TheSuper Smash Brosseries has grown to becomeimmensely popularover the years, but while these chaotic fighting games are very accessible and easy to jump into, they do still have a few hidden mechanics that the player is able to find out for themselves. Some of these were discovered very early on in their games' life cycle, while others would take players years to finally uncover.
Because the objective of theSmash Brosgames is so simple; knock the opponents off the stage to earn points, it means that they don’t really have big and complex tutorials, since someone can learn the basics after just playing a game or two with the AI or their friends. As a result of this, it also means that a ton of unique mechanics are kept secret, but they are all well worth learning about since many of them can have pretty drastic effects on how a match is played out, while others are simply small and quirky systems that can be a lot of fun to play around with.
It’s extremely common for a lot ofSmashplayers to stumble uponthe camera featureaccidentally, and that’s because it’s actually sneakily hidden away in the corner of the pause screen. The camera has actually been a feature sinceMelee, but it is never outright told to the player that they are able to use it during a match. However, it’s still worth taking a few snaps every now and again to reflect on some of the most colorful and outrageous battles in the future.
The camera has been updated forSmash Bros Ultimate, with players now being able to tilt it in different directions to add a bit of artistry to a screenshot, along with there now being sixteen colorful and stylish filters to experiment with to create the perfect collage.
By far the mostdivisive hidden mechanicon this list, and one that single-handedly drove a lot of people away fromBrawl,is tripping. At completely random points during a match inSuper Smash Bros Brawl,a character has a small chance to trip over themselves, leaving them wide open for an attack, or even worse, a Final Smash.
It makes sense that such a feature would be in place for when a character runs over a banana peel or other small items, but it’s jarring why it is able to happen at random to ruin a combo. It might not be as noticeable in a casual setting, but it’s easy to see why this one single mechanic made professionalBrawlmatches sounpredictable, and at times, infuriating.
Chain Grabbing has been a controversial hidden maneuver that has gradually been toned down throughout the games to where it no longer exists inUltimate, with it being at its most effective duringSuper Smash Bros Melee. The way it works is if a character has a grab that throws the opponent up into the air, but doesn’t launch them off the stage, they will be able to keep repeating the grab indefinitely, allowing them to ramp up the enemy’s percentage until they’reready to be smashed off the stage.
While it was very hard to pull off, a lot of players felt that it was far too powerful for its own good, while others were of the opinion that it wasn’t too bad since its difficulty made it quite a rare occurrence. Whether the Chain Grab was intended to be in the games or not still remains a mystery, but there’s no doubt that it was tremendously powerful when it was still around.
Link has been a playable character in theSmashgames ever since the very first entry, and whilehis basic moveset has remained virtually untouchedsince then, Sakurai did add a small detail to hisUltimateiteration which can be very difficult to notice. If Link performs his forward Smash attack where he lunges his Master Sword forward while he has taken no damage, he will actually fire out a bright blue Blade Beam which can act as a projectile.
This is a small but clever reference to theZeldaseries where, in many of the games, Link can similarly fire out these small beams when he has a full life gauge. This is actually incredibly useful since it gives Link yet another projectile to use at the beginning of a match, but it’s a hidden mechanic that, even to this day, many fans still aren’t aware of.
The Footstool Jump is actually quite a peculiar secret technique as, while it’s incredibly useful and can even save a character from an early KO, there’s no mention of it within the games themselves. InSuper Smash Bros Brawl,Wii-U, andUltimate, if a character jumps on another character’s head, they’ll be able to spring off them to elevate themselves higher, while pushing their opponent down in the process.
This is definitelya fun way to troll other players, but it can become a lot more important when two fighters have been knocked off the stage at the same time. If the player can manage to pull off a Footstool Jump on their opponent when this happens, they’ll be able to propel themselves back to safety, while leaving their enemy in the dust.
2Tether Recovery
Super Smash Bros Brawl / 4 / Ultimate
Admittedly, the games do explain what recovery moves are since they’re so important, but this isn’t the case with Tether Recoveries, since they were initially only limited to a handful of characters inBrawl. A Tether Recovery refers to a technique that a character can use to reach a platform from an extremely long distance, which isn’t their up Special move. For example, while Link’s actual recovery move is pretty lackluster if the player presses the grab button, then he will be able to throw out a chain to grapple him back to the edge.
This also goes for characters like Samus, Lucas,and Richterwho all have similar techniques that make it extremely hard to KO them for good if they’re low on damage. A lot of professional players can be seen using this kind of ability, and sometimes, they will even prioritize using characters who have them, since it can literally be life-saving.
1Wave Dashing
Super Smash Bros Melee / Ultimate
Out ofall theSmash Brosgames, there’s no hidden mechanic that has had a bigger impact on the core gameplay, especially from a competitive level, than Wave Dashing. This is a type of movement that is performed by air dodging diagonally into the ground, allowing the character to essentially slide across the floor at a blistering speed to reach their opponent. This strange technique initially popped up inMelee, and while it went ignored for a little while, over time, players began realizing just how powerful it could really be, especially with characters like Fox,who were already lightning-fast.
Wave Dashing was removed from a lot of the games that came afterMelee, but it does actually return inUltimatesince air dodging is also back in the game. Air dodging itself isn’t really explained to the player inSmash Bros Melee, so it can be difficult enough trying to get the hang of it, but if players can get to grips with how it works, they’ll be able to pull off what is undoubtedly the strongest hidden mechanic in the game.
