Super Smash Bros. (universe)

The Super Smash Bros. universe' refers to the ' series' collection of characters, stages, items, and properties original to the Super Smash Bros.'' series, featured alongside the other licensed game characters and properties seen in the series. As with the official games, the universe may be considered the universe that "hosts" the Super Smash Bros. series, including the original-made properties from the Super Smash Flash series. Its symbol or emblem is immediately recognizable yet deceptively simple - a simple circle crossed by two lines.

Franchise description
Through 1998, second-party Nintendo developer HAL Laboratory, creator of the ' franchise and led by Masahiro Sakurai, developed a fighting game for the Nintendo 64 titled ' The game was originally planned to be released in Japan only, and it had a small budget and a small amount of promotion attached; it was developed more as a "novelty product" rather than a high-profile heavily anticipated video game and was not expected to be a huge success. The event proved otherwise; the game was popular and successful enough in Japan after its 1999 release that it was decided to be distributed as an international release, and it garnered immense critical acclaim and sales figures abroad as well as at home. It was popular for featuring famous Nintendo characters such as Mario from the ' series, Link from ' series, and Pikachu from the phenomenally popular  franchise, and it gained high marks for its unique take on the fighting genre.

The success of Super Smash Bros. provided HAL Laboratory the incentive and financial means to develop the series' 2001 GameCube sequel, , with a larger development team and higher production values. It was released to a massive amount of glowing, positive reviews and was widely received as a vast improvement over its predecessor, with upgraded graphics and audio, refined gameplay, and a tremendous amount of new characters and content. It became the GameCube's best-selling title, with sales of 6 million copies worldwide. The depth of the game was such that in the years after Melee's initial release, the appearances of various fan-organized tournaments set in motion thriving international tournament scenes for the game, and Melee was soon officially made part of the game rosters of Major League Gaming and Evolution Championship Series.

At a pre-E3 2005 press conference, Iwata announced that the next installment of Super Smash Bros. was soon to be in development for its next console and would be a launch title that utilized the console's Wi-Fi-based online capabilities. The announcement was a surprise to Sakurai because he was not informed of Nintendo's intent to release another Smash Bros. game, and was only asked after the conference by Iwata to again serve as director; Sakurai agreed, and development of the third game began in October 2005. What followed was a development project handled by roughly 100 individuals working full-time. The game was officially showcased at the E3 2006 conference as , but its actual dates of release early in 2008 were well over a year after the Wii console's launch.

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

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

In the Super Smash Bros. series, the emphasis is not on lowering opponents health meters to zero to achieve a KO, but rather sending the opponent Out Of Bounds with strong Smash attacks that send them flying far away enough that they reach one of the stage's four borders and lose a life. Inflicting damage on opponents raises their percentage meters, and higher percentage meters mean that the opponents will fly away further when the character with that meter is attacked. Each of the available fighters aims to be unique, featuring their own move styles as well as their own collections of special moves. All fighters have the ability to double-jump, and most have a special move that constitutes a third jump, and what is often seen in standard competitive gameplay is a fighter sent flying away by an attack and trying to return to the edge of the stage with multiple jumps to avoid losing a life. With stages that come in all shapes and sizes, most of them featuring their own environmental hazards to complicate the action, and Smash items that can appear and be wielded to assist a character's game, a given entry in the Smash Bros. series is always a dramatic departure from the formula of standard fighting games. The popularity and legacy of Melee is such that regularly exploiting game physics to perform "advanced techniques" such as the Wavedash and the SHFFL is standard in top-tier competitive tournament play.

The primary reason for the immense success of the series is that it features famous characters, worlds, and properties from many other well-established video game franchises, primarily franchises created by Nintendo, interacting with each other in a grand tournament. The Nintendo series represented in the game via characters and stages include, but are not limited to Mario, ', The Legend of Zelda, ', Kirby, ', Pokémon, ', ', ', as well as the  series. Third-party franchises are included as well, such as ', ', ', ', ', ', ', Castlevania, ', ', ', ', ', and . Just as the inclusion of so many popular franchises help the Super Smash Bros. series command the attention of the game community, the inclusion of obscure franchises in the series helps gain renewed attention for such franchises worldwide, as is certainly the case with the ' series or the ' series.

