Super Smash Bros. Melee

Release Date: December 3, 2001


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Items play a huge role in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Getting your hands on a baseball bat in a four-player brawl can literally decide the outcome of the game right there -- if you know how to perform smash moves. The key to performing well with any of the offensive items depends on this technique, so read the Basics section to learn how to perform smash hits and throws and practice them in Training mode as much as possible.

Maxim Tomato

Heart Container

Party Ball

A returning favorite, the Maxim Tomato from Kirby's Dream Land series reduces your damage count by 50%. Recovery items are essential, so break off your fight and try to nab them whenever possible.  As any Zelda fan will tell you, this is a good thing indeed. Rather than increasing your health meter, the Heart Container brings your total damage down to 0 if your damage is 100% or lower. This giant pinata-like Millennium Ball will pop open and drop tons of items on the waiting masses. What comes out is determined at random: Self-destruction= 10%, Food 36%, Bob-ombs= 12%, Other: 42%.




Crates contain items, but you need to break the crate to get them. You can either pick up the crate and throw it (control stick determines direction) or break it with punches. The former is slow, the latter a bit dangerous as you could set off an explosive. Barrels are just like crates in that they either contain items or explosives. Since they're round, barrels roll along the ground after you throw them, which is very effective on stages with slopes. So throw them or punch them. Capsules contain items as well, but they will explode 12.5% of the time when thrown at an opponent, so use it as a projectile whenever you can. Since they often contain items, throw it at an enemy, then jump to the impact spot to grab the goodie inside.

Ray Gun


Warp Star

Make Samus and Fox jealous by using hi-tech weaponry with any character. The Ray Gun fires a broad green blast at your enemies, causing small damage and knocking them backwards. Time yourself right and you can knock and "juggle" them off the stage...  This advanced blaster is brilliant. The Superscope (anyone out there still own one?) is basically a laser machine gun that causes damage and knocks opponents backwards. Very effective. Even better, charge it for a few seconds to unleash a powerful smash shot (limit=3).  Taken from Kirby's Dream Land, the Warp Star allows you to quickly smash into an opponent and cause much damage. You can control the direction of where you want to hit by pushing left or right -- just be careful that you don't overshoot the platform and take yourself out. 



Cloaking Device

The Hammer is taken from the original Donkey Kong game and it still does the same thing as ever. Once you pick it up, you give up your ability to double jump, but you will swing this powerful weapon and repeatedly send opponents flying. But the Hammer has its problems. Drop moves like Kirby's Stone can nail a player despite the hammer, and sometimes the item breaks into two, leaving one player stuck with only the stick. The head can be picked up and thrown.  This is the happy little star from the Mario series that bounces across the level until someone touches it. Grab it to become invulnerable for a short time. Chase down your opponents while the music plays and be sure to grab and throw them as they can't do hurt you while you've got star power.

Note that there is another Starman in SSBM: a trophy of the alien Starman from EarthBound. The two are unrelated, of course.

Inspired by Perfect Dark, this camouflage device renders the player invisible to the eye. In the US version, all references to Perfect Dark have been removed (probably because it is an M-rated title and SSBM received a T). The Cloaking Device is an odd little item. While it's not all that effective against computer players, it can create a lot of confusion in multi-player melees -- especially if you roll a lot. Just watch out that you don't lose track of yourself (use your name indicator to find yourself).


Red Shell

Green Shell

This happy little ice block from the original Mario Bros. can be knocked into opponents to damage and freeze them. Very effective on scrolling stages or to hold an opponent in place while you charge a smash move. Like in Mario Kart, the Red Shell is a bit more powerful, as they will stay on a platform, follow opponents and smash into them repeatedly. Unlike Green Shells, Red Shells will home in on random players.  Mario's weapon of choice can be thrown or placed on the ground to damage your opponent and/or knock them off the stage. Green Shells follow the contours of the environment but they don't follow players.   


Home-Run Bat

Beam Sword

Japanese people love to make these long fans out of paper and hit each other on the head. No joke. Just watch some comedy shows on Tokyo TV and pay special attention to what Beat Takeshi does... It doesn't cause a lot of damage, but you can trap an opponent by continuously hitting him left and right.  The Home-Run Bat is a very powerful combat item. Ken Griffey's unofficial bat can again be used to hit people off platforms. With a little bit of practice, you'll be able to hit a home run in no time by performing a smash move with it. Practice smash hits in training or Home-Run Contest to get good.  Like the bat, the Beam Sword can help turn the tides of battle. Everyone calls this one the Light Saber for obvious reasons, but that makes Mr. Lucas mad, so quit it. If you use this laser weapon correctly, you can really whack your opponent high into the air. You can of course pull a Darth and throw this weapon, too. 

