Coastward’s Smash 4 Master List

*Editor’s note: There may be some grammatical errors in this article. This is more of a summary/outline than a traditional article.

Hey everyone! Coastward here, semi-pro Melee/PM Ganon player from Toronto, Canada. Listed below is everything that I have found so far in Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 3DS. Please remember that this game is very new and some things may be off, but I have tried my very best to analyze as much as I can. I was unable to play everyone due to time constraints, so here are my findings on the characters that i got to play during my time. I want to also note that most of the things that I make comparisons to are in regards to Brawl. I hope you enjoy what you read!

Controls:

Circle Pad: Move (Tap jump is on by default.)
A: Attack
B: Special Attack
X/Y: Jump
L: Grab
R: Shield
D-Pad: Taunt

*You are able to change controls along with the option of turning off tap jump.*

Characters

Bowser:

Aerials are powerful. His uair is a faster version of his Brawl uair and it has good knockback. His nair has a multihitbox and has good hitstun, but it’s somewhat laggy. His fair and bair are really strong and fast. If you don’t fastfall them, they become an autocancel. His dair is still very slow, but it has great hitstun and even spikes.

His tilts are good. Utilt is good for setting up combos and has good knockback. Ftilt is a good poke tool and has good knockback. Dtilt has great range and knockback, but it’s a bit slow. Dash attack is a bit better, not much faster though. Jab combo is decent.

Grab is good. It’s better to do a dash grab since you get more range out of it. His throws are really good though, specifically dthrow and bthrow.

His smash attacks are decent. His fsmash is slow but really strong, good knockback and damage. His usmash has really good knockup and damage as well. His damage has a small hitbox on the sides, but it still does good damage.

His special attacks feel the same. Upb is still good onstage with it’s knockup and hitstun, but you can fall down to the ledge with it. Sideb feels a bit shorter, but it deals much more damage now. Downb got a nice buff, it has two hitboxes on it and eals a lot of damage. Very easy to breack shields with it.

Bowser feels really good. I think this is the best he’s ever been. He’s really strong and has some fast movement, but he still sorta lacks on offstage. He still gets combo’d pretty bad as well but not as bad as it used to be. He’s super fun to play and he KOs very easily. One of my recommendations.

Bowser Jr.:

His aerials are good. His nair has good range and histun, but have little knockback. Fair has good range too, great knockback on it as well. Bair has good damage and is great to use offstage. Uair is awkward to use and sometimes hard to it,but there’s knockback on it. All of his aerials are fast except for dair. Dair has good hitstun and knockup, but it’s very laggy.

His tilts are good too. His utilt is great for starting combos, good knockback and hitstun. His ftilt is a great poking tool, and does some good damage as well. His dtilt is his best move. It has 3 hitboxes and it does some great damage and knockback, it also has good hitstun too. His dash has some good hitstun and knockup as well. His jab combos feel good to use.

His grab is somewhat slow, easily punishable. His throws are great though, fthrow combos into a lot and bthrow and uthrow are good killing throws.

His smash attacks are good as well. His usmash has a multi-hitbox and does a lot of damage and knockup. His fsmash is really good, does a lot of damage and knockback as well. His dsmash has really good range and knockback, easy to hit.

His special attack are decent. His neutral b is a charge shot, and lasts for a really long time. Good hitstun and damage. His upb has a high vertical reach, and you are able to attack after you use it as well. Sideb is very fast, but easy to dodge. Good damage and hitstun on it. Downb is very good. The bombs have great hitstun and can be picked up after they are thrown out.

Bowser Jr. is a very gimmicky character. He’s really strong on the ground and he’s capable of doing things in the air, but he’s not as strong there. He gets damage very fast and can KO fast as well. His only downside are his laggy aerials and that he can be punished very easily. Very unique character and super fun to play.

Captain Falcon:

Aerials are still good. Uair has good range and speed but has little hitstun. Fair has a lot of lag on it, but it’s easier to get the sweetspot now. Dair also has some lag to it as well, but it has good hitstun and damage. Bair is pretty fast, feels like Brawl’s. Nair is pretty weak, little hitstun and knockback to it but it’s really fast.

