The following is the standard Smash 64 ruleset in North America, adapted from SuperNova 2025.
The full SuperNova rules, covering all Smash games, can be found here.

Game Rules

Game Settings

  • Stocks: 4
  • Timer: 8 minutes
  • Items: Off
  • Team Attack: On

Stage List

  • Dream Land

Timers

All Games will be played with an 8-minute timer.

Sudden Death

If a game goes to Sudden Death, the in-game sudden death will be ignored. The winner is determined by stocks and percentage at the time the match ends. When the timer hits 0:00, the Player/Team with the higher stock/combined sum of stock count is the winner. If both Players/Teams are tied in stocks the Player/Team with the lower percentage/combined sum of percentage is the winner. In the event of a percentage tie, or a match in which both Players/Teams lose their last stock simultaneously, a 1 stock tiebreaker will be played with time limit equal to the regular time limit divided by the regular number of stocks, rounded up.

Stalling

Excessive unwillingness to engage the opponent is disallowed at the risk of being forced to forfeit the match by the TO. If there is no movement from either Player, the losing Player is considered to be stalling.

Pausing

All games will be played with hold to pause enabled. Pausing is only legal while either Player remains upon their OWN respawn platform, and only for the purpose of summoning a tournament official or in the case of a controller malfunction. Before pausing the pauser must notify the other Player(s) first. All other pauses will result in a forfeiture of the game.

ℹ️ Note: Tournaments without hold to pause may use a more lenient version of this rule.

Alternate Costumes

Only naturally appearing costumes are permitted. Players reserve the right to request natural costumes for their tournament set. Natural costumes are defined as costumes available through 1v1 or 2v2 in SSB64.

There is no penalty for unnatural costumes if the match has already started and damage has been dealt on either side.

Players are responsible for noticing unnatural costumes and if no damage has been dealt, are to pause and notify a Tournament Organizer to restart the game. If damage has been dealt the game must be played out.

A Player refusing to play natural costumes will be penalized a full game.

Colorblind Clause

Players may request that their opponent change colors to accommodate colorblindness or if their color is indistinguishable from either the other team color or the stage background. The request must be made before the match starts.

Neutral Start

If a Player requests Neutral Start, the Players must use the neutral port configuration below:

  Port 1 Port 2 Port 3 Port 4
Singles   Player 1   Player 2
Doubles Team A Team B Team B Team A

Port Priority

If an agreement cannot be made as to who gets what port, the Players may enact a best of 1 game of Rock Paper Scissors. Winner has the option of selecting port first.

Restarts

The TOs may approve a game restart due to exceptional circumstances, such as a power outage.

Misinterpretation / Misconfiguration

If a game was played under a misconfiguration of the Game Settings that could have materially affected the result of the game, a Player may petition the TO to have that game replayed. The final decision is at the discretion of the TO. This must be done immediately after the game in question; after the next game is started, the previous game shall not be replayed regardless of whether the rules were set correctly.

Match Rules

Set Procedure

  1. Players select their characters. Either Player may elect to do Double Blind Character Selection (see next section)
  2. The Players play the first game of the set
  3. The winning Player of the preceding match may choose to change characters.
  4. The losing Player of the preceding match may choose to change characters.
  5. The next game is played.
  6. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 for all subsequent matches until the set is complete.

Double Blind Character Selection

Either Player may request that a double blind selection occur. In this situation, a referee or other tournament staff member will be told, in secret, each of Player’s choices for the first round. Both Players are to then select their first round character, with the referee validating the character selections.

Tardiness

Anyone who is not present for their match by 15 minutes past the scheduled start time, without prior communication with tournament staff, is subject to a total disqualification from the event. The specific timer for DQs is subject to TO discretion prior to the start of the event.

Warm-ups

Warm-up periods and controller tests may not exceed 30 seconds on the in-game timer. Violation of this rule may result in an automatic forfeit at the discretion of TOs.

Coaching

Coaching, defined as deliberately giving or receiving advice to/from another person during a Match or between Matches during Grand Finals, is allowed and limited to 30 seconds in between games, limited to one coach per Player per match.

