Super Smash Flash

Super Smash Flash
Logo of Super Smash Flash.
Developers	Gregory McLeod
Publishers	McLeodGaming
Series	Super Smash Flash
Directors	Gregory McLeod
Producers	Gregory McLeod
Designers	Gregory McLeod
Programmers	Gregory McLeod
Artists	Gregory McLeod
Composers	Gregory McLeod Hirokazu Ando Tadashi Ikegami Shōgo Sakai Takuto Kitsuta Masato Nakamura Juno Reactor Vs. Don Davis
Game engine	Macromedia Flash
Release date	August 21, 2006 (Browser version) August 28, 2006 (EXE version)
Genres	Fighting, action, platform game
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer
Ratings	Suitable For All Audiences
Platforms	PC
Media	Online Flash game
Input methods	Keyboard, Gamepad

Super Smash Flash, commonly referred to as Super Smash Flash 1 and abbreviated SSF or SSF1, is an non-profit Flash fan game developed by Cleod9 Productions and published by McLeodGaming. The game is loosely based on Super Smash Bros. Melee in the menu format, music and numerous other fields such as game play modes. The game features several characters from the Super Smash Bros. series, such as Mario, Samus Aran, Link, Kirby, and Pikachu. It also features many third-party characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog (who, at the time of the game's creation, was not confirmed to be a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) and Mega Man X. Besides that, it also includes original fan characters like Blade and Blue. The original browser version for Super Smash Flash was first launched on August 21, 2006 on entertainment media website Newgrounds to mixed to positive reception. A downloadable EXE version was made available seven days later on August 28, 2006 on the McLeodGaming website.

Super Smash Flash is getting rebooted with a new game called Super Smash Flash 2, which is completely ignoring the basis of the first game and starting a new with gameplay mechanisms that are more similar to the ones in the official Super Smash Bros. games.

On August 21, 2016, Super Smash Flash celebrated its tenth anniversary launch on Newgrounds. To commemorate this event, McLeodGaming released a video confirming the inclusion of "SSF mode" on SSF2's special mode which purposely recreates the physics and quirks of SSF.

Gameplay

Mario, Sonic, Link, and Mega Man X during a timed, stock Melee match.

Super Smash Flash's gameplay is based on the official Super Smash Bros. games. Unlike most traditional 2D fighting games, each character's health is measured by a damage percentage counter. As the character is attacked, damage is accumulated and the percent value increases. The higher the percentage, the weaker the character is, and the easier it is for them to be KO'd off the stage.

The arrow keys (or A, S, D and W 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, stock, 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. Melee's Coin is absent.

The game is loosely similar to Melee, but many game mechanics are missing. The characters only have five total attacks (not counting their jump, which surprisingly does some damage for certain characters) and it is almost impossible to recover since every character is lightweight, jumping does not send your character very high into the air, the character cannot perform a third jump, and all attacks do 50%+ damage (even the normal ones). Additionally, it is possible to rack up over 1000% damage, even though it is not possible in Melee. The game also lacks hit effects for all attacks. All of these mechanic flaws resulted in negative responses.

Characters

All 28 characters available.

There are a total of 28 playable characters (30 if double characters are counted); 13 starters and 15 unlockable. Each one of these characters have a very simplistic moveset consisting of only five attacks: a standard attack, an up attack, a side attack, a down attack, and a down aerial attack. Due to this, in addition to the properties for some attacks, the tier list had to have special conditions in order to be formed properly and was a very hard task. Though there are only five attacks for each moveset, some characters gain an extra attack while jumping.

