Super Smash Bros.' most secret secrets

Warning! Secrets approaching!

Countless hours have gone by while we have smashed, melee'd, and brawled our way through the trio of Nintendo fighting frenzies. Throughout the years we've honed our skills. We've chosen our favorite characters. We've taken up arms against friends and A.I. alike, all on the backdrop of many of the Big N's most iconic locales.

We weren't too busy battling, however, to discover a handful of secrets, lost characters, and Easter Eggs hidden within the Smash experience. Some of these are silly little nods to other Nintendo games, while others are a window to possibilities never realized. But while there's plenty of secrets you've undoubtably found on your own, there are also things that, odds are, you never even knew about. Let's take a look behind the curtain.

The three hidden trophies

As if there werent enough trophies in Super Smash Brothers Melee, there are few secret collectibles hidden in the games code. Tamagon, protagonist of Japan-only NES game Devil World, was left off of the American version of the game due to Nintendos worrying over demonic portrayals in their games. Basically, they had enough on their plate with people accusing Pokemon of being Satanic, so no Tamagon trophy for you, America.

Two other trophies do not appear in any version of the game normally, requiring a hacking device or time travel to Nintendo events in 2001 and 2002 to retrieve them. The first is Mario, adorned with his yellow cape, riding on the back of his noble steed Yoshi. The second is of Samus Aran sans helmet, emulating the famous ending scene of the original Metroid game where fans first found theyd been controlling a woman the entire time. Were not sure why these two trophies were dropped, but at least we got to see them at some point.

Daisy's Third Eye

With the introduction of trophies in Super Smash Brothers Melee, players could briefly reminisce about hundreds of pieces of Nintendo history with mere button presses. Items, characters, locales virtually everything in Nintendos catalogue was collectible while Smashing against friends. A few trophies hid a secret or two, ranging from a neat little easter egg towell, to something much creepier.

Take this Daisy trophy here. Normally just a statue of one of the many Nintendo princesses, this homage to the princess of Sarasaland holds an odd secret. Zoom in on Daisys head, move the camera to a certain angle, and youll find that Daisy can see out of the back of her head. We assume this third eye was just left on the model accidentally, but we prefer to think that this is an actual anomaly of Daisys and that she should cut her hair immediately. What goods a third eye if its hidden behind all those locks?

"The Forbidden Seven"

The roster for Brawl was 35 characters strong, the largest in the whole series. It also marked the first time that guest characters from outside the Nintendo portfolio were invited, as Snake from Metal Gear Solid and Sonic the Hedgehog got their Smash on. However, despite the strength in numbers, the roster many have, at one point, been even bigger.

When Brawl finally released, savvy players accessed the games code via a disc hack and found files for seven unused characters, three returning from Melee in Mewtwo, Dr. Mario, and Roy, and five brand new characters in Dixie Kong, Toon Zelda, Toon Sheik (huh?), and the team of Plusle and Minun from Pokemon. Now that we know about them, we really want to play as them perhaps some of them will appear in the new game.

The lost music tracks

While mining the disc data for those hidden characters, the hackers also found a slew of unused music tracks for Brawls extensive My Music feature. Songs like The Ballad of the Windfish from Links Awakening, Smiles and Tears from Earthbound, the Radio Exercises sound bites from Animal Crossing, and many more all appear in the hidden files. With all of the music that was in the game, we understand some tracks being cut, but Brawling to the New Age Retro Hippie music from Earthbound would have been SWEET.

While were on the subject, we really want My Music to return in the next Smash Bros game. One of the coolest parts of playing through Brawl was collecting a CD and listening to a brand new remix or original track. We know that the 3DS and Wii U versions will have unique stages, so we wouldnt expect six or seven tracks per stage, but even three would suffice. What can we say, we love Nintendos music catalog.

The Trophy Collection: USA vs Japan

The Trophy Collection screen in Melee is a one stop shop for viewing all of the awesome statues collected while playing through the game. As an added bonus, the classic consoles of yesteryear sit in the background as a reminder of where all of these trophies originated. GameCube, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and more sit on the shelves, but the Japanese version is a little bit different.

In Japan, Smash players also laid eyes on the original Famicom, the Super Famicom, and the oft-ridiculed Virtual Boy in the background of their Trophy Collection, but North American players can unlock the three consoles for themselves too. All it takes is a quick flip from English to Japanese in the Language section of the option menu. Of course, youll then need to know how to read Japanese or memorize how to access the Trophy Collection from the main menu, but if you want to see some classic piece of Nintendo history, its worth a shot.

2L84ME

Again with the trophies?! Yes. Again, but this secret is a bit more strange. The Barrel Cannon is a stage hazard in the original Smash and Brawl, but made its debut as an item in Melee, where a Smasher could throw it at an opponent and send him or her flying. The trophy for the item is pretty standard, describing the barrel and its origins, but its underside reveals a hidden message.

2L84ME is written on the bottom of the barrel, making the phrase too late for me. Perhaps thats the feeling the enemy gets when theyre stuck in the barrel with no control over where theyll be shot out, or maybe its just a weird little message left for thorough players to find. Either way, it was rather strange finding that message for the first time.

Reflections on Trophies

Perhaps the weirdest trophy-related Easter eggs are found, of all places, in the reflection that comes off of the trophy when viewing it. Seriously, Sakurai and crew have crammed as much as they can into this game for players to discover. The two trophies in question here are both from Melee: Metal Mario and the Metroid creature.

By zooming in on Metal Marios hat, one can make out a metallic reflection Melees Yoshis Island stage, complete with the blocks in the middle of the level and the sharp inclines on either side. For the Metroid trophy, zooming in on the top nuclei of the creatures insides, then viewing straight up into the sky will reveal a Ceres space station laboratory texture straight from Super Metroid on the SNES. Maybe the Metroid remembers where it was housed in the beginning of the game, who knows? Both of these are strange references, but they prove that there are secrets everywhere in the Smash games, and were sure some of them havent been found yet.

The Star Fox Special Taunt

When Falco Lombardi joined Fox McCloud on the Melee roster, the two quickly rose to the top of the tier lists with their fast and powerful moves. However, the two of them hold a nifty secret: use either of them in Corneria or Venom, press Down Taunt a few times, and the character will kneel and clench his fist, triggering hidden conversations between the Star Fox pilots. Theyre great for breaking up the serious tone of a match.

Whats more, the trick carried over to Brawl, only adding conversations for Wolf ODonnell in the Lylat Cruise stage. As the Corneria stage from Melee returns in Brawl, Fox and Falco can trigger those conversations, but Wolf cannot. They dont add anything to a match other than a brief intermission, but they are funny little Easter eggs for the devout Star Fox fans. Theyre not the only ones with hidden dialogue, though

Snake's Codec Calls

Just as Fox and Falco get to talk to Peppy and Slippy, Solid Snake can find the time to reach one of his Metal Gear Solid companions on his Codec to talk about the battle. The hidden taunt is triggered the same way as Fox and Falcos, and it can only be accessed on the Shadow Moses stage, but wed argue these conversations are even more enjoyable than the Star Fox dialogue.

Why? Instead of generic quips about never giving up and trusting instincts, Snake and his friends talk about one of Snakes opponents, discussing their abilities and weaknesses among other things. Mei Ling begs Snake to catch Pikachu for her, Colonel Campbell calls in about the lethality of Jigglypuffs Sleep move, and Otacon makes Snake wants to capture a Yoshi and see what they taste like. Make sure everyone knows to not attack until after the conversation is over, as youll probably be laughing too much to concentrate.