3/3/08: Secrets of Continuing

This update made notes of what would happen if you got a game over while playing through the single-player modes. If you retry in Classic mode, as well as another hidden mode, you’ll lose coins (the total varies depending on the difficulty level), your score will be cut in half, and then one will be added to your score (to count how many game overs you got). Getting a game over in the Subspace Emissary costs you no coins, but you lose half of the stickers and trophies you collected, the coins you get from beating the level decreases, and you’ll resume playing from the last door you entered.

3/4/08: Donkey Kong’s Special Moves

This update first illustrated that Donkey Kong has several Meteor Smashes - his forward midair attack, his down midair attack, and his Head Butt; the update also showed him walking off the edge while holding someone. The other tactic this update illustrated was the act of Head Butting someone into the ground, then doing a Giant Punch while they’re stuck in the ground.

3/5/08: Item Encyclopedia

Today’s update was an encyclopedia of all 49 items in Brawl - each one accompanied with a picture and a brief description of how it works. Check it out here.

3/7/08: Snapshots Galore

Definitely one of the most unique updates the Dojo has ever seen, and one of my personal favorites. This update offers 108 screenshots sent to Nintendo by Japanese owners of Brawl, and they range from humorous to atmospheric to...humorous again. Absolutely worth checking out here. Sakurai stated in this update that he’d like to do something like this again.

The snapshots update is seriously fun to look at; why can’t we get more stuff like that? How about an update full of custom stages?

Spoiler updates begin here.

3/4/08: 75m

This hidden stage, unlocked by playing 20 Brawls with Donkey Kong, is the third level of the original Donkey Kong arcade game, recreated faithfully for Brawl. Among the stages features are various random items, some fire, and Donkey Kong punching you. Sakurai warns that the level is composed of many platforms with narrow ground; I imagine it’d be easy to fall off.

3/6/08: R.O.B.

One of the later characters you’ll unlock (by playing 160 Brawls, collecting 250 trophies, or progressing the Subspace Emissary) is R.O.B., the Brawl representation of the old NES peripheral, for the game Gyromite. His standard special is the Robo Beam, a straight forward laser beam which can be angled a bit by tilting the control stick. If you use it too often, it’ll fizzle and won’t work, but if you let it sit, it’ll become more powerful. His side special is the Arm Rotor, in which he quickly spins his arms in a circle; if done properly, this move can block projectiles. His up special is called the Robo Burner, and his down special, Gyro, is a move wherein you charge yourself up, then fire a Gyro at high speed. Careful, though, others can use it too when you’re done with it.

I think R.O.B. could be an interesting character choice; I’ll have to try him out too. And I like the 75m stage, it’ll be ridiculous to play on.