Cruel mode
Cruel Melee,Cruel Brawl andCruel Smash areMulti-Man modes inSuper Smash Bros. Melee,Super Smash Bros. Brawl, andSuper Smash Bros. 4 andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, respectively. LikeEndless mode, this mode challenges the player to defeat as many opponents as possible (Fighting Wire Frames inMelee,Fighting Alloy Team inBrawl, andFighting Mii Team inSmash 4 andUltimate), with noKO limit or time limit before the mode ends; high scores in this mode are recorded by the number of opponents defeated.
However, Cruel mode features a complete reversal of what is normally encountered in other Multi-Man modes. While all other modes give the opponents a lowAI level and cause them to take highknockback, making them very easy to KO in one hit, Cruel mode instead gives all of the opponents a high AI level (making them very aggressive), boosts their attack damage and applies the high knockback modifier to the player, making them the one who is very easy to KO in one hit. In addition, noitems will spawn at all in the mode.
With up to five opponents on-screen at once, all ganging up on the player and with any single one of their attacks being an easyOHKO, while the player must try to fight up to five aggressive high-AI opponents while only dealing regular knockback with their own attacks and without items to assist, attaining high scores in this mode is considered one of the toughest accomplishments in the game. Due to the relentless difficulty, players often have to resort to exploiting the AI; for example, in Cruel Melee, scores in the thousands can be obtained by exploiting an AI standstill bug, performed by standing absolutely still on the rightmost edge of the small right platform. This causes any CPUs, including the Wire Frames, to cease all movement and stand indefinitely unless the player is within attack range. In both Cruel Melee and Cruel Brawl,planking can be an effective strategy; stalling under the stage will often cause the Wire Frames or Alloys toself-destruct when attempting toedge-guard the player (as they still do not have anyrecovery special moves). InSuper Smash Bros. 4, most possible exploits have been fixed as enemies will no longer follow the player if they jump far off the ledge, and will instead wait until the player gets back on stage. There are still some exploits that can help, a common one including using a fighter with large, horizontal hitboxes in theirup special. Grabbing the ledge, dropping, double-jumping, then using the up special to grab the edge causing minor damage to the fighters on stage and occasionally tricks them into jumping off the stage and SD'ing. The most common fighter for this strategy isLucina, as she specifically is able to complete three challenges at once inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U (one only requires one KO as any character and will also trigger a Challenger Approaching battle againstDuck Hunt if they have not already been unlocked, a second requires 8 KOs as any character and a third requires 8 KOs as her). Without AI exploitation, getting scores even higher than single-digit numbers is considered extremely difficult.
Rewards[edit]
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
- Defeat 5 opponents:Mr. Resetti trophy.
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
- Defeat 5 opponents:Red Alloy trophy.
- Defeat 10 opponents:Liquid Snake sticker.
InSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS[edit]
- Play Cruel Smash once:Spiny Hat headgear.
- Defeat 2 opponents: Shield Exploder Protection Badgeequipment.
- Defeat 4 opponents:Lion Hat headgear.
InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
- Defeat 1 opponent (Solo only):Duck Hunt stage.
- This will also challenge the player to defeatDuck Hunt in order to unlock them, provided they have not been unlocked yet.
- This challenge is immune to theGolden Hammer.
- Defeat 8 opponents:Toadsworth trophy.
- Survive for 1 minute asLuigi (Solo only):Mr. L trophy.
- Defeat 4 opponents asPit (Solo only):Reaper trophy.
- Defeat 8 opponents asLucina (Solo only): Vampire Brawn Badgeequipment.
- This challenge is immune to the Golden Hammer.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
- Defeat 3 opponents (Solo only):Captain Falcon challenge icon cleared, 3000 Gold
- Although no characters in the game are explicitly unlocked by clearing Cruel Smash, time spent in it counts towards the playing time to initiate a challenger approaching battle.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
 Japanese | 情け無用組み手 |
 English | Cruel Melee Cruel Brawl  Cruel Smash   |
 French | Smash cruel |
 German | Brutalo-Smash |
 Spanish | Asalto intrépido |
 Italian | Mischia spietata |
 Chinese (Simplified) | 无情对打 |
 Chinese (Traditional) | 無情對打 |
 Korean | 극한 스매시 |
 Dutch | Gemene smash |
 Russian | Жесткая битва |
 Portuguese | Smash Cruel |
Trivia[edit]
- TheSuper Smash Bros. Melee incarnation of this mode is infamous for its involvement in theSonic and Tails rumor spread byElectronic Gaming Monthly magazine as an April Fools' joke. The rumor suggested that after defeating 20 Fighting Wire Frames in a single round, the player would be challenged to defeatSonic andTails of theSonic the Hedgehog franchise, where victory would result inunlocking the characters.
- InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, Cruel Brawl'seponymous track cannot be played fromBrawl'sSound Test, and it cannot be selected as music forcustom stages. It would later become available inSmash 4's Sound Test.
- Said track is renamed "Cruel Smash", likely due to being re-used forSmash 4's Cruel mode, which is called Cruel Smash. It retains this changed name inUltimate's Sound Test.
- InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl's Cruel Brawl, some Fighting Alloys are given stronger handicaps than others. This can be seen even further by modifying their knockback values with hacks.
- InMelee,Jigglypuff'sRest andRoy'sBlazer are strong enough toOHKO the Wire Frames in Cruel Melee.
Videos[edit]
Cruel Melee:
Cruel Brawl:
- Jigglypuff Demonstration
- Marth Demonstration
- Mr. Game & Watch Demonstration
- Toon Link Demonstration
- Luigi Demonstration
- Meta Knight Demonstration
- Lucario Demonstration
Cruel Smash:
