, but maybe you don't. The only thing you really need to do is abuse his
aerials and down smash; the AI will walk right into all of it and die really
easily.

Event 36: High-Tech Special Forces
Character: Snake
Strategy: This could either be easy or hard depending on whether you have any
aptitude with Snake at all. You have to win a 3v1 against Samus, Captain
Falcon, and Wolf which is hard for those new to Snake even if you do get two
stocks to do it with. Really, just abuse his neutral A combo and his tilts to
rack up damage at first, and when their damage is high, destroy a wall and
finish them off with either his forward smash or his back throw.

Event 37: The Pirate Airship
Character: Toon Link
Strategy: You have to win a 2v1 against two Yoshi, but the catch is that they
will come back unless you kill them while the ship is in the clouds. Ugh, that
makes things harder. You should start off by just trying to rack up damage;
Toon Link's projectiles and spin attack should help with this. Once you are up
in the clouds, rely on Toon Link's great smashes as well as any helpful killing
items that come your way to score those needed kills.

Event 38: The Wolf Hunts the Fox
Character: Wolf
Strategy: It's just a 2v1 against Fox and Falco. If you are new to Wolf, this
might be difficult, but you should be able to win just by abusing items and his
wonderful reflector. If you just stand in one place and hit down + B as quickly
as possible, you tend to rack up good damage on them. Use any of Wolf's smashes
as finishers.

Event 39: All-Star Battle x 2
Character: Choose
Strategy: It's the last one of these, and you fight all the characters you
hadn't already fought. This really is the exact same as all of the others with
the rather unimportant fact that they're slightly harder and use different
characters so I'll leave the tactics up to you.

Event 40: The Final Battle
Character: Choose
Strategy: This is just a 3v1 against Bowser, King Dedede, and Ganondorf, and
you get two stock. It's actually pretty easy since all three of them are very
slow; just pick a character who can move or attack quickly and rush them down.
I prefer Mr. Game & Watch, but any of the Star Fox characters, Sheik, Captain
Falcon, Sonic, Diddy Kong, Pikachu, or anyone else you feel like you can fight
effectively with could work great.

Event 41: The FINAL Final Battle
Character: Choose
Strategy: It's the same thing as the last one except against Snake, Sonic, and
giant Mario, and they have two stocks just like you do which makes it much
harder. If you can't win through ordinary tactics, just pick Ike and keep
dropping from either ledge and using Aether to grab it again. Sometimes they'll
kill themselves going after you, and you should rack up great damage either
way. If you just need to finish an injured one of them as Ike, jump at them and
use his neutral B for a pretty reliable finisher on them.

Co-op Events

Note: Player 1 is always the first character listed, and Player 2 is always the
second character listed.

Event 1: Two Trouble Kings
Characters: Mario and Kirby
Strategy: Just kill them; this event is really easy.

Event 2: Master the Pokemon Tag Battle
Characters: Pokemon Trainer and Pikachu
Strategy: Okay, Pikachu gets only one stock while the Pokemon Trainer gets
three. Focus first on the enemy Pikachu to make it into a 2v1, and if your
Pikachu dies, he can use A + B to borrow a stock from Pokemon Trainer to
maintain your advantage.

Event 3: Fastest, Shortest, Sudden Death
Characters: Yoshi and King Dedede
Strategy: You only have to survive for ten seconds with kills being a bonus.
Just put one of you under each platform and abuse up smashes until the time
ends.

Event 4: The DK Tag Calamity
Characters: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong
Strategy: Okay, this event is hard. Both of you need to play defensively until
you can get lightning at which point you are safe to move in and attack if it
shrinks them down to your size or smaller. Try to kill the enemy Donkey Kong
first as he's better at getting kills than the Diddy Kong, and try to abuse
your Diddy's banana peels to keep tripping them so you can have many easy
chances to get hits. Their AI is really low leveled so you can just stand
between two banana peels and be fairly safe.

Event 5: The Yoshi Team of 50
Characters: Meta Knight and Pit
Strategy: This event is nearly impossible on hard. Both of you should be
abusing your up tilts to kill them as quickly as possible, but even if you
perform absolutely perfectly, you barely have time to kill them all before
Rainbow Cruise completes one cycle. Don't feel bad about turning the difficulty
down if you have to; this event is just stupid.

Event 6: Unwanted Suitors
Characters: Zelda and Zero Suit Samus
Strategy: The invisible enemies are Luigi and Captain Falcon is you were
curious. Even though you can't see them, they aren't too hard to fight. Zero
Suit Samus should abuse her forward smash and forward B to attack from a safe
distance, and Zelda can just around abusing her forward and back aerials for
very quick kills. You can see where they are every time they move by the dust
they kick up; this shouldn't be too bad. In the worst case scenario, you can
play defensively until the cars on Port Town Aero Dive kill them for you.

Event 7: Battle of the Dark Sides
Characters: Link and Samus
Strategy: This is very similar to a single event, and the same strategies
apply. If you want to run them out of stamina, just abuse projectiles. If you
want to quickly kill them, go near the edges and try to back throw them.

Event 8: ALL MINE!
Characters: Wario and Bowser
Strategy: This is a really each coin battle; you could just abuse running
attacks back and forth and easily win.

Event 9: Those Who Wait in Onett
Characters: Lucas and Ness
Strategy: It's just a standard 2v2 against Luigi and Yoshi. Just like with the
similar single event, stick to the middle on the ground to have a defensively
solid position from which Lucas can easily kill with his up smash. Ness can try
to get similar gains from his up aerial, but he would be better just attacking
them normally to build up damage so Lucas can finish.

Event 10: The R.O.B.'s of Tomorrow
Characters: Lucario and Ice Climbers
Strategy: Just kill all of the R.O.B. as they appear. They get progressively
bigger, but that doesn't really make it harder. The Ice Climbers will probably
lead the way here with their superb down smash, but Lucario's Aura Sphere can
really be handy too.

Event 11: The Great Remodeling Battle
Characters: Luigi and Peach
Strategy: Okay, stick to either the lower center of the stage or the roof. You
absolutely cannot let the battle drift toward the upper two pillars or else
they'll break them. That will make you lose. Just collect coins as quickly as
possible while keeping them away from the two upper pillars and this should be
pretty easy.

Event 12: Come Back, Falcon Flyer!
Characters: Captain Falcon and Olimar
Strategy: You need to just rush down the two Samus. Pretty much all of Olimar's
moves are effective at dealing quick damage, and when you need to finish,
Olimar can just grab them while Captain Falcon delivers an epic Falcon Punch.
This shouldn't be too bad.

Event 13: Blades of the Quick and Mighty
Characters: Marth and Ike
Strategy: Much like all battles on the Temple against the AI, you can easily
win by going to the lower right island and abusing throws and smashes. Marth
and Ike have it especially easy as both of them have great range and power so
they can make that little island an island of death.

Event 14: The Dark Guardians
Characters: Ganondorf and Wolf
Strategy: Just run away and play defensively until the Ultimate Chimera shows
up. Lure Donkey Kong and Charizard into it for easy kills and an easy win.

Event 15: Four Swords Brawl
Characters: Toon Link and Toon Link
Strategy: It's just a basic coin battle; it should be pretty easy. Just keep
moving and abusing running attacks to easily win.

Event 16: Jigglypuff's Great Comeback
Characters: Jigglypuff and Mr. Game & Watch
Strategy: Just stall at first with Mr. Game & Watch trying to keep them
distracted; you will find it very hard to win as the event starts. However,
each time Castle Siege transforms, Ness and Lucas shrink while Jigglypuff
grows. If you can only last, you can win easily.

Event 17: Sonic & Mario
Characters: Sonic and Mario
Strategy: Just stay near the edges and abuse back throws to easily clear this
event.

Event 18: The New Weapon of Shadow Moses
Characters: Snake and R.O.B.
Strategy: You just have to kill the enemy R.O.B., but each of them has two
stocks to your one. If you aren't good with these characters, just try to abuse
projectiles to rack up damage. If they get close in, Snake's tilts and neutral
A combo are effective, and R.O.B. has an incredible down smash you should
heavily rely on. When you need kills, either use up smashes or destroy a wall
to abuse back throws.

Event 19: Shadow of Andross
Characters: Fox and Falco
Strategy: This is a 2v1 against Wolf, but the downside is that he has a
permanent Andross assist trophy. Andross shoots at you so if you just keep
moving, he will not do much damage, and you can gang up on Wolf easily.

Event 20: The Final Battle for Two
Characters: Choose
Strategy: You just have to kill six enemies; it's not too bad. Pick whoever
your best characters are and go to town. If you're having a lot of trouble,
both of you should pick R.O.B. and abuse his down smash and projectiles for an
easy win.

Event 21: The True All-Star Battle
Characters: Choose
Strategy: This might be hard or interesting, but there's an easy gimmick
strategy to win. Have one player pick Pikachu and the other one pick Ice
Climbers. Have Pikachu stand right in the middle of the stage on the main
platform while the Ice Climbers should stand directly above Pikachu on the
platform. Have Pikachu constantly use Thunder while the Ice Climbers do the
same with their up smash. This will instantly kill most of them, but
occasionally one will get through. If that happens, have the Ice Climbers chase
them down and quickly hit the escapee with a powerful smash and then resume the
strategy. This should be simple and quick.

VII. Target Smash

The goal of Target Smash is simple; you need to break 10 targets as quickly as
possible. This is by far the most fun event in the Stadium though it gets
tedious as you must clear all five courses with all 35 characters to complete
all the challenges. Just beating the courses at all is really easy so I'll
leave that strategy up to you, but getting the "target times" which are
required to clear five specific challenges is interesting enough to write about
and also use to give a general overview of how to approach each course. Lastly,
one note, you play two rounds of Target Smash in Classic mode so, if you are
going to beat Classic mode with the entire cast on easy, you can use those runs
to avoid doing the runs of Target Smash for the first two courses.

Target Smash level 1
Target time: 15 seconds
Recommended character: Fox
Strategy: This is really easy. From the start, turn around and jump, firing
your laser at the peak of your jump. This will hit the only hard to reach
target. From there run to the right and then back to the left on the bottom
breaking all the targets as quickly as you can with any of Fox's many quick
aerials and his laser. My time was 12.5 seconds; you have a huge margin of
error if you hit the first target without a hitch.

Target Smash level 2
Target time: 19 seconds
Recommended character: Sonic
Strategy: This is another easy one as long as you know the right sequence.
Start by turning around and hitting the visible target with your up aerial, and
then use your double jump and up special to make a great leap upward on the
left side of the block. You should be able to hit another target and land on a
platform to your left. Run over and jump to the platform with the box, smacking
a third target on the way with an aerial. Hit the box; this will knock it down
into the lower area where it will slide through two targets. Jump up to the
platform with the bat and throw it upward to hit another target, and then run
to the right and use quick aerials (or the Cracker Launcher, if you have good
aim) to take out the remaining four targets.

Target Smash level 3
Target time: 20 seconds
Recommended character: Jigglypuff
Strategy: This one is a good deal harder than the previous two. Start by
jumping off the initial platform to the left and floating under it to hit the
target. Then use your remaining jumps to move far to the left and hit the two
targets that are close to each other with quick aerials. Now head left a bit
more where you'll see a way down with two targets in plain sight. Hit the upper
one and then the lower one with aerials and continue to fall to the left to hit
a third target off to the side. Now jump upward to hit a target at the top of a
tall, narrow sliver of land with an aerial and fall on the right side o the
land, carefully avoiding the spikes, to hit another target over a pit (be sure
not to run out of jumps!). Now jump up and hit the closest remaining target and
then quickly move to the lower right corner to smack the last target.

Target Smash level 4
Target time: 32 seconds
Recommended character: Fox
Strategy: This is pretty easy if you don't get messed up by the ice. Start off
by running right and hitting the visible target with an upward aerial. Then run
left and hit the moving target with a laser, jump down, and run left and smack
the third target with a quick aerial of your choice. Now run back where you
dropped, and in short order, a moving target should come up here (on that note,
don't worry about how fast you do the previous three targets as long as you are
here to hit this one). Hit it and then run to the right and down and use Fox's
forward tilt to hit another moving target through the wall. Now run left and
hit the two moving targets quickly with aerials, continue left and down and
then head to the right. Use the Fire Fox as crossing the gap with the target in
it to easily break that target, and then run to the right and jump up through
the opening. You'll need to get a feel for the timing here, but there's a
moving target that moves through that hole in the ice to the up-right of you.
Hit it however you can most quickly and then drop back to the bottom level,
jump out over the void, and use a Fire Fox to hit the last target.

Target Smash level 5
Target time: 30 seconds
Recommended character: Ness
Strategy: Ness may seem like an odd choice for a great target run, but Pk
Thunder is a huge help here. Lucas is not a good substitute; Ness's thunder
stops when it hits a target. Start off by jumping up and hitting the target
above you, and then use Pk Thunder to hit the target out to the left (it will
be off screen so you'll have to memorize where it is). Next jump over to the
platform with the Cracker Launcher on it, and grab the launcher. Shoot the
target to the up-right, jump down to the next lowest platform, and hit Z to
discard the Cracker Launcher. This will make Ness toss it over his shoulder,
hitting the target between the two platforms. Now jump down to the even lower
area, grab the beam sword, and jump up and hit the highly elevated target with
Pk Thunder. Land from this on that small platform in the lower right. Throw the
beam sword at the two targets you can see to your left; it will bounce nicely
and break both. Now jump up and hit the target to your right through the wall
with an aerial. Quickly make your way over to the left side toward the target
in that upper nook. Don't bother actually getting to it; get to where you can
land on the ground to the left of the spikes and just break the upper target
with Pk Thunder. Once you land, use Pk Thunder to break the last target out
over the pit. If you do it right, you should shatter the target time.

VIII. Home-Run Contest

I am not a professional Home-Run Contest player. I won't be able to help you
hit the Sandbag tens of thousands of feet, but I can help you clear all the
challenges related to Home-Run Contest. You need 45000 feet total and at least
1500 with one character. If you get 1500 with one character, you need an
average of about 1280 feet with every other character. I suggest using Yoshi to
get the 1500 feet easily, though every character with a good strategy could do
it. The basic premise with everyone the whole time is to rack up damage on
Sandbag and then hit with either the Home-Run Bat or an exceedingly powerful
attack at the last possible moment. I'll give my strategies with the whole cast
to clear the challenges, but be warned these aren't very competitive
strategies. They'll just get you through this mode, but you could try omitting
attacks if you find some of them too difficult. I will greatly exceed the
requirements in my strategies.

Mario: Turn around and grab the bat and then just spam up smashes on sandbag
until the last moment when you hit him with the bat. You should be able to get
over 1300 this way.

Luigi: Grab the bat and immediately do a running attack at the Sandbag. Then
move to the right side of the platform and hit it with a slightly charged up
smash. Nail him on the back side of the platform with another running attack,
and then walk forward a few steps to hit him with a forward tilt. Up smash
sandbag one more time and then walk to the front of the platform and swing the
bat. I was able to exceed 1500 feet with this strategy.

Peach: Grab the bat, run over the Sandbag, and start spamming up smashes.
Charge a new one as he's on his way down from the last one. Hit with the bat at
the last moment. You should be able to easily get over 1300 ft with this
method.

Bowser: Grab the bat and hit Sandbag with the down smash followed by a down
tilt and then two more down smashes ending with the bat. You can just barely
squeak over 1500 ft with this strategy.

Donkey Kong: Grab the bat and then up smash to up air to up smash to up air to
charged up smash to a bat smash. This should exceed 1400 ft.

Diddy Kong: Grab the bat and then hit the Sandbag with a series of up smashes.
As time runs low, throw in a quick up air and then smash with the bat. You can
get just about 1400 ft with this method.

Yoshi: Hit the sandbag with four down aerials and then smash with the bat. You
will have to pull back from one of the down aerials early to avoid running out
of time. Pulled off just right, you should be able to get 1800 ft. Even played
sloppily, over 1500 is easy.

Wario: Grab the bat and then hit with a barrage of alternating up smashes and
up aerials until time is low and then smash with the bat. You should be able to
get well over 1300 ft this way.

Link: Use an up smash to up air to up smash to up air to bat smash to get
between 1200 and 1300 ft.

Sheik: Yes, use Sheik and not Zelda. Grab the bat and use up smashes until near
the end when you can get off a tipper with the bat. Sheik's bat hit is just
crazy and you can pass 1600 ft.

Ganondorf: Ignore the bat, run up, spam down aerials, and then use your neutral
special to smack the bat a good distance.

Toon Link: Spam up smashes with an up air thrown in if you can get away with
it. You can get over 1400 ft if it goes just right.

Zero Suit Samus: Hold R to start as her; he's far better than her clothed
counterpart. Just grab the bat, move up to the sandbag, and spam her up special
until time is rather low. Then smash with the bat to get over 1300 ft.

Pit: Grab the bat and then use an up smash followed by an up aerial and then a
series of up smashes until the end where you end with a bat smash. You should
be able to pass 1200 ft, and yes, Pit is very bad at Home-Run Contest.

Ice Climbers: Grab the bat with Popo, up smash once, and then use up tilts to
rack up damage until a smash with the bat. You should be able to pass 1500 ft
easily.

R.O.B.: Grab the bat and use up tilts and up aerials in alteration until the
final moment when you can finish it with a bat smash to get over 1400 ft.

Kirby: Grab the bat and use a series of down aerials on the sandbag. This might
smack him around if you hit with the last hit, but throwing in a quick down
smash might let the sandbag slide into a good position. Kirby is pretty bad at
this, but you should be able to get over 1200 ft.

Meta Knight: He is easily the single worst character at this. Start with an up
smash and then leap up for an up air. Continue a barrage of up smashes and up
airs to try to rack damage however sandbag flies, and finish it off with a bat
swing. If you pull it off just right, you can exceed 1100 ft.

King Dedede: Grab the bat and then use a down aerial on sandbag. Follow up with
a series of these with maybe a back aerial for some cheap damage thrown in if
you're bold. You can get nearly 1400 ft with this strategy.

Olimar: For some reason, only purple Pikmin are allowed here. That really hurts
Olimar. I suggest grabbing the bat and spamming neutral aerials until you get
in a bat swing to break 1200 ft.

Fox: Grab the bat and use a rapid series of down aerials to rack up massive
damage and then bat smash. If you don't like that, just use the laser. In
either case, you should handily break 1400 ft.

Falco: Grab the bat and smash up smashes and then the bat swing for an easy
time to break 1400 ft.

Wolf: Grab the bat and alternate up smashes and up aerials until a bat smash
for a chance to break 1400 ft.

Captain Falcon: Grab the bat and spam up smashes to finish with a bat smash for
over 1400 ft.

Pikachu: Use a barrage of up smashes and up aerials to end with a bat swing for
around 1300 ft.

Pokemon Trainer: Pick Ivysaur, grab the bat, and then walk into sandbag to use
Bullet Seed. After knocking him into the air with it, let off a bit so he'll
fall right on top of you at which point you should use Bullet Seed again to
rack up massive damage. Desist right before time ends and smash with the bat
for an easy time exceeding 1500 ft.

