Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズX Dai Rantō Sumasshuburazāzu X; Great Fray Smash Brothers X) is a fighting game for the Wii. It is the third entry in the Super Smash Bros. series, following Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Nintendo GameCube. It was released on January 31, 2008 in Japan and in North America on March 9 of that same year.

As Brawl was released a few months before Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Gekko and the "Love Theme" both pre-dated their source material. In the developer's blog, on October 2 of 2007, it was hinted in this post that there would be a "new model" of Metal Gear included in the Shadow Moses stage, about a year before Metal Gear Solid 4 was released.

Inclusion of Solid Snake
Many fans were surprised when the trailer for the game announced that Solid Snake would be a playable character; previous games in the series had never featured third party characters, and up to that point, only four games in the series (Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes) had been released on Nintendo systems in nearly twenty years, with the series rarely leaving Sony consoles since 1998's Metal Gear Solid. In addition, the fact that the series contrasted with the bright atmosphere usually presented in the universe of Nintendo (games made by Nintendo have been geared toward a wider audience as opposed to the Metal Gear games, which are usually given mature ratings) also loaned surprise to the announcement.

Even though Snake appears in his 2007 era Sneaking Suit, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was never released on a Nintendo console.

Footage of Snake battling Mr. Game and Watch on Shadow Moses Island was featured in the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailer, "Revived."

Kojima's interest in the Super Smash Bros. series
According to numerous sources, Hideo Kojima was a fan of the original Super Smash Bros. When the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee was in development, Kojima had called Masahiro Sakurai and asked for Solid Snake to be included in the game. However, the game was at that point too far in development to allow another character to appear in the game. Instead, Snake was able to be included seven years later in the Wii incarnation, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Kojima fought Sakurai as Snake while Sakurai was Mario at Sakurai's Tokyo office. This battle was also subtly referred to in promotional materials such as a trailer depicting Snake calling Colonel Campbell about Mario and viewing him as an honorary opponent, which is also in the game itself.

Solid Snake's moves
Snake does not use his trademark SOCOM or M4 Custom in the game, but instead uses explosives and CQC for fighting. His weapons include grenades, a Nikita, a Cypher, a proximity mine, C3, a mortar, an RPG-7, land mines, and an RGB-6. Snake's C3 can be placed on walls as well as opponents, and like Gooey Bombs, can occasionally transfer to a new carrier if one brushes against it. Snake's smash attacks are not only very powerful compared to the other characters, but also have a large hit box and all involve some type of ordnance. If an opponent is successfully hit with the remote-controlled missile, Snake will do a quick fist pump in triumph; on the other hand, a miss will cause Snake to do a quick pose to show his disappointment.

His in-game taunt is crouching down and putting on his signature cardboard box. Though it appears that he has only one taunt as opposed to each of the other characters' three, Snake actually puts on the box in three different ways. The box can be tossed off (and hit opponents for little damage), or pulled off of Snake by opponents and thrown at him. On the Shadow Moses Island stage, he can also use a hidden Easter egg where he will call Campbell, Mei Ling, or Otacon for information on his opponents.

Shadow Moses Island
Snake's home stage is Shadow Moses Island, where Metal Gear REX, Metal Gear RAY, and a group of Gekko can be seen at times. Spotlights move across the stage which, if they spot a character, will cause an exclamation mark to appear over their head and follow them across the stage. The searchlight towers on either side can be destroyed, expanding the stage, but will reappear after time.

If Snake is being used on this stage, he can use a secret taunt to contact his support team (Colonel Campbell, GW Colonel Campbell, Otacon, or Mei Ling and, in one case, Slippy Toad from the Star Fox series) via Codec to get information about a specific fighter in the field. The taunt is performed by pressing the taunt button for a split second.

Gray Fox
Gray Fox also appears as an Assist Trophy in the game. When called out, he assists whoever summoned him by randomly attacking an opponent and reflecting projectiles. If Snake is one of the combatants, the two will share dialogue.

The Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary, the story mode of the game, Snake stows away aboard the villain-controlled battleship Halberd, hidden beneath his cardboard box. Eventually, he emerges from beneath the box and begins moving towards the cockpit of the ship, but upon seeing Meta Knight and Lucario approaching, he hides beneath his box once more. Lucario, however, notices the box and uses his Aura powers to see Snake hiding beneath it. Lucario removes the box, surprising Snake (complete with the trademark exclamation mark) and forcing him into a fighting stance. Meta Knight is happy to oblige, but Lucario stops him, sensing enemy Primids approaching, and signals for Snake to help them. Eventually, the trio reach the holding room where the trophies of Princess Peach and Princess Zelda are being held just in time to see Shadow Bugs take on their forms. The heroes defeat the fake princesses and restore Peach and Zelda before moving on. After a short period, they reach the cockpit of the ship wherein they find several Mr. Game &amp; Watches controlling it. Snake rushes in and knocks all the Game & Watches out the window, where they revert to Shadow Bugs that proceed to morph into the colossal enemy Duon. Snake, alongside Lucario, Peach, Zelda transformed into Sheik, Fox McCloud, and Falco Lombardi defeat the monster and free the possessed Mr. Game & Watch within. After this point, Snake's role decreases significantly, but he is among the heroes who are turned back to trophies by Tabuu then revived for the final battle.

