Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates (archive)

This is a descriptive list of the updates posted onto Smash Bros. DOJO!! in the months prior to the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For the most recent updates, see Smash Bros. DOJO!! updates.

List of updates

• May 22: "The Basic Rules" [1]: The site opens up with this basic description of how Smash Bros.-style gameplay looks like. Newly revealed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl in this update is a redesign of the characters damage counters at the bottom of the screen, showing the character's facial portrait in addition to the universe symbol and health meter.
• May 22: "Battlefield" [2]: The site also opens up with a more in-depth description of the Battlefield stage seen previously in trailers. The stage's apparent Day/Night cycle was clarified and made official; it will follow its own cycle, rather than being dependant on the Wii's internal clock.
• May 22: "The Musicians" [3]: The site finally opens up with this initial Music update, which reveals ostensibly the complete list of video game musicians credited with contributing to the game. The eye-raisingly long list of 36 separate musicians is characterized by Sakurai as one of the biggest musical gatherings in all of gaming. The music for the Battlefield stage was posted on the site, and it is revealed to be a rearrangement of Melee's "Menu 1" theme.

• May 23: "Mario" [4]: Mario is given his official section as a character, described as a "Veteran Fighter". Little new information is provided, apart from graphical updates and sceenshots of generic moves.
• May 23: "Link" [5]: Link is given his official section as a character just like Mario, described as a "Veteran Fighter" by the site. Little new information is provided, but one notable occurrence in the update is that one of the screenshots features Link aiming his bow while crouching. It is unclear at this point if this is simply how he poses now when he charges it, or if he can charge while crouching.

• May 24: "Gooey Bomb" [6]: The first item showcased on DOJO!! is the all-new Gooey Bomb. It is a variant on the Motion Sensor Bomb from previous games which adheres to the characters themselves, and the ticking bomb can be transferred between characters passing by each other. This item is effectively a "hot potato".

• May 25: "Pit" [7]: Pit is given his official profile, categorized as a "Newcomer" by the site as opposed to the "Veteran Fighters" Mario and Link. The only thing new revealed about him is a slight visual redesign.

• May 28: "Pit: Special Moves" [8]: The first "Special Moves" update for a character, this describes Pit's new Neutral Special and Up-Special moves: The Palutena Arrow, which is similar to Link's Bow but shoots a very fast and bendable laser-like arrow, and the Wings of Icarus, a third jump which damages enemies Pit comes into contact with.

• May 29: "What is a Final Smash?" [9]: The giant special moves seen in the previous trailers are officially classified as Final Smashes, and the spherical items characters grab to be able to use them are now called Smash Balls. A character needs to grab only one Smash Ball to perform a Final Smash.
• May 29: "Mario: Final Smash" [10]: In this simultaneous update, Mario's Final Smash, the giant two-pronged intertwining fireball he is seen unleashing in the first trailer, is identified officially as the Mario Finale.

• May 30: "Moving and Shooting" [11]: The Super Scope item is shown to return from Melee, but more importantly a new mechanic that applies to this and any other projectile-based item is described as well. Characters can now move and jump around while using shooting items; before, characters were forced to remain immobile in a stationary x-position while using a shooting item like a Super Scope or a Fire Flower.

• May 31: "Cracker Launcher" [12]: Another new item called the Cracker Launcher is introduced. This cylindrical cannon launches projectiles at a regular rate that explode into gaudy fireworks. The Moving and Shooting mechanic applies to this weapon and the angle in which the fireworks shoot out

• June 1: "Delfino Plaza" [13]: The first Stage update on DOJO, this brand new area is a near-perfect recreation of the Delfino Plaza hub area in the GameCube video game Super Mario Sunshine. It takes place on a platform that flies through the stage and lands into the ground at various points in a fashion similar to Melee's Mute City.

• June 4: "Yoshi's Story: Ending" [14]: The second music clip posted on the site, this is a remix of an ending sequence in the Nintendo 64 game Yoshi's Story, and the music will be featured in as the music for the Yoshi's Story stage in Brawl.

• June 5: "What Are Poké Balls?" [15]: The Poké Ball item from the previous two games makes its return practically as expected, with the same basic function of releasing a randomly chosen Pokémon creature to influence the battle. The update reveals two of the Pokémon: Goldeen and Chikorita, reprising their Melee roles.
• June 5: "Groudon" [16]: A third Pokémon revealed to appear from a thrown Poké Ball in Brawl is revealed as this all-new Pokémon from a more recent generation of the Pokémon franchise. Groudon is a red lizardlike behemoth who damages any opponent touching it.

• June 6: "You must recover!" [17]: The basic concept of recovering from off the side of a stage using double and triple-jumps is added to the How To Play section of the site. Although very little is revealed, Mario's recovery seems to be higher, and the update further hints at the game's improved aerial fighting ("Fierce aerial battles often rule the match!").

• June 7: "Pikachu" [18]: Pikachu is given his official character section as a "Veteran Fighter", and he now appears to be slightly smaller than in previous games.
• June 7: "Kirby" [19]: Kirby is given his official character profile as a "Veteran Fighter" simultaneously with Pikachu. Pretty much nothing new is revealed, but the site humorously admits to Kirby's near complete lack of a graphical update.

• June 8: "Four Kinds of Control" [20]: This update reveals that Brawl will be compatible with four different controllers compatible with the Wii: The Wii Remote, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, the Wii Classic Controller, and the standard GameCube controller. The GameCube controller is the most recommended one for a traditional gameplay experience, complete with rumble. How the new controller setups will work is promised to be explained in future updates.

• June 11: "Fox" [21]: Fox is given his official character section as a "Veteran Fighter". Some of his older moves are seen to return, and he is described as retaining the speed and agility from his Melee incarnation.

• June 12: "Yoshi's Island" [22]: The Yoshi's Island stage in Brawl is covered more in-depth, confirming a simple layout but with a top platform that is unstable. The stage visually changes between all four seasons, and a platform appears off to the side courtesy of the Support Ghost to save flying combatants.