His tilts are good. Ftilt comes out fast and has some good hitstun. Dtilt is a tad slow and doesn’t send upwards anymore.. Utilt feels a little bit slower, but it has the same damage and knockback as Brawl. Dash attack is still good, very fast. Jab combos are good as well, he can still gentleman.

Grab is good. Feels like there is set knockback on dthrow now so it’s a bit harder to get combo follow ups, but it’s still good. Uthrow is also pretty good as well. Running grab is also really good.

Smash attacks are standard. They feel very similar to Brawl with the speed and damage. Usmash has a bit more hitstun to it, and fsmash feels just a little bit slower. Not too many changes.

Special attacks also feel unchanged. Sideb still has a bit of cooldown lag, and it also feels shorter in the air but it has good knockup and range. Downb and falcon punch feel unchanged and are similar to Brawl.

Overall, Falcon still feels weird to play. He isn’t as fast on the ground and feels very awkward in the air. Very hard to kill with as well, may need to work extra hard with him.

Diddy Kong:

Aerials are basically the same. Uair still feels good and combos really well. Same thing with nair. Bair is really good, nice range and knockback. Dair still spikes, but I think the hitbox got a bit smaller. Fair is really powerful, great for edgeguards.

Tilts feel unchanged as well. Ftilt seems to have a tiny bit more range but not that much knockback. Utilt feels the same, might have a bigger hitbox but it still combos well. Dtilt has some range on it too, feels just like Brawl. Dash attack is really good, great combo launcher. Jab combo is good as well.

Grab is really good. Bthrow kills really well and dthrow sets up for good combos.

His smash attacks got a bit of a nerf. Usmash still feels like Brawl but with less knockup. Fsmash may have gotten a range nerf and knockback nerf, but it still does damage. Dsmash got a nerf as well, it doesn’t have has much knockback anymore but you can still use it as a kill move.

His special attacks got heavily changed, his bananas mostly. You can only use 1 out now, and if it makes contact with anything it now disappears. Upb feels better now, you can use it in more directions now and it has more range and damage. Sideb is the same as Brawl, still spikes in the air. Neutral b has a bit more range to it now.

Diddy got nerfed hard. Having only one banana out now is going to make things really tough for him now. He still has a great aerial game and edgeguards really nicely, but the gimmick that he had in Brawl is basically gone, so it’s going to be interesting to see how people are going to approach a playstyle with him now.

Dr. Mario:

Aerials act the same as Mario. Very fast with autocancels. Very good offstage as well.

His tilts are strong. They’re basically the same as Mario’s but it seems ftilt has a less bit more knockback and dtilt has a bit more hitstun. Utilt still has good combo hitstun. Dash attack and jabs act the same as well.

Grabs are similar to Mario’s. Dthrow is still a good combo starter as well as uthrow.

His smash attacks are great. Dsmash has great damage and knockback, great KO move. Fsmash has a large hitbox with a fair amount of damage and hitstun. Usmash doesnt have that much knockback, so it can be used to string combos easily at low percents.

Special attacks are awesome. His upb acts like a single hit move like Megaman’s utilt. It has good knockback and hitstun and could be a great combo breaker. Sideb feels a bit like Melee, not much vertical momentum when used in the air and it seems to have a smaller hitbox than Mario’s. Downb is really good, does a lot of damage and good knockback. Not much hitstun though, be careful using it at low percents.

I think Dr. Mario is in the same place as Mario. A lot of potential to be a top character since he can combo so well and has a strong ground and aerial game. Feels comfortable to play as and he’s very simple as well. One of my recommendations.

Falco:

His aerials got a bit of a change. His uair and nair feel just like Brawl. His fair has some weird startup lag to it, but it autocancels and has some hitstun to it. Bair has a new animation as well, but still feels the same. His dair got a bit of a nerf in my opinion. It has some startup lag to it, and it’s kind of hard to hit now but it still spikes.

His tilts feel the same. Utilt combos very nicely with it’s hitstun. Ftilt is great for poking and has good knockback. Dtilt is similar to Brawl but it has a bit less knockup now. Jab combo is good and so his is dash attack.

Grab is good. The range is the same as Brawl, but dthrow has set knockback now and throws them high into the air. Bthrow is very good and sends far.

