Smash Remix (v1.5.0)

Smash Remix is the most ambitious ROM hack of Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64 made by a large team of modelers, musicians, stage designers and testers. The latest version as of this post is v1.5.0 (5 Jan 2024), with over twenty new characters and too many new stages to count.

To play the game, you need to download the xdelta patch from the official github or from a mirror on n64squid by using the password “drlinkganonfalco”. Then apply the patch onto a ROM called Super Smash Bros. (U) [!].z64 using delta patcher. Remember to set the ROM settings to 8MB (Expansion Pak) mode to have it run properly.

Versions:

• 0.9 (28 Oct 2019)
• 0.9.1 (24 Dec 2019)
• 0.9.2 (15 Mar 2020)
• 0.9.3b (20 May 2020)
• 0.9.4 (06 Sep 2020)
• 0.9.5 (06 Dec 2020)
• 0.9.7 (11 May 2021)
• 1.0.1 (21 Sept 2021)
• 1.1.1 (17 Feb 2022)
• 1.2.0 (31 Jul 2022)
• 1.2.2 (7 Sep 2022)
• 1.3.0 (2 Feb 2023)
• 1.4.1 (30 Jun 2023)
• 1.5.0 (Current)

New Characters

There are twenty new playable characters (plus some variants of classic characters). Everyone is unlocked from the very start, even the hidden characters from the base game. There are more spaces for even more characters, but that’s reserved for future editions of Smash Remix.

Some of the new characters are clones of already available ones, somewhat like in Smash Bros Melee. However they are not identical to their parent character and not just a model swap like in other mods. Others are de-mixed versions of Melee characters and others are original characters made exclusively for Smash Remix.

Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario plays similarly to his counterparts from future games. Her’s basically just a varied version of Mario with different animations and stats. The biggest difference is that his neutral special is a microvitamin that is affected by terrain more than a fireball, and his up special is a mix of Mario (moves diagonally) and Luigi’s (hits only once)

Young Link

Young link is very similar to adult link, but has a few difference. Most notably is his Up B special which hits several times to make a combo compared to adult link who hits only once.

Since Young Link only uses the Kokiri Sword (compared to Adult’s Master Sword), it also feels as though his attacks are more difficult to connect.

Ganondorf

Ganondorf is one of the most impressive updates to come to Smash Remix. He’s still a clone of Captain Falcon, but so much has been redone to make him feel unique.

The special attacks have his distinctive purple flare and electic effects compared to Falcon’s red explosive attacks.

His smash attacks are also different. He uses what looks like the trident that Phantom Ganon uses in Ocarina of Time.

Another unique thing about Ganondorf is that his icon is the Triforce, but cracked.

Falco

Falco’s basic move set is identical to Fox’s with one major difference: his Neutral B. Fox keeps his Blaster attack like normal, but Falco uses Falco Phantasm which is his (and Fox’s) Side B attack in Melee onwards.

I also think that his Air Down attack has only one hit where Fox’s hits several times. Other than that, they’re pretty similar.

Dark Samus

Dark Samus is a new character from v0.9.1. Again, this a clone of a previous character, Samus.

Her attacks are very similar to Samus’s, except that they tend to focus more on strong single-hits rather than combos. For instance her up-smash and air-forward attack are one hit rather than several with the fame thrower.

Wario

Wario (from v0.9.2) is the first new character in Smash Remix to not be a clone of another. He has his own special moves and animations all throughout.

What I like about him is that his moves seem more based on the Wario Land games than the Warioware games like his Brawl counterpart does. He’s a lot of fun to play.

Metal variants

These are just the metal variants of Mario and Luigi. Metal Mario has been available since v0.9.2 and Metal Luigi has been around since v1.5.0. These version are much harder to knock back, but their increased gravity makes it harder to recover back on the stage.

Lucas

Lucas is a new addition in v0.9.3b. Another clone character (or as Nintendo likes to call them, ‘echo’ characters), he is based off of Ness and has a very similar skillset.

His special attacks differ a little bit but still behave a little bit differently. Neutral B doesn’t leave a flame behind and instead launches the opponent diagonally upward. Up B doesn’t cancel upon hitting an opponent, so you’re vulnerable until it collides with a wall or it times out. Down B does some melee damage and shifts a bit to the front of Lucas.

Most of his standard attacks are different, as they were with Lucas in later installments of Smash Bros. There’s a lot of them and their nuances are hard to describe. To get a feel for them, its best to get a feel for them.

Bowser / Giga Bowser

Bowser was added in on v0.9.4 of Smash Remix. He follows a similar moveset to the Bowsers that came in Smash brothers Melee and later.

