Project M

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The logo for Project M.

Project M is a hack for Super Smash Bros. Brawl designed to make the gameplay more closely resemble that of Super Smash Bros. Melee. The development team is partly descended from the original developers for Brawl+, now known as the PMBR, or Project M Backroom. It has members from over ten countries, though as of now, only an NTSC version has been released.

Project M has been featured as a prominent event at several national tournaments, such as GENESIS 2, the Zenith series, and is on the game lineup for Apex 2014.

Universal changes

• Default match type is 4 stock with an 8-minute timer.
• The following mechanics have been altered to match their Melee forms:
  • Air dodging applies a directional boost and causes helplessness, implementing wavedash techniques. Like in Brawl, however, they instantly grab nearby items during the first frames.
  • L-canceling halves landing lag when a shield button is pressed 7 frames before landing, and charaters will flash white if performed corectly.
  • Dash dancing's timing has been reverted, and characters can shield during one.
  • Crouching cancels dashes.
  • Crouch canceling reduces knockback.
  • Consecutive jabbing is removed, and rapid jabs now require mashing the attack button instead of just holding it.
  • Hitting the C-Stick down while crouching uses a down smash (in Brawl it uses a down tilt).
  • Double jump canceling reimplemented; its usage varies slightly between characters.
  • The abilities to edge tech and edge cancel attacks have been implemented.
  • Jumps can be cancelled with grabs.
  • Powershielding can reflect projectiles during the first 2 frames.
  • Shieldstun formula reverted.
  • Edges cannot be auto-sweetspotted, though some poor recovery moves like Raptor Boost still use this feature.
  • Window for teching reverted.
  • Amount of freeze frames reduced.
  • More forwards momentum is conserved when jumping.
  • Altered camera that behaves similarly to Melee's.
  • Hitstun canceling has been removed.
  • Random tripping has been removed.
  • Grab aerials cause helplessness if they miss a ledge, but can be used after an air dodge with the shield + attack combination, like in Melee. They still act as tether recoveries, but after grabbing a ledge, the character hangs of it until a jump or attack button is pressed, and falls down if he/she hangs for too long.
  • Characters now grunt instantly when hit by a strong attack, while in Brawl, they did a second afterwards. There are also medium-damage and high-damage groans as well, with most characters using unused voice samples from the Sound Test.
  • If an already-struck character gets hit by something else, the new knockback either replaces the old knockback (if the gap between the attacks was 10 frames or less) or has its direction and power combined with the old knockback (after 10 frames). (In Brawl, whether to replace the old knockback is based on the relative power of the two attacks, and no merging is performed.)
  • Brawl's random input delay is fixed.
  • Meteor smash angle reverted, therefore implementing spikes.
• Footstool jumping is done by pressing in any direction on the D-Pad.
• Tripping can be teched.
• A glide toss can be done in the air.
• Smash 64's taunt canceling returns.
• Stages such as Dream Land, Hyrule Castle and Fountain of Dreams replace stages such as Bridge of Eldin and 75m.
• Players can now turn on Input Assistance which implements a 3 frame buffer window to help newer players master advanced techniques.
• Stock control added. Players can now control the amount of stocks each player starts with before battle. A crew mode has been added in which the game keeps track of stocks retained after battles.
• Stage selection menu modified to include built-in stage striking control.
• Super Armor has been removed. Standardized knockback resistance system categorizes armor as Light, Medium, or Heavy. Some characters feature color overlays to indicate such armor, with with more opaque overlays generally indicating stronger armor.

Character changes

Melee veterans

Melee veterans should be assumed to have been reverted to their Melee moveset and properties and have been changed from there. This includes special and normal moves, properties such as gravity, weight, run-speed, air mobility but does not include sound effects, textures, or vertexes. However, some characters, due to having poor movesets in Melee (such as Ness or Zelda), had some elements recycled from Brawl and Smash 64 or have been given entirely new buffs.

Bowser

• Significantly larger in size.
• Slightly heavier.
• Most of Bowser's attacks do much more damage, shield damage, and knockback, some examples including:
  • Forward smash no longer hits twice, but deals stronger damage and knockback than in Melee, and explodes upon contact.
  • Up smash, back air, forward air and up air all deal more damage and have slightly better knockback. Forward air was also reverted to have a neutral effect like in Melee.
  • Forward and back throws have stronger knockback.
• Flying Slam reverted to his Koopa Klaw. It can no longer bite the opponent before throwing, but its throws are significantly stronger in both damage and knockback, with forward throw dealing 20% damage, and back throw dealing 15%.
• Many moves and animations now have some sort of launch resistance: crouch, crawl, and up smash while charging have weak damage-based resistance, while dash attack, all smashes, neutral air, Koopa Klaw, and Bowser Bomb have strong knockback-based resistance (shown by a red flash).
• The second hit of down tilt is now optional, activated by pressing the attack button a second time.
• Fire Breath cancel implemented.
• Bowser Bomb can be cancelled by a jump just before its max leap height.
• Pummel now involves biting opponents, like with Koopa Klaw in Melee. It also does 4% damage per pummel, and Bowser groans every time he does.
• He now has just one idle pose (roaring slightly while leaning his head backwards). The second idle pose is, however, used as his new down taunt, emitting a roar that sounds like in Melee.
• Down throw now deals 16% damage.