Lucario: Grab the bat and then start pinging the sandbag off the walls with
your down air. You should knock him right beneath you so you can use another
down air. Smash with the bat at the end to exceed 1200 ft.

Jigglypuff: Grab the bat and use drill kicks (down aerials) to rack up damage
before a bat swing. It's hard to avoid breaking the glass while you do this,
but if you do it just right you can break 1400 ft.

Marth: Grab the bat and start with a running attack followed by a barrage of up
smashes and then a bat smash. If you hit the sandbag as often as possible, you
can break 1600 ft.

Ike: Start with a running attack and spam up smashes. Ending with a bat smash
lets you break 1300 ft.

Ness: Open with a down air followed up an up air and then a lot of back airs
until the last moment in which you hit with the bat. Breaking 1300 ft is pretty
easy.

Lucas: Grab the bat and then hit with four down aerials followed by a bat
smash. If every hit of every down aerial connects, you should be able to get
over 1500 ft.

Mr. Game & Watch: Open with a running attack with the bat followed up with an
up smash and then a fishbowl. Try to link in another iteration of this combo
before swinging with the bat. You should be able to break 1400 ft.

Snake: Grab the bat and then do a down tilt followed by an up tilt and then an
up aerial. Try to link in a few more up tilts and up aerials before swinging
with the bat. If things go just right, you can break 1300 ft.

Sonic: Grab the bat and then do an up smash followed by a series of up tilts
and more up smashes with some up aerials if you can manage them. You should be
able to break 1200 ft with a good run.

My total high score after all of that was 49337 ft which is a safe margin above
the required 45000 ft. These, I repeat, are hardly champion strategies, but
they'll be enough for you to get all the challenges in Home-Run Contest clear.

IX. Multi-Man Brawl

Welcome to the least fun section of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I really have
no idea why this awful mode returned from the previous game; it's absolutely
zero fun. The premise is that you must kill a large number of weak enemies in
an endurance style competition. In theory you want to kill a lot of them really
quickly, but really, the only reason anyone plays this mode is to complete the
challenges associated with it. There are six game types within this mode, and
I'll cover how to complete each challenge associated with each one.

First of all, I should run down the types of enemies you'll see. There are red,
blue, green, and yellow alloys. Each one of these is a carbon copy of a
playable character minus the special moves. They match up pretty easily.

Red: Captain Falcon
Blue: Zelda
Green: Kirby
Yellow: Mario

It's that easy. Additionally, every 25 kills, a normal character will appear.
He dies as easily as an alloy, but he's dangerous because unlike the alloys, he
can and will grab items. It's also possible to star KO the characters whereas
the alloys simply instantly die when they go off the top of the screen. Be sure
to kill characters as quickly as possible. In the modes with a limited number
of enemies, the last enemy is always your character, but that's not a big deal.

10 Man Brawl: There are no challenges associated with this given that its short
length might have made it fun. I wouldn't even bother playing it.

100 Man Brawl: There are three challenges here. You must clear it in under 4
minutes, under 3 minutes 30 seconds, and with the whole cast. The last one is
just plain lame so let's start with the time challenges.

Those familiar with Super Smash Brothers Melee will naturally see the wisdom in
this plan; the best character choice is Donkey Kong. The time requirement is
possible with every character and perhaps Donkey Kong isn't even optimal.
However, he's by far the easiest character to use. His ground pound down
special kills all enemies in one hit. Just stand under the platforms on either
side and use his ground pound until you have killed all 100 alloys. They're
stupid and will walk right into it. If they aren't coming to you, don't be shy
about running over and smacking them with Donkey Kong's up air attack; that
should also kill them in one hit. You will often fail when explosives spawn
inside of you, and near the end, the alloys get smart enough to start knocking
you out of it. Either way, this basic strategy is best, and with some patience,
you'll get both rewards for beating this quickly.

Beating it with the whole cast is a bigger problem. It's not really hard, but
boy is it boring. It's also just difficult enough so that you might fail,
requiring more attempts. I'm not going to go through strategies for every
character because they're all the same. Spam quick smash attacks, killing up
tilts, and quick, powerful aerials. If you are using someone like Ganondorf who
isn't cut out for this at all, you can just rely on items such as a Beam Sword.
Good luck.

3 Minute Brawl: There are no rewards for this so save 3 minutes of your life
and don't bother.

15 Minute Brawl: In theory, the goal is to see how many you can kill in 15
minutes. Forget that. The alloys get more aggressive as more die, and you only
get a reward for surviving. All good strategies for beating this are entirely
about avoiding the alloys and have nothing to do with fighting them.

I am of the opinion that the best choice for this is Pit. Several other
characters can do this, but with Pit it is easiest. Your basic strategy is to
spend 15 minutes flying under the stage. If there are only one or two alloys,
you can save yourself some trouble by going up on the platform and spamming
arrows at them. The arrows won't kill them until well over 100% so you can use
this as a nice stalling tactic. Since Pit can die if he is knocked out of his
upward special, you might think R.O.B. is a better choice. However, this is a
bad train of thought. R.O.B. has trouble quickly changing his momentum in the
air, and he must recharge his jets by standing on the ground. Holding onto the
ledge does not count. This is really boring, and it's easy to get careless and
accidentally do Pit's forward special or make other such mistakes. Take a break
by pausing every five minutes if you are having trouble focusing; you do not
want to have to repeat this after failing with only a minute or two left. I'd
say have fun, but I know you won't. Good luck.

Endless Brawl: You only need to get 100 kills here. Just use Donkey Kong and
the same tactics used for 100 Man Brawl.

Cruel Brawl: Okay, they alloys aren't weak any more. In fact, they frequently
kill you in one hit and are incredibly aggressive. Now there are always five at
once. Luckily you only need ten kills. Of course, it's not immediately obvious
how to get even one kill.

Several characters can do this, but Pit has the easiest time. You can last
indefinitely by flying under the stage to the opposite ledge (don't actually
stand on the stage; it's suicide). It may seem like this isn't productive, but
remember, the alloys are stupid. If you hover out near the ledge for a bit,
they will jump out at you. You can then retreat under the stage to the other
side. They sometimes kill themselves chasing you; it's quite common if you
space yourself just right. The green ones are less likely to kill themselves so
you sometimes get a large concentration of green alloys, but with luck they get
stuck under the ledge. You also only need ten kills so odds are the match won't
last long enough for this to be a factor. Beating this is probably possible
with many other characters, but it is by far easiest with Pit. This isn't fun
so why not just do it once with the easiest character and then never play it
again?

X. Boss Battles
</pre><pre id="faqspan-7">
Okay, I'm going to take a wild guess and speculate that at least 90% of the
people reading this right now came to this section looking for help beating
this mode on the intense difficulty to unlock the Galleom (tank form) trophy.
Yes, in terms of challenges that require skill as opposed to pure patience,
that's probably the single hardest one on the board, and golden hammers don't
work on it. It wouldn't be so bad if you could continue after failing like you
can in most other one player modes, but for some odd reason, you aren't allowed
continues here.

The most important choice you have to make for Boss Battles is character
selection. Some characters are excellent boss killers while others are very bad
against the bosses. Yes, you have to beat Boss Battles with the entire cast,
but you can just play on the rightfully named easy difficulty setting with
everyone to clear that challenge. For the higher difficulties, I strongly
believe the best character choice is Pokemon Trainer, specifically Charizard.
Other than his fantastic running speed he may be slow which is very bad, but
Rock Smash deals incredible damage to every boss but Rayquaza which ultimately
matters more than anything else. You can literally avoid most bosses all day,
but people make mistakes, and bosses hit hard. The best plan remains to kill
them as quickly as possible so long term strategies won't be required, and
Charizard is excellent at that far beyond the way any other character is. If
you simply can't make Charizard work, your next best options are the characters
with four or five jumps. Jigglypuff's powerful forward and back aerials
combined with her excellent aerial mobility make her a natural choice, but the
fact that she is not only super light but instantly dies if her shield gets
broken is going to be very frustrating. You might find Kirby, Meta Knight, King
Dedede, or Pit better, but you might not. Fox is also an excellent choice; his
reflector helps against a few bosses, his laser is a great tool, and his
general great speed and power allow an experienced player to effectively kill
bosses. If you are very brave, Lucas can steer Pk Thunder in circles inside of
bosses to rack up massive damage even exceeding what Charizard can do, but it
doesn't work against all bosses, and it is pretty much asking for the boss to
smack you with its most fatal attack. In terms of who to especially avoid, I'd
like to say avoid anyone I haven't already mentioned, but to be more neutral,
no one is especially awful at boss battles. I'll just say though that I'll be
very impressed if anyone clears Boss Battles on Intense with Mario, Ganondorf,
Ike, Ness, or Snake.

If you have a friend who is decently good at the game, you are in great luck.
You can beat Boss Battles on higher difficulties with two players and have it
count for the challenge. Do be warned that you fail if either of you die so
bringing along someone who always dies to Tabuu's instant death attack is a
really bad idea; you both have to be good players for a team strategy to be
effective. That being said, the damage output from a second player is
completely worth the hassle, and don't worry, you get five hearts instead of
three if you have a friend. As per characters, there's really no dispute when
there are two of you. The only really viable choice is for you both to use
Charizard; two constant Rock Smash machines end battles too quickly to justify
anything else.

As per hearts, be conservative but smart with them. Sometimes you will want to
go into boss fights at dangerous percentages just to save on hearts. A few good
rules to remember are that you should generally allow yourself a heart every
three battles, but you will almost always need a heart before Rayquaza and
after Duon. On a team game, you have one fewer heart than you might otherwise
so one of you will have to play a bit better than the other to make up for
that. Your biggest goal with heart planning is that you really want to enter
the Tabuu fight with full health; Tabuu is a stupidly random boss that is more
likely than not to ruin your almost complete run if you enter in poor health.

Of course, this means that all that remains is the actual boss strategies. The
bosses break into three groups. The super easy bosses are Master Hand, Crazy
Hand, Petey Piranha, and Ridley. The medium difficulty bosses are Meta Ridley
and Galleom. The dangerous bosses are Rayquaza, Porky, Duon, and Tabuu. Keep
that in mind as a general rule of thumb. In terms of order, you really, really
want to fight Rayquaza early. If Rayquaza is the last boss and at his highest
possible difficulty, you have almost no hope of winning. You also should really
hope to see Porky early, but it's okay if Duon shows up pretty late. Duon is
mostly just a damage dealer, and he doesn't really get harder when you fight
him later. In fact, it's almost ideal for him to be the ninth boss; that means
you won't have any regrets using hearts after him.

Master Hand: I really shouldn't even write a strategy for Master Hand; he
hasn't changed a whole lot since the Nintendo 64 era. Either way, Master Hand
is pretty much a freebie. All of his attacks have obvious telegraphs that let
you easily dodge with either an air dodge, a roll, or a spot dodge. Even just
shielding works against many of them. If you want to be extra sure to not take
any damage against Master Hand, try to hover slightly behind him as you attack.
This means his laser finger attack will never surprise you, and you can easily
go out over the edge to avoid his surprisingly dangerous spinning fingers
attack. If you are not using a character with multiple jumps, a well timed roll
is your better bet to avoid the spinning fingers. Really, if you can't
consistently beat Master Hand without taking damage, you're in trouble. Even
so, the few quick attacks he has that might sometimes catch you don't tend to
kill so even if you're a bit careless, he's still not dangerous even to a very
highly damaged character.

Crazy Hand: Evidently being on the left side of the stage makes him crazy.
Actually, this boss is pretty awful as the way he twitches around makes it seem
like he might have a very serious disease, but evidently we have to kill him
regardless. He's actually pretty much just a very slightly faster version of
Master Hand, but he has a few new moves that actually make him easier. That is
because he has more total moves than Master Hand so on any given action he's
less likely to do something dangerous. Yeah, wrap your mind around that. He
can't shoot bullets out of his fingers like Master Hand can, but he still has
the lasers which were more likely to hit you. Sometimes he'll point at you, and
if you've seen the attack more than once, you can easily avoid it by just
moving away right before he starts attacking. He can rain bombs on the field;
just sit and wait it out if he does. Any attempt to attack him while he's doing
this will end badly; don't bother. His one big surprise is that he sometimes
lies down on the field and starts flopping around doing good damage. This
attack is quite rare, and it's a Crazy Hand exclusive. It's not dangerous and
easily avoided, but I mention it because it's pretty likely to catch an
unsuspecting player. Much like Master Hand, he's a freebie. You had better be
able to consistently beat him without taking damage if you hope to clear Boss
Battles.

Petey Piranha: Some might argue that he's even easier than the hands, but he
takes a bit of practice. You start off inside of him. Don't attack; instead
jump up and avoid the first cage swing. Now turn and hit one of the cages with
a nice Rock Smash (or whatever else does good damage if you aren't using
Charizard). Only attack once at each opportunity; don't try to get greedy. Keep
jumping over cage swings and counter attacking. If he leaps into the air and is
about to come down where you are, jump up and do an air dodge to avoid it. You
can get in a hit in the time he reels after landing even. If he jumps away from
you, run up to him after he lands and sneak in an attack if the cage of choice
is easy to hit. When his health gets low, he'll roar and start using more jumps
and fewer cage swings. This really isn't a big deal. Much as with the hands,
you should be able to beat him without taking a hit consistently. He actually
is dangerous if you don't play conservatively, but he gives you so many free
attacking opportunities and has no moves that are actually difficult to dodge.
In fact, he only has slight variations on two simple moves. Don't mess up this
easy win.

Ridley: Ridley is the most dangerous of the four easy bosses. He has very
little chance of actually killing you unless you are careless, but he is pretty
good at sneaking in a quick hit when you weren't expecting it. He spends most
of the fight hovering on either the left or the right side of the stage waiting
to take a nice big hit; don't disappoint him. Sometimes he'll do a quick
somersault and hit those right in front of him, and he's fairly likely to do
this as his first move. Try to be ready to air dodge this as quickly as
possible. Other times he'll fly to the other side of the stage low to the
ground in a quick attack; an air dodge is also the correct way to avoid this.
If he's in a generous mood, he'll drag his tail along the ground. At high
health he'll drag a short distance across the stage and return to where he
started. At low health, he'll go back and forth across the stage and end on the
opposite side of the stage. This is easy to avoid with a simple jump over the
tail (none of the rest of his body is dangerous while he's doing this), and you
can even sneak in a free hit or two. Sometimes he leaps onto the stage and then
up off the top of the screen. When he does this, you should generally go over
the pit as he's about to either slam down onto the stage hard (which obviously
won't hit you if you aren't on the stage) or fly in from the background in a
very slow but potentially dangerous attack. You can just air dodge the latter
or land and spot dodge it. If you aren't confident over the edge, you can spot
dodge everything he does out of this even. His last possibility is the least
common but also the most dangerous. Sometimes he'll turn around and fly off the
left or right side of the stage. When he does this, he's about to quickly fly
across the screen. Your best bet is to jump into the air and fast fall right
before he comes. That will cause him to miss you by flying too high. If you
find this hard or otherwise fail to get into the air, a well timed spot dodge
is your best bet. At worst, a failed attempt at that usually just means a
broken shield which isn't usually fatal against Ridley. Be sure to get this
boss's patterns down; he's one of your easy wins.

Meta Ridley: Meta Ridley is what I would call a medium difficulty boss. He's
generally pretty easy, but he is sometimes uncooperative and can make himself a
real pain. There is also a very small wind effect slowly pushing you toward the
left edge of the screen which, while usually not that important, is quite
obnoxious. He also has an instant kill attack which is always frustrating if
you mess up and get hit. In general, the big strategy with Meta Ridley is to
stay in the air on the back of the Falcon Flier. He sometimes slams the Falcon
Flier, damaging everyone on it (often as his first move in fact), and this will
easily avoid it. This also easily avoids his move where he drags along the
surface of the Falcon Flier damaging everyone in his path. If he starts
shooting small fireballs, try to hover right behind him. Even when he aims at a
slight backward angle, he still won't be able to hit you if you space it
correctly, and you can even sneak in a free hit. If he begins to fly high above
the stage, get in the air absolutely. He is about to slam down on the stage and
drag the whole platform below the lower blast line, instantly killing you. One
move you're pretty likely to see just once in the fight is when he latches onto
the back of the ship. He's about to shoot two or three fireballs diagonally
upward while dragging the ship down. As he's shooting the third, the ship goes
below the lower blast line which will kill you if you're standing on it so you
do have to jump. You can back off and dodge this move easily, but the better
plan is to just land right in front of him and cause as much damage as
possible. If he takes too much damage, he backs off from this attack. You can
usually make that happen before he shoots even one fireball so this move is
pretty much just free damage for you. Very rarely, he'll fly toward the stage
with his mouth glowing red. He's about to shoot one strong fireball at you.
Just jump and air dodge if needed, but you don't have to worry too much because
I wasn't kidding when I said this move is rare. In my many, many battles
against Meta Ridley, I've only seen this move a handful of times. Also,
sometimes he flies farther over the stage than usual. This isn't an attack;
he's just being nice and giving you free damage (this is also almost always the
second action he takes in the battle). Take full advantage of it. Meta Ridley
takes some practice, but you generally should be able to beat him pretty
easily. Just be careful and stay in the air!

Galleom: Galleom is pretty much entirely random in how he works out. Sometimes
he's even easier than the hands. Other times, he's a really stupid boss. Just
like Rock Smash seems to do less damage to Rayquaza, it seems to do more damage
to Galleom. He dies very quickly so he's really not too big of a worry. That
being said, he has a lot of stuff he can do that will kill you. Most of his
attacks target the upper part of his body so staying closer to his feet while
attacking is best. One move to really watch out for is when he reels back and
begins a very slow swing. He's doing an uppercut that is quite powerful and
hits quite low; try to dodge it if you can. Sometimes you'll see his body get
entirely stiff; he's about to flop down onto the ground which will probably
kill you if you don't air dodge it. By far his most annoying move is when he
moves both of his arms really high up and outward; he's about to do a spin
attack which will rack up a good amount of damage. He also sometimes converts
into his tank form and either drives toward you in a rush or begins to shoot
missiles. If he shoots missiles, stay low and pound on him. If he drives at
you, jump over him. Watch out if he does his driving attack at low health; he
ends it by slamming down at you from above which is pretty fatal. I didn't
mention several of his moves, but I did mention all of the dangerous ones. He's
pretty evenly split between moves that can hurt you and moves that are very
easy to avoid and let you quickly deplete his weak life bar. Sometimes you get
unlucky with him, but in general, Galleom shouldn't be ending too many of your
runs.