A couple of differences that I like is that the Air-Up move is now a combo that shoots some flames after a headbutt, and dash attack is also a combo that tackles and then hits again when Bowser slams on the ground.

What is kind of clever is that though he doesn’t have his Side-B attack (since SSB on the N64 doesn’t have side specials), they instead replaced one of bowser’s throws with a similar jump-in-the-air type throw.

Something I don’t like though is that his Up-B is really hard to pull off and feels very slippery. It doesn’t do much damage and doesn’t launch far so it really leaves you vulnerable if you cast it in the air.

Giga Bowser

Giga Bowser isn’t a separate character per se, but a different ‘skin’ of the character that can be accessed by pressing Up on the D-pad in the character select screen.

He plays a bit different from normal Bowser. Giga is twice as big and deals about 50% more damage in his attacks. I’m not too sure, but I also think that Giga has slower attacks and flinches less than his regular counterpart.

Mad Piano

Based on the character from Big Boo’s Haunt in Super Mario 64, Mad Piano was added in v0.9.5 as an original new character. Unlike all the other new fighters, it doesn’t have its own icon on the selection screen and can only be selected by choosing Luigi and pressing up on the D-pad. (v1.5.0 onward has Mad Piano under Kirby instead)

Neutral-B launches books in an arc, which I think might be aimed either randomly or towards the nearest enemy. It can be spammed to create a stream of books.

Up-B makes Mad Piano jump diagonally. It has a great hitbox and trajectory, but if you use it while on the stage, you won’t be able to grab the ledge if you overshoot.

Down-B is the most interesting attack. It’s a counter-attack, which didn’t appear in the series until Melee. It doesn’t require an attack to be triggered, but Mad piano will gobble up and throw anyone who comes near.

Taking screenshots of Mad Piano was particularly difficult because its body is so huge like in the first picture above.

Wolf

Wolf is new here from his previous appearances in Smash Bros Brawl and beyond. He first arrived to Smash Remix in version 0.9.7.

Like his counterparts from the more modern games, he follows a similar moveset to Fox and Falco, but with its own quirks.

His neutral B attack hits more than once, making it good for breaking frame-specific movements and combos. Rather than charging a fire attack, up B makes Wolf dive upwards in an arc. Down B has a reflector similar to Fox’s except that it doesn’t ‘float’ Wolf when activated in the air.

Conker

Conker makes his way into the fray in v0.9.7 from the cult classic Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Much like Mad Piano, this is his first and only appearance in a Smash Bros game so his build and moveset have been built from scratch.

Conker’s neutral B launches an acorn from a slingshot whose power depends on how long the attack is charges. Up B has him activate his propeller-tail, kind of like King K Rool in Smash Bros Ultimate. Down B throws a timed grenade that explodes after a few seconds for massive damage.

Mewtwo

Mewtwo appears for the first time in v1.0.0, coming all the way from Smash Bros Melee. He has the same moveset as in later games which is very cool considering how unique it is compared to the rest in SSB.

He retains the charging orb, teleport and disable but no confuse. There’s even a whole lot of dark purple boom coming from his standard attacks.

Marth

Marth’s here! The swordmaster (technically a Lord) come to Smash Remix in v1.0.0. As much as I love the polygon model from this post I made many years ago, this one’s looking pretty good too.

His attacks should be familiar to all, except that his neutral B is now dancing blade which has three strikes instead of four. I’m really impressed the Smash Remix team managed to implement this kind of functionality as well as the counter mechanic.

Sonic & Super Sonic

Sonic and Super Sonic join the brawl in Smash Remix from v1.1.0 onward.

The moveset is similar to his Brawl version of the game, most of his special moves involve curling up into a ball for a spin attack, and Up-B launches Sonic up with a reusable spring.

Unlike future iterations of Smash Bros, Super Sonic isn’t a Final Smash version of sonic, but rather a permanent alternate form of Sonic. Super sonic is faster, stronger and jumps higher than regular Sonic. Plus, his alternate colours are meant to represent transformations from Dragon Ball Z and Super.

Sheik

Sheik was first introduced in Smash Bros Melee as Princess Zelda’s alternate form, but this was later changed in Smash Bros 4 to make her into a standalone character. The Smash Remix version of Sheik follows the latter, not being able to transform but instead having Bouncing Fish as her Down-B.

King Dedede

King Dedede makes his way into the fight all the way from Smash Bros Brawl onto v1.3.0 the Nintendo 64. And yes he’s big and clumsy as he should be.

Note that in this version, he’s using Waddle Dee Toss as his down special rather than Gordo Throw, so he more accurately follows his Smash Bros Brawl version.

Marina Liteyears

Marina Liteyears comes from the iconic game for the N64, Mischief Makers in Smash Remix v1.3.0.

