Classic Mode as seen in Brawl
Classic Mode is a mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl that serves as the successor to the 1P Game in Super Smash Bros. The two modes are virtually identical in order; however, certain changes have been made.
In the original, the player fought in a predetermined order: the player would always fight a specific character at a certain stage in a fixed order under static conditions). In Melee, randomization elements were introduced - the battles and the order in which they are take place are, for the most part, completely random (other than the basic layout, which is elaborated upon in the below section). Additionally in Melee, the Board the Platforms bonus game has been removed, instead replaced by Snag the Trophies.
If the player loses all their stock, they are brought to a screen with a "Yes" or "No" answer to the Announcer's question "Continue?" Some coins and points are lost if "Yes" is chosen, but a "GAME OVER" is shown if "No" is chosen or if players do not have a certain amount of coins to pay. At the end, 20,000 points will be lost for using at least one continue. In Brawl, beating Classic mode rewards players with 10,000 on Easy, 20,000 points on Normal, 30,000 points on Hard, 40,000 points for Very Hard, and 50,000 points on Intense, and another 15,000 points a single stock wasn't lost.
Battle types
Classic Mode introduces different types of battles as the player progresses. In Melee, there is one type of each battle in a set stage while in Brawl there are multiple special battles fought randomly in each stage.
Regular battle
In a regular battle, the player engages in a one on one battle with another character. These type of battles are the most common type of battle in Melee and Brawl. The opponent is usually chosen at random and is battled on their home stage.
Team battle
In a team battle, the player pairs up with a computer ally and battles two other computer opponents. The opponents and ally are chosen at random in Melee, while characters of the same series usually team up in Brawl. The battle is usually fought on one of the opposing characters home stage. The higher the difficulty, the less reliable the ally will be.
Giant battle
In a giant battle, the player pairs up with at most two allies and battles a giant character. The giant character will have the same attributes as a character with under the effects of a Super Mushroom, however the enlarged size will last the whole battle. The giant character can usually sustain more damage and has more powerful attacks, but their jump's distance is reduced and they become a bigger target. The higher the difficulty is, the less reliable the computer allies will be.
In Brawl, this battle is chosen at random by series and the player will be given a certain number of allies depending on the stage number. In comparison to regular Super Mushrooms, the opposing character is larger still, magnifying the bonuses and pitfalls of being Giant. When this battle is chosen on stage 2, players will have two allies. When it is chosen on stages 3, 4, and 5, there will be only one ally. Finally, when chosen on stages 6–10, no allies will help the players.
Multi-man battle
In a multi-man battle, the player fights ten copies of another character. The opponent team will attack in groups of three, but they have lower handicap than usual, making them easier to defeat and more difficult for them to KO the player.
Metal battle
In a metal battle, the player faces an opposing computer player under the effects that are similar to the Metal Box. A metal character can sustain more damage and are less likely to flinch with more powerful attacks. However, their falling speed is increased and running speed reduced. In Melee, a metal battle is always fought on the Battlefield stage with no items appearing at all. In Brawl, however, the metal battles are chosen at random by series and items are present.
Free-for-All
This battle only appears in Brawl as the second-to-last battle. In this battle, the player must fight three random characters (who haven't been fought yet in the current playthrough) on the Final Destination stage. Often, the opponents will attack each other outright until the one is defeated; the remaining two will then focus solely on the player. The music played in this battle is Opening (Super Smash Bros. Melee).
Final battle
In a final battle, the players faces Master Hand and Crazy Hand on the Final Destination stage. When one player reaches the final stage in this mode on normal or higher in under 15 minutes in Melee (hard or above in 9 minutes or less in Brawl) without continuing, Crazy Hand will fight along side Master Hand. However, there are no items present in this battle. Master Hand and Crazy Hand both have certain number of hit points depending on the chosen difficulty that must be depleted to clear this mode. However in Brawl, along with the change of hit points is the movement of the hands. The higher the difficulty, the faster they move. In Melee, Crazy Hand will appear after Master Hand's HP is cut in half. In Brawl, Master Hand and Crazy Hand will both appear at the same time from the start.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Classic Mode Layout
Mario fighting Kirby in the Classic Mode for Super Smash Bros. Melee.