Captain Falcon

• Falcon has been almost completely restored to his Melee self.
• Falcon Punch can be turned around as in Brawl. Also instead of just 1 reversal, he can now turn around four times in addition to an initial B reversal which does not animate the turnaround.
• Raptor Boost can grab onto ledges from both the air and the ground.
• Aerial Raptor Boost is now a spike. After it hits a foe, it makes Captain Falcon leap in the direction the Control Stick is held, like in Brawl.
• Pressing up taunt when a sweetspotted Knee Smash connects results in Falcon exclaiming "YESZ!".
• Falcon Dive can grab edge-hogging characters as in Brawl.
• Up and down taunts have switched positions. When using down taunt, he now also speaks off a more silent "Yesz!".

Donkey Kong

• Dash attack has been changed. It is now a roll similar to the roll in the Donkey Kong Country series. It has weak armor and can roll off edges and platforms similar to Kirby's Melee dash attack. Can be jumped out of in midair.
• Neutral aerial is now an effective approach option; it was given more range and slight invincibility on his arms during part of the attack.
• Forward aerial comes out faster and has more KO potential.
• Down aerial's ending lag has been shortened.
• Back throw's knockback has increased.
• Hand Slap now has much wider grounded hitboxes that ground-bounce the opponent and only slaps the ground twice per button press (making it optionally much shorter); it functions well for shield pressure and tech chasing.

Falco

• Falco has been reverted to his Melee format.
• His jab is like in Brawl, but angle and knockback are that of Melee.
• Falco's dash speed is the same as in Melee, but retains the Brawl running animation.
• Reflector no longer has intagibility.
• Laser decays in damage based on distance.

Fox

• Fox has been reverted to his Melee format.
• Fox's infinite capabilities removed.
• Reflector no longer has intangibility.
• Laser decays in damage based on distance.
• Reflector can be released during the reflect lag to go into the end animation afterwards, preventing rapid hitting projectiles like Fox's standing laser that can re-hit before the reflect lag ends from being able to trap him in it.

Ganondorf

• Dashing animation was altered to and speed was increased that of his Melee incarnation's.
• Midair jumping height was improved.
• Neutral attack made identical to Melee incarnation.
• Forward tilt can now be angled, and it has less ending lag.
• New up tilt: a high-reaching double stomp of reasonable speed. First hit does 8% damage, then the second one does 22% with an electric effect and significantly higher damage and knockback.
• Down tilt has less ending lag.
• Dash attack's trajectory altered to that of its Melee incarnation, though it retains its Brawl knockback and damage values.
• Forward smash's angle altered to that of its Melee incarnation.
• Up smash made identical to Melee incarnation and can now DACUS.
• Down smash's speed and power were improved to that of its Melee incarnation. The first kick additionally links better into the second kick.
• Sweetspot of neutral aerial's second kick was strengthened to that of its Melee incarnation.
• Forward aerial's startup, ending, and landing lag was significantly reduced to that of its Melee incarnation. The sourspot hitbox was additionally decreased in size and strengthened to the power of Melee f-air, while the sweetspot hitbox was given a darkness effect.
• Back aerial strengthened to that of its Melee incarnation, as well as having its hitbox duration increased to that of its Melee incarnation, and its sourspot removed. Its sweetspot was also given an electrical effect.
• Down aerial's animation changed to its Melee incarnation. Down aerial is also slightly faster, with its sourspot removed.
• Forward and back throws weakened to that of their Melee incarnation.
• Up throw's base knockback was reduced, making it much more effective at following up on.
• Down throw's trajectory was altered to that of its Melee incarnation. Its knockback scaling was also slightly reduced.
• Warlock Punch can be reversed up to five times.
• Grounded Flame Choke covers slightly more distance, and its ground damage was increased to 12%. It additionally can now be teched. Aerial Flame Choke now slightly bounces away opponents when they land.
• Dark Dive's power was increased to that of its Melee incarnation.
• Grounded Wizard's Foot strengthened and its animation altered to its Melee incarnation. Its sourspot hitboxes were additionally removed. Aerial Wizard's Foot now restores Ganondorf's midair jump, with it now spiking, and its sourspot hitbox removed. Both versions also have less ending lag.

Jigglypuff

• Jigglypuff has been completely reverted to its Melee format.
• Neutral attack and up air now use a Fan sound effect.

Link

• Most of Link's normal attacks have slight speed and power increases. For example, Link's dash attack and down smash both have sooner IASA frames so that they can be acted out of sooner and are generally less unsafe to use on shielded opponents. Link's forward tilt has been sped up to match Young Link's forward tilt, making it extremely dangerous. The up smash has been sped up as well so that the three slashes can link together better.
• Link's Hero's Bow has its charge speed increased by 33%, its knockback increased, and its knockback angle changed to send at a much more horizontal angle, but it retains its Brawl trajectory.
• Gale Boomerang replaced with a regular Boomerang, designed with a light-blue trail to feel like its Smash 64 incarnation. Like in Melee, it is stronger if thrown close to opponents. It also has a better angle.
• The aerial version of Spin Attack gains more additional horizontal momentum than in Melee.
• Link can now bomb jump consistently for recovery. By inputting a glide toss, Link can toss the bomb up the right distance to spin attack into it, allowing Link to Spin Attack again.
• Link's side taunt involving Navi has been replaced with his old Melee taunt.

