Super Smash Bros. Brawl Daily updates

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:15 pm

Pikachu: Special Moves

The first time you hit with Pikachu’s side smash attack, you’ll hit with an attack strength of 20%—quite an impressive rating! There aren’t many other standard moves that can deal that kind of damage.

This is the kind of strike timing you want!

After the first hit, the attack strength will decrease to 17%, then 14%. Just remember it’s best to hit in quick succession.

<Up Special Move: Quick Attack>

It’s important to remember that with Quick Attack, you make two jump moves!

Press up + the special-move button.

When preparing, tilt the Control Stick in the direction you want to fly first. Pikachu will launch in that direction.

For example, here’s Pikachu flying up diagonally.

While flying, tilt your Control Stick quickly in another direction—you’ll get a second jump!

Change direction and jump again!

However, you can’t do your second jump in the direction you’re already headed. The angle of the second jump must be at least 38 degrees different from the previous trajectory.

Try to aim for something a little less than 45 degrees and you’ll be able to travel a pretty good distance.

Maybe this is about the best possible distance you can jump?

<Down Special Move: Thunder>

Ah, electricity—the source of Pikachu’s power. Any enemy directly above will get hit with a strong, electrifying jolt!

Pikaaaaa!

Even more powerful than zapping your enemies with electricity is having them touching Pikachu as the electricity strikes. This type of attack has high launching power and a fairly good range.

You’re not as vulnerable, but you don’t get the secondary attack.

You’re momentarily vulnerable, but anyone near Pikachu’s body gets launched!

Watch out, though—electrical attacks can be absorbed and reflected.

Thanks!

Try to keep your opponents guessing about when you’ll use this move.

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:28 pm

Samus: Special Moves

When she’s wearing her Power Suit, Samus is actually quite agile. She’s also very easy to control in the air. So she must be able to perform a lot of good midair moves, right?

When doing a forward midair attack, Samus can get consecutive hits.

Her back midair attack, the flying back kick, is quite strong if you get a clean hit.

Samus’s down midair attack is a meteor smash.

You can even use the grapple beam in midair!!

But, she doesn’t have any moves that launch foes upward...and that makes stages like Shadow Moses Island a little difficult.

<Side Special Move: Missile>

You can use two types of Missiles.

The normal Missile is a guided projectile.

The Super Missile flies straight ahead.

The normal Missile will home in on enemies, but the Super Missile has more speed and destructive power.

To launch the Super Missile, do a side smash move and hold the special-move button. If you’re using the Wii Remote held sideways, press and hold the 1 Button and the direction.

<Standard Special Move: Charge Shot>

If you’re going to use Samus, you can’t forget the Charge Shot. Just keep your cool and charge up the shot.

Charge up! If things get dangerous, you can always save your charge with the shield button.

Even if you’re fully charged, you don’t have to use it immediately!

Shoot someone who has a lot of damage!

Mario, Fox, Zelda, Pit, Lucas, and the like should watch Samus carefully. If there’s a chance, those characters should try to reflect or absorb these attacks.

The End!!

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:43 pm

Clear %

As you play through The Subspace Emissary, you’ll probably become aware of the "Clear %" displayed in the upper part of the screen.

This is what I’m talking about.

This tells you roughly how much of The Subspace Emissary you have completed. Of course, the most you can do is 100%.

When this figure is on display, you just want to keep increasing it more and more, don’t you?

Here’s how to do it.

1. Open All Unopened Doors

What I mean is, go everywhere. Enter every place you can, including hidden doors.

However, there may be some places where you may not be able to go everywhere, like in the hidden area on the "Lake" stage.

Here we go, a hidden door! You can go between two different worlds!

2. Clear the Stages

Of course, this is a big way to increase your clear percentage.

Here you take a look at all your stickers and trophies.

3. Get the Orange Cube Items

This is an orange cube.

These cubes contain valuable items and will not reappear once you get them. Finding the boxes and getting their treasures is another way to increase your clear percentage.

Also, items that are different from orange cubes occasionally appear—these also affect the clear percentage.

4. Get Character Trophies

Well, I can’t really go into detail about these... Err... (Ahem!) Obviously though, there’s something important about them. If you’ve got them all by the end, there won’t be any problems.

Once you clear a stage, the map point will get a flag or a crown.

Both flags and crowns are proof that you’ve cleared a stage.

A flag means that you haven’t gotten all the things listed above for that stage. A crown means that the stage has been completely cleared.

In order to earn a complete victory, try your best to find all the doors and open all the orange cubes!

Sometimes you might even feel we were a little mean!

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:11 pm

Lucario

It’s the Aura Pokémon, Lucario. Lucario is a Pokémon, but for some reason, there’s something lonesome about it.

Lucario’s inner power, called Aura, increases its power in proportion to the danger Lucario is in. Keep the fight lively with Lucario’s high-risk, high-reward fighting style!

• Play 100 brawls
• Beat Target Smash!! on all difficulty levels (Playing in either 1 or 2 player mode will satisfy this condition.)
• Get Lucario to join your party in The Subspace Emissary
• With the exception of the last of the three methods listed above, you’ll need to face Lucario in a brawl and beat it after satisfying the above conditions to unlock it.

Lucario's Special Moves
Standard Special Move: Aura Sphere
Side Special Move: Force Palm
Up Special Move: ExtremeSpeed
Down Special Move: Double Team
Final Smash : Aura Storm

Tips

Lucario uses a graceful, self-developed style of martial arts. Take care when fighting Lucario, because its reach extends farther than the length of its limbs.

Even from a distance like this...

Lucario’s hits connect!

If you’re going to name one distinctive feature about Lucario, you’ve simply got to mention the Aura abilities.

Here you can see Lucario’s Aura emanating from its hand.

In Smash Bros., Aura strengthens Lucario’s attacks according to how much damage Lucario has taken. The higher your damage percentage, the stronger your hits will be.

Lucario at high damage is a force to be feared.

