March 28, 2001
Hybrid

Smash Brothers 2:
First Exclusive Preview

Everyone should know that Super Smash Brothers for N64 is my all time favorite game... but if you don't, read my review. Anyway, what made this game so great was not only being able to kick Pikachu's ass with a superior icon, but also the depth that not everyone can see. Some people criticized SSB for its simple play mechanics of 1 button moves and no real combo system. There inlies the beauty, for unlike most fighters, SSB does not rely on perfectly timed button executions. Instead, you're forced to "smash" some guy off a platform a certain number of times. How do you do this? The sheer number of ways makes this game so deep. But if you want to hear about them, go read about the original Smash Brothers, because this is the wrong place for that. It's time to tell you about one of the most eagerly anticipated titles in the GameCube lineup. Smash Brothers 2 (name TBA).

Platforms: GameCube, GameBoy Advanced
Developer: Hal Labs (in cooperation with: Sonic Team, Smile Bit, and EAD)
Publisher: Nintendo
Number of players: 8
Supports: Voice recognition, modem/broadband, keyboard, Wavebird
Release Date: TBA

Let's get right down to business. SB2 is light-years ahead of the original. So for all you lazy 'brids that hate skimming paragraphs, here is a list for your convenience:

• 67 playable characters, all from Nintendo and Sega published games.
• Online play for up to 8 players (read more below).
• Special meter for advanced attack moves.
• Team up attacks with special moves for character combos.
• Voice recognition for online play (not recommended for modem users).

Hell, if you want to know the rest, just read...

Table of Contents

• Game Modes
• Gameplay
• Bonuses
• Items
• Arenas
• GameBoy Advance Support
• Fighters

First off is the GAME MODES:

As with the original, SB2 will support a 1 player mode, Vs. mode, practice, and bonus stage modes...

 This time in 1 player mode, depending on the fighter you chose, you are taken through about 25 stages as you progress a virtual library of video games past and present. In between you will find up to 6 bonus stages to test your strengths, and you will be able to save after every 5 rounds. What do you get when you win? Look under BONUSES for that later.

Now in SB2, you can play online with up to 7 of your friends (or total strangers if you prefer). You will meet in an online visual lobby after creating a simple character to represent yourself. You could also chose to meet in a restricted lobby in which you can talk via GameCube controller to up to 3 other people. As in Phantasy Star Online, you can trade guild cards to stalk...er locate other people. A total of 4 people can play SB2 in the number of stages the team leader has unlocked. An optional other 4 people can be watchers who have control of the cheers and hollering from the stands, as well as item select. One lucky watcher will even be able to control the "master hand" and throw people off the arena (depending on the settings made while creating teams). While in play with only 1 person online, you can use the GameCube controller to talk smack in mid-smash move. While playing with 3 other people, you COULD talk via keyboard, but I recommend that for the watchers only. After each match, everyone has the option of just staying and chatting, restarting a game, or going back to the lobby. Also in online mode is team battle and team quest mode (2 players). Same rules apply for the offline version.

Team modes: Once you unlock your teammate (see BONUSES), you have the option of playing team quest with him. Team quest is very similar to 1 player quest, only...you have another guy on your team...*cough* Of course you can also play with the same options in Vs. mode as with SSB.

Finally, not quite a game mode, but remember that history of games SSB had for each character? Well this time it is MUCH more comprehensive. Who ever heard about summarizing Mario within 3 games? Please...

 Return to the Table of Contents...

GAMEPLAY

I'm going to assume we all know how to play Smash Brothers, so I will just get to the new stuff. As usual, items will be randomly dropped all over the play field, and you can unlock a mode called "item select"...use your imagination on what that does. Here are some of the more notable changes:

Remember those long runs where you killed 3 of your friends over and over again and still stayed on the platform with 150% damage on you? Well now you get rewarded my friend. Depending on your settings, once you rack up 1000% damage, you can perform your fighter's "hyper attack" (to learn more about special moves, see FIGHTERS).