Star Rod


Barrel Cannon

Taken from Kirby's Adventure, the Star Rod can be used as a combat weapon for regular hits and smash hits. It's most powerful when Falcon or Sheik use it.

Falcon shoots four stars from the Star Rod while Sheik shoots two. Other characters only shoot one star. 

Here's another new offensive weapon with some hidden powers. You can use the parasol to fight your enemies and throw it at opponents above you. More importantly, though, the parasol mirrors Peach's move as it can help you float back to a safe platform after getting knocked high into the air.  Not to be confused with the standard barrel, you can pick up a Barrel Cannon and throw it at an opponent. The cannon will then trap the player and fire him off into a random direction. The Barrel Cannon first appeared in Rare's Donkey Kong Country. It also acts as a set stage hazard on Kongo Jungle.  

Motion-Sensor Bomb



This GoldenEye-inspired proximity mine does exactly what it did in the original game. It blows up when someone steps on it or touches it (when placed on a wall). The design in the US version was changed from the Perfect Dark style look in the Japanese original.  Bob-omb balances out Link's powerful bomb attack. Throw a Bob-omb at an opponent with explosive effects, or place it on the ground and watch it walk into an unfortunate bystander. Note that Bob-ombs will start to move on their own if left alone for a few seconds.  This spinning thing, which comes from the NES classic Balloon Fight, is placed in the air and will cause anyone who bumps into it to get bumped backwards. A good use is to throw it at opponents close to edges to prevent them from climbing back on. 

Fire Flower

Super Mushroom

Poison Mushroom

The Fire Flower from the Super Mario Bros. series is a returning favorite from the first Smash Bros. game. You still use it to bring down your opponent's powers by breathing fire at them. The Fire Flower is perfect for preventing opponents from jumping back on stage after taking a fall.   Pick up a Super Mushroom (or multiple ones) to quickly increase your size. Larger characters cause more damage and are harder to throw or knock off, so go for the Mushroom whenever you see it. Be careful, though. Some stages can be more tricky for large players. There's a subtle difference here (different color and "angry eyes"), but it's too hard to see when you're in the heat of battle. Pick up a Poison Mushroom and you're instantly shrunk -- which means you're more vulnerable to attacks. Run away until you're big again.

Poke Ball

Bunny Hood

Metal Box

Throw a Poke Ball and you will unleash one of 30 different Pokemon. The effect of the Poke Ball depends on which Pokemon you get, but nailing a player with a Poke Ball already causes damage so be sure to aim well. To find out what Pokemon does what, check the Secrets section.  The Bunny Hood first appeared in Ocarina of Time (although Zelda players will remember Link's bunny form from Link to the Past as well). Like in the Zelda games, the Bunny Hood will give you super-human speed while you wear it. Your jump power is increased as well. BTW: Kirby can drop it by using his taunt. This power-up, taken from Super Mario 64, will turn you into metal for a set time.

Metal characters are much harder to throw off, but they're also slower and have a harder time jumping or recovering after a fall. So stay in the middle of the stage while you're metal.

Screw Attack


Mr. Saturn

If you carry this item in your hand and perform a jump, it will automatically turn into Samus's Screw Attack. You can use this to pay back Samus or use it more efficiently by throwing it at an opponent. Smash someone off the stage, then follow up by throwing the Screw Attack at them -- this will prevent the opponent from using a recovery jump. Alternatively, throw it at an opponent, then charge up an uppercut move and nail the other player.  Eggs are similar to capsules in that they either release items when you break them open or explode on impact. The contents of the eggs vary from stage to stage.

Also, eggs thrown by Chansey are more prone to containing health-replenishing items than weapons, for example. This is of course based on Chansey's health-restoring role in the Pokemon games and the animated TV series.  

This oddball character from EarthBall is quite versatile. Not only can you hurl him at enemies multiple times, he can be used to screw your opponents out of getting an item. When he lands on the ground Mr. Saturn will proceed to walk forward, taking all items he encounters with him. The big difference between Mr. Saturn and other throwable items is that you can pick him up and rapidly toss him again and again. 

Lip's Stick


Smash Coins

Originally taken from the Japanese game Panel De Pon (which formed the basis for Tetris Attack in the US), this magic wand wielded by Lip the fairy causes a flower to sprout from your opponents' head when you hit them with it. It inflicts damage as it grows, but you can get rid of it by wiggling your control stick rapidly.  To quote an old Atari arcade classic: food is good. There are a total of 28 different types of food but they all share one thing in common: they replenish your health a little bit at the time. Pick up food to bring down your damage, but remember that you'll need a whole lot to make a difference. Smash Coins aren't items per se, as they're not available in all battle modes. Smash Coins only appear when you set the melee type to Coin mode. Hit a character and he will drop Smash Coins -- collect them, and whoever has the most coins at the end of the battle wins. That's all there is to it.

What Links Here

Guide part 30

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