Duon: Duon's whole purpose in life is to rack up as much damage on you as
possible. He seldom kills until a good bit over 100%, but he has a whole lot of
moves that are very hard to avoid and do a lot of damage. When the blue side is
facing you, he does "swinging" attacks that are very hard to avoid if you're up
close, but he has no dangerous things to hit you at a distance so someone like
Fox can just abuse his laser. When his pink side is facing you, he shoots a
wide array of projectiles at you. Jumping and air dodging is the strategy to
avoid most of them (though that's frequently easier said than done), but if he
shoots seeking missiles at you, jump over him and try to lead them into him.
They do a lot of damage to him and are your best hope to escape this fight with
little damage. He also frequently does a spinning attack that is very hard to
avoid and does a ton of damage. If he starts hitting you with this, try to
shield and roll away. Actually shielding the move is pretty much a guaranteed
shield break, but a few random perfect shields along with a roll away if you
get lucky will substantially reduce the damage you take. If you're using
someone like Jigglypuff and are very precise, a conservative strategy can work
out here, but with Charizard and most characters in general, you really should
be very offensive against Duon. You really won't be very successful at avoiding
damage for prolonged periods of time, and Duon is at least an easy target. Just
hope for the best and try to rack damage; this boss is lame no matter how you
look at it. One last note about him though. You can get on top of him or behind
him, and it might seem like a good idea. It's not. While he does have more
trouble hitting you when you do that, when he does hit you, he's way more
likely to kill you and he's harder to damage from those positions. Don't risk
it.

Porky: As happy as I am that Earthbound gets some representation in the bosses,
I really could have done without this guy. I also could have done without the
random name change; dedicated Earthbound fans all know this guy as the
wonderfully obnoxious Pokey Minch. Just walking slowly back and forth lets him
hit you near his bottom; avoiding damage from him is nearly impossible. Right
at the start, he frequently likes to do this super lame rapid pincer jab
attack. This will do over 50% to you most of the time, but if you get caught in
it and aren't pretty much right on top of Porky, directionally influence away
from him. That will make it pretty unlikely to actually kill you. If you have
an ally, the best strategy right at the start is for one of you to jump over
him while the other stays back. If he does his rapid attack, he won't be able
to reach the one who stayed back while the other can rack up a ton of damage
from his other side. Porky frequently begins to charge a laser above his head.
This move is a really stupid move that's nearly impossible to avoid. He sweeps
it around quickly, and he carefully targets you. If you have a friend along,
he'll randomly switch which one of you he's targeting in midshot. If you can't
finish him off before he gets the attack off, your best bet is to run far away
from him, jump, and try to air dodge through it. It will probably still hit
you, but you can usually reduce it to just one hit instead of four or five
hits. He'll also sometimes charge at you quickly; just leap over him. Don't try
to do anything stupid; he'll drag you right off the side of the arena if you
let him. He also likes to deploy small robots in his image; these run around
wildly and explode. Try to stay away from them and jump and air dodge if you
can't keep away. Like all of his moves, they're hard to avoid. His last attack
is when he flies up and moves back and forth slowly shooting a laser down onto
the stage. Just run back and forth and roll out of the way if you have to; this
is actually really easy to dodge. The bad news is that you have very little
opportunity to damage him while he's doing this, but at least you can avoid
taking damage. As with Duon, you should mostly try to kill him quickly. You
will take a lot of damage if the fight drags on; he's just a stupid boss. And,
on an even less fun note, Porky is somewhat buggy. If he dies right as he's
about to fire his laser, it will "shoot" anyway with no graphic but itself
dragging on the ground for a bit, and it can still hit you. If his little
robots are deployed when he dies, they don't disappear. They keep running
around and can still hurt you. Yeah, it's no fair. Then again, that's pretty
much the status quo with this boss.

Rayquaza: Much unlike Mewtwo in Super Smash Brothers Melee, Rayquaza fights
about like you would expect a Pokemon with 670 total base stats. Rayquaza might
not rack up the damage quite as effectively as Porky and Duon, but Rayquaza is
still highly unpredictable and unlike them is fairly effective at actually
killing you. Rayquaza also takes a ton of damage; his durability is really what
pushes him over the edge and makes him the single hardest boss on Intense even
above Tabuu. His most common attack is a quick spin with which he smacks a wide
radius around his lower body with his tail. He's pretty much entirely
unpredictable with this move, and it lasts too long to spot dodge reliably.
Characters like Jigglypuff can stay in the air to avoid this, but most
characters, including Charizard, either attack too slowly or fall too quickly
to be able to spend the entire fight high enough up to avoid this. Rayquaza
also sometimes quickly darts to the other side of the field, and this too is
pretty hard to avoid. You can jump over it if you know it is coming, but you
frequently don't have time. He will sometimes fly up and off the screen. If he
left the screen off the top, he's about to dive into the ground and will follow
that up with an "emerging from the ground" attack that hits a small area and is
easy to avoid with a simple roll. If he leaves off the side of the screen, he's
about to dart across the lower portion of the screen quickly. Only his head can
hurt you while he's doing this so a spot dodge or well timed roll can get
around it. All leaving the screen attacks get repeated three times when he's at
low health. Emerging from the ground is no big deal, but avoiding three darts
across the screen is quite difficult. Rayquaza has an attack where he begins
charging a big blue ball of electricity in his mouth and shoots it along the
ground. Jumping over it avoids it fairly easy, but be warned that while
charging it is still deadly. Fox and friends can reflect this for good damage
as well so if you have the option, exploit it. Sometimes, his eyes will glow.
That means he's about to make an explosion appear out of nowhere, and this is
pretty powerful. Quickly moving around so you won't be where it appears is
best, but an air dodge can sometimes avoid it as well. His last possibility is
flying up in the air and spinning in a circle to summon lightning to strike
you. This does a ton of damage and is very hard to avoid, but at least it has
almost not potential to kill you. If you see this move coming, running quickly
to avoid it can really help. A roll is another option, but your timing will
need to be really good. The good news is that the lightning is his least common
move; you will only see it every few Rayquaza fights. The short version of all
of this is that Rayquaza is an overly powerful, unfair boss. Keeping up a
steady stream of Rock Smashes or whatever your favorite character loves to
abuse eventually brings him down, but it takes too long, and he hits too hard.
A lot of practice will eventually let you overcome him, but even once you are
very good at Boss Battles, expect him to remain the biggest hurdle.

Tabuu: Tabuu is just a really random boss in terms of how he goes; he's even
more random than Galleom. The big premise of the Tabuu fight is that he
teleports around randomly and then does well telegraphed but very dangerous
attacks. Sometimes a red explosion appears after each teleport in a series of
warps; that means you will be hurt fairly badly if you are near him when he
teleports so watch out. If he chooses to stay low to the ground and chooses to
give you decently prolonged chances to hit him, he can be really easy. Of
course, if you actually managed to reach him on Intense, he's probably going to
be extremely uncooperative and spend a lot of the fight too high for you to
score clean hits. Anyway, he likes to open the fight with a quick sweep attack
with a little blade. He flies back next to the stage and then sweeps down over
the ground. You can easily jump over this; it is his least dangerous attack. He
has one other move with that weapon in which he throws the blade attached to a
chain at you, ensnares you, whips you around a bit, and then launches you. This
is quite hard to avoid and quite possibly fatal, but quickly changing vertical
position while air dodging can get you out of it. If you have a partner and get
snagged, the good news is that your friend can score a free hit or two while
Tabuu hurts you. Of course, Tabuu's most infamous attack is his "red ring of
death" attack. He flies into the background, spreads his wings, and launches
three red rings that, on higher difficulties, automatically kill you if they
hit. I suggest not getting hit. The easiest way to avoid them is to do three
quick spot dodges. I find them easiest to time from the center of the stage,
and you get into a bit of a rhythm with two max speed dodges followed by one
ever so slightly delayed one. Rolls can also avoid them, and if you are super
bold, you might even be able to get away with air dodging or Marth or Ike's
counters. Just forget all of that and spot dodge. You absolutely, positively
must be able to avoid this move if you want to win. If you are doing this with
a teammate, you both must absolutely, positively be able to avoid this move. I
don't mean be able to avoid once in a while. You must be able to reliably avoid
it. Practice in Subspace Emissary if you must, but being able to avoid this
move is not optional. He will almost always use it at least once during the
fight.

Anyway, speaking of one hit kills, his "golden cage" move is similarly
dangerous. He turns himself into this golden box and flies quickly at you. If
he hits you, he grabs you and slams you which is fatal at all but very low
percentages. This is tricky to avoid; your best chance is to jump over it or
fast fall if it comes at you in the air. When he's sitting in place, sometimes
he will start smacking his hands into the air which traps you and causes
massive damage. You can usually see when he's starting this up by how he bends,
but it requires quick action to avoid taking a thorough beating. Don't be too
excited about hitting him from behind while he's doing this either; the hit
range on those smacks is much bigger than it seems. Similarly, he sometimes
starts shooting out sparks. He covers his whole body while doing it, and you
get rather hurt if you stay close. Once he starts this move, just get away.
When Tabuu's health is low, I believe this move is replaced by his "body"
attack. He begins to shoot images of himself out in all directions. They can
cross the entire stage, they move quickly, and they do a lot of damage and
knock back. Get as far away as you can and keep moving and dodging when he does
this. Tabuu can also shoot a massive number of pellets at you. He'll start
spraying around with them for a pretty large amount of damage if you get caught
in it, and he finishes it with a big shot that is very likely to kill you. Be
sure to directionally influence away from him when you get hit by this unless
you are very close to him; this move is super dangerous. If he flies up off the
side of the stage and summons a large black mouth beneath him, get up in the
air and stay there as long as you can. That mouth shoots a very fatal laser.
His last move is one in which he makes a line of sparkles across the stage
which explode for big damage a short time later. This move is quite rare, but
it's easy to dodge. Just put yourself somewhere the sparkles didn't appear
which is probably up in the air. Wow, that's a whole lot of moves, but I think
I covered everything Tabuu can do. I know he's daunting, but just learn his
patterns and respond accordingly. It's luck how long the fight takes and how
dangerous he is, but every single one of his moves can be reliably dodged if
you know the telegraphs. Good luck.

If you manage to beat Boss Battle on Intense, give yourself a big pat on the
back as you've beaten something that even veteran players usually find very
difficult. Just keep focused, and if playing with a friend, be sure to work
together and not get mad at each other. Oh, and speaking of team play, I have
one last obscure caution. While you can't hurt each other directly, you can
footstool jump on each other. This usually doesn't matter, but it can be
surprisingly easy to use a footstool jump to knock your ally into the
teleporter while you both are going to get hearts. Don't do that.

XI. Subspace Emissary

This is the main one player mode; it's a platforming adventure game. You spend
most of the game running to the right killing various generic enemies, watching
stylish cut scenes that are theoretically supposed to tell a story but really
don't, and fighting a few interesting but not particularly special bosses. You
can also play with a second player who can warp to the first player by pressing
start whenever the camera isn't locked and the second player isn't in hit stun
from an enemy attack. I'll be listing where to find everything in each stage
and which enemies are in each stage; this information should help you collect
everything out of this mode.

As per difficulty, I really think Hard is the best choice for a first run-
through as it is difficult from time to time but never unreasonable. The choice
is really up to you, but as I write, that's the difficulty I assume. Sometimes
a stock ball or a healing item might be a little different mode to mode so if
you're not playing on Hard, don't freak out if things aren't exactly the same
as what I've said. Also, when I separate levels into parts, I do that because
between parts you are given a new choice of characters and have your stock
reset.

Stage 1: Midair Stadium

Characters available: Mario, Kirby, Peach, Zelda
Enemies: Primid, Boom Primid, Spaak, Sword Primid, Petey Piranha

Part 1:

Pick a character and defeat the other in a 1v1 battle. I prefer Kirby, but it
really doesn't matter or have any effect on future events. You do get a
slightly different cut scene depending on who you pick though so be sure to
pick differently on a second file. Seriously, you get three lives; there's no
reason to fail.

Part 2:

Oh no, it's some mysterious villains! This time you can choose to use the two
princesses as well, but don't get too used to them. The fighting is really easy
here whoever you pick so don't feel too concerned. I think Zelda does the best
at fighting these sorts of creatures, but it really doesn't matter. Just kill
them all to proceed.

Part 3:

It's boss time, and you only get to use Kirby. The big question here is how
those princesses got in those cages; they must have climbed in willingly for
some reason or another. Anyway, Petey Piranha only has two attacks. He'll swing
a cage or jump and slam the ground. You can just jump over his cage swing and
retaliate by smacking either cage. Just jump and do an air dodge to avoid his
ground slamming attack. Anyway, you kill him by destroying either cage, and you
can only rescue whichever princess is in the cage you break. This affects
several cut scenes and which one you have access to in one level, but it's
really not terribly important. Just like the first choice here, just pick
whichever you like more and be sure to get the other on a second file.
Personally, I'd take Zelda.

If you are coming back here later looking to use a Trophy Stand on Petey
Piranha, things should be easy. Since he has only two attacks, you can avoid
him forever waiting for one to appear. If you were wondering, yes, you do hit
the cage with the trophy stand to capture him. Also for the record, when making
this FAQ I beat him without taking a hit.

The level is now over; watch as Wario zaps whichever princess you didn't save.
Kirby and the princess you did save join your party of characters you can use
for replaying levels, and you can go to the next level.


Stage 2: Skyworld

Characters available: Pit, Mario
Enemies: Primid, Spaak, Cymul, Greap, Glunder, Boom Primid, Roturret

Part 1:

Watch the scene, and then you get to play around with Pit. Pit is a really cool
and useful character that you'll be seeing a lot of during this game so get
used to him. Just fall down at the start and break the three boxes to get a
random item, some stickers, and a trophy, Exit through the door for a scene.

Part 2:

Oh my, it's a scene, and now there are enemies in this level. Start off by
killing all of the enemies nearby, and then run to the right. Climb up the
clouds to break a yellow box from which you can plunder some contents (yellow
boxes always contain trophies or CDs, rarely stickers). Be sure to do this; the
yellow boxes count toward your completion percentage. After running to the
right a bit more, you'll discover a Cymul with a box containing a valuable
Heart Container in it. Plunder and then head right to face a dangerous Greap.
In general, the best way to fight Greaps is to stay behind them and hit them
with smashes. This will keep knocking them up in the air where they're pretty
harmless. Don't jump at them; they do a dangerous spinning blade attack if you
do. Don't get hit by the scythes either; they do big damage and break shields.
After felling the foe, head through the door for yet another scene.

Part 3:

Pick between Mario and Pit and be on your way. If you want this to be much
easier, pick Pit. Start by just going down and killing anything in your way.
After riding the purple cloud, run to the right for a while past nothing of
significance or difficulty. When you see some moving pillars, look closely as
one has a door behind it. Enter it and go through a brief auto scrolling
section so you can break two boxes and get some stickers and a trophy. Exit the
way you came and continue to the right. You'll have some forced fighting, but
none of the enemies are terribly challenging. After that, a sunny enemy called
a Roturret will appear. This guy will tear you apart if you let him, but if you
just jump at him and keep hitting him, he isn't a threat. Pit can reflect his
shots with his down special as well, but Roturret is such an awful aim that he
can't hit you while you have it out so don't bother. After felling him,
continue to the right to go through the golden door to see a scene and end the
level. Mario and Pit will join your party.

Stage 3: Sea of Clouds

Characters available: Kirby and Peach/Zelda (depends on who you saved)
Enemies: Boom Primid, Primid, Glunder, Poppant, Feyesh, Towtow, Mite, Greap

Part 1:

Run right on the Halberd. There are no enemies, and it's generally completely
uneventful until the scene that knocks you off it.

Part 2:

There's a good deal of jumping around here so Kirby is a solid choice, but
Sheik is also pretty good (use down + B with Zelda). It really doesn't matter
though. Head right from the start and fight your way through some enemies, and
then loop around the bottom and head left. At the turning point, be sure to
break the blue box for a valuable Stock Ball. You'll run into a rather
intimidating looking monster who rushes at you fiercely upon being awoken, but
he staggers super easily so just attack him quickly and repeatedly to defeat
him. After felling the beast, jump up the blocks to a door in which you will
find two blue boxes containing two heart containers and some stickers. Head
back out and then continue to the left. You'll loop around and back down to the
right a bit and find another door. Enter.

Just rush to the right, and when you see a way down, pass it by and jump down
at the farthest right point to find a blue box with some stickers or a trophy
in it. After collecting, go down the original path down to discover a generator
making Mites. Destroy the generator to enable yourself to proceed. When you see
another way down, neglect it and stick to the high road to find a blue box with
a Starman in it. Grab it and leap down to find another Mite generator and a few
Glunders. Destroy them to allow yourself to head right. Just run ahead of the
boulder or jump over it if you get nervous to make it most of the way through
the rest of this level. You'll find a Greap at the end; kill him and go through
the golden door to finish.

Stage 4: The Jungle

Characters available: Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong
Enemies: Goomba, Koopa (green), Paratroopa (green), Paratroopa (red), Hammer
Bro, Bullet Bill, Giant Goomba

Note: This is the best level in the game to harvest stickers as it is super
easy even on Intense and has a nice place in the middle you can abuse.

Okay, after that awesome scene, you get to pick your character. Almost everyone
really prefers Diddy Kong, and he really is a lot better for this. However, if
you really must use Donkey Kong, it will be fine as this is a pretty easy
level. Start by squashing a few Goombas by simply jumping on them, and break
the blue box to get either a super mushroom or a poison mushroom. Continue to
the right, and be sure to smack the Koopas to make them retreat into their
shells. You can jump on or hit Paratroopas to make them into Koopas, and this
will also count for trophy standing them. That doesn't matter so much for the
greens, but walking red Koopa are very rare so this knowledge will come in
handy. Either way, continue to the right and into a barrel cannon to be blasted
upward where you will find a blue box with a heart container. Ignore the next
barrel, but jump in the one after it to blast yourself through the blocks in
the floor where you can get a yellow box. Go back up and continue to the right
through a barrel blasting section to reach a door.

Here you'll discover some pink balls on tracks along with the enemies. Smack
the pink balls to make them move along the track, and the harder you hit, the
faster they move. They kill enemies along the way as well as breaking open
boxes and destructible blocks so be sure to take good advantage of them while
fighting. Either way, just run to the right breaking a few boxes and smashing
some foes until you reach a ladder. Smack the pink ball to break open some
destructible terrain which was masking a yellow box, and then climb the two
ladders to find another pink ball that destroys some more blocks to reveal a
door. Enter.

In this room, you will just find two boxes with some stickers and Maxim
Tomatoes. Grab them and exit the way you came and then continue to the right
(hit the pink ball to hit that switch to make the platform appear). On that
note, the platform that appears when you hit the switch is the key to sticker
harvesting. Kill all the Goombas on it and then go back through the earlier
door to make them respawn. Repeat as desired for maximum profit. Either way,
you get in a forced fight that ends with you getting a Stock Ball and then get
to go a little more right to a door.

Just ride the platform up in this room, defeating the enemies as they appear.
None of them are too hard, and if you just stay low, the Bullet Bills aren't a
problem. There's a trophy on a ledge on the way up; be sure to grab it. Exit
through the door at the top.

