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Project M
Logo
Developer(s)Project M Development Team
Designer(s)Project M Development Team
SeriesSuper Smash Bros.(unofficially)
Platform(s)Wii
ReleaseFebruary 7, 2011
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player,multiplayer

Project Mis amodof the 2008fighting gameSuper Smash Bros. Brawlfor theWii,created by the community group known as the Project M Development Team (PMDT; previously known as the Project M Back Room). It is designed to retoolBrawlto play more like its two predecessors,Super Smash Bros.(1999) andSuper Smash Bros. Melee(2001), in response to fan objections toBrawl's physics, slower-paced gameplay, larger use of chance elements, and mechanics of certain attacks.Project MreintroducesDr. Mario(although as apalette swapofMario),Mewtwo,andRoy,who were present inMeleebut were cut fromBrawldue to time constraints. In addition, it features a new art style for in-game menus and allows players to choose certain characters individually when they are only accessible as transformations of other ones inBrawl.

Development started in early 2010 with the goals of reworkingFalco Lombardito mechanically play like he did inMeleeand increasing the accessibility of the gameplay style, but the project quickly evolved to a full-scale reworking ofBrawl.The game's first demo build was released on February 7, 2011, and development continued until December 1, 2015, when the PMDT announced it would cease further development ofProject M.The game has received positive comments from reviewers, amassed a player base of over 500,000, surpassed three million downloads, and been played in manyprofessional tournaments.

Gameplay[edit]

See also:Super Smash Bros. Brawl § Gameplay,andSuper Smash Bros. Melee § Gameplay
Project M's character selection screen allows the player to selectZero Suit Samus,Sheik,Squirtle,Ivysaur,orCharizardindividually, instead of having to switch to them from another character.Project Malso featuresDr. Mario(although as apalette swapofMario),Mewtwo,andRoy,who were cut fromBrawl's roster.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl,whichProject Mmodifies, is afighting gamewith a battle system more similar to that of the game prior to Brawl,Super Smash Bros. Melee.Players battle in arenas of varying sizes and levels of complexity, controlling characters with a variety of play styles. They can attack one another with their own repertoires of special moves, or with a basic attack. Attacks can be avoided by jumping or using a short-lived shield move. Unlike most traditional fighting games, the Super Smash Bros. games do not include standard health gauges, but a percentage counter; there is no point at which a character is automatically knocked out from the counter getting too high, but they will be knocked farther with increasing damage. Being knocked off the screen—or falling off oneself—causes a knock-out. Players may useitemsfor offensive purposes, such as guns and swords, or forhealingpurposes, such as food andheart containers.The stages, characters, and items are drawn fromNintendo's video game franchises such asMario,Pokémon,The Legend of Zelda,andMetroid,along withSega'sSonic the Hedgehogseries andKonami'sMetal Gearseries. The victor of a match has no standard determining factor. Rather, depending on the settings, victory may be reached, for example, by being the last player alive using astocksystem, or by achieving the most KOs after a set amount of time.[1][2]

Super Smash Bros. Melee,Brawl's predecessor in theSuper Smash Bros.series, has a similar gameplay style, but there are major differences in areas such as control, general movement styles, and character balancing.Project Mwas designed to incorporate elements ofMeleewhile still being distinctive in its own right. The designers' "about" page lists a number of aspects fromMeleethat they aimed to carry over, including fast-paced gameplay, "flowing, natural movement", a "great deal of control" in the player's movements, a balance of offense and defense—though they favored offense over defense slightly—and a complex system of combo attacks. The Project M development team's goal was to give Brawl more balanced gameplay, adding mechanics from Melee back into Brawl, as well as buffing characters to be about as powerful as Fox, the character near-universally considered to be the best inMelee.In addition, some characters who had been present inMeleebut scrapped forBrawlwere brought back.[3]The game files can be downloaded from its official website and exported to the player's console via anSD card.[4]Players who own anNTSCWii can install the game without any software modifications,[5]but they must delete all custom stages created inBrawlbecause of the way files are stored.[4]

Development[edit]

A large number ofcompetitiveSuper Smash Bros. Meleeplayerswere disappointed upon the release of its sequelBrawlsix-and-a-half years after the release ofMelee.The general consensus among competitive players was that the latter game's developers had reworked the older battling system to better appeal tocasual gamers,by making the attacks and movement of the game significantly slower in general and adding a greater degree of randomness, luck, and unpredictability, in contrast toMelee,which has more straightforward, skill-based gameplay. Of particular infamy was a new "tripping" mechanic, by which a character occasionally and randomly slips and falls when changing their direction while running.[6]

