The Secret Level in Super Smash Bros.

The Characters

• The secret level in "Super Smash Bros." can only be opened up if you play -- and win -- as all eight original characters in one-player mode. While playing, you cannot use a continue. The original eight characters include Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Kirby, Link, Mario, Pikachu, Samus and Yoshi. Four additional characters can be unlocked, including Ness, Luigi, Jigglypuff and Captain Falcon. However, these four characters play no part in opening up the secret level.

The Secret Level

• The Mushroom Kingdom from the "Super Mario Bros." game is the secret level within "Super Smash Bros." for the Nintendo 64. However, the level can only be used during the versus mode of the game. In versus mode, a total of four people can play at the same time. There are two ways of playing in versus mode: time mode and stock mode. In time mode, the winner is determined by who can knock out the most people within a certain amount of time. In stock mode, each player has a certain amount of lives and, once those lives are exhausted, so are you.

Hints

• When playing "Super Smash Bros.," it helps to know a few hints involving some of the original eight characters, especially if you want to open up that secret level. If you are controlling Mario, use your fireball to knock your opponents off a platform and keep them off. Pressing the "B" button will throw a fireball. If you're controlling Yoshi, press "B" when your opponents are close to you, and they will turn into eggs. For Donkey Kong, charge up your super punch by holding down the "B" button. Holding down "B" while controlling Link will cause him to throw a boomerang. Holding down "B" will cause Star Fox to shoot his blaster gun. Make Samus fire his gun by pressing down "B," and make Pikachu fire a paralyzing ball of electricity by holding down "B."

Difficulty

• Though you cannot use any continues while trying to unlock the secret stage of "Super Smash Bros.," you can set the game to any difficulty setting you want. The difficulty settings include "Very Easy," "Easy," "Normal," "Hard" and "Very Hard." As the difficulty levels increase, your opponents become harder to kill. If all you want to do is breeze through the game to open the secret level, play the "Very Easy" mode.