The masterpieces as seen in Brawl.

Masterpieces (名作トライアル, Masterpiece Trial) are time-limited trial versions of classic Nintendo titles in which the characters of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U have appeared. Masterpieces come pre-installed with every copy of the game for free. Masterpieces are actually the entire ROM files of the games run on an emulator, almost identical to the same games that were available on Virtual Console. This means players are allowed to progress as far as they possibly can within the time limit. When said time limit runs out, a message appears to notify the player of the trial's conclusion. On Wii U, this message also includes a link to the Nintendo eShop, where the player was able to purchase the full Virtual Console release of the title they just played. While this link is still functional, the ability to purchase from the eShop is no longer possible as of its shutdown on March 27, 2023. The game then returns to the masterpiece selection menu. To save time, Masterpieces skip games' title and opening sequences. Certain Masterpieces start at specific points of the game that are relevant to the Smash game they appear in, such as the Donkey Kong Masterpiece starting at the 75m level, while games that supported saving have some built-in saves set to various points of the game. The time limit varies from game to game, typically increasing with slow-paced or dialogue and menu heavy games so the player has a chance to make a meaningful amount of progress. Masterpieces do not return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, likely due to the Virtual Console service not being added to the Nintendo Switch and is instead replaced by the Nintendo Classics program as part of Nintendo Switch Online. As the games in this program require an internet connection to access, players using Ultimate's online modes already have access to the games, rendering Masterpieces redundant.

List of masterpieces

This is a list of the masterpieces in the Super Smash Bros. series. NES games show up as FC and SNES games show up as SFC in Japan, except for the noted cases where a NES game shows up as FDS instead.

Masterpiece	Platform	Universe
Balloon Fight	NES	Balloon Fight
Donkey Kong	NES	Donkey Kong
Dr. Mario	GB	Mario
EarthBound/Mother 2	SNES/SFC	EarthBound
F-Zero	SNES	F-Zero
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem	SFC	Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light	FC	Fire Emblem
Ice Climber	NES	Ice Climber
Kid Icarus	NES	Kid Icarus
Kirby Super Star	SNES	Kirby
Kirby's Adventure	NES	Kirby
Kirby's Dream Land	GB	Kirby
Mega Man 2	NES	Mega Man
Metroid	NES	Metroid
Pac-Man	NES	Pac-Man
Pilotwings	SNES	Pilotwings
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream	NES	Punch-Out!!
Star Fox 64	N64	Star Fox
Super Mario Bros.	NES	Mario
Super Mario Bros. 2	NES	Mario
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels	NES	Mario
Super Mario Kart	SNES	Mario
Super Mario World	SNES	Mario
Super Metroid	SNES	Metroid
The Legend of Zelda	NES	The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	N64	The Legend of Zelda
Wrecking Crew	NES	Wrecking Crew
Yoshi	NES	Yoshi
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link	NES	The Legend of Zelda
Total			14	24

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

When a masterpiece ends in Brawl.

A total of 14 Masterpieces are featured in this game (12 in Western versions and 10 in the Korean version). Masterpieces are sorted in-game by their Japanese release date, even in international versions of Brawl. Unlockable Masterpieces are highlighted in grey and Japanese exclusive Masterpieces are highlighted in yellow.

NES games show up as FC and SNES games show up as SFC in the Japanese version of Brawl, except for two cases noted below where a NES game shows up as FDS instead.

Icon	Name	Platform	Duration	Unlock Criteria	Notes
	Donkey Kong	NES	0:30	10 hours of play time.	Starts at 75m.
	Ice Climber	NES	0:40		Starts on first level, with Popo. Unavailable in the Korean version.
	Super Mario Bros.	NES	1:00		Starts in World 1-1.
	The Legend of Zelda	NES	2:00	Use Toon Link in ten brawls (Korean version).	Immediately starts from the beginning of the game and skips the title screen.
	Kid Icarus	NES	1:30		Starts on first section of Underworld stage.
	F-Zero	SNES	0:40	Unlock Captain Falcon in The Subspace Emissary.	Starts at first Mute City race, with Blue Falcon.
	Super Mario World	SNES	2:00	Play on the Yoshi's Island Melee stage three times.	Starts at Yoshi's Island 2 with Mario.
	Super Mario Bros. 2	NES	1:30	Win five brawls with Peach.	Starts at World 1-1 with Peach.
	Kirby's Adventure	NES	2:00		Starts in Vegetable Valley.
	Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem	SFC	3:00		Starts on Chapter 1 of Book 1.
	Super Metroid	SNES	3:00		Includes saves for battles against Ridley.
	Mother 2	SFC	5:00		Starts at the opening cutscene.
	Star Fox 64	N64	3:00		Has access to all menu features including the Main Game, Training Mode, and VS. mode. VS mode is only one player regardless of how many controllers are plugged in.
	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	N64	5:00	Use Toon Link in ten brawls.	Has save files for beginning of Young Link and Adult Link sections. Unavailable in the Korean version.

Scrapped Masterpieces

• A Donkey Kong Country masterpiece was planned, but it was scrapped.^[1]

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

When a masterpiece ends in for Wii U with a game available on the Wii U eShop.

When a masterpiece ends in for Wii U with a game available only on the Nintendo 3DS eShop.

Masterpieces return in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. A total of 24 Masterpieces are featured in this game (23 outside of Japan), 15 of which are new. All Nintendo 64 games do not return, as they were not available on the Wii U eShop at this game's release date. In their stead are two Game Boy titles, marking the first and only time Game Boy games are playable on Wii U. New features include a timer displayed on the right side of the screen, the ability to pause the Masterpiece without using the HOME button, and the ability to stop the Masterpiece without the reset button (as the Wii U does not have a reset button). NES and SNES Masterpieces feature a prompt to purchase the game from the eShop before and after the demo, while Game Boy Masterpieces tell the player after the demo that they can purchase the game from the 3DS eShop. All Masterpieces that were carried over from Brawl now have longer time limits, with the exception of EarthBound/Mother 2 whose time limit stayed the same.

Smash Wii U also introduces third-party Masterpieces, chiefly Mega Man 2 and Pac-Man, and Masterpieces that do not represent a character, as Pilotwings represents the stage of the same name and Balloon Fight officially represents Villager's up special move (as Villager using the move appears on the game's portrait instead of a Balloon Fighter).

Masterpieces are now sorted in-game by localized release date, so Japanese, North American, and European versions list them in a different order. For example, non-Japanese versions of the game list the release date of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as 1993 (the year the SNES Super Mario All-Stars made the levels first accessible outside of Japan), and European versions of the game list the release date of EarthBound as 2013 (the year it became available on the eShop). In the list below, they are ordered by North American release date (except for Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light).

As above, NES games show up as FC and SNES games show up as SFC in the Japanese version of the game, except for the noted cases where a NES game shows up as FDS instead. In non-Japanese versions, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is listed as a NES game (and not as an FDS, SNES, or VC game) even though it was never released on the NES. Unlockable Masterpieces are highlighted in grey and Japan-exclusive Masterpieces are highlighted in yellow.