Events
In the Events game section, Snake is not only among the newcomers but also among the final three heroes in the event's Stage 41, along with Sonic the Hedgehog and a giant Mario; the player must fight all three of them to finish all events. He is also the playable character in the Event Match 36: High-Tech Special Forces, where he must defeat Samus, Captain Falcon and Wolf O'Donnell.

Music
The following songs were used for the Shadow Moses Island stage in Brawl:


 * "Encounter" (Brawl Remix, original version appeared in Metal Gear Solid);
 * "Theme of Tara" (Brawl Remix, original version appeared in Metal Gear);
 * "Yell 'Dead Cell'" (taken from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty);
 * "Snake Eater (Instrumental)" (original version appeared in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater);
 * "Love Theme" (Brawl Remix, original version appeared in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots);
 * "Cavern" (originally from Metal Gear Solid);
 * "Battle in the Base" (originally from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater);
 * "Theme of Solid Snake" (originally from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake);
 * "Calling to the Night" (originally from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops);

The tracks "Yell 'Dead Cell'", "Cavern", "Battle in the Base", "Theme of Solid Snake" and "Calling to the Night" appear in their original versions, whereas all of the other tracks except for "Snake Eater" have been specially remixed for Brawl; "Snake Eater" appears in an instrumental version, previously used in Metal Gear Solid 3 but never released commercially.

The "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme" was also intended to be in Brawl, but was excluded due to alleged plagiarism.

Trophies and stickers
Several Metal Gear characters, items, and Metal Gears themselves appear as trophies or stickers in the game.

Trophies

 * Solid Snake
 * Grenade Launcher
 * Gray Fox
 * Iroquois Pliskin
 * Naked Snake
 * Shagohod
 * Metal Gear REX
 * Metal Gear RAY
 * Gekko
 * Cypher
 * Cardboard box

Stickers

 * Big Boss (Metal Gear Solid art)
 * Colonel (Metal Gear Solid 2 art)
 * EVA
 * Gray Fox
 * Liquid Snake
 * Master Miller
 * Mei Ling
 * Meryl Silverburgh (Metal Gear Solid version)
 * Metal Gear RAY
 * Metal Gear REX
 * Naked Snake
 * Naomi Hunter (Metal Gear Solid version)
 * Otacon (Metal Gear Solid 2 art)
 * Raiden (Metal Gear Solid 2 art)
 * Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid 2 art)
 * Shagohod
 * Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid art)
 * Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid 2 art)
 * The Boss

Colonel Campbell's sticker actually depicts the Colonel AI, and is possibly a developer oversight.

Allusions to the Metal Gear series
The game features many allusions to the Metal Gear series, most of which occur during Codec calls.

In-battle Codec conversations
Donkey Kong

Snake's remark about Donkey Kong being a chip off the old block during his Codec conversation with Campbell alludes to Solid Snake inheriting the title of "Snake" from his "father," Naked Snake/Big Boss, who himself inherited the title of "Boss" from The Boss.

Falco Lombardi

If Snake uses his Codec while fighting Falco Lombardi on Shadow Moses Island, he will be contacted by Slippy Toad, a member of Team Star Fox, who had hacked into his Codec via Roy Campbell's frequency. Snake at one point will comment that the next time he and Slippy meet, Snake will consider letting Slippy design him a weapon, alluding to the development of some of Snake's technologies (including the OctoCamo and Signal Interceptor, which were introduced in MGS4) and Big Boss having several weapons and technologies being developed by various scientists.

Fox McCloud

When Snake calls Roy Campbell while fighting Fox McCloud, he remarks "Don't remind me. First FOXHOUND and now this guy... I'm sick of foxes," referring to the special forces group FOXHOUND turning into a terrorist organization under Liquid Snake's command.

Link

Otacon's comment about Snake as being "Mr. Utility Belt" when calling him out in regards to his criticism of Link being equipped with several weapons despite it being a burden overall in combat alludes to the Metal Gear series up to Metal Gear Solid 2 having the characters being equipped with several weapons that are neither light nor do they have any hint at a storage area.

Lucario

When Snake is fighting Lucario and calls Mei Ling, he manages to quote a Chinese proverb and credits Mei Ling for it by claiming that she "rubbed off on him," referring to Mei Ling's quotation of Chinese proverbs and (in the case of international versions) Western literature in Metal Gear Solid and to a lesser extent, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.