• June 13: "Metroid: Boss Battle Music (Ridley Fight)" [23]: The third music file posted on Dojo!! is this short remix of the most common boss battle theme heard throughout the Metroid series, particularly the variation attached to encounters with the dragon-like Ridley.

• June 14: "Crates and Barrels" [24]: Confirms the return of the Crate and Barrel items from previous games, along with the announcement that the items will change cosmetically, depending on the stage the player is on. Also, "Sliding Boxes" have been introduced, which have little wheels on them and will move during gameplay; they will roll down inclines and damage fighters they come into contact with.

• June 15: "Samus" [25]: The Veteran Fighter character profile of Samus in her regular armored form is posted, and this is actually the first instance that armored Samus has ever been seen in actual Brawl gameplay. She appears as she does at the start of Metroid Prime, and appears to retain most of her moves from Melee. How she transforms into Zero Suit Samus is not mentioned at this point.

• June 18: "Link: Final Smash" [26]: Link's Final Smash, as seen in the first trailer, is officially named the Triforce Slash. Link shoots out a Triforce symbol at an opponent so that that opponent is incarcerated in midair by a pair of large glowing holographic Triforce symbols, and Link repeatedly slashes at that opponent in midair and concludes with an especially strong swing.

• June 19: "Pikachu: Volt Tackle" [27]: Pikachu's Final Smash, Volt Tackle (named after the "ultimate move" Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichi can learn in the Pokemon RPGs), is revealed to involve him temporarily turning into a gigantic ball of light and flying across the stage at moderate speeds, which can be controlled to an extent by the player. Also mentioned is that other players are capable of canceling Pikachu's Final Smash, and presumably other Final Smashes as well.

• June 20: "Wario" [28]: Wario has his character profile posted in the "Newcomer" category. It is mentioned that Wario will have a fighting style that "other characters cannot even see", which could mean a large number of things, but most likely refers to his fart based attacks (as farts are generally not seen by the naked eye).

• June 21: "Fox: Special Moves" [29]: Two of Fox's special moves, the Reflector and Blaster, are confirmed to reappear in Fox's moveset for Brawl. Aside from a few cosmetic differences, both moves seem to be 100% unchanged from their functions in Melee.

• June 22: "Lylat Cruise" [30]: The Star Fox stage previously seen in the Nintendo World 2006 trailer is titled the Lylat Cruise. Taking place on an original ship named the Pleiades, the stage travels through several instances of the Lylat System: zooming through hyperspace, falling into and travelling through Corneria's atmosphere, maneuvering its way through an asteroid field, and being involved in an epic dogfight between batallions of Star Fox battleships.

• June 25: "Zelda" [31]: Zelda is the first revealed Veteran Fighter for Brawl since the first two trailers. Her appearance is entirely based on her The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just like Link. She is confirmed to remain a slow character with strong magic-based attacks, but whether or not she will be able to transform into Sheik this time remains unmentioned.

• June 26: "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Medley" [32]: The fourth music update on the site is a medley of various songs heard in Ocarina of Time, in order the "Song of Storms", "Epona's Song", "Song of Time", "Saria's Song", and "Zelda's Lullaby". A Zelda stage for this music to play on has not been revealed yet at this point.

• June 27: "Banana Peel" [33]: A new item, the Banana Peel, is introduced and described. The effect of the item is somewhat obvious. When dropped on the floor, any character running on this item will slip on it and take damage and remain in one spot for a short instant. The site gives it the [[Smash Bros. {universe)|Smash Bros. universe]] symbol, despite speculation it belongs to the Mario or Donkey Kong universes.

• June 28: "Names" [34]: The second update to the "Game Modes" category, this is the first glimpse into the game's various menu screens ever posted. The ability for the player to enter custom names returns from Melee, and it is revealed that custom button configurations for each controller can be chosen and assigned to the player's name, so that if you want to always play a certain way that's different from the default, you can summon up your name. Also mentioned is that player name data may be able to be saved on the player's Wii Remote so they could take this information to other people's Wiis, but this feature has apparently not been implemented yet and is possible that it may not happen.

• June 29: "Wario: Special Moves" [35]: Two of Wario's Special moves are covered. His Forward Special move, Wario Chopper, is similar to Yoshi's Egg Roll attack with the exception that Wario rides his bike across the stage, and that the bike will stay on stage after the first use of the attack. Also elaborated on is the Wario Waft attack, which contrary to popular belief, is not a Final Smash, and in fact his Down Special. Its power and scale is dependent on how much time has elapsed since its last use.

• July 2: "What are assist trophies?" [36]: A major new item named the Assist trophy is introduced. When a character picks it up and uses it, a secondary Nintendo character appears and performs an action before disappearing; in concept this is just like the Poke ball, but for all manner of characters outside of the Pokemon franchise that can't quite make it as actual Smash Bros. fighters. A Helper character introduced is the Hammer Bro, and the Nintendog from the original trailer is revealed to be an Assist trophy-caused character.
• July 2: "Samurai Goroh" [37]: Another new Assist trophy helper character introduced is Captain Falcon's rival from the F-Zero universe, Samurai Goroh. The obese samurai appears and slashes with his imposing sword out of the control of the player, much like a Pokemon from a Poke Ball. Also similar to the Pokemon concept is the update's notice that Assist trophy helpers will often be invincible to attacks from fighters.

• July 3: "Bowser" [38]: Bowser is revealed as another new returning character and veteran fighter, sporting an updated look not seen in normal Mario games. Bowser's B, Up B, and perhaps his forward B moves are seen preserved, but Sakurai claims that Bowser and a lot of other characters will offer a "slightly different flavor this time around" than their previous appearances, implying alterations to Bowser's design that aren't just cosmetic.

• July 4: "Bowser: Final Smash" [39]: Bowser's newly revealed Final Smash is also the return appearance of a Melee boss character: The Giga Bowser Transformation, where Bowser temporarily transforms into Giga Bowser, updated to look similar to his SSBM incarnation like normal Bowser is to his old SSBM incarnation. He gains a vast amount of power and defensive ability for the duration of time in Giga Bowser mode before he reverts to normal Bowser form again. This will be the first time Giga Bowser is now a legally playable character.