Starter characters

These are the characters available right immediately after turning on the game for the first time:

Starter characters

Character	Name	Universe	Description
	Mario	Mario	Mario is the protagonist of the Super Mario franchise and the mascot of the company Nintendo. Mario fights similarly to how he does in the official Super Smash Bros. games, though he does not carry over his balanced archetype due to the physics of SSF. Mario mainly fights using punches and kicks, and he can also shoot fireballs, perform an aerial Mario Tornado. His jump also works as an attack.
	Link	The Legend of Zelda	Link is the protagonist of The Legend of Zelda, a flagship franchise from Nintendo. Being the wielder of the mystical Master Sword, Link's moveset mainly consists of various slashes and stabs with the sword. He can also shoot arrows and throw a boomerang.
	Zelda	The Legend of Zelda	Princess Zelda is the eponymous character of The Legend of Zelda. With the Triforce of Wisdom within her, Zelda can perform magical attacks and even infuse melee attacks with magic as well. Her magic powers also allow her to transform into her alter ego Sheik.
	Sheik	The Legend of Zelda	Sheik is a sheikah alter ego secretly assumed by Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to disguise herself from dangers. Unlike Zelda, Sheik uses swift physical attacks and throws needles as a projectile weapon. She can also transform back into Zelda.
	Samus	Metroid	Samus is a female space bounty hunter who is the protagonist of Nintendo's Metroid series. Samus attacks using her Power Suit, which features an Arm Cannon that can shoot different kinds of beams in various angles. She also attacks with her Morph Ball, and she performs the Screw Attack to attack while jumping.
	Kirby	Kirby	Kirby is the protagonist of his eponymous Kirby series. The limitations of SSF made impossible for Kirby to have his distinctive Inhale ability; instead, Kirby makes use of various melee attacks and can switch with Meta Knight. He also has the ability to jump up to five times before landing, having one of the best recoveries in the game.
	Meta Knight	Kirby	Meta Knight is the mysterious rival of Kirby who made his "debut" in SSF before being confirmed to be a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His moveset consists of various sword techniques, and he can also switch with Kirby. Like Kirby, he can jump up to five times before landing.
	Fox	Star Fox	Fox is the leader of a group of space mercenaries called Star Fox from the series of the same name. As with the Super Smash Bros. games, Fox mainly makes use of his Blaster, Fox Illusion, Reflector, and a downward-only Fire Fox, along with an upward kick.
	Pikachu	Pokémon	Pikachu is the Mouse Pokémon, considered to be the mascot of the Pokémon franchise as well. Being an Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu mainly fights using electrical attacks such as Thunder, in which a bolt of lightning drops from above. It also uses its body to attack with a tail swipe and Skull Bash.
	Captain Falcon	F-ZERO	Captain Falcon is the fierce bounty hunter racer of the futuristic F-ZERO racing games. Captain Falcon's moveset consists of attacks he uses in the Super Smash Bros. games, including the Falcon Punch, Falcon Kick, and Raptor Boost.
	Sonic	Sonic	Sonic is the protagonist of SEGA's Sonic series, having the ability to run at supersonic speeds. As such, he possesses a fast movement speed and quick attacks. He can also curl into a ball a release a Spin Dash in addition to a punch, some kicks and a damaging Spin Jump. Like Meta Knight, his addition into SSF precedes his inclusion as a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
	Tails	Sonic	Tails is the two-tailed fox and best friend of Sonic in the Sonic series. Being a mechanical genius, Tails uses various devices he designed over the years, including his Energy Ball and Magic Hand. He also attacks with his two tails, which he can use to jump up to five times before landing.
	Knuckles	Sonic	Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald and a friend and rival to Sonic in the Sonic series. Knuckles is known for his strength, which he exerts in his powerful punch attacks. He also uses his strength to pull large rocks from the ground to toss at opponents, and he can also attack by jumping.
	Mega Man X	Mega Man	Mega Man X, or simply X (whose name was labeled incorrectly as "Megaman"), is the ultimate creation of Dr. Light and the main character of Capcom's Mega Man X sub-series of the Mega Man series. Using his arm cannon called the X-Buster, he can shoot a wide variety of projectiles in a similar way to Samus.
	Blade	McLeodGaming	Blade is a Sonic fan character specifically created for SSF by the McLeodGaming Forums user topcat13, and he is based on a character created by Equinox-Twilight. He is very similar in design to Sonic and can attack using the Spin Dash and Spin Jump, but he mainly attacks with his characteristic sword.

