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Home-Run Contest

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The Home-Run Platform in Melee.

The Home-Run Contest (ホームランコンテスト, Home-Run Contest) is a Stadium minigame introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee and returning in all games since then, although it was initially absent from Ultimate until the 5.0.0 update. The player(s) must knock a Sandbag as far as possible, usually with the Home-Run Bat given. The player has ten seconds to rack up damage to lengthen the home-run. The most effective technique for dealing high damage very quickly is known as bat dropping.

The minigame takes place in the Home-Run Stadium, a unique stage otherwise inaccessible in other game modes without hacking.

Overview[edit]

Banjo & Kazooie preparing to send Sandbag flying with two seconds left in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

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. On the left edge is a Home-Run Bat, which can be used to hit the bag extremely far. Hitting with the very end of the bat, known as a "tipper", makes Sandbag go farther than hitting with the middle of the bat, which goes farther than a close hit. Every game has a ten-second time limit. During that time, the player is expected to deal as much damage to the Sandbag as possible. After five seconds, a countdown will occur just like in a standard timed match with only five seconds remaining before the player hits the bag with the bat or an attack. When the Sandbag lands on the field after being launched, that will be the player's total distance for the game. If the player chooses not to launch the Sandbag, or the Sandbag is launched to the wrong side, the game automatically ends and a distance of zero is recorded.

In Melee, it is also possible for some characters to hit the Sandbag with the handle of the bat, causing what is known as a no-ping hit, which sends the Sandbag at a much sharper angle. A no-ping hit only does 8% damage rather than 20%, but the change in angle causes the Sandbag to fly much farther when its damage is relatively low (lower than about 120%). For example, using a no-ping hit when Sandbag is only at 35% damage sends the Sandbag over 1000 feet (304.8 meters). Pichu, Pikachu, and Mr. Game & Watch can take advantage of their unique swing animations to perform a no-ping hit simply by walking next to the bag, facing away, and swinging. Most other characters require the bag to be in the air to perform a no-ping hit. The characters that cannot do a no-ping hit or it does not go farther than their normal Home-Run swing at any percent are Dr. Mario, Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf. While the technique is possible in Brawl onwards, it is unconfirmed whether they have similar uses as in Melee; the fact that most characters' Home-Run swings have been standardized to a single unique animation may be relevant.

Changes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

  • 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 Sandbag from being knocked out without sufficient force. The shield is breakable after being struck enough times (usually up to five times) or with sufficient force, but it greatly lowers the difficulty of bringing Sandbag's damage up. The shield automatically disappears when time is up.
  • Bat drops are generally more difficult to do because A and the C-Stick grab items.
  • Knocking Sandbag to the platform's left will automatically result in no distance.
  • Sandbag cannot be grabbed.
  • A small, original tune is now played for the duration of the game, rather than being shared with Target Smash! like in Melee; this tune is an extract from the credits music from the original Smash Bros. game with an exclusive ending added after the announcer's countdown.
  • The Home-Run Stadium is endless; the measuring counter, however, cannot exceed 999999.9 ft.
  • At 10000 ft, the number on the sign will wrap around to 0.

Additionally, the Home-Run Bat sports its own unique Smash attack animations, allowing Captain Falcon and Sheik to properly use it for the contest.

Changes in Super Smash Bros. 4[edit]

  • The barrier is no longer breakable by being hit with multiple weak attacks. It can now only be broken with sufficient knockback.
  • In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U only, the Home-Run Contest is now playable with up to four players by taking turns. The playing order is random.
  • Hitting the Sandbag far enough will cause the gameplay to fast-forward until it becomes visible again.
  • The Sandbag has more traction.
  • The total distance is now shown along with Global Smash Power.
  • Major sources of randomness are removed:
    • Luigi's Green Missile can never misfire.
    • Peach can only pluck the dot-eyes Vegetable.
    • Mr. Game & Watch always gets a 6 with Judge.
    • Villager's up and down aerials always throw three turnips.
    • Duck Hunt's Wild Gunman always summons the leader.
    • Timber always spawns a woodchip.
  • The player's damage meter is no longer shown, though fighters still start at 0% and accumulate damage normally.

