How to Play

How to Play is a tutorial in the  series that teaches the player basic techniques on how to play the game.

In Super Smash Flash
In the original Super Smash Flash, How to Play teaches the player game's mechanics in several sliders. Unlike the  series, How to Play is actually a playable tutorial instead of being an archive movie. The demonstration is done using for player 1 and  for player 2, playing a match on  with infinite time.

Unlike in official Super Smash Bros. games, where the text used to teach the player how to play changes automatically, the text in Super Smash Flash comes in the form of sliders on the top of the screen that the player must manually click through. The player can read and change the sliders at their own pace, and they can even go back to any previous slider. The sliders used for the How to Play mode read, in order:


 * Welcome to the "How to Play" tutorial!
 * Start out by using the arrow keys to move around. (Use down arrow to duck)
 * Press "O" to Jump...
 * ... and "P" to attack.
 * There are 5 different types of attacks you can use...
 * Up+Attack = Air attack upward.
 * Down+Attack (In Air) = Air attack downward
 * Down+Attack (On Ground) = Special Attack
 * Attack (without arrow keys) = Normal Attack
 * Attack (using left or right arrows) = "Smash" attack (does more damage than Normal)
 * Some Levels have platforms that you can go through by holding the Down Key
 * You can do Meteor Smashes on opponents in the air by knocking them downward.
 * A good way to rack up damage is to use your Special attack in combination with your normal and smash attack...
 * Then knock them up high or down low!
 * Some fighters have projectile attacks while others use hand to hand combat techniques.
 * Try all of the fighters and see who you like best!
 * You may also have another Human player in VS Mode...
 * Control them using the following controls:
 * "A" = Left
 * "S" = Duck
 * "D" = Right
 * "W" = Up
 * "F" = Attack
 * "G" = Jump
 * Practice fighting for awhile and hold down BACKSPACE when you're ready to quit.

In Super Smash Flash 2
During the initial launches for Super Smash Flash 2 demo v0.1a, v0.2b, and v0.3a, Gregory McLeod created and released four introductory videos — whom three are titled "How to Play", each numbered — alongside each respective version to showcase the new game mechanics and new content introduced in the new version. All four videos are still available for download on SSF2 ' s download archives section. The first video to ever be released to McLeodGaming's YouTube channel was effectively the "How to Play #2" for v0.2b and was the only one of the four to be officially released to YouTube.

In 2018, ten years after the release of the original four videos, McLeodGaming released a more traditional How to Play video to their YouTube channel, functioning more like it does in official Super Smash Bros. games, where it is a movie with text that changes automatically. It shows fighting  on an unplayable stage similar in layout to, though while showing how jumping works, it becomes more similar to that of Pokémon Colosseum.

The 2018 movie shows how to:
 * Walk and run with the A and D keys.
 * Jump and double jump with the W key.
 * Fast fall with the S* key.
 * Perform s, tilt attacks, dash attack, aerial attacks, and smash attacks with the P key.
 * Recover.
 * Edgeguard.
 * Shield, sidestep, roll, and air dodge with the I key.
 * Grab, pummel, and throw.
 * Use special moves with the O key.

*: Incorrectly referred to as the D (right) key in the video.

It is currently unknown whether the movie will be an archive movie in future SSF2 updates or whether it will remain on McLeodGaming's YouTube channel.

Trivia

 * The music of How to Play in SSF was composed by game's creator, Gregory McLeod.
 * In SSF, How to Play is the only game mode categorized in the Archives section of the menu.
 * Despite clearly taking influence from the How to Play archive videos from, the current How to Play video for SSF2 lacks any mention of Final Smashes. This may have been due to the unavailability of most Final Smashes in Beta 1.0.3.2, the most recent revision of the demo at the time of the video's release.