Icon	Name	Platform	Character (or object) on the portrait	Duration	Unlock Criteria	Notes
	Super Mario Bros.	NES	Mario	3:00		Starts at title screen.
	Wrecking Crew	NES	Mario	2:00		Starts at title screen.
	Balloon Fight	NES	Villager (using Balloon Trip)	2:00		Starts at title screen.
	Metroid	NES	Samus	3:00		Starts in Brinstar.
	Kid Icarus	NES	Pit	3:00		Starts at the beginning of the first level.
	The Legend of Zelda	NES	Link	4:00		Starts on the spawn tile.
	Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream	NES	Little Mac	3:00	Clear the "No Mere Sparring Match" event on normal difficulty or higher.	Starts at title screen.
	Donkey Kong	NES	Donkey Kong	2:00		Begins in the 75m level.
	Zelda II: The Adventure of Link	NES	Link	4:00		Starts in Zelda's castle.
	Mega Man 2	NES	Mega Man	3:00		Begins in the first section of Wily Castle.
	Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light	FC	Marth	4:00		Starts on Chapter 1: Marth Embarks.
	Dr. Mario	GB	Dr. Mario	3:00	Clear 10-Man Smash alone with Dr. Mario without taking any damage.	Starts on the "1 Player Game" set-up screen.
	Super Mario World	SNES	Mario	3:00		Starts on the world map of Yoshi's Island.
	F-Zero	SNES	Captain Falcon	3:00		Starts in Mute City I, playing as the Blue Falcon.
	Pilotwings	SNES	Light Plane (Pilotwings)	2:00		Starts in the Light Plane certification training level.
	Yoshi	NES	Yoshi	3:00	Clear Solo Classic with Yoshi.	Starts at title screen.
	Kirby's Dream Land	GB	Kirby	3:00		Starts at title screen.
	Super Mario Kart	SNES	Mario	3:00		Starts in Mario Circuit 1 in the Grand Prix, playing as Mario.
	Kirby's Adventure	NES	Kirby	3:00	Clear Solo Classic with Kirby on intensity 5.5 or higher.	Starts at title screen. Save file 2 is set at the end of the game, prior to the King Dedede/Nightmare fight.
	Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels	NES	Mario	3:00		Starts at title screen.
	Pac-Man	NES	Pac-Man	2:00		Starts at title screen.
	Super Metroid	SNES	Samus	4:00		Has two save files: one at the beginning of the game and one in Norfair.
	EarthBound	SNES	Ness	5:00	Get 600 m./1968 ft. or more in Home-Run Contest.	Starts at the opening cutscene.
	Kirby Super Star	SNES	Kirby	3:00		Begins in The Great Cave Offensive.

Scrapped Masterpieces

• Unused text in Smash Bros. for Wii U implies the original Super Smash Bros. was supposed to appear as a Masterpiece. This would have made it the only N64 Masterpiece in Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Trivia

• Pokémon is the only universe that debuted in Smash 64 to lack a masterpiece.
• Since the Virtual Console release of EarthBound's ESRB Teen rating exceeds Smash Wii U's ESRB E10+ rating, the prompt when starting up the EarthBound Masterpiece mentions this fact in all^{[citation needed]} North American regions. (EarthBound has the same (or lower) rating as Smash Wii U in Japan, Europe, and Russia. Although EarthBound's classification rating of M is higher than Smash Wii U's rating of PG in Australia, no prompt is shown when starting up the masterpiece in Australian copies of the game.)
• Despite technically being possible due to being a Masterpiece in Brawl, Mother 2 had no Wii Virtual Console release in any region. It is the only Masterpiece in any Smash game to have this distinction.
  • Additionally, despite it not being possible to progress very far within the given time limit, the Mother 2 Masterpiece in Brawl features some text differences later in the game taken from Mother 1+2.
• Within the time limit, speedrunners have been able to beat the Masterpiece versions of Donkey Kong (one loop of all levels, albeit only in Smash Wii U), Kirby's Adventure (using a glitch to warp to the credits), Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream (using a password), and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (using glitches to either beat Ganon^[2] or warp to the credits,^[3] both of which were first done by Savestate).
• If Star Fox 64 is hacked to disable the time limit, the audio will cut off at the point the time up message is meant to appear. Additionally, the character portraits will also stop moving.

External links

Announcement of Masterpieces on the DOJO!!.

References

• Masterpieces
• Modes (SSBB)
• Modes (SSB4-Wii U)
• Options
• Bonus Games

• Articles with unsourced statements