Her neutral B dashes forward and grabs/throws an enemy and here up B uses her jet pack to launch herself into the air. She can also use her jet pack to perform multiple jumps in the air.

Down B is a bit more complicated. She first pulls out a bucket (which can hit enemies) and holds it in front of her. Then she collects enemy projectiles in it. Once enough projectiles are caught, she can pull out a powerful bomb item which can blow her enemies (and herself) far off the screen. It works a bit like Mr. Game and Watch’s bucket special.

Shake, shake!

Goemon

Goemon makes his way into the battle in v1.4.0 all the way from the Mystical Ninja franchise. He comes with his own stage too, Edo Town.

His neutral-B charges and throws a powerful coin, and unlinke other characters, he can strafe while charging it up. Up-B summons a cloud that moves like a Lakitu cloud. His down-B extends his kiseru for a long-ranged attack that pulls him towards the target.

Slippy Toad

In v1.4.0, the Star Fox roster is finally complete with the additions of Slippy and Peppy.

Slippy has a similar moveset to the other characters, except that his blaster is slow and powerful, his up-B moves in an arc and his down-B reflects and slows projectiles.

Peppy Hare

Peppy joins the fray in v1.4.0 along with Slippy to complete the Star Fox team.

His neutral-B is a mixture between Fox’s and Sheik’s. You have to charge it for a few seconds and then it will shoot a barrage of blasts. Up-B has a longer range but lower damage than Fox’s. Down-B drops a flash trap which if struck or after waiting a few seconds, it explodes, stunning nearby enemies for a free hit.

Banjo & Kazooie

In v1.5.0, we get two characters who are no strangers to the Nintendo 64 – Banjo and Kazooie. Their A button moveset is very similar to what you’d find in Smash Bros Ultimate, but their special attacks are quite different.

Neutral B shoots an egg like normal, but Up B uses Fly/Beak Bomb in a 2-step attack, kind of like Pikachu’s Up-B. The Down B is also replaced with Beak Barge on the ground and Beak Buster in the air.

Ebisumaru

Ebisumaru comes in as an aternate version of Goemon, with a lot of the same moves as him but different specials. First added in v1.5.0.

Neutral B swings a hammer which if it connects successfully, it drops a healing dango item. Up B flaps upwards in a floaty motion and Down B does a ground pound.

Dragon King

The character representing the alpha version of Super Smash Bros makes his way into Smash Remix in v1.5.0. You can select him as the alternative Captain Falcon.

Dragon King has a similar moveset to Falcon, but with a few changed here or there. His neutral B now creates a large energy ball and Down B pounds the floor with a shockwave. An airborne Up B lunges upwards looking for a player to grab and then smashes them down, while on the floor it looks to grab without lunging. If it connects with an enemy, it will recover some damage.

New Stages

There are 33 new stages in Smash Remix as of v0.9. They come in a variety of different flavours, but each one has at least something unique about it. While the original Super Smash Bros stages had some sort of interactivity, most of these are more like a series of stylised platforms.

Meta Crystal

This is the stage where you fight Metal Mario in the 1-player ‘classic’ mode. The music that plays is the same.

Meta Crystal is a bit too small for four players, I think it’s just meant to be for a classic 2-player combat.

Duel Zone

Duel zone is the stage where you combat the Fighting Polygon Team in the classic campaign. It’s essentially this game’s version of Battlefield.

Final Destination

“1v1 Final Destination, no items” is the classic Smash Bros challenge of wits and skill. In the first Smash Bros this stage was only used for fighting Master Hand, but is now available in multiplayer mode.

This stage has the original intro music, but it doesn’t transition to the normal track.

Mini Yoshi’s Island

Mini Yoshi’s Island is identical to the classic one, but without the clouds floating about.

First Destination

Ever wanted to play on the table from the intro sequence? Well now you can. It’s pretty much a Final Destination clone with a different style.

V1.4.0 saw the release of a remixed version that now has the post-snap level design.

Showdown

Didn’t get enough of the intro with First Destination? Finish the battle in the Showdown between Mario and Kirby.

This stage is huge, making it very hard to get a KO so get ready for a long battle.

Battlefield

Battlefield is identical to Duel Zone. It just has a lighter tone and a different background, copying the style of the Smash Bros Brawl.

Crateria

Crateria is a stage added in Smash Remix v0.9.1. It’s a Battlefield stage with a Metroid theme. Up until v1.2.0 it was known as Zebes Landing.

In v1.4.0, a remixed version was added.

Ganon’s Tower

The first original stage, Ganondorf’s home stage is based off of the final level of Ocarina of Time. It’s a battlefield-style level with a narrower bottom platform.