In the last room, avoid the launcher and fall as far left as you can when you
drop down. You will hit some Jyk; don't worry about it and use an air dodge to
keep going right through them. Land on the ledge and enter the door for a
yellow box and some healing. Go back the way you came and drop down to fight
some Goombas, including a few giant ones that require you to jump on them many
times. Slay them all and exit through the door for a tragic scene and to end
the level. Diddy Kong will join your party afterward.

Stage 5: The Plain

Characters available: Pit, Mario
Enemies: Borboras, Primid, Boom Primid, Feyesh, Ticken, Poppant, Spaak, Fire
Primid, Glunder

Again, I really suggest picking Pit over Mario as he has a much easier time
getting around and fighting. Anyway, start off by running to the right as per
usual to meet a new enemy, Borboras. These guys are pretty easy; they don't
attack and just blow wind which slows you down. If you hit them with anything
that doesn't kill them, they start singing and dancing and are pretty much open
to being finished off. You'll also run into some Ticken which are pretty much
nothing but big targets. When you reach a big wall of blocks, break them near
the top and keep breaking upward. On top of the rightmost block off screen
there's a yellow box with a trophy in it. Be sure to grab it! You will enter a
more indoors area where you're supposed to outrun a wall, but it's really easy
to stay ahead of so don't worry. You can hit a box for a trophy on the way, and
the wall will even push it right to you. Either way, you'll come to a shaft
that looks like it's too high to ascend. Mario could wall jump up it, but Pit
can just take all of his jumps and then fly with his up special. Do note that
you hold B to fly up; that's not immediately obvious but is necessary to make
it to the top. Enter the door here.

Inside you'll find stickers, a Heart Container, and a yellow box. Plunder them
all and go back the way you came. Head to the right a little more and exit
through the door. In this last area, you just ride a platform and fight some
enemies. After you're done, you will arrive at the end of the level. Enjoy the
scene I guess.

Stage 6: The Lake

Characters available: Diddy Kong, Fox
Enemies: Rayquaza, Goomba, Paratroopa (green), Hammer Bro, Auroros, Paratroopa
(red), Borboras, Giant Goomba, Towtow, Mite, Bucculus, Bullet Bill, Koopa
(green)

Part 1:

Just kill Rayquaza and move on. Wait, you want advice on how? Well, if I
must...

Rayquaza has a bunch of moves I cover in detail in his write up in the Boss
Battles section so I won't be redundant. For the purpose of this storyline
fight, I really suggest picking Fox and just constantly jumping at him using
forward aerials. If he starts to shoot a blue ball of electricity, throw up
your reflector to bounce it back. If he does tries to swoop in at you from any
direction, just rolling around can avoid it. After he is felled, he'll drop a
nice harvest of stickers you should be sure to collect.

Part 2:

I prefer Diddy Kong here, but it's all apples and oranges. Start off by
entering the door and going right a bit and then entering the door in plain
sight. Head left to find a yellow box, and then go back right and down and
through the door. Jump up and hit the block above you to make some light, and
then jump up on the left to find a blue box with a Maxim Tomato in it. Climb as
far as you can go and go through the door to your left.

Proceed right and into a door, and you'll reach a fun little section. Start by
heading right and taking the door with the up arrow. Once out, head right to
fight some Goombas and break a bomb block. Go back left and through the door
with the down arrow and then head right. Jump up at the first opportunity and
hit the switch to allow you to go onward, but before that head right a bit to
claim a Stock Ball. After that, go back left and enter the normal looking door
with no arrow on it and then immediately enter the next door on the ground,
kill the Towtow, and enter the door that appears then.

The next section just has you riding a raft. Enjoy the ride and kill all who
stand before you, etc. When you see a door, jump up and enter. In here, you
find another Stock Ball and a yellow box. Grab both and exit as you came to
ride the raft some more. Be sure to hit the next yellow box you see floating in
the air if you don't want to have to replay this whole level later to get 100%.
After the raft ride ends, head right for a bit while being sure to hit the blue
box with the two Maxim Tomatoes in it.

After a nice blast through a very odd cannon, you will be in a duel with
Bowser. Of course, after those two Stock Balls, you would be hard pressed to
lose. Given that Diddy and Fox are very fast and Bowser is very slow, this
should be easy anyway. Just beat him like you'd fight an everyday character to
end this level. After a scene, Fox will join your party.

Stage 7: The Ruined Zoo

Characters available: Lucas, Ness, Pokemon Trainer (Squirtle only)
Enemies: Primid, Buckot, Boom Primid, Auroros, Floow, Bytan, Glunder, Borboras,
Ticken, Fire Primid,

Part 1:

In this part, you only have Lucas and must run from the statue. Do not fight
the statue; you cannot damage it. Just keep running until you get to an epic
scene and the boss.

Part 2:

Take your pick between Lucas and Ness. Lucas is strictly better for the boss,
but you won't have Ness again for a long time so you should pick him anyway.
Porky also has a detailed write up in the Boss Battles section, but for the
purposes of the story, you should just not stay too near to him but close
enough to tear him apart with your aerials, back with Ness and down with Lucas.
Both Lucas and Ness would pretty much be committing suicide on the ground so
don't bother. If you feel bold, try jumping on top of him and unloading with
your forward smash. Get the stickers, watch the awful scene that not only robs
you of one of the coolest characters in the game but causes me to ask some
questions about Wario I don't want to be asking. Anyway, I guess we have to
move on to the next part.

Part 3:

I really think Squirtle is better here (Pokemon don't get exhausted in Subspace
Emissary), but use Lucas if you feel like it. You have a long area here in
which you must fight your way to the right. The only really notable thing is
that the Floow enemies make their introduction here; be sure to attack them
very aggressively to prevent them from causing big damage to you. Yes they
constantly heal if not at full health, but they only attack if at full health
so it's a trade off. Enter the building you come across to continue in this
increasingly lengthy level.

In here, head right and kill a massive number of Bytan to open the path
forward. Jump up the platforms to a yellow box continue right after that to a
door which you should enter. Head right here, and just as you reach the end of
the first building, drop down and enter a door to your left. In here you'll
find a yellow box and a blue box with two Maxim Tomatoes. Exit the way you came
and go right through some more fighting to the end of the level though you can
find a blue box with a trophy if you check under the right side of the platform
with the forced fight. After this, Lucas and Pokemon Trainer (Squirtle only)
will join your party, and no, you won't unlock Ness by the Subspace Emissary
method now. You don't unlock Ness until you see him again much, much later in
the story.

Stage 8: The Battlefield Fortress

Characters available: Marth, Meta Knight, Ike
Enemies: Primid, Sword Primid, Armight, Borboras, Roader, Spaak, Scope Primid,
Buckot, Greap, Autolance, Poppant, Feyesh, Fire Primid, Towtow, Nagagog

Part 1:

To start off, this stage is super long. It's the longest stage in the game
other than the last one. However, you get to use Marth who is a fantastically
powerful character; even those who were awful with him in the previous game
should find him a quick and powerful answer to pretty much everything. Start by
running to the right and along the linear path until you see a key right next
to a door. Do the sensible thing and run into the door with the key to unlock
it and continue along that path past the Jyk and into a standard red door. Grab
the Heart Container and the yellow box and then exit and continue left and down
until you have a choice to go up or down. Go down to claim a Stock Ball and
then continue left until you can enter a door. Use any of Marth's long range
moves to hit the switch on the other side of the barricade and then continue
left past the swarms of enemies until you see a scene.

Part 2:

I prefer Marth, but feel free to pick Meta Knight if you want. You just have to
beat a swarm of enemies while a slight wind pushes you left so do that. Late in
the fight you will see a Greap alongside a bunch of enemies; you can simplify
fighting the Greap by luring him to the left edge and just knocking him off.

Afterward you get to run to the left some more so do that. After a forced
fight, you'll come across your first Autolance. Kill it to be rewarded with a
Stock Ball. Continue left a bit more to an auto scrolling section. You'll see a
trophy, sticker, or CD under a ledge here so be sure to grab that! After loads
more of fighting and moving to the left, you'll reach a door you should enter.

Drop down, ride the mine cart (it doesn't matter if you jump out before the
spikes so don't bother) and enter the door. In here ride yet another mine cart
to find a yellow box and a blue box with some stickers. Run back left and go
back through the door and then proceed right. After some more fighting and more
mine carts (since we all know Fire Emblem was renounced for its mine cart
segments), you'll reach a door. Speaking of those mine carts though, do have
the good sense to jump out of them before they go careening into a pit. That
would be a tragic way to die. Once back outside, run right just a bit to
trigger another scene.

Part 3:

Ike has joined your merry band of swordsmen, and you have yet more fighting to
do. I would stick with Marth, but if you crave a new face, feel free to try
Ike. I warn you now that he's super slow and generally really awful when used
in Subspace Emissary since slow and powerful doesn't help against swarms of
weak enemies or in platforming areas. The Nagagog may seem like a serious
threat, but it really isn't. Just pound on it for an easy kill. Just run a bit
more to the right for yet another scene and to finally end this long, long
level. Afterward, Marth, Meta Knight, and Ike join your party, and Marth is
unlocked for normal play. You'll see a scene with Luigi and King Dedede too,
but don't get too excited as you don't get either of them for a very long time.

Stage 9: The Forest

Characters available: Link, Yoshi
Enemies: Primid, Sword Primid, Puppit, Bucculus, Boom Primid, Trowlon, Auroros,
Ticken, Feyesh, Fire Primid, Mite, Shellpod

I prefer Link here, but feel free to use Yoshi if you want. Start off by
running to the right and then drop down between two trees at the first possible </pre><pre id="faqspan-8">
point. Head left to a door, and loot the yellow box and Heart Container. Exit
the room and then continue right, grabbing the blue box near the base of the
last tree after you reach the ground. More running right and more fighting will
get you to a door.

In this area, you'll first meet Trowlons who try to drag you off the top of the
screen but aren't really dangerous at all except on Intense. This is definitely
the best place to go for a Trowlon trophy if post game you don't have one (and
you probably won't) so keep it in mind. Either way, fight your way right for
quite an uneventful while until you reach some blocks you can detonate. Do so
and continue on the lower path to find a yellow box. The last set of exploding
blocks reveals a door you should enter.

Just head right here. There are some pink balls on tracks you can use to make
this really easy, and you can use two in a really obvious ways to pick up a
Stock Ball and some stickers. When you get to the end of the road, hit the
switch to make some platforms, head up, and then use a projectile to hit the
next pink ball to safely break open the path forward. After one more forced
fight, you'll see a scene and end the level. Link and Yoshi join the party now.
You also see a scene with a box, but it's such a clever disguise that you could
never guess that there just might be someone inside.

Stage 10: The Research Facility (left)

Characters available: Zero Suit Samus, Pikachu
Enemies: R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B Blaster, Roturret, Glunder, Bytan, R.O.B.
Launcher, Metal Primid

Part 1:

Get acquainted with your new character, and then exit through the door to the
right. Take the elevator up one level and head right to find a yellow box. Take
the elevator to the highest floor and exit via the door to the right for a
scene.

Part 2:

I prefer Pikachu, but it really doesn't matter too much. Just head right to a
door to find yourself in a rather large room. The first door in here you want
to take is the lower right one. Head right until a fork and head right to find
a key. Then go left and up through a locked door and to another fork. The lower
path is wrong; go up and right to another key, but ignore it and continue right
over a pit to find a yellow box. Make your way back to the key and then back to
the locked door at the fork. Go through, hit the switch, and backtrack to the
large room.

You will probably want to grab the Stock Ball in the upper right corner of the
room before you go any farther, but you need to exit via the door on the middle
right. Here just ride the moving platform, hit the switch, and then backtrack
to the large room. It's pretty simple.

Finally exit the large room via the upper left exit. It's pretty linear for a
while so just press onward through the enemies and the door. You can wall jump
up through the vertical shaft for a Heart Container if you want, but otherwise
you should just press right to the exit. Just be sure to use your projectiles
to destroy the mines (which aren't enemies and can't be snagged with a Trophy
Stand), and don't use projectiles on the Metal Primids who reflect them. They
are generally obnoxious enemies, but powerful multi-hit attacks like Pikachu's
down smash make quick work of them. After you go through the door, you'll be
treated to a scene, and Zero Suit Samus and Pikachu will join your party.

Note: Your party will be shaken up quite a bit after the next stage. You will
lose whichever princess you had, but Mario, Link, and Kirby's groups will be
consolidated. You probably noted that you had seven different groups at this
point; consolidation was inevitable.

Stage 11: The Lake Shore

Characters available: Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby
Enemies: Bombed, Mite, Ticken, Greap, Spaak, Bullet Bill, Bucculus, Shaydas,
Feyesh,

Part 1:

Things start off by Kirby doing a fine job of ensuring you lose your princess;
I hardly even blame Bowser as Kirby just made it too easy for him. Regardless,
before the shadow version of the princess can take out a few characters with
the trophy gun, the opposite group interrupts her. That is, Zelda gets
interrupted by Pit and Mario, and Peach gets interrupted by Link and Yoshi. Of
course, this means a fight. I prefer Pit and Link, but it's just a standard 1v1
brawl so pick whoever your favorite is. You get two stock for this so it's
really easy. Also, just to note, in this fight and the next one there is a walk
off ledge to the left you can abuse with back throws for easy, quick kills.

Part 2:

There's been a bit of a misunderstanding here... Anyway, you now have to fight
the opposite group, and this scene is way cooler if you just fought Zelda.
Seriously, Link's attack on Mario was brutal! It's a 2v2 with the AI taking
whoever you don't pick, and the AI can do most of the work for you even if you
really suck so don't worry about it. Just win the fight for another scene.

Part 3:

It amazes me how little Mario is concerned about Luigi; he seems only worried
about Peach. Of course, no one but Lucas cares about Ness at all, and Lucas
isn't here. Anyway, you have a full group to pick from and then some; you get
to omit a character. Pit and Kirby's amazing aerial abilities really do make
subspace levels in general much easier so I'd give them top nods, and Link's
sword lets him safely tear apart subspace enemies so you should bring him. I
think Yoshi is a bit better than Mario, but in either case, that should be the
last character you pick.

In either case, just fight to the right. Watch out for the Bombed as they can
be pretty tricky; projectiles and careful attacks after they throw their heads
are best. Either way, after a bunch of fighting and a ride, you'll reach a door
you should enter. The next area is an auto scrolling area, but watch out as it
has a yellow box. You'll find it shortly after the area with the falling floor;
be at the front of the screen when the time comes. Otherwise, just enjoy the
simple ride and enter the cave for a scene.

Part 3:

Again, I'd suggest Pit and Kirby first, Link second, and either Yoshi or Mario
last. Just progress along the linear path and through a mine cart to an area
with water. Break the obvious blue box for some food you probably don't need,
and then go right a bit and straight up to be presented with a fork. Keep going
up instead of right and enter the door to your left hidden behind the blocks.
You'll find a yellow box in here as well as a blue one with some stickers. Go
back the way you came and then go right at the fork.

Be careful of the hot pillars as you move right, and when you find a key, use
it on the topmost door. There is nothing but unnecessary pain to get another
key on the other two paths. When a Shaydas attacks you, be sure to stop and
kill it instead of running past as its death will make a door appear. Yes, this
is the only place in the entire game a secret is hidden like this. Either way,
enter the door to find a room with another yellow box as well as a blue box
with a heart container. Exit the way you came and continue right.

From here on, the path is linear. Fight your way through to a door, and go in
to discover a blue box with some stickers and a yellow box right next to the
golden door. After entering, the stage is complete, the parties are
consolidated, and you get to see a few scenes.

Level 12: The Path to the Ruins

Characters available: Lucas, Pokemon Trainer (Squirtle only)
Enemies: Shellpod, Boom Primid, Puppit, Primid, Gamyga, Borboras, Fire Primid,
Armight, Glire, Nagagog, Scope Primid,

Part 1:

Both Lucas and Squirtle are great so you really can't go wrong here; I'd prefer
Squirtle, but the choice is yours. In either case, progress right along the
linear path through some blocks and up an elevator. You'll then encounter two
Gamyga who are quite possibly the most dangerous common subspace enemy. You can
pound on the bases to break them and lower them and then beat up the head, but
a better strategy is to just leap over the one on the right and run onward.
Jump down the third pit out of four to find a door; the other three lead to
death.

This room contains four nooks with items in them (trophies or stickers). Be
sure to loot all four and then exit the way you came. Go back up the pit via
the platforms and then proceed to the right. There's a yellow box in plain
sight here; be sure to grab it. Continue right until you find several things
launching fire from the floor. Just carefully jump past them and use the
switches to temporarily deactivate them. If you're using Lucas, Pk Thunder
helps with this a lot. When you see the Armights and the down arrow, do the
only sensible thing and go up to find a yellow box.

Head down to a fork, and then head left for a stock ball. From here it's
straight linear to the right with plenty of forced fighting and fixed platform
riding thrown in but nothing hidden or particularly interesting. After the
elevator ride up, head left for a blue box with some stickers and then right
for a door, a small amount of extra running to the right, and a scene.

Part 2:

It's time to beat up Wario for what he did to Ness. I prefer Lucas for the
effect, but do whatever you want. You actually get four stock just to fight
Wario; it's nearly impossible to lose. Due to the weird level layout, you'll
either have to kill off the top with an up smash or lure Wario near the sides
to kill him that way. The latter isn't as easy as it sounds as Wario's AI is
stubborn. Either way, victory will remove the threat of Wario for the remainder
of the game and end the level. Unfortunately, Ness is still gone. This makes
Lucas sad, but Pokemon Trainer wants him to cheer up and get ready for his
labor to be exploited a bit more.

Level 13: The Cave

Characters available: Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby
Enemies: Goomba, Paratroopa (red), Hammer Bro, Koopa (green), Paratroopa
(green), Shellpod, Glire, Bullet Bill, Bucculus, Giant Goomba

Evidently digging through the rubble never occurred to anyone; they could have
saved Ness, Luigi, and King Dedede right now. Anyway, follow the standard
course and pick Pit and Kirby first, Link second, and Mario or Yoshi last.
Progress along the linear path while avoiding various fun obstacles such as
falling rocks and ceilings until you've just beaten a group of enemies atop a
ladder. After this you'll have to outrace a bunch of pillars that are just
waiting to give you a crushing death. Right before you get ready to outrun the
third one, stop. Bait it to move and back off to the safe area so you can watch
it pass. This will reveal a path upward to a door. Inside you'll find closing
in walls, a yellow box, and a blue box with stickers. You can always come back
in if you can't get both in one pass, but do get that yellow box. Exit the way
you came and this time race down against the third moving pillar. Do note that
there's a yellow box on the bottommost platform here; be sure to snag that at
the safest opportunity.

Continue along the linear path for a while. You'll see some stone walls coming
at you, but if you just play it safe and jump through the gaps carefully,
you'll be fine. This leads to a door which sends you to a lovely room where you
just have to get a key a short distance to another door. Pit and Kirby can just
fly over, but the other three will have to carefully position themselves to the
left of the dropping spike platform so they can cross the room safely.

