The Super Smash Bros. series is one of gaming's most well-known fighting games. For many of us, it was our first foray into the genre itself. It was like a dream come true, seeing so many of our favorite Nintendo characters all in one place. Super Smash Bros. had the added bonus that it was incredibly fun to play. It's very easy to pick up and very difficult to master, especially considering how technical some entries are, such as Super Smash Bros. Melee.
The roster in each installment would grow and constantly add new fighters, and the latest installment on the Wii U version (commonly referred to as simply Smash 4) would be the first time we saw DLC in the franchise. An unofficial Smash Bros. game would be birthed through the modding capabilities on the original Wii called Project M, which would change Brawl's engine to act like Melee and would become so popular it was seen as part of the series. All of the Smash Bros. games have a large competitive following, with tournaments happening nearly every week with hundreds, sometimes thousands of people competing. Even the oldest of the series, 64, has a lively following.
With such a huge fan base, many things have been discovered from every game in the franchise. Some things have become so popular they are now main parts of the game. Others are more niche and harder to pull off. Regardless, the following will tell you about things you had no idea you could do in Super Smash Bros.
25 Playing A Good Hand
In Melee, it is possible to play as the final boss of the game, Master Hand, by use of a glitch. He gets no knockback, and is impossible to knock out; the only way to beat him as a human player is in Stamina mode. To perform the glitch, you must have two controllers, one of them must be plugged into the Player 3 slot (the other doesn't matter). Have the controller not in the Player 3 slot select a character and hover over the "back" button in the top corner. Player 3 must go to the name selection button. Select both options at the same time, and it should instead take you to the stage select screen. Pick a stage and Player 3 will be playing as Master Hand.
24 Larger Than Life
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the most fun Smash games in a casual setting, the Subspace Emissary being one of, if not the most beloved thing in all of Smash Bros. Of course, it has its fair share of glitches as well. A very fun one to do involves Jigglypuff and her final smash. It requires you to go to a stage where the stage regenerates, the easiest one being the Bridge of Eldin as it's easiest to time. To perform it is rather simple: as Jigglypuff, activate your final smash when the terrain is being rebuilt inside of it. This will cause Jigglypuff to retain her size in the final smash, and her hitboxes adjust accordingly. If she is put into an egg by Yoshi, Jigglypuff will continue to grew even larger.
23 Riding The Waves
Super Smash Bros. Melee has the most glitches out of any of the other Smash Bros. games. They are incredibly useful, and a good chunk of the glitches in Melee are used commonly in competitive play. The most common would be a technique called Wavedashing. Wavedashing is seen in many fighting games today, and is generally a way to travel a stage faster and quick attack an opponent by catching them off guard. This only works in Melee (as well as Brawl mod Project M), and to perform, you simply jump and air dodge diagonally towards the ground. The timing is different for every character, and if the character doesn't ever go into the air dodge animation that's how you know you performed it correctly.
22 A Quicker Landing
Melee's most useful technique by far is something called Lag Canceling. This would also appear in Smash 64 and Project M, but is notably absent from Brawl and Smash 4. This is generally referred to as simply L Canceling. An L Cancel is the act of canceling the landing animation from an attack to allow you to act out of an aerial move quicker. To perform, after landing from an aerial attack, press the shield button and all the landing lag will be canceled. It is important to note special B moves can not be L Canceled. Though there is a weird, notable exception that appears in Melee. The character Mr. Game and Watch can not L cancel his neutral air, back air, or up air.
21 Knocked Him Out In One Hit!
This is exclusive to Melee, as well as something only Roy can do to Jigglypuff. In Smash, there are reverse hitboxes (the parts of a move that have a hit box behind a character) that have different properties than if it hits them normally. Sometimes it's used for combos, other times it's simply to just be flashy. However, Roy's blade does more damage the closer the opponent is to the hilt. The reverse hitbox of his up b has tons of knockback, and if you attack Jigglypuff (the lightest character in the game), it is possible to knock her out in one hit... at zero percent.
20 Grab 'Em By The Chains
Chain Grabbing has been in Super Smash Bros. since the original game on the N64. A chain grab is the act of grabbing an opponent repeatedly until they get too high of a damage percentage or until they are knocked out. There are only a small amount of characters that can chain grab indefinitely, while most can continue to do so if they are paired with other moves before re-grabbing the opponent. A decent chunk of the Brawl cast has some form of chain grab, however this would be essentially removed from Smash 4. In Smash 4, there would be addition to the grab mechanics that makes someone who gets grabbed immune to grabs for one second. It's still possible, but requires to keep an opponent in hitstun during that time, making it near impossible.
