Metal Box

From Mariopedia, a wiki on Mario, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Super Smash Bros., and more!
Jump to navigationJump to search
Metal Box

Super Smash Bros. Brawl artwork
General information
Effect Super Mario 64 / DS:
Releases a Metal Cap
Super Smash Bros. series:
Turns a fighter into their metal form
Found at Various
Appearances
First appearance Super Mario 64 (1996)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020)

The Metal Box is a type of Cap Block featured within the Mario franchise. It is a cubical green-and-white box that features an exclamation point in the center of each face. The Metal Box first appears as an object in Super Mario 64, where it releases a Metal Cap upon being opened, and went on to appear as an item in every Super Smash Bros. series title since Super Smash Bros. Melee, in which picking up a Metal Box instantly turns a fighter into their metal form.

History

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS

A Metal Box, as it originally appeared in Super Mario 64.

In Super Mario 64, Green Blocks, like the other Cap Blocks, are not usable at first, and only materialize after Mario has activated their corresponding Cap Switch, found in the Cavern of the Metal Cap hidden within Hazy Maze Cave. Upon breaking a Green Block, a Metal Cap is released, and by putting it on, Mario transforms into Metal Mario temporarily, during which he becomes invulnerable to attack and heavier; because of this, Metal Mario sinks down into the water and can withstand strong gusts of wind.

In Super Mario 64 DS, the Cap Blocks, including the Metal Boxes, are all replaced by red ? Blocks that materialize after the red ? Switch at the Tower of the Wing Cap has been activated. Upon breaking a ? Block, it releases a Power Flower, the effect of which differs for Mario and the additional three playable characters: Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario. Mario can no longer take on the properties of the Metal Cap, but if Wario touches a Power Flower, he becomes Metal Wario.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros.

In Super Smash Bros., while the Metal Box does not make an appearance, the ninth stage of 1P Game involves a battle against Metal Mario who, in the Super Smash Bros. series, is featured as both a standalone character and an alternate form of Mario; in both cases, Metal Mario permanently has the properties granted by the Metal Box.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee screenshot

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Metal Box is properly introduced into the Super Smash Bros. series. If it is broken by disjointed attacks like Pikachu's forward smash or any attack from a sword-wielding character, they still become a Metal fighter. Ness's dash attack is the only disjointed attack that doesn't turn him metal. If the Metal Box is hit by a projectile, it disappears. A random metal fighter is fought in Classic Mode, and both Metal Mario and Metal Luigi are fought in Adventure.

Metal fighters make different metallic sounds while walking, running, and landing, which mostly depends on their weight; all lightweight fighters except Princess Zelda, Mr. Game & Watch, Mewtwo, and Ice Climbers make a faint "tinging" sound; all middleweight fighters make a standard "clanking" sound; and all heavyweight fighters except Samus Aran, Yoshi, Ganondorf, and Link make a much more noticeable "crunching" sound. Most of the aforementioned exceptional characters make the standard middleweight sound despite their weight. Mewtwo doesn't make any sounds, even when landing, and Mr. Game & Watch's footsteps and landing sounds are always electronic beep noises. Only one of the Ice Climbers can pick up a Metal Box to assume their metal form.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Metal Box can no be broken when hit by projectiles, and the metallic walking sound effect no longer changes depending on the characters' weights, so everyone makes the same sound while walking. While swimming, instead of instantly sinking underwater, the fighter submerges deeper after falling into the water; this technique is used to reach a secret area in The Glacial Peak in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. In Classic Mode, the player must also battle a random metal character.

Characters who take on an alternate form during their Final Smash are not affected by breaking Metal Boxes; this includes Bowser, who becomes Giga Bowser, and Wario, who becomes Wario-Man. Similarly, while Captain Olimar is under the effects of the Metal Box, his Pikmin remain in their usual form.