Unlockable characters

These are the characters that become available after meeting certain criteria and by defeating them on a challenger match. To learn how to unlock them, go here.

Unlockable characters

Character	Name	Universe	Description
	Luigi	Mario	Luigi is Mario's younger, taller twin brother and partner or ally in the Super Mario series. As he is in the Super Smash Bros. games, Luigi is a clone of Mario and shares a very similar moveset. Luigi's main differences from Mario include how he has a different down attack, Green Missile, and his fireballs travel more slowly in a straight trajectory.
	Young Link	The Legend of Zelda	Young Link is, as the name implies, a child version of Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Because of this, Young Link is clone of Link, possessing all of the same moves and properties. However, Young Link has a weaker boomerang and a faster movement speed when attacking. He also shoots fire arrows, but as hit effects are nonexistent in SSF, they are almost exactly the same as Link's arrows.
	Jigglypuff	Pokémon	Jigglypuff is the Balloon Pokémon from the Pokémon franchise who is also featured in every Super Smash Bros. game to date. As such, its moveset is very similar to its Super Smash Bros. counterparts, as it can use moves including Pound and Rollout, as well as various kicks. As its species is "Balloon Pokémon", Jigglypuff can jump up to five times before landing.
	Mewtwo	Pokémon	Mewtwo is a genetically created clone-Pokémon of the Legendary Pokémon Mew from the Pokémon franchise. It belongs to the Psychic type, and as such, it mainly uses psychic-based attacks, as well as the Ghost-type move Shadow Ball. Due to the limitations of SSF, its moves lack any special attributes from its counterpart in Super Smash Bros. Melee, instead only dealing damage.
	Mr. Game & Watch	Game & Watch	Mr. Game & Watch is the contemporary mascot of the Game & Watch line of LCD handheld consoles. His inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee lead into his addition in SSF. As such, his moveset very similar to his Melee counterpart, as he can perform various attacks based on Game & Watch games such as tossing food from Chef and hitting with a scuba diver helmet from Octopus. Contrary to his appearance in Melee, he also has a standard kicking attack.
	Shadow	Sonic	Shadow is a hedgehog genetically created as the "Ultimate Life Form" and the fierce rival of Sonic in the Sonic series. Shadow's moveset greatly differs from those of other Sonic characters, as it is mainly based on attacks he can perform as Chaos Powers including Shadow Guard, Chaos Upper, and Chaos Magic. He also uses a kick attack, but his jump does not serve as an attack.
	Super Sonic	Sonic	Super Sonic is a super transformation Sonic can turn into with the help of the Chaos Emeralds in the Sonic series. For SSF, Super Sonic is a clone of Sonic and shares a very similar moveset. Compared to Sonic, Super Sonic jumps higher and deals more damage, but his attacks are slower and he has a larger hitbox.
	Zero	Mega Man	Zero is the ultimate creation of Dr. Wily and one of the main characters of the Mega Man X sub-series of the Mega Man series. Similarly to Mega Man X, Zero uses an arm cannon called the Z-Buster to shoot with and physically attack with. However, he mainly attacks by swinging an energy blade called the Z-Saber.
	Lloyd	Tales	Lloyd is the main protagonist of Tales of Symphonia, the fifth mothership title of BANDAI NAMCO's Tales series of role-playing games. He wields two swords called the Material Blades, the Flameberge and the Vorpal Sword, which he uses for all of his attacks. Lloyd mainly uses various artes from his origin game, including Demon Fang, Tempest, Sword Rain, and Rising Falcon.
	Cloud	FINAL FANTASY	Cloud is the mercenary main protagonist of SQUARE ENIX's role-playing game, FINAL FANTASY VII. He wields a massive sword called the Buster Sword, which gives Cloud's attacks a long range and strong damage output. In addition to sword slashes, he can also surround himself with Materia orbs to attack with.
	Crono	CHRONO	Crono is the silent protagonist of SQUARE ENIX's role-playing game, CHRONO TRIGGER. For combat, Crono uses a katana in all of his attacks. Although Crono has no voice or dialogue in CHRONO TRIGGER, for SSF, Crono uses Roy's voice samples from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
	InuYasha	InuYasha	InuYasha (or Inuyasha) is the half-yōkai and half-human protagonist of the manga and anime series of the same name. He wields a special sword called the Tessaiga that he uses in conjunction with a technique called Sankon Tessō, which involves InuYasha slashing with his claws.
	Naruto	Naruto	Naruto is the ninja protagonist of the manga and anime series of the same name. Although Naruto is widely known for his use of jutsus within his own series, he completely lacks attacks of this kind as a fighter in SSF, and he is instead conformed with punches, kicks and headbutts.
	Mr. Incredible	The Incredibles	Mr. Incredible is the main protagonist of the Pixar animated film, The Incredibles. Mr. Incredible is a superhero with the power of super strength, and as such, he is capable of performing powerful attacks. His moveset is composed of melee attacks including punches, kicks, and a large shockwave.
	Blue	McLeodGaming	Blue, like Blade, is another fan character specifically created for SSF by topcat13 and is based on a character created by Equinox-Twilight. Blue is a clone of Blade, possessing variations of all of Blade's attacks and attributes and his own characteristic sword. However, Blue deals more damage and has more range at the cost of slower speeds.

