Super Smash Flash (series)

The Super Smash Flash series is a very popular, unofficial, non-profit Flash fighting game series notable for using characters from outside of the Super Smash Bros. series, as well as "fan entries".

Super Smash Flash
The first game in the series is Super Smash Flash, commonly abbreviated as SSF, and was released on August 21, 2006. It is based on Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Gameplay
Super Smash Flash ' s gameplay is very similar to the official Super Smash Bros. games. Unlike most traditional 2D fighting games, each character's health is measured by a damage percentage counter, and as the character is attacked, damage is accumulated and the percentage value increases. The higher the percentage, the further the character gets launched when attacked, so the easier it is for them to be KO'ed by being knocked off the stage.

The arrow keys (or W, A, S and D for a second player) are used to move the character around and crouch. The O and P keys (or G and F for a second player) are used to jump and attack, respectively. Pressing a movement button and the attack button together will initiate a special attack, much like Melee ' s B button attacks.

Matches can be played in either Time mode, Stock mode, or a combination of the two. In Time mode, each player receives a point when they KO an opponent, and loses a point if they are KO'd or self-destruct. At the end of the designated time limit, the player with the most points wins. In Stock mode, each player is given a chosen amount of lives, and every time they are KO'd or self-destruct, they lose a life. When a player loses all their lives, they are out of the game, and the match's conclusion is reached when there is only one player left standing. In the Classic and Adventure modes, every level has both a time limit and a chosen amount of lives; if the player does not KO the opponent before time runs out, they lose a life and have to restart the level. Both modes can also be selected in the game's Melee mode, but if a winner is not decided when the time runs out, the player with the highest number of lives left is declared the winner. There is no equivalent of the Coin mode and Bonus mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

The game is very similar to Melee, but most game mechanics are missing, and all characters are lightweight and somewhat hard to control. In addition, most characters lack recovery methods other than jumping. However, in a select few situations button inputs can be made before a character floats to his or her death, which will make the character "teleport" back onto the stage. The camera in Super Smash Flash will only follow player 1, making multiplayer gameplay disadvantageous for player 2.

Characters
Many of the characters in the Super Smash Flash games are sprite versions of those in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but there are also several characters from third-party developers. Some characters come from media other than video games, such as comics, anime, TV shows, and movies.

Features
Most stages are based off of actual Melee stages and have simplistic platforms and features. Super Smash Flash contains several game modes from Super Smash Bros. Melee game modes such as Classic, Adventure, All-Star, Target Test, Multi-Man Melee, and the multiplayer Melee.

Super Smash Flash 2
Originally called a sequel, Super Smash Flash 2, often shortened as SSF2, ended up serving as a reboot to the original SSF. It was originally based off of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and was scheduled for release in 2008. However, multiple reasons have caused the game to be delayed indefinitely, and no real release date has been revealed yet. A demo is available for play on the McLeodGaming website, and is currently in version 0.9b. The game will feature enhanced sprites, graphics, running speed and AI. On the gameplay side, it will work a lot like official games, with added features from Brawl such as Final Smashes and Assist Trophies.

Gameplay
The following explanation is based on the gameplay of the current demo:

The gameplay is now more similar to the official games, particularly a combination of the various games in the serious, but with a combination of a Melee and Brawl feel. Character's health is still measured by a damage percentage counter. There is also a menu to customize the controls and a camera that zooms in and out to fit all the characters on the screen.

The controls are more different than it's predecessor. Now, for default, the controls are switched. The W, A, S and D keys now work for Player 1, while the arrow keys are used by Player 2. These keys are used to move the character around, jump and crouch. However the O and P keys still remain in the P-1 possession using: O key for special attacks (or activate a Final Smash), P key for standard attacks, I key for shield and 1 key for taunt; while for P-2 uses Numpad 1 for special attacks (or activate a Final Smash), Numpad 2 for standard attacks, Numpad 3 for shield and Numpad 4 for taunt. The player can change the controls in the options menu.

The Time mode and Stock mode also returned with the same mechanism of the previous game. The player can also now set special modes; with some from the past games, and some exclusive for Super Smash Flash 2.

Characters
The game features more characters than its predecessor, with a total of 36 playable characters each one with special, normal attacks and a unique and different Final Smash.

Features
Like the characters, more stages are featured. SSF2 includes stages from the original Super Smash Bros. installments, and new custom stages as well. Many other new game modes are featured including the previous ones.

Impact
Super Smash Flash has received an overwhelmingly positive response. While there is an abundance of Super Smash Bros. fangames on the internet, most are either incomplete, abandoned, or have very few playable characters. Many attribute Super Smash Flash's success to the fact that Cleod9 and his spriters completed many notable feats such as copying very large classic stages from Melee such as Hyrule Temple, or adding the game's own Classic Mode and Adventure, complete with Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Cleod9 also developed functional physics that are missing or broken in other fangames, such as inertia.

Criticism
There has also been a lot of criticism on the Super Smash Flash series as a whole. Most criticism of Super Smash Flash comes from the fact that the majority of characters are either from third parties, fan made, or are irrelevant to the Smash series, Nintendo, or the game. Another widely common criticism comes from the abundance of anime characters — most citing that their inclusion is an 'insult' to the Smash series' roots.

Another common criticism is that the original Super Smash Flash has awkward or uncomfortable controls that are almost never preferred for a single player experience, making it unnecessarily difficult to play comfortably. Another control-related complaint was the use of only one button for all attacks, while SSB is known to have two — thus omitting a lot of characters' special and standard attacks. Some characters have absolutely no melee or swords attacks.

An area subject to widest criticism is the physics engine in the original SSF. Many claim that it was 'absolutely horrid' — including many Super Smash Flash 2 Developers — and damage accumulated far too quickly. Instead of a character flying upwards or downwards the character would fly completely horizontally, often at a ridiculous speed, resulting in an untimely death. This was fixed immediately in the initial SSF2 demo — v0.1a.

More criticism has actually come from ex-developers of Super Smash Flash 2 themselves — calling the team circa 2007 "inefficient", "too argumentative", and claiming that they have "ridiculous ideals". One claimed that there was an argument on what color Sonic's eyes should be, another on the idea of Mario retaining his trademark Cape special from Melee and Brawl, and even adding that after a large argument, Peach was initially planned to use her parasol Perry for all her attacks, thus eliminating almost all of her Brawl and Melee standard attacks. Two retired developers have both stated that they are thankful that they quit, and showed disapproval for the path of Super Smash Flash 2. However, with the "open" aspect of the SSF2 Dev Team, Developers are free to come and go as they want, and it is widely accepted that this is no longer the case — many Developers go so far as to call each other a "big family".

Controversy
Originally, Mega Man X was meant to return in SSF2. However, he was replaced with the real Mega Man, which has sparked some controversy regarding whether Mega Man should be regarded as a newcomer or veteran; more controversy was sparked when Mega Man was confirmed to appear in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.