Super Smash Bros. Crusade is a large project built from the ground up and started by three Smash Bros. fans: Phantom7, Falcon8r, and Dr.MarioX. Their goal is to create a Smash Bros. game packed with characters and stages from the most memorable video games of all time and create a Smash Bros. experience that combines the greatest features from the Smash Bros. series.
Gameplay
The main objective in the Super Smash Bros. series is to defeat the other players by knocking them out of the arena. As players accumulate damage (represented by a percentage), they fly off the stage when launched by attacks. When players have high amounts of damage (over 100%), they are easy to knock out. In Super Smash Bros. Crusade, the gameplay is very similar to the past Smash Bros. installments, but it has other elements taken from other traditional fighting games.
Characters
The Characters are fighters that represent the universe that they belong to. There will be at least eighty characters shown on the character select screen in the Final Game, all with unique moves. Fifty (Sixty-three if you count the alternate forms) of these characters are veteran fighters from a previous Smash Bros. titles.
There are 2 types of characters based on availability: Starters, which are available from the beginning, and Unlockable characters, which are required to be unlocked through a unique method.
Starters
- Mario/Dr. Mario
- Luigi/Weegee
- Peach
- Toad
- Bowser
- Rosalina & Luma
- Wario
- Yoshi
- Donkey Kong
- Diddy Kong
- Link
- Zelda/Sheik
- Samus/Zero Suit Samus
- Pit/Dark Pit
- Palutena
- Ike
- Robin
- Kirby
- King DeDeDe
- Meta Knight
- Little Mac
- Saki
- Fox
- Krystal
- Pikachu
- Charizard
- Lucario
- Ice Climbers
- Lucas
- Captain Falcon
- Villager
- Olimar/Alph
- Shulk
- Sonic
- Tails
- Knuckles
- Mega Man
- Ryu/Evil Ryu
- Chun-Li
- Pac-Man
Unlockables
- Petey Piranha
- Bowser Jr./Koopalings
- Waluigi
- Ashley
- Geno
- King K. Rool
- Ganondorf
- Toon Link
- Morshu
- Tingle
- Ridley
- Marth/Lucina
- Roy
- Gooey
- Isaac
- Falco
- Wolf
- Jigglypuff
- Mewtwo
- Pichu
- Snivy
- Greninja
- Sceptile
- Duck Hunt Duo
- R.O.B
- Mach Rider
- Mr. Game & Watch
- Ness
- Porky
- Solid Snake
- Heavy Weapons Guy
- Bomberman
- Shadow
- Ristar
- Rayman
- Crash Bandicoot
- Spyro
- Gill Grunt
- Phoenix Wright
- Klonoa
Stages
Stages are the arenas in which matches are held. They represent locations from different video games, similar to the character representations. Each stage has different sizes, layouts, and hazards.
Game Modes
In SSBC, there are two main game modes: 1-Player Mode and Crusade. 1-Player Mode is for Break the Targets and Board the Platforms which has been presented in the Super Smash Bros. games.
Before starting Classic, players can set the number of lives, (from 1 to 5), and the difficulty (from Easy to Intense). If players lose all of their lives, the game is over, and players may choose to continue; however, 1/3 of their current scores are deducted.
Score is kept over the course of Classic Mode and is awarded at the end of a match through Bonuses. These Bonuses are awarded based on damage done and time remaining. An extra bonus is given for clearing a match without taking any damage. Also, a No-Miss bonus is given after every level that a player has cleared without losing a life, and this bonus increases if the player is on a "streak" of levels without losing (not including Bonus Stages).
Break the Targets
In this mode, players can practice the Break the Targets bonus game. The objective of Break the Targets is to destroy red targets as fast as you can.
Story Mode
A story mode is currently in the works, but it is neither confirmed nor an idea finalized.
Versus Mode
Versus Mode, or Crusade, is simply a free battle mode where players can use custom rules and settings to play any kind of battle. The VS Settings can be accessed by pressing A while the P1 or P2 cursor is above the text field at the top of the Character Selection Screen.
Stock Match
Stock is the "last man standing" mode, where players have a set number of lives. The last player on the stage with any lives remaining is the winner.
Time Match
Score is kept throughout the match based on KO's, Falls, and Self-Destructs. The player with the highest score after the set time limit wins the game. Score Display in the VS Settings screen will toggle the display of the score number during the game.
Stamina Match
Stamina is like Stock in that it's a survival mode, but this time, players have Health Points (HP) that are depleted when characters are hit by attacks. The power of attacks does not increase with damage level in this mode, so the matches involve simply dealing enough damage to finish off opponents rather than blasting them out of the arena.
Team Mode
Any of the above matches can be played on teams of one to three players. The different teams are denoted by the colors red, green, and blue. In the VS Settings, Friendly Fire can be set to allow teammates to attack one another.
Versus Settings
Here is a list of the current options that can be adjusted in VS Settings.
- Rule - Set the game mode to Stock, Time, or Stamina.
- Final Smash - Turn on or off the Final Smashes in the game.
- Max Final Smash Power - Change the amount of Smash Power needed to use a Final Smash. A higher number means characters will be able to use Final Smashes less often.
- Damage Ratio - Change the overall strength of attacks (in percent).
- Item Frequency - Adjust the amount of items that appear in a match, or disable them.
- Friendly Fire - Change whether players on the same team can attack each other.
- Game Speed - Adjust the speed of game play from 50% to 150% in increments of 25%.
- Character Size - Change the sizes of characters from 25% to 200% in increments of 25%.
- Handicap - Allow/disallow players to adjust the strength of individual players to account for skill differences.
- Score Display - Toggle on or off the display of score numbers during the match. The score displayed is the players' KO's minus Falls minus Self-Destructs.
- Item Switch - Enter a submenu where individual items may be toggled on or off. Use this to customize the appearance of items, or even have matches where only certain items are available.
Reception
Super Smash Bros. Crusade was received positively. The game was first revealed at Smash World Forums where it was at first underestimated and received negative reviews. Ever since the game released a demo, it received highly positive reviews from players. A member in The Secret Oasis forum called it "The best known Smash Bros. clone to date with a great physics engine, fun roster of characters and a somewhat stable balance".
Super Smash Bros. Crusade has been praised for having amazing gameplay and being near identical to actual Super Smash Bros. game. Many have said that the gameplay of Super Smash Bros. Crusade is up with Super Smash Land for the best Smash game when it comes to gameplay. Someone said: "It has lazy graphics but amazing gameplay". It was also praised for it's number of modes for a fanmade game, especially the return of Board the Platforms which many people has praised. The music of the stages was praised as it did not feature unnecessary looping. The character roster has been received positive acclaim due to it being balanced on character editions and the return of Mewtwo. The game was also praised due to having some unique factors to that of a Smash game.
However, it was criticized for some things, notably the graphics. Despite the good hit effects and the well rounded stage appearances , the graphics in general and the character sprites were lackluster to very poor. Many have said that the graphics are the main reasons that degrades this game, and it simply isn't better than Super Smash Land or Super Smash Flash 2. However, over the course of the past 4 years, frequent improvements have been applied to further elongate the SSBC's success. One thing that was criticized is the amount of glitches in the game. They range from few to unnoticeable. Other things that were criticized were the lack of 4-Player support, the disappointing level design and the extremely rubber band AI that can sometimes be hard (notably in earlier demos) and easy.
Despite its criticisms, Super Smash Bros. Crusade is widely considered one of the best fan made Smash Bros. games and one of the best fan made games made and/or in the development. Its main rivals are Super Smash Land and, notably Super Smash Flash 2.