Project Mfirst began as a development project to rework the characterFalcoto play like he did inMelee.[7]The designers' goal at the time was for the game to be accessible to newcomers and encourage people to get better at the game, which was accomplished by creating a character roster that is more balanced.[8]The mod's first demo was announced on January 15, 2011, with a release date of late January or early February in time for the Pound 5 tournament, where it was featured. It featured 14 of the 39 characters inBrawl,as well as new stagesBrawlhad not included.[9]It was later given a solid date of February 7, 2011.[10]A patch was later created to fix the demo's bugs and fine-tune the player's control of their movement direction after being attacked.[11]

By the release of the game's second demo in March 2011, the team's goals for the mod had expanded to a total overhaul ofBrawlto better matchMelee's gameplay mechanics.[6]A newer build added 11 characters and was first playable at the Genesis 2 tournament.[12]The second demo, released on April 15, 2012, added four new characters as well as more stages[13]and changes in multiple characters' gameplay mechanics.[14]Players of this second demo reported a number of bugs, but these were fixed shortly afterwards in version 2.1.[15]A demo version numbered 2.5 was announced on September 10, 2012; it featured changes such as balance updates, aesthetic improvements,[16]stage updates, andpalette swapsfor the characters.[17]Version 2.5 was released on December 28.[18]

Originally as part of an April Fool's Day joke, the PMDT announced that a new "Turbo mode" —inspired by aYouTubevideo called "Melee Impossible" that showed off powerful combos—would be featured in the upcoming version 3.0.[19]The designers set up a Turbo Tuesday video series showing off the mode with various characters, such as Mario andIke,once a week.[20]A 2.6 demo was announced on June 26, 2013,[21]and it was released on July 17, 2013.[22]The designers hoped to feature the Turbo mode in this update, but it was not ready in time.[20]The designers added a "Clone Engine" to the game that allowed them to make the characterRoy,whose only appearance in theSuper Smash Bros.seriesat the time was inMelee.They designed Roy by taking a clone of Marth and changing the clone into the desired result, along with using the same use of the engine to make the characterMewtwo,albeit with major edits to its model, due to it andLucariohaving different move-sets. In order to avoid cease-and-desist letters from Nintendo, the designers explained that they would not use this engine to make new fighters who debuted inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DSandWii U.[23]The designers added new alternate costumes for a number of characters, includingDr. Mario,who was previously cut fromBrawl,forMario.[24]It was given a release date of December 9, 2013 with a final character count of 41, more than any previousSuper Smash Bros.game at the time.[25]Senior designer Corey Archer stated that there would probably be only one more update before he considersProject Mcomplete; he suggested that this update may contain new Nintendo characters.[8]

Version 3.5 was released on November 14, 2014.[26]This revision refines the game's user interface, adds new stages and costumes, adds a few new original musical pieces, redesigns several stages from the originalSuper Smash Bros.using new HD visuals, and implements new modes such as adebug modeand "All-Star Versus," a mode allowing players to use a different character on every life.[27]A public beta of Version 3.6 was released on June 23, 2015. It added more costumes and stages, new music, a new in-game announcer, and the ability for players to choose between the modified and unmodified versions of stages before battle among other changes.[28][29]This was the first non-demo version ofProject Mwhich has had a public beta before final release. Version 3.6 was officially released on August 16, 2015, and included even more additional content on top of what was present in the Beta release.[30]Included were additional balance stages, a brand new Wario Land stage, more music, a new announcer to replace the one used in the Beta and various tweaks and fixes to bugs and errors found during the 3.6 Beta period.

On December 1, 2015, the PMDT announced it would cease further development ofProject M,effective immediately, in favor of beginning development on an original project.[31]The development team denied allegations that legal threats fromNintendowere the cause of the project's termination.[32]According to the team's attorney and business consultant, Ryan Morrison, the decision was not made as a result of a cease-and-desist notice or legal action by Nintendo.[31][33]One member of the development team stated that the mod's cancellation was to prevent futurelegal issues.[34]Members of the PMDT later went on to form the game studio Wavedash Games and developIcons: Combat Arena,a fighting game with similar mechanics toProject M.[35]

After Nintendo sent a cease and desist letter to tournament organizerThe Big Housefor their use of the Slippi emulator in their 2020Meleetournament,[36]Project M's official website was updated for the first time in several years, voicing support for theSmash Bros.community and linking to a mod derived fromProject M,calledProject+.[37]

Characters[edit]