Stages

Most of the eight stages are based on actual Super Smash Bros. series' stages but there are also some original stages not present in the official games.

Starter stages

Six of the eight stages do not have to be unlocked and can be selected in Melee and Training modes.

Starter stages

Stage	Name	Universe	Description
	Peach's Castle	Mario	Peach's Castle stage consists of two flat platforms overlapping each other, and is another stage where characters can walk off the stage boundaries. Holding the Down key for a few seconds will allow the player to jump down to the lower platform, while a simple jump allows the character to return to the starting platform. Players can also jump onto a Warp Pipe.
	Mushroom Kingdom II	Mario	Credited as Subcon, Mushroom Kingdom II is a stage based on the Melee's stage with the same name, it consists of three platforms, each separated by a waterfall that, if fallen into, counts as a lost life. This is another stage that can be "walked off" if the player is not careful enough. It returns in the reboot with a completely new design and new gimmicks.
	Temple	The Legend of Zelda	Temple has a barren, flat platform with rock pillars that support four platforms above. There is a small sign post in the middle of the stage that anyone can stand on.
	Dream Land	Kirby	Credited as Whispy Woods, Dream Land stage is a direct copy of Super Smash Bros.' stage with the same name, complete with three floating platforms and a sprite version of Whispy Woods. It returns in the reboot with a completely new design and new gimmicks.
	Pokémon Stadium	Pokémon	Based on Melee's Pokémon Stadium stage, this simple level contains only two floating platforms above a flat field. Unlike its Melee's version, however, this stage does not change forms. There is also no stadium in the background, thus, there is no crowd.
	Emerald Hill Zone	Sonic	Credited as Emerald Hills, Emerald Hill Zone is a grassy area from the Sonic series, it consists of a large, flat platform below three floating platforms, all at the same height. Two extended versions are available in SSF's Classic mode and Adventure mode, respectively, in which the player is forced to reach the end before time runs out.

Unlockable stages

Two stages can be unlocked for use in Melee and Training Modes by completing certain criteria in the game. They are also available in several one-player modes where the stages are automatically chosen:

Unlockable stages

Stage	Name	Universe	Description
	Battlefield	Super Smash Bros.	Battlefield is the home of Multi-Man Melee, where the player faces the Fighting Silhouette Team, and is based on the Melee's special stage of the same name, SSF's Battlefield is a three-platformed stage that looks nearly identical to Dream Land.
	Final Destination	Super Smash Bros.	Final Destination is a completely flat, one-platformed level that is based on the Melee's special stage of the same name. It hosts the boss fights against Master Hand and Crazy Hand; also, unlockable fighters will always challenge the player to a match in this stage.