19 Wobble, Wobble, Wobble
Wobbling is the act of getting caught in a grab indefinitely. Unlike chain grabs, if you miss the original mash out from a default grab, it's impossible to escape until the person who initiated knocks you out or lets go. This is only possible in Melee, however as the grab mechanics are unique to it. Someone who is grabbed cannot escape while being pummeled, but the default one is too slow to perform. However, if there is two opponents attacking the one who is grabbed, you can constantly pummel and trap them. It's commonly seen in Ice Climbers, as they always have two people. It simply requires a slight desync and certain timing to continuously hit who they grab. It is possible in Team Smash, if one teammate grabs an opponent while the other attacks him.
18 Hanging By A Ledge
Ledge Dashing is a technique exclusive to Melee and Project M, as they are the only games with wavedashing which is part of how you perform it. A ledge dash is an alternative way to get back on stage while on the ledge. To perform, let go of the ledge (by pressing down) and jump and wave land (wavedash towards the stage from the air) onto the stage again. You'll be able to act right away and can shield, attack, grab, or anything else. In some cases, if done perfectly you are fully invincible from anything, known as a perfect ledge dash. The downside to this technique is that it is very dangerous, as if you mess up you will be unable to recover and SD (knock yourself out).
17 Getting In Your Squats
Grabbing is one of the most important things in all of the Smash Bros. games. It commonly starts all kinds of combos and is the only true counter to shields. However, for the most part their range is pretty bad, and you have to be very close in order to do it. There is a special technique in Smash Bros. called a jump cancel grab. It's an alternative version of a dash grab. The Jump Cancel Grab has less start up and less ending lag compared to the dash grab. To perform, press the button you use for jump and immediately press the grab button. Your character will still perform the start of the jump animation (known as a jump squat) and will cause your character to keep its traction and grab people farther away from a normal grab distance.
16 Shine Bright Like A Diamond
In Melee, there's a plethora of techniques exclusive to just one character. The most common and most used character by far is none other than Fox McCloud. The undisputed best character of Melee has many techniques that are hard to figure out, even hard to perform but so many useful ones its hard to not want to learn them. The most common one is something called a Multi-Shine. It is essentially what it sounds like, and its a way to continuously use Fox's down b (known as Shine). To perform, you must continuously down b and then jump and hit down b again. It has a very tricky timing and all the the inputs have to be done within just a few frames of each other, but when mastered can be one of the best things in the game.
15 Yes, I'm Taunting You
There's always silly glitches that never quite leave a series. This would be true with Super Smash Bros. and something called Taunt Canceling. It is probably what you think it is, a way to stop a taunt and continue to act out of it as if you never did it in the first place. If the taunt animation collides with the animation a character does when teetering near a ledge the taunt sound will play, but the taunt's animation will be cut short. This can be used as a mind game to your opponent, but is more often than not just a silly thing to do. The taunt will also be canceled if you start falling while taunting, such as getting pushed off of a platform.
14 Scope This!
Another glitch in Melee would be a way to get infinite ammo in the Super Scope item. It's rather easy to perform, and only requires two people to perform (technically it can be done with bots but is much, much harder). To perform you must fire fifteen individual shots from a super scope, best done in 5 sets of 3. Next, you want to shoot two fully charged shots of the super scope. Finally, you have to charge one more shot and be attacked before firing it. This will cause the game to believe the amount of shots in the super scope is way higher than it should be, and have seemingly unlimited ammo. This stays with the item, so you can trade it with another player and it will still contain the infinite ammo.
13 It's Dangerous To Go There!
The next glitch is probably the most complicated to perform, and requires four players to perform it. It requires 2 players as Fox or Falco, 1 Peach, and 1 Optional character (who must be on a team with a Fox/Falco), Ness usually is used since he can add more to the glitch. You must first use the infinite super scope glitch previously described. The Fox(es)/Falco(s) both start their down b and hold it down. The player on a team with one of the Fox/Falco must have the super scope, and start firing. Peach must then jump into the shots and blue balls will appear. Repeat and once there's a steady beam Peach must throw turnips into it. Once there's a lot in there disrupt one of the shines and there will be stuck there. Jumping in will cause tons of damage and knock you out.