Lucario’s Aura-based attacks have an ethereal field surrounding them.

<Standard Special Move: Aura Sphere>

The size of Lucario’s Aura Sphere serves as a rough indicator of the current strength of Lucario’s Aura.

Even the size of a fully charged Aura Sphere...

Changes dramatically!

The damage and speed of the projectile also increase, of course.

<Side Special Move: Force Palm>

This useful move hits enemies with an Aura attack when used from a distance, and changes to a close-range attack when performed near an enemy.

Here’s Force Palm at a distance.

And again, performed in close-quarters combat.

<Down Special Move: Double Team>

Time Double Team so that an enemy attack connects with you, and Lucario will launch into a counterattack.

Hmph!

Now, if an attack makes contact with Lucario while this is going on...

Lucario splits into two!

And launches a surprise attack to counter!

This attack also receives a boost in strength proportionate to your damage percentage courtesy of Lucario’s Aura ability.

Let me tell you, when you flash the opponent one of those "I’m wide open" poses and then counter their strike, if feels ridiculously good.

<Final Smash: Aura Storm>

Behold the true power of Aura!

Hyaaaa!

For Aura Storm, Lucario jumps high into the air and releases a ferocious Aura beam.

To really use this move effectively, you’ve got to direct the heading of the beam by pressing left and right on the Control Stick. Try tilting the Control Stick in the direction of the enemy you want to blast before Lucario releases the beam.

As a side note, there are moments in the game where Lucario appears to be speaking, but it’s not actual speech—it’s a sort of telepathy it uses.

Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:37 pm

Spear Pillar

Spear Pillar is the area where Dialga or Palkia could once be found,.

• Complete Event 25: The Aura Is With Me

The stage is composed of two areas; a sort of holy ground above and a cavelike structure below.

Naturally you can expect appearances from none other than Dialga and Palkia!!

Dialga, a Temporal Pokémon, appears!

Here’s Palkia, a Spatial Pokémon!

When you enter the stage, you may notice a slight bluish or purplish tint to the scenery. This coloring, which indicates the Diamond or Pearl versions of the stage, is decided at random each time you play.

The former color indicates Dialga will appear, while the latter color scheme heralds the coming of Palkia.

Each of these Pokémon cause different effects to occur on the stage.

The floor is crumbling away!

A laser beam crashes down from the sky!

The beam rips right through the cave!

The whole stage just tilted sideways!! It’s just an illusion—don’t be fooled!

Everything’s been flipped upside down!! But it’s all an illusion! An illusion, I tell you!!

Now the whole fight’s in slow motion. Perhaps someone’s manipulating time?

Hmm, those are some supernatural effects. One should expect nothing less from these Legendary Pokémon.

You can also expect guest appearances by Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.

A casual guest appearance.

Additionally, aside from Dialga and Palkia you might occasionally see another Pokémon pop up.

Could that be...Cresselia?!

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:14 pm

Secrets for Continuing

When you reach the game-over screen in modes like Classic and Adventure, you’ll have the opportunity to continue your game.

However, there are some things you should know about continuing...

<When You Continue in Classic Mode>

A certain hidden game mode shares this type of continue screen...

Your score gets cut in half
Your score gains a single point (to keep track of the number of times you continued)
You forfeit a number of coins
Easy... 10 Coins
Normal... 20 Coins
Hard... 30 Coins
Very Hard... 50 Coins
Intense... 100 Coins

The coins I’m referring to here are exactly the same as the ones you use in Spectator mode.

For those times when you’ve decided you simply have to beat the game on the Intense setting, I’d recommend backing up your conviction with a healthy supply of coins...particularly when tackling stages in the latter half of Classic mode.

You also have to take into account your luck with items.

One key to conquering this mode is being persistent and making liberal use of that continue function.

Unfortunately, you can’t continue when you run out of coins.

<When You Continue in Adventure Mode>

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, continuing won’t cost you any coins, but that isn’t to say it’s free.

Will you continue, or will you call it quits for the moment?

If you choose to "Get Up" and continue the fight, the following things will happen.

You lose one half of the Stickers and Trophies you’ve just collected (items obtained from orange boxes and CDs are guaranteed to stay in your collection)
You resume play from the beginning of the step (the unit of area from one door to another) at which you died
The amount of coins you get for beating the stage slightly decreases

If you choose to instead go "Back to Map," you won’t start the stage over from the last door, but otherwise the effects are similar—except the number of coins you collect will be greatly reduced.

So you might as well get back on the horse, beat the stage, and get it out of your system. Especially seeing as how the game can mercilessly strip several of the precious items and enemies-turned-trophies you picked up your first time through.

LEEEEAP to your feet and retry!

On the other hand, if you do choose to return to the map, you can save and reselect the difficulty level the next time you choose to enter the stage that defeated you, so it’s not like there are no merits to be had in choosing to back out for a while.

Higher difficulty settings yield more coins.

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

75m

The arcade game Donkey Kong first appeared in 1981, and with it, the world’s most famous video-game characters, Mario and Donkey Kong, were born.

Two years later, another version of the game appeared for the first FamiCom console. Both versions were amazing given the technology at the time.

So, we wanted to try to faithfully recreate those screens here!

• Use Donkey Kong 20 times in brawls

You... You’re kidding, right?

75 meters is the height of the uppermost part of the construction site where Donkey Kong flees.

This stage is very big, with lots of narrow scaffolding and footholds.

This stage is a bit strange—it feels pretty free, but at the same time, kind of restricted.

Items can also have a big effect here—or be completely useless.

This stage has a flavor to it that isn’t found anywhere else.

Even a lady’s purse and a jack show up.

In Japan this was named a "trouble bug." (...Is it really a bug?)

Sometimes retro is cool. Why not try some of those up-and-coming characters and see how they handle the old-school style?

When Donkey Kong hits you, it hurts!

The original Donkey Kong game also appears in Masterpieces mode, and I’ve set it up so you can start at 75m.