Luigi

• Down tilt does 15% damage and acts like a Mr. Saturn, dealing zero knockback with high hitstun and the "Pwaaah" sound effect.
• Fireball travels farther and can be followed up faster.
• Green Missile misfire mechanics changed. One in six uses of the attack is guaranteed to be a misfire: if five uses are passed normally, then the next will always be a misfire. If the attack will misfire, Luigi flashes green before it goes off; continuing to charge the move past this flash will disable the misfire and cause it to occur the next time the move is used instead. This allows Luigi to control when a misfire is used.
• He now has two helplessness animations: one for air dodging, and the other for Super Jump Punch, taken from Melee and Brawl respectively. The latter has better air speed and allows Luigi to grab ledges from both sides.
• Luigi Cyclone reverted to its Melee version. When the special button is mashed, it gives better height than in Melee, but not as much as in Brawl.

Mario

Mario retains his normal models from Brawl, but players may now switch between Mario and Dr. Mario costumes, similarly to Wario's alternate costume sets for his Wario Land and WarioWare appearances. There is no difference in gameplay, although sound effects and aesthetics have been changed.

• Mario can act out of Fireball quicker.
• Mario is a slight mix of himself and Melee's Dr. Mario; up smash, back air, and the beginning of forward air have Dr. Mario-like properties, and his Fireball has a trajectory more like Megavitamins. Mario's down taunt was also changed to Dr. Mario's taunt from Melee.
• Super Jump Punch can be cancelled by a wall jump any time it is touching the wall, but only the first Super Jump Punch. Until Mario lands again, Super Jump Punch must touch the wall for the whole of the move.
• Down special is now his Mario Tornado move from Melee. It also has star graphics, as a reference to Super Mario Galaxy.
• Down air is now his drill kick from Melee.

Marth

• Completely reverted to his Melee self.
• Down air now has less ending lag.
• Can now DACUS.
• His light blue costume has been changed to a purple one, with his default costume being used as his Blue Team costume, like in Melee.

Mewtwo

Mewtwo is the second character announced who was not in Brawl. Like Roy, it also takes advantage of the Clone Engine's capabilities. Like Mario, Mewtwo also has an alternate costume, which features its armor from the first Pokémon movie.

• General stats modified to fit Project M's environment.
• Confusion's range is larger and launches its targets upward, which sets up for combos better. It also actually reflects now rather than simply sending the projectile off at an odd angle.
• Mewtwo can act out of Teleport with any action, except for an air dodge.
• Mewtwo can hover, similar to Peach's float.
  • Ability to hover vertically and horizontally.
  • Can only hover from first jump.
  • Shorter duration compared to Peach's float canceling.
  • Hovering consumes second jump.
  • Hovered aerials have decreased landing lag.

Mr. Game & Watch

• Forward tilt can now be interrupted as quickly as the hitbox diminishes.
• Forward smash has not only regained its former power, but its later hitbox is more powerful.
• All aerials can now be L-canceled.
• Up aerial has drastically less ending lag, and the second hit is now optional, done by another press of the button.
• Down aerial's landing hitbox now spike-bounces.
• His Chef attack cancels on landing, just like Falco's lasers. It can also toss bigger foods, which deal 15% damage with a flame effect.
• Fire's parachute is removed; it appears on his neutral aerial, which functions as it does in Melee. Like in Brawl, however, Mr. Game % Watch doesn't fall helpless and can act with any action afterwards.
• Oil Panic has less ending lag after catching a projectile, and will almost always OHKO when it is full. It can also now be used as an attack despite the amount of oil in the bucket.
• Grab release glitch from Mr. Game & Watch has not been removed.

Ness

• Double jump cancel returns: special moves will always DJC, whereas aerial attacks will only do so if the jump input has been released (so holding jump will prevent it).
• Up smash is now faster, has further reach, and set the opponent up for juggling.
• Down smash now travels out much further to function as an onstage edge-guarding tool.
• Neutral aerial comes out slightly quicker.
• Back aerial and up aerial were given more KO power.
• Down aerial now comes out faster, acting like in Smash 64.
• PK Flash is smaller, but moves farther and faster, similar to PK Freeze.
• PK Fire no longer halts the player's aerial momentum, and it also activates on shielded opponents.
• PK Thunder 2 now travels much farther and retains its hitbox throughout the move.
• Yoyo glitch no longer exists.
• PSI Magnet is jump-cancellable, and it now has two damaging hitboxes: one on the center that deals 4% damage with set knockback, and other at the "outlines", with deals 2% damage with no knockback and hits consecutively.

Peach

• Has been reverted back to her Melee format, but keeping her up tilt from Brawl.
• Jab now links better.
• Forward smash always follows the pattern of "tennis racket, golf club, frying pan", with the first of a match being random.
• Peach Bomber reverted to using a "typical" explosion on contact, though the heart-based explosion will occur instead if a taunt button is held. It also has Brawl length.
• Vegetables reverted to bouncing off shields instead of vanishing.
• Up throw now uses a heart animation.

Pikachu

• Most of its moveset has been restored to Melee.
• Retains wall jump from Brawl.
• Back aerial is now its Smash 64 back kick. It deals 14% damage if sweetspotted, with average KO power.
• Quick Attack has retained its Quick Attack cancel technique from Brawl.

Roy

Roy's appearance in Project: M.

Roy is the first character announced who was not in Brawl. He will not replace any existing character, taking advantage of the newly featured Clone Engine.

