Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates

In 2007 up to the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. Dojo!!, the website dedicated to information about the game and hosted by the game's chief developer Masahiro Sakurai, underwent a redesign and proceeded to show pieces of new information about the game at a rate of once every weekday. Each update provided by Sakurai to the site is reworded and reposted here.

List of updates

 * May 22: "The Basic Rules" : The site opened up with this basic description of how Smash-style gameplay looks like. Little new content was revealed, but what was revealed was a redesign of the damage counters at the bottom of the screen, showing the character's facial portrait in addition to the universe symbol and health meter.
 * May 22: "Battlefield" : The site also opened up with a more in-depth description of the Battlefield stage. The stage's apparent Day/Night cycle was clarified and made official.
 * May 22: "The Musicians" : The site finally opened up with what is probably the complete list of videogame musicians credited with contributing to the game. The eye-raisingly long list of 36 separate musicians is characterized as amazing by Sakurai. The music for the Battlefield stage was posted on the site, and it is revealed to be a remixed version of Melee's Menu 1 theme.


 * May 23: "Mario" : Mario is given his official section as a character, described as a "Veteran Fighter". Little new information is provided, apart from graphical updates and sceenshots of generic moves.
 * May 23: "Link" : Link is given his official section as a character just like Mario, described as a "Veteran Fighter" by the site. Little new information is provided, but one notable occurrance in the update is that one of the screenshots features Link aiming his bow while crouching. It is unclear if this is simply how he poses now when he charges it, or if he can charge while crouching.


 * May 24: "Gooey Bomb" : The Gooey Bomb is introduced as a new item. It is a variant on the Motion Sensor Bomb that adheres to characters passing by each other before exploding; thus games involving this item start to look like games of hot potato.


 * May 25: "Pit" : Pit is given his official section as a character just like Mario and Link, but unlike them he is described as a "Newcomer" by the site. Again, little new information is provided, but Pit himself has undergone a slight visual redesign.


 * May 28: "Pit: Special Moves" : Pit's coverage is expanded in this update, which describes his new Normal-B and Up-B moves (The Palutena Arrow and the Wings of Icarus, respectively).


 * May 29: "What is a Final Smash?" : The giant special moves seen in the previous trailers are officially classified as Final Smashes, and the spherical items characters grab to be able to use them are now called Smash Balls.
 * May 29: "Mario: Final Smash" : Mario's Final Smash, the giant fireball seen in the first trailer, is identified officially as the Mario Finale.


 * May 30: "Moving and Shooting" : The Super Scope item returns from Melee, and a new mechanic that applies to this and any other projectile-based item is described as well, revealing that characters can now move and jump around while using these items; before, characters had to be in a stationary x-position.


 * May 31: "Cracker Launcher" : Another new item called the Cracker Launcher is showcased for the first time. This cylindrical cannon launches projectiles at a regular rate that explode into gaudy fireworks.


 * June 1: "Delfino Plaza" : This update showcases a brand new stage for Brawl, which is a near-perfect recreation of the Delfino Plaza hub area in the GameCube video game Super Mario Sunshine.


 * June 4: "Yoshi's Story: Ending" : The second music clip posted on the site, a remix of an ending sequence in the Nintendo 64 game Yoshi's Story, and the music will be featured in the game, probably as the music for the Yoshi's Story stage in Brawl.


 * June 5: "What Are Poké Balls?" : The Poke Ball item from the previous two games makes its return practically as expected, with the same basic function of releasing a randomly chosen Pokemon creature to influence the battle. The update reveals two of the Pokemon: Goldeen and Chikorita from Melee.
 * June 5: "Groudon" : A third Pokemon revealed to appear from a thrown Poke Ball in Brawl is revealed as this all-new Pokemon from a more recent generation of the Pokemon franchise. Groudon is a red lizardlike behemoth who damages any opponent touching it.


 * June 6: "You must recover!" : The basic concept of recovering from off the side of a stage using double and triple-jumps is added to the How To Play section of the site. Although very little is revealed, Mario's recovery seems to be higher, and the update further hints at the game's improved aerial fighting ("Fierce aerial battles often rule the match!").


 * June 7: "Pikachu" : Pikachu is given his official character section as a "Veteran Fighter" like Mario and Link before. He appears to be slightly smaller than in previous games.
 * June 7: "Kirby" : Kirby is given his official character section as a "Veteran Fighter" like Mario, Link, and Pikachu. Pretty much nothing new is revealed, but the site humorously admits to Kirby's near complete lack of a graphical update.