In Super Smash Flash
Super Smash Bros. Melee served as the base and inspiration for Super Smash Flash, it can be said it features much more than a standard universe's worth of content based on the universe introduced in the game itself, compared even to the Mario universe.

Bosses
None of the following can be considered selectable "characters" but they can be considered computer opponents because that is what they are in the game's single player mode.


 * : A giant floating right-hand glove, this entity is described as the imaginary link between the real world and the Smash Bros. world and can be considered the end-all, be-all host of the series. He features a voice that is heard calling out the names of combatants on the character select screen, as well as calling the status of matches before, during, and after matches, so he can be considered the narrator of the series as well. He functions as the "final boss" of the game in that the final match of the single-player mode pits the player's character against Master Hand in a 1-on-1 duel. He fights with a variety of unique movements and motions, and instead of a percentage meter, he carries a "traditional" health meter that lowers when taking damage from opponents, and reducing it to zero will defeat him and end the game in success for the player.
 * : The "twin brother" of Master Hand, Crazy Hand is a left hand and is a "hidden boss" in the game. It is described as the embodiment of a child who derives pleasure from destroying his creations, as opposed to Master Hand's will to play around. In the final bout of Adventure mode, when Master Hand has had over half of his hit points depleted, Crazy Hand will erratically enter the battle and join the fight against you, making it a two-on-one battle - obviously this is much tougher. Crazy Hand is essentially a faster clone of Master Hand. Both hands do not perform attack in conjunction.

Stages
There are two multiplayer stages that follow, however, both are indeed unlockable for selection:


 * : It is the site of many stages and events such as the Multi-Man Melee competitions, and is where Fighting Silhouette Team are always fought. For its basic, standard layout, the stage is very popular.


 * : The flat, featureless platform is where many single-player boss encounters take place, and it is also among the most popular stages for use in Versus mode. It floats in a green-outlined space that it is apparently, the place between dimensions.

There is also a single-player stage in Adventure known as Floating Islands. While the tiles and enemies suggest it to be a -themed level, the lack of actual representation for the series in the game (other than the aforementioned enemies) causes it to not belong to that particular series, fitting only in the Super Smash Bros. series by default as an original property.

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


 * Fan: The polar opposite to the Home-Run Bat, the Fan is weak enough that picking it up may be considered a handicap. While it can attack extremely quickly, it does tiny damage and offers no knockback, so it is not considered a helpful item to many players, but if used correctly the Fan low knockback used continuous can weaken the opponent.


 * Home-Run Bat: This bludgeoning item is the most potentially deadly offensive measure in the game; while normally featuring unremarkable power with standard attacks, a Smash attack with the Bat carries so much knockback that it often causes a One-Hit KO to the target, regardless of how healthy the opponent is.


 * Motion-Sensor Bomb: The bomb from ; when thrown, it works as a projectile giving considerable damage to opponents, later the bomb sticks on the ground and when any player steps on it, it will automatically explode.


 * Saber: A powerful energy sword, this bludgeoning weapon carries sound effects similar to a Lightsaber in the  movie franchise in the Japanese version of the game, but it was changed for the U.S. release, possibly to avoid copyright trouble.

Enemy team

 * Fighting Silhouette Team: A team comprised of gray-shaded versions of the playable roster, which are fought on Battlefield. Each Silhouette is able to use every attack of its playable brethren, thereby increasing the challenge while facing numerous members at once. However, they are still very weak and prone to get launched with ease by a single attack, if they, at first, do not attempt to recover.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Super Smash Bros. Brawl initially served as the main base of Super Smash Flash 2, though it now comprises elements of every game in the series. with a lot of features coming from that game.

Character

 * : Sandbag was first introduced in Home-Run Contest in Super Smash Bros. Melee and has been a reoccurring element in the Super Smash Bros. series since then. Absent from the original Super Smash Flash, it makes an appearance in the reboot, Super Smash Flash 2, filling similar roles. Most of its attacks consist of strong headbutts and kicks.