• Double-Edge Dance improved from Melee, including a backwards attack.
• Sword mechanics from Melee carry on: the inside of the sword is strongest. The flame effects are now also used for more of his attacks.
• Down smash is a fast spinning sword sweep.
• Forward tilt is a now a long range stab.
• Neutral air is now a longer range spinning attack that lingers longer and hits harder.
• Back air is a completely new slicing attack.
• Down air spikes opponents hit with the center of the sword, similar to Marth's.
• DACUS-able up smash.

Sheik

• Retains crawl and wall cling from Brawl.
• Sheik's down throw has been altered to have an angle between her PAL d-throw and her NTSC d-throw. To compensate, the animation and throw happen much faster, and her back-throw now has the perfect angle and knockback to use for DI confusion when chain grabbing and tech chasing.
• Needles can no longer block disproportionaly stronger projectiles but can still be hit out of the air, done by removing the needles' hurtboxes and allowing the hitboxes to clang.
• Unlike Melee, the chain's hitboxes are unable to clank out projectiles. The electric tipper hit also cannot hit aerial targets, so the effective range is reduced somewhat against people in the air. Brawl mechanics have blessed the chain with the drag maneuver though, which allows the hitboxes to refresh very quickly when the chain is maneuvered with a repeated 2323_2121 motion with the chain flat along the ground. This can deal a great amount of damage in very little time, especially if they dare attempt to crouch-cancel their way out of it.
• Vanish has stronger knockback and damage than in Brawl.
• Transform is slowed down at the beginning of the move but allows Zelda/Sheik to act out of it instantly to compensate for variable load time issues.
• Chain Jacket glitch from Brawl has not been removed.

Zelda

• Neutral air's multiple hits link into each other much better (an improvement that is also seen on the rest of her moveset) and the hitboxes are larger.
• Zelda's forward and back aerials have two sweetspots: a larger Melee sized one that is weaker than in Melee but still deals good knockback and damage, and Brawl sized sweetspots that are extremely powerful. They also have an electric flub sourspot and a body hitbox sourspot. They deal 18% and 24% damage, respectively.
• Up air has an early hitbox at the base of her fingertips which links into her up air sweetspot.
• Down air has also been made to sweetspot on grounded opponents in addition to aerial opponents.
• Nayru's Love is land cancelable after the attack frames end, and the ground based version has improved invulnerability but no such cancel.
• Din's Fire functions significantly differently. Upon releasing a fireball, instead of quickly exploding it stops and hangs in the air for several seconds before exploding. Touching a suspended fireball does 8% damage. Using the move again resets the timer on fireballs that already exist (up to three can exist at once). In addition to these changes, the control of fireballs is massively increased to the point where fireballs can almost loop in circles.
• Farore's Wind can air dodge to interrupt teleporting from the ground, giving Zelda the ability to waveland or pseudo-wavedash any time during the duration of the move. The disappearing hitbox also has its Melee power.
• Sidestep has a magic effect.
• Down taunt now emits the "Puzzle Solved" jingle.
• Shares Transform changes with Sheik.

Brawl Newcomers

Players should assume that most of the Brawl newcomers' gravity and speed have been changed to reflect the playstyle of Melee.

Charizard

• Pokémon Trainer is gone, and Charizard (along with his other Pokémon) are their own separate characters.
• Several of its ground attacks now act as launchers. These include:
  • Jab is now a single swing of its wing, dealing 7% damage.
  • Forward tilt is now a powerful bite that can be angled and deals 12% damage if sweetspotted, with its old forward tilt being moved to its down tilt.
  • Up tilt has better knockback.
  • New up throw: Seismic Toss from the Pokémon anime, where it flies with its opponent upwards and then slams down, creating a huge explosion. Deals 15% damage with very powerful knockback.
• Forward aerial has been replaced with a flaming claw move akin to Mewtwo's forward aerial, with deals 17% damage with powerful diagonal knockback.
• Rock Smash has been replaced with a new move called Heat Wave, using a similar animation to its old forward aerial. It provides backwards momentum when used in the air. Like the Brawl forward air, it is stronger up close. It hits consecutively and can deal up to 25% damage if close enough to the foe.
• Pokémon Change has been replaced with a different version of Fly. Fly causes Charizard to crouch and then leap into the air higher than any jump. The move can be charged to fly higher. When used in the air, Charizard instantly glides, and can use a glide attack afterwards. It no longer glides by holding the jump button.
  • Glide attack is also stronger, dealing consecutive hits that sum up to 17% damage, with strong knockback and a flame effect.
• Down throw is now a meteor smash that knockes foes down on the floor, akin to Fox's and Falco's d-throws. It can be teched instantly, though, but still acts as a tech-chaser.

Diddy Kong

• Like Donkey Kong, his dash attack now can move off ledges, setting up offstage KOs.
• The peanuts from Peanut Popgun now travel in straighter arcs and are much more powerful. A fully charged peanut can travel across the entire distance of Final Destination. Diddy can also air dodge out of his Peanut Popgun allowing him to waveland between shots.
• Monkey Flip had its distance increased. Pressing the attack or special attack button causes the attack to send opponents upward while pressing the jump button sends opponents downward.
• Rocketbarrel Boost has its distance increased. Furthermore, Diddy has more control over both its arc and launch angle allowing for better and trickier recoveries. Its power has also been increased making it a viable combo finisher.
• Thrown Bananas no longer cause grounded opponents to trip; they send opponents at a low semi-spike angle towards the floor, acting like a stronger version of Peach's turnips from Melee. Bananas lying on the ground however, will still cause opponents to trip.
• His up taunt has been replaced with a juggling animation. Diddy will continue to juggle as long as the taunt button is held. His old up taunt is moved to his down taunt.
• For his side taunt, he now leans his head forward and puts a hand in his mouth with a burly expression, as if trying to contain his laughter from a foe.