• July 5: "Smash Attacks" [40]: Illustrates the most basic Smash series fighting concept of pressing A and forward on the joy stick to perform standard attacks of varying intensity, but the update visually maps out the button presses involved to all four confirmed controller types.

• July 6: "Bridge of Eldin" [41]: A brand new stage based on the Bridge of Eldin location in the Wii game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It appears to be the longest flat-all-across stage in the Smash series. Twilight Princess characters King Bulblin and Lord Bullbo cameo as obstacles that damage players they charge through on the bridge, and Bulblin occasionally uses bombs that destroy parts of the bridge and allow fighters to fall to their deaths below. These holes will be replaced by twilight-zone portals shortly afterward.

• July 9: "Standard Combos" [42]: This update reveals that the Standard Combos of the characters, which beforehand were dictated entirely by repeated presses of the attack button, can now also be performed by simply holding down the attacking button to make the character automatically attack with that combo. Fox, for example, in addition to doing his Rapid Kick by pressing A repeatedly, can now also do his Rapid Kick by merely holding down A. This was included to better accomodate the different controller setups, and Sakurai says he has "gone a tad easier on the button pressing" with this. Meta Knight is also revealed to be somewhat different than other characters in attack style; single-button attacks on ground and in the air for him cause multiple swift-sword strikes per press, as opposed to one punch or kick per button press for most other characters, and his Standard Combo is the lengthy swift-sword-swipe sessions he has performed against ground opponents in the trailers.

• July 10: "Dr. Wright" [43]: A new Assist Trophy helper character like Samurai Goro before is this obscure character from the SNES version of SimCity. Dr. Wright, when he appears, will wave his baton over the ground and summon a miniature city that will pop out of the ground as if it were a giant stalagmite being propelled through the ground, sending opponent characters high into the sky likely with damage.

• July 11: "Bumper" [44]: Another item update, this time showcasing the return of the Bumper from the original Super Smash Bros. that was missing in Melee. It seems to retain its function and purpose perfectly, but can also now be thrown to float in midair as an obstacle, carrying over the function of Melee's Flipper item.

• July 12: "Donkey Kong" [45]: The first update to be shown at a different time of the day (usually updates are posted at midnight Pacific time), and to be posted in conjunction with a reveal from a different source. Shortly after the E3 press conference showed a clip guaranteeing DK's return as yet another new returning character, this update officially showcases Donkey Kong as a Veteran Fighter with an updated look that gives him a more furry appearance similar to his normal everyday appearance in modern Mario games. His fighting style appears to be unchanged at its core.
• July 12: "15 Second Movie Presentation" [46]: The first update to fall under the Notices category, it notifies that the official release of the game in North America is December 3, 2007. Sakurai claims to be "working with all [his] might" on the game right up until release, and in the meantime posts a 15-second high-framerate clip of the game, showcasing much of the content revealed throughout the above updates.

• July 13: "Smashville" [47]: A new stage based on the Animal Crossing series. Screenshots provided for Smashville showcase a platform that seems to float around while an Animal Crossing-style town given its "appropriate" original name is seen in the background, along with many Animal Crossing-style critters. The stage's background features elements dependent on the Wii's internal clock and calendar; Play the stage at night and it will be nighttime in the game, and play it at night on Saturday and a stage performance by K.K. Slider will occur while the brawl is on. This update also indirectly confirms that Tom Nook will not be a playable character in Brawl, as some fans were hoping.

• July 16: "Star Fox: Space Armada" [48]: The fifth music file shared with viewers is an arrangement of the Space Armada theme from the original Star Fox, which was used for a part of the "Corneria" theme from Melee.

• July 17: "Deoxys" [49]: A brand new Pokémon that can appear from the Poké Ball is revealed and described. The viral DNA alien Pokémon Deoxys is the "final secret" Pokémon from the Third Generation, and in normal Pokémon games it can change between four available forms. In Brawl, it seems to appear only in its Attack form, and when it appears out of a Poké Ball it will float up into the sky and unleash Hyper Beam to the ground, which is apparently very powerful.

• July 18: "Samus: Final Smash" [50]: This update finally clarifies that Zero Suit Samus is indeed merely a form Samus becomes when she fires the gigantic beam seen in the first trailer, which is identified as her Final Smash and named the Zero Laser. Newly revealed, however, is that the broken pieces of her armor remaining on the ground can be picked up and hurled as projectile weapons. It is not specified whether "Zamus" can turn back into Samus anytime during the remainder of the match.

• July 19: "Zero Suit Samus" [51]: Continuing the coverage of the Samus factor in the previous update, this update profiles Zero Suit Samus as though she were a standard playable character like everyone else, put in the Newcomer category, raising questions as to whether she can be playable as a fighter without having to use armored Samus's Final Smash attack during battle. The gun in her hand is identified as the Paralyzer, which was its use in Metroid: Zero Mission against Space Pirates, and it can extend into an energy whip giving her long reach in fighting.

• July 20: "This World..." [52]: A very different style of update, consisting of just a long series of images in a sort of storyline format, interspersed with text describing the Smash Bros. universe and the conditions of their world, partially indicating the game's "story". Melee's thematic emphasis on trophies is shown to return in Brawl as well. The update shows a new sky-stadium-style environment that may be a new stage, with Mario and Kirby appearing on it, then the Halberd appears, and then a strange original character of sorts is seen in the last screenshot. These shots and the characters within are clarified in a later update.

• July 23: "Rumble Falls" [53]: Another brand new stage is revealed, this time themed after the Donkey Kong universe, specifically Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. In terms of stage layout and mechanics Rumble Falls seems to be in direct homage to Melee's Icicle Mountain stage, in that the screen scrolls up (and up only), but the physical stage seems much wider. Supposedly the fight can climb up and beyond Rumble Falls, and Sakurai implies that something unrevealed may be found at the very top of the stage's vertical progression.