Project Mincludes a number of adjustments and tweaks intended to make the characters fromSuper Smash Bros. MeleeandSuper Smash Bros. Brawlmore balanced, as well as add touches that felt more true to their games of origin. For example, the staff felt that the characterWarioinBrawltook too much influence from theWarioWareseries of games and not enough from his older appearances in theWario Landseries of games, so they changed him to better reflect theWario Landgames.[38]Mariowas redesigned to be a cross between hisMeleeincarnation and his heavier-hitting clone from the same game,Dr. Mario.[39]Peachwas changed to make her turnip attacks more similar toMeleethan inBrawl,afterBrawl's advent had diminished their usefulness.[40]Bowser,a character who was generally not considered viable for tournament play in previous games, was given armor and increased attack power and made larger. These adjustments gave him the ability to reach enemies easier while making him an easier target for opponents.[41]Yoshiwas given an improved recovery and defense.[42]WhileGanondorf's strength was changed to function closer to that of his appearance inMelee,his neutral special has also been changed to a floating descent in the air and a backhand to deflect projectiles on the ground.[43]Additionally, the characters Mewtwo andRoy,who had been present inMeleebut were cut from the cast inBrawl,were added back to the roster and given new abilities to make the previously low-tier characters more viable.[44]

Before the project was discontinued, several newcomers were planned for addition, includingKnuckles the EchidnafromSonic the Hedgehog,LynfromFire Emblem,andIsaacfromGolden Sun.A development build containing these characters was leaked on4chanin the aftermath of the project's discontinuation.[45]However, Knuckles would later be added toProject M's spiritual successor,Project+.[46]

Reception[edit]

The Project M Development Team claimed that the 2.0 demo had received 46,000 downloads by May 23, 2012,[15]and 100,000 by December 9, 2013.[8]As of November 15, 2014,Project Mversion 3.0 has been downloaded over 920,000 times.[47]The version 3.6 beta has been downloaded over 106,791 times, and version 3.5 has been downloaded over 615,809 times as of July 25, 2015.[48]

Project M2.5 was featured for a special invitation 16-person tournament atApex 2013.[49]Version 3.0 was featured the following year as well, but was omitted from inclusion atApex 2015,prompting negative reactions from players.[50]

The game has received positive attention from the media. Ryan Rigney ofWiredcalled it the best iteration ofSuper Smash Bros.and felt that it successfully transformsBrawlinto a serious competitive game.[8]Similarly, Patricia Hernandez ofKotakucalled it the "bestSmash Bros.mod around "and remarked that it" improves the game so much, it practically seems new. "[4]Jordan Devore ofDestructoidstated that it was one of the highest-quality mods he had ever seen.[51]Zach Betka fromGamesRadarcalled the game "beautiful" and enjoyed the presence of "many edits that will make the averageSmashfan squeal. "[44]

Prior to its discontinuation, Nintendo'sMiiverseInternet forumwould apply an automatic ban to those who mentionedProject Mon the grounds of it being "criminal content", including the acronym "PM".[32]

References[edit]