Lucas

When Snake is fighting Lucas and calls Mei Ling, he says "Senseless hardships--yeah, I had a lot of those too. The question is how you translate those hardships into a better future," referring to the dysfunctionality of his "family," the Les Enfants Terribles children, and his fighting against them to stop their actions.

Luigi

Snake can contact Campbell while fighting Luigi on Shadow Moses, who immediately begins ripping down Luigi, saying that "he's been living in his brother's shadow," among other unusually aggressive things. Snake rebukes the Colonel for his harsh words, then the Colonel starts saying "la li lu le lo" over and over again. To this, Snake replies, "Colonel, snap out of it! Colonel!! Coooooooloneeeeeel!" Snake had really been talking to the Colonel AI during that Codec conversation.

The entire Codec conversation during Snake's fight with Luigi refers to the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Campbell, when told about Luigi, makes uncharacteristically offensive statements about him, referring to the Colonel's harsh and somewhat offensive treatment of Raiden, who acted as Solid Snake's shadow, similar to Luigi being Mario's shadow. In addition, Campbell briefly says "La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo" when Snake rebukes him, a reference to both the anagram that the Patriots used to mask their identity, and to the Colonel glitching up near the end of the game due to Emma Emmerich's worm cluster. It also to some extent refers to Liquid Snake being the shadow of Solid Snake.

Marth

During Mei Ling's conversation about Marth, Snake comments that he can sympathize with his being betrayed, referring to Gray Fox and Big Boss betraying him in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Metal Gear, respectively, as well as betrayal being a constant theme throughout the series.

In the same conversation, Mei Ling and Snake also discussed the fact that Marth created a nation by forging alliances with enemies, a reference to the events of Portable Ops (Note, at the time Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released, Peace Walker wasn't considered an idea for a game yet).

Meta Knight

Snake's conversation with Mei Ling about the Halberd when fighting Meta-Knight was a subtle reference/foreshadowing of Outer Haven from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Ness

When fighting Ness, Snake, when calling Campbell, will mention that Ness's abilities were comparable to Psycho Mantis, a reference to the renegade FOXHOUND psychic that Snake fought against. He also asks if he can read minds, referring to Psycho Mantis' tendency to do this.

Pikachu

Snake mentions Ocelot and his torture device when conversing with Mei Ling about Pikachu, referring to his torture from him and it, respectively in Metal Gear Solid. In addition, Mei Ling also requests that Snake catch Pikachu for her, referring to how his father, Naked Snake, was often told in radio conversations to capture some plants and fauna in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and to a far lesser extent, Portable Ops, in particular, the Tsuchinoko in the former game, in which Major Zero tells Snake not to eat a Tsuchinoko under any circumstances.

Pit

Snake's knowledge on Game Overs during a conversation with Otacon regarding Pit refers to the Metal Gear series' tendency to break the fourth wall.

Pokemon Trainer 

Campbell's remark about working together to Snake during the Codec conversation with him about Pokemon Trainer is a referece to Portable Ops, where Campbell would work with Big Boss as the latter's second in command. In addition, the entire conversation also alludes to the basic premise of Portable Ops, where the player has to "capture" (or recruit in this case) soldiers and then send them off into missions, although Big Boss himself will also participate in several missions.

Princess Peach

His conversation with Mei Ling regarding his fighting against Princess Peach, as well as Mei Ling's comment that Snake doesn't get a lot of dates after his criticism of her always getting captured, refers to Snake's trouble with maintaining a relationship with women, such as his stiffing Holly White at the end of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and his soured relationship with Meryl after the events of Metal Gear Solid.

Samus

Snake reveals to Otacon that he was somehow able to deduce that Samus Aran, of the Metroid series, was a woman, while fighting her, subtly referring to his deducing Meryl's identity in her soldier disguise from Metal Gear Solid. In addition, Snake's comment about Samus having a beating heart of a woman underneath a cold metal exterior foreshadowed the conception of the Beauty and the Beast Unit in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It is hinted in his conversations with Otacon and Mei Ling that Snake has a crush on her.

Snake

Roy Campbell asks if the Les Enfants Terribles project has really gone as far as it apparently had when Snake calls him about fighting himself, referring to the project that resulted in Solid Snake's creation, alongside that of his brothers, Liquid and Solidus.

Sonic

Snake refers to him not liking Sonic, giving no specific reason as to why. This is actually an inside joke for the Japanese; Snake's Japanese voice, Akio Otsuka, is the son of the voice of Sonic's arch-rival, Dr. Eggman, who is voiced by Chikao Otsuka (who also voices Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots).

Toon Link

When calling Mei Ling about Toon Link, Snake reminds her that there was more than one "Snake," referring to the fact that most of the major characters, including himself, went by the codename "Snake." Liquid and Solidus were "Snakes" from the Les Enfants Terribles project. Big Boss's former codename was "Naked Snake," and Raiden briefly went under the codename Snake.

