Ike

New players to Super Smash Bros should check this out.

For my final entry my friend Kaylee and I will look at the character Ike. Ike is a powerhouse of a swordsman. He is the heaviest hitter of all the swordsmen and has one of the longest sword ranges. His sword was the biggest in the game before the introduction of the DLC character Cloud, who now has a heavier sword.  Nonetheless, Ike’s sword hits like a truck. Ike plays extremely weirdly as a character, having very heavy, strong, slow attacks, but also many attacks that will come out instantly that deal less damage and deal with faster foes. He tends to be one of the easiest characters in the game to pick up, though mastering his character takes a little more skill.

Ike, as a swordsman, has long range with many of his attacks, reaching far with his massive sword to deal even more massive damage. With his decent ground speed and nice air speed he tends to be a bit of a speedy character even if he tends to be slower with most of his attacks. Ike is also a heavier character, being able to take a decent amount of punishment before being knocked out of the fight. His large arsenal of moves on the ground and in the sky make him a very formidable foe.

When it comes to Ike’s strongpoints the first bit that bears mentioning is his immense damage. Oh that was already mentioned? Well now it has been again. His primary advantage is that of being able to hit like a truck, with his sword having immense damage and large range, he is to be feared in the hands of a skilled player. Another of Ike’s benefits is his counter, which also has a large range thus making it hard to escape from. His neutral B is an attack to slam his sword into the ground in a blaze of fire, dealing some of the highest damage in the entire game, however it leaves him a bit open to attack if the player is not careful with their timing. His recovery is very well rounded, as he can use his side B to recovery from extremely far off sides, and his up B special goes fairly far up as well. Being a heavy character who can recovery easily he is a big threat to those who do not pay him much attention in a fight.

Ike’s downsides come from his attack speed, which is generally lacking in most of his attacks. His side and up smashes take a long time to wind up and swing, and his down smash is only slightly faster than these. Ike also has a large amount of end lag in his moves, meaning if he misses an attack he is defenseless for a long amount of time. That means do not miss an attack as Ike, and if fighting against an Ike make sure to punish if they miss an attack. Ike can have a very hard time against faster characters like Sonic or Little Mac, being ill suited to be able to hit them, much less hit them enough to land a kill.

Below is a clip of Ike beating another Ike with his truck of a sword.

 

If anything can be said to new Ike players it would be to use the faster attacks often. Use the neutral A combo, forward A, and back air to the advantage.

Yoshi

Anyone new to Super Smash Bros should check this out.

Today I analyze the character of Yoshi with my friend Ethan. Yoshi is the green dinosaur that Mario rides on in most of his games. Yoshi lays eggs to use as a weapon, can put enemies in an egg, and even become an egg himself. As one of the weirder characters of the game he is fun to play, being both strong and light/floaty. Yoshi does however lack a decent up B, his only gives a very slight elevation boost. Now to begin.

Yoshi is an odd character, having the fastest air speed in the game, making him to be a very good aerial fighter. His ground speed is relatively fast as well, making him well rounded. He is a very heavy combo character, able to take characters from 0% to a high percentage very quickly in a combo that would be hard for them to get out of. Yoshi’s attacks have a rather large range as well, though he is easily outranged by most sword characters by a small bit, making it it difficult to fight them. His egg throw does give him a ranged attack that can help in certain situations where he is outranged.

Yoshi is very powerful, making his combos really deadly and easy to set up. His neutral A attack is the set up to many combos, and also deals decent damage itself. Yoshi also has a nice spike with his forward air, slamming opponents down to the extent that they cannot survive. His down air attack can dish out 32% damage if every hit lands. The back air attack deals three powerful hits and has a good kill potential, coming out quickly and dealing much knockback. His forward smash is likely his biggest kill move, having long range and large knockback potential. When it comes to setups his neutral B is good for stalling enemies into taking damage while they cannot move; after all, they’re stuck inside an egg. His side B is a relatively fast move the can send him all the way across the stage as well, though it has no kill potential. Yoshi does have a long range grab, but it does not deal much damage to enemies, therefore his neutral B is the better option for keeping an enemy still. Plus with his neutral B opponents could helplessly fall off ledge and be able to do nothing as they slowly fall.

Yoshi can be easily be killed off stage if his second jump is taken, due to his up B barely giving any height. He also lacks in good projectiles, though his up B egg throw can sometimes be useful. He tends to be a slightly lighter character as well, being floaty and able to be killed at a bit lower damages than desired. His grab and side B deal very little damage, so they should mostly be avoided unless the player really knows what they are doing.