- Stage 1: 1 vs 1 (Opponent chosen at random from a list of characters)
- Stage 2: 2 vs 2 (Ally is chosen at random from a list of allies while the team will be fought is picked out of a list of 29 teams randomly)
- Stage 3: Target Test
- Stage 4: 1 vs 1 (Opponent chosen at random from a list of characters)
- Stage 5: 3 vs 1 Giant Character (Allies chosen at random from a list of allies while a giant character is chosen out of a list of giant characters randomly)
- Stage 6: Snag the Trophies
- Stage 7: 1 vs 1 (Opponent chosen at random from a list of characters)
- Stage 8: 1 vs 10 of the same character (Teams are chosen at random out of a list)
- Stage 9: Race to the Finish
- Stage 10: 1 vs 1 Metal character (Opponent chosen at random from a list of metal characters)
- Stage 11: 1 vs Master Hand and Crazy Hand on Normal or Hard.
Regular Battle
This is a list of characters that will be fought in their home stages in 3 1-on-1 battles below. In this mode, Poké Floats and past stages aren't used. In battle 5 on Hard or Very hard, the computer will usually try to avoid players at all costs, sometimes by walking off the screen.
| Regular Battles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Stage(s) | ||||
| Bowser | Princess Peach's Castle, Battlefield | ||||
| Captain Falcon | Mute City, Big Blue | ||||
| Donkey Kong | Kongo Jungle, Jungle Japes | ||||
| Dr. Mario | Mushroom Kingdom | ||||
| Falco | Corneria, Venom | ||||
| Fox | Corneria, Venom | ||||
| Ice Climbers | Icicle Mountain | ||||
| Jigglypuff | Pokémon Stadium | ||||
| Kirby | Fountain of Dreams, Green Greens | ||||
| Link | Great Bay, Temple | ||||
| Luigi | Mushroom Kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom II | ||||
| Mario | Princess Peach's Castle, Rainbow Cruise | ||||
| Marth | Great Bay (Fire Emblem) | ||||
| Mewtwo | Pokémon Stadium, Final Destination (Poké Floats) | ||||
| Ness | Onett, Fourside | ||||
| Peach | Princess Peach's Castle, Mushroom Kingdom II | ||||
| Pichu | Pokémon Stadium | ||||
| Pikachu | Pokémon Stadium | ||||
| Samus | Brinstar, Brinstar Depths | ||||
| Yoshi | Yoshi's Story (with Yoshi's Island N64 alternate song), Yoshi's Island | ||||
| Young Link | Great Bay, Temple (Saria's Song) | ||||
| Zelda | Temple | ||||
Allies
This is a list of characters who will fight alongside players in Team and Giant battles. These characters use their alternate costumes in these matches. In team battle, the ally will use the first alternate costume; while in a giant battle, ally 1 will use the second alternate costume and ally 2 will use the first alternate costume.
2 vs. 2 Teams
Below is the list of all the teams that can be fought in Classic Mode. Both the characters for each team and the stage fought on is listed. There are a total of 29 teams. When fighting a team of Mario and Bowser on Battlefield, the theme for Princess Peach's Castle plays.
| Team Battle | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Stage | ||||
| Fox + Falco | Corneria | ||||
| Kirby + Pikachu | Green Greens | ||||
| Kirby + Jigglypuff | Green Greens | ||||
| Kirby + Pichu | Fountain of Dreams | ||||
| Kirby + Ice Climbers | Icicle Mountain | ||||
| Pikachu + Pichu | Pokemon Stadium | ||||
| Pikachu + Jigglypuff | Pokemon Stadium | ||||
| Samus + Captain Falcon | Big Blue | ||||
| Captain Falcon + Falco | Big Blue | ||||
| Fox + Captain Falcon | Mute City | ||||
| Samus + Fox | Brinstar | ||||
| Ness + Peach | Onett | ||||
| Ness + Mewtwo | Fourside | ||||
| Yoshi + Ness | Yoshi's Island | ||||
| Yoshi + Luigi | Yoshi's Story | ||||
| Bowser + Mewtwo | Battlefield | ||||
| Bowser + Peach | Battlefield | ||||
| Bowser + Zelda | Battlefield | ||||
| Mario + Bowser | Battlefield (Princess Peach's Castle) | ||||
| Mario + Peach | Mushroom Kingdom II | ||||
| Peach + Zelda | Temple | ||||
| Zelda + Marth | Temple | ||||
| Link + Zelda | Temple | ||||
| Link + Young Link | Great Bay | ||||
| Marth + Link | Great Bay | ||||
| Zelda + Young Link | Great Bay | ||||
| Donkey Kong + Fox | Kongo Jungle | ||||
| Link + Luigi | Mushroom Kingdom | ||||
| Luigi + Doctor Mario | Mushroom Kingdom | ||||
Giant Character Battle
Just like the teams, the giant characters are picked randomly from a group that has already been predetermined by the game.
