Home-Run Contest

The Home-run Contest is a minigame in which one must knock Sandbag as far as possible, usually with the Home-run Bat. The player has 10 seconds to rack up damage to lengthen the home-run. The most effective technique for getting a lot of damage really fast is known as bat dropping. If you just swung the bat when time is up, it would toss the the sandbag a little further than 200 metres.

Overview
The player starts on a platform with a sandbag in the center, and the character about 1/3 of the way from the left of the platform facing right. Slightly to the left is a bat, which can be used to hit the bag extremely far. Hitting with the end of the bat, known as a tipper, makes the sandbag go farther than a mid hit, which goes farther than a close hit.

Hitting with the handle of the bat can cause what is known as a no-ping hit. A no-ping hit is used to hit the Sandbag a lot farther than a regular bat hit at damage percentages lower than about 120%. Using a no-ping hit when the Sandbag is only at 35% damage will send the Sandbag over 1000 feet (304.8 meters). It will always do 8% damage. Pichu, Pikachu, and Mr. Game & Watch can do a no-ping hit by walking next the bag, turning away from the bag, and swinging. The rest of the characters need the bag to be in the air to perform a no-ping hit. The characters that can't do a no-ping hit or it doesn't go farther than the baseball bat are Dr.Mario, Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

 * 350 meters/984 feet: Sandbag trophy
 * 400 meters/1,350 feet: Yoshi's Island N64
 * 450 meters/1,476 feet: Paper Mario trophy
 * 5,000 meters/16,404 feet total: Unown trophy

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 * 300 meters/990 feet: Boo (Mario Tennis) sticker
 * 400 meters/1,200 feet: Clu Clu Land song
 * 500 meters/1,500 feet: Home-run Bat trophy
 * 5,000 meters/15,000 feet total: Bumper trophy
 * 8,000 meters/24,000 feet total: Xananab trophy
 * 10,000 meters/30,000 feet total: Shy Guy trophy
 * 12,500 meters/37,500 feet total: Ai no Uta (French Version) song
 * 15,000 meters/45,000 feet total: Golden Hammer trophy
 * Use every character in Home-run Contest to unlock the Sandbag trophy

Changes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Additionally, the Home-Run Bat sports its own unique Smash attack animations, allowing Captain Falcon and Sheik to properly use it for the contest.
 * 2-player Co-Op is now supported, both in simultaneous and alternating modes, and can also be played online with a friend.
 * There is a shield around the platform which prevents the Sandbag from being knocked out without sufficient force. The shield is breakable, but it greatly lowers the difficulty of bringing the sandbag's damage up.
 * Bat drops are harder to do because A and C-stick grab items.
 * Knocking the sandbag to the platform's left will automatically result in zero distance.
 * Sandbag cannot be grabbed.
 * The home run contest stage is endless. But the measuring counter cannot exceed 999999.9 m. This has been proven by hacking.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

 * Bowser's fully-charged forward smash
 * Hits farther than the bat at 120% or more damage.
 * Does 32 or 33%


 * Peach's bob-omb (down B)
 * Peach can harvest a bob-omb approximately every 1/300 times she uses down B.
 * Hits farther than the bat at about 90% or more
 * Does 38%


 * Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch (neutral B)
 * Hits farther than the bat at any % for Captain Falcon (due to his Home-run swing sending the sandbag up.
 * Does 27% if right next to Sandbag


 * Donkey Kong's Giant Punch (neutral B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 175% or more.
 * Does 30%


 * Ganondorf's Warlock Punch (neutral B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 154% or more.
 * Does 30%


 * Pichu's fully-charged Skull Bash (forward B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 95% or more.
 * Does 39%


 * Jigglypuff's Rest (down B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 69% or more.
 * Does 28%


 * Mr. Game & Watch's #9 Judgment (forward B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 138% or more.
 * Does 32%


 * Roy's fully charged Flare Blade (neutral B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 18% or more.
 * Does 50%


 * Roy's Flare Blade at 41% damage
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 28% or more. Hits farther than the full Flare Blade at 120% or more.
 * Does 41%


 * A TAS recently beat the record of Luigi with the Green Missile

Super Smash Bros Brawl

 * Mr. Game and Watch's #9 Judgement Hammer.
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Does 32%
 * This is somewhat ironic, as #9 Judgement was intended to emulate a swing from the bat.


 * Mr. Game and Watch's fully-charged Forward Smash.
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Hits further than the #9 Judgement Hammer at ~200%
 * Does 25%


 * Ike's fully-charged Forward Smash.
 * Hits further than the bat at around 100%
 * Does 32%
 * Generally performed after smash-throwing the bat upwards then charging the Smash facing AWAY from the Sandbag.