Changes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

A graph demonstrating 2 major knockback thresholds in Home-Run Contest
  • As with Mob Smash, Home-Run Contest is no longer a Stadium mode, instead located directly in the Games & More menu along with Mob Smash, Classic Mode, Training mode, Stage Builder, and others.
  • The setting has been changed to a runway in the middle of a lake. The background stadium is replaced with a lavish Smash themed fortress. The lake eventually turns into a series of waterfalls that lead into a canyon, where the runway turns into an isolated bridge to keep a level surface.
  • The Sandbag has infinite knockback resistance when the first hit connects.
  • The Sandbag's launch physics now change when certain horizontal launch speed thresholds are exceeded, becoming easier to launch further.
    • Oddly, the final threshold appears to cap the launch speed of the Sandbag, meaning that moves with higher launch angles have higher absolute limits.
  • When the Sandbag is launched, a dynamic camera effect similar to those used in certain Final Smashes occurs. Particularly strong swings are shown from a different angle, behind the player character. (The angled camera effect does not occur if Sandbag is launched while to the right of the stadium, however.)
  • The Sandbag has a much higher top falling speed when launched.
  • While flying, the camera now attempts to follow Sandbag rather than letting it disappear off the top of the screen; however, if Sandbag is launched hard enough, it will still be launched above where the camera is allowed to follow. As Sandbag flies, it may be launched out of the atmosphere into a starlit night sky in outer space, and launching Sandbag particularly hard will show it flying in front of the moon, before eventually plummeting below the cloud layer again. Rosalina's Comet Observatory is visible in the background if Sandbag is launched this high.
  • While Sandbag is in flight, the player can toggle fast-forward on and off by pressing and holding the B button.
  • Distance is now measured in kilometers regardless of language or regional settings, rather than feet in American English and meters in all other languages of previous games.
    • Distance markers have been changed from signposts to drones.
  • The bat only appears after six seconds have passed, removing opportunities for early bat drop combos. It is still possible to do bat drop combos, but it only allows for a maximum of 25-45 drops before disallowing anymore (as the time runs out).
  • Major sources of randomness are removed:
    • All randomness-related changes from Smash 4 return.
    • Like Peach, Daisy can only pluck the dot-eyes Vegetable.
    • Hero's Command Selection will always show Sizzle, Kaboom, Flame Slash, and Hatchet Man in that order.
    • Hero's smash attacks can never have a critical hit.
  • Some characters' moves work differently against the Sandbag:
    • Unlike the regular Sandbag, this one cannot be grabbed.
    • Sandbag is completely immune to windboxes from certain moves such as Inhale, Blunderbuss, F.L.U.D.D., and Palutena's forward smash.
    • Ridley's Skewer cannot connect with its 50% sweetspot.
    • Joker's Rebellion Gauge immediately starts out full and never drains, causing Arséne to always be active.
    • Min Min immediately starts out with her left ARM always in powered-up state.
    • Steve lacks a crafting table, but starts out with a full set of diamond equipment.
  • In addition to the new "happy" expression added to the Sandbag in Ultimate, during Home-Run Contest only, it will blush at high damage.

Moves that can hit farther than a Home-Run swing[edit]

Due to differences in knockback scaling, certain moves can send the Sandbag farther than a Home-Run swing once the Sandbag's accumulated damage has become high enough.

Exact damage thresholds for some moves are unknown and are only given as bounded ranges. For example, if a move is listed as outperforming the Home-Run swing after "100% - 200%", the Home-Run swing is confirmed to be better at 99% or lower, and the other move is confirmed to be better at 200% or higher, but it is not known which move is better between these two numbers and the actual threshold may be as low as 100% or as high as 200%.

Moves that would require an unreachably high damage to outperform the Home-Run Bat are not listed.

An icon for denoting incomplete things.

Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Character Attack Outperforms after Damage Dealt Notes
Captain Falcon (SSBM) Captain Falcon Falcon Punch (used right next to Sandbag) Always 27%
Roy (SSBM) Roy Flare Blade (fully charged) 18% 50%
Flare Blade (1 frame before becoming fully charged) 120% 41%
Jigglypuff (SSBM) Jigglypuff Rest 69% 28%
Ganondorf (SSBM) Ganondorf Warlock Punch (sweetspotted) 76% 34% The very top of Warlock Punch's hitbox (near Ganondorf's head) does more damage and significantly more knockback. Usually performed by jumping and throwing the bat upwards above Sandbag, then pressing B while landing on the opposite side of Sandbag. When timed properly, the falling bat should knock Sandbag into the top of the punch's hitbox. Generally called the "Reverse Warlock Punch" in the HRC community since Ganondorf faces away from the Sandbag as the move is performed (predating the maneuver introduced in Brawl where Ganondorf actually turns around in the middle of the windup).
Without the sweetspot, the regular Warlock Punch does 30% damage and only outperforms the Home-Run Bat at 154%.
Up tilt 450% 27%
Forward smash (fully charged) 400% 30%
Peach (SSBM) Peach Vegetable: Bob-omb (1/300 chance; smash thrown down) 90% 38% Peach should face left and away from the Sandbag while smash throwing the Bob-omb down.
Pichu (SSBM) Pichu Skull Bash (fully charged) 95% 39%
Bowser (SSBM) Bowser Forward smash (fully charged) 120% 32-33%
Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM) Mr. Game & Watch Judgment #9 138% 32%
Donkey Kong (SSBM) Donkey Kong Giant Punch (fully charged) 175% 30%
Forward smash (fully charged) 300% 27%
Luigi (SSBM) Luigi Green Missile (misfire, 1/8 chance) 269% - 310% 25% Luigi can only inflict this much damage to the Sandbag through TAS.
Marth (SSBM) Marth Shield Breaker (fully charged) 189% 28%
Any Smash throwing the bat down 345% - 406% 12-13% The only character legitimately able to do this much damage to the Sandbag before the final hit is the Ice Climbers through the freeze glitch.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Character Attack Outperforms after Damage Dealt Notes
Link (SSBB) Link Down smash hit 2 (fully charged) 440% 23%
Kirby (SSBB) Kirby Up smash (fully charged) 415%
Forward smash (angled up, fully charged) 500%
Down smash (fully charged, inner hitbox) 510%
Fox (SSBB) Fox Up smash (fully charged) 465%
Marth (SSBB) Marth Down smash (hit 1 tipper, fully charged) 405%
Shield Breaker (tipper, fully charged) 965% Caused by the knockback cap, and the bat's low launch angle
Ganondorf (SSBB) Ganondorf Reverse Warlock Punch ~110% 36%
Forward smash (fully charged, angled up) 180%
Up smash (sweetspot, fully charged) 550%
King Dedede (SSBB) King Dedede Forward smash (fully charged) ~144% 35%
Jet Hammer (1 frame before fully charged) 275%
Ike (SSBB) Ike Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) 180% 31-32% The sweetspot is on the clean hit, or at the center of the blade on the late hit (as opposed to the tip or the hilt).
Up smash (fully charged, shockwave) 245%
Down smash (fully charged, hit 2 clean hit) 275%
Eruption (Stage 8) 208% upper bound 39.5% Ike's Eruption reaches Stage 8 when released 1 frame before becoming fully charged.
Mr. Game & Watch (SSBB) Mr. Game & Watch Judge #9 410% 32-34%
Forward smash (fully charged) ~250% - 399% 26% Reaching this much damage requires a co-op partner or TAS.
Up smash (fully charged) 515% 26% Reaching this much damage requires TAS.
Down smash (sweetspot, fully charged) 540%
Oil Panic (capped) [citation needed] 63% This requires a co-op partner.
Luigi (SSBB) Luigi Forward smash (angled up, fully charged) ~180% 22-23%
Down smash (hit 2, fully charged) 490%
Up smash (fully charged) 370%
Green Missile (misfire) 945%
Ivysaur (SSBB) Ivysaur Up smash (fully charged) 550%
Charizard (SSBB) Charizard Forward smash (fully charged) 475%
Donkey Kong (SSBB) Donkey Kong Forward smash (fully charged) ~190% 29-31%
Down smash (sweetspot, fully charged) 203% - 246% 25% The move's knockback hits the target upwards and towards Donkey Kong, so it must be performed while standing to the right of the Sandbag to hit it to the right. The move has a sweetspot on Donkey Kong's hands/fists and a sourspot on his arms.
Giant Punch (stage 10, sweetspotted) 392% - 396% 29-32% Racking up this much damage to the Sandbag requires a co-op partner. Giant Punch has 11 stages of charging (one for each swing of his arm) with the 11th being fully charged; the 10th stage has the greatest knockback. When not fully charged, the move also has a sweetspot at the body of the punch (approximately at Donkey Kong's elbow) that deals even more knockback and sends the target behind Donkey Kong (therefore Donkey Kong must face left while performing this move).
Bowser (SSBB) Bowser Forward smash (fully charged) 155% 48% (both hits) Connecting both hits with the Sandbag at heavy damage rarely works.
Down smash (fully charged) 350%
Ness (SSBB) Ness PK Flash (fully charged) 240% 39%
Captain Falcon (SSBB) Captain Falcon Reverse Falcon Punch 660% 28-30%
Forward smash (angled up, fully charged) 390%
Peach (SSBB) Peach Vegetable: Bob-omb (1/384 chance; smash thrown up) 192% - 234% 38-39%
Forward smash (fully charged, pan) 940%
Yoshi (SSBB) Yoshi Up smash (fully charged) 625%
Olimar (SSBB) Olimar Forward smash (fully charged, Purple Pikmin) 251% - 273% 27%
Multiple Smash throwing the bat up 359% - 371% 25-26% The only solo character able to deal this much damage to the Sandbag in real time is the Ice Climbers. Other characters can pull this off in co-op mode or by using TAS. Not all characters can hit a grounded Sandbag with an up throw while standing next to it.

