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.

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 and 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, C. Falcon, and Ganondorf.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

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

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 * 300 meters/900 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

Moves that can hit farther than the Home-run Bat

 * Bowser's fully-charged forward smash
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 120% or more damage. Can do either 32% or 33% damage


 * Peach's bob-omb (down B)
 * Peach can harvest a bob-omb approximately every 1/300 times she uses down B. Does 38% damage to the Sandbag


 * Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch (neutral B)
 * Hits farther than the bat always. Does 27% damage when right next to the Sandbag.


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


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


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


 * Jigglypuff's Rest (down B)
 * Hits farther than the bat when the Sandbag is at 69% or more. Can't be used as a finisher in Brawl because of only vertical knockback. Does 28% damage to the Sandbag


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


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


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


 * Ike's fully-charged Forward smash at % damage. Does 32% damage to the Sandbag
 * Donkey Kong's fully charged forward smash, at % damage. Does 31% damage to the Sandbag

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 stadium 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 Cstick grab items.
 * Knocking the sandbag to the platform's left will automatically result in zero distance.
 * Sandbag cannot be grabbed.

Subcategories
In competitive HRC, there are several subcategories, which use unique playing styles:

NBD: No bat drops. You can do everything except aerial batdrops. Grounded bat drops are allowed. 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.

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 strats are usually unique, as it requires a completely different playing style. Bat swing can not be used.

Links
GameFAQs: Home-Run Contest guide by SSKeeto

Home-Run Contest World Records as of the end of July, 2008

Examples of Subcategories by SSBMstuff: BMO ROB NBA Samus