12 Living Their Own Lives
The Ice Climbers were characters introduced in Melee, and would return for Brawl but not Smash 4. They are by far the most unique character in the game, as you're essentially playing as two characters. Nana will mirror whatever Popo does, however there's a way to desync the two Ice Climbers. You have to lag one of the characters that will allow you to attack separately with each climber. The easiest way is to do an attack when another one of the Ice Climbers can't. Usually using a move such as a smash attack that takes a while to fully perform followed by a spot dodge will cause only Nana to start doing attacks. It's best practiced by taunting afterwards. If only one taunts, desyncing has been achieved.
11 Jumping For Your Life
In Melee, the characters with recoveries that can attach to the stage with a grapple, such as Link and Samus, have very glitchy ways of returning back to the stage. The most notable recovery like this would be Link/Young Link's, which will allow what is called a Boomerang Superjump. It is rather simple to perform. You must first throw a boomerang and then have link wall grapple onto the side of the stage. The boomerang will return and hit Link, causing them to fly up into the air in a tumble animation. It will eventually stop, but you can cut it short by doing anything to interrupt it such as air dodging or jumping again. It can be used for a mix up tool when recovering, or just for fun.
10 Directionally Influential
In all Super Smash Bros. games, there is a technique known as DI, or Directional Influence. There are two kinds of DI: Smash DI and regular DI. Regular DI is used to alter the trajectory in which you are knocked towards. For example, DI-ing up and away (by holding that direction) and is used to survive moves you wouldn't be able to survive otherwise. Smash DI is done with both the C stick and waggling your control stick in a certain direction, which is used to get out of combos. Some moves, such as Fox's up air in Melee that normally provides lots of knock back, will have little effect if properly Smash DI'd. Other moves that only link occasionally, seen commonly in Smash 4 rely on guessing opponent's DI as well.
9 Dropping Your Shield
Shield Dropping is Super Smash Bros' easiest technique in theory, but at the same time the hardest to do. It is also sometimes controller dependent, as no controller is quite the same and as such some do it easier while others have a very difficult time. In 64, it's as easy as pressing down while shielding, as spot dodging isn't present in the game. In the rest of the games, there is a certain part of the control stick where you are able to drop down a platform and be able to act out right away, rather than letting go of shield and dropping after which is unsafe. If you move too slow you will only tilt your shield, and too much will cause a roll or spot dodge.
8 Mewtwo's On The Battlefield
Battlefield is one of the more wacky stages in Melee, despite it being a stage with no gimmicks actively on it. What the stage does sport are ledges that are generally inconsistent and have many bugs involving them. A lot of the time, a player will be unable to grab onto it despite actively touching the ledge. However, Mewtwo has an interesting ability he can use while on it. If Mewtwo uses his side b and drops below the stage after it connect to an opponent the opponent will drop through the stage and fall down with Mewtwo. Since in Melee (and 64) an opponent can't grab a ledge that someone is already on, Mewtwo can grab the ledge again guaranteeing a knock out at as low as zero percent.
7 The Ice Man (And Woman) Cometh
The Ice Climbers are not only the most unique, they are also the most bugged. There are many glitches that are exclusive to the two, and one of them is game breaking. It is simply known as the freeze glitch, and will trap an opponent until you grab them. To perform, the secondary climber must be grabbing an opponent. Following that, the main climber has to quickly use his side b and hit the opponent. The character hit by the side b will now be frozen and unable to move. You can keep hitting them and their position can adjust, but ultimately will receive no knock back since the game thinks the character is still getting grabbed. The only way it can be fixed is by getting grabbed again, if they end up off screen they will not get knocked out or return to the stage.
6 She Can Basically Teleport
In Melee, another exclusive technique to a character would be something called a Super Wave Dash that is only utilized by Samus. If done correctly, Samus can travel across a stage very quickly, expanding almost as long as Final Destination is. The downside is how difficult it is to do, as it is a frame-perfect exploit. Samus must drop a bomb and right before she hits the ground, hold the opposite direction as required on the 41st frame of the move (just before she lands) and will then begin sliding across the level as be able to act and attack as she slides as if she used a wave dash. While difficult to perform consistently, when learned it's one of Samus' best tools in the whole game.