Super Smash Bros. 4[edit]

Character Attack Outperforms after Damage Dealt Notes
Roy (SSB4) Roy Flare Blade (1 frame before becoming fully charged) 76% upper bound 47-48%
Bowser (SSB4) Bowser Forward smash (fully charged) 157% upper bound 34%
King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede Forward smash (fully charged) 168% - 172% 35-36%
Ganondorf (SSB4) Ganondorf Reverse Warlock Punch 179% upper bound 39%

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

An icon for use on pages that need cleanup. This article or section may require a cleanup.
The editor who added this tag believes this page should be cleaned up for the following reason: A lot of the "citations" on these do not properly demonstrate that the claimed move actually outperforms the bat.
You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

In Ultimate, the Home-Run Bat's launch power is nerfed in the Home-Run Contest. This makes it easier for moves to outperform the bat, thereby leading to a much greater diversity of moves that outperform the bat than in Smash 4.

Character Attack Outperforms after Damage dealt Notes
Mario (SSBU) Mario Forward smash (fully charged, angled up, sweetspotted) [1] 272% upper bound 31.3%
Donkey Kong (SSBU) Donkey Kong Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [2] 237% upper bound 38.8%
Kirby (SSBU) Kirby Hammer Flip (fully charged) [3] 230% upper bound 44.1%
Luigi (SSBU) Luigi Forward smash (fully charged, angled up) [4] 238% upper bound 26.4%
Ness (SSBU) Ness PK Thunder 2 (strong hit) [5] 360% upper bound 31.5%
Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [6] 333% lower bound 38.8% Ness's forward smash is actually stronger than PK Thunder 2, though this is impractical because it takes longer to use and even then is only slightly stronger. [7]
Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon Forward smash (fully charged, angled up) [8] 260% upper bound 35.2%
Bowser (SSBU) Bowser Forward smash (fully charged) [9] 190% upper bound 40.5%
Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [10] 234% lower bound 36.9%
Up smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [11] 279% upper bound 29.0% The actual value is likely around 267%
Ganondorf (SSBU) Ganondorf Reverse Warlock Punch [12] 28.4% 46.6%
Forward smash (fully charged) [13] 261% upper bound 42.3%
Mewtwo (SSBU) Mewtwo Down smash (fully charged) [14] 230% lower bound 28.2%
Roy (SSBU) Roy
Chrom (SSBU) Chrom
Flare Blade (critical charge)
Flare Blade (fully charged)
Always
Always
60.2%
63.0%
Critical charge deals more knockback than the fully charged variant at higher percentages due to differences in knockback scaling
Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU) Mr. Game & Watch Oil Panic (sufficient damage) [15] 250% upper bound varies The actual value is much less than 250%, likely around 150%. Can only be done in Co-op mode with absorbable friendly-fire attacks such as Snake's Hand Grenades
Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [16] 280% upper bound 31.7%
Wario (SSBU) Wario Forward smash (fully charged) [17] 265% upper bound 35.2%
Ike (SSBU) Ike Down smash (fully charged, 2nd hit) [18] 245% upper bound 33.5%
Charizard (SSBU) Charizard Forward smash (fully charged) [19] 258% upper bound 33.5%
King Dedede (SSBU) King Dedede Jet Hammer (critical charge) [20] 212% upper bound 37.6%
Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [21] 214% upper bound 44.1%
Wii Fit Trainer (SSBU) Wii Fit Trainer Forward smash (fully charged, with Deep Breathing) [22] 240% lower bound 34.1% A Home-Run Bat swing with Deep Breathing is still stronger than this at currently achievable percents.
Little Mac (SSBU) Little Mac Straight Lunge (fully charged) [23] 300% upper bound 37.8%
Mii Brawler (SSBU) Mii Brawler Forward smash (fully charged) [24] 270% upper bound 31.7%
Shulk (SSBU) Shulk Forward smash (fully charged, angled up, with Smash Monado Art active) [25] 265% upper bound 9.7% (both hits)
6.0% (2nd hit only)
A Home-Run Bat swing with the Smash Monado Art active is still stronger than this at currently achievable percents
Vision (dash, with Smash Monado Art active) [26] 300% upper bound varies Can only be done in Co-op mode with absorbable friendly-fire attacks such as Snake's Hand Grenades
King K. Rool (SSBU) King K. Rool Forward smash (fully charged, angled up) [27] 250% upper bound 35.1%
Incineroar (SSBU) Incineroar Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [28] 220% upper bound 35.2%
Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted, with max Revenge) [29] 183% upper bound 105.8% The actual damage output is less than this, since it can only be done in Co-op mode with absorbable friendly-fire attacks such as Snake's Hand Grenades
Piranha Plant (SSBU) Piranha Plant Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [30] 280% upper bound 33.5%
Hero (SSBU) Hero Kazap [31] 280% lower bound 47.8%
Byleth (SSBU) Byleth Aymr [32] 240% lower bound [33] 37.8%
Min Min (SSBU) Min Min Punch (fully charged, middle hit, with Megawatt) [34] 280% upper bound 42.6%
Steve (SSBU) Steve Forward smash (fully charged) [35] 260% upper bound 35.7%
Kazuya (SSBU) Kazuya Forward smash (fully charged, sweetspotted) [36] 224% upper bound 45.8%