• July 24: "Yoshi" [54]: Yoshi is confirmed to return as a playable Veteran fighter in the game. He is visually touched up like most other returning characters, but apparently retains his same playing style as his Melee incarnation. New modifications to his moveset is that his Up B, Egg Toss, can be used to increase jumping distance like traditional third jumps of other characters, "among other things".

• July 25: "Skyworld" [55]: Official description of the suspected Kid Icarus stage previously seen in the Nintendo world trailer, which is officially identified as Skyworld, and its platform-breaking mechanics are somewhat clarified: The broken platforms quickly regenerate, even though it seems apparent that the clouds underneath the platforms suffice as platforms themselves based on trailer footage. There is no big platform below the stage, underneath where all the smaller cloud-lifted platforms are irregularly laid out.

• July 26: "Footstool Jump" [56]: A new addition to the core gameplay, the Footstool Jump can be used by all characters as an offensive measure by jumping onto and off of the heads of opponents a la old Mario games, with a perfectly timed jump-button press when right on a character's head. This may do some damage, and it makes the user jump much higher. It can be used as an alternative to a spike to perform a Meteor Smash.

• July 27: "Knuckle Joe" [57]: Knuckle Joe, a side character/enemy in the Kirby franchise featured particularly prominently in Kirby Super Star, is revealed as a new Assist trophy character. He first flurries foes in front of him with his Vulcan Jab, then randomly performs one of two finishing moves: A strong short-range Smash Punch, and an electric uppercut-like move called Rising Break.

• July 30: "Donkey Kong: Final Smash" [58]: Donkey Kong's Final Smash is identified and described as the Konga Beat: He whips out the DK Bongos (a GameCube peripheral used for games like Donkey Konga and Jungle Beat) and plays a tune (during which he's invincible) whose musical notes damage opponents around him. The power of the move is influenced by how the player presses buttons to the provided beat.

• July 31: "Pitfall" [59]: The Pitfall is introduced as an item, and it was once found as an item in Animal Crossing. When the item is thrown at the ground, it vanishes, and an opponent stepping into its area gets temporarily caught in a hole that appears on the ground. Also, if thrown at an opponent standing on a pass-through floor/platform, that opponent will automatically drop down below.

• August 1: "Ike" [60]: Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is revealed as a playable character. He is the first completely new character to be revealed on the website, and is stated to use his Aether ultimate battle skill from PoR. There is a header above his profile that says "WARNING! CHALLENGER APPROACHING!", which could mean that Ike is an unlockable, or is just noting that he is a previously unannounced newcomer. This update was the latest update so far, coming a full three hours after the normal time.

• August 2: "Castle Siege" [61]: The "Castle" environments seen in previous trailers are revealed to be one stage named Castle Siege, and it is identified officially as a Fire Emblem stage, directly stated to be representative of the general thematic essence of the Fire Emblem series and not of any one particular game. The stage starts off at the roof of this castle, then later the ground will shatter and the characters will drop down inside and continue the fight in front of the stone statues (which can be broken by attacks). And this indoors section is not the deepest part; the stage can progress further down into some sort of underground area, which fans will find out later.

• August 3: "What is the Subspace Emissary?" [62]: This immense update gives a comprehensive preview of what is ostensibly the game's true single-player Adventure mode, The Subspace Emissary, which is a story-based side-scrolling action game. Among the many things revealed are several classes of common enemies and all manner of new single-player environments where characters must battle these enemies, and a 42-second film clip depicts the previously mysterious contents of the "This World" update, showing the robot as one of many generic enemies and Peach as a playable character.

• August 6: "Smoke Ball" [63]: Another brand new item is introduced. The Smoke Ball is an item meant purely for visual distraction: When a ball is thrown, thick colored smoke is released and obscures any characters it covers. This can be used by the player and opponents at the same time for disorientation purposes, and a smoke ball currently emitting its contents can be picked up and thrown again while it's still going off.

• August 7: "Ike: Special Moves" [64]: Ike's Up-B move is revealed to be the Aether skill previously alluded to; he throws his sword up, jumps up, grabs the sword in midair, and smashes down, in a motion more similar to Kirby's Final Cutter than either of Marth and Roy's Up-B moves. It does not restore HP as previously suspected, but it does temporarily leave Ike invulverable to knockback (but not damage) after he throws up his sword. Ike's Neutral B move is revealed as Eruption, which is a chargeable move that summons fire in front of Ike.

• August 8: "Kid Icarus: The Underworld" [65]: The next music file comes from is a medley of tunes from the original Kid Icarus: The first stage theme of the game, then the Grim Reaper and Game Over themes.

• August 9: "Pit: Final Smash" [66]: Pit's Final Smash is revealed as Palutena's Army: The goddess Palutena herself is summoned by Pit's call and appears in the background in gigantic proportions (this is her first appearance in a game since the original Kid Icarus games over a decade before), and she in turn summons an army of little angel men called Centurions to divebomb through the stage and damage all other fighters.

• August 10: "Franklin Badge" [67]: Yet another brand new item is the Franklin Badge from EarthBound, which was able to reflect electricity-based attacks back at the attacker in that game. In Brawl, it can be worn for a while on a character and all projectile-based attacks like Samus' Paralyzer will be reflected in much the same manner.

• August 13: "Pokémon Trainer" [68]: Perhaps the most unique new character yet revealed; A generic Pokémon Trainer is a playable fighter, but instead of brawling with his own moves he (visually along with the player) remotely controls one of three Pokémon fighters: Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard.
• August 13: "Pokémon Change" [69]: This subsequent update describes Pokémon Trainer's Down-B move: The Pokémon Change, which from a gameplay standpoint is identical to the Zelda-Sheik transformation. Pokémon Trainer as a playable character entity is a Zelda/Sheik-style alternating character with three forms instead of two, and they switch between each other using the same down-B move; as such, they all share the same damage meter. Visually, during battle the human trainer stands in the background and does not influence the action, while the player controls one of his three available Pokémon as standard Smash fighters. The weaker Squirtle is playable first, and at any time the player may commence the Pokémon change to replace Squirtle with Ivysaur. Likewise, anytime afterwards the Pokémon Change move will become Charizard, and the process cycles through back to Squirtle. Each one of these fighters are expected to have their own standard and special move arsenals. What would influence the player's decision to which Pokémon fighter is chosen is a stamina meter of sorts, which discourages switching that is either over-eager or over-prolonged.