Stages

 * : The earliest stage revealed for this game is a redesigned version of the Battlefield stage from Brawl, with natural and architectural elements. The stage floats in the middle of a forest, instead of above a forest.


 * : Like Battlefield, Final Destination has been visually redesigned, being a rocky surface with purple crystals protruding from said surface. Unlike in the previous game, Final Destination and Battlefield are both starter stages.


 * Meta Crystal: A stage from Super Smash Bros. originally reserved for the 1-P game and appearing in SSF2 in the same the same fashion, with a metallic opponent fighting the player in Classic on this stage, while also being playable in group matches. The stage itself is simple and small, consisting only of an uneven main platform and a single pass-through platform. Unlike Battlefield and Final Destination, the stage's design is based directly off of its original appearance in official Smash games.


 * Waiting Room: A stage is used to practice before a match online, but the stage is also available in standard multiplayer matches. Mechanically, the stage is almost identical to Final Destination.

Items

 * Assist Trophy: A special trophy that, when grabbed, brings a random helper into the battle for a short period of time. While technically a Smash Bros. item, its main purpose is to summon characters from various other Nintendo franchises.
 * Beam Sword: Returns from SSF now under its actual name as opposed to Saber. Although it cannot longer be held indefinitely as before, but the item does not vanishes after many uses.
 * Bumper: The classic bumping item from the original Super Smash Bros. makes a return appearance with the same functionality and the added function of being able to be placed in midair like SSF ' s Flipper.
 * Capsule: This pill-shaped item contains a single item inside. It can be thrown as a fast projectile.
 * Fan: Returns from SSF, almost unaltered. Its regular hit deals 2% of damage and no knockback, but it can be used consecutive times trapping the opponents to accumulate their damage, a side smash can shatter shields, and a thrown fan sends an opponent vertically.
 * Firework: A new and original item that can be thrown for high damage, if it hit a wall it will explode and split into multiple fireworks, up to nine, that will eventually explode.
 * Food: A new item that randomly spawns as tiny health-replenishers. There are 27 varieties of food in the game, and they restore usually around 2% damage per item.
 * Home-Run Bat: Returns from SSF, although it no longer can be held indefinitely as before, but the item does not vanishes after many uses.
 * Item Bag: A new item and original item that can be thrown for a few items. While grabbing the bag, jumping or running are unable until it thrown away.
 * Motion-Sensor Bomb: Returns from SSF, almost unaltered. Now, the bomb, after being set, can be triggered by other means (not only by passing players) such as projectiles or thrown items.
 * Poison Bomb: An item debuting in SSF2. Throwing this bomb at another fighter will cause it to explode in a green gas that applies the poison effect to anyone in range.
 * Ray Gun: This simplistic gun item can shoot up to 16 weak rays of light. Once it is out of ammo, it can be thrown to hit opponents.
 * Smash Ball: Probably the most important item in the game, the Smash Ball can be picked up by a character when it is destroyed, and that character will be able to perform a spectacular move unique to that character called a Final Smash.
 * Trophy Stand: This item sails forward when used, and causes any fighters to be hit to turn into a trophy of themselves for a small period of time. In this state, they behave like an item; other fighters can pick it up and throw it before the period ends.

Boss

 * : Returns from SSF, and once again acts as the final boss of the Classic mode. Like in his previous appearance, reducing his HP to 0 will result in his defeat, and the player clearing classic mode.

Enemy team

 * Fighting Silhouette Team: Returns from SSF. Like their previous incarnation, they are fought in classic mode, where the player has to defeat 20 easy to launch Silhouettes before moving on to the Metal Battle. Unlike in SSF, they are now black inverted versions of their base fighters, and now are no longer able to use their special attacks.

Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Flash series
Being that the Super Smash Flash series is directly based on it, the Super Smash Bros. universe is among the most highly represented universes throughout it, with each game in the series being represented in some way.