Note: in theory, any move with a higher launch angle than 30˚ would eventually outperform the bat due to maximum horizontal launch speed being restricted; however, in practice, the 999% damage cap prevents this from being a reality.

Rewards[edit]

In Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS[edit]

  • Play Home-Run Contest for the first time: Home-Run Bat trophy
  • Play Home-Run Contest with 15 or more fighters: Quick Batter Brawn Badge (equipment)
  • 300 meters/984 feet: Bonkers trophy
  • 600 meters/1,968 feet: Home-Run Bat Agility Badge (equipment)
  • 1,000 meters/3,280 feet: Lv. 3 Ore Club (power)
  • 15,000 meters/49,212 feet total: Sandbag trophy

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]

Competitive Home-Run Contest[edit]

Since almost the beginning of Super Smash Bros. Melee, Home-Run Contest 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 Home-Run Contest scores. This then moved out to include Europe when the game was released in its PAL version. This competitive nature has continued and grown onto Super Smash Bros. Brawl, both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate 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 game to game, most notably the introduction of the barrier and multiple bat drops in one jump in Brawl, there is very little player overlap between games.

The Home-Run Contest world records' list was maintained on the smash site All is Brawl but its record keeping was lost upon the site's demise. A history of Home-Run Contest and its milestones up until about 2005 can be found on the site Folderol, but note that the Home-Run Contest record's list is out of date.

The Home-Run Contest was notably played competitively during the 2017 Nintendo World Championships.

Records for Ultimate are maintained through The SSBU Home Run Contest Discord Server, and are viewable on the leaderboard.

Subcategories[edit]

In competitive Home-Run Contest, 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:

  • NBA: No Bat Allowed. 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 cannot be used.
  • NBD: No Bat Drops. Players can do everything except aerial bat drops. Grounded bat drops are allowed, as it is considered a bat discard. Bat swing may be used.

Two other subcategories that were created during Melee's lifetime were BMO and NJA:

  • BMO: B Moves Only. Only special moves are allowed, and the last attack to hit Sandbag must be a special move. The bat can be used, so somewhat unique bat drops / throws are utilized. Bat swing cannot be used, as it counts as a forward smash. In Brawl with the advent of the barrier, the record strategies for this subcategory have mostly turned into multiple bat drops with a single special move used to finish, which some argue is against the category's original purpose.
  • NJA: No Jump Allowed. Players may not jump at any time.