Below is Yoshi showing Mario who the boss really is.

 

If there is anything to say to new Yoshi players it would be to remember this: Learn how to spike with the forward air, it is a guaranteed kill if landed correctly

Roy

New players to Smash Bros should check this out.

Today I am analyzing the playstyle of a Roy along with my friend Robert. Roy was introduced first in Super Smash Bros Melee as a near exact clone of Marth, and was missing from Super Smash Bros Brawl. Roy however came back in the new smash bros as a DLC Character, still being a semi-clone of Marth, in fact he is less changed from Melee than Marth is. Marth deals the most damage at the tip of his sword, Lucina (Another Marth clone) deals even damage all the way through, whereas Roy deals damage mostly at the base of his sword, having to get in very close to fight his opponents.

Roy ends up being a midweight character, jumping fairly well while still having some knockback defense, however he tends to fall a bit more like a heavy character, falling quickly towards the ground. Other than the falling issue Roy gets around very well, having a decent moving speed. One of Roy’s odd things would be doing the most damage with the base of his sword, getting in much closer than any other swordsman in the game. His attacks come out rather fast as well, taking slower enemies by surprise. Roy tends to be a very well balanced character, coming up decently in all aspects. Roy also has a fire effect to his sword with some hits, it does nothing special, it just looks really cool.

Roy’s up smash is a really good move, being able to catch someone in it and keep them there, possibly ending in a fiery death for them. His dancing blade combo (side B) is also very useful, being able to be made into many different combos depending on button imputs, coming out rather quickly to damage opponents fast and catching them off guard. The move is also good at applying shield pressure from the multiple hits it deals out. Roy’s counter does the most damage in the entire game, not quite the most knockback but it deals plenty of hurt to enemies and is one of the longest lasting counters in the entire game as well. Roy’s flow of moves is incredible as well, one move leading to the next near seamlessly. The spike from Roy’s down air is beautiful as well, being easy to pull off, but it tends to be risky due to his fast falling speed.

Roy’s biggest downfall can easily be said to be his fast fall, and can be very surprising since Marth and Lucina (his semi-clones) both fall much slower. Another downfall at times can be spacing him out properly. Many characters will try and keep enemies at bay, while Roy has to get in close. This can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending who the opponent is and how smart they are. One odd bit about Roy is his neutral attack only hitting once, and being very short range. It does not have many follow ups, making it a relatively useless attack except for catching someone quickly off guard or stopping an attack where there is no time to block or dodge.

Below is a sample of Roy destroying his supposedly better semi-clone Marth. (Take that, Marth.)

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If anything could be said to Roy mains it would be do not be afraid of being agressive and going in for kills, Roy can take plenty of damage and deal it out just as well.

Ganondorf

New players to Smash Bros should check this out.

Today I will be working on analyzing the powerhouse Ganondorf, along with help from my friend Marlon. Ganondorf is an odd character, being able to make kills very easily, but also being easy to kill. Ganondorf has super armor on some attacks, is extremely strong, and has a relatively long reach on his attacks, the downfall is being easy to get hit, and having a relatively low chance of recovery. However, once someone has learned this character well he can be a powerhouse, making for some of the best kills in the game. As usual, I will start off with how the character works.

Ganondorf is a relatively low tier character, being a bit hard to control at times due to his slowness and bulky size, and his entire strategy is about waiting for what the opponent does, baiting them into making mistakes with a hard punish when they do. It only takes a small opening for Ganondorf to get a huge advantage. Ganondorf can be unreliable because at higher levels of skill people make less mistakes, making him a much harder character to use, but with enough patience he can take opponents out at very low damages.

One of Ganon’s biggest advantages is his heaviness, he will not be killed off the top of the stage easily due to his weight, making him a good match against characters like Fox or Bayonetta. His neutral B is one of the best moves in the game, dealing extreme damage and knockback, however it comes out very slowly. The move has super armor, making him unable to flinch but he can easily be countered afterwards. Even if it is shielded it can nearly break the shield instantly, or can be a great attack if the shield is already broken. While Ganon is a slow character he can become very mobile at times with his side B or down B, which send him quickly across the stage in a relatively useful attack, meaning at times you can compete even against a very fast character. His combos are near nonexistent but he can read opponents well, catching them in awkward moments, and his side b has priority over most moves, grabbing characters out of their own attack. His air game is very useful as well, unlike most slow characters. Every one of his midair moves has a good chance to kill, especially his down air which has a crippling ability to spike off ledge. Ganon’s midair side B is also the perfect insult, killing both him and his opponent at once, and counting as his win if that is the final kill.

