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…

All of Ice Blue’s moves focus on the ice tile. If you come in contact with an ice tile, and you aren’t playing as Ice Blue, then you become frozen for the duration of the ice tile’s existence (which is about 3 seconds). When frozen, you cannot move, jump, or do basic attacks, but you can do special attacks. Though, if your special attack carries you out of the ice tile, you still remain frozen.

Up Special: Ice Torrent

Ice Blue calls a pillar of ice to appear above its head.

Ice…TORRENT!

This move can travel through walls, but it doesn’t replace them.

So much for that hiding spot

You may have noticed from these screen shots that this move has a very low burn out number, averaging around 30 or 40.

Side Special: Ice Beam

Almost the same as Ice Torrent, Ice Beam shoots a row of ice tiles off of Ice Blue when used. Hence, a beam.

Notice again, that this move goes through walls, but doesn’t replace them

Down Special: Ice Sanctuary

When using this special, Ice Blue is surrounded by ice tiles. This has an extremely low burnout rate, but a smart enemy will simply avoid you when you use this attack.

I am…at peace

Strategies

For Ice Blue, strategies are extremely simple. Just use one of your special moves (it doesn’t matter which), to freeze the enemy. If your energy is lower then 30, run in and use basic attacks. The second they unfreeze, retreat and wait to freeze them again. Did I mention it was simple?

White is the basic Smiley Fighter character. It’s special attacks focus on teleportation and escape.

Up Special: Blink

White teleports up to a large height, and in the process can bypass several walls. Also, upon appearing, they execute a normal jump, allowing them time to recover and plan their next move.

That’s some serious air

Also, if used when you’re standing right next to or on top of an enemy, they take 10 damage!

Bam!

Side Special: Teleport Punch

This is extremely annoying for your opponent when used in a map filled with obstacles. If White and their foe are on the same row when this is used, then White teleports right next to them and deals 10 damage.

Preparing the attack…

…and THERE!

Down Special: Evade

This useful little move teleports you two spaces down. Now wait, how is that helpful? Well, you can use it to drop down through a platform and dodge an enemy’s attack!

Preparing to use

Fwip!

One note: Do not, I repeat, do not use this move when on the bottom of the stage. Why, you ask? Well, you’ll teleport out of the map… and die.

Strategies

When using White, the basic strategy is to keep moving and using your Teleport Punches when the moment arrives. After that, retreat to a safe post and recharge your energy, before returning for a second punch. This works well on a cluttered map, like the Temple or the Hill where you can attack through several walls.

Also, it’s fun to simply wait for you enemy to come to you, and then use a Blink attack. You’ll deal damage, and your height will stop the enemy from retaliating.

Evade should be used frequently when facing enemies with ranged attacks like Teal or Red. Also, it’s useful if you just want to show off your awesome skills to a friend.

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.