Since Brawl's lifetime, with the advent of the barrier, three additional subcategories have been created and become quite popular, in chronological order:

  • NSA: No Shield Allowed. Originally called "No Barrier Allowed". The Sandbag cannot bounce off the barrier.
  • 3SS: Three Smash Strategy. Players must use all three of the character's smashes (forward, up and down).
  • AAA: All Aerial Attacks. Players must use all five of the character's aerial attacks.

World records[edit]

Melee[edit]

  • Ganondorf and the Ice Climbers are tied for the world record of 11,347.2 feet (3458.5 meters).
    • Ganondorf's record was set by YouTube user Sin2324, as seen here: [37]
    • The Ice Climbers' record was set by Joe Bushman using the freeze glitch, as seen here: [38]
    • Utilizing TAS, Peach is also able to reach this limit, record set by PracticalTAS [39]
  • It is impossible to ever exceed a score of 11,347.2 feet because beyond this point, the ground stops being solid and the Sandbag will fall through it. Since the Sandbag never lands, no score is recorded (the game eventually crashes once the Sandbag goes past 4990.0 m or too far beyond the screen). [40]
    • Ganondorf and the Ice Climbers can both hit the Sandbag over the limit, with informal distance record videos here: [41] [42]
    • Peach is also able to hit the Sandbag over the limit, though this is only known to be possible in a TAS. [43].
    • The game can be hacked to remove the distance limitation.
      • Under this change, the Ice Climbers' record is 25,542.3 feet, set by maple0810 [44]
      • With TAS, Ganondorf's record is 21,788.2 feet [45]
      • With TAS, the Ice Climbers' record is 80,341.7 feet [46]
        • With theoretically perfect randomisation, Peach can achieve a TAS distance of 300,510.2 feet [47], though it has not been proven if the game's pseudorandom algorithm is sufficiently high-quality to actually generate the needed sequence in time.

Brawl[edit]

  • The solo world record is held by the Ice Climbers at 25,451.8 feet (7,757.7 meters) by YouTube user Solon [48], performed by trapping the Sandbag underneath the lip of the platform, then keeping it stuck there with freeze frames while Popo and Nana alternate bat throws twice as fast as any other character can.
    • Excluding off-stage mechanics, the solo world record is held by Peach, at 16,751.0 feet (5,105.7 meters), by YouTube user Solon ykms [49].
  • The co-operative world record is held by Ike and the Ice Climbers at 114,594.8 feet (34,928.5 meters), by YouTube user Teitoku06142 [50].
  • With TAS, the solo world record is held by Peach at 59,455.7 feet (18,122.1 meters), by YouTube user timi1016 [51].
  • With TAS, the co-op world record is held by Ike and Mario at 120,572.5 feet (36,750.5 meters), by YouTube user Icesg det [52].
    • Excluding off-stage mechanics, the TAS co-op world record is held by Ike and Peach at 114,723.7 feet (34,967.8 meters), by YouTube user LPZampa [53]. The Sandbag reaches 999% damage while there are still over 4 seconds left on the clock, and a finisher with the strongest known hitbox (stage 8 Eruption) is used to send the bag flying.

Smash 4[edit]

  • The solo world record is held by Roy at 19,411.7 feet (5,916.7 meters), by YouTube user Teitoku06142. [54]
  • The co-operative world record is held by Wario and Roy at 88,001.3 feet (26,822.8 meters), again accomplished by YouTube user Teitoku06142. [55]

Ultimate[edit]

  • The solo world record is held by Peach & Daisy at 4,152.548 kilometers by Å. [56]
  • The co-op world record is held by Roy and Peach at 15,677.188 kilometers by YouTube user Teitoku06142. [57]

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japan Japanese ホームランコンテスト Home-Run Contest
UK English Home-Run Contest
France French (PAL) Home Run Smash
Quebec French (NTSC) Coup de circuit Smash Home-Run Smash
Germany German Home-Run-Wettkampf Home-Run Contest
Spain Spanish (PAL) Béisbol Smash Baseball Smash
Mexico Spanish (NTSC) El rey del jonrón Home-Run King
Italy Italian Gara di Home-Run Home-Run Race
China Chinese (Simplified) 全垒打竞赛 Home-Run Contest
Taiwan Chinese (Traditional) 全壘打競賽 Home-Run Contest
South Korea Korean 홈런 콘테스트 Home-Run Contest
Netherlands Dutch Honkbalsmash Baseball Smash
Russia Russian Смэш-бейсбол Smash Baseball