The fog here hurts you so hit the switches to dispel it. Either way, this level
is so linear it blows my mind. Just go the only way possible for a ways until
you hit a bit of a fork. Just go low, hit the switch, and then rush through the
upper path. After a bit more forward progress, you might find yourself stumped
by a switch in the middle of a fog. You can just take some damage to run over
and hit it, but a safer plan would be to hit it with a projectile. Yes, the
beam from Kirby's Final Cutter works. More boring linear progress ensues until
you find a switch that opens the path to a door above you. Quickly make your
way into that door as it's a side area.

In here there is a safe yellow box and a dangerous blue box. Grab the yellow
one, and then hit the blue one from the air. Landing on the platform it is on
causes it to crumble, but you should be able to collect a few stickers from the
air if you're precise. Exit the way you came, head right a bit, and go through
the golden door to end this level. The scene here makes a bit more sense if you
rescued Zelda in the beginning; Mario stopping his attack for Peach just seems
far more reasonable.

Level 14: The Ruins

Characters available: Lucas, Pokemon Trainer (Squirtle only at first, Ivysaur
joins midway)
Enemies: Borboras, Floow, Mite, Glire, Roturret, Fire Primid, Metal Primid,
Bytan, Autolance, Armight, Shaydas, Towtow

Part 1:

I prefer Squirtle as usual, but it really doesn't matter too much. This is a
super long level so you'll probably be seeing both before it's over. In either
case, follow the simple path until you reach an area with expanding and
retracting ceilings and floors. Progress through here with caution, and be sure
to carefully grab the trophy off the fleeting ledge next to the Jyk. In either
case, things are simple and uneventful until you reach a blue box with a Stock
Ball in it.

Jump onto the platform to the right to ride through an interesting circular
area where the Roturret in the middle and the Floow try their hardest to make
things hard. Just stay low and fight off the Floow as best you can until you
can get off on the right side. Jump down the shaft here, and hit the switch on
the right. The floor will drop, and you'll discover a door. The other two
switches only lead to danger; don't hit them.

The next section is auto scrolling so I needn't say much. However, there is a
yellow box here that's quite easy to miss. It's on top of the second set of
breakable blocks. Do yourself a favor and break through them near the top to
make sure you get to it. Even if you die grabbing whatever drops, it is worth
it. Be sure to enter the first door you see as you go down the shaft with the
spikes as it's a side area. Grab the two blue boxes for some stickers and a
Heart Container and then exit back the way you came, fall down, and head to the
right for a scene in which you acquire Ivysaur. If you're using Pokemon Trainer
you automatically switch, but you don't get to reselect characters or refresh
stock.

Continue to the right through more linearity and switch hitting that's actually
really simple (just hit all of them and keep running right) until you reach a
Roturret. Kill the Roturret first, and then hit just the right switch to reveal
a door. Doing this wrong can prevent you from being able to find the door so
don't experiment. In here you find a simple room with a Heart Container, a
yellow box, and a blue box with some stickers. Exploit all and go back the way
you came for some more fun running along a linear path to the right to enter a
door.

Part 2:

You get your stock refreshed, but you don't get to reselect characters.
Whatever, just beat Charizard in a 1v1 in which you have four stock. You could
be brain dead and still do this one. After this, the level is over, and Pokemon
Trainer now has all three of his Pokemon.

Level 15: The Wilds (left)

Characters available: Marth, Meta Knight, Ike
Enemies: Scope Primid, Primid, Buckot, Gamyga, Trowlon, Bytan, Roader, Armank,
Auroros, Mite, Towtow, Boom Primid, Big Primid, Bombed, Galleom

Part 1:

I really prefer Marth due to how he's generally good at everything, but Meta
Knight is also solid. Ike's sloth will only make this hard on you, but at least
he kills pretty much everything instantly. Either way, the first part is 100%
linear fighting so just do that until you exit a cave. Climb the ledges to your
left to find a door you should enter. In here, you find a yellow box and a blue
box with some stickers. Exit the way you came and just head right through more
linearity, being sure to grab the incredibly obvious yellow box on the way.
After much fighting, avoiding mines, wind, and auto scrolling, you'll find a
door to enter. On the way, you'll find your first Armank. In order to defeat
these, you must attack the green ball in the center. When the claw comes out,
attack it to force the Armank to reveal the green ball again.

I'm sure this will shock you, but the path is completely linear for a while
with nothing you haven't seen before until you reach some barrel cannons. If
you didn't notice, the level design has been deteriorating for a while. Anyway,
once in the barrel cannons, you can go for the green box with a heart container
by generally navigating left and down at every opportunity. It's really not
hard at all. You need to either make your way to the three barrel junction from
which you can launch yourself right to the door or just generally launch
yourself high enough to fly there with Meta Knight. Enter the door to discover
a yellow box that seems like you need to take a circular path to get to it. Ike
and Meta Knight can actually just use their full set of jumps and up specials
to get up there, but Marth has to take the long route. Either way, exit the way
you came, and avoid the barrel cannons by just hugging the right wall. If you
miss the timing, you just need to stick to the lower and right barrel cannons
to make it onward. Enter the door, enter the next immediately obvious door, and
meet up with a boss.

Part 2:

I again suggest Marth, Meta Knight, and then Ike, but the choice is less big
now since Ike's great power is a real boon here. Marth and Meta Knight should
stay relatively low to Galleom's feet and hack away with their aerials. I
prefer neutral with Marth and forward with Meta Knight, but any will do fine.
Ike should abuse Aether and his aerials in a similar manner (neutral and back
are the fast ones), but anything he does will just rack up massive damage. If
you want to know more about Galleom's attack patterns, read his section in Boss
Battles. He's a pretty easy boss so have fun with him.

Level 16: The Ruined Hall

Characters Available: Lucas, Pokemon Trainer
Enemies: Galleom

Yep, you get to fight him again, but he's way easier. Pick Pokemon Trainer; he
always leads with Charizard. Jump at Galleom and use Rock Smash (forward + B).
Repeat a few times for an easy win. It's your good fortune that Charizard is
the game's ultimate boss killer, and they just happened to give him to you in
time! This is also the whole level. If you ever want to Trophy Stand Galleom,
you know which level to do it in. Also, after this level, Lucas and Pokemon
Trainer will join up with Meta Knight's group which is handy to know if you're
in the mood to replay some levels.

Level 17: The Wilds (right)

Characters available: Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby
Enemies: Shellpod, Feyesh, Bucculus, Borboras, Mite, Armight, Puppit, Ticken,
Nagagog, Trowlon, Scope Primid, Primid, Sword Primid, Greap, Bytan, Spaak,
Roader

This is a really boring level that really had no reason to be in the game.
Anyway, you know what my character suggestions are for this group by now so
keep them in mind. Head right and fight for a while until you reach a moving
pink ball after a Borboras. Destroy what you will, but be mindful of the second
moving shortly thereafter. Destroy the left column of blocks to open the way to
a few stickers which you should quickly grab. Continue to the right until you
find some elevators. Just move the middle one upward, move off of it, and then
leap down where it used to be. Watch out for crushing deaths! Enter the door,
grab the yellow box and blue box with a Maxim Tomato, exit the way you came,
and take the left elevator this time. Fight right a bit to a door you should
enter.

Ride a platform and follow a linear path for a while until you are riding a
moving platform and see another one. Switch platforms as sticking to the first
one is a fatal mistake. Continue along the linearity until you hit a fork
(gasp, non-linearity!) and go left to find a yellow box. Then head right to end
this very dull level. If you think I was overly minimal in my descriptions, try
not getting hit, avoiding the spikes, and not letting the wind mess you up.
There are only so many ways I can say "run on one path and don't die".

Level 18: The Swamp

Characters available: Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco
Enemies: Goomba, Koopa (green), Paratroopa (green), Hammer Bro, Puppit, Bullet
Bill, Poppant, Floow, Paratroopa (red), Borboras, Feyesh, Boom Primid, Giant
Goomba

Part 1:

Okay, this level is more fun than the last one largely because you get a new
character here. I suggest leading with Diddy Kong, but it's not all that
important. Anyway, start off with some linear progression to the right. When
you see the first leaf in the updraft, jump into the pit and fall to the right
to find a yellow box. Break to the right and follow a linear path to a door.

Head to the right some more along a linear path until you see a blue box. You
have to jump down and use either the forward or up special of your character to
get there; in both cases, I find forward easier and more stylish. It contains a
Heart Container which you might not need, but will your pride let you pass it
up?  Continue along the linear path, fight some more, grab the stock ball,
continue some more, and enter the first door you see. Grab the two obvious
Maxim Tomatoes in the blue box, and then jump up in the wind to find a yellow
box in the upper-left corner of the room. Go back the way you came and follow
the linear path to a door and a scene.

Part 2:

The good news is that Falco has joined your merry band. The bad news is that
you have a giant shadow Diddy to take down. This thing is HARD. It's probably
the single hardest fight in the game, and I'm not even joking. I suggest
leading off with Fox, then Diddy, and then Falco. Fox is the best at killing
this thing so you'll want him to be the character you use twice. Just stay
relatively low to the ground and pound on it with aerials. Rely on your shield
as this thing hits super hard and kills you really easily. Spend your first
three stock racking up damage, and then when you get Fox back on the last
stock, try to take it out with an up smash. It had to be at over 400% for me to
be able to kill it off the top this way, seriously.

Part 3:

I like Diddy Kong more than the space animals, but take who you will as the
worst is over. The first room is a long, linear, and super easy area so just
plow through it. In the second area, continue right until you find a Borboras
and a Paratroopa (red). Use the springs here to launch up high and get a yellow
box. The blue box you see soon afterward contains a Stock Ball so be sure to
grab it. After you break through some blocks, drop down to find a door with a
blue box containing stickers, a Heart Container, and a trophy hidden inside
some blocks (there's a bomb block underwater). Loot everything, go back, and
follow the linear path to the right to a door.

In the last area, you just have to move to the right, and there are no secrets.
However, be careful as sometimes nasty barbed plants will shoot out of the
water at you. If you watch the water, you can see them coming so avoid them.
Exit via the golden door to end the level. Falco not only joins your party now,
but he's unlocked for standard play as well.

Level 19: The Research Facility (right)

Characters available: Zero Suit Samus/Samus, Pikachu
Enemies: R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B. Blaster, Glice, Sword Primid, Roader, Buckot,
R.O.B. Launcher, Cymul, Autolance, Roturret, Primid, Scope Primid, Ridley

Part 1:

This level is nothing special, but at least you get to fight another boss at
the end of it. I suggest picking Pikachu, but Zero Suit Samus is fine as well.
Anyway, the platforms move away when the lights are off and contract when the
lights are on so keep the lights off unless you need to move platforms.
Otherwise just progress to the right until you come to a ladder. Here, hit a
switch and rush down the ladder to enter a door on your left. If you are too
slow, the platforms will be in the way, and you won't see the door. The door
leads to a side area where you find another yellow box and a Heart Container.
Snag both, leave the way you came, and then take the door to the right to
progress. Fight your way through another hallway to a door that leads to a
scene.

Part 2:

Evidently the Shadow Bugs can even copy an empty Power Suit. That's really
fair. Anyway, I would take Zero Suit Samus just to suit the mood, but it's just
a 2v1 fight so you should be fine either way. You get a whopping four stock so
there's no real need to be worried; you can fight like garbage and still win.
Either way, after you win, Zero Suit Samus puts her clothes back on, and you
get to move on.

Part 3:

Despite all the effort you went through to get Samus, I still prefer Pikachu.
Does that make me a bad person? Anyway, progress along the linear path until
you encounter a large number of blocks you need to break. Break downward on the
left side to find a trophy hidden in that mess. Either way, other than that
little easter egg, this room is just linear progress to the right so follow the
set path to the door. If the moving platforms prove hard for you, I suggest you
ignore the switches on the side and just jump while they're moving. Stopping
them by hitting the switches actually makes this harder.

This next room is incredibly obnoxious. Start by hitting the switch and riding
the platform to the next ledge. Climb up the ladder, hit another switch, and
ride the platform on the right, but be sure to jump off when the screen locks.
After winning the fight and claim the Stock Ball, head to the right, jump on
the platform, and then jump off again at the first ledge on your left. Destroy
the blocks and walk left to a door. Inside you'll find a nasty side room with a
yellow box at the far end of it. Use projectiles to stop the blocks and quickly
move over them. Expect to take some hits, but the yellow box is worth it. Exit
the way you came, climb the ladder to the right, hit the switch, and get ready
to jump on that platform again.

Read ahead and understand what's about to come well. Jump on the platform to
your right, ride it, and jump on the first platform to your left. Now ride it
until it starts moving upward and then go to the platform on your left. Almost
immediately after hitting that one, you need to jump to the left to yet another
platform that will pass under the door you need to enter. If you ever feel the
need to replay this level (and if you want the boss trophy, you probably will),
I strongly suggest you use Pit or R.O.B. and just abuse their flight here.

In the next room, enter the lower warp (which is just a fancy looking door when
you get down to it). Win the fight, continue to the right, go up the next room
to another warp, and then ride left past the first warp to a second one. Hit
the switch, and then backtrack to the warp you passed up and take it. You'll
drop down a shaft and land right next to a yellow box you should plunder. Exit
via the warp to the left, take the door, grab the Heart Containers from the
blue box, and get ready for a boss.

Part 4:

That was a pretty cool scene, was it not? We can only speculate that Pikachu
knows Hidden Power Ice if he's so confident in taking on a draconic foe.
Anyway, Ridley is really easy with either character. With Pikachu, you just
hover off the ledge to a bit on either end and hit Ridley in the back with
aerials, especially the back air which does great damage. With Samus, you can
do the same, but it's also plausible to sit back and spam Super Missiles which
will make you think you are playing a Metroid game. The Boss Battles section
has more tips if you need them, but don't worry, Ridley is a very easy boss.
After this level, Samus will "join" the party, but she's really just a
transformation for Zero Suit Samus who you had all along. If you want to start
levels with Zero Suit Samus, you can use the c-stick while hovering over
Samus's icon. The same trick can be used to start with Sheik and the Pokemon
Trainer's different Pokemon when applicable.

Also, as a public service announcement, I'm going to say that if you have a
heart condition or general aversity to awesomeness, you shouldn't watch the cut
scene that plays at the start of the next level.

Level 20: Outside the Ancient Ruins

Characters available: Captain Falcon, Olimar, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong
Enemies: R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B. Launcher, Shellpod, R.O.B. Blaster, Roader,
Gamyga, Auroros, Primid, Scope Primid, Sword Primid, Trowlon, Bombed, Shaydas,
Spaak, Metal Primid,

Part 1:

Okay, after you recover from the sheer joy that scene doubtless brought you,
you have to pick a character. I strongly recommend Captain Falcon, and it's not
just because he's awesome and manly (though he is). Olimar just isn't any good
in Subspace. He has plenty of attacks that are designed to do quick and
surprisingly powerful damage, but he really has a hard time pushing dangerous
enemies away from him. In a standard brawl, you might try something like a
throw, but in Subspace, you need relatively strong, sweeping attacks which
Olimar simply doesn't have. Also, Captain Falcon's knee is much easier to sweet
spot in Subspace than in regular play due to the size of so many of the enemies
so have fun with that.

Anyway, run right a bit, drop through the obvious drop through ledge, and enter
the door. Grab the falling trophy before it is lost to the pit, but you can
always just exit and re-enter the room if you need another chance. Anyway, work
your way back up to the ledge you fell through, go to the right, and break the
blue box for a trophy that evidently can only be found from that particular
blue box. I don't get why it's that way either, but just take it and move on.
When you see some breakable blocks, don't break them and instead climb up for a
door that leads to a side room with two yellow boxes and a trophy. Either way,
get back on track and go right just a little bit more for a odor that leads to
a scene.

Part 2:

This whole circumstance happened because Captain Falcon saw a monkey with a gun
flying around shooting stuff and wanted to show us his moves. Anyway, character
choice is largely player preference. Captain Falcon is not only awesome, but
his speed and knee will let you quickly rack up kills. Diddy Kong should be
very familiar to players by now which is a plus, and his all around attack
speed outdoes even Captain Falcon's. Donkey Kong's ground pound and general
power will also be handy; just don't pick Olimar. Don't worry about killing the
Trowlon here either; they are counted as dead so long as you avoid them. this
ends the level; if you want a fun challenge, go back and do it only with Falcon
Punch.

After clearing this level, Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon, and Olimar join your
party. As you might have guessed, Captain Falcon is unlocked for standard play
as well. As you probably didn't guess, you lose access to Fox and Falco. I
really don't get why, but most people probably won't be replaying stages before
they get them back so it probably doesn't matter.

Level 21: The Glacial Peak

Characters available: Meta Knight, Ice Climbers, Lucario
Enemies: Primid, Shellpod, Boom Primid, Bucculus, Poppant, Ticken, Floow, Sword
Primid, Metal Primid, Glice, Shaydas, Towtow, Spaak

Part 1:

Thanks for the distraction Fox. Anyway, I suggest Meta Knight here. I know the
Ice Climbers are super cool and ridiculously powerful, but they have two big
problems in this mode. For one, Nana getting separated from Popo is more likely
and more catastrophic when you are fighting large numbers of enemies at once.
For two, their triple jump automatically separates them so they move upward at
a fairly plodding pace. That's pretty awful considering this entire level is
vertical. Oh, did I mention this entire level is vertical? It's pretty cool and
refreshing compared to everything before it.

Start off by going up and fighting your way through the dangers. You'll notice
that at every level with a flag there's a solid line of platform you cannot
fall back through so don't leave anything behind. When you see a blue box in an
alcove that looks like a nice, free item, watch out. Spikes come out of the
wall to the right to crush you when you break the box full of stickers so be
ready to grab them quickly and then flee. Otherwise, there's nothing notable
until the door.

In the second room, you mostly ride up a platform at a constant speed. There's
not much to say other than to watch out for a yellow box near the top. You'll
see a nook on the right side of the screen that is occasionally crushed by a
wall of ice. There's a yellow box inside you won't want to miss! Generally
staying near the top makes this easy, and don't stall around once you reach the
top with the Metal Primids as a wall of spikes will crush you.

In the third area, hop in the barrel cannon and influence to the right. There's
a door behind some blocks here with another yellow box. After grabbing that,
retreat to the barrel cannon and influence left so you can get on a nice,
linear path up. When things get windy, look out for a door on the right.
Inside, there's a nice puzzle. You need to get to the right side, but you can't
sink that far in the water. The trick is to grab one of the metal boxes, jump
in, and use the extra weight to bob under the icicle. You still float when
metallic (against all logic) so be quick about it. Also, don't miss the
stickers in the nook in the icicle here; they're non-obvious. After snagging
the yellow box at the top of this room, get back outside and climb to the
summit of the mountain to enter a door for a scene.