Wow! They’re exactly the same!

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:37 pm

Donkey Kong: Special Moves

Donkey Kong has a lot of meteor smashes.

Forward midair attack!

Down midair attack!

Head Butt!!

Come with me! (This isn’t a meteor smash, though.)

<Standard Special Move: Giant Punch>

Donkey Kong’s primary special move is the Giant Punch. If you power it up before you unload it, it’s superstrong.

If you power it up before you swing...

It can be a one-punch KO!

Furthermore, when you attack with a full charge, Donkey Kong won’t flinch when he throws his punch.

It was then I knew I would become a star...

However, you won’t be able to hit opponents as easy as 1-2-3! Let me use the next special move to illustrate a golden combo for you to work on.

<Side Special Move: Head Butt>

Bury your opponent!

Giant Punch!

Seriously? Will it always connect? Really? Once you get them with a Head Butt, is the Giant Punch a lock?

Well, not exactly.

The amount of damage taken is proportional to the amount of time spent buried.
If they’re in the air, you won’t be able to bury them.
It’s harder to hit with the Head Butt than it is with the Giant Punch.

For these reasons and others, it’s not exactly easy to land this combo.

If you get buried, get out quick!

But for Donkey Kong, there’s a lot of merit to charging up and then saving the charge for the right moment. Keep an eye on the situation and make your own judgments.

Of course, no matter which character you play, the rule of aiming for opponents who already have a lot of damage remains the same.

By the way, when lifting someone, your opponent’s damage similarly affects how quickly they can break free, so be careful.

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:53 pm

Item Encyclopedia

Brawl is full of items. There’s a whopping 49 items available for you to turn on and off via the Item Switch, and that number climbs even higher when you include the specialized items for modes like Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary.

Posting a description of each of these might be a bit too much work...

But what the heck, let’s do it.

I’ve already started the process, and I might as well lay it all out.

To all the localization staff out there in each country helping me communicate through the Dojo, sorry for upping your workload.

Smash Ball

Attacking one of these until it breaks gives you the ability to use your Final Smash.

Assist Trophy

Raise of these high into the air to call one of Brawl’s many assistant characters to your aid.

Poké Ball

Throw a Poké Ball to summon a Pokémon that will assist you in fighting your opponent.

Crate

Attack or throw a crate to break it open and gain access to the items inside. There are three designs for crates. Additionally, some crates have dollies underneath them. Attacking these crates sends them rolling away.

Barrel

These bear a resemblance to crates but can tip over and roll. Barrels are pretty sturdy and can be a bit tough to crack open neatly.

Capsule

Break open these little capsules to find items. They’re also effective as a throwing item. Capsules will explode on occasion.

Party Ball

When hit, Party Balls float up into the air and split open, raining down a torrent of items. These items are known to drop nothing but Bob-ombs sometimes.

Blast Box

Hit these with a strong attack or fire-based attack to detonate the blast box, causing a huge explosion that blows anything in the area away. If one of these pops up, your first move should be to keep an eye on any characters who can use fire-based attacks.

Sandbag

Beat Sandbag up to make it drop items and food. As Sandbag accumulates damage, it gradually becomes easier to hit far distances. Of course, beat Sandbag too much and its pool of items will run dry.

Food

Scoop food items up to lower your damage percentage. There are essentially 28 different types of food. Each item restores a separately designated amount of health. In addition to the types mentioned above, you can expect to chow down on other items like Peach’s peaches and Summit veggies.

Maxim Tomato

These tomatoes are emblazoned with a striking letter "M." Eating one of these reduces your damage by 50 percentage points.

Heart Container

Pick up one of these to reduce your damage by 100 percentage points. Heart Containers float slowly to the ground once they appear, but don’t risk waiting around for them to hit the ground—jump up and grab ‘em in midair. You should also know that the three Heart Containers that appear in All-Star Mode heal all accumulated damage.

Dragoon Parts

Gather all three pieces to assemble the legendary Air Ride machine called the Dragoon.

Super Mushroom

Pick one of these up to grow huge. In your enhanced form, you won’t fly as far when hit and are capable of dealing harder-hitting blows than usual.

Poison Mushroom

These are hard to distinguish from Super Mushrooms. Pick one up and you’ll shrink in size, your blows will do less damage, and you’ll fly further when hit.

Warp Star

Take a ride on a Warp Star to launch a vicious attack from above on the opponent. You can control where the Warp Star falls by using your Control Stick.

Starman

Just touch one of these and you’ll gain temporary invincibility. The effect lasts 10 seconds.

Metal Box

Turn metal and gain no-flinch resistance to lighter attacks. Just be aware that you’ll fall like a rock.

Bunny Hood

The Bunny Hood provides a substantial boost to your running speed and jumping power. Plus you get rabbit ears, which makes your character look adorable.

Superspicy Curry

Eat one of these and the flames just won’t stop. You can, however, continue to attack as normal. This item also has the side effect of making you run even if you try to walk.

Timer

Pick up this item to slow down the flow of time for all other players. Occasionally the Timer will have a different effect and only slow you down, or it may slow down everyone.

Lightning

Touch one of these and all of your opponents will shrink. The effect is more dramatic and dangerous than the one brought on by a Poison Mushroom. Sometimes the Lightning will backfire and only your character will shrink.

Beam Sword

Grab one of these and your sideways attacks will all change to use the Beam Sword. The stronger the attack, the longer the beam of the sword will be.

Home-Run Bat

Perform a side smash while holding this item to take a home-run-sized swing at the opponent that sends him or her soaring. The Home-Run Bat is also your friend in the Home-Run Contest mode. It’s strong when thrown too.

Fan

This item doesn’t pack much of a punch but is easy to score rapid multiple hits with—it can also break shields. The Fan has deceptive strength when thrown straight up in the air in modes like Multi-Man Brawl.