Single-player stages

These stages only appear in the game's Classic, Adventure and All-Star modes and are not available in Multiplayer mode and/or Training mode.

Single-player stages

Stage	Name	Universe	Description
	Super Mario World	Mario	Super Mario World is an exact replica of the second level in the SNES game Super Mario World called Yoshi's Island 2. The level is filled with Koopa Troopas and Flying Goombas. The main goal is to reach the ending posts.
	Kirby Hub Room	Kirby	The stage credited as Kirby Hub Room is the stage where Target Test takes place. It has the same layout for all playable characters with the only difference being that the targets have different patterns of placement and movement to exploit the abilities for each character.
	Emerald Hill Zone	Sonic	This version is an extended version of the multiplayer stage of the same name. The goal is to reach a platform at the end of the stage. Several enemies known as Buzzers fly toward the player to prevent them from reaching the goal.
	Floating Islands	Super Smash Bros.	The Floating Islands is perhaps the biggest stage in the game. It has small and big platforms throughout the stage leading upwards that the player must jump across. The goal is to reach a rock door at the top of the islands while avoiding some Wario Land 4 enemies.
	All-Star Rest Area	Super Smash Bros.	The All-Star Rest Area is, as the name states, only available in All-Star. It is similar to the Floating Islands because it has the same sprites. Here, the player can heal all damage taken using one of the three Heart Containers available and make a pause before the next battle.

Items

Items from the Super Smash Bros. series, among other series, are featured. Unlike how they appear in the original Super Smash Bros. games, all items have limited uses, particularly those of the battering-type like Saber or the Home-Run Bat, which disappear once they have been used a certain number of times. These are the items that appear in Super Smash Flash:

Items

Item	Name	Universe	Description
	Fan	Super Smash Bros.	The Fan is the weakest among all the battering items, it deals few damage and the knockback is minimal, and unlike the original Super Smash Bros. games, this item cannot be spammable.
	Saber	Super Smash Bros.	The Saber, or more formally the Beam Sword, is a basic battering item that can be swung numerous times before disappearing, it deals moderate damage and knockback.
	Home-Run Bat	Super Smash Bros.	The Home-Run Bat is the strongest of all the battering item, if the player holds down the button, it will charge and hold the power of the bat. If the player connects with the bat an opponent after being charged, it will result in a instant KO.
	Motion-Sensor Bomb	Super Smash Bros.	The Motion-Sensor Bomb sticks on the floor after being thrown, if any character passes over it, it will explode dealing a lot of damage and knockback.
	Bob-omb	Mario	The Bob-omb is an item that can be thrown and explodes in contact with a surface or an opponent dealing great damage and knockback.
	Fire Flower	Mario	The Fire Flower can release a constant stream of fire to damage opponents as the player moves around.
	Shell	Mario	The Shell is an item that slides across the ground knocking every player on its path.
	Heart Container	The Legend of Zelda	The Heart Container recovers 100% of damage when grabbed.
	Maximum Tomato	Kirby	The Maximum Tomato recovers 50% of damage when eaten.
	Flipper	Balloon Fight	When the Flipper is thrown, it stays airborne as it starts spinning, damaging opponents and even the user if they come in contact with it.

Game modes

Super Smash Flash contains several game modes based on traditional Melee game modes. All, save for All-Star and Burly-Brawl Melee, are unlocked from the beginning.

Regular Match

These modes are restricted for single-player only.

Classic

Classic is a game mode where the player advances from level to level, fighting a certain amount of enemies on each level. These battles can range from anything between one single opponent to a Multi-Man Melee-like showdown. At the end is the final boss fight against Master Hand.

Adventure

Adventure is a game mode in which the player goes through several diverse worlds, fighting enemies as they go along. Some are traditional battles, but a few stages force the player to reach a designated finish line before time runs out. At the end, the player encounter Master Hand here as well, however, once his HP has been depleted to the half, Crazy Hand will come to aid him, regardless of the difficulty selected.