Ganon’s downsides are plentiful as well. His double jump is relatively low, being able to be footstooled very easily, leading to an annoying death. His recovery is relatively low, making for hard recovery. He can also be very easy to combo on the ground due to his heaviness he can get caught into combos and rack up damage, and he himself has no combos either. Playing Ganon is a large uncertainty, if the player is not good at punishing mistakes they will not be able to use Ganondorf well, his moves come out very slow and obviously.

Below is an example of Ganondorf’s brutality against his clone Captain Falcon.

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For anyone learning Ganon, advice would be to learn to read opponents well and be able to easily punish any openings that are given. Figure out the opponent and go in for the kill, which can be done with forward tilt, running attack, all air attacks, down tilt, neutral special, down special, up special, up tilt, practically every move, just depending on the situation.

Little Mac

New players to Super Smash Bros should probably check this out.

Today on this post I plan to look into the character Little Mac. Little Mac is a brawler of a character, dealing heavy damage and being able to kill at low percentages. Mac has super armor on some attacks which prevents any knockback being dealt to him. Mac also has a useful counter and even a special limited use deadly attack. Mac can go toe to toe with nearly any enemy, but he is put in a bad position when he stays in the air too long. Today I will work with my friend Micheal, a Little Mac main, to pick apart how to play as Mac… or at least how to get kills and prolong inevitable death. Let us begin.

The main use of Little Mac is staying on the ground because his air attacks are very weak and will not land kills easily. Any smash attacks Mac uses have super armor, this means he will take damage but nothing can stop the attack and he will not fly backwards, practically ensuring he cannot die while using super armor. His neutral B attack also has armor, but he can be knocked back by a strong enough hit. Mac has a special attack that charges up when he land hits or takes hits. He is the only character meant to stay on the ground, therefore they gave Mac a special ability that no other character has: A KO punch. Mac has this meter above his name that when fully charged unlocks this ability. It is the ultimate ground move from any character in the game, being able to kill lighter characters at so low as 9 damage and even the heaviest of characters at under 30 damage. The attack cannot be shielded or countered; a well timed dodge is the only way to not die from the attack. The drawback is Mac’s midair game because all moves in midair including his KO punch are severely lacking in any power. Since his midair game is so weak, the KO punch was made incredibly strong as a balancing measure to the character.

Now for some strategy analysis. One easy way too set up his KO punch is the down a attack, which is a rather weak tap that will momentarily stun the opponent into being hit by the KO, which admittedly is a rather short ranged attack. One of Mac’s best attacks is the side b attack, it is a lunge in an arc with a punch being thrown whenever the player decides. The move can land kills or can avoid grabs or even attacks, being followed with a punishment to the enemy. The move can even be used to recover when he is in midair off the stage. If we remember, all of Mac’s midair attacks are severely reduced, and the side b does not go as far, but it could save his life and can even stage spike enemies. A stage spike is when the player hits an enemy into the stage which then slams them down for a kill. Another good Mac attack is his side smash, which can be thrown slightly up or down to deal different versions of knockback. This attack has super armor and deals incredible damages, able to kill quickly. Little Mac’s forward a attacks are quick and easy ways to deal damage and keep an opponent away with a one-two punch as well. His counter is a good sneaky move to use when an obvious attack is coming. Mac’s counter can stop any attack and deal more damage than was coming at him, allowing some easy kills if the player can read opponents well. The counter works great in midair or on ground, however if used in midair near an edge he has a chance of pulling himself too far off the edge to save himself, essentially a suicide.

Now for a few of Mac’s biggest downfalls. Mac’s air game is his biggest downfall, if he goes off ledge he have a small chance of recovery due to him having a decent second jump. But what if his jump is gone? Mac’s recovery moves are both reduced in midair, meaning recovery is nearly impossible without his second jump. On the ground Little Mac is a very versatile character, really only being taken down by grabs, which can lead to him being juggled in air.

Below is a little sample of what Little Mac is capable of. Do not suicide like the computer I fought.

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If anything can be said to new players learning Little Mac it is this; Use the smash attacks often and rely on his strength. Do not try to be flashy before getting the hang of the character for the most part.

Sonic the Hedgehog

New players to Super Smash Bros should probably check this out.

Starting off simply I believe looking at my own main, Sonic the Hedgehog, would be the best course of action, and I have my friend Forrest helping me out today. Sonic the Hedgehog is the fastest thing alive, both in his lore of his games and the fastest character in Smash Bros. He tends to be a character quite unlike any other in the game.