Lip’s Stick

Hit an enemy with this or throw it to make a flower bloom on the opponent’s head. While the flower is on his or her head, the opponent will slowly accumulate damage. The more you beat your foe with Lip’s Stick, the bigger the flower on his or her head will grow.

Star Rod

Perform a strong side attack or side smash attack while holding the Star Rod to swing the rod and simultaneously fire off a star-shaped projectile. It’s both a battering and throwing item. When you throw a Star Rod at the opponent, it sends them rocketing off sideways.

Hammer

Seize this item to unleash a barrage of hammer swings on the opponent. The attack itself is quite powerful but you’ll lose the ability to perform midair jumps and special moves while attacking with it. Sometimes the head of the hammer will pop right off.

Golden Hammer

This rare hammer appears every once in a while. Repeatedly press buttons in midair to float while the hammer is in use.

Super Scope

This beam gun let’s you choose between attacking with rapid-fire and charged shots. The Super Scope holds enough energy for 48 rapid-fire shots, or about three fully charged blasts.

Ray Gun

The Ray Gun is a beam gun that lets you fire fast moving blasts. It comes loaded with 16 shots. When you’ve exhausted your rounds, shooting items remain useful since you can throw them at the opponent to score a smash attack.

Fire Flower

The Fire Flower is a shooting item that spouts a torrent of fire over a short distance. Take care that you don’t direct the flames into a PSI Magnet, which will absorb the attack.

Cracker Launcher

Change the angle of fire by moving the barrel up and down, then let off a stream of fireworks. Tap the direction opposite your current facing to turn around. Also, know that you can tell when you’ve fired the last shot in the Cracker Launcher by the smoke, which is a different color than the other shots.

Bob-omb

A simple and powerful bomb. The power of this thing earns top marks. If you leave it alone it will get up and walk around on its own. Once enough time has passed in Sudden Death, Bob-ombs start to fall from the sky in droves.

Motion-Sensor Bomb

Set one of these on the floor or wall and it will react to the next moving object in its proximity by detonating. These guys are small and inconspicuous, so try setting one as a trap.

Gooey Bomb

Gooey Bombs stick to the opponent and blow up once a set amount of time has passed. If someone sticks one to you, you should make it a priority to pass it back to them.

Smart Bomb

Throw a Smart Bomb and it will burst into a massive explosion that pulls enemy and friend alike into the blast, scoring multiple hits. Every once in a while you’ll come across a dud smart bomb, too.

Deku Nut

Peg the area near an enemy with one of these to make them dizzy. When the Deku Nut makes contact with an opponent in midair, it can send them quite a distance. When you strike with a Deku Nut, make sure you don’t get caught in the explosion.

Freezie

This icy item slides slowly along the ground. Throw it at the enemy to freeze them in a block of ice, trapping them. You’ll want to hammer on the buttons and wiggle the Control Stick to get out of that ice as fast as you can.

Smoke Ball

Smoke issues with a hiss from this item and obscures the area. You can slap one of these on your opponent or yourself.

Pitfall

Set one of these on the ground and watch as your opponents stumble into it, burying themselves in the floor. This throwing item has a meteor smash effect when you throw it at an airborne opponent.

Hothead

Hotheads slide across the ground releasing bursts of sparks and damaging your opponents. What’s more, when hit with fire or electricity-based attacks, they grow even bigger!

Mr. Saturn

When you throw Mr. Saturn into a solid object, he gives a little cry of "puuu!" He’s more of a mascot character than anything else, but he’s fairly good at breaking shields.

Green Shell

Throw, hit, or jump on this shell to send it sliding along the ground. Green Shells can suddenly reverse the direction they are traveling if they bump into a wall or are hit by an attack, so keep an eye out for returning shells.

Banana Peel

The item positively begs for you to slip on it. If you step on a Banana Peel your character will fall on his or her backside.

Bumper

A pinball bumper. Set this Bumper on the ground or in the air and watch it bounce opponents who make contact with it down and away.

Spring

Hop on a Spring to perform an extra high jump. Every so often a Spring will topple over sideways. When it does so, anyone who makes contact with the fallen Spring will be knocked sideways.

Unira

Throw an Unira into the ground or attack it to cause its spikes to extend and damage opponents who bump into it. Attack the Unira again to make its spikes retract. Unira comes to Brawl from Clu Clu Land.

Soccer Ball

You can’t pick up this item but when you hit the ball with an attack, it bursts into flames and zips off into the air. The angle of your attack determines the direction the Soccer Ball will fly off in, so aim well before you shoot.

Team Healer

This item is designed for Team Brawl use. Throw it at your opponent to reduce their damage percentage. Hitting enemies with a Team Healer may damage or heal them depending on the circumstances.

Franklin Badge

Just slapping this handy item on your chest causes all incoming enemy projectiles to be repelled. There’s no disadvantage to having one on, so if you see a Franklin Badge, grab it!

Screw Attack

This is another item that you wear. While wearing it, the Screw Attack ability is added to your standard and midair jumps. You’ll still be able to attack as normal during the Screw Attack, which means you’ve got the potential to create chains of attacks in some unexpected combinations.

CD

CDs add a single song to the song collection you can access through the Sound Test and My Music modes. CDs will stop appearing once you’ve unlocked every song in the game.

Trophy

Sometimes single trophies will appear as well. Grab this item to add a trophy to your collection.

Sticker

Character stickers. Other than their obvious purpose as collectibles, stickers serve as a means to power up your character in The Subspace Emissary.

Key

These open the locked doors you’ll encounter within Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. If you lose a key you were holding on the way to the door, just return to where you originally found it. By the way, these guys pack a real punch when thrown.

Trophy Base

Use these to turn enemies into trophies in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. Hold off on throwing the base at an enemy until it’s been sufficiently weakened.

Stock Ball

This item is known as a Stock Ball. In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Stock Balls increase the number of lives you have left. There’s no downside to picking these up, so don’t pass them up.