In 1.4.0 the graphics were updated.

Spiral Mountain

N64 fans have been rejoicing since Banjo and Kazooie have been joining the fight in Smash Bros Ultimate. This stage doesn’t rotate like the one on the Switch, but it does have a Battlefield layout with a narrow bottom platform.

Cool Cool Mountain

Cool Cool mountain is based off of the Super Mario 64 stage of the same name. This level is unique in that it has a central pit where you can fall to your doom, and which tends to make CPU players commit suicide.

Deku Tree

Young Link’s native stage is a Battlefield variant with a Kokiri Forest motif to it. The way the Great Deku Tree stares in the background makes it look like he’s going to blow wind like in Kirby’s stage.

In v1.4.0, the stage had a remix version which now has a hollow log and a slanted platform.

Dr Mario’s Stage

Of course Dr. Mario needs to have a native stage. It’s similar to Battlefield, but without a top platform. The contrasting bright colours make me feel a little bit sick but I do love the platforms made out of three megavitamins that you can jump on to.

In v0.9.2, they updated the stage to look like Dr. Mario’s desk, which removes the eyesore but keeps the same platform arrangement. This reminds me of the First Destination stage, with the tilted megavitamin leaning on an arrangement of pills and books.

Bowser’s Stadium

Bowser’s Stadium was added in V0.9.1. It’s a flat level, following in the footsteps of the Bowser battle from Super Mario 64.

As of v0.9.3, there are bombs just above the ledges that explode when you approach them.

N64 Stage

The N64 Stage is one of the most difficult stages to play since there aren’t any ledges around the logo, and it tricks you into thinking that you can stand on the middle ‘tops’ of it.

It’s still quite fun to play on a stage where you can barely keep your balance, let alone land a hit.

Mad Monster Mansion

Mad Monster Mansion is based off of the Banjo Kazooie level of the same name. This stage is one of the most interesting in that it has a solid window block in the middle that separates the stage into more or less two halves.

What becomes a bit confusing is that it looks like you can jump onto the wooden section below, but it’s just a beginner’s trap.

Muda Kingdom

Muda Kingdom is a stage based off of levels 4-6 of Super Mario Land on the Game Boy. It has a very unique platform configuration and a pipe on the left hand side.

This is one of my favourite stages since I have a soft spot for Super Mario Land and the weird platform placement makes for an interesting battle.

The pipe doesn’t take you anywhere, it’s just an obstacle to fight on.

In v1.0.0, the Muda Kingdom got an alternate version with a Game Boy frame.

Mute City

Captain Falcon never had a stage in Super Smash bros, but now in Smash Remix he does! It’s a Battlefield clone, but unlike its more modern counterparts, the background is static.

The stage was revamped in v1.1.0 to have two floating platforms rather than the Battlefield style the first version had. This makes it more like the Mute City SNES stage from SSB 3DS/Ultimate.

How to Play

If you stay on the title screen long enough, you get a little animated tutorial where they show ou the basics of playing Super Smash Bros. Never in a million years did I think that it would ever be playable, but here it is.

It’s just a flat stage with one platform off to the side.

Dragon King

Dragon king was the game that came before Super Smash Bros, a fighting game developed by HAL Labs but was cancelled and retooled into the Smash Bros we know and love.

The stage itself is based off of footage from Dragon King and is a Battlefield Clone that extends till the edge of the map.

Frosty Village

Added in v0.9.1, this stage is a frosty village. It is based off of a stage from Diddy Kong racing (Thanks to ReptilDepredador for pointing this out).

Fray’s Stage

Fray is one of the people who worked on Smash remix, they worked as a designer and gameplay developer.

The stage itself is a Battlefield clone made of white clouds with a sunset in the background.

Dream Land Beta 1 & 2

Dream Land Beta 1 is a simple Battlefield stage which thematically is very similar to the original Dream land stage in vanilla Smash Bros. These two stages were originally in the game’s code as unfinished stages that were used during development. (Thanks to BaffleBlend for pointing this out)

This stage is quite hard to play because you grab on to every platform there is. It’s almost impossible to do any air attacks because of this.

Dream Land Beta 2 on the other hand is the only stage in Smash Remix to have moving parts. There is a little log on the left that moves along a U-shaped path on the left, and two vertical logs that move side to side on the right side of the stage.

Unfortunately, Beta 2 is very buggy and causes some frame skips and even crashes.

Warioware Inc

Warioware Inc is based on Wario’s home stage from Smash Bros Brawl. This version doesn’t have the microgames, but it does have the same style and platform configuration.

