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Smash Run is a mini-game in Super Smash Bros. 3DS that places four players (human or CPU) into a labyrinth to fight against a variety of enemies. Various power-up items are scattered throughout the area that can be used to increase your character’s attributes; defeated enemies will also drop items. In addition, there are chests scattered about that hold items and power-ups.
Players have five minutes to collect as many power-up items as they can. Once time is up, all four players are moved to a random competitive scenario. You may face off in a standard Smash battle match or a custom Smash battle match with unique rules, such as automatically reflecting all projectile attacks. Instead of a Smash match, you may participate in a horizontal race to the finish line, a vertical climbing race or a number of other randomly selected competitions. All of the power-ups collected in the labyrinth transfer over to the competition that follows.
Occasionally a treasure room will appear. You’ll have a very short time (generally 30 seconds) to reach the treasure room and touch the double red doors to enter it. A red arrow appears on-screen to show you which direction the treasure room is located. Quickly move toward the treasure room and touch the double doors to enter. Ignore enemies that may slow you down along the way. Once inside the treasure room, you will find a large number of power-ups, as well as the occasional health items.
Stat Boosts
As you play through Smash Run, you will find a large number of stat boosts. While it’s always best to collect as many of these items as possible, some items are out of the way. When you must choose which items to collect, go with the items that best suit your character and play style. For example, if you use special attacks most of the time, you should focus on obtaining as many Special power-up items as you can find.
In addition to collecting stat boost items, everything you do in the Smash Run labyrinth improves your stats. If you walk or run, your Speed stat increases. Special moves increases the Special stat, and jumping increases your Jump stat. Using normal attacks increases your Attack stat, while throws, projectile attacks and items increase you Arms stat. Finally, dodging or using your shield increases the Defense stat.
Arms – The purple Arms item increases the strength of items, projectile attacks and throws (grabs). Throws gain more range, and items are less likely to be dropped when your character is hit. If you use a character with projectile attacks, this should be one of your primary stat boosts.
Attack – The orange Attack item increases the power of normal attacks. Normal attacks consist of Smash Attacks, Tilts and Aerials. Throws and special attacks are not considered normal attacks and are not affected by this item. If you focus on normal attacks instead special moves and throws, you should focus on collecting this stat boost above all others.
Defense – The blue Defense item increases the defensive capabilities of your character. The more Defense items you collect, the harder it is for an opponent to break your shield or knock you off the stage. If you have trouble avoiding attacks and are easily KO’d, this should be your power-up of choice.
Jump – The yellow Jump item increases the height of all jumps, as well as aerial movement speed. Normal jumps, double jumps and wall jumps all gain increased height as you collect this item. You will also fall faster when you increase the Jump stat. This stat helps some characters more than others. Characters such as Kirby, who have multiple aerial jumps, can benefit greatly from this stat boost. It can also enhance characters with normal jumps by allowing them to reach higher platforms with ease.
Special – The red Special item increases the strength of special moves. How a special move is affected by this item may vary. In some cases it may simply increase the attack power of the special move. In other cases the charge time of the special move may be lowered. For example, the amount of time it takes to fully charge Samus’ Charge Shot is reduced as this stat increases. There are a variety of ways special moves are impacted by this stat boost. If special moves make up a bulk of your offense, this is the stat you should focus on.
Speed – The green Speed item increases the movement speed of your character. If you end up in the horizontal race after completing the labyrinth, the Speed item is extremely useful. Even in battle, having a faster character is almost always a big advantage. However, if you’re not particularly agile, increasing this stat too much may result in difficulty controlling your character.
Equipment
You can customize your character before entering the Smash Run labyrinth. There are three slots where you can place equipment to customize your character. The equipment is collected as you play through the Smash Run labyrinth. Most equipment raises or lowers your character stats, with some doing a combination of both. For example, the Brawn Badge raises your character’s attack power, but lowers defense, while the Protection Badge raises defense, but lowers speed.
Some items have additional special effects, such as the Trade-off Defender Brawn Badge. When you have the Brawn Badge equipped, this item increases the attack boost of the badge, but lowers your defense even more.
It’s only possible to equip three items at a time, which makes each item very important. Select items that boost attributes will aid you the most in battle, and work best with your play style. For example, if you’re using a heavier character like Bowser, defense isn’t generally as important because you already have increased defense due to your heavier weight. Of course, if your play style is to use that extra defense to your advantage, select items that increase your defense.
Note: You can equip the same items on multiple characters. Any customizations made in Smash Run can be used in other modes within the game by activating the custom character menu option.
Specials
As you play through the Smash Run labyrinth, you will collect various items. Some of these items are new special moves. These special moves are alternate versions of your character’s existing special moves. For example, by default Link uses a Gale Boomerang. However, you can change this to a normal Boomerang once you have found the item in Smash Run. The normal Boomerang special move inflicts more damage, but doesn’t pull in opponents like the Gale Boomerang.
If you’ve grown accustomed to a character’s default move set, you may not want to make any changes. However, it’s also a good idea to look at every alternate special move as you collect them. There may be instances in which the alternate version of the special move fits your play style better than the default version.
Using the Link example, the original Boomerang is the special move Link used in Super Smash Bros. 64. If you preferred that version of Link over the more recent incarnation, you may prefer to change to the alternate special move. By doing so you can play a Link that more closely resembles his Super Smash Bros. 64 variant.
Powers
There are a wide variety of special powers that you can equip for use in Smash Run. Each power has an assigned weight. A character’s speed stat determines their weight, and in turn, how many items they can carry. A faster character weighs less, and therefore cannot carry as many items. Meanwhile, a slower character weighs more, which in turn allows them to carry more items. If you would like to be able to carry more items, remove any equipment that increase speed, or equip gear that decreases speed.
With the large number of items available (collected by playing through Smash Run), make sure you select items that work well with the character you’re playing, and your fighting style. If you’re using a character who does not have a projectile attack, you may want to use projectile items. For example, the Shocking Taunt item attacks with a lightning bolt projectile when a taunt is used. You can use items to help cover any weaknesses your character may have, or to bolster your character’s strengths.
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