Coins and Bills

These special items appear when playing Brawl under the Coin rule. Bronze coins are worth one point, silver are worth three, gold are worth six, and the bills are worth 10. These are different than the coins you use in the Coin Launcher and Spectator modes.

In addition to everything listed above, each character gets their own Final Smash from the Smash Ball and there are a ton of different Assist Trophies and Poké Balls to boot.

What a truckload of items!

The anything-can-happen spirit of Brawl is clearly aided in part by all the variety you’ve seen here.

(I seriously hope to God they don't do another update like this ever again).

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:51 pm

wow...sooo many items....only 3 days left!
I wonder what to next update will be?) assist trophies-pokemon?)
who knows? all's i know is that I want Brawl really bad!( even more than i did for Twilight princess, and for a zelda fan, thats saying a lot!)

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:14 pm

R.O.B.

R.O.B., the Robotic Operating Buddy from the NES, makes a grand entrance into the maelstrom!

His stately form has received a lot of attention, but it’s his air of gentle playfulness that really charms us.

• Play 160 brawls
• Get 250 different trophies
• Get R.O.B. to join your party in The Subspace Emissary
• With the exception of the last of the three methods listed above, you’ll need to face R.O.B. in a brawl and beat him after satisfying the above conditions to unlock him.

R.O.B.'s Special Moves
Standard Special Move: Robo Beam
Side Special Move: Arm Rotor
Up Special Move: Robo Burner
Down Special Move: Gyro
Final Smash: Diffusion Beam

Tips

<Standard Special Move: Robo Beam>

A straight, fast, piercing beam!

This ultrafast shooting move is one of R.O.B.’s key weapons.

It has a couple of interesting characteristics.

1. You can change the angle of the shot.

If the shot hits the ground, it can ricochet.

2. You can’t fire again immediately after you use it.

Fzzzzh. There’s just not enough energy.

3. If you don’t use it for a bit, it will become a Super Robo Beam.

This time he’s at full power.

He stores his energy in the diode on his head, so you can tell when he’s charged up by looking at the light there. Cooooool...

<Side Special Move: Arm Rotor>

Push the button repeatedly to increase the power of the spin and continue attacking. You can even deflect projectiles.

Ba-ching! This move is bound to come in handy...

<Up Special Move: Robo Burner>

This move allows R.O.B. to hover by using his booster jets.

His stand can now be used for flight!

Keep tilting the Control Stick up to continue using the Robo Burners. There’s a fixed amount of fuel though, and when it’s gone you won’t be able to fly. By using the Control Stick to control when the jets are on and off, you’ll be able to earn more mileage.

But when you land, your fuel gets replenished. You’ll have a full tank again in a little less than 1.5 seconds.

However, when your fuel level is low and you’re landing or refueling, it's the perfect time for others to attack you, so watch out!

If you’re launched into the air repeatedly, you might not have a chance to refuel and you won’t be able to recover.

Enemies might attack when you land.

<Down Special Move: Gyro>

An item you can charge up and throw? There aren’t too many of those.

More spin, more spin...

And throw!

Once it’s been charged up, the gyros are pretty powerful, but since they’re items, opponents can pick them up and use them, too. There can only be one on the screen at a time, so pick your moment and throw!

They’re also effective in Multi-Man Brawl. Use it with the Robo Beam for combos!

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:26 am

If they do another update like this, just skip the pictures and copy the text.
I took the honor of doing Friday's update for you! And thanks for doing the updates too, perhaps I'll make you a mod...

Brawl allows you to take Snapshots of your in-game antics and post them. I’ve received quite a few shots from all of the users out there.

So, to celebrate the release of Brawl in the United States, I decided to handpick a few of the shots I’ve received to post up on the Dojo.

Aside from the two guest characters, Snake and Sonic, no secret characters are shown in any of the selected shots below...I think. So relax and enjoy.

*You will see some secret stages and secret trophies...

Hey! Taxi!

Kirby Pillow

It's breathtaking!

Soccer

Open wide!

Wrong side, Pikachu

Mail Call

The Monkey Gunman

Pikmin Crossing

Electric Epiphany

Behold, Donutman!

At the Zoo

Where's the missile?

Not for you...

Tingle’s Dream

The Bearded Chef

It's gonna eat me!

See you!

I won a prize!

I want it! Gimme!

Wariobot

Deploy all ships!

Captured Princess

Dah! Stupid Banana!

Nice Dodge

Airport Shipping

So...hungry...

Lemme outta here!

Pluck those turnips!

You! In the back!

Man... That’s big.

Master Hand Move

Cheek to Cheek

Guess who!

One With Nature

Oh, How Cute

Poor little fella...

...Sonic?

Peach’s Puppy

The Flying Pikachu

He’s mine!

Bonk!

Watching the Fight

Will you marry me?

Unexpected Strike

Learn from the Best

Get in line, pal!

Animal Crossing??

That’s some sunset.

The Diddybike!

A Perfect Assistant

What’s that?

Smells goood! <3

Durrr...

Chow time!

Choose one!

A Weekend Getaway

We Have an Intruder

Clean up, will you?

Right hand up! Hey!

Snake and Gray Fox

Congrats?

Here he comes!

Fossils!

Keynote Speech

Ride like the wind!

Today’s Main Course

To the Moon

Nice Posture

Daddy DK

Dad's Got a Camera

Look out!

Trouble Brewing

The Final Battle

I love youuuu!

Don’t move!

I’m leaving you!

Mad scientist?

Rockin’ Concert

Stars unite!

Castaway

Aaand...ACTION!

Aaaaa!

This is Snake. Copy.

He never learns...

Gorilla Romance

Squish!

Twilight

A Fated Encounter

Primid Fighter II

I’m sorry, Princess!

Sonic Rush

Cornered by Katrinas

(^·^

Brawl?

Don’t look at it...

Princess in Flight

Banana Bon Voyage!

Another Sunset

Thank you for all those great snapshots!

I’m thinking I’d like to do another Snapshots Galore post that allows shots including all the hidden characters right around the completion of the Smash Bros. Dojo site.