His smash attacks feel a bit weak. Fsmash doesn’t feel too good to use, feels slow and kind of weak. Dsmash feels a bit slower, but still does good damage and knockback. Usmash combos nicely and still has good hitstun.

His specials are basically the same in Brawl. His lasers changed the most. You can no longer shorthop laser, and they are much slower. Upb is unchanged. Sideb is the same, but you can no longer SD with it if you are grounded. Downb is basically the same as well.

Overall, I feel Falco got a bit weaker. Maybe because I didn’t play him that well or I was playing im wrong, but he didn’t feel good to play. He sometimes felt slower than Brawl, and he doesn’t have many good combo setups either. I feel he got butchered a bit and his kit feels out of sync.

Fox:

Good aerials. Nair seems to have little knockback and has very little lag on it. Fair is easier to get multiple hitboxes, with more hitstun, damage and lag on it. Dair has more hitstun and virtually no landing lag as well. Bair has a different animation but feels the same. Uair also feels the same as well.

Tilts are good. Ftilt is fast and is great for poking. Utilt combos into anything really, not much cooldown lag and it has good hitstun for combo potential. Dtilt feels different, but it doesn’t look that way. Still good to set up combos and may possibly have a tripping effect to it as well. Dash attack is still quick and his jabs are incredible, great for interrupting momentum and a good way to start a combo.

Fox’s grabs have changed a little bit. Dthrow was set knockback now and bounces them off of the floor which makes for good combo follow ups with fair and nair. Uthrow seems to send them higher as well. Fthrow and bthrow feel unchanged.

His smash attacks are also pretty strong. Dsmash is a bit slow now but it still has damage and knockback. Fsmash is a bit faster now as well and and isnt as risky to use. Usmash feels the same as Brawl as well.

His special moves feel similar to Brawl. Upb feels the same in regards to distance and hitstun. The shine is a bit faster than Brawl, but has the same properties other than some landing lag at the end. Sideb has changed a bit, it goes a little bit short now but you can SD with it if you are grounded. Some landing lag on it also. Lasers are still good, easy to spam and not too much lag on them.

Overall, Fox is really good. Very fast in the air, very fast on the ground. He has a superior combo game and can be played with multiple styles. Only thing is that it’s not as easy to get kills with him now due to the new ledge mechanics, but he still can do a lot of work.

Ganondorf:

Fast aerial moves, but still slow in the air. Aerials are his best moves, uair and bair seems to be the same speed as Melee as they come out quick and don’t have that much lag. Nair no longer autocancels and it’s a bit slower. Fair seems to have been nerfed as it doesn’t have as much range and not much knockback either. Dair still has a lot of landing lag but it’s still got damage.

His tilts are surprising. Ftilt got a huge buff in my opinion. It comes out pretty fast and has a huge amount of knockback as well as damage. Utilt seems to be the same, it may just have a smaller hitbox. Dtilt seems to have more knockback as well, it still can be used as a combo launcher. Jab comes out SUPER fast and is pretty strong in terms of knockback and damage. Dash attack got a buff too with more damage, knockback and speed.

His grab is pretty decent. Mediocre range, and dthrow only really works for combo setups due to the set knockback on other grabs. Fthrow has strong hitstun and knockback so it can be good to use for edgeguard setups.

Ganon’s smash attacks also got a bit of a buff. Fsmash does so much damage and has a larger hitbox now. Usmash is very similar to Brawl, but it seems to be a bit faster. Dsmash seems a bit slower to me and it may have gotten weaker as well.

Special attacks seem to have gotten a nerf. Warlock Punch comes out way faster and has more knockback. Downb is very short and doesnt last long, also has reduced knockback. Sideb seems to have a bunch of lag in the air, as well as ending lag when it connects. Not too much range on it either but it still has the same knockback and has combo potential.

Overall, Ganon got a quite a buff. He’s gotten a bit faster on the ground and in the air, but he still lacks air mobility and range. It may be a bit easier for him to get kills now since he has more KO moves nows, but blast zones may be a problem for him. There is potential here.

Ike:

Literally 2 changes that I found. Different coloured fire on his neutral b and he’s a bit slower. One of the only characters that felt like I was still playing Brawl. Sorry that he’s not getting much of an analysis, but he was basically a copy paste character.