Ike

• Ike's general speed has significantly increased to fit Project M's mechanics.
• All tilts sped up.
• The second hit of down smash is optional and must be activated with an attack button press.
• Eruption has been recolored to blue instead of red.
• Quick Draw will only attack upon pressing the special button, while it will attack automatically as in Brawl if the attack button is held. The move can also be cancelled with a jump or a wall jump.
• Aether's super armor is replaced with light armor.
• Counter starts slightly quicker. The move is jump-cancelable eighteen frames after Ike successfully counters an attack.

Ivysaur

• Its jab and all its tilts and throws were significantly buffed; they are more powerful and combo better than they did in Brawl.
• Jab now hits just twice, and down tilt now hits just once.
• Bulb attacks (up smash, up aerial, and down aerial) now have a sweetspot that flowers the opponent and slightly heals Ivysaur. The two aerials are also stronger and apply more vertical force to Ivysaur. The aerials heal 5% to Ivysaur, while the up smash heals 8%.
• Pummel also heals 1% to Ivysaur per use, though without flowering.
• New neutral special: Synthesis and SolarBeam. Holding the special button slowly heals 1% to Ivysaur and builds up charge. Once the charge is full, using the move fires a powerful energy beam diagonally upwards, dealing 25% damage with strong knockback. The move can also be charged by connecting with its bulb attack sweetspots.
• The non-smash thrown Razor Leaf can now hit multiple targets. The smash thrown version is a single, quicker hit. It also hits consecutively.
• Vine Whip's sweetspot is stronger, dealing 17% damage with the ping effect.
• Down special is now Seed Bomb, which sends a powerful projectile vertically similar to Snake's up smash, dealing 10% damage. It releases Stun Spores upon hitting the ground, which stun opponents in range.

King Dedede

• King Dedede's jab combo now links properly, with the infinite hitting significantly faster.
• Has three mid-air jumps as oppossed to four.
• Forward smash has larger range, but slightly slower start up.
• Up smash has also gained larger range.
• Down smash now sends opponents behind Dedede.
• Forward aerial is now a full hammer sweep from below. It covers a longer range and does more damage then the previous forward aerial.
• Up aerial now is just a single hit of 12% damage.
• Down throw sends opponents at a more downward angle towards the floor, removing chain throws, but allowing for deadly tech chases.
• Super Dedede Jump no longer has super armor on the move, but has a hitbox during the initial jump and has medium armor throughout the rising portion. Cancelling the move will negate his momentum.
• Jet Hammer applies a momentum boost on swinging based on the level of charge. Dedede also gains light armor while charging. The hammer also comes out slightly more quickly.
• Forward and back throws have been slightly balanced each other on damage.

Lucario

• All of Brawl' aura mechanics have been removed, so current percentage no longer has an effect on damage or projectile size.
• Lucario has been altered to act more like a traditional fighting game character in two main ways.
  • Connecting with moves allows Lucario to immediately cancel it into another move of a specific type. This forms a "magic series" of moves that can be strung together very quickly. The two series are Jab/Dash → Tilt → Smash → Special and Aerial → Special.
  • Dealing damage gives Lucario "aura points" equal to 1.2x the damage dealt (half that if shielded). Accumulating 50 points gives Lucario an "aura charge". Aura charges are used by pressing the attack button during a special move in order to use a super version of that move. Lucario can hold 2 aura charges and loses all charges and points when it is KO'd.
• Neutral aerial is now a spinning hurricane kick that does 15% damage, and lingers after a strong initial hit.
• Up smash is now an leaping uppercut with repeating hitboxes leading to a strong final hit. It can be jump canceled on hit, and turned around during start-up.
• Aura Sphere moves slower the more charged it is and only has four charge levels. A "fifth level" of charge can be used by launching the projectile two frames before it is fully charged. The super version of this attack is an extremely large Aura Bomb that moves even slower than the normal fully charged version and does much greater knockback and damage. It also has hitboxes around Lucario on startup.
• Force Palm functions as a grab that can be used in a magic series. In the air it will also grab, but will instead meteor the opponent. The grounded super version gains knockback, and the aerial version will spike the opponent instead of meteoring them and sends at a more diagonal angle.
• Extreme Speed deals slight damage and knockback with repeating hitboxes. The super version cancels the move with a pelvic thrust that does slight knockback, which can be canceled into any action except another Extreme Speed.
• Double Team is no longer a counter. It is now a short dash which grants invincibility. While in the air, Lucario will dash diagonally downwards. It can be canceled by any normal attack at the cost of one aura charge.