Starting with this game, there is an option in Special Brawl to have all fighters assume their Metal form throughout each battle.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U screenshot

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, the transformation duration can no longer be extended by picking up additional Metal Boxes. In the Nintendo 3DS version, the metal is translucent rather than opaque, but in the Wii U version, the metal texture is both opaque and reflective, with a pre-rendered screenshot of the current stage being reflected on the character's body.

In both games, if Rosalina uses the Metal Box, her Luma also transforms into metal. On the other hand, Olimar's Pikmin are still unaffected by the Metal Box. Alph, being an alternate costume of Olimar, also has his Pikmin unaffected while he is a Metal fighter. Giga Bowser and Wario-Man remain unaffected by the Final Smash, and both Mega Lucario and Giga Mac, an alternate form assumed by Lucario and Little Mac during their respective Final Smash, are also unaffected.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the Metal Box appears as a red trophy item in Smash Tour. When used, it allows the player's fighter to start a battle in metal form. The Super Smash Bros. for Wii U trophy incorrect lists Super Mario 64 DS, as one of the Metal Box's game appearances, even though all of the Cap Blocks were replaced with a ? Block.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the effect of the Metal Box appears to slowly take over the character rather than immediately, similar to Inkling's ink. The Hero's Metal Slash ability can instantly KO any metal characters that it hits. One of Hero's down special moves, Kaclang, can turn him metal, and is the only special move to grant this effect.

In spirit battles, players can battle a puppet fighter made either entirely of metal or has the ability to shift into their metal form. There is no spirit of a Metal Box itself.

Unlike in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Luma no longer becomes metal while Rosalina is under the effects of a Metal Box.

Minecraft

In the Super Mario Mash-up in Minecraft, a Green Block is featured in the form of a painting, along with the other Cap Blocks.

Effects in the Super Smash Bros. series

In every Super Smash Bros. series title, breaking the Metal Box grants several effects lasting for 12 seconds, although this decreases if the fighter takes damage, especially from fire attacks like Bowser's Fire Breath:

  • Increases the fighter's weight (3.0× in Melee; 4.5× in Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate) than normal; however, weight independent attacks can ignore the weight boost; this includes any attack that has the bury, paralyze, or stun effects.
  • Increases the fighter's jump force (1.55× in Melee and Brawl; 1.35× in Smash 4; 1.2× in Ultimate), although usually not by enough to compensate for the gravity and fall speed increase; however, it does not affect gliding, floating, or Yoshi's double jump.
  • Increases the fighter's falling speed (2.0× in Melee and Brawl; 1.7× in Smash 4; 1.4× in Ultimate), making recoveries harder, and more vulnerable to certain chain grabs. Certain characters with multiple double jumps will not gain any net vertical distance while under the effects of a Metal Box, as they will fall below where they had began the jump before being able to jump again.
  • Increases the fighter's gravity slightly (2.0× in Melee and Brawl; 1.7× in Smash 4 and Ultimate).
  • Decreases the fighter's walking speed slightly (0.7× in Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4; 0.8× in Ultimate).
  • Increases the fighter's knockback resistance by subtracting the amount of knockback taken from attacks by 30 units. Weak projectiles such as Link's Arrows, and most jabs, will merely deal damage without causing flinching if they don't deal more than 0 units of knockback; however, some attacks can ignore the knockback resistance, which includes any attack that has the bury effect.
  • Mutes the character's voices (although, as sound effects are still retained, Duck Hunt, Samus, Mr. Game & Watch, Villager, Mii Fighters (in SSB4), Mega Man, wireframe Little Mac, Pac-Man, Isabelle, Dark Samus, Piranha Plant and Steve are unaffected by this); however, getting knocked beyond the blast line of any stage will make the character scream as usual, except for in SSB4.
  • Characters make metal sound effects when hitting a surface upon taking a step; however, the sound more closely resembles that of a thin sheet of metal, suggesting that the character isn't turned into metal, just covered with it.