Kalos Pokémon League

This is a remake of the stage from Smash 4 and Ultimate, which is based on the final bosses from Pokémon Gen 6. Kalos League doesn’t have any moving parts, so it’s just the theme that you’re getting.

It’s still very detailed and very faithful to the original.

Pokémon Stadium II

Based on the stage from Melee, this stage has two platforms on the same level and the big Pokéball drawing in the middle.

Tal Tal Heights

This stage is based off of Tal Tal Heights from Link’s Awakening. The stage is almost a Battlefield clone, but its outer platforms are slightly slanted.

Smashville

Smashville is Smash Remix’s Animal Crossing stage. It’s Battlefield-esque, but without the two outer platforms and just one in the middle. In that way, it’s kind of like a flat Meta Crystal.

Mementos

Mementos is a remake of the stage of the same name in the Smash Bros Ultimate DLC package for Persona. It’s also a bit light battlefield, but with an uneven bottom platform and a missing right-side platform.

Corneria City

This is one of the most impressive looking stages in the hack. It follows the footsteps of the stage from later Smash Bros games with three almost-equal platforms atop a space ship.

Be careful though – the bottom platform looks like you can go through from below, but you can’t!

Great Bay

Great Bay is based off of the Melee stage of the same name, and it’s great to see it playable on the same console that brought us Majora’s Mask.

The strange platforms do confuse the AI and it did crash on me a couple of times.

Fountain of Dreams

This stage is the same as the one from Melee, minus the shifting platforms. The music also seems to be like a MIDI rendition of the original.

Tower of Heaven

This level is based on a stage from Super Smash Land, a demake of Smash bros in a gameboy style.

Mushroom Kingdom Battlefield and Final Destination

These two levels are simply Battlefield and Final Destination with a coat of paint to make them look like the unlockable Mushroom Kingdom level in the original.

Delfino Plaza

Introduced in v0.9.1, this is a stage with one large central platform and a wide platform floating low on top of it. It’s of course based on the hub world stage from Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube.

Peach’s Castle II

This stage introduced in v0.9.1 is based on the Peach’s Castle stage from Super Smash Bros Melee. It’s called “II” because Smash 64 already has a Peach’s Castle stage natively (the one with the sliding lower platform).

In v1.4.0 this stage was overhauled and now has moving platforms.

Corneria

This is pretty much identical to the Sector Z level in Smash 64 with a few differences. The background is of course Corneria, but besides that there are no Arwings, nor does the laser beams shoot (or even act as a platform).

Corneria was added in v0.9.1.

Big Blue

This stage introduced in v0.9.1 was first the static level you see on the left, but was updated to the version on the right in 0.9.2. This version has moving cars from F-Zero and a floor that pulls you to the left and burns when you touch it. There is also a motionless and hazardless version available, but who would want that?

Onett

The last stage on the list from v0.9.1, this is Ness’s home turf, literally. It doesn’t have any of the cars flying by, but all the platforms and obstacles are recreated beautifully. The only thing it’s missing is the tree on the left-hand side of the stage. From v0.9.3 onwards, this stage has a taxicab hazard that can be activated.

One thing I love about this stage in particular is that the music is the actual Onett theme playing.

Glacial River

Glacial river is a stage introduced in v0.9.2. It somewhat resembles Meta Crystal with its single upper platform and indented lower platform, but a bit more symmetrical.

In v1.3.0, a remix version of the stage was added which flattens out the indented lower platoform.

Kitchen Island

Kitchen Island is the setting for Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land, and it makes its first appearance in Smash remix v0.9.2. It consists of four floating islands on propellers, and Wario’s biplane dragging a pile of gold.

I love this stage because it keeps with the theme of this game’s Wario coming from Wario Land rather than Wario Ware (even though that has its own stage).

Kitchen Island v2

In Smash Remix v1.0.0, this stage was redone to be a bit more symmetrical. It now features a large central island with floating propeller platforms on both sides that shift up and down.

Personally I like the moving propellers, but I prefer the strange structure of the plane pulling the island from previous versions.

Hyrule Temple

This level is based on the stage from Super Smash Bros Melee and has a lot of the same platforms and obstacles. If you’re at high damage, stick to the bottom caves for extra protection! This stage was introduced in v0.9.3.

New Pork City

Introduced in v0.9.3, this stage (I suppose) is meant to be Lucas’s home stage. It has two platforms above the edges of the stage, with the higher one jutting outwards a little. The tower in the background is just for show.

Smashketball

This has to be my favourite level from the v0.9.3 batch if not all of Smash Remix. The stage isn’t designed like any other in the game, it has walls on the left right and top so the only way to KO is to fall to the bottom. However, there are two of Donkey Kong’s barrels in the corners that shoot you to your doom if you fall into them.