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:46 pm

Thanks, dude! I'm pretty busy today, so I wouldn't have been able to do those pictures lol.

There's probably gonna be a delay in me posting updates next week (I'm on Spring Break next week). I'll get them done next weekend, but feel free to do some of them if you want (Of course, you don't have to, considering what comes out Sunday).

A mod huh? interesting... but I got stuff to do next week (including an English paper Sad

), so that may have to wait...

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:38 am

Mr. Game & Watch

The Game & Watch series was made up of LCD games that began being sold in 1980 and proceeded to dominate handheld electronic games.

Now, an iconic character from the LCD era is here! He’s the master of the 2-D world, and he has come to fight!!

How to Unlock
• Fight in 250 brawls
• Clear Target Smash with 30 different characters on any single difficulty level
• Have Mr. Game & Watch join your party in The Subspace Emissary
• With the exception of the last of the three methods listed above, you’ll need to face Mr. Game & Watch in a brawl and beat him after satisfying the above conditions to unlock him.

Mr. Game & Watch's Special Moves
Standard Special Move Chef
Side Special Move Judge
Up Special Move Fire
Down Special Move Oil Panic
Final Smash Octopus

Tips

<Side Special Move: Judge>

This is number 9, right? Yeah, 9.

9!!!

When you use this special move, a random number will appear over Mr. Game & Watch’s head. What attack happens depends on the number...

* Attack strength: 2%. An attack that won’t even cause your opponent to flinch.
* Attack strength: 4%. A weak attack without any special characteristics.
* Attack strength: 6%. An attack with a beam sound that pierces defenses.
* Attack strength: 8%. A slashing attack that launches opponents diagonally.
* Attack strength: 4%x3. Three electrical charges zap the opponent.
* Attack strength: 12%. A flame attack. Watch out if you’re near an explosive crate.
* Attack strength: 14%. A food item will also appear in honor of the lucky #7.
* Attack strength: 9%. An attack that freezes foes. Take advantage of the opening to attack again.
* Attack strength: 32%. A massive attack. The opponent will be launched as if hit with the Home-run Bat!

If you’re getting into trouble, try to use this attack a lot and hope for a 9. Let fortune decide your fate, and go!!

<Down Special Move: Oil Panic>

This special move will absorb three projectiles, then make a wide oil attack that splashes about. The attack strength equals that of the three projectiles combined, multiplied by 2.8.

Fill up your bucket!

Press down and the special-attack button once more to unload on your enemies!

This move will absorb projectile attacks with strengths up to 20%, but the attack itself will still be strong even if you absorb just normal projectiles.

In team battles, if you have Team Attack set to on, you'll be able to absorb your team members’ projectile attacks. This can prove to be a cunning combination.

But maybe there should be a rule that both teams have a Mr. Game & Watch on their side so that they can both take advantage of this strategy.

This is how the tactic works!

<Final Smash: Octopus>

It’s too much!!

The Octopus is a transformational special move, but don’t forget you still have to control it with the buttons.

If you don’t push the buttons, the tentacles don’t move.

Of course, the body still has attack strength.

When you push the buttons, the tentacles extend and whip out.

When the tentacles are extending, the attack strength is located in the tips. The body will therefore lose its attack strength. You should be warned, though, that even if a tentacle is not extended, its tip will still hit.

The octopus actually can’t change the direction it faces. The tentacles to its rear have less strength in them, but will anyone be able to escape even knowing that?

Wow, too cool.

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:08 am

Game & Watch: Flat Zone 2

"Game & Watch: Flat Zone 2" (1:07)

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/music/music23.html

Composer: Kenichi Okuma

In the Game & Watch games, the only sounds are beeps. Since there was nothing which you could really call music per se, we used the sound as a base and created the music with it.

And it turned out kind of...dark. Cool.

It reminds me of being in some underground bar, sitting next to an overdressed man who is wafting his cigarette smoke through the air, the pinched corners of his mouth evidence enough that he is plotting something full of intrigue.

...Well, those are just my idle thoughts.

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:06 pm

Flat Zone 2

This stage is 2-D, and for some reason everyone becomes two-dimensional when they fight here. It makes sense—this IS a Game & Watch.

• Unlock Mr. Game & Watch

So what is Game & Watch, exactly? Well, the Game & Watch series was made up of handheld electronic games that Nintendo began releasing in 1980. Over 12 million were sold in Japan alone, creating a huge boom. New games in the series continued to be released even after the Super NES was launched in 1991.

And this is the odd stage we built based on the old Game & Watch designs.

If you look closely, you can see that the characters have become 2-D.

Basically, this part is modeled after the Game & Watch "Fire" game. If you land on the rescue team’s blanket, you can make big jumps like it was a trampoline.

Boing! Ahhh... Is bouncing a good thing? Or just inconvenient?

Over time, the stage will change. Amidst the plethora of Game & Watch games, what could appear?

"Oil Panic," perhaps?

Or "Lion." To the left and right are the lion tamers.

Even "Chef!" The chef can launch characters.

There’s all sorts of stuff in here that leaves the youngsters behind. This game really has no scruples at all, does it? Sorry!

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:17 pm

Hidden Masterpieces

Even the Masterpieces have elements that you can unlock. The types and ways to unlock them are listed below.

Donkey Kong (1986, NES)

• Have the game powered on for more than 10 hours.

It starts from stage 2. Try comparing it to the Smash Bros. stage 75m.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, NES)

• Win with Peach 5 times in brawls.

Peach’s levitation and vegetable-pulling abilities come from this game. Therefore, it starts with Peach.

Super Mario World (1991, Super NES)

• Play more than 3 times on the Yoshi’s Island stage.

This is the source of the Melee stage Yoshi’s Island. This game was bundled with the Super NES outside of Japan, and is quite a well-known title.

F-Zero (1991, Super NES)

• Get Captain Falcon to join your party in The Subspace Emissary.

