Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/All-Star Mode

All Star Mode is another mode in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. Like the previous games, you have to defeat every character (including DLC characters if owned) in several rounds. The mode is available at the start with only the characters unlocked. It is available on easy, medium, or hard. If all characters are unlocked (DLC excluded), then the mode is known as the True All Star Mode.

Matches

There are a total of seven matches in All Star Mode. All of the fighters are ordered and grouped based on his or her first appearance. On the 3DS, the fighters are in chronological order. In the Wii U, it is in reverse chronological order. Also, the stages are based on the time period.

The damage you have carries on to the additional rounds. During matches, your attacks receive a boost in power, while your opponent's attacks are made weaker to compensate. Custom moves and equipment are disabled, and items will not spawn other than those manually created by characters. You only have 1 life to clear the entire mode. You cannot continue if you get a Game Over.

Rest Area

After each round, you end up in a Rest Area. It shows the next set of fighters as well as the time period. The fighters defeated also appear in the background.

Health items also appear. If all characters are not unlocked, there are two Maxim Tomatoes, a Fairy Bottle, and a modified Heart Container that heals off damage completely. Otherwise, there are one Maxim Tomato, a Fairy Bottle, and two Heart Containers. While in the rest area, your damage percent is constant; you cannot heal or do self-damage. Additionally, moves that normally grant increased healing from health items such as Chomp will not provide said health boost effect.

Rewards

At the end of each round, you get coins. In the rest area, there are trophies and custom parts available. Getting KO'ed does not make you lose any of these rewards; you leave with just those rewards.

General tips

• Keep your opponents scattered or try to wall them off to one side. A bunch of foes ganging up on you can rack up damage really fast, so you must do your best to avoid getting surrounded.
• Based on the advice above, the best attacks to use are ones that are moderately quick and strong, usually most faster smash attacks. Your objective is to keep foes at a distance and busy recovering. Slow but powerful moves are poor choices as enemies other than your current can easily interrupt your move.
• For some reason, projectiles are NOT affected by the strength modifier on both you and your opponents. This means that while you may only take medium knockback from a charged Side Smash by Ike at 120%, a max-size Charge Shot at that percent is absolutely lethal. Be especially careful of characters with projectile KO moves like Samus and Lucario.
• Similar to projectiles, stage hazards will also do normal damage and knockback. Take extra care when playing on stages like Port Town Aero Drive.
• Ration your health items wisely. The main healing item you should plan around is the Fairy Bottle due to its picky healing mechanic. If you've taken slightly above 100%, it is practically an extra Health Container, but is completely useless anywhere below that threshold.

Match-by-match analysis

Note that match order is exactly reversed on the Wii U version.