 * Ike's almost fully charged Eruption. (released in the exact frame)
 * Hits farther than the bat at (?) %
 * Does 39.5 %


 * Donkey Kong's fully charged Forward Smash. (with optimal hitbox connection)
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Does 29%
 * Generally performed after smash-throwing the bat upwards, waiting a little, then charging the Smash.


 * Donkey Kong's fully charged Down Smash. (from hands, not arms)
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Hits farther than his Forward Smash at ~267%
 * Does 25 %
 * Generally performed on the ground, since it has almost the same knockback in the air and on the ground.


 * Donkey Kong's fully charged Giant Punch.
 * Hits further around 200+%


 * Does 29 %
 * Goes farther when hit with the body of the punch, facing left.


 * Luigi's fully charged Forward Smash, aimed upward.
 * Hits further than the bat at ~180%
 * Does 23%
 * Generally performed after lightly throwing the bat upwards then charging the Smash, but has same knockback in the air and on the ground.


 * King Dedede's fully-charged Forward Smash.
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Does 35%
 * Generally performed after smash-throwing the bat upwards then charging the smash facing AWAY from the Sandbag


 * King Dedede's Jet Hammer.
 * Hits further at 195 %
 * Does 29%
 * Aerial hit


 * Ganondorf's Reverse Warlock Punch.
 * Hits further than the bat at about 150%
 * Does 36%
 * Generally performed after smash-throwing the bat upwards then performing the Reverse Warlock Punch


 * Captain Falcon's Reverse Falcon Punch.
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Does 28%
 * Generally performed after lightly throwing the bat upwards then performing the Reverse Falcon Punch


 * Bowser's fully charged Forward Smash.
 * Hits farther than the bat at (?) %
 * Generally smash-throwing the bat up, then charging the Smash.
 * Does 48%


 * Marth's fully charged Shield Breaker.
 * Hits farther than the bat at 270%
 * Does 25%


 * Peach's Bob-omb
 * Hits further than the bat at (?) %
 * Does 38%


 * Mario's Cape multiplies the distance by about 1.5x
 * Only used in Co-op and BMO
 * Equal to +30% w/ regular hit

Subcategories
In competitive HRC, there are several subcategories, which use unique playing styles. The most popular two (which have been around the longest, since the start of competitive HRC) are: Two other modes that were created in SSBM's lifetime were BMO and NJA:
 * NBA: No Bat Allowed. Arguably the strictest subcategory. The bat cannot be used to attack in any way. The bat can be picked up, as long as it is not used. NBA strategies are usually unique, as it requires a completely different playing style. Bat swing can not be used.
 * NBD: No Bat Drops. You can do everything except aerial bat drops. Grounded bat drops are allowed, as it is considered a bat discard. Bat swing may be used.
 * BMO: B Moves Only. Only B Moves are allowed, and the last attack to hit the sandbag must be a B move. The bat can be used, so somewhat unique bat drops are utilized. Bat swing can not be used, as it counts as a forward smash. In SSBB this mode has turned into mostly multiple bat drops with one B move used to finish, which some argue is against the original purpose of the category.
 * NJA: No Jump Allowed. Players may not jump at any time.

In SSBB's lifetime three modes have since been created and become quite popular, in chronological order:
 * NSA: No Shield Allowed. Originally called "No Barrier Allowed", and is self explanatory (you can't use the barrier) and only applies to SSBB.
 * 3SS: Three Smash Strategy. You must use all three of the character's smashes (Foward, Up and Down) in the run.
 * AAA: All Aerial Moves. A mode created in SSBB, popular among Japanese players originally. You must use all five aerial A attacks of the character, other than that anything goes. Only regularly done in SSBB due to the barrier and aerial moves knocking the bag off the stage in SSBM, but could be possible with the back wall.

Competitive HRC
Since almost the beginning of SSBM, HRC has been played competitively. Originally, before the game's release in Europe, North America and Japan had a competition between each other for the highest HRC scores. This then moved out to include Europe when the game was released in it's PAL version. This competitive nature has continued and grown onto SSBB, especially due to the replay function (thus making video production easier) and video streaming sites such as Youtube. However, due to the large technique changes from SSBM to SSBB and the introduction of the barrier and multiple bat drops in one jump, many SSBM Professional (90,000ft+ / 27,432m+ THS) HRC players have played little SSBB HRC competitively, leading to a rise in a "new generation" of HRC players.

The HRC world record's list is maintained on the smash site AllIsBrawl currently but with members of the stadium community questioning the site's support for stadium, the location might change to a more stadium based site. A history of HRC and it's milestones up till about 2005 can be found on the site Folderol, but note that the HRC record's list is out of date.

Links

 * GameFAQs: Home-Run Contest guide by SSKeeto
 * Home-Run Contest World Records (June '09) (final SSB DOJO!! update)
 * Examples of Subcategories by SSBMstuff:
 * BMO ROB
 * NBA Samus