Stalling In-Between Games

The maximum amount of time for counterpicking a stage after a loss is 60 seconds. Players may be allowed up to 2 minutes between Grand Finals sets before beginning the first game of the second set. Anything beyond this is subject to stalling rules and may result in a game loss at the Tournament Organizer’s discretion.

Doubles (2v2) Rules

Double Pikachu

In Doubles, teams composed of 2 Pikachus are not permitted.

ℹ️ Note: This rule varies between tournaments.

Stock Sharing

Taking a partner’s stock is allowed in Doubles.

“Grab and Go” Clause

In Doubles, Players may not switch controllers with their teammate.

Missing Teammate Clause

If a Player’s teammate is not present for a match, that Player may not replace their teammate with a CPU Player. They may not play without a teammate.

Controller Rules

All controllers are subject to the following restrictions:

  • Button counts must not exceed the number on the Hori Mini Pad. This means a maximum of one each of A, B, L, R, and Start buttons, two Z buttons, and four C buttons.
  • Joystick inputs may be performed with either 1 Joystick, or 4 digital buttons/keys mapped to each of cardinal directions left, right, up, and down. Combinations of the two or additional input methods are not permitted.
  • Macros are not permitted. This includes “C-sticks” combining a joystick input with an attack, and any input that performs multiple functions, modifies another button, or otherwise does not act as a 1:1 mapping to a button on an original N64 controller/Hori mini pad. The game’s built-in functionality of the R button does not fall under this rule.
  • Angle modifiers, tilt keys, and any other modifier key or input that adjusts joystick inputs, such as those on Melee-style “Box” controllers, are not permitted.

Any other external adapters outside of the ones mentioned here are subject to the TO’s discretion. Violation of above rules will result in immediate disqualification from an event and all previous wins in the event are forfeited. Examples of legal controllers are, but not limited to, the original N64 controller, Hori Mini Pad, GameCube controller, and Xbox/keyboard/other wired input devices as long as they meet the restrictions above.

Event Rules

Round Robin Tiebreakers

Round Robin standings are determined in the following order: Match count, head to head, game count. In the event a tie still exists, the Players tied will play another round robin, Best-of-1 and stock differential will be recorded. The tiebreaker round robin will use the same tiebreaker order with stock differential being the final tiebreaker. This is repeated until no ties exist.

Round Robin Match Order

Players from the same region must play each other first in a round robin pool. A Tournament Official may be summoned to enforce this rule.

Collusion

Players suspected of colluding may be immediately disqualified from the tournament. This includes intentionally throwing a match, splitting a payout, or committing any other form of bracket manipulation. The TO reserves the right to deny payout of event winnings to any Player suspected of colluding.

Alting / Player Substituting

You will be immediately disqualified from the tournament with no refunds if you are found using an alternate tag/tags and/or hide your identity to manipulate the bracket/seeding. This includes a Player playing under another registered Player’s tag, even if the registered Player is unable to make the event or the registered Player gives another Player permission to take their spot. The only exception to this rule is if the Player notifies a TO prior to the event, and the TO approves the change. The TO is not required to approve any change regarding Player substitutions.

Headphone Usage

If a tournament setup does not have any audio, or if the available audio is not audible due to outside noise, either Player may call upon a staff member and request to use headphones in order to listen to in-game sound. If so, the Players must provide their own headphones and be able to supply an audio splitter so that their opponent is able to have equal access to in-game sound. If a tournament setup already has audible audio, a Player may not plug in their own headphones unless they are able to provide an audio splitter and pair of stereo speakers for their opponent as well. Should these stereo speakers not match the setup’s previous sound level, that Player may not use their headphones to listen to in-game sound. This ruling does not apply to headphones that are not being used for in-game sound, such as for listening to music or to cancel out outside noise.

Final Rulings

If any unforeseen situations occur, judgment of tournament staff is final. Rules may be altered between phases of a tournament in the best interests of the event.