• August 14: "Devil" [70]: The next Assist Trophy character revealed is the Devil enemy character from the NES game Devil World, the game where Melee's famous Tamagon trophy came from. This character causes the stage's camera and KO boundaries to shift off to the side so that it appears the stage itself appears to drift off to the other side, and characters foolish enough to stay put in the same spot will end up KO'ing themselves.

• August 15: "Stickers" [71]: A new collection element to the game is introduced: Stickers which players can collect and put into their albums in their save files, like the trophies of the previous game. Stickers can be collected off the battlefield in the various game modes and feature pictures of all manner characters and elements in the game, and players can save screenshots and put them in their albums along with the stickers they collect.

• August 16: "Tether Recovery" [72]: This Tether Recovery update basically explains that, similar to Link's Hookshot in Melee, some character's moves can function as tether-style recovery moves, remotely latching onto the ledge of a stage to save oneself from a fall. The Plasma Whip Up-B move of Zero Suit Samus is confirmed to be one such move.

• August 17: "Peach" [73]: Peach is given her official character profile as a Veteran Fighter. While visually revamped, Peach appears to fight the same way she does in her Melee appearance, including her floating jumps and her Toad B-move, though in one shot she is seen holding her parasol while standing on the ground.

• August 20: "Link: Special Moves" [74]: All four of Link's special moves are described, as well as his grab; they are similar but modified versions of the Melee Link's moves to correspond with the Twilight Princess theme. The Bow is now the Hero's Bow, which is mentioned as fast, but it is unknown if this means it's even faster than the Bow; the Boomerang is now the Gale Boomerang from the game, which has wind-based powers that can lightly pull the bodies of foes it hits and comes back from; The Bomb appears unchanged from a gameplay perspective; and the Spin Attack is chargeable, making it the first chargeable Up-B. His Hookshot is also now the game's Clawshot, which flies to the closest ledge if Link is falling off the stage and uses it, making it much more practical and is based on the Tether Recovery mechanic.

• August 21: "The Subspace Army" [75]: More of the "story" of the Subspace Emissary mode is described in detail, complete with a new 47-second clip. The mode pits characters against a force of "formless" enemies belonging to the Subspace Army, commanded by a new character called The Ancient Minister, and the generic robotic grunts seen in previous Adventure Mode updates are called the Primid. The Army's objective is to cut apart the world by detonating Subspace Bombs (operated by R.O.B.s) that destroy portions of the world and carry it into Subspace. It is up to the Smash Bros. fighters to stop the menace. The video itself continues where the previous mini-trailer left off, introducing the above characters and properties, as well as a surprise appearance by Petey Piranha.

• August 22: "Diddy Kong" [76]: Barely a week after the last Newcomer profile, Diddy Kong is revealed to be playable for the first time in Brawl. According to Sakurai, he moves in a unique way, and he brings some of his inventions from Donkey Kong 64 to the fray with him, in the form of his Rocketbarrel Boost jetpack and his Peanut Gun.

• August 23: "Animal Crossing: Go K.K. Rider!" [77]: The music for Smashville is posted as the next music update. Among normally serene Animal Crossing music, this is more appropriate for a fighting game, as Sakurai jokes.
• August 23: "Yoshi: Final Smash" [78]: In this simultaneous yet unrelated update, Yoshi's Final Smash is revealed as the Super Dragon: He sprouts white bird-like wings and is able to fly around spewing fire for a brief period of time, during which the stream of fire can be interrupted by a stronger fireball projectile from Yoshi by pressing a button.

• August 24: "Petey Piranha" [79]: This clarifies Petey Piranha's role in the Subspace Emissary mode as the first boss character that must be fought, and most likely indicates that he is not a playable character. When fought, Petey will be either holding or attacking the cages of Peach and Zelda, and the player's character will end up saving one princess over the other by causing one cage to ultimately break before the other. What happens to the princess rescued and the one that is not, from both story and gameplay perspectives, remains to be seen.

• August 27: "Superspicy Curry" [80]: The ninth item revealed by DOJO!! and classified in its Normal Items division is the Superspicy Curry, a plate of extremely hot food. Characters can pick it up to eat it in battle and cause them to automatically spit out fireballs and perform other fire-related moves for a period of time. It's a positive effect.

• August 28: "Andross" [81]: This Assist Trophy character is the first incarnation of Andross as it was seen in the original SNES Star Fox. His method of attack is straightforward; he will appear, go into the background, inhale, and exhale a storm of white panels from his mouth in an attack similar to Lugia from Melee.
• August 28: "Four Special Move Types" [82]: This is the second week in a row where a second update is posted alongside the first yet is unrelated to it. This explains as part of the basic gameplay of Smash Bros. Brawl the four different types of special moves all characters have, and to demonstrate the update reveals all four of Meta Knight's Special moves: The Mach Tornado neutral B, the Triple Dash smash B, the Shuttle Loop Up B, and the Dimensional Cape down B previously seen in the first trailer.

• August 29: "Pokémon Trainer: Special Moves" [83]: Reveals two more special moves for each of the playable Pokémon belonging to the Pokémon Trainer, in effect revealing six new special moves, all named after attacks these Pokémon use in the actual Pokémon RPGs: Squirtle's Up B is Waterfall and its Forward B is Withdraw. Ivysaur's Neutral B is Bullet Seed and its Up B is Vine Whip. Charizard's Neutral B is Flamethrower and its Forward B is Rock Smash. Taking this together with the shared Down B move revealed previously, the Pokémon change, only Squirtle's Neutral B, Ivysaur's Forward B, and Charizard's Up B remain unrevealed.