Sonic’s best strengths lie in his speed and ability to catch opponents off guard. It is easy to catch opponents in attacks to drag them where the player wants them, allowing a lot of maneuverability. Compared to any other characters in the game he is easily the fastest and one of the easiest to maneuver, being able to get anywhere on the stage in a matter of moments using his up b spring which puts him high in the air, or his down b spinshot which can launch him across the screen. One mistake to avoid though would be to jump before spindashing, as he then loses his second jump and much of his maneuverability. One of Sonic’s downfalls is having no projectiles or any way to counter a projectile, meaning he has to get in close for any damage to be dealt. Another downside is how light the character is, meaning he can die from heavy hits at very low damages if they send him far enough. However if he does not go entirely off screen he is nearly guaranteed a survival due to his high jump and great up b distance. With all these aspects combined Sonic is one of the easiest characters to play, although a bit harder to master.

Now for strategy. One of Sonic’s strengths is his grabs, which come out very quickly, making it easy to grab enemies out of shields. At lower to mid damages an up throw sets up nicely for a midair combo such as a forward air attack or neutral air. At more moderate damages he could up throw and jump with an up air to try and send them off the top for a kill. At high damages his back throw is a near guaranteed kill at the edge of the stage. At any percent Sonic can down throw someone off the ledge and go for a spike if the player feels risky, by jumping off after them and using Sonic’s down air, then his up b spring to survive, the downfall is if he does not spring in time and kills himself. The best strategy is to be unpredictable, change up moves since he is fast enough to confuse the enemies to his motives. Sonic can also bait them towards himself in an effort to read what they are planning, and counter effectively. Sonic is more of an aggressive character to play, meaning he should often play offensively, going in for attacks and challenging strong hits with his speed. His spin dash is a speedy move that can lead into many combos such as a jump and up air or forward air, which could be ended with a neutral b homing attack, which will seek onto the enemy wherever they move to. Some of his kills can be hard to land, the best ones being a back air kick, a forward smash attack, a well timed spike, or his back throw.

What to avoid would be running in hazardously, while Sonic is aggressive and good at running in he also has to be cautious as to not be too predictable. If the player spindashes way too much they can end up killing themselves by going off ledge and not having time to recover, so be careful with using the move. Predictability is the main weakness, since Sonic is so light and can be punished very easily. As mentioned before, Sonic can be very weak to projectiles, moving too quickly to avoid them and having no way to counter them well. Sonic’s speed, while his biggest strength, is also his biggest weakness.

Below is a quick sample of what Sonic can do.

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If there is anything to say to new Sonic players it would be this; play smart and seize the opportunities when the opponent messes up their attacks.

Explaining the basics

Super Smash Brothers has many different mechanics to it that I will be referencing throughout every one of my posts. So if a term does not make sense, come back here and it will probably have been defined.

The first order of business is how moves are input. Every character has what is called a normal attack, used by pressing A. They also have a special attack, by pressing B. Any time players input a direction along with a button it turns into a different attack, and if a direction is pressed at the same time as pressing A for a normal attack the character will do a very powerful move called a Smash Attack. I will refer to attacks as such: side A, up B, down smash, etc.

Next thing that needs explaining is the wonderful mechanic of spiking, or stage spiking. Spiking is when the players follow a character off ledge to slam them down, taking away their chance of recovery. If correctly spiked, someone will go flying downwards, taking their stock. A stage spike occurs when a character is hit very powerfully against the edge of the stage, and the stage itself spikes them.

Now that I think about it I should probably define how the game is played. As simply as I can put it, the goal is to knock any enemies off the edge of the stage either so hard that they fly off the top, fly off the side, or fall off and cannot make it back to the stage. Almost every character has a special up B move to save themselves when they are off ledge. Every character also has at least two jumps if not more. Every time characters damage an enemy they will take percentage damage. 0% is flawless, 50% damage is fairly hurt, and once past 100% damage they will die from most decent attacks.

One special technique in the game is called footstooling, where a character jumps off of another player’s head. This gives an extra jump to whoever jumped, and shoves the other player down. This can lead to a very sad-or satisfying-death depending on which end of the deal the player is on.

The control stick is on the left, the right stick can initiate smash attacks, x and y are to jump, A is attack, B is special, the D Pad on the left side is to taunt, L and R (barely shown on the top corners of the console) are to block, ZL and ZR (behind L and R) are to grab.