As of now, there are three different game modes available in SF. They are Single, Two Player, and Training. Let’s go over them.

The main menu

Single

In Single mode, you play by yourself (pretty obvious, huh?) against a computer opponent. You have three difficulty choices for the CP, and they are: Easy, Normal, and Hard. What are the differences? The higher the difficulty is, the more often the CP uses special attacks as well as basic attacks. When fighting a Hard, you will find yourself constantly attacked by special moves, while an Easy will focus on quick bursts of basic attacks. Also, when playing in Single mode, you can unlock new characters and stages.

Choosing the CP difficulty

Two Player

Exactly as the name suggests, in Two Player mode you can play against a friend on the same keyboard. One person is Player 1, one is Player 2. As in Single, you can choose your characters and stage, but you do not have the ability to unlock new ones.

Training

In Training mode, you play by yourself with nay character or stage that you have, and can explore stages and practice special moves without the hustle of a nearby enemy.

So alone…

So how the heck do you do anything with your character? Why, my friend, it’s simple. The game uses 5 keys for most commands, and they can be easily accessed without having to dart your hand around the keyboard.

Moving Left and Right

…is simple. If you’re player 1, then you use the left and right arrow keys. For player 2, you use the a and d keys (a is left, d is right).

Jumping

As a side scrolling game, jumping is very important. Player 1 uses the up arrow to jump, while player 2 uses the w key.

Basic Attacks

Your simplest form of offense is the basic attack. When used, two small arrows appear to your left and right. If an enemy is struck with those arrows (which remain as long as you hold down the button), they take 1 point of damage and are pushed backwards. If you attack that enemy with this when you are in the same space, the take 2 damage. Player 1 does basic attacks with the down arrow key, while player 2 uses the s key.

A basic attack being used

Special Attacks

Each character has two unique special attacks. They are used by pressing down on the special attack key (which is the enter key for player 1, and the space bar for player 2), and pressing on either their jump key, the left key, the right key, or the basic attack key. More info on special attacks will be found on the character’s pages.

Teal using their side special

Smiley Fighter is a side scrolling action game which revolves around beating your opponents brains out. It’s very simple, really. Each player has a health score, and an energy score.

See the four lines of text at the bottom? That’s each player’s stats. Let’s go over them.

HP

You start off each match with 100 HP. Every time you’re attacked, it goes down. When you or your opponent hits 0 HP, the match is over. Every couple of seconds, you regain one point of HP. Also, if you fall off of the stage, then you have to go back to your original position and you loose a whopping 20 HP.

Energy

At the beginning of a match, you have 0 energy. You can use basic attacks if your energy is under 30, and each basic attack takes up two energy. Also, you recharge your energy very quickly. If your energy goes above thirty, then it is reset to a very high number (averaging about 70), and you have to wait until it goes down again. This is called “burning out”. To use a special attack, you must have exactly 0 energy. Using a special attack automatically burns you out, and some special attacks burn out to higher, or lower numbers.