Smash Run

Smash Run (, Field Smash) is a gameplay mode that appears exclusively in, and one of only two modes exclusive to that installment, alongside StreetSmash. It involves a blend of platforming and exploration, as well as standard fighting or another challenge in the second half of the mode.

Overview
The mode starts with a five-minute adventure course involving exploration of a large, expansive, and unnamed island in the sky shaped like a ship. Players are tasked with strengthening their attributes via finding items in chests, as well as defeating numerous enemies from both Brawl's The Subspace Emissary and other game series. Bonus stages hidden behind doors in the map also allow for players to take part in challenges that can give them further boosts to their various attributes and more prizes; special events that occur on the map can also provide further benefits to players, such as by defeating an exceptionally powerful enemy or finding a hidden room filled with chests. In Group mode, players can trigger traps that will drop giant Bob-ombs, by activating a switch item that can appear from treasure chests. Enemies, however, can attack the player and make them drop their power-ups sometimes; getting KO'd is also a possibility, leading to significant penalties to the player's stat boosts.

Several standard items can be found throughout the play area, including most battering items and state-granting powerups. The latter's effects last noticeably longer in this game mode, such as the Starman and Hammer.

Smash Run supports character customization like most of the other modes in the game. However, Smash Run expands on this formula, further adding a variety of unique "Powers" that can be granted to competitors; these are activated by tapping their respective icon on the 3DS's lower screens (ranging from healing, attacking, and boosting), and can only be used on the Smash Run map in order to activate their effect; Equipment-type Powers that grant a held item when the player spawns are applied the same way, but don't appear as an option on the screen while playing. The lower screen can also display a map of the Smash Run arena, alternating between screens by tapping the left-hand or top area of the touch screen.

When the five minutes have expired, all power-ups collected are added to the character's stats, and the players compete in one of a variety of "Final Battles", selected randomly, lasting one to two minutes.

After a Smash Run match, players will obtain the trophies, character customization items, gold, and powers that they collected while in the adventure course.

List of stat boosts
The following items can be found by defeating enemies, opening chests, and completing miniature missions within the mode. Touching these items increases a specific stat for the character, giving potential benefits in the game's final challenge. Additionally, every item can be found in different sizes, which alters how much of each stat will be boosted, depending on the size it might increase that stat by 3, 10, 30, 100 or 200 points. Stat boosts with clocks on them also appear, which give a large temporary boost of 500 points. Players can have a maximum of 1000 points for each category. Fighters can also build up their stats by performing the actions corresponding to them.

In addition to pickups for the stats below, rare stars that pulsate a variety of colors can appear in the mode; grabbing them increases all of the player's stats. Taunting raises a random stat by 1. There is also a rare stat booster shaped as a 2x that is called a Stat Megaboost that will double all stat gains for a period of time. It appears on the stage rarely/in Challenge Doors that are Treasure Rooms, as well as very rarely being dropped by enemies.

List of Challenges
After entering a door, the player must complete an objective to reveal a treasure chest containing rewards that range from 1, 2, or 3 stat boosts worth 200 points correlating with the difficulty level of the challenge that range from Easy, Normal, and Hard respectively. Stat boosts do not fade away in challenge rooms, but failing a challenge or being defeated will eject the player from the room, unable to re-enter. All doors disappear from the main map for the last minute of the run.

List of Events
A bar in the top corner of the screen will be marked with lines that show when random events are scheduled to occur during each five minute round of Smash Run. Most events last for a limited period of time, as indicated by a countdown timer. Any players who are inside a Challenge Door when an event begins, or enter a Challenge Door during an event, will not feel its impacts.

List of Final Battles
All challenges designated in the description as a "Smash" will randomly either be a four player free-for-all Smash, or a 2v2 Team Battle where players are assigned to Red and Blue Teams randomly. In the case of a team match, both players from the winning team are considered victorious. All matches are Timed and last one minute (plus Sudden Death as usual if required), unless otherwise specified.

Music
Players can set which music tracks can play during the five minute stat-gathering period by adding and removing them from a list; a randomly selected track from the player-chosen ones will play for each run. In addition to all the songs normally available on the game's multiplayer stages, there are additional "bonus" songs available for usage in Smash Run:
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)
 *  (DLC)

On a side note, if the player disables all the music pieces, then the music used on the Battlefield stage will always play.

Rewards

 * Playing Smash Run 5 times awards the Lv. 2 Horizon Beam power.
 * Finishing first in the Final Battle awards the Lv. 1 Horizon Beam power.
 * Finishing first in the Final Battle 20 times awards the Lv. 3 Dual Cyclone power.
 * Finishing first in the Final Battle with 5 different fighters awards the Lv. 2 Spinning Blades power.
 * Finishing first in the Final Battle with every fighter awards the Lv. 3 Shuffle power.
 * Obtaining 10 different types of Powers awards the Lv. 2 Reflector power.
 * Obtaining 25 different types of Powers awards the Lv. 2 Instant Drop power.
 * Collecting every type of Power awards the Prince Hat headgear.

Origin
Smash Run is based in concept on from , another game directed by Masahiro Sakurai, who explained that he wanted to recreate the mode in the game. In that mode, players would explore a large city to collect power-ups for their Air Ride Machines before proceeding to race or battle with those power-ups active.

Originally, Sakurai wanted Smash Run to support co-op play, with features like healing a teammate or splitting damage among players, but the idea was dropped due to hardware limitations.

Trivia

 * The sound played at the introduction of the final battle is the same sound played in Super Smash Bros. Brawl before facing a challenger in Classic Mode.
 * The highest the Climb! final battle reaches is 3,300 ft. The player can go higher, but the camera will not.
 * At 19, the Kid Icarus series has the most amount of enemies present in Smash Run, followed by the Super Mario series at 14, and the Kirby series at 9.