List of regional version differences (SSB)

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There are many differences between the Japanese and North American releases of Super Smash Bros., which are listed on this page. Unlike Melee or Brawl however, the regional differences are much more significant, often resulting in considerable differences in matchups between characters.

JPN to NTSC changes

General

• Smash DI is much more useful allowing the defender to get out of combos much easier and making it so most drills are useless.
• More freeze frames for attacker
• Altered, less realistic sound effects
• Boomerang given an altered sound to sound less like a light saber, presumably to prevent copyright infringement.
• Jigglypuff is called Purin
• FFA is called Battle Royal (not Royale)
• Title announcement is 'Dairantou Smash Brothers' and has a duller logo
• Completely different sound effects for attacks landing on characters.
  • The narrator also says "Fox" in a different tone than the Western version, and he says "Battle Royal" instead of "Free-for-all". In the Western versions, the re-recorded voices have a slightly different echo effect than the Japanese originals.

Donkey Kong

• Very slightly heavier (from 0.84 to 0.83).
• Loses a Japan-only Momentum Slide.

DK is considered to be the same in the Japanese version of smash 64 as the changes to DI do not affect DK as much as other characters.

Samus

• Up-smash only hits two times while grounded instead of one

Samus is considered to be the same to slightly better in the Japanese version due to a more more useful Up B due to less DI.

Captain Falcon

• Runs slightly faster.
• Shorter jumps.
• Forward tilt deals 1% less damage.
• Falcon Dive covers less distance.

Falcon is considered to be better in the Japanese version due to having a much more useful recovery and due to a better short hop due to his better jump height. Falcon has a better matchup vs. one of his only weaknesses, Fox, in the Japanese version along with a positive matchup with Jigglypuff but a tradeoff in a worse matchup vs. Kirby

Fox

• Loses a Japan-only Momentum Slide.
• Down tilt deals 2% more damage.
• Down smash has a horizontal knockback angle instead of a vertical knockback angle, making it worse for combos but better at edgehogging.
• Blaster deals 1% more damage and has less knockback.
• Fire Fox deals 3% more damage, but has far less knockback and does not have invincibility frames.
• Reflector has a different projectile damage multiplier but deals less knockback and at a less downward angle making shine spikes much harder.

Fox is considered to be better in the Japanese version of SSB due to having a much better recovery and due to Fox's down air becoming an easy combo move without the presence of heavy Smash DI regardless of the less useful shine.

Jigglypuff

• Loses a Japan-only Momentum Slide.
• Down smash has more range on both sides.
• Rest does 6% more damage.

Jigglypuff is considered to be half a tier to a a tier worse in the Japanese version due to the much worse Rest and its susceptibility to even earlier deaths as drills combo Jigglypuff easier.

Kirby

• Loses a Japan-only Momentum Slide.
• Up smash and down smash both deal 2% less damage.
• Up air deals 2% less damage on the clean hit and 1% less on the middle hit.
• Forward throw has a more diagonal angle removing most of it's vertical KO ability.
• Final Cutter covers less distance which in combination with the Final Cutter allowed Kirby to move large distances while using the move grounded.
• Stone deals 2% less damage.
• Rolls are shorter.

Kirby is considered to be better in the Japanese version of SSB because the lack of smash DI makes his forward and down aerials impossible to DI out of, and because his up throw can KO reliably.

Link

• Sword slightly shortened.
• Shorter jump, both single and double.
• Up tilt deals 5% less damage, is much more punishable after shielding, and has a more sideways knockback removing its ability to combo into itself at low percents for easy combos.
• Up smash deals 2% less damage (total).
• Neutral air has more knockback and a more diagonal angle.
• Forward air deals 1% less damage in spots.
• Back air's first hit strikes 1 frame slower; second hit has a more diagonal angle.
• Down air deals 2% less damage.
• Boomerang covers less distance and only causes knockback past 100% removing most of its usefulness in combos.
• Spin Attack does 1% less damage in spots and covers less distance in the air.
• Bombs deal 1 less damage when thrown down and 2 less when thrown any other way. It also has more knockback at any percent which makes comboing easier.

Link is considered to be 1 tier to 1.5 tiers better in the Japanese version due to a longer recovery and one of the best up-tilts in the game that rivals Kirby's but with more range and less shield stun along with a more useful Boomerang.

Luigi

• 12% larger.
• Shorter jumps (both first and 2nd jump.)
• Fireball does 1% more damage but doesn't travel as far and has less hitstun.
• Super Jump Punch gains slightly more distance, has slightly less knockback, and sends the opponent less to the side.
• Rolls travel farther.
• Throws have been switched in terms of damage.

Luigi is considered to be better in the Japanese version due to his reliance on drill combos which are much harder to Smash DI out of regardless of the worse recovery.

Mario

• 12% larger.
• Fireball does 1% more damage but it doesn't travel as far and has less hitstun.
• Super Jump Punch gains more distance.
• Rolls travel farther.

Mario is considered worse in the Japanese version of SSB due to the worse recovery and due to his general combos being less affected by Smash DI and due to having a less advantageous matchup vs. Captain Falcon.

Ness

• Up tilt has more knockback but deals 1% less damage.
• All smash attacks deal 2% less damage.
• Up air deals 2% less damage.
• PK Fire deals a total of 9% more damage.
• PK Thunder 2 deals 5% less damage, lasts for less time, and has more landing lag.

Ness is considered to be between 1.5 and two tiers better in the Japanese version due to a much more useful recovery, an up-tilt that combos much more easily, and an up air which can KO 10 percent earlier and a somewhat more useful d-smash.

Pikachu

• Dash attack has more knockback.
• Forward smash has more range.
• Thunder Jolt covers less distance.

Pikachu is considered to be slightly worse in the Japanese version due to a less useful f-smash and due to being more susceptible to kills as it is more difficult to Up B out of combos due to higher hitstun.

Yoshi

• Slightly smaller first jump.
• Faster air speed.
• Down smash does 1% more damage.
• Loses a Japan-only Momentum Slide.

Yoshi is considered to be sightly better in the Japanese version due to a much more useful d-air due to less Smash DI and a slightly better short hop.

NTSC to PAL (AUS) changes

General

• Kirby's Fun Pak referred to as Kirby's FAN PAK
• Star Fox referred to as STARWING
• Star Fox 64 referred to as LYLATWARS

PAL (AUS) to PAL (EUR) changes

General

• The language can be set to English, French or German.
• In the European version of the game, when set to the German language, the German announcer does not have separate voice clips for "Captain Falcon" or "Team Battle".

See also

• List of regional version differences (SSBM)
• List of regional version differences (SSBB)

References

SmashBoards SSB64 main thread