Lucas

• Lucas can now double jump cancel, with the same mechanics as Ness.
• Lucas's jab combo has changed; Lucas now uses PSI instead of kicking. He also attacks only twice.
• Up tilt is now a flash kick in an arc-like fashion, which deals 10% damage if sweetspotted.
• Can now DACUS.
• Tether now has a hitbox, dealing 8% damage.
• Lucas' up smash now has a faster startup, but deals slightly less damage (from 30% to 28%) and knockback.
• Forward aerial deals slightly more damage (13% if sweetspotted).
• Down air now only hits three times, dealing 15% damage, but it no longer modifies Lucas's momentum, and is a bit faster, acting as a better edgeguarding option.
• PK Freeze is replaced with a new special move called "Offense Up". When the special button is pressed, the move begins to charge, and the charge will also push enemies back slightly. After a few seconds, Lucas's hands glow with power and the next smash attack that he performs deals greater damage, shield damage, and knockback. While Offense Up is charged, Lucas can also press the special button to produce an explosion-like attack around himself, for a maximum of three times, dealing 10% damage. The charge can be paused, held, and continued later, but a partial charge has no effect.
• Lucas' PK Fire has changed slightly. It now uses the graphic of PK Freeze, has much more range, less knockback, and produces a large amount of hitlag. It also cancels upon landing. It deals 5% damage.
• Lucas' PK Thunder is now noticeably shorter, and only deals at most 33% damage.
• PSI Magnet is jump-cancelable, and it can now deal 2% damage consecutively.

Meta Knight

Meta Knight's new down aerial.

• Sword trail is primarily blue as opposed to white/yellow.
• Has four mid-air jumps as oppossed to five.
• No longer glides by holding the jump button: just with Shuttle Loop.
• Jab can no longer be held, but the latter hit has stronger knockback.
• Neutral aerial's sourspot can no longer link with the sweetspot.
• Last hit of forward aerial has less knockback, but is faster, and, combined with Project M's physics, allows wall of pain combos.
• Back aerial is now a single swipe that deals 14% damage and has high KO potential.
• Down aerial has changed into a semi-meteor attack where Meta Knight falls while thrusting his sword downward similar to how he does it in Kirby Super Star. When falling, it hits consecutively downwards with waek knockback dealing 1% damage per hit, and does 6% when landing with powerful, vertical base knockback. It has a high falling speed, giving Meta Knight a risk of self-destructing, though he can slightly move sideways during the move to prevent this. He cannot grab ledges with it, though. It is also possible to slightly aim it left or right from the start.
• Down throw kicks less times and deals just 8% damage, but has an horizontal angle, which allows for tech-chases.
• Mach Tornado's duration and acceleration have been decreased.
• Drill Rush's duration has been lowered, but it is more combo-oriented.
• Shuttle Loop has a smaller range and is more a vertical finisher. If performed correctly, it can link into the glide attack at low percentages.
• Glide attack now deals 13% damage.
• When using Dimensional Cape, flicking the C-Stick before teleporting will perform a quick slash, dealing 14% damage. The original hit now also deals 16% damage.

Pit

• Pit's attacks now do more damage at the hilt of the bow daggers.
• Up aerial has been sped up and made a single-hit juggler of 14% damage.
• Down aerial now has a sweet spot at the tip of the blade where it deals 12% damage and can spike, similar to Marth's.
• Second hit of forward smash is now optional, done by another press of the attack button. The first hit still has low knockback, but this allows for cancelling into other moves.
• Palutena's Arrow's knockback increases quicker than the damage when charging.
• Angel Ring is replaced with a new version Wings Of Icarus; he no longer glides by holding the jump button. Pit will use his wings to launch forward into a glide, even while grounded. This glide has a high initial velocity, but quickly settles at a lower speed. Using Wings of Icarus more than twice while airborne or after getting out of it once without landing causes a brief glide on the third use that immediately transitions into helplessness. This glide can be canceled by aerials, a glide attack, or a jump.
• Glide attack is now done with the C-Stick. It also does 15% damage.
• The original Wings of Icarus is replaced by a new move called Shield Bash. When initiated, Pit will swing his mirror shield above him in a powerful attack while leaping upwards. When used on the ground, it deals 3% damage then 7%, and when used on mid-air, it is a single hit of 14% damage, both variations having strong knockback.

R.O.B.

• Has a helpless pose for his air dodge, in which he falls looking down while flicking his arms slowly.
• Up aerial is an eyeblast, similar to his forward smash, that arcs quickly over his head, dealing 15% damage with an electric effect.
• Down aerial is more mobile and has more flexibility.
• The time to fully charge Robo Beam has been shortened.
• Robo Burner and aerial Arm Rotors have been replaced with Robo-Booster. R.O.B. can quickly boost himself sideways or upwards. He can boost three times before he must land, and landing replenishes all his boosts instantly. Grabbing the edge will only give him one boost back if he has run out. R.O.B.'s grounded Arm Rotor is similar to its Brawl incarnation but moves him forward more quickly.
• Gyro now shoots out with significantly less velocity. This hinders its ability to be used at long range, but it greatly enhances its uses for stage control, and lets R.O.B. pick it up quicker. Its range and power can still be extended by charging it up. R.O.B. can still perform aerial attacks when he has a Gyro in hand by doing them out of a Robo-Booster.