All-Star

All-Star is an unlockable game mode that is automatically unlocked after all characters are unlocked. The goal is to fight against all 28 playable characters in succession with a limited amount of recovery items.

Stadium

Several sub-games can be found on Stadium for single-player mode:

Target Test

Target Test is a relatively short minigame in which a character must destroy eight targets as fast as they can. This mode is also included in SSF's Classic mode and is based on Super Smash Bros.'s Break the Targets and Melee's Target Test.

Multi-Man Melee

Multi-Man Melee has several sub-modes. However, the Endless Melee mode is absent, getting replaced with a brand new sub-mode (the only unlockable sub-mode, denoted with an asterisk below), and the opponents are simply grayed-out versions of other playable characters denominated the Fighting Silhouette Team. The sub-modes are:

• 10-Man Melee
• 100-Man Melee
• 3-Minute Melee
• 15-Minute Melee
• Cruel Melee
• Burly-Brawl Melee*

VS. Mode

Melee

The only multiplayer mode in Super Smash Flash. Melee allows for up to two humans to battle simultaneously, as well as battle against up to three computers. This mode allows the player to set up single battles between computers or another human. As well as the standard free-for-all battle, Melee mode also allows for team battles, much like Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Development

Super Smash Flash began development some time around mid 2006 and roughly took about from two to four months for completion. All development process, including coding, was all handed by Cleod9 himself with little help from fellow users of the McLeodGaming Forums. Intended to be his first big Flash project, following very small Flash projects like the Pong games or school projects like The Cell, Cleod9 initially envisioned a platformer game with a combat-oriented gameplay, back then, he did not intend it to be a Super Smash Bros. fan game. To make the first prototype, Cleod9 ask permission to use one of Equinox-Twilight's Sonic fan characters, whom was redesigned by users in the Forums to become an early prototype for Blade. For the staging, he created an early prototype for Emerald Hill Zone and included Buzzers as the incoming enemies. Certain products were released periodically in the form of small demos.

As a vivid Super Smash Bros. player, Cleod9 noticed the fan games made at the time based on the Super Smash Bros. series, particularly Super Smash X. He felt those games delivered a very short experience and were invariably incomplete, buggy and one may get bored after playing a certain amount of time. He thought a more complete Smash fan game was possible and now envisioned about a Flash-engineered game suggesting the name of "Super Smash Flash" as an example. Wanting to fulfill this dream, Cleod9 began to rework his Sonic fan game into full-fledged Super Smash Bros. fan game, whom he initially called a "flash Smash engine", and started to incorporate new characters and update the sprites of previously-added characters, as well as new stages and items to accommodate a proper Smash game, all this as development progressed. The availability of sprite sheets in sites like the Spriters-Resource determined who would become playable in Cleod9's fan game now appropriately called by the name he had previously suggested: Super Smash Flash.

Super Smash Flash was released on August 21, 2006 on several gaming sites including its home site McLeodgaming, as well, as other major sites like Newgrounds and the Flash Central.

Bugs and glitches

Main article: List of bugs and glitches

As the game was created in a very short time by an inexperienced Cleod9, there are a lot of glitches. Notable glitches include Knuckles' down jump and the possibility of unlocking Final Destination with only starter characters and Jigglypuff. Some glitches only occur with certain characters; in Classic mode, Mario always runs off and KO, and Samus shortly follows.

One of the most popular glitches happens when the player right-clicks at the start of anything, goes on settings, and while the settings box appears, right-clicks on the screen again, before clicking on 'play'. This will cause the player to instantly win the current stage/event. If this is used on one of the multi-man melees, the player will automatically be sent through all the events before being challenged.

This glitch does not work on the Newgrounds version, or the Mario Games sites. Instead the player must press forward. If the player presses rewind, they will be sent to the loading screen.