Norfair

This one’s naming is a little odd. The stage is called Norfair, but it doesn’t look like the Norfair from Brawl, but rather the Brinstar stage from Melee. It doesn’t have the detachable platforms, but it does have rising lava if you have hazards enabled. This stage is from v0.9.3.

Kongo Falls

This stage comes from Smash Bros Melee and was first introduced in v0.9.3 and later updated in v0.9.4. It has the same platform arrangement and even the rescue barrel on the bottom of the screen. It is missing the little rock platform on the bottom-right of the stage though.

Nice midi remix of the DK rap. It’s finally here, performing for you!

Flat Zone I and Flat Zone II

These are replicas of the levels from Melee and Brawl, introduced in v0.9.3. They’re both static, so the platforms don’t switch positions as the level advances.

I particularly like the house section in Flat Zone 1 in how it’s tilted on both sides and still has a gap between it and the platform to the left.

Osohe Castle

This v0.9.3 stage is based on the location from Mother 3, so it is another contender for Lucas’s home stage. It Has a large ground and tall walls on the edge so it makes recovery very difficult. This stage was probably meant for longer matches with higher damage percentages.

Yoshi’s Story

This is another Yoshi’s Story-based stage. It has a Battlefield layout with the side platforms sticking out a bit. What makes this stage unique is that there is a rail under the stage that has a cloud platform that you can ride on. It’s small and very had to land on so it’s not very practical, but it opens up a lot of possibilities for new stages.

This stage was released in v0.9.3 of Smash Remix.

Gerudo Valley

This v0.9.3 stage is based off of the location from Ocarina of Time. The platform placement in the stage is quite curious, they’re so close together that you can attack the upper-left platform from the one under it very easily.

Goomba Road

This is a fairly standard stage from v0.9.4, it has a sort of inverted-battlefield style of floating platforms which is nice if that’s the kind of configuration you’re looking for.

World 1-1

World 1-1 comes straight out of the pages of Super Mario Bros on the NES, and follows the mushroom kingdom stages from later Super Smash Bros games.

It’s a scrolling stage that takes you through the entirety of World 1-1, the stage loops once every two minutes. It was introduced in v0.9.4.

Bowser’s Keep

Bowser’s Keep is a new level introduced in v0.9.4 alongside Bowser and Giga Bowser. It has a large central platform and two smaller platforms floating over the ledges.

The two side platforms disappear and reappear over time, so be sure to watch your step!

Rith Essa

Coming from Jet Force Gemini, this stage has two side platforms and a small central platform, with the abyss existing only in the middle. It first appeared in v0.9.7.

Venom

This stage has appeared in later Smash Bros entries, it’s Wolf’s home turf new to v0.9.7. You fight on the Great Fox head-on using its wings as platforms and occasionally arwings appear to shoot and cause a ruckus.

Windy

Conker’s home world has a risen platform with a tall and steep stone wall to the left, and a rotating windmill with platforms hanging off of each of its sails. It’s good fun to play on a stage that has all the moving parts and obstacles from v0.9.7 onwards.

DataDyne

Perfect Dark sends us the DataDyne stage in v0.9.7. A simple stage with two floating platforms off to the side. What makes it interesting is that there are floodlights in the foreground which get in the way (but not too much) and flying cars that pass by every once in a while.

Planet Clancer

Planet Clancer was introduced in v0.9.7 and represents the Mischief Makers lovers on the Nintendo 64. It’s another fairly simple stage with two platforms, but there are blocks that jut out the bottom of the platform which can either aid your recovery, block it, or prevent a meteor kill.

Jungle Japes

Coming from Super Smash Bros Melee to v1.0.0 (and originally from DK64, I presume), this stage has one large central platform and, outer ones and a river flowing below. The fun bit about this stage is trying to recover from the unpredictable gaps in between the platforms.

Castle Siege

Castle Siege comes from Smash Bros Brawl for v1.0.0 and is here to represent the new Fire Emblem character, Marth. I played it for a bit and it is lacking the inner-castle section though, but it’s nice to have either way.

Yoshi’s Island 2

Smash Bros Brawl sends us this stage for version v1.0.0. It has one large central platform with two ascending/descending platforms to each side.

Green Hill Zone

Green Hill Zone (v1.1.0) is a stage based on the iconic first level from Sonic the Hedgehog. It features a central area with a single swinging platform above it.

Subcon

Subcon (aka Mishroom Kingdom II) comes to us from Super Smash Bros Melee, based on the world from Super Mario Bros 2 / Doki Doki Panic and new in v1.1.0.

It doesn’t have Birdo coming around and shooting eggs, but there are falling logs and Pidgit carpets flying around.