Snake

• Significantly lighter; he is now only slightly heavier than Captain Falcon and Link.
• Up tilt has been replaced with an uppercut, that deals 12% damage and combos well at low percents.
• Has a different attack while crawling as opposed to just crouching: he will stab using a knife instead of using a spin kick. This deals 5% damage with low knockback, but can set up combos.
• Forward smash has been replaced with a knife combo, slashing twice. It has low knockback and deals up to 16% damage when fully charged.
• Down smash's mines can now KO at lower percentages, can be planted quicker, and have a larger detection radius.
• Down aerial's last stomp is now a meteor smash.
• Can drag grabbed enemies sideways by using the left and right taunt buttons.
• Forward and back throw have very little knockback growth so it is easier to throw people into mines and C4s.
• Grenade now explodes quicker, but only one can be out at a time.
• Remote Missile now always deals 18% damage, regardless of its speed.
• C4 no longer transfers between players, and doesn't disappear unless Snake dies or sets it off. Snake can stick C4 to players on the ground, and it has more KO potential. In addition, it can be planted much quicker and with no distinctive sound effect, while the detonation animation can be cancelled. Snake cannot, however, denotate a C4 that is too far from him.
• His blue costume is more noticeable as a Blue Team costume.
• His Cypher now emits electricity when used, and causes opponents to take 6% damage flinch when in close radius. The vertical distance covered by it, however, has been shortened.

Sonic

Sonic's up taunt from Project M Demo 2.6.

• More obvious team colours.
• Up tilt now produces a foot uppercut with a single hitbox instead of a double high kick.
• Forward smash has been given greater knockback.
• Up smash ends much faster, and has only two hitboxes, the first being weak, the second being stronger and having more launch power.
• Down smash has been changed to a multi-hitting "break-dance" move.
• Neutral aerial now looks slightly different and has a bigger hitbox. It is inspired by Sonic 3.
• New forward aerial, a front-flip kick that meteor smashes at the tip, akin to the Sonic Eagel from "Sonic Battle."
• Up aerial links better and spacing for the tips of his shoes can yield early KOs.
• Down aerial is now faster.
• Homing Attack now fires straight at the opponent and can be cancelled into a jump or any other special move when it hits. Sonic also strikes a pose after a successful hit.
• Side special is a fast-starting spin attack with a variable height jump attached. Pressing the attack button turns the attack into a sliding kick and holding B allows Sonic to spin further. It also cancels upon falling off a ledge.
• Down special is now his Spin Dash, but has gained most of the nuances the original Spin Dash had while retaining all of its own properties.
• Up taunt now features a horizontal spin and finger wag.
• Grab release glitch on Sonic from Brawl has not been removed.

Squirtle

• Shellshifting has been retained and Squirtle now has even more follow up options, most notably a long jump canceled grab.
• All attacks involving Squirtle's shell have heavy armor. The stronger the attack, the heavier the armor.
• Water Gun now deals damage and can clash with other projectiles.
• Withdraw is now immune to projectiles and can now change directions. It can also be canceled into a fast damaging jump called Aqua Jet by using the A button.
• Waterfall is now stronger and can reliably KO.
• Pokémon Change has been replaced by a new move called Bubble which trips ground opponents and can gimp aerial ones.

Toon Link

• Many attacks have been altered to match those of Young Link, such as his dash attack, down smash, neutral aerial, down aerial, Hero's Bow (with flaming arrows), and Bombs.
• Forward tilt has been slightly sped up.
• Down tilt is now a crouching stab reminiscent of the shield-stab from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask and can meteor if a character is hit with the tip of the sword.
• Forward smash has changed to a jumping slash, similar to the one used by Link in Smash 64.
• Up smash is now a two-slice move, with a strong initial hit that can kill the opponent that is quickly followed by a second cut that is better for comboing that also provides him additional coverage and damages shields.
• Flaming arrows from Hero's Bow stick in the ground for a few seconds to deal damage to passerby.
• Boomerang can now be angled more.
• Grounded Spin Attack can be moved sideways based on charge level and fall off edges. In the air, Spin Attack doesn't go as high as it does in Brawl but serves as a powerful KO move.

Wario

• Default costume is now plumber's outfit as opposed to biker's outfit.
• New walking and running animations.
• Forward tilt can be delayed by holding the attack button.
• New down smash: Wario punches the ground to create an earthquake similar to Charizard's down smash and inspired by "Wario Land: Shake It!".
• New forward smash is a jumping front kick with extreme ending lag as Wario attempts to regain balance.
• Back air has been replaced with a back punch, which does more damage and is similar to his forward tilt.
• Down air has been replaced with a ground pound which launches Wario downwards and meteor smashes enemies. If it connects, Wario will bounce off his opponent, allowing for safer recoveries if used offstage.
• Dash grab looks like the new side special (explained below) for increased mindgames.
• Pummel has the coin effect.
• Forward throw is replaced with a simple single-handed throw that is similar to the throws from Wario Land 4.
• Old forward throw is now his back throw. Wario can now move left or right whilst using it.
• Chomp hold duration reduced, but can now throw enemies backwards after biting them. Also, when performing the move in the air it keeps momentum.
• Wario Bike has been completely replaced with a Wario Land-style Shoulder Bash. The Shoulder Bash makes Wario dash forward similar to his old forward smash, dealing more damage as he travels. Wario can jump while dashing to continue the attack in the air or crouch to cancel the attack and slide forwards. The move renders Wario helpless if initiated in the air and causes him to bounce off walls he hits (for reduced height each time).
• Corkscrew has more control going left and right when flying up.
• Farting winning animation has been replaced with posing from Wario Land 4.