One of the most crippling game bugs, however, were the Instant-KO attacks, which is a result of the game's knockback formula, that multiplies opponents' current speed when they get hurt by any attack. This caused moves to instantly KO opponents from 50% onwards. The existence of this bug made unlocking InuYasha and complete All-Star mode almost impossible. However, another glitch was found to counter this: pausing the game during fights against Master Hand and Crazy Hand, resulting in the bosses being unable to hit the player. This bug does not work against any other opponent.

Reception

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Super Smash Flash was met with mixed reviews from the day it was launched. Various reviewers on multiple websites, including Newgrounds (which gave this game a 4.18 / 5.00) and McLeodGaming itself, declared that it was one of the best Smash fan games ever created because unlike other fan games, it was complete with a full character roster and single-player modes. Many others, however, were more critical of the game, pointing out its horrendous physics flaws, lack of item regulation, lack of VS. mode customization, and game-breaking glitches, such as the infamous Skip glitch.

The character roster was met with mixed reception, although it was arguably the main reason why Super Smash Flash received recognition. This was because it included lots of characters that many fans of different franchises wanted in the real Super Smash Bros. games, such as Sonic and Mega Man X, and many were excited that they could finally pit these characters against their favorite Nintendo characters. Many others criticized the selection, claiming the character additions were excessive and out of place. They stated that there were more Sonic characters than Mario characters (including a "Super Sonic" character and even custom Sonic characters known as Blade and Blue), which is odd, considering it is based on the Nintendo-created Melee. A lot of people were also fed up with the insane number of other third- and fourth- party characters, including Crono, Cloud, Lloyd, InuYasha, Naruto, and most notoriously Mr. Incredible, who all have little to no backing of being in a Smash game, have seldom or never showed up on Nintendo console games, and have extremely inaccurate representations in Smash Flash (for example, Naruto cannot use anything but kicks and headbutts, while in his original series he could use ninja-based attacks.) All of these pieces of criticism accumulate into the idea that the creators randomly chose characters with no regard to whether they would fit into Smash Bros..

The controls and physics also garnered criticism. Super Smash Flash is notable for having an extremely watered-down control scheme, using only two buttons and four directional keys to play. All attacks, including some jumps, deal insane amounts of knock-back even at low percentages, sending characters either horizontally or on a semi-spike trajectory that is impossible to recover from. This is exacerbated by the fact that most characters only have one midair jump for their recovery and lack an up special move to gain more distance, causing matches to end crazily, unfairly, and too quickly. Characters with projectiles and five midair jumps also dominated to the point of complete centralization. Overall, while the game was received well by fans for introducing desired characters into a Smash Bros.-like environment, it was panned by critics for lacking the depth that defined the series as a whole.

Gallery

Start up screen from the EXE version of Super Smash Flash.

Title screen.

Menu screen.

Trivia

• Kirby and Meta Knight are a 2-in-1 character in this game due to the lack of Kirby's Inhale and copy ability. In the reboot, they are now separate playable characters and Kirby's Inhale and copy ability are finally present.
• It was rumored that Wario was planned to be playable in this game, supported by the fact that sprites from Wario Land 4 are used in the game. However, there is no evidence to support whether it is true.
• Like the first Super Smash Bros., the Mario universe, along with the Super Smash Bros. universe, is the only universe that has more than one stage in the game: Peach's Castle and Mushroom Kingdom II.
• Super Smash Flash was originally hosted on Newgrounds, Kongregate, and Armor Games (the latter which still "sponsors" SSF), but due to legal issues was removed from Kongregate in early 2009. It is unknown when or why it was removed from Armor Games.
• On the Newgrounds page, Cleod9 mentioned he did not add all the characters from Super Smash Bros. Melee for a reason; it was later revealed that it was because he did not have any available sprites online when the game was being created.

External links

• Play Super Smash Flash on SuperSmashFlash.com.
• Play Super Smash Flash on Newgrounds.
• Download Super Smash Flash for Windows.
• Download Super Smash Flash for Mac.
• "Super Smash Flash Strategy Guide" on the McLeodGaming Forums.