F-Zero, the first of the series, so to speak. The Falcon Flyer only appeared in the comics in the instruction manual, though.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, Nintendo 64)

• Use a certain character in brawls 10 times.

If you’re using the included save data, you’ll suddenly be able to play with the adult Link. When outside, you can call Link’s trusty steed Epona by drawing the ocarina and performing the following pattern: ↑←→↑←→

These are all, of course, only trial versions. If you like one of them and feel like you want to play quite a lot, then buying it would probably be the way to go.

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:31 pm

Secret Melee Stages

Even among the Melee stages, there are a few hidden ones. Here I’d like to do a quick rundown of four such venues.

Here’s Cranky Kong’s shack and outhouse.

Fierce rushing waters flow beneath the platforms!

• Play 10 brawls in Melee stages

This stage is just hanging in space like some floating island.

Whispy Woods and the trademark stacking blocks made it here intact.

• Play as Kirby in 20 brawls

<Pokémon Stadium>

Pokémon Stadium 2 is available in Brawl but we’ve brought back the original as well.

Just like the newer iteration of this stage, Melee Pokémon Stadium’s terrain transforms into four different types.

Fire Type: It calls to mind the charred aftermath of a volcanic eruption.

Water Type: The real star of this terrain is probably the waterwheel.

Rock Type: The towering mass of rock on the left side of the screen is this terrain’s distinguishing feature.

Lastly, here’s the Grass Type. This one’s comparatively simple in its structure.

• Play the Pokémon Stadium 2 stage 10 times

Add the above four types to the additional four available in the Pokémon Stadium 2 stage and you’ve got a total of 8 different elemental terrain types to fight in.

This unique stage has a real sense of breakneck speed to it.

Get the jump on the opponent from one of the F-Zero machines cruising by.

• Play as Captain Falcon in 10 brawls

The Melee stages available in Brawl are arranged so that you get one from each game world.

You can use the My Music feature on Melee stages, too.

In the previous Smash Bros., the background music for each stage had the same name as the stage regardless of the song’s source, so you may find yourself feeling a bit like "Huh?" when viewing just the song titles for some of the music on these stages. (EarthBound-related music is the exception to this rule.)

Additionally, the My Music feature for these Melee stages allows you to include some secret songs and music from other stages from that game world in your mixes! Collect all the songs and try it out for yourself.

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:45 pm

Latecomer Assist Trophies

Some of the Assist Trophies don’t appear until you’ve satisfied a certain set of conditions.

<Custom Robo>

• Play a total of 100 matches in Brawl or related modes.

This is the Ray Mk III. It’s the same type that appeared in the Nintendo DS title Custom Robo Arena.

When summoned, the Ray Mk III whizzes around in the air, alternately firing off a shower of bullets from the gun on its left hand and peppering the stage with bombs from its right.

Since it’s a toy, the design for Ray Mk III is small and lightweight.

screenshot

Yup, it’s tiny...

<Isaac>

• Play a total of 200 matches in Brawl or related modes.

Isaac is an adept from the Golden Sun series who commands earth-based Psynergy. He carries a sword on his back but you won’t see him use it here.

Isaac has the ability Move, which has the ability to move objects. This time, that ability has been represented as a massive hand that pushes away anything in it’s path.

This is Move! Depending on the situation, its effect can be devastating.

<Infantry and Tanks>

• Play a total of 300 matches in Brawl or related modes.

These famous units from the Advance Wars series have been represented in Smash Bros. as pixel art. Looking at the number of colors used, I’d say these are the units as they appeared in the Game Boy Advance version, perhaps?

Both types of unit spill out onto the battlefield firing tiny projectiles as they wheel about. They may be adorable, but you mustn’t underestimate them.

Three Assist Trophies are represented as pixel art.

<Barbara>

• Acquire 25 hidden songs.

Barbara comes to Smash from the game Daigassou! Band Brothers and Master of Illusion. She’s also made appearances secretly in games like English Training.

When Barbara appears, she starts to wail on her electric guitar, attacking opponents in the area with sonic waves. The attack can cause multiple hits, so run when you see it coming!

Barbara’s final strum of the guitar has the most potential to blow you away, so make sure you clear out before it hits!

<Shadow The Hedgehog>

• Unlock Sonic.

Shadow The Hedgehog joins the brawl alongside Sonic! Shadow is known as a sort of rival for Sonic.

When summoned, Shadow uses his Chaos Control to slow the speed of those nearby him. Naturally the Chaos Control has no effect on the character who summoned him.

I guess obscuring the players’ field of vision is one of the effects of this move?

In addition to the Assist Trophies mentioned above, Gray Fox also requires certain conditions to be fulfilled in order to unlock him.

• Unlock Snake.

I suppose it only makes sense that Assist Trophies associated with guest characters appear concurrently with those guest characters, doesn’t it.

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:08 pm

Boss Strategies

Today I’d like to introduce the bosses from Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary—and along the way I’ll drop a couple basic hints about how to beat them.

If you’re looking for a more in-depth set of hints, feel free to pick up a strategy guide...

<Rayquaza>

With Rayquaza—and really, with all the bosses—you have to recognize when to attack and when to flee, so try to find a rhythm for doing both.

When you’ve got an opening to attack, go for it. At all other times, you need to keep yourself in a position where you can dodge at the drop of a hat.

If you rely on midair attacks, at the very least you won’t have to worry about getting knocked off your feet by Rayquaza’s Iron Tail or getting hit by its charge. So I guess it’s to your advantage to keep airborne.

Jump in for a quick attack and take a peek at Rayquaza up close.

You can use a reflector or similar special move to bounce Rayquaza’s energy balls back at it. This tip is also hinted at in the movie that precedes the fight.

When Rayquaza leaps outside the frame of the stage, make sure you note how it made its exit.

When it rises straight up and away into the air, you can expect it to strike from the side soon thereafter, so get ready to dodge vertically.