| Giant Character Battles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giant Character | Stage | ||||
| Donkey Kong | Kongo Jungle | ||||
| Mario | Princess Peach's Castle | ||||
| Dr. Mario | Mushroom Kingdom | ||||
| Luigi | Mushroom Kingdom II | ||||
| Bowser | Fountain of Dreams | ||||
| Captain Falcon | Mute City | ||||
| Jigglypuff | Pokemon Stadium | ||||
| Link | Great Bay | ||||
| Yoshi | Yoshi's Story | ||||
| Young Link | Temple | ||||
Multi-Character Battle
Just like the teams, and the giant characters, the multiple-character fight is picked randomly from a group that has already been predetermined by the game. This level consists of 10 characters consisting of a group of each other.
Metal Battle
Unlike in regular battles, this is a list of metal characters that will be fought on the Battlefield stage.
| Metal Character Battles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metal Character | |||||
| Bowser | |||||
| Captain Falcon | |||||
| Donkey Kong | |||||
| Dr. Mario | |||||
| Falco | |||||
| Fox | |||||
| Ice Climbers | |||||
| Jigglypuff | |||||
| Kirby | |||||
| Link | |||||
| Luigi | |||||
| Mario | |||||
| Marth | |||||
| Mewtwo | |||||
| Ness | |||||
| Peach | |||||
| Pichu | |||||
| Pikachu | |||||
| Samus | |||||
| Yoshi | |||||
| Young Link | |||||
| Zelda | |||||
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Classic Mode Layout
| Level | Battle Types | Enemies | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 - The Legend of Zelda | Team or Normal | Link, Zelda/Sheik, Ganondorf, Toon Link | Bridge of Eldin, Pirate Ship |
| Level 2 - Yoshi, Donkey Kong (Minor Mario Characters) | Giant (2 allies), Team, or Normal | Yoshi | Yoshi's Island |
| Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong | Rumble Falls, 75m | ||
| Level 3 - Pokémon | Giant (1 ally), Team, or Normal | Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokémon Trainer, Lucario | Pokémon Stadium 2, Spear Pillar |
| Level 4 - Fire Emblem or EarthBound (Originally Japanese-only RPGs) | Giant (1 ally), Team, Multi, or Normal | Ike, Marth | Castle Siege |
| Lucas, Ness | New Pork City | ||
| Target Smash!! (same level as the chosen difficulty) | N/A | N/A | Appropriate Target Smash!! map |
| Level 5 - Kirby | Giant (1 ally), Team, Multi, or Normal | Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight | Halberd |
| Level 6 - Metroid or Pikmin (Planet explorers) | Giant (no allies), Multi, Metal, or Normal | Samus/Zero Suit Samus | Norfair, Frigate Orpheon |
| Olimar | Distant Planet | ||
| Level 7 - Star Fox or F-Zero (Spaceship flyers) | Giant (no allies), Team, Multi, Metal, or Normal | Fox, Falco, Wolf | Lylat Cruise |
| Captain Falcon | Port Town Aero Dive | ||
| Level 8 - Super Mario Bros. | Giant (no allies), Team, Multi, Metal, or Normal | Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser | Delfino Plaza, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Circuit, Mushroomy Kingdom |
| Level 9 - Game & Watch, Kid Icarus, Ice Climber or R.O.B. (Obscure classic characters) | Giant (no allies), Multi, Metal, or Normal | Mr. Game & Watch | Flat Zone 2 |
| Pit | Skyworld | ||
| Ice Climbers | Summit | ||
| R.O.B. | Mario Bros. | ||
| Level 10 - WarioWare, Metal Gear or Sonic the Hedgehog (requested/anticipated characters) | Giant (no allies), Multi, Metal or Normal | Wario | WarioWare, Inc. |
| Snake | Shadow Moses Island | ||
| Sonic | Green Hill Zone | ||
| Target Smash!! (1 level higher, if played on Intense, level 5 again) | N/A | N/A | Appropriate Target Smash!! map |
| Level 11 - Free for All | Free for all with three computers | Random | Final Destination |
| Level 12 - Master Hand/Crazy Hand Battle | Enemies have stamina based on difficulty selected | Master Hand (and, depending on situation, Crazy Hand) | Final Destination |
As more characters and stages are unlocked, the rest of the battle types will be chosen. There are:
- 2 Target Test
- 3 Single
- 2 Team
- 2 Multi-Man
- 2 Giant
- 1 Metal
- 1 3-on-1
- 1 Final
Rewards
In Super Smash Bros
- Clearing Classic Mode in 20 minutes or less without any continues will challenge the player to defeat Captain Falcon, where victory results in unlocking him.
