February 28, 2016|

Filed under: Featured Content, Industry People, Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Series

News Flash! Smash Bros. Dojo: Techniques You Should Know Parts 1 & 2

I’m sure that there are many people who want to play Smash at Spaceworld, so I’d like to dispense one new component that’s been added to each character. However, there’s a limit to how many screenshots I can include, so I’m going to have to do it in two parts.

This time, I’m going to mainly be talking about Special Moves. Special Moves are performed with the B button. When combined with the control stick, there are four moves, up, side, down, and neutral, which you already know.

Mario

Mario’s “Cape” (Side+B) can not only reflect projectiles, but can also turn your opponent around from right to left!

It’s very exhilarating to time it well against an opponent’s Smash attack. Also, this time around, all of Mario’s special moves other than his Fireball are useful when recovering.

Additionally, Mario’s forward aerial attack is a Meteor Smash. This time around, Mario’s scary!

Pikachu

Their^* new move, Skull Bash (Side+B), can be charged by holding the B button. If you watch your opponent’s movements closely and hit them, it’s pretty powerful. Also, now when you use “Quick Attack” you can deal a small amount of damage.

*Gender differences were introduced in Generation IV, after Melee, so it’s not really clear what gender Pikachu is in Melee.

Pika Pika.

Donkey Kong

“Headbutt” (Side+B) is a move that buries opponents in the ground, restricting their movement. If you bury an opponent, you can hit them and follow up. If you’re the one who gets buried, you should mash buttons to escape as quickly as possible.

However, when your opponent is in the air, you can’t bury them in the ground. However, hitting an aerial opponent with this move has its benefits.

The Cargo throw is still in the game, and can be done by inputting forward after a grab.

A character that’s been buried by “Headbutt.” Try to get out as quickly as possible!

Link

“Bow and Arrow,” (B) is a projectile that can be charged to increase its power and speed. Its arc also changes, so properly utilizing the charge is key.

Link’s forward smash now has two hits, and hitting the button again results in a second slash. His Up+B “Spin Attack” move also has increased recovery abilities! (Although I don’t know what’ll happen when we adjust it in the future…)

Not only that, it’s a multi-hit move. However, getting every single hit is difficult.

Peach

Peach has a “Float” ability! When you hold the jump button, she floats in midair for a little while. In addition, when she uses her “Peach Parasol” (Up+B), she slowly descends downwards, so when you combine these two mechanics her recovery is by far number 1.

Peach mid-float. That’s a move from Super Mario Bros. 2.

Yoshi

His new Special Move, “Egg Roll,” is a high speed rolling tackle. If you can envision Kirby’s “Wheel” ability, that’s what it’s like. It’s strong, but be careful not to lose your own stock!

Yoshi does not have a recovery Special Move. He’s received a lot of favorable treatment elsewhere, so it is rather obvious when you think about it.

For example, his double jump is very good.

Ice Climbers

Nana follows Popo around, so they can attack separately. They’re very strong. Their recovery move, “Belay” (Up+B), does not work unless Nana is near Popo.

Nana’s damage accumulates separately from Popo’s, so be careful, because she can lose her own stock independently.

This is “Belay.” Nana is thrown upwards, and the tension of the rubber wire launches them upwards. It’s a move that completely ignores the laws of physics.

Samus

As mentioned previously, “Missile” (Side+B) fires a weaker homing missile without a Smash input, or a more powerful powerful missile that only fires straight ahead. They’re useful projectiles, so you should use both.

This time, you can fire your “Grappling Beam” in midair. When you fire this at a wall, you…!?

Additionally, you can also Bomb jump now.

You could Bomb jump and do an aerial attack close to the ground, for example.

Kirby

I was told that Kirby was too strong in the previous game, so he’s a bit weaker now. Testing your true skill with him might be worth trying (of course, other characters have been balanced and adjusted as well).

This time, Kirby can swallow people and walk around while doing so!

He can even jump!

If you’ve been swallowed, mash buttons to escape as quickly as possible.

His new move, “Hammer” (Side+B), is so different when used in the air compared to when it’s used on the ground that you could almost say they’re different moves.

This is grounded…

And this is how it looks in the air. Ah, this takes me back…

Falcon

Captain Falcon is the only character in the game where, if you are using a melee item and “keeping holding down the A button” while doing a forward smash attack, he performs a unique two-hit attack.

The type of attack changes based on the item, so take notice!

His new move “Raptor Boost” (Side+B) has him sprint in incredibly quickly and hit his opponent upwards. If you use it in the air, it’s a Meteor Smash, but it’s very risky so be careful!

The Star Rod’s 4-shot attack! You can use it normally too, of course.

Ness

His new move “PK Flash” (B) is an explosion that is triggered when you release the B button after charging it. Of course, the more you charge it the stronger it is. You can also aim it slightly with the control stick, so you can adjust where it lands.

Ness also has a new mechanic called “Walking the Dog.” You can do it by keeping his yo-yo out for awhile. Go look for it! Although it’s not very well hidden.

His PK Thunder 2 has been weakened a bit, however.

Bowser

“Fire Breath” (B) can be used for as long as you hold down the button, but it will continually get weaker and weaker, so resting and recharging is crucial.

“Whirling Fortress (Up+B)” is a recovery move that’s a high speed spin. When used on the ground, you can move from side to side quite quickly, so it’s very powerful.

Also, his up-throw and down-throw are very strong.

Fox

Fox’s “Blaster (B)” is a “no-reaction” weapon! That means opponents don’t flinch when they get hit by it. However, it has significant rapid-fire capabilities, and you can rack up damage from afar against opponents that aren’t paying attention.

His up-throw, back-throw, and down-throw utilize shots from the Blaster as well.

They don’t do a lot of damage, though.

Also, at this year’s Spaceworld, Sheik won’t be available. It’s a pre-release build, so I do think there isn’t much of a point in forcing every character to be playable.

We’ve actually recreated every single animation in the game from scratch. Not just that, but every single parameter– attack strength, for example, has been redone.

So, no moves are exactly the same as they were before, and I think the feel of the game will be quite different.

Overall the game is faster, but the difference between characters is much more striking now.

I didn’t aim to just port over or recreate Smash 64.

Creating it has been difficult, but I’m trying very hard.