Part 2:

Lucario is supposed to be able to tell who is on his side so why does he want
to fight Meta Knight? Anyway, you get to pick which side you are on, and it
really doesn't matter too much. However, be warned that this gives you a
different scene after you win depending on which you pick so if you're on a
second playthrough, pick whoever you didn't pick the first time. It's just
another one on one fight in which the game insults your playing ability by
giving you many stock. In this case, you have three. Win the fight to end the
level. Afterward, Lucario and the Ice Climbers join your party, and Lucario is
unlocked for standard play. Also, Meta Knight is a jerk for just abandoning the
Ice Climbers.

Level 22: The Canyon

Characters available: Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby
Enemies: Primid, Boom Primid, Armight, Feyesh, Big Primid, Fire Primid, Puppit,
Glire, Roturret

This level doesn't follow my usual suggestions with this team as this is
nothing but a fight against a bunch of enemies. This is the shortest non-boss
level in the game so just go to town. I think Link is the best for beating
subspace enemies in this group, and I'd really suggest leaving Mario behind.
However, it's all up to you; just win the fight. After this fight, Mario's
group merges with Marth's group.

Level 23: Battleship Halberd Interior

Characters available: Snake, Meta Knight, Lucario
Enemies: Primid, Scope Primid, Sword Primid, Bytan, Armight, Cymul, Floow, Fire
Primid, Glire, Mite, Shaydas, Autolance, Buckot, Roader, Bombed, Nagagog, Metal
Primid, Towtow

Part 1:

Take a moment to get used to Snake as he's a very different character. Notice
that you are going to have to fight mostly with tilts instead of smashes which
will be new for you. Once you're done with that, head through the door. The
next room is linear, but watch out when you see some falling blocks next to a
ladder. Hidden behind the leftmost of those blocks is a switch that reveals a
hidden door. Within you'll find a blue box with stickers and a yellow box. Get
back on track, progress to the right a bit, and go through the door for a
scene.

Part 2:

I guess Lucario is a genius if he saw through Snake's clever disguise. Anyway,
I suggest either Lucario or Meta Knight over Snake for their quicker attacks,
but do whatever you want. You will find yourself in a huge room with many
paths. The goal is to hit switch in all the side areas to open a ladder down
below. There are two Maxim Tomatoes in the middle to heal after the fighting in
the side areas; use them as you need them. I'll cover the areas clockwise
starting from the upper-right. Just head right and destroy the Bytan generator
to reveal a switch. Hit it to complete this wing. In the lower-right wing, the
generator is a Floow generator but otherwise the same story applies. After
hitting that switch, head right instead of back to the center to find a jump
through wall behind some breakable blocks that leads to a door. You don't get a
switch for destroying the Glire generator in here, but there is a yellow box in
the upper-left corner so you'll want that.

Return to the main room and go to the lower-left alcove. This time the
generator is Mites so destroy them and hit the switch to open the path forward.
There's a path off to the left that leads to a blue box with some stickers so
go there if you feel like it. Either way, head down the ladder from the main
room to discover another yellow box and a door to the next area. The next room
is just a fight so win to make the door appear and press forward. The room
after is a straight linear path so just push through it to another door.

In this fun room, you have to kill all the enemies. There's a Bombed right in
front of you when you start so be sure to kill it. The next enemy is a Primid
right up the ladder, and you can head down at the fork to discover a Nagagog.
Continuing on this lower path leads to a Metal Primid after which you must
return to the fork. Heading up from the fork reveals a Cymul and a yellow box
in the upper-right. In the upper-left, there's a Towtow which is the last enemy
in the room. After killing them all, return near the entrance to discover the
path to the door open. The door leads to a scene.

Part 3:

It's a 2v1 fight with shadow princesses! I guess the game designers figured
they'd already made these costumes for the earlier stage so they might as well
reuse them. Anyway, since it's just a fight, pick whoever you are most
comfortable with. You get four stock so you will easily win. After the fight,
the level ends. Snake tells the women to mind their place and stay behind.
While he's at it, Snake joins your party. He's even unlocked for standard play.

Level 24: Battleship Halberd Exterior

Characters available: Peach, Sheik
Enemies: Mite, Scope Primid, Primid, Greap, Puppit, Feyesh, Buckot

Snake said for Zelda to stay put, but he didn't say anything about Sheik! As
per Peach, well, no one ever accused her of being a genius; she probably forgot
what Snake said. Anyway, I suggest picking Peach here. Her floating is
ridiculously useful for the platforming; she really makes this much easier. The
very first room is nothing but floating to the right against the wind; have fun
actually timing jumps with Sheik if you picked her (if you want a real
challenge, switch to Zelda).

The second room has a ton of mines; watch out. I suggest using turnips or
needles to break the mines from a safe distance, but don't just go destroying
every mine. Heading straight right from the start, the fourth mine you see is
very important. Notice right above it there's a crack. This hides a yellow box
which is very easy to miss; detonate the mine near the crack to get the prize.
If you can't manage to hit it with a projectile up there, just jump at it and
take the hit. Anyway, there are a few blue boxes at the peak of the upward path
you passed by, but you can just head right though some platforming that
floating makes much easier to the door that ends the room. The blue box you run
under has a stock ball so you might want to grab that. The room thereafter is
just a straight run to the next door. Enjoy seeing non-shadow versions of
various enemies, but you can't actually interact with them in any way.

The next room is a fight followed by a run to the right. Other than the Greap
which is very difficult to avoid taking massive damage from (don't spend any
time at all on those ledges above him), there's nothing really notable to say
about it. The last room is just like the first room insofar as it's an easy
float to the right, but watch out as if you stay high you will see a ledge to
the left with a yellow box on it. Be sure not to miss it; the stage ends
automatically when you make it to the deck of the Halberd. Peach reveals what
an airhead she is in a rather amusing scene, both princesses join your party,
and you regain access to Fox.

Level 25: Battleship Halberd Bridge

Characters available: Peach, Sheik, Fox, Falco, Lucario, Snake
Enemies: Duon

It's just a boss fight, but Duon is no joke. You will definitely want Fox; he's
a great boss fighter all around. I suggest bringing Sheik as well so you can
transform into the powerful Zelda; her forward and back aerials do a lot of
damage to an easy target like Duon. Likewise, I'd really suggest against Snake;
his array of slow attacks really do nothing for him here. Lucario will probably
be doing more damage than Peach and Falco so I'd give him a nod, but between
the remaining three it's largely preference. With Duon, you really have to be
trying to do damage as quickly as possible as he's very difficult to avoid for
long periods of time. Try to weave back after striking with aerials so you are
less likely to get caught in his spin. For more detailed information about
Duon, check out his section in the Boss Battles section.

After this level, Mr. Game & Watch joins your party and is unlocked in all
modes of play. As an aside, if you read the trophies pertaining to Subspace
Emissary, you discover all of the enemies are actually made from the LCD fluid
extracted from Mr. Game & Watch. Given the obvious mass of all of them and that
this extraction seems to have had a negligible effect on Mr. Game & Watch, we
can only wonder why he is so light in battle and why everyone around him
doesn't get pulled in by his massive gravitational field. Anyway, in terms of
other gameplay related things, Meta Knight's group is united with Peach's
group, and you regain access to Falco.

Level 26: The Subspace Bomb Factory (top)

Characters available: Samus, Pikachu
Enemies: R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B. Blaster, Shaydas, Glunder, Sword Primid, R.O.B.
Launcher, Borboras, Roturret, Bombed, Big Primid, Armank, Nagagog

This is a really short level if you follow the right path. Of course, I'll tell
you where to go to get the yellow boxes and such and otherwise guide you
straight to the end. Start by going down three floors and heading left to a
door. Enter this door, win the fight, snag the yellow box, and go back to the
elevator. Take it to the bottom floor and head right to another elevator. Take
this up two levels and head left. Hit the switch behind the boxes to make a
door appear. Inside, you'll find an Armank that drops a trophy when beaten.
Return to the elevator, go to the top floor, and head left. Kill all the R.O.B.
and enter the door. In here, you must wall jump up the right side to reach a
yellow box. After that, return to the elevator, go down three floors, and head
through the door to the right. After a bit more fighting on the path to the
right, the level will end.

Level 27: The Subspace Bomb Factory (bottom)

Characters available: Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Samus,
Pikachu, R.O.B.
Enemies: R.O.B. Sentry, Cymul, Autolance, R.O.B. Launcher, Metal Primid,
Buckot, Floow, Armight, Mite, Poppant, R.O.B. Blaster, Bytan, Fire Primid,
Primid, Auroros, Ticken, Scope Primid, Sword Primid, Nagagog, Armank, Meta
Ridley

Part 1:

First of all I should warn you that there's a secret area in this part that
Donkey Kong and Olimar simply can't get to so you should lead with Diddy and
Captain Falcon. Both are great so which one is up to you. Of course, if you
plan on dying a lot, you might want to lead with the characters who can't reach
it...

Start by fighting to the right until the screen begins auto scrolling after a
forced fight. Now, when you jump to the next set of rotation platforms, watch
out. The platform behind the one you jump to on this rotation has a door you
need to enter. Inside you'll find two blue boxes with health and stickers, but
the real prize is to be had by jumping on the spring and attacking at the peak
of the jump. This breaks an off-screen yellow box to reveal its precious
contents. Exit the way you came and continue on the auto scrolling ride until
you go through another door. In here, proceed to the right until you reach a
ladder. If you are finding the dropping spikes difficult, shield them as they
come down on top of you and roll to the right for a cheesy way past.

There are three ways to go here. Just in case you're running low on stock, I'll
cover the one with the character specific secret first. Head down the ladder
and go left. Defeat the enemies to make a Stock Ball appear and continue left.
Hit the blue switch and pay heed to the shaft to your left. Donkey Kong and
Olimar can't do anything, but Captain Falcon and Diddy can use wall jumps and
their triple jumps to ascend it to a door. Once inside, use wall jumps to get
up to the bomb at the top to break all the blocks. This will reveal a blue box
with a trophy and a yellow box. Exit the way you came and return to the ladder,
this time heading right. Hit the green switch at the end of this path and then
return to the top of the ladder. Go up, hit the red switch, quickly retreat
down past the collapsing spike ceiling, and then go through the door you just
opened.

Head right along the only path until you reach a ladder. Climb it to hit a
switch that makes the path forward easy, but don't take it and go left along
this top route instead. Up here, you will find another yellow box. After
obtaining it, get back to the ground and head right to where you'll see one of
those launch pads on the ground. Don't touch it unless you like taking damage;
carefully hop over it, hit the switch, and run right to an elevator. Head up to
the top, go left to find a bunch of breakable boxes, break the farthest one to
unveil a key, and take the key right as far as you can go through a locked door
to a scene.

Part 2:

This would be more tragic if you didn't just get a ridiculously good party
member. I might go so far as to say R.O.B. is the best character for the
Subspace Emissary. Speaking of R.O.B., I strongly recommend picking him to get
acquainted with him and his awesomeness. I like to bring Captain Falcon, Diddy,
and Pikachu along for support in this fight, but really it's all about who you
like fighting with most. For those unfamiliar with R.O.B., he can literally fly
with his up special (limited time obviously) and kills pretty much everything
with his amazing down smash. In the air, you can dice up enemies pretty
efficiently with his forward air and up air, and yes he can attack out of his
up special. Anyway, win the fight for another scene.

Part 3:

Captain Falcon has a plan evidently. Anyway, you'll mostly be stuck in downward
auto scrolling here so falling and running quickly are more valuable than
usual. That means that Captain Falcon, Diddy, and Pikachu are best, but
R.O.B.'s ability to fly and easily kill everything is still useful. There's
really not much to say about the auto scrolling other than the obvious advice
that you should stay near the front of the movement so you don't make any dumb
mistakes. When freefalling, avoid the purple platforms which will quickly lift
you upward and make your way to the door at the bottom. In the next room, try
to avoid the platforms to prevent the mines from hitting you. The bottom
platform is very difficult to avoid; you probably want to try to roll past that
mine or just shield it (R.O.B.'s amazing roll makes it easy to get past;
someone like Samus probably wants to shield). Watch out when the auto scrolling
continues. After going down the two ladders, there's a trophy on the ground in
the right corner. This is very easy to miss given the enemies pouring out of
the generator so be quick about snagging it. After that, it's a straight shot
to a door which leads to some healing and then a boss.

Part 4:

Don't you love Captain Falcon? Evidently he can summon his ship by yelling for
it. Anyway, time to pick a party for Meta Ridley. R.O.B. is a great choice due
to his potent up air, and Captain Falcon can easily land knee after knee on
Meta Ridley while simultaneously raising questions about who is piloting the
ship. DK and Olimar will do massive damage to Meta Ridley thanks to their
power, and Samus and Pikachu have some nice, strong multihitting aerials. Diddy
at least has good aerial mobility. I guess I just recommended everyone, but you
know who you want to use anyway. Anyway, just stay in the air next to him and
hit him over and over again. Don't sit on the ship; that's a foolish choice.
Whenever he does anything suspicious at all really, just jump as it's pretty
much always safe. If he latches onto the ship, just pummel him to make him let
go before he can do anything actually bad. If you need more tips, feel free to
check out his section in Boss Battles. After the nice scene that concludes the
level, R.O.B. will join your party and be unlocked in standard play, and all
groups will unite. Something exciting must be about to happen!

If you come back to trophy stand him, you will probably find him a real pain.
The trick is to wait until he hovers over the platform for whatever reason </pre><pre id="faqspan-9">
(usually his rapid bullet attack) and to throw it then. Don't worry about the
time limit at all; dying and having to redo the fight is way better than
killing Meta Ridley without turning him into a trophy and having to redo the
stage.

Level 28: Entrance to Subspace

Characters available: 4 from the party
Enemies: Primid, Boom Primid, Floow, Metal Primid, Borboras, Spaak, Fire
Primid, Armank, Greap, Big Primid

This level is pretty much all fighting so pick whoever your favorites are.
However, I should mention that just because this is your first chance to use
him doesn't mean you should neglect Mr. Game & Watch. He's a great character
who can easily massacre hordes of subspaces enemies with his amazing down smash
and aerials. I also should iterate that you can use the c-stick to pick Zero
Suit Samus, Sheik, and Pokemon Trainer's specific Pokemon if you want to; that
could be very handy if you want those characters. If you're a really big fan of
my character suggestions, you might want to know that I picked Mr. Game &
Watch, R.O.B., Lucas, and Marth. Anyway, this level is just a linear fight to
the right; there's really nothing to say about it at all other than to note
that there's a trophy in the auto scrolling section after the Borboras. After
the level is complete, enjoy the light show that results in you losing your
entire party.

Level 29: Subspace (left)

Characters available: Ness, Luigi, King Dedede
Enemies: Bombed, Glice, Feyesh, Towtow, Poppant, Trowlon, Big Primid, Bytan,
Mite, Roader, Puppit

Part 1:

When the A team fails, the B team has to step up. We know this is the B team
because Luigi is on it, of course. Anyway, Ness's "sparkle" attacks are really
effective here, but really, all three characters are great choices. Pick
whoever you feel like exploring and set out to rescue the rest of the party.
Start by running to the right until you come to a door with the Samus trophy
above it. Grabbing these trophies is how you get characters back into the party
so be sure to get them all. Head through the door after reclaiming Samus and
progress upward to another door which you should enter. Inside you'll find Pit,
Falco, and a yellow box. Get back on the main path and make your way to the top
to find Lucas and a door you should enter. Go left at the start of the new room
to find the commonly missed Ike and your path upward. Donkey Kong is in plain
sight up here so be sure to grab him. Head left, break the blocks, and enter
the door.

Grab Pokemon Trainer out of plain sight here and head left. You'll see Pikachu
in a very precarious position. You need to detonate that block, grab Pikachu,
and run very quickly back to the door. You will probably just die grabbing
Pikachu, but it's worth it. Take the death if you have to, but get that trophy.
Back on the main path, continue along until you see the Marth trophy in plain
sight. From getting Marth, drop down and head left to a door. Use projectiles
to destroy the absurd number of mines and snag the Olimar and Fox trophies
before heading back out of this room. Head right a little more and go through
the door.

Jump across the falling blocks to another door, but don't go in. Jump down and
do a running attack to plow through the blocks to open the way to the Mr. Game
& Watch trophy. Go back up to the previous platform and enter the door for an
auto scrolling section. Immediately hop up to the platform above you to grab
the Diddy Kong trophy, run right to the Captain Falcon trophy, and enter the
door. If you miss either trophy, don't worry as the room loops in circles. From
here, grab the Mario trophy and continue along the linear path to a door and a
scene.

Part 2:

Whoever would have figured Bowser wouldn't want to join your party? Anyway,
it's a 1v1 where you have three stock so this should be easy. Just show him
that that false king penguins with giant hammers are better than overgrown fire
breathing idiot turtles. After winning this fight, the stage ends. Ness, Luigi,
King Dedede, Bowser, and all characters you rescued join your party.
Additionally, Ness and Luigi are unlocked for standard play.

Level 30: Subspace (right)

Characters available: Kirby, Kirby, and more Kirby
Enemies: Bombed, Scope Feyesh, Feyesh, Sword Primid, Bucculus, Fire Primid,
Spaak, Armight, Autolance, Primid, Shellpod, Glire, Ticken, Auroros, Bytan,
Roturret, Gamyga

I don't get why there's a Kirby only stage at this point in the game; haven't
we had enough of Kirby for one game? Anyway, float up at the start to find the
Peach trophy. Use Kirby's Final Cutter to detonate the mines, run forward, and
grab the Zelda trophy. Ahead a bit, the Meta Knight trophy is in plain if
difficult to get to sight, and down below him is a yellow box. Head right some
more to a door and enter.

Break through the blocks below you and grab the obvious Link trophy. Break
through the blocks on the left, fall through, and grab the Yoshi trophy. Break
through on the left to find the Lucario trophy and continue down. Win a fight
for a Stock Ball and go through the auto scrolling to the right. After plenty
of fighting and moving to the right, you'll find the R.O.B. trophy and the
door. Continue to the right along the top path until you come across the Ice
Climbers trophy. Smash the blocks, grab the trophy, and drop down to the lower
path. Run to the right there to a yellow box, grab the contents, and work your
way up to the path forward. Smash the blocks with the ridiculously circular
block breaking ball to get the Snake trophy. After a very obnoxious forced
fight with a Gamyga, run right to grab the Wario trophy, head right, and go
through the door. Assuming you didn't miss Link or Zelda, Ganondorf joins here.
Additionally, Kirby and all the characters you rescued join your party,
including Wario who was new. That means you've gotten everyone you've seen so
far in the game in your party!

Level 31: The Great Maze

Characters available: the party

Before I list enemies, I'm going to tell you how the Great Maze works. The
Great Maze is just about what you'd expect from this name. It's a giant maze in
which you can actually view a map when you pause. The areas are all just
rehashes of previous areas, and you have to find out of this shadow versions of
all the characters you have (or don't have if you didn't rescue everyone) as
well as all of the bosses over again. There are several save rooms you can use
to save and heal at least. A few of the save rooms are alternate entrances to
the level as well. I'll be listing enemies by the area they are similar to so
if you want to use this place for trophy stands, the list will be of some use
to you.