You may have noticed that the team modes are more extensive than last time. Another new team feature is "team attacks" Any 2 fighters can do a team attack together, but certain combos can do the most devastating move together. However, a team attack does not add to either one of your special meters.

In the game, items will come out of boxes, barrels, eggs, TV's (whatever those things in Sonic are called), and special areas within arenas.

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BONUSES

There are numerous ways to unlock bonuses. For fighters, most are unlocked when you beat the game with their teammate. HOWEVER, who wants to beat this game that many times? You have the option of just playing Vs. mode 24/7. Once you have played vs. mode 25 times and have gotten at least 300 TKO's with a certain fighter, in comes a new challenger. Other special fighters are a little harder to get...Items and arenas are accessed by unlocking them with certain fighters as well. However, some arenas may take more than that...

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ITEMS

Sure, there were a ton of items in SSB, but not enough...This list will go as follows: All the original items are back, except for some of the lamer ones. The old items are listed first, then the new ones are listed followed by its function.

Old Items

Poke Ball
Bomb-omb
Motion sensor mine
Beam Sword
Hammer - Please note that I hate this item, but it has to be in...
Home Run Bat
Fire Flower
Star rod
Maxim Tomato
Heart Container
Star
Green shell
Red shell

New Items

Spray Can - You can paint a nice little tag on someone and distort their controls. It will also allow their teammates to attack them.
Blue shell - Chuck it, homes in on closest guy for 25% damage.
Flashing Shell (unlock with Yoshi) - Hover on this to trip up people or Yoshi can eat it and stomp the ground or fly.
Feather - Player gets a cape and can fly by continually pressing Jump for about 20 seconds.
Mushroom - Makes your fighter 3 times his size, and hits twice as hard...yeah I know my math...
Speed Boots - Boosts speed for a limited amount of time...don't fall!
Bomchus - Throw it and it homes in on the closest person, takes less damage than bomb-omb.
Turnip - Every game needs its pussy item.
Tetris block (unlock with Kid Icarus) - Throw it down on someone for a devastating 50% TETRIS attack.
Confidence Pills - Increases defense and power for a limited time.
Laptop gun (unlock with Joanna Dark) - Fire off a few rounds or throw it and let it shoot people all around. It detonates when it's out of bullets.
NES Zapper - Like the old Zapper but not as gay. It shoots a steady red beam as you hold B.
Mag (unlock with FOmarl) - Good for 1 photon blast, but not that stupid heal one. If you keep it on you, it slowly increases your special meter.
Lightning shield(unlock with Tails)-not only does it make you invincible, but also drags all opposing team members towards you with shocking results.
Boot (unlock with Toad) - Hop on in and crush people in your way.
Brick - Hey, it's a brick, chuck it...fun fun. Not only is this the best weapon for throwing but it also knocks whoever it hits out cold for 5 seconds.

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ARENAS

If you haven't looked at the character list yet, I commend you. It must be eating you alive. In the beginning, you have access to 10 brand new arenas. As you progress, more will be unlocked. Some ways of unlocking arenas include how long you take to beat the game, how many stock you use, or the sheer number of TKO's.

Casino Night Zone - Bumpers and flippers, and slot machines that dispense items.
Grind Square - Modeled after the city in Jet Grind Radio with plenty to wall jump off of (if your character can do that...)
Venom - StarFox's final confrontation. Andross might be laughing at you and swarms of ships will keep on comin...
Mario Cup - You fight on a race track and in the stands trying to avoid passing cars. The hot air balloon drops items.
Mother Brain Lair - Little metroids fly around and could either help you and drop you to your doom.
Meta Knight's Castle - Kirby's rival: Meta Knight, has a futuristic castle with platforms everywhere.
Fighting Vipers Arena - Barbed wire covers the edges in which you would normally grasp on before you fall.
Bowser's Castle - Lava pits (not like the old Metroid level) and pipes for random teleporting.
Zelda's Castle Marketplace - You're in the market, feel free to kick the dogs and smash the happy mask shop.
Streets of Rage Elevator - The elevator keeps rising and sometimes jams and falls...Dont get thrown out the windows or through the walls.