• August 30: "Gliding" [84]: Establishes the Gliding ability seen on Meta Knight as a class of midair jump held by any character with wings, including Pit and Charizard. The Glide can be achieved by holding down A when doing a midair jump, or by rapidly tilting the Control Stick backward to forward to link the peak of the midair jump to a glide, and the gliding angle can be influenced mid-flight with the Control Stick as well.

• August 31: "WarioWare" [85]: The newest stage revealed is WarioWare, based off the eponymous Wario subseries. Screenshots and accompanying text show that it is a series of environments where you start off at a typical battle environment, and in rapid fashion you are temporarily transported to a different dimension thematically modeled off one of the microgames from the first WarioWare game.

• September 3: "Pit's Descent" [86]: Another trailer is released to continue the "story" set established by the previous two mini-trailers for the Subspace Emissary mode. The invasion of the Subspace Army has engulfed the world in chaos, so Pit is sent by Palutena to depart heaven for earth and embark on a journey.

• September 4: "Diddy Kong: Special Moves" [87]: Two of Diddy Kong's B moves are described, and both have rather complex functionality. His Neutral B is the Peanut Popgun which he whips out and shoots a peanut projectile with. Like the Super Scope, the Peanut Popgun can charge up for increased speed, but it will backfire and explode if overcharged. Occasionally the peanuts' insides will pop out upon impact and become tiny pieces of food for replenishing life. Diddy's Up B is the Rocketbarrel Boost, which acts pretty much as expected in the realm of a third jump. The jumping height of this move can be charged up, during which you can determine the direction Diddy will curve over to by pressing a direction. And while in flight, if Diddy is attacked, his rocketbarrels will detach and fly away randomly on their own, being potential projectiles in their own respect.

• September 5: "Meta Knight" [88]: Meta Knight is given his official profile at long last; Sakurai, curiously, specifically comments that his "introduction was delayed for some reason." Other than his updated character portrait, essentially no new content is revealed.

• September 6: "Pokémon Stadium 2" [89]: The Pokémon stage is officially identified as Pokémon Stadium 2, named after the console game of the same name as a follow-up to the previous name used for Melee, Pokémon Stadium. It functions very similar to the Melee stage, with four alternating stage layouts based on the Electric, Ground, Flying, and Ice elements, and Pokémon will appear in the background of each of these stage layouts, like Cubone and Dugtrio in the ground version. In this update, we learn that Sakurai is, in fact, incorporating 4th Generation Pokemon into Brawl. 4th Generation pokemon Drifloon can be seen in the far background of the Flying-Type variation of Pokémon Stadium 2.
• September 6: "Mario: Special Moves" [90]: Also provided as an update is a replacement of Mario's Down-B move: F.L.U.D.D., the water-based gizmo used in Super Mario Sunshine. Hold down Down B to make F.L.U.D.D. appear on Mario's back and charge it up with water, then when it lets loose as a water stream it inflicts damage-free knockback to targets. Mario's old Down-B move, the Mario Tornado, is described as now being one of Mario's normal attacks.

• September 7: "My Music" [91]: On this date, three separate music-related updates are posted simultaneously. This first one reveals a new option called My Music that now every stage has multiple available songs which the player can determine will play by preference, in effect revealing that this game will have much more and varied music than even Melee. Players can even add to the game's list of available music by collecting extremely valuable items called CDs that occasionally appear in battle like trophies and stickers would.
• September 7: "Pokémon: Pokémon Stadium/Evolution" [92]: The second update is a music file that is one confirmed stage music for Pokémon Stadium 2. It is an arrangement of the music heard when players enter Pokémon gyms in Pokémon RPGs, with the Pokémon Evolution theme heard at the end.
• September 7: "Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Main Theme" [93]: The third update is another music file that is the reposting of the previously revealed Super Smash Bros. Brawl main theme.

• September 10: "Munchlax" [94]: Munchlax becomes the first 4th Generation Pokémon to be officially confirmed by Sakurai as being present in the game. In this case, Munchlax is a Poké ball Pokémon, the first one seen in almost two months since the last Pokéball update. When Munchlax is summoned, it goes around the stage looking for items to eat. The example item used happens to be Lip's Stick, thus also confirming its return to Brawl.

• September 11: "Lyn" [95]: The next Assist Trophy to be revealed is Lyn, one of the stars of the first localized game in the Fire Emblem series, aptly titled Fire Emblem and the seventh actual game in the full series. Lyn uses her sword to deliver one devastating strike against an enemy character. The site specifically compares her function to that of Samurai Goroh.

• September 12: "Battleship Halberd" [96]: The stage featuring Meta Knight's airship is finally explained and named the Battleship Halberd well over a year after its first appearance in the first SSBB trailer. The hangar the stage starts out in floats on an ocean, and the battle platform will follow the Halberd as it departs into the sky, and the platform will eventually land on it. The stage will be in the firing range of a double-barreled battery with an arm, first seen in the SNES game Kirby Super Star as a boss, and both the cannons and the arm will assault characters in its way. The battleship itself, but not necessarily the stage, will play a very important role in the single-player Subspace Emissary mode.

• September 13: "Special Brawl" [97]: Reveals the Brawl counterpart to Melee's collection of Special Melees: The Special Brawl system, which is now far more flexibly structured so that you can apply any combination of the special circumstances any way you like, rather than being forced to choose only one special circumstance at a time between them. The name of the type of Brawl match that will play is altered as you select and deselect special aspects for the match. As a rather flamboyant example, the site demonstrates a "Stamina Mega Flower Curry Heavy Slow Angled Brawl": a Stamina-mode-style match where all the characters are permanently large, are inflicted with Lip's Stick flowers, and are under the influence of Superspicy Curry's effect, with the stage's gravity adjusted to high, the game's speed is adjusted to slow, and the camera is at a rigid angle. Many new doors for unusual gameplay are opened.