Enemies (Skyworld): Goomba, Primid, Koopa (green), Glunder, Scope Primid,
Trowlon, Poppant, Giant Goomba, Greap
Enemies (Forest): Puppit, Shellpod, Primid, Auroros, Boom Primid, Nagagog,
Armight, Buckot, Roader, Borboras, Gamyga
Enemies (Battleship Halberd): Scope Primid, Buckot, Primid, Sword Primid,
Bytan, Fire Primid
Enemies (Zoo): Buckot, Ticken, Fire Primid, Roturret, Primid, Feyesh, Scope
Primid, Bytan, Metal Primid, Towtow, Auroros, Gamyga
Enemies (Jungle): Mite
Enemies (Olimar's level): Ticken, Towtow, Shellpod, Auroros, Gamyga
Enemies (Lake): Cymul, Hammer Bro, Paratroopa (green), Bytan, Bucculus
Enemies (Research Facility): Sword Primid, Primid, Scope Primid, Fire Primid,
Cymul, Big Primid, Bytan, Feyesh, Buckot, Mite, Borboras
Enemies (Cave): Glire, Goomba, Hammer Bro, Paratroopa (green), Bullet Bill,
Koopa (green), Bytan
Enemies (Swamp): Puppit, Feyesh, Shellpod, Cymul, Hammer Bro, Buckot, Poppant,
Autolance
Enemies (Wilds): Big Primid, Buckot, Auroros, Gamyga, Hammer Bro, Bucculus,
Roturret, Trowlon, Sword Primid, Bombed, Nagagog, Scope Primid, Floow, Armight,
Borboras
Enemies (Ruins): Floow, Roturret, Mite, Borboras, Shaydas, Roader, Scope
Primid, Primid
Enemies (Lake Shore): Armank
Enemies (The Path to the Ruins): Roturret, Puppit, Borboras, Mite, Sword
Primid, Primid, Big Primid
Enemies (Glacial Peak): Scope Primid, Ticken, Glice, Feyesh, Spaak
Enemies (Battlefield Fortress): Mite, Towtow, Fire Primid, Autolance, Borboras,
Big Primid, Armight, Metal Primid, Glice
Enemies (Center of the Great Maze): Tabuu

Part 1:

Pick whoever your favorites are by this point, but be sure to bring Charizard
along for the bosses if you get into a tight spot. Go through the door at the
start to find yourself right in the fight with Petey Piranha. After winning,
you can head back and heal if you need to, but otherwise head through the door
and go left. Enter the shadow door to find the shadow Pit. Ascend this area to
find a yellow box and then go back to the door that leads to the arena.
Continue to the right and go through the door. Head right to a door with shadow
Kirby and then left and up to a yellow box. Continue up along a purple cloud to
a door in which you will fight shadow Link.

Head right a bit to a save point which will heal you which you probably need.
Head right a bit more to a door, destroy the blocks, and head back the way you
came. Grab the yellow box and go back through the door yet again and progress
right. Go in the second door you see, break only the right column of blocks,
and head back through the door. Head right to another door and enter it. Break
through two blocks deep where the blocks are thick, head back through the door,
and then head to the right. Break the bomb block, return back through the door,
and head right to a shadow door in which you will find shadow Yoshi. After
this, backtrack to the normal looking door you saw next to the bomb block you
broke earlier and go through it.

Head right for a ways until you find a yellow box. Continue right to a door
which contains the shadow Diddy and then to a big junction room. The middle is
a save point I suggest using. From here, enter the upper right door to fight
Duon. Run right here to a door which contains the shadow Meta Knight. Head left
here staying low until you find a yellow box. Go all the way to the left here
to fight the shadow Ness. Retreat to the right a bit until you find a door
under a ledge and enter.

Run left and enter the first door for a save point. Continue heading left to a
door and then farther left to a shadow door with Porky. Defeating him drops you
back in the forest section from which you should run right back to the save
point in the junction. Take the top right path again, but this time go down
instead of right. Go down here and take the left route down a ladder at the
fork to ultimate reach a shadow door with shadow Snake. Go back to the fork and
take the right ladder down to an obvious yellow box and a door you need to
enter. Head right to a save point and then take the elevator down one level,
drop down the shaft, and grab the key to your left. Take the elevator back up,
go through the locked door to your left, break some bombable blocks, and enter
the shadow door to fight shadow Mr. Game & Watch. After winning, backtrack all
the way to the save point at the big junction.

This time take the lower right door. Drop all the way down to the bottom of
this area to find the door to shadow Captain Falcon. Head all the way to the
right here to fight shadow Olimar and then retreat back to the junction room.
It's time to head the final direction, down-left. Make your way left and up to
a shadow door with shadow Donkey Kong in it. This leads you to Tabuu’s area.
Tabuu is the final boss, but you aren't allowed to fight him yet. Go back the
way you game and go through the door below you to fight shadow Samus.

Go right all the way to a key, and drop down here and enter the door to fight
shadow Pikachu. Backtrack left to a locked door you inevitably saw on your way,
and continue down the elevator. Head left for a save point, and then head
through the door to the right. Hit the red switch and take the left door. Go
left all the way here for a key that lets you get to the blue switch. Head back
to the sealed shadow door and take the right available door. Go to the lower
right corner of this room for a yellow box, and then ascend to find a ladder.
There's a yellow box deviously hidden in the nook to the left, go up the
ladder, hit the green switch, and enter the door to fight shadow R.O.B..
Backtrack to the previously sealed door and enter to fight Ridley.

Head left for a save point, and then hit the switch to dispel the gas so you
can take the lower left exit. Immediately check out the area above you to find
a yellow box, and make your way to the left to find shadow Bowser. Make you way
to the lower right door and take the mine cart to the far side of the room
where you get to fight shadow King Dedede. Work your way toward a ledge near
the top left corner of the room with a yellow box, and drop straight down and
right just a bit to a door with the shadow Falco behind it. This leads to a
room with an obvious yellow box and some much needed healing. Just like the
exact same room in the real Swamp, you can find a trophy by detonating the
floor. Back in the previous room, head left and enter a door.

Head right all the way to fight shadow Fox. After that, head left all the way
to fight Meta Ridley and end up back by a familiar save point. Head left and
enter the upper left door this time to fight shadow Mario. Work to the upper
left corner, enter the door, and work left through two consecutive rooms to
reach Galleom. After the fight, you will find the final alternate entrance save
point, and you should take the lowest exit to the room. Head right here to find
the door with shadow Zelda. Head right through another room to reach Peach. Go
left now over new ground and old, being sure to grab the trophy in the section
with the blocks coming out of the ground that raise and lower, to a door
containing shadow Pokemon Trainer who always uses Charizard. Continue right
back to the save room, heal if needed, and begin heading up. Take the upper-
left door to fight shadow Wario.

Head right and take the elevator up. Jump into the third pit just like the last
time, but this time it leads to shadow Luigi. Now head to the far left of this
room for a door. Stick to the left side as you ascend the room for the last
yellow box in the game. Continue ascending to find Rayquaza after which you
will be back in the stadium. Heal up and take the lower-left warp in this room
to return to the Ruins area. This time take the upper-right exit through which
you will fight shadow Lucas.

Ascend to the top of this room to find a door which leads to shadow Lucario.
You'll find yourself back in the stadium again, but you can just turn around
and go back down the mountain to the shadow door you passed up to fight the
shadow Ice Climbers. Work your way to the lower-left corner of the new room to
fight shadow Ike and then toward the right side. There's a save door near to
that leads onward. In the next room, work your way left from the fork and go
along the long path to shadow Marth. Work back to the fork and head right this
time to the door with shadow Ganondorf. This also leads you to Tabuu's room,
and all characters and bosses are beaten (finally!). Take the door in the
middle for a scene in which a certain blue hedgehog introduces himself just in
time.

Part 2:

You get six characters for the final boss. I heavily recommend Charizard and
would give a good nod to Yoshi for his powerful down aerial, but otherwise, use
whoever you are best with (Sonic isn't bad at all if you want to try a new face
out). As per the actual fight, Tabuu's main trick is teleporting. He warps
rapidly which makes getting clean hits difficult, and other than being patient
and watching when he's going to stop moving, you can't do a lot about that.
Most of you reading this section for help are probably having trouble with
Tabuu's instant kill move where he shoots circles from his wings. The trick is
to stand in the middle of the stage (or anywhere, the middle is just easiest to
time) and spot dodge with quick timing to avoid all three waves. For those
unaware of what that is, it's the technique you do when you hit down while
shielding on the ground. Tabuu's number of attacks would be pretty daunting to
cover here, but I went through it in great detail in his section in Boss
Battles. Otherwise, enjoy the ending. Afterward, Sonic joins your party and is
unlocked for standard play. Access to all previous levels is also granted.

Post game:

You will notice you only have 97% and never got three characters. These are
hidden in the three levels that now have flags. The door to Toon Link is
extremely early in the Forest. The door for Wolf is in the Ruins at the bottom
of the elevator that went past the crystal spikes. Jigglypuff's door is in the
Swamp soon after the shadow Diddy fight. You just have to win a 1v1 fight with
those characters to unlock them, but if you lose, you have to redo the whole
stage to get back to them. Now you should have a 100% file in Subspace
Emissary, and I don't have to write about this ever again.

XII. Challenge Board

This board contains hints about how to unlock many different things in the
game. This is how you unlock all the non-random, non-trophy stand trophies,
stages, stage building pieces, non-random stickers, non-random CDs, and
masterpieces. You get five golden hammers as you progress that you can use to
break most boxes if you want, but before you get excited, you can't break the
one for Boss Battles on Intense. I'm going to group these by the modes you
unlock the items in and then secondarily by the types of items. I'll use a
letter number coordinate system where letters represent rows while numbers
represent columns. Anyway, onto the list!

Multiplayer Mode:

75m stage: D4 Use Donkey Kong 20 times in brawls.
Green Greens (Melee) stage: C12 Use Kirby 20 times in brawls.
Luigi's Mansion stage: B3 Use Luigi 3 times in brawls.
Big Blue (Melee) stage: A5 Use Captain Falcon 10 times in brawls.
Jungle Japes (Melee): B19 Play Melee stages 10 times.
Pokemon Stadium (Melee): B13 Brawl on the Pokemon Stadium 2 stage 10 times.

Edit Parts A: B6 Brawl on custom stages 10 times.

Underwater Theme (Super Mario Bros.) CD: C20 Brawl on the Mushroomy Kingdom
stage 10 times.
Dream Chaser CD: A29 Brawl on the Port Town Aero Dive stage 10 times.
Ending (Metroid) CD: C13 Brawl on the Norfair stage 10 times.
Multiplayer (Metroid Prime 2) CD: B5 Brawl on the Frigate Orpheon stage 10
times.
Frozen Hillside CD: C28 Brawl on the Halberd stage 10 times.
Power-Hungry Fool CD: D14 Brawl on the Castle Siege stage 10 times.
Snake Eater (Instrumental) CD: B29 Brawl on the Shadow Moses Island stage 15
times.
HIS WORLD (Instrumental) CD: A8 Brawl on the Green Hill Zone stage 10 times.
Main Theme (Super Mario 64): D29 Play 50 hours of brawls.
O2 Battle CD: D23 Collect more than 5,000 coins in Coin matches.

Super Mario Bros. 2 masterpiece: B21 Have a human controlled Peach win 5 non-
special brawls.
Super Mario World masterpiece: D5 Brawl on the Yoshi's Island (Melee) stage 3
times.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time masterpiece: A14 Use Toon Link 10 times in brawls.

Smash Coins trophy: A19 Play 10 or more Coin matches.
Tom Nook trophy: D30 Collect 1,000 coins in Coin matches.
Tails trophy: D27 Exceed 30,000 combined walking distance with all characters.
Kapp'n trophy: C8 Exceed 300 ft. combined swim distance with all characters.
Timer trophy: D20 Play 30 hours of brawls.
Ashley Robbins trophy: D10 Play over 100 hours of brawls.
Party Ball trophy: C31 Get 500 or more KOs in brawls.
Cracker Launcher trophy: C7 Get 1,000 or more KOs in brawls.
Gulliver trophy: C1 Get 2,000 or more KOs in brawls.

Subspace Emissary:

Pokemon Center CD: A13 Get 200 different stickers.
Ike's Theme CD: B15 Have Ike join you in The Subspace Emissary.

F-Zero masterpiece: B30 Have Captain Falcon join you in The Subspace Emissary.

Franklin Badge trophy: B14 Have Ness join you in The Subspace Emissary.
Ancient Minister trophy: C17 Clear The Subspace Emissary.
Dr. Eggman trophy: C14 Get 500 different stickers.
Stickers trophy: D1 Get all 700 stickers.

Classic Mode:

Icicle Mountain (Melee) CD: B12 Clear Classic on Normal.
Credits (Super Smash Bros.) CD: B10 Clear Classic on Hard.

Running Chibi-Robo (Chibi-Robo) sticker: B11 Clear Classic on Easy.

Striker Mario trophy: C16 Clear Classic on Very Hard.
Crazy Hand trophy: D2 Clear Classic on Intense.
Master Hand trophy: A31 Clear Classic with 20 characters.
Paper Mario trophy: B2 Clear Classic with all characters.
Creeping Chrysanthemum trophy: A26 Collect all character trophies.

All-Star Mode:

Tal Tal Heights: C9 Clear All-Star on Easy difficulty.

Phyllis sticker: B17 Clear All-Star on Normal.

Birdo trophy: D24 Clear All-Star on Hard.
Dyna Blade trophy: A16 Clear All-Star on Very Hard.
Mewtwo trophy: C25 Clear All-Star on Intense.
Pichu trophy: A12 Clear All-Star with no continues.
Gekko trophy: A7 Clear All-Star with 10 characters.
Kyle Hyde trophy: D7 Clear All-Star with all characters.
Plusle & Minun trophy: D15 Collect Final Smash trophies for all characters.

Event Battles:

Mario Bros. stage: A11 Clear Event 19 "Wario Bros.".
Spear Pillar stage: C30 Clear Event 25 "The Aura Is With Me".
Hanenbow stage: A20 Clear Event 28 "Flower Blooms in the Echoes".

Road to Viridian City (From Pallet Town / Pewter City): C4 Clear Event 8 "Go!
Triple Finish!".
The Legendary Air Ride Machine CD: B28 Clear Event 13 "Dragoon Strike".
King Dedede's Theme CD: A21 Clear Event 15 "The Hammer of the King".
Hidden Mountain & Forest CD: D18 Clear Event 18 "Dark Link Duel" on Hard.
Fire Field CD: C22 Clear Event 24 "Come On, Blue Falcon".
Great Temple / Temple CD: D11 Clear Event 33 "Advent of the Evil King" on Hard.
Song of Storms CD: B18 Clear Event 37 "The Pirate Airship".
Star Wolf (Star Fox: Assault) CD: C24 Clear Event 38 "The Wolf Hunts the Fox"
on Hard.

Halberd trophy: C29 Clear Event 3 "Pink Ball Repulsion".
Palutena trophy: D12 Clear Event 4 "Cleaning House in Skyworld".
Red Pikmin trophy: B22 Clear Event 14 "Sproutrage of the Flower Pikmin".

Target Test:

Excite Truck CD: D3 Clear Target Smash level 2 in under 19 seconds.
Title (3D Hot Rally) CD: A27 Clear Target Smash level 5.

Apples trophy: B20 Clear Target Smash level 1.
Stafy trophy: C18 Clear Target Smash level 1 with 10 characters.
Super Scope trophy: C19 Clear Target Smash level 1 with all characters.
Palutena's Bow trophy: A2 Clear Target Smash level 1 in under 15 seconds.
Peanut Popgun trophy: C5 Clear Target Smash level 2.
Pellets trophy: C6 Clear Target Smash level 2 with 10 characters.
Blast Box trophy: C11 Clear Target Smash level 2 with all characters.
Wario Bike trophy: D9 Clear Target Smash level 3.
Ashnard trophy: C15 Clear Target Smash level 3 with 10 characters.
Silver trophy: B25 Clear Target Smash level 3 with all characters.
Ray MK III trophy: A23 Clear Target Smash level 3 in under 20 seconds.
Rocketbarrel Pack trophy: C27 Clear Target Smash level 4.
Musketeer Daltania trophy: A15 Clear Target Smash level 4 with 10 characters.
King K. Rool trophy: D17 Clear Target Smash level 4 with all characters.
Cardboard Box trophy: A3 Clear Target Smash level 4 in under 42 seconds.
Outset Link trophy: B8 Clear Target Smash level 5 with 10 characters.
Gray Fox trophy: D25 Clear Target Smash level 5 with all characters.
Combo Cannon trophy: D8 Clear Target Smash level 5 in under 30 seconds.

Home-Run Contest:

Clu Clu Land CD: A4 Hit 1200 ft. in Home-Run Contest.
Ai no Uta (French Version) CD: D31 Hit 37,500 ft. combined with all characters
in Home-Run Contest.

Boo (Mario Tennis) sticker: B4 Hit 900 ft. with one character in Home-Run
Contest.

Home-Run Bat trophy: B27 Hit 1,500 ft. with one character in Home-Run Contest.
Sandbag trophy: C10 Use every character in Home-Run Contest.
Bumper trophy: D19 Hit 15,000 ft. combined with all characters in Home-Run
Contest.
Xananab trophy: B24 Hit 24,000 ft. combined with all characters in Home-Run
Contest.
Shy Guy trophy: D22 Hit 30,000 ft. combined with all characters in Home-Run
Contest.
Golden Hammer trophy: A32 Hit 45,000 ft. combined with all characters in Home-
Run Contest.

Multi-Man Brawl:

Multi-Man Melee 1 (Melee) CD: A25 Clear 100-Man Brawl in under 4 minutes.
Mach Rider (Melee) CD: B31 Defeat 50 enemies in Endless Brawl.

Ryuta Ippongi (Ouendan 2) sticker: A6 Clear 100-Man Brawl in under 3 minutes,
30 seconds.
Liquid Snake (MGS: The Twin Snakes): D16 Defeat 10 enemies in Cruel Brawl.

Pitfall trophy: C21 Clear 100-Man Brawl.
Blue Alloy trophy: C2 Clear 100-Man Brawl with all characters.
Green Alloy trophy: A22 Endure a 15-Minute Brawl.
Yellow Alloy trophy: A30 Defeat 100 enemies in Endless Brawl.
Red Alloy trophy: A18 Defeat 5 enemies in Cruel Brawl.

Boss Battles:

Subspace Bomb trophy: A10 Clear Boss Battles on Easy.
Shadow Bugs trophy: C23 Clear Boss Battles on Normal.
Dark Cannon trophy: D6 Clear Boss Battles on Hard.
Porky Statue trophy: D26 Clear Boss Battles on Very Hard.
Galleom (Tank Form) trophy: A1 Clear Boss Battles on Intense.
Subspace Gunship trophy: B26 Clear Boss Battles with 10 characters.
Jyk trophy: B16 Clear Boss Battles with 20 characters.
Tabuu (Wings) trophy: D32 Clear Boss Battles with all characters.