Pirate Land

Pirate Land is a stage based off of the board from Mario Party 2 from v1.1.0. It’s a fairly wide stage with two platforms over the edges.

There is a pirate Shy Guy ship in the background which fires cannonballs at the players. Be careful, they’re strong!

Casino Night Zone

Casino Night Zone is a new stage coming all the way from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, new with v1.1.0.

The stage comes with two smaller areas on each side and three pinball bumpers above the stage. The idea is to knock your opponents into the bumpers so they bounce down into the gaps in between the stage sections.

There’s also a slot machine that runs once or twice per minute, but I don’t think it really does much besides change the sonic/tails icons into other symbols and back.

Metallic Madness

The last stage to be included in v1.1.0, Metallic Madness is another stage from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, this time from Sonic CD. There’s a central stage with one platform and two floating columns that move up and down.

Rainbow Road

This stage from v1.2.0 is based off of the Rainbow Road level from Super Mario 64. Similar to stages in later iterations of Smash bros, the platforms travel to different areas, giving it a very dynamic feeling.

Toad’s Turnpike

Another moving stage from v1.2.0, Toad’s Turnpike has you jumping on vans, cars and trucks in motion over a dangerous road. Lakitu even makes an appearance to bring some small platforms around.

Mt. Dedede

Coming from v1.3.0, Mt. Dedede has a walled central area where you can fight while cheered on by Waddle Dees.

Dracula’s Castle

Dracula’s castle makes its way into Smash Remix in v1.3.0 based on the iconic setting of the Castlevania series. The remixed version of the stage flips the platforms around for a more disorienting experience.

Edo town

New in v1.4.0, this is Goemon’s home stage. It has a distinctive vertical wall in the centre of the stage.

Twilight City

Twilight City from Wave Race 64 was added in v1.4.0, and has a bunch of platforms floating atop water which drags you down to your doom.

Melrode

This v1.4.0 stage from Quest 64/Holy Magic Century has four platforms in front of a picturesque background.

Scuttle Town

Hailing all the way from the world of Shantae, this v1.5.0 stage has many different asymmetric platforms which can lead to a hectic battle.

Big Boo’s Haunt

This takes place on the roof the spookiest Super Mario 64 level. If you enable movement, you get some ascending platforms on either side of this v1.5.0 stage.

Dinosaur Land

Dinosaur Land makes it way back from Smash Bros Melee (where it was known as Yoshi’s Island) onto v1.5.0 of Smash remix. The main difference is that the blocks don’t rotate when you strike them, but rather on a timer.

Spawned Fear

Spawned Fear is level 18 of DOOM, an interesting choice for a Smash Bros stage. Introduced in v1.5.0, this stage has a goo/lava floor on the bottom section which doesn’t cause damage but just provides a cool effect.

Poké Floats

Also making its way into v1.5.0 from Melee, Poké Floats includes a series of floating Pokémon balloons that you need to jump from to keep from dying. The default setting just has you fight on the initial Squirtle, so be sure to set movement:on on the stage select screen.

Big Snowman

The only level to hail from Snowboard Kids. Added in v1.5.0, this stage has two ski lift stations that you can fight on, and moving ski lift platforms between them. There’s also a couple of ledges in the middle in case you miss your mark (or for some close-quarter combat).

Remix stages

Some stages have remix versions to them. In some cases they are just older versions of the stage, other cases it’s the Battlefield/Final Destination version and others are completely new.

New items

From v0.9.5 there are new items added to Smash Remix.

Super and Poison Mushroom

The Super and Poison Mushrooms have the same function as in later games. The Super Mushroom makes you bigger, meaning that all your hitboxes are larger, but you have flinch and launch resistance.

Poison Mushrooms are the opposite; you are harder to hit but you get launched farther after each hit.

Cloaking Device

The cloaking device was added in v0.9.5. It cloaks you for a short period, making it more difficult for enemies to aim their hits and telegraph your attacks.

Pitfall

From Animal Crossing to Smash Bros Brawl to Smash remix, this item sticks to the ground as a trap and waits for someone (even the original user) to step over it and fall into the ground.

Golden gun

The Golden Gun from Goldeneye makes its way into Smash Remix as a shooting item. Like in the original game, it only has one bullet. But that bullet guarantees an instakill.

P-Wing

The P-Wing makes it way from Super Mario Bros 3 onto Smash Remix v1.5.0. Like in the original game, it allows you to ‘fly’ by infinite jumping.

Dango

A new healing item was added in v1.5.0 which can either spawn randomly on the stage or be generated by Ebisumaru’s successful Neutral B attack.

Additional features

There are some extra features that they added on top of players and stages.