  1. ^"The Basic Rules".Smash Bros. DOJO!!. May 22, 2007.Archivedfrom the original on July 3, 2013.RetrievedOctober 15,2014.
  2. ^Cassamassina, Matt (March 4, 2008)."One of the Most Anticipated Nintendo Games Is Finally Here".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on November 28, 2012.RetrievedOctober 15,2014.
  3. ^"About".Project M Back Room. Archived fromthe originalon September 8, 2015.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  4. ^abcHernandez, Patricia (December 10, 2013)."How To Play Project M, The BestSmash Bros.Mod Around ".Kotaku.Archivedfrom the original on January 30, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 19,2014.
  5. ^Bogos, Steven (December 10, 2013)."Smash Bros. Brawl's Project M Mod v3.0 Released - Adds Roy, Mewtwo ".Escapist Magazine.Archivedfrom the original on February 27, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 19,2014.
  6. ^abTodd, Nick (April 21, 2012)."Fans Take Up Arms and Fix Nintendo's Fighter Themselves".1UP.Archived fromthe originalon May 11, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 27,2014.
  7. ^George, Richard (April 19, 2012)."Rebuilding Super Smash Bros".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on February 23, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  8. ^abcdRigney, Ryan (December 9, 2013)."The Best Super Smash Bros. Isn't Made by Nintendo".Wired.Archivedfrom the original on January 21, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  9. ^"Announcing the Project M Demo".Project M Back Room. January 15, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2013.
  10. ^"Project M Demo Release Date Announcement".Project M Back Room. February 3, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  11. ^"Project M Blog Post #1".Project M Back Room. March 10, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  12. ^"Genesis 2 Tournament Roster Revealed".Project M Back Room. July 14, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  13. ^"Demo 2 Release Date: 4/15/2012! 29 Characters!".Project M Back Room. March 31, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  14. ^"Demo 2 Roster Confirmations! Demo 1 Cast Confirmed!".Project M Back Room. April 12, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  15. ^ab"Project M Demo 2.1 Patch Release!".Project M Back Room. May 23, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  16. ^"Project M Demo 2.5 Announcement".Project M Back Room. September 10, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  17. ^"New Features in Demo 2.5: Character recolors and Stage Updates!".Project M Back Room. December 27, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  18. ^"Demo 2.5 Release Date!".Project M Back Room. December 11, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  19. ^"Turbo Mode Announced".Project M Back Room. April 2, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  20. ^ab"We're Back & Turbo Tuesdays".Project M Back Room. September 17, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  21. ^"Welcome to the New Website".Project M Back Room. June 26, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  22. ^"Project M Demo 2.6 released!".Project M Back Room. July 17, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon July 21, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  23. ^"Clone Engine Blogpost - Limits, Restrictions, and Possibilities".Project M Back Room. September 27, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  24. ^"Alternate Costumes Blogpost".Project M Back Room. November 6, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon November 10, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  25. ^"Project M 3.0 Trailer Released!".Project M Back Room. November 11, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  26. ^"Project M on Twitter".Twitter.Archivedfrom the original on December 3, 2015.RetrievedMarch 30,2015.
  27. ^"Project M 3.5 Released!".Project M Development Team. November 14, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon November 19, 2014.RetrievedMarch 30,2015.
  28. ^"Project M 3.6 Announced!".Project M Development Team. March 29, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon April 1, 2015.RetrievedMarch 30,2015.
  29. ^"Project M 3.6 Beta Released!".Project M Development Team. June 23, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon July 3, 2015.RetrievedJuly 3,2015.
  30. ^"Project M 3.6 Full Changelist".Project M Development Team. August 16, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon August 17, 2015.RetrievedAugust 27,2015.
  31. ^ab"Project M".Project M.December 1, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on December 2, 2015.RetrievedDecember 2,2015.
  32. ^abKlepek, Patrick (December 2, 2015)."Smash Community In Shock Over Sudden End To Popular Mod, Project M".Kotaku.Gawker Media.Archivedfrom the original on December 2, 2015.RetrievedDecember 2,2015.
  33. ^Morrison, Ryan (December 1, 2015)."Video Game Attorney on Twitter".Twitter.Archivedfrom the original on December 2, 2015.RetrievedDecember 2,2015.
  34. ^Klepek, Patrick (December 3, 2015)."The Smash Community Is Chaos Right Now".Kotaku.Gawker Media.Archivedfrom the original on December 5, 2015.RetrievedDecember 5,2015.
  35. ^Phillips, Tom (July 17, 2017)."Smash Bros. Fans unveil full game Icons: Combat Arena".Eurogamer.RetrievedJanuary 4,2019.
  36. ^"The Big House announces Cease and Desist".Twitter.TheBigHouseSSB.RetrievedApril 5,2022.
  37. ^"Project M isn't just a mod or a game. It's a community".Project M.RetrievedApril 5,2022.
  38. ^"Wario".Project M Back Room. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  39. ^"Mario".Project M Back Room. Archived fromthe originalon July 2, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  40. ^"Peach".Project M Back Room. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  41. ^"Bowser".Project M Back Room. Archived fromthe originalon July 2, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  42. ^"Yoshi".Project M Back Room. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  43. ^"Ganondorf".Project M.Archived fromthe originalon July 1, 2013.
  44. ^abBetka, Zach (January 10, 2014)."Be Inspired by These Ambitious Video Game Fan Projects".GamesRadar.Archivedfrom the original on February 20, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 27,2014.
  45. ^Khan, Imad (December 11, 2015)."Why the Internet mourned Project M".The Daily Dot.Archivedfrom the original on May 9, 2016.RetrievedAugust 13,2016.
  46. ^"Project+ Brings Knuckles to Super Smash Bros".DualShockers.March 23, 2020.RetrievedJune 10,2022.
  47. ^Project M Back Room (user ProjectMGame)."Project M on Twitter"(Twitter).Archivedfrom the original on December 3, 2015.Final total download count for 3.0 is going in the records as 923,458. Thank you so much for your incredible support everyone!
  48. ^"Download".Project M.Archived fromthe originalon September 19, 2015.
  49. ^"Invitational Project M event at APEX 2013".Project M Back Room. December 19, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  50. ^Ian J. Barker (November 10, 2014)."Fighting game organizer targeted with death threats".The Daily Dot.Archivedfrom the original on January 28, 2015.RetrievedJanuary 27,2015.
  51. ^Devore, Jordan (November 19, 2013)."Smash Bros. mod Project M 3.0 gets one heck of a trailer".Destructoid.Archivedfrom the original on February 24, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 19,2014.

External links[edit]

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