• September 14: "Ice Climbers" [98]: The famous pair of playable characters from Melee make their return in Brawl with similar but more realistic appearances. Not much is actually said about them other than what the screenshots show.

• September 17: "Golden Hammer" [99]: Reveals both the return of the old Hammer and a new, rarer, and stronger version called the Golden Hammer from the Mario universe. The Golden Hammer is stronger, swings faster, and a swinging character in midair can float if the player repeatedly taps A. Like the old hammer, the Golden Hammer has a malfunctioning mode as well; it's the Golden Squeaky Hammer, which apparently does far less damage and knockback, or possibly even none at all, accompanied by a comical squeaking noise whenever it makes contact with an enemy.

• September 18: "Wi-Fi Play" [100]: This update covers Brawl's situation with the Wi-Fi scene. It allows for two setups of online multiplay: With Friends, allowing you to play remotely with Friends registered in each others Wiis, and With Anyone, allowing you to play with anyone in the world. As a general rule, the gameplay feels slower if your connection with the other wii game is distantly located. The With Friends mode features enhanced content: Not only would you have your "names" on your characters displayed, but you can send in short in-game messages in the form of word bubbles by the characters ("Want more?"), and your name and online identity in the Brawl arena comes complete with an in-game icon you can choose yourself. The update also reveals that while you're waiting for a Wi-Fi match to start, you can kill time by having your character hit the Sandbag on the loading screen.

• September 19: "The Enemies from Subspace" [101]: This update reveals many distinctive classes of the generic enemies you fight in the Subspace Emissary mode. Among the "more powerful" ones are the Roader, Poppant, Bytan, Trowlon, Shaydas, Auroros, Greap, and The R.O.B. Squad, all with their own abilities and threat levels to the player's character.

• September 20: "Piplup" [102]: This update reveals that Piplup, the 4th generation water-type starter Pokémon, will be appearing from Poké Balls. Once summoned, it'll use the attack Surf to slide across to an edge, with anyone caught in the attack dragged on with it.

• September 21: "Snake" [103]: Solid Snake is given an official profile, despite Sakurai's earlier statements that alluded him to being a secret character due to him being from a 3rd Party game. Snake is given a new render, and one of the screenshots show him using a possible grab move on Ike.
• September 21: "Snake: Special Moves [104]: The second update reveals three of Solid Snake's special moves, as well as the nature of a couple of his smash attacks. His Side B move is the Remote Missile, where Snake fires a missile from his Nikita and guides it. Sakurai notes that Snake can defend himself while doing so, so by pressing the shield button, Snake will stop controlling the missile. His Neutral B move is the Hand Grenade. Pressing the special-move button will pull the pin, causing the grenade to explode in a few seconds. Pressing the button again will throw the grenade. The tilt of the control stick will determine how far the grenade is tossed, forward-tilt for a strong throw, no-tilt for a mid throw, and a back-tilt for a soft throw. Finally, his Up B move is the Cypher, a flying reconnaissance camera that Snake can hang from.
• September 21: "Metal Gear Solid: MGS4 Love Theme (Smash Bros. Brawl Version)" [105]: One of the songs for Shadow Moses Island is the Love Theme from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which is actually a PlayStation 3 game set to be released after Brawl for Wii.

• September 24: "Trophies" [106]: Update: Officially reveals the return of the trophy system introduced in Melee, as well as a lot of confirmed trophies in screenshots (such as Ooccoo). As expected, there is a whole new collection of trophies in Brawl that can be collected like stickers and CDs and viewable in a Gallery mode that provides a text description to each character. Added functionality to the Gallery mode provides the ability to custom-arrange the trophies you collect and change/add to more aspects of the background.

• September 25: "Diddy Kong: Final Smash" [107]: The Rocketbarrel Barrage is revealed as Diddy Kong's Final Smash. It makes simultaneous use of the Rocketbarrels and Peanut Popguns Diddy normally uses for his special moves; he "hangs" in the sky by his consistently-firing Rocketbarrels while the Popguns are auto-firing their explosive Peanut projectiles toward the ground for a period of time, during which his X-position can be maneuvered with the control stick. The angle of the stream of peanuts (which as usual can generate small healing items) can be influenced by how he is moved around in midair. The Rocketbarrels intensely explode when the Final Smash is finished.

• September 26: "Mr.Resetti" [108]: In an update both humorous in itself and in its in-game content, famous Animal Crossing character Mr. Resetti is confirmed as an Assist Trophy character. He appears and stands in one spot to provide a lengthy "lecture" on a Smash Bros.-related issue in Animal Crossing-style word bubbles, and characters that step near him get put to sleep. From a gameplay perspective he works just like Bellossom from Melee.

• September 27: "Pokémon Trainer: Final Smash" [109]: Reveals the Final Smash of Pokémon Trainer as the Triple Finish: When the current controlled Pokémon grabs a Smash Ball, the other two Pokémon temporarily appear and all three unleash powerful elemental attacks that combine into one mass of damaging energy. A cosmetic effect is the appearance of a text box on the bottom portion of the screen and displays battle messages in the style of Pokémon RPGs, identifying the names of the powers each Pokémon thematically contributes ("Hydro Pump" for Squirtle, "SolarBeam" for Ivysaur, and "Fire Blast" for Charizard), as well as the trademark "It's super effective!" message seen since the Pokémon series' first games.

• September 28: "Tourney" [110]: Visually showcases Brawl's version of the Tournament mode from Melee, renamed Tourney mode. The most apparent major new feature is the ability to edit the options within the Tourney mode, rather than editing it before you even start the mode. Plus characters seem to have more customization within Tourney mode.

• October 1: "Lucas" [111]: Five weeks after Diddy Kong's reveal, the next brand new playable character to the Smash Bros. series is revealed: Lucas, protagonist of the Japan-only title Mother 3, the spiritual sequel to EarthBound. A rumor states that Lucas was meant to replace Ness in Melee, but time constraints caused the developers to include Ness instead. It is unknown whether he is replacing Ness in Brawl, or if Ness will return, given his role as a playable character in both of the previous games.