Unlock Other Things:

Flat Zone 2: D13 Unlock Mr. Game & Watch.
Green Hill Zone stage: C26 Unlock Sonic.
Pirate Ship stage: A9 Unlock Toon Link.

Menu 2 CD: A17 Unlock all characters.
Princess Peach's Castle (Melee) CD: B7 Unlock all Melee stages.

Excitebikes trophy: A24 Collect all Masterpieces.
Walky trophy: B23 Unlock 50 or more hidden songs.
Ballyhoo & Big Top trophy: B1 Unlock 75 or more hidden songs.
K.K. Slider trophy: C32 Unlock all hidden songs.
Baby Peach trophy: B32 Get 500 different trophies.

Other:

Edit Parts B: D28 Make 5 stages in Stage Builder.
Edit Parts C: C3 Make 15 stages in Stage Builder.

Donkey Kong masterpiece: D21 Exceed 10 hours of powered-on time.

Banana Peel trophy: A28 Get 10 max combos in Training.
Ouendan trophy: B9 Get 400 combined max combos with all characters in Training.
I recommend having Falco or Kirby combo Bowser against the wall in a CD factory
stage as described in section XV. Other Unlockables.

XIII. Trophy List

In this section, I will list every trophy grouped by series. All trophies are
obtained either from the challenge board, trophy stands in The Subspace
Emissary, completing Classic or All Star mode with a particular character, or
randomly. The challenge board in its entirety can be viewed in the above
section. All generic enemies and bosses from The Subspace Emissary can be
turned into trophies with randomly spawning Trophy Stand items with the
exception of Jyk who is invincible and thus is a challenge board trophy.
Clearing Classic mode with a particular character will grant that character's
trophy, and that is separate for all three of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon, Sheik,
and Zero Suit Samus. Clearing All Star Mode unlocks the Final Smash trophy for
that character and is still separate for Sheik and Zero Suit Samus, but Pokemon
Trainer must only clear it once as his Pokemon perform a Final Smash in unison.
Random trophies constitute trophies that don't fit into the other two groups
and may be obtained from the Coin Launcher, boxes in The Suspace Emissary, the
rest areas in All Star mode or Boss Battles, the Pokeball Pokemon Celebi, or
along the ground in Home-Run Contest. The only trophy that is not like this is
the Hocotate Ship trophy which can only be found in the first blue box in Level
20: Outside the Ancient Ruins in The Subspace Emissary. Also, as a final note,
there are 544 total trophies in the game.

Super Smash Bros. series:

Smash Ball
Assist Trophy
Stickers
CDs
Rolling Crates
Blast Box
Sandbag
Food
Timer
Beam Sword
Home-Run Bat
Fan
Ray Gun
Cracker Launcher
Motion-Sensor Bomb
Gooey Bomb
Smoke Ball
Bumper
Team Healer
Crates
Barrels
Capsule
Party Ball
Smash Coins
Red Alloy
Blue Alloy
Yellow Alloy
Green Alloy

The Subspace Emissary series:

Primid
Sword Primid
Boom Primid
Scope Primid
Big Primid
Metal Primid
Fire Primid
Glire
Glice
Glunder
Poppant
Bytan
Roader
Bombed
Greap
Bucculus
Towtow
Floow
Auroros
Buckot
Jyk
Famyga
Feyesh
Trowlon
Roturret
Spaak
Puppit
Shaydas
Mites
Shellpod
Shellpod (No Armor)
Nanagog
Cymul
Ticken
Armight
Borboras
Autolance
Armank
R.O.B. Sentry
R.O.B. Launcher
R.O.B. Blaster
Mizzo
Galleom
Galleom (Tank Form)
Duon
Tabuu
Tabbu (Wings)
Master Hand
Crazy Hand
Dark Cannon
Cargo
Shadow Bugs
Ancient Minister
Subspace Gunship
Subspace Bomb
Trophy Stand
Stock Ball
Key

Super Mario Bros. series:

Mario
Mario Finale
Bowser
Giga Bowser
Peach
Peach Blossom
Luigi
Negative Zone
Striker Mario
Striker Daisy
Paper Mario
Paper Luigi
Paper Bowser
Paper Peach
Wedding Bowser
Wedding Peach
Goomba
Koopa Troopa (Green)
Koopa Troopa (Red)
Koopa Paratroopa (Green)
Koopa Paratroopa (Red)
Bullet Bill
Giant Goomba
Piranha Plant
Lakitu & Spinies
Hammer Bro
Petey Piranha
Buzzy Beetle
Shy Guy
Boo
Cheep Cheep
Blooper
Toad
Toadette
Toadsworth
Goombella
Fracktail
Wiggler
Dry Bones
Chain Chomp
Perry
Bowser Jr.
Birdo
Kritter (Goalie)
Ballyhoo & Big Top
F.L.U.D.D.
Poltergust 3000
Luigi's Mansion
Ghosts
Super Mushroom
Poison Mushroom
Starman
Metal Box
Lightning
Golden Hammer
Fire Flower
Bob-omb
Freezie
Hothead
Green Shell
Banana Peel
Soccer Ball
Waluigi
Shellcreepers
Sidesteppers

Donkey Kong series:

Donkey Kong
Konga Beat
Diddy Kong
Rocketbarrel Barrage
Hammer
Spring
Dixie Kong
Funky Kong
Candy Kong
Lanky Kong
Wrinkly Kong
Rambi
Enguarde
Kritter
Tiny Kong
Cranky Kong
Squitter
Expresso
King K. Rool
Kass
Kip
Kalypso
Kludge
Helibird
Turret Tusk
Xananab
Peanut Popgun
Rocketbarrel Pack

The Legend of Zelda series:

Link
Triforce Slash (Link)
Zelda
Light Arrow (Zelda)
Sheik
Light Arrow (Sheik)
Ganondorf
Beast Ganon
Toon Link
Triforce Slash (Toon Link)
Heart Container
Bunny Hood
Deku Nuts
Tingle
Wolf Link
Robed Zelda (With Hood)
Midna
Ilia
Malo
Zant
King Bulblin
Agitha
Darknut
Bulblin
Ooccoo & Son
Shadow Beast
Yeta
Ashei
Darbus
Ralis
Goron
Zora
Sages
Outset Link
Zelda (Wind Waker)
Ganondorf (Wind Waker)
Medli
Aryll
Tetra
Helmaroc King
Salvatore
Link's Grandma
Valoo
Pigs
Great Fairy
King of Red Lions
Pirate Ship

Metroid series:

Samus
Zero Laser
Zero Suit Samus
Power Suit Samus
Screw Attack
Metroid
Samus (Fusion Suit)
Samus (Power Suit)
Samus (Varia Suit)
Samus (Gravity Suit)
Samus (Dark Suit)
Dark Samus
Ridley
Meta Ridley
Kanden
Spire
Weavel
Noxus
Trace
Sylux
Luminoth
Sheegoth
Space Pirate
Parasite Queen
Metroid Prime (Core)
Metroid Prime (Exo)
Gunship

Yoshi's Island series:

Yoshi
Super Dragon
Baby Mario
Baby Peach

Kirby Super Star series:

Kirby
Cook Kirby
Meta Knight
Galaxia Darkness
King Dedede
Waddle Dee Army
Maxim Tomato
Dragoon
Warpstar
Superspicy Curry
Star Rod
Knuckle Joe
Beam Kirby
Needle Kirby
Sword Kirby
Sleep Kirby
Wing Kirby
Fighter Kirby
Fire Kirby
Ice Kirby
Plasma Kirby
Tornado Kirby
Waddle Dee
Waddle Doo
Gordo
Dyna Blade
Blade Knight
Bonkers
Bronto Burt
Cappy
Golem
Kracko
Scarfies
Sir Kibble
Walky
Wheelie
Hydra
Bomber
Bugzzy
Combo Cannon
Halberd
Apples

Star Fox series:

Fox
Landmaster (Fox)
Falco
Landmaster (Falco)
Wolf
Landmaster (Wolf)
Fox (Assault)
Falco (Assault)
Falco (Command)
Peppy Hare
Slippy Toad
Krystal
Tricky
General Pepper
ROB 64
Panther Caroso
Leon Polwalski
Arwing
Great Fox
Great Fox (Assault)
Wolfen
Smart Bomb
Andross

Pokemon series:

Pikachu
Volt Tackle
Pokemon Trainer
Triple Finish
Charizard
Squirtle
Ivysaur
Lucario
Aura Storm
Jigglypuff
Puff Up
Poke Ball
Piplup
Munchlax
Bonsly
Weavile
Manaphy
Torchic
Gulpin
Metagross
Gardevoir
Latias & Latios
Groudon
Kyogre
Rayquaza
Deoxys
Jirachi
Meowth
Electrode
Goldeen
Staryu
Snorlax
Chikorita
Togepi
Bellossom
Wobbuffet
Moltres
Entei
Suicune
Ho-Oh
Lugia
Mew
Celebi
Turtwig
Chimchar
Bulbasaur
Charmander
Cyndaquil
Totodile
Treecko
Mudkip
Starly
Buneary
Glaceon & Leafeon
Riolu
Gyarados
Pichu
Plusle & Minun
Blaziken
Mewtwo
Darkrai
Dugtrio
Cubone
Hoppip
Skarmory
Drifloon
Snorunt
Snover
Magnezone
Electivire
Uxie
Mesprit
Azelf
Dialga
Palkia
Cresselia

F-Zero series:

Captain Falcon
Blue Falcon
Samurai Goroh
Dr. Stewart
Pico
Jody Summer
Mr. EAD
The Skull
Blood Falcon
Black Shadow
Zoda
Falcon Flyer

Earthbound (Mother) series:

Lucas
Pk Starstorm (Lucas)
Ness
Pk Starstorm (Ness)
Mr. Saturn
Franklin Badge
Jeff
Porky
Porky Statue

Ice Climber series:

Ice Climbers
Iceberg
Vegetables

Fire Emblem series:

Ike
Great Aether
Marth
Critical Hit
Lyn
Ashnard
Elincia
Black Knight
Sothe

Kid Icarus series:

Pit
Palutena's Army
Palutena
Palutena's Bow

WarioWare series:

Wario
Wario-Man
Kat & Ana
Wario Bike

Pikmin series:

Pikmin & Olimar
End of Day
Red Pikmin
Blue Pikmin
Yellow Pikmin
White Pikmin
Purple Pikmin
Louie
The President
Hocotate Ship
Onions
Creeping Chrysanthemum
Red Bulborb
Empress Bulblax
Careening Dirigibug
Fiery Blowhog
Burrowing Snagret
Iridescent Flint Beetle
Wollywog
Swooping Snitchbug
Pellets

Animal Crossing series:

Animal Crossing Boy
Sable & Mabel
Tom Nook
Tortimer
Blathers & Celeste
Polly & Phyllis
Pascal
Brewstar
Dr. Shrunk
Katrina
Blanca
Copper & Booker
Joan
Saharah
K.K. Slider
Crazy Redd
Tommy & Timmy Nook
Katie & Kaitlin
Wendell
Kapp'n
Gulliver
Mr. Resetti (Feet)
Pitfall
Mr. Resetti

Game & Watch series:

Mr. Game & Watch
Octopus

Others:

R.O.B.
Diffusion Beam
Lip's Stick
Super Scope
Unira
Nintendog
Excitebikes
Devil
Dr. Wright
Stafy
Little Mac
Infantry & Tanks
Helirin
Barbara
Ray Mk III
Isaac
Saki
Jill
Stapy
Action Helirins
Mokka
Pyrite
Putty
Warrior Mech Gauss
HM Mech Rosa
Musketeer Daltania
Custom Robos
Jameson & A.I.R.S.
Chibi-Robo
Telly Vision
Boulder
Kyle Hyde
Ashley Robbins
Ouendan
Elite Beat Agents

Metal Gear Solid series:

Snake
Grenade Launcher
Gray Fox
Iroquois Pliskin
Naked Snake
Shagohod
Metal Gear RAY
Metal Gear REX
Gekko
Cypher
Cardboard Box

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG series:

Sonic
Super Sonic
Shadow
Tails
Dr. Eggman
Knuckles
Amy
Blaze
Chao
Cream
Jet
Silver

XIV. Sticker List

This section, sadly, will not be complete in the first release of this FAQ due
to the fact that I am still missing two stickers on my file. However, this
section was slated to be the least useful section of the FAQ anyway. Any
sticker not listed on the challenge board is random. Challenge board stickers
can be obtained an infinite number of times so long as the challenge is
repeated, and random stickers can be obtained from both enemies and boxes in
The Subspace Emissary, as random item spawns in brawls, as rewards for chaining
the small objects in Coin Launcher, or as prizes dropped by the Poke Ball
Pokemon Jirachi.

XV. Other Unlockables

This section contains the method for unlocking everything that isn't a
character, challenge board object, trophy, or sticker.

Events 11-41 and Co-op Events 9-21 are unlocked by completing many events and
unlocking characters.

Target Test 2-5 can be unlocked by playing on them in Classic Mode.

All Star mode is unlocked by unlocking all characters.

Boss Battles mode is unlocked by clearing both Classic and The Subspace
Emissary.

The Additional Rules option is unlocked by scoring 200 KOs in brawls. The
Random Stage switch option within this menu is unlocked by unlocking all
stages.

Playing 100, 200, and 300 brawls unlocks the Custom Robo, Isaac, and Infantry
and Tanks assist trophies respectively. The Barbara assist trophy is unlocked
by unlocking 25 songs, and the Gray Fox and Shadow the Hedgehog assist trophies
are unlocked by unlocking Snake and Sonic respectively.

Additional songs may be earned by finding random CDs. More random CDs can be
found if more stages are unlocked. The best way to harvest CDs is to build a
"CD factory" stage which is a block with a conveyor belt leading into it and a
conveyor belt running the opposite direction on top of the block and hanging
over half of the first conveyor belt. Several of these constructions may be
placed side by side to allow many characters to participate at once, but be
sure that all the ground in the level is made of conveyors that flow into a
character pit. On these levels, set Sandbag to the only item on High, and use
either Yoshi's down tilt or Falco's jab combo repetitively. The Sandbag can
only drop Stickers and CDs; this is the most efficient way to get all the
random CDs and stickers.

A few tracks in Sound Test and for custom stages are unlocked by clearing The
Subspace Emissary, All Star, and Classic modes. Once all tracks are unlocked,
there are 258 tracks in the Sound Test.

XVI. Speed Unlocking

This is what I believe is the most efficient way to unlock as much as you can
while unlocking the full cast and stage list as quickly as possible.

Start off by going into vs. mode and setting it to Stamina Flower. Give the AI
1 HP and yourself more than 1 HP. Pick Donkey Kong and play on Shadow Moses
Island for 15 matches. After five matches, you'll unlock Ness, after ten you'll
unlock Marth, and after fifteen you'll unlock Snake and the "Snake Eater
(Instrumental)" track. Switch the stage to Yoshi's Island (melee) and play 5
more matches. After three more, you'll unlock the Super Mario World demo, and
after five more you'll unlock 75m (DK arcade). 20 matches total.

Now switch your character to Kirby and play 5 more matches on Yoshi's Island
(melee). After two more, you'll unlock Luigi, and after five more you'll unlock
Jungle Japes. Sticking with Kirby, play the next ten matches on Pokemon Stadium
2 to unlock Pokemon Stadium. Now switch to the Halberd and play five more
matches to unlock Green Greens. 40 matches total.

Switch to Luigi and play five more matches still on the Halberd. You'll unlock
Luigi's Mansion (3 matches) and the "Frozen Hillside" music (5 matches). Next,
switch your character to Peach and the stage to Mushroomy Kingdom for 10 more
matches. After 3 matches, you unlock the Super Mario Bros 2 demo, after 5
matches, you unlock Falco, and after 10 matches, you unlock the underwater
Mario music. 55 matches total.

Play the next 10 matches on those default stage builder stages (character no
longer matters) to unlock stage parts A. Play the next five on Frigate Orpheon,
and then you'll unlock Captain Falcon. Play five more on Frigate Orpheon, using
Captain Falcon this time, to unlock the Multiplayer (Metroid Prime 2) music.
Switch to Port Town, and after five matches you'll unlock Big Blue and the
Peach's Castle (melee) music. Your character doesn't matter anymore, but play
five more matches on Port Town to unlock the music track "Dream Chaser". 85
matches total.

Switch to Castle Siege and play 10 matches to unlock the track "Power-Hungry
Fool". Then switch the stage to Norfair and play 10 more matches to unlock
Lucario after 5 more matches and the track "Ending (Metroid)" after 10 more.
105 matches total.

Unfortunately, things slow down a bit here. Character and stage don't matter;
just play a bunch more matches. After 55 more, you'll unlock R.O.B., and after
95 more you'll unlock Ganondorf. After unlocking Ganondorf, play 50 more to
unlock Mr. Game and Watch and Flat Zone 2 and 100 more to unlock Sonic and
Green Hill Zone. 300 matches total.

Play the next 10 matches on Green Hill Zone to unlock some Sonic music, and
then continue playing matches on any stage until you unlock Jigglypuff (350
matches total) and Toon Link and the Great Sea stage (400 matches total). Play
the next 10 as Toon Link to unlock the Ocarina of Time demo and then 40 more
with anyone to unlock Wolf, All Star mode, and the Menu 2 music. 450 matches
total, and you now have all characters.

Now let's get the remaining stages. Head over to the events and beat event 8 to
unlock the Route 1 Pokemon music and keep playing event matches until you
unlock the next set. In that set, beat Event 19 to unlock the Mario Bros.
stage, event 13 for the Legendary Air Ride music, event 15 for King Dedede's
Theme, and event 18 on the difficult setting for the Dark World Death Mountain
/ Dark Woods music. Play a few more events to unlock the third set. Beat events
25 and 28 to unlock Spear Pillar and the Hanenbow stages respectively.
Congrats, you have all stages!

XVII. Credits and Conclusion

Hopefully this FAQ has covered just about everything you could need to know
about Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I have done my best to be as thorough and
useful as I could with this FAQ. If there are any errors or other problems with
this FAQ, I can be contacted at:

[email protected]

However, please be aware that I'd greatly prefer that address not get flooded
so only send an e-mail if there's a real purpose.

As per whom to credit, there are relatively few people to mention. Paperlink64
provided the information needed for the Stickers trophy in the Trophy List
section, and I have to thank the general Super Smash Brothers community as from
them I gleaned a great amount of knowledge of the game that was pivotal in the
making of this FAQ.

As per the detail of whether you want to use this guide on another site in part
or in whole, I'm really pretty liberal. Feel free to use this guide wherever
and however you want on three stipulations. You must clearly credit me as the
author of all that I have written, and you must continue to include a notice
that this work can be freely distributed. You are free to sell this work in any
form, but in offering it for sale, you must provide the information that it is
hosted for free at http://gamefaqs.com.

You are viewing proxied material from tilde.pink. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.