Notes[edit]

In Melee[edit]

  • There is a wall approximately 50 feet/15 metres to the left of the platform (off screen) that Sandbag can bounce off of.
Sandbag's position and scale are identical between versions while the platform's scale isn't, proving the US version has a smaller platform.
  • The platform changes size depending on what language the game is set to. The American version is slightly smaller than the Japanese and PAL versions. (This can be demonstrated by hitting the Sandbag from its starting position with a dash attack from the Home-Run Bat; the Sandbag will fall off the platform in the American version but stay on in the Japanese and PAL versions.)
  • In the NTSC English version, the distance counter will stop at 9999.9 feet as it has run out of digits. However, values beyond this are still properly recorded under each characters' high score.
    • Four characters — Ganondorf, the Ice Climbers, Captain Falcon, and Peach — can exceed 10,000 feet. Of these, Ganondorf is the only one that can do so in real time without using a glitch.
      • The Ice Climbers require using the freeze glitch, while Captain Falcon and Peach require TAS to pull off their strategies, and so they cannot reasonably be performed in real time.

In Brawl[edit]

  • The stage is composed of a unique terrain type designed so that Olimar can only get Purple Pikmin. This is likely so that Olimar players would not constantly restart to get a Purple at an opportune moment, as the mechanics of the mode cause Purples to be the most useful Pikmin almost without question. (Even in Smash 4, where terrain no longer affects Pikmin plucking and they are normally plucked in a fixed order, Olimar still begins with three Purple Pikmin. Smash 4 would go on to introduce additional mechanics to reduce randomness.)
  • The highest number the distance counter can reach is 999,999.9, only visible with hacks. If the Sandbag is hit this far, it can also be seen that the signs on the ground start getting pushed along with the camera.
  • In co-op mode, it is possible to view the area to the left of the main platform. This can be done by having one player hit Sandbag off the platform, then having the other player send Sandbag flying to the left of the stage with the Home-Run Bat; the camera will continue to follow Sandbag, showing the backside of the stage, as well as its "end" if Sandbag is hit far enough.

In For 3DS[edit]

  • Attacks that usually cause a "screen-shaking" effect will not shake the screen while in the Home-Run Contest stadium. The same goes for the Target Blast stadium.

In For Wii U[edit]

  • Some tickets in Master Orders involve reaching a certain distance in the Home-Run Contest. These tickets allow custom moves to be used (and used to allow equipment as well until version 1.0.8), something that is not normally possible when playing the Home-Run Contest. If Mr. Game & Watch uses Extreme Judge (which normally only lands on 1 or 9), it will be changed to regular Judge and always land a 6 as usual.

In Ultimate[edit]

  • Special Zoom does not occur on moves that trigger the effect, unless Sandbag is launched by it.
  • The maximum possible distance using the Home-Run swing is 4,135.3 km [58]. The limit is reached at 880% damage (upper bound)[59].
  • The maximum possible distance is 4,294,967.295 km [60], as that number is the 32-bit integer limit for representation as an (unsigned) binary number.
  • The maximum distance that the top left counter can show is 2,147,483.647 km [61], as that number is the 32-bit integer limit for representation as two's complement.
  • The maximum distance that the ground counters can show is 9,999.999 km [62].

Trivia[edit]

  • All games' Home-Run Contests have the announcer say "Ready..." upon starting the mode, though only Brawl and Smash 4 have him say "Go!" right afterwards.
  • In Melee, Sheik ends up sending opponents flying vertically with the Home-Run Bat. As a result, she needs to transform into Zelda to use the Home-Run Bat properly in the Home-Run Contest.
  • Jigglypuff is one of the few characters in the mode that can be KO'd, by breaking its shield. Also, Snake can be KO'd by blowing himself up with C4, and Steve can be KO'd by blowing himself up with TNT. Should this happen, these characters will respawn from the revival platform.
    • At least in Melee, with theoretically perfect randomization, it is possible for Peach to KO herself by pulling at least 6 Bob-ombs within the 10 seconds [63], though it has not been proven if the game's pseudorandom algorithm is sufficiently high-quality to actually generate this.
  • While Ultimate's version of the Home-Run Contest powers up several characters by default, such as giving Joker Arséne, and giving Steve his diamond tools, Lucario still begins with minimum aura, as he does in previous games, giving him a significant handicap as his attacks all have a 0.66× damage multiplier.

External links[edit]