 * June 8: "Four Kinds of Control" : This update reveals that Brawl will be compatible with four different controllers compatible with the Wii: The Wiimote, the Wiimote and Nunchuck, the Wii Classic Controller, and the standard GameCube controller. How they will all work is promised to be explained in future updates.


 * June 11: "Fox" : Fox is given his official character section as a "Veteran Fighter". Some of his older moves are seen to return, and he is described as retaining the speed and agility from his Melee incarnation.


 * June 12: "Yoshi's Island" : The Yoshi's Island stage in Brawl is covered more in-depth, confirming a simple layout but with a top platform that is unstable, changing between all four seasons, and a platform that appears courtesy of the Support Ghost.


 * June 13: "Metroid: Boss Battle Music (Ridley Fight)" : The third music file posted on Dojo!! is this short remix of the most common boss battle theme heard throughout the Metroid series. The site specifically connects this to Ridley, raising rumors as to whether Ridley will be a playable character, or more of a "background character" like Kraid was in Melee.


 * June 14: "Crates and Barrels" : Confirms the return of the Crate and Barrel items from previous games, along with the announcement that the items will change cosmetically, depending on the stage the player is on. Also, "Sliding Boxes" have been introduced, which have little wheels on them and will move during gameplay.


 * June 15: "Samus" : Character profile of Samus in her regular form, including the first in-game images ever shown of her in Brawl. She is classified as a "Veteran Fighter", and visually seems to be heavily based off of her appearance in Metroid: Zero Mission. She appears to retain most of her moves from Melee, and how or if she transforms into Zero-Suit Samus is not mentioned.


 * June 18: "Link: Final Smash" : Link's Final Smash, as seen in the first trailer, is officially named the Triforce Slash. The specifics of how the move starts out and finishes, which wasn't shown in the trailer, is also revealed.


 * June 19: "Pikachu: Volt Tackle" : Pikachu's Final Smash, Volt Tackle, is revealed to involve him temporarily turning into a gigantic ball of light and flying across the stage at great speeds, which can be controlled to an extent by the player. Also mentioned is that other players are capable of canceling Pikachu's Final Smash, and presumably other Final Smashes as well.


 * June 20: "Wario" : Wario is given his own character section in the "Newcomer" category. It is mentioned that Wario will have a fighting style that "other characters cannot even see", which could mean a large number of things, but most likely refers to his fart based attacks (as farts are generally not seen by the naked eye).


 * June 21: "Fox: Special Moves" : Two of Fox's special moves, the Reflector and Blaster, are confirmed to reappear in Fox's moveset for Brawl. Aside from a few cosmetic differences, both moves seem to be 100% unchanged from their functions in Melee.


 * June 22: "Lylat Cruise" : The Star Fox stage from the second trailer is dubbed the Lylat Cruise, and it is revealed that the stage will traverse not only the area around Corneria and its atmosphere, but also various areas of the entire Lylat system.


 * June 25: "Zelda" : Zelda is revealed as a playable character in Brawl. Her appearance is loosely based on the version of Zelda in LoZ:Twilight Princess, but there are several differences such as the colors of her hair and dress. She is confirmed to remain a slow character with strong magic-based attacks, but whether or not she will be able to transform into Sheik this time remains unmentioned.


 * June 26: "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Medley" : The fourth music update on the site is a medley of various songs heard in Ocarina of Time, among them the "Song of Storms", "Epona's Song", "Song of Time", "Saria's Song", and "Zelda's Lullaby". It is unknown which stage this theme will be played on, if any.


 * June 27: "Banana Peel" : A new item, the Banana Peel, is revealed. The effect of the item is somewhat obvious. When dropped on the floor, any character running on this item will slip on it. It's apparently classified as a Smash Bros. item, despite it possibly being derived from Donkey Kong or Super Mario Kart.


 * June 28: "Names" : The second update to the "Game Modes" category reveals several things about the game's interface. The ability for the player to enter custom names returns, and it is revealed that custom button configurations for each controller can be chosen and assigned to the player's name. Also is the mention that player name data may be able to be saved on the player's Wii Remote so they could take this information to other people's Wiis, but this feature has apparently not been implemented yet and may not happen. It is unknown whether making player names in Brawl will be mandatory in order to play.


 * June 29: "Wario: Special Moves" : Two of Wario's B moves are covered. His Smash B move, Wario Chopper, is similar to Yoshi's Egg Roll attack with the exception of Wario's bike being used, and that it will stay on stage after the first use of the attack. Also elaborated on is the Wario Waft attack, which contrary to popular belief, is not a Final Smash, and in fact his Down B.