Unlockable Arenas

Carrington Institute - If you've played the game, you know what this place is like. You can hide in the shatter proof elevator if you want...
Magicant - One word: Trippy. (From Earthbound)
Warehouse 18 - Ryo's job HQ, PLENTY of boxes.
San Francisco - Don't let Gus or BD Joe hit you as you scale the streets of San Fran.
Emerald Coast - Loops if you're fast enough, and TV's all over. Watch out for earthquakes.
Conker's "It's War" - The area outside the Casualty Department. Contains a turret gun for your enjoyment.
Ecco's Ocean - Dolphins can't fight, so give them an arena. Unlike most oceans, this water kills instantly..
The Desk - Remember that little desk from the original Smash Brothers? Well it's back with drawers you can break down into and the polygon fighting team comes by once in a while.
BONUS - Unlock all the original Smash Arenas with a certain glove...

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GAMEBOY ADVANCED SUPPORT

A little cartridge comes with the first 500,000 copies of SB2 and can also be bought at stores for $20. With this cartridge, you can create your own items, have a more comprehensive create a character for online play, scan through character game directories, play mini games, and it could also be used to unlock other characters.

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FIGHTERS

The first 10 teams for Nintendo and Sega have 1 team member unlocked for a total of 20 fighters. The character to the right is their teammate whom you have to unlock (see BONUSES...again...).

In Nintendo's corner, the first 10 teams are:

Mario, Yoshi
Link, Zelda
Kirby, Meta Knight
Samus, Joanna Dark
Captain Falcon, Black Shadow
Fox McCloud, James McCloud
Luigi, Daisy
Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong
Princess Peach, Toad
Pikachu, Mew

In Sega's corner, the first 10 teams are:

Sonic, Tails
Knuckles, Chaos
Beat, Professor K
E-102 Gamma, E-101 mkII
Ulala, Samba
Vectorman, Temjin
HUmar, FOmarl
Jacky, Sarah
Kage, Shinobi
Axel, Blaze

Once you have unlocked all 20 characters from each corner, you then access 5 more characters. Did I mention you have to beat them all first?

Nintendo:

Wario, Waluigi
Banjo+Kazooie, Conker
Ness, Kid Icarus
Lolo, King Dedede
Birdo, Bowser

Sega:

Dr. Robotnik, Robo Sonic
Ryo, Lan Di (Chang Long)
Rune, Alyss
Alex Kidd, Vyse
Nights, Rent-a-Hero

Now you have your main 60 fighters unlocked...Congrats. There are more...eh what the hell, I'll tell you how to get them:

Fierce Diety Link, Ganon - To obtain FDL, you must beat team battle with Link and Zelda, plus have accessed every standard Nintendo character. To unlock Ganon, you must have FDL unlocked, but also beat the GBA version of SB2.

Dural, Pepsiman - To unlock Dural, you must beat team battle with Jacky and Sarah, plus have accessed every standard Sega character. To unlock Pepsiman, you must have Dural unlocked, but also beat all the GBA mini games.

Metal Mario, Super Sonic - Every Nintendo and Sega character must be unlocked, including FDL, Ganon, Dural, and Pepsiman must be unlocked. Once you do this, a new Master quest is unlocked. Beat this with a Nintendo character and get Metal Mario, beat it with a Sega character and get Super Sonic (after beating them of course).

Master Hand - Once you have unlocked Metal Mario and Super Sonic, you can now beat team battle with them to unlock the Master Hand. Don't worry...AI won't suck this time.

That's about it for fighters. I hope that's enough. There's always room for a sequel next year...

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I hope you've enjoyed this little "never gonna happen" game. Who knows, E3 is less than 2 months away now. This is Hybrid reminding you not to conform, be an original.