Link:

Link seems to have gotten an improvement. Nair and bair seem to have auto cancels while fair has very little landing lag. Dair and uair have a bit of landing lag, but it’s not much to fret over. Nair and bair feel a little weak when you land them, but they are great combo starters. Fair has a lot of knockback and damage too. Uair has a soft hitbox which can help combo. Dair also has a spike as well, comes out during the starting frames of the move.

Link’s tilts are mediocre. His ftilt has range and hitstun, but doesn’t have much damage. Utilt has a weird hitbox, and it doesn’t have much histun or knockback either. Dtilt has a good amount of range, and also has a spike. His tilt game seems very weak, but you’ll mostly be using ftilt for it’s poke. His dash attack also feels good, good knockup to use as a combo starter. Jab combo is excellent, as you can use his upb mid jab combo and get a good amount of %.

Link’s smash attacks are actually pretty good. Fsmash doesn’t feel as slow as it was in Brawl, and it does a good amount of damage. Usmash seems to also have a bit more speed, but the hitbox has been reduced along with the hitstun and knockback. Dsmash is probably his best smash attack. Great range and has a great amount of knockback and damage.

His grab is very similar to 64. The chain no longer drops to the floor and it has less lag. Uthrow is probably his best grab due to the low knockback from combo setups.

Link’s special attacks seem to have gotten a bit of a nerf. His arrow was the only move that got better. Great speed along with damage and knockback, decent tool for edgegguarding. Boomerang seems to be the same as Brawl, maybe a bit worse. It has good speed but that’s pretty much it. His bombs have really changed. They last about 3 seconds now, and Link can’t blow them up with his own attacks. (e.g upb into the boomerang for a boosted recovery.) His upb seems very similar to Brawl, same properties and height in the air.

Overall, I feel like Link is a solid character, but he still has the same problems that he’s always had. He’s very slow in the air and his weight makes him combo food. His keepaway game is great and when he gets that chance he can get some decent combos, but I think that’s as good as it’ll get for him.

Little Mac:

Aerials are bad. His fair ha very small range and hard to use. Same thing with is bair. His nair is pretty slow and laggy, but strong. Dair is super slow, but has good hitstun. Uair is pretty laggy as well.

Tilts are good. Ftilt has good range and damage, great to use in the neutral. Utilt is quick and is a good launcher. Dtilt is short, but has good hitstun and knockback. Dash attack is pretty good with knockback, and his jab combos are really good.

Grab is decent. Dthrow is probably what you’re going to be using the most as the other throws are very mediocre in terms of knockback and combo potential.

His smash attacks are really good. Fsmash has great damage and has super armor on it. His usmash has great knockup and hitstun, but is kind of slow. Dsmash is pretty good, nice range to it but it’s also kind of slow.

His special attacks are great. Neutral b is a charge punch, max charge has great range and damage to it. Sideb is really good, as an overhead effect to it and has amazing range. Upb is decent, really bad recovery tool and laggy on the ground. Downb has great knockback and damage to it, risky to use sometimes.

Overall, Little seems to be one of the best grounded characters in my eyes. He’s very quick and powerful and can KOs very fast, but if he’s ever knocked up into the air or even offstage he will most likely suffer. His aerials are not even worth using. One of my recommendations.

Lucina:

Her aerials are her best thing. Nair and fair seem to autocancel and both have really good range and hitstun. Her uair is a bit weak, not much histun or knockback. Her dair is slow but has a good hitbox and it has a true spike. Bair comes out fast, has good lag but has weak hitstun.

Her tilts are good. Great range and hitstun. Ftilt reaches very far and has good knockback. Dtilt is a bit short but it’s still a good move. Utilt has really far range and has good hitstun. Her jab feels just the same as Marth’s, and her dash attack has great range and good enough knockup for combo launching.

Her grab is pretty good. Long range and has all around great throws. Uthrow has high knockback, dthrow is a good combo starter, and bthrow and fthrow both have potential to get damage out of them.

Her smash attacks seem like her weaker points. Fsmash range is very short, doesnt reach too far out but the damage on it is still good. Usmash has a weak hitbox and is awkward to land, but has good knockback and damage. Dsmash has REALLY good damage and hitstun, really far reach as well/.