Profiles

Super Smash Bros. Melee trophy

Name Image Game Description
Metal Box Super Mario 64
09/96
First spotted in Super Mario 64, the Metal Box holds the power to turn your character briefly into heavy metal. Your mass is exponentially greater while metallic, making it difficult for others to throw you. Be careful though: not only will you move a bit slower, but you'll also fall much more quickly than you ordinarily would.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy

Name Image Game Description
Metal Box N64 Super Mario 64 A green box that transforms whoever attacks it into metal. In metal form, you're a lot heavier than normal, so middling and even strong attacks don't move you too much, and standard attacks won't even make you flinch. The time you spend in metal form decreases with the damage you take. In Super Mario 64, the weight of the metal form allowed you to walk underwater.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U trophy

Name 3DS trophy Wii U trophy Category Appears in Trophy Box Description
Metal Box Item N64 Super Mario 64 (09/1996)
DS Super Mario 64 DS (11/2004)
- This green box will make you the ultimate defensive character, turning you into solid metal for a short time. You won't flinch from enemy attacks, even in midair, and it is much harder to launch you. On the other hand, you fall like a brick. Getting hit will reduce the duration of this item.
Whack this box to turn into a metal you! You won't flinch when attacked - even in mid-air - and you'll be harder to launch. Now, the downsides: you'll move slower, fall faster, and recovering when you fall off a stage will be a nightmare. Also, it's only temporary, or lasts until you've taken a certain amount of damage.

Related Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirits

Primary spirits

No. Image Name Type Class Slots Base Power Max Power Base Attack Max Attack Base Defense Max Defense Ability Series
773 Sahelanthropus Shield ★★★ 1 3145 9438 1402 4208 1219 3657 Metal and Giant Metal Gear Solid Series
960 Metal Face Attack ★★★★ 1 4996 12493 2353 5882 1811 4529 Metal and Giant Xenoblade Chronicles Series
1,044 Octobot King Neutral ★★★ 3 3277 9835 1381 4144 1654 4963 Made of Metal Splatoon Series
1,495 Full-Armor Travis (Full Green Mode) Attack ★★★ 2 3262 9817 1843 5545 1178 3545 Made of Metal No More Heroes Series

Support spirits

No. Image Name Class Cost Ability Series
385 Slippy Toad ★★★ 1 Made of Metal Star Fox Series
952 Fiora ★★★ 1 Made of Metal Xenoblade Chronicles Series

Gallery

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese のブロック[1]
Midori no Burokku
ブロック
Midori Burokku
Green Block
Chinese (Simplified) 绿色砖块
Lǜsè Zhuānkuài
Green Block
Chinese (Traditional) 綠色磚塊
Lǜsè Zhuānkuài
Green Block
Dutch Groene !-kist Green ! Box
French (American) Boîte de métal Metal Box
French (Europe) Caisse de métal Metal Crate
German Grüne !-Box Green ! Box
Italian Blocco verde[2] (Super Mario 64)
Scatola ![3] (Super Smash Bros. series)
Green Block
! Box
Korean 초록 블록
Chorok Beulok
Green Block
Russian Металлический блок
Metallicheskiy blok
Metallic block
Spanish (Americas) Bloque de Metal Metal Block
Spanish (Europe) Bloque Verde Green Block

Trivia

  • In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the metal effect ignores transparency, meaning that parts that should be transparent become opaque while the effect is active. This is most visible with Olimar in Brawl; his entire helmet becomes encased with metal. Other examples include Donkey Kong's fur and Ivysaur's leaves. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, transparency is taken into account; Olimar's face becomes metal while his helmet remains untouched.
  • In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, metal characters retain their textures, while every other game ignores textures and only displays the bump maps of the character models. This is most noticeable with Kirby, whose eyes disappear when he becomes metal in every game other than Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, or Mario, whose hat insignia and eyes also disappear.

References

  1. ^ Super Mario 64 Japanese instruction booklet, page 19.
  2. ^ Super Mario 64 Italian instruction booklet, page 38.
  3. ^ Latel (May 3, 2018). Year of Smash 25 [Super Smash Bros. Brawl]. YouTube. Retrieved September 13, 2020.