Wolf

• Dash attack changed into a new claw swipe attack, however functions similarly to its Brawl equivalent.
• Wolf's Blaster has been changed. Projectiles are slower than before, but do more damage and are larger. The endlag of the blaster can be canceled by an air dodge, allowing Wolf to waveland out of it.
• Wolf Flash has been slightly changed so that if Wolf hits with the end of the animation, he won't go into helpless, allowing him to then use another recovery move to get back on stage. It also only sends at a horizontal angle in the direction Wolf is facing.
• Fire Wolf is now is a single-hit aerial dash attack that will send foes flying in the direction which he is traveling yet not cause tumble.
• Wolf's Reflector sends opponents at a diagonally upward trajectory, allowing for potentially deadly juggling combos.
• Reflector no longer has intangibility.
• Reflector can be released during the reflect lag to go into the end animation afterwards, preventing rapid hitting projectiles like Fox's standing laser that can re-hit before the reflect lag ends from being able to trap him in it.

Zero Suit Samus

• Has a new down aerial which functions similarly to Sheik's from Melee; it pops foes up for aerial combos.
• Paralyzer can now be dash-canceled.
• Flip Jump has a new somersaulting animation. Pressing the attack button no longer creates a meteor smashing sex kick but instead results in her down aerial from Brawl. Pressing the special button near aerial foes results in a footstool jump. This is aptly named a "Flipstool".

Stages

• Battlefield
• Big Blue
• Brinstar
• Castle Siege (skips second stage)
• Dracula's Castle (replaces Luigi's Mansion)
• Dreamland 64 (replaces Green Greens)
• Final Destination (with custom model and background resembling that of Melee's version)
• Flat Zone 2
• Fountain of Dreams (replaces Mario Bros.)
• Fourside (replaces New Pork City)
• Frigate Orpheon
• Green Hill Zone (made into a neutral stage with 1 rotating platform)
• Halberd
• Hyrule Castle (replaces Bridge of Eldin)
• Jungle Japes
• Kongo Jungle (replaces 75 m)
• Lylat Cruise
• Mario Circuit
• Metal Cavern (Remade Meta Crystal, replaces Mushroomy Kingdom)
• Norfair (different layout with no hazards)
• Onett
• Pictochat
• Pirate Ship
• Pokémon Stadium 2 (no stage transformations)
• Pokémon Stadium
• Rainbow Cruise
• Rumble Falls (made into a neutral stage with a bridge and 3 platforms)
• Saffron City (replaces Spear Pillar)
• Shadow Moses Island
• Skyloft (replaces Hanenbow)
• Skyworld (without breakble platforms)
• Smashville
• SSE Jungle (the final stage in The Lake, replaces Distant Planet)
• Summit
• Temple M (removed in favor of Skyloft)
• Warioware (without microgames)
• Yoshi's Island (SSBB)
• Yoshi's Story (replaces Yoshi's Island (SSBM))

Release history

Demo 1.0

Released February 8, 2011

• 14 characters available
  • Captain Falcon
  • Falco
  • Fox
  • Ganondorf
  • Jigglypuff
  • Link
  • Lucas
  • Mario
  • Marth
  • Mr. Game & Watch
  • Sheik
  • Snake
  • Sonic
  • Zelda

Demo 2.0

Logo of Demo 2.0

Released April 17, 2012

• Added 15 characters
  • Bowser
  • Charizard
  • Donkey Kong
  • Ike
  • King Dedede (shown as "Dedede" on the character selection screen)
  • Lucario
  • Luigi
  • Ness
  • Peach
  • Pikachu
  • Pit
  • R.O.B.
  • Toon Link
  • Wario
  • Wolf

Demo 2.1

Logo of Demo 2.1

Released May 23, 2012

• Major bug fixes

Demo 2.5

Logo of Demo 2.5

Released December 29, 2012

• Added 4 characters
  • Diddy Kong
  • Ivysaur
  • Squirtle
  • Zero Suit Samus
• Ledge Teching implemented
• Melee Knockback Stacking implemented
• Input Assistance implemented
• Stock Control implemented
• New aesthetic changes which include new palette swaps and new menu designs.

Demo 2.5b

Released January 6, 2013

• Various Minor Bug Fixes

Demo 2.6

Logo of Demo 2.6

Released July 17, 2013

• Added 1 character
  • Meta Knight

The PMBR announced Project M 2.6 along with their new website design.

Demo 2.6b

Logo of Demo 2.6b

Released August 15, 2013

• Various Bug Fixes

Demo 3.0

Release: Winter 2013

An April Fools' video announced that 3.0 would contain a universal gameplay change where all moves can cancel into any other move or action on hit or on shield. While the change being universal was a joke, it will be available for play as "Turbo Mode" in Special Brawl, replacing the "Curry" option. Roy and Mewtwo have been confirmed as completely new characters, with the latter gaining an alternate skin in the form of its armor from the first Pokemon movie, and Dr. Mario as an alternate skin for Mario, akin to Wario's biker and overall skins. Other characters will have skins too.

Developers

• Project Leaders: Shanus, SHeLL, Magus, Strong Bad, jiang, Shadic, haloedhero, Yeroc

• Magus: Magus
• Playtesters: Historically, the PMBR has had playtesters such as Hungrybox, Mango, Lucky, KirbyKaze, Amsah, and many more. The current playtester team consists of Gimpyfish62, TheReflexWonder, Fuzzyness, Professor Pro, Fly Amanita, and Jolteon, among many, many others.
• Graphics/Menu Design: FireBall Stars, ds22
• Animation: haloedhero, SiLeNtDo0m
• Stage Design: Mewtwo2000, Shadic, Vanguard, SOJ

Applications to the Project M Backroom can be made at the application subforum.

External Links

• Official Website
• Project M Demo Download
• Official Wiki
• The Project M Forum