Single-player modes

There are a few new modes added in to Smash Remix single player mode. You can now play the 1P game with the new characters, and they all come with their own bonus stages.

You can also practice bonus 3 (Race to the finish) with any character.

Multi-man and Cruel multi-man follows from this same mode which is a one-life endurance round to kill as many fighting polygons as possible before dying.

There is also a separate ‘Classic’ Remix mode where you can fight all kinds of characters rather than the he predetermined lot from the original SSB.

As of v1.2.0, a second player can take control of the enemy in classic mode by pressing the Z-trigger at the character select screen. This disables scores.

12-Char Battle

Introduced in v0.9.4, this is a mode that I don’t think exists in any other SSB game.

In the 12-Char Battle, you pick out a team of 12 characters for a stock match. Then the game plays out 1v1 matches that end when one player’s stock runs out, and the winner can carry their stock to the next match.

For example, look at the screenshot above. In this match, I won vs Ness, but then lost my Falco and Young Link to Captain Falcon. His 1 stock from the last battle carries on to the next match.

It’s great because it encourages you to play for survivability even if you have more stock than your opponent for each individual match.

All-star

In v1.0.0 we got a new mode taken from Melee and beyond. It’s the all-star mode where you fight every fighter in the game. First 1v1, then 1v2, then 1v3 and finally a battle against a swarm of the same fighter.

The order in which you fight the enemies is random, where in the other games it was in order of the character’s first appearance in any game. There are a few characters that won’t appear, and those are the ‘variants’ like Metal Mario, Giga Bowser or Mad Piano. Variants like Young Link and Dr Mario do make an appearance though.

Like in classic mode, you can choose between very easy to very hard, and one to five lives. You get three heart containers so be sure to let them heal completely before entering the portal or else they won’t heal.

Home Run Contest

Version 1.1.0 introduces us to the home run contest. Like in later games in the series, the objective is to damage the sandbag as much as possible before smashing it out with the home run bat.

Scoreboard

If you press the A button on the score screen, it shows a breakdown of the match’s stats. It’s interesting information to have, but it only started (officially) appearing in Melee.

Difficulty

The CPU characters are more powerful than their original counterparts. As of v1.3.0, there is even a max level of 10 reserved for those who really want to suffer.

Options

The options screen in the main menu is accompanied with a new set of settings that can be used to change the way the game operates.

The music menu allows you to select which stages have music enabled and whether that music is native to the stage or random.

The stage menu shows which stages will be included when ‘Random’ is selected from the stage select screen.

Player skins

Introduced in v0.9.7, you can choose character appearance from the character selection screen. You can choose size, visibility, skeleton mode and knockback angle randomness. Well, it was there before, but in the options menu and was applied globally to all characters involved.

Remix Settings

These are a bunch of settings that they added to customise the way that Smash Remix plays.

• Color overlays
• Disable cinematic camera
• Flash on Z-Cancel – Creates a small flash when you Z-cancel successfully

• FPS display – Displays the frames per second in the corner of the screen.
• Special model display – changes the game models to their hitbox, ECB and skeleton models (moved to the character select screen in v0.9.7)

• Hold to pause – makes it so that you have to hold the Start button for a second before the game pauses. Good for avoiding accidental pauses.
• Improved combo meter – Counts combos as you play the game in all modes
• Tech chase combo meter
• 1v1 combo meter swap
• Improved AI
• Neutral spawns
• Skip results screen – What it says on the tin
• Stereo sound – self-explanatory
• Stock Handicap – Ignores stock settings, each character’s life stock now equals their handicap.
• Salty runback
• Widescreen
• Japanese hitlag – chenges the hitlag to how it was in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros
• Momentum slide
• Random select with variants – When stages have variants, it chooses one at random

Hazards Switch

On the level select screen, there is a switch that allows you to turn hazards on and off. This turns on some hazards like the wind in Kirby’s Dream Land, taxis in Onett or lava in Norfair.

Pause rotation

When pausing in the middle of a match, you can rotate the screen around in 360 degrees, rather than stopping at about 45 degrees as of v0.9.1.

Final Thoughts on Smash Remix

Smash remix is one of the best hacks of Super Smash Bros there is. It has new characters, new maps… enough to keep you coming back for a while.

If anything could be improved, I’d say they could put a bit more variety to all the Battlefield clones, even just shifting the platforms a bit makes a big difference. Also putting a bit of interactivity would be great, Dream Land Beta 2 managed to do this a little bit, but more work needs to be done. Even if it’s just for aesthetic purposes.

Also, every character has a home stage now except Ness. Surely we can have Onett somewhere?

Though to be honest these are just minor complaints. I can’t wait for V1.0 to be released.