• October 2: "Snake Joins the Brawl" [112]: A 1:19 video clip showcasing Snake is posted in this update. The video shows Snake being informed by Colonel Campbell about Mario, and Snake receives orders to give it his all. The video then shows a lot of Snake's moves whilst fighting against Mario. At the end, Snake is sneaking about on Shadow Moses Island, when a surveillance camera spots him. Snake quickly uses Cypher to escape.
• October 2: "Shadow Moses Island" [113]: The Metal Gear stage seen previously in trailers is identified as Shadow Moses Island, primary location of Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation. It takes place in front of the structure in front of the helipad, in an area where the stage is "boxed in" by watchtowers on either side, making it a "caged" stage - but the watchtowers can be destroyed by moves. One of three of the eponymous Metal Gear weapons from throughout the series will appear in the background from time to time, but currently, only two are known, Metal Gear REX, and Metal Gear RAY. Sakurai has stated that the third Metal Gear will be a "slightly newer model." And, as illustrated by three separate smaller video clips, Snake communicates with his Metal Gear-series team members via Codec to talk about key characteristics of his opponents in battle.

• October 3: "Excitebike" [114]: Reveals not one but two separate Assist Trophies in the same update: Excitebike and Lakitu. Both appear as flat pixel art based on their original appearances in old NES games. The Excitebike effect is the appearance of multiple small flat Excitebike sprites racing around the stage, doing damage to whoever is in their way. Lakitu floats in the sky and drops down Spinies like in the old Super Mario Bros., and the Spinies are obviously harmful to the touch even as they crawl around.

• October 4: "Shielding & Dodging" [115]: Continuing the site's Smash 101 coverage of how general Smash Bros. style gameplay goes and applies to this game, this time covering the concepts of Shielding and the three directions of Dodging. No actual new content is confirmed.
• October 4: "Fox: Final Smash" [116]: This subsequent update reveals the Final Smash of Fox: The Landmaster, where he summons a Landmaster Tank onto the stage and goes inside it, so that the tank itself becomes a temporary, giant, and seemingly-invulnerable "playable character" much like Giga Bowser in the Giga Bowser Transformation. The tank can shift around, hover with the Jump button, roll over with the down button (damaging whoever might be standing on top of it safely otherwise), and fire a giant blue laser projectile from its cannon with the A button. It will be hard to turn around into the opposite direction, though.

• October 5: "Team" [117]: Reveals more details about the core gameplay setup of the Subspace Emissary adventure mode, including that some stages have your character teamed with another, and a second player can control the other character for cooperative play. Other major elements of the mode revealed include a world map, playable character selection based on developments within the story, the five available difficulties ("Easy", "Normal", "Hard", "Very Hard", and "Intense"), and some way to power up/upgrade characters which will be explained in later updates.

• October 8: "Zero Suit Samus: Special Moves" [118]: Reveals three of the four Special Moves Zero Suit Samus has: The standard special move is the Paralyzer which stuns the target for a set period of time whose length is determined by how far you charged it up, and you can attack while the opponent is stunned from a charged-up shot; The side special move is the Plasma Whip which is viewable as a longer and stronger version of the side special move of Sheik from Melee with a sweet spot at the tip; and the up special move is the Plasma Wire, which can pull midair enemies down towards her position. The two plasma moves can work as Tether Recovery methods.

• October 9: "Kirby: Final Smash" [119]: Reveals Kirby's Final Smash, first seen in the original trailer, to be Cook Kirby. He summons a pot which causes all opponents to be magically drawn in to it, cooks them up inside the soup, and they are blasted out of the pot with damage. Also, several items come out of the pot ready for use, such as the Superspicy curry and the confirmed returning items Maxim Tomato and Warp Star. Only on the Japanese site, An unrelated song: Shaberu! DS Oryouri NAVI, was also released.
• October 9: "WarioWare: Ashley's Theme" [120]: A music file which is a fully vocalized version of the theme song for the young witch character Ashley in WarioWare: Touched!. This is most likely one of the songs for the WarioWare stage. This song comes in English and Japanese versions, and the readers are pointed at the corresponding page so they can listen to both.

• October 10: "Sonic" [121]: In a series of updates certain to generate headlines across the videogame industry, SEGA mascot Sonic the Hedgehog is revealed to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as a character who emphasizes speed, and also establishing the Sonic universe.
• October 10: "Sonic the Hedgehog Joins the Brawl" [122]: In an update similar to one accompanying Solid Snake's update, this is a 55-second video cinematically depicting the official reveal of Sonic.
• October 10: "Nintendo Conference Fall 2007 Movie" [123]: This other video shows more general new footage.

• October 11: "Sonic: Special Moves" [124]: Reveals three of Sonic's special moves, inspired by classic Sonic platforming games. His Side B is the Spin Dash, a rolling tackle during which he can hop around. His Down B is the Spin Charge, which performs the same effect as his Side B but its speed can be charged up, while he remains stationary. His Up B is the Spring Jump, where a Spring appears under Sonic's feet to propel him upward high and fast. It can be used on or off the ground; if used on the ground, the spring will remain there and other characters can use it.

• October 12: "New Launch and E for All" [125]: A serious update which reveals that the previously announced December release date of Brawl has been pushed back to February 10th in the Americas, to ensure a quality product in the extremely anticipated title. To "make up", the update says that the Los Angeles Convention Center will have an E for All event beginning october 18 where the first ever public playable version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be present, albeit with a limited character selection.
• October 12: "Taking Snapshots" [126]: The Snapshot feature returns from Melee, but with major upgrades - you can now take snapshots anytime during any match while you're paused. It is no longer limited to the form of a separate mode. Also, these snapshots can be easily sent over to and from Friends over Nintendo WFC. It is implied that all or most of the screenshots seen within the many updates at Smash Bros. DOJO!! over the past months were taken with this feature. When viewing the album, there is one mysterious fourth option (After Erase, SD Card, and Send) That has been blurred out just in case the feature turns out to not be implementable in time.