- Clearing Classic Mode in Normal difficulty only choosing three stocks without any continues will challenge the player to defeat Ness, and beating him will result in unlocking him.
- Clearing Classic Mode on any difficulty will challenge the player to defeat Jigglypuff, and beating it will result in unlocking it.
- Clearing Classic Mode with all starter characters and playing on all the default stages will unlock the Mushroom Kingdom stage.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Clearing Classic Mode as Mario without using any continues will challenge the player to defeat Dr. Mario, where victory results in unlocking him.
- Clearing Classic Mode on any difficulty will challenge the player to defeat Jigglypuff, and beating it will result in unlocking it.
- Clearing Classic Mode with 10 characters will challenge the player to defeat Young Link, and beating him will unlock him.
- Clearing Classic Mode with the 14 regular characters will challenge the player to defeat Marth from the Fire Emblem series, beating him will unlock him.
- Clearing Classic Mode with Marth will challenge the player to defeat Roy, and beating him will unlock him.
- Clearing Classic Mode with all characters (Except Mr. Game & Watch) will challenge the player to defeat Mr. Game & Watch. Beating him will unlock both him and the All-Star mode.
- Clearing Classic Mode as Mr. Game and Watch unlocks the stage Flat Zone
- Clearing Classic Mode in under 5 minutes awards the Mach Rider trophy.
- Clearing Classic Mode with all characters awards the Donkey Kong Junior Trophy.
- Clearing Classic Mode on Hard or Very Hard without using any continues awards the Master Hand trophy.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Beating Classic Mode on Easy gives the player a sticker of a running Chibi-Robo.
- Beating Classic Mode on Normal gives the player Icicle Mountain (Music).
- Beating Classic Mode on Hard gives the player Credits (Super Smash Bros) (Music).
- Beating Classic Mode on Very Hard gives the player the Striker Mario Trophy.
- Beating Classic Mode on Intense gives the player a trophy of Crazy Hand.
- Beating Classic Mode with 10 characters will challenge the player to defeat Sonic The Hedgehog. Beating him will unlock him, the Green Hill Zone stage, and the Shadow the Hedgehog Assist Trophy.
- Beating Classic Mode will Challenge the player to defeat Marth, and beating him will unlock him.
- Beating Classic Mode without using any continues will challenge the player to defeat Luigi. Beating him will unlock him.
- Beating Classic Mode on Normal or higher in less than 12 minutes will challenge the player to defeat Captain Falcon, and beating him will unlock him.
- Beating Classic Mode on Hard or higher as Link or Zelda will challenge the player to defeat Ganondorf, and beating him will unlock him.
- Beating Classic Mode as Link after beating The Subspace Emissary will challenge the player to defeat Toon Link. Beating him will unlock him and the Pirate Ship stage.
- Beating Classic Mode with 20 different characters gives the player the Master Hand trophy.
- Beating Classic Mode with all characters gives the player the Paper Mario Trophy.
- Beating Classic Mode with all characters (Including Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard) gives the player the Creeping Chrysanthemum trophy.
Note: In the NTSC version, Master Hand and Crazy Hand trophies cannot be broken via a golden hammer.
Trivia
- Interestingly, Melee's Classic Mode is actually shorter than the 1P Game in the original.
- In Brawl, Halberd will always be fought on in stage 5, due to Kirby characters always being fought in stage 5, and the lack of another Kirby stage that is not a Melee stage.
- Brawl is the only game in which the player's character is not seen facing their opponents on the screen where the narrator announces who is to be fought next.
- In Melee and Brawl, if the player beats Classic on the highest difficulty, the announcer will say "PERFECTO! INCREDIBLE!" instead of 'Congratulations!', which happens on lower difficulties.
- In Melee, it is somewhat impossible to fight Sheik, Roy or Ganondorf in Classic Mode, even on Very Hard.
- In Super Smash Bros MELEE, on Classic Mode-if done on Very Hard Stage 1: 1 on 1 Battle will be an opponent character with an alternate costume instead of a default costume. However in Stage 2: 2 on 2 Battle only one of the 2 opponent characters you fight against will have an alternate costume and the other is a default.