Wolf O'Donnell

Snake's comment about it being strange for a Wolf to have friends when calling Roy Campbell about Wolf O'Donnell is a subtle reference to Sniper Wolf, who was known to snipe people without the aid of a spotter.

Yoshi

When calling Otacon regarding fighting Yoshi, Snake asks about its taste when he captures one, which is likely a reference to what Naked Snake commonly says in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater regarding animals and plants he captures, and calls Para-Medic, should the player not taste them first. Similar to Otacon's disgusted reaction, Para-Medic, when asked about its taste, will sometimes end up disgusted by Snake's question. This is Yoshi's second game appearance in a Metal Gear-related game; the first is Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and the third is Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.

Zelda

When calling Colonel Campbell about Zelda, upon learning about her alter ego, Sheik, Snake replies to Campbell's warning about pickup lines with "Don't worry. I know from experience that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for," referring to the actions of Sniper Wolf.

Snake's character
Snake enters a battle arena in an identical way to how he first lands on the Tanker at the start of Metal Gear Solid 2. At the beginning of each match, Snake will say "Kept you waiting, huh?", which is a recurring phrase in the Metal Gear series. He also says this line when he appears in the Subspace Emissary, which is one of very few lines in the entire story.

Snake is unique in that he is the only character who will will utter (one of several) lines when he eats food. He usually says something along the lines of "Nom!", other times he will say "Tasty!" and rarely "Good!" (this is a parody of when the player eats food from their inventory in Metal Gear Solid 3).

The audience's in-game cheer for Snake parodies the Metal Gear Solid Game Over screen. (i.e. "Snake! Snake! SNAAAAAAAAKE!!!")

If Snake is KO'd while in a Codec conversation, the character he was talking to mimics the traditional Game Over message of "Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAAKE!".

MGS3 camos (tiger stripe, auscam, animal, water, and fire) appear as Snake's alternate costumes.

Solid Snake's character emblem is the FOX logo, referring to the CIA-based predecessor to the FOXHOUND unit that was used from 1962 to 1970 that Snake's father, Big Boss, was formerly a member of.

Snake's moves
Solid Snake's up-smash move, Mortar, is an allusion/foreshadowing of Metal Gear Solid 4, where the player can interact with the M224 Mortar launchers in various Acts of the game to take out enemies.

His back throw animation was taken directly from his throw ability in Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and Metal Gear Solid 2.

His pummel (attacking the enemy while grabbing them) is snapping their neck, though this inflicts a small amount of damage instead of killing them. His downward throw is slowly putting them on the floor.

His side-B move, Remote Missile, uses the Nikita Missile from Metal Gear Solid, The Twin Snakes, and Metal Gear Solid 2. In addition, it is fired in third person mode, alluding to the M47 Dragon's usage in the MSX2 games.

His down-smash move, Mine, refers to the placement of mines in Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

His dash ability refers to his sommersault/crouch in Metal Gear Solid, The Twin Snakes, and Metal Gear Solid 2.

His using the RPG-7 as his forward smash references Metal Gear (where he had to take out two Bloody Brads and defeat Big Boss) and Metal Gear Solid 3 and Portable Ops, where Naked Snake/Big Boss frequently used it to hold off/defeat the Shagohod and to destroy the ICBMG, respectively.

Snake's smash attack weapon was the RGB-6, which was a procurable weapon in the Plant Chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2. In addition, he is holding onto a drop ladder of what is implied to be a helicopter, referring to Solid Snake and Otacon utilizing a stolen Kasatka during the same chapter.

Approximately one out of every 6 C4 packs Snake uses will be a C3 butterfly explosive, a reference to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This change is purely cosmetic.

Stickers and trophies
EVA's sticker grants Snake a large amount of electrical resistance, a reference to her undercover relationship with Volgin in Metal Gear Solid 3.

Raiden's sticker (based on his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 2) increases Direct Special Attacks by +14, referring to his preference to bladed weapons to firearms.

Naked Snake's sticker possessed the second highest flinch resistance possible (+160), referring to his intolerably high resistance to Volgin's and Cunningham's torture in Snake Eater and Portable Ops, respectively. Similarly, The Boss's sticker possessed the highest possible flinch resistance possible (+161), referring to her statement that she trained Naked Snake to be resistant against torture to Volgin.

The trophy for Naked Snake depicts him with bandages and an eyepatch, a reference to either the injuries inflicted on him nearing the end of the Virtuous Mission (bandages alone) or the events of Volgin's torture of Snake shortly after the latter was captured during Operation Snake Eater (bandages and missing eye).

Other
The design for the announcement menu of upcoming opponents for Classic Mode bore large resemblance to the Boss Rush menu for Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.