If Rayquaza instead coils itself up in midair and flies off or plunges into the ground below, prepare to dodge an incoming vertical attack.

If Rayquaza takes this pose, it’s about to launch a vertical strike. Just keep moving to the left or the right and you’ll be fine.

When Rayquaza pops out of the ground, put a hurting on it with a smash attack!

<Porky>

Porky’s speedy little machine legs can be a real handful to deal with. When you make contact with these legs, you’ll often take a small amount of damage.

If you absolutely don’t want to take any damage, you’ll have to resort to long-range weapons or deftly jump in and out with midair attacks.

Make sure you can back away from Porky at a moment’s notice.

Sometimes Porky will perform a multiple hit attack with his legs (or are they tentacles?) and when he does, you’d better distance yourself from him on the double. Porky’s attacks can take longer than you’d think to register a hit, so even if you think you’re done for, you should make an effort to escape.

Smaller characters can sometimes dodge this attack by ducking.

When Porky fires his guided laser, back off as far as you can and use your midair dodges to escape the incoming blasts.

Occasionally the Porky robots he launches take a tumble and explode, so run off to the side when you see them.

It’s OK to make contact with the robots. Just watch out for those explosions.

When Porky dashes at you, take to the air, and when he lets off a barrage of electric jolts from the sky, move left and right to dodge. Keep dodging regularly throughout the fight to stay safe.

<Galleom>

Galleom is a boss who’s just raring for a fight. You fight this iron giant two times during the adventure but the same strategy applies to both fights.

On the whole, Galleom doesn’t have too many anti-air attacks, so staying high in the sky is a good way to avoid the brunt of its assault. Stay up by climbing with multiple jumps, using recovery moves, and employing air dodges.

Use multiple jumps in conjunction with air dodges.

When Galleom fires off a volley of missiles, stay on the ground. Attack and attack again.

It’s easiest to dodge Galleom’s high jumps and falling attack with an air dodge.

If Galleom transforms into its tank form, it’s usually best to take a big jump over and behind the machine, though this varies from character to character.

Here you’re safe from missiles and charge attacks.

<Ridley>

Since Ridley is in the air most of the time, you’re going to have to go up there and attack if you want to win the fight. Winning this battle therefore means using effective midair strikes. If your character has them, I’d advise focusing on using attacks that score multiple hits.

I don’t recommend attacks that cause an impact stall, even if they pack a punch.

If you think "here comes an attack," put some distance between yourself and Ridley and watch its movements. Studying Ridley’s moves will really pay off.

If Ridley flies upward, dodge sideways to avoid the descending attack that follows soon after.

If Ridley flies off the side of the screen, leap high into the air or crouch down to dodge Ridley’s sideswipe.

When Ridley uses its tail attack or changes sides on the screen, jump to avoid getting hit.

Aim to incorporate dodges into your evasive maneuvers as this will lessen the likelihood of you getting hit during all that running and jumping.

When Ridley rushes in from the background, jump and perform a midair dodge.

For times when you are far removed from Ridley, especially if you’re playing on a high difficulty setting or using a character with poor mobility, it’s OK to stay stationary. If you keep your head and wait, I bet Ridley will eventually bring the fight to you.

Stay cool. Just stay cool.

<Duon>

This fearsome foe’s constructed of two sides—a gun side and a sword side. Looks as though you’ve got your work cut out for you with this boss.

When possible, try to keep some distance between you and the boss.

Even so, man, Duon is one tough customer...

Your primary strategy for staying alive is to dodge and dodge again. Nimble dodging skills will be particularly necessary for getting by the sword side’s devastating close-range attacks.

Stay light and nimble. If Duon connects, you’ll be in a world of hurt.

I guess, as a general rule of thumb, you should attempt to take on Duon from close range when fighting the sword side, and back away a fair bit when Duon switches to duel you with its gun side.

Also, Duon’s guided missiles can deal damage if you can get them to crash into Duon. The effect of these missiles is especially strong in the harder difficulty levels, so try giving Duon a taste of its own medicine.

If the above tactic sounds like too much work, you can always take advantage of the momentary invincibility you receive when climbing up ledges to dodge the missiles.

<Meta Ridley>

This fight to the death takes place on the back of the Falcon Flyer. The duel has a time limit of two minutes.

As Meta Ridley’s health depletes, it will gradually shift its position toward the edge of the screen. How crafty.

It’s hard to land a hit on Meta Ridley here!

Meta Ridley also has an attack where it pushes down on the Falcon Flyer. If you just stay standing on top of the deck when this happens, you may end up losing a stock for going off the screen, so use a jump to stay aloft when you see the ship start to descend.

Give Meta Ridley a quick whack when it’s here to shake it off the ship.

As for Ridley’s other attacks, like the one where it scrapes its talons across the ground, the best advice I can give is to stay in the air, as it’s easier to avoid most of the attacks this way. Don’t forget to mix in a couple air dodges.

If you’re aiming to capture Meta Ridley with a Trophy Stand, I think it’s easiest to transform Meta Ridley when it stops attacking for a moment. You can do this anywhere on the stage as your ultimate goal is to snatch the newly made Trophy right out of the air as it floats down.

Just make sure that you use a character who falls quickly when going for the trophy.

Finally, if you want to be really exact about it, this guy isn’t technically a boss, buuut...

<The Pig King Statue>

You can’t beat him. You really have no hope of doing so, so run.

In his original game, The Pig King Statue had 100,000,000 hit points.

So seriously now, you can’t beat this guy.

...So, are we all clear on that point now?

This whole entry is littered with the word "dodge", isn’t it? This technique is essential if you’re going to take on the bosses of adventure mode. I thought it’d be a good idea to get you in the habit of moving your finger toward that shield button when you see an attack about to connect.

Be it in the air or on the ground, if you don’t get hit you can’t get knocked out. I suppose more so than attacks, it’s all about dodging and dodging again!

Ike’s counter and Pit’s Mirror Shield are pretty strong weapons too!