Special attacks are okay. Her counter is really strong, can KO at really low %’s depending on the move. Neutral b is pretty lackluster, kinda slow and decent range but has some damage to it. Dolphin slash is basically like Marth’s in melee. Her sideb has a lot of range along with damage.

She’s practically Melee Marth but with no tipper hitboxes and less damage. Quick moves with decent hitstun. Quick on the ground and decent in the air too. Range is a bit short on some moves, but she isn’t that bad at all. Lacks in the KO department too, but overall she’s a really fast character and isn’t that bad a of a clone.

Mario:

Mario has a really strong aerial game. He can chain a lot of aerials like uair and bair in consecutive hits to get easy and fast percentages. Bair and nair have no landing lag, they seem to be autocancels, same with uair. Fair has a bit of landing lag, but it has a good amount damage, as well as a spike. Dair can be used as a combo extender at higher %’s since it has little hitstun.

All of Mario’s titls are great. His utilt is definitely his strongest, it seems to be his main combo tool. It can combo fairly easily after dthrow at low %’s due to the grab histun. Dtilt is also pretty good, it acts as a great launcher and can set up smash attack follow ups. Ftilt is a great poke tool since the knockback and range on it are pretty great. His dash attack is pretty strong as well, but it’s near impossible to get combo chains with it. Mario’s jab combo is really strong too, not able to combo out of though.

Mario’s smash attacks seem to have gotten a tad weaker in my opinion. Usmash doesn’t do as much damage as it used to do, and it’s hitbox is very weird as it sometimes doesn’t hit your opponent if they are in front of you. His fsmash seems weaker as well, but it isnt bad. It has great knockback and still does good damage. Dsmash is probably his strongest smash attack. Great damage along with hitstun and knockback and a large hitbox.

Mario’s grab is great. Decent hitbox, but a bit of lag if missed. Dthrow and uthrow are his best options since he cant string many utilts and uairs in succession with the low knockback on the grab.

Mario’s special attacks are decent. You may not find yourself using them that much. His fireballs don’t have that much priority and are a bit lackluster. His cape has a large hitbox and has the same effects as Brawl. FLUDD seems to have gotten a bit better sith speed and range, but I’d still wouldn’t recommend using it. Upb will most likely be used as a combo finisher. It seems to have been buffed with range and hitstun.

Overall, Mario feels like a polished version of his Brawl counterpart with a bit of a buff. He has a very strong and fast ground game as well as a superb air game. He’s definitely going to be a contender as a top character and wouldn’t be surprised if we see him alot.

Megaman

Decent aerial game. Nair, fair and bair have no lag while uair and dair have quite a bit. Shorthop double nair is a thing, similar to Fox’s shorthop double laser in Melee. Fair is a great combo extender and has great hitstun. Same case with bair. Uair is pretty hard to land since it moves so fast and it has such a small hitbox. Dair has a mediocre hitbox but has good damage, it’s also able to spike but is pretty hard to pull off.

Tilts seem a bit weird with Megaman, seeing as how he basically only has 2. Utilt is like a shoryuken. It has decent hitstun and damage, but it has a sweetspot hitbox that’s hard to hit that makes it way stronger. Dtilt is a decent launcher, but there aren’t many opportunities to use it. Fair is basically his nair and jab, except he just walks forward. Pretty lackluster. His dash attack is pretty good with it’s long range and hitstun.

His grab is pretty good. Dthrow and uthrow are greatt combo starts and they both do decent damage too. Dthrow > fair works most of the time.

Smash attacks are his best attacks. Fsmash has great damage and has a really large hitbox (can hit from behind fully charged). Usmash has a small hitbox and weak hitstun, but the knockback and damage make up for it. Dsmash has quite a bit of range and a big hitbox, it also has really good damage.

Megaman’s special attacks are a disaster. His leaf shield isn’t great, it comes out pretty slow and all you can do in it is run and jump. Crash bomb doesn’t seem to great either, easily avoidable and doesn’t have much hitstun. Rush is aweseome. Great recovery tool that has good vertical height. You can also use it to geat out of weak hitstun such as certain throws, or Pikachu’s fair. His best move is his Metal Blade, you can throw it in multiple directions and even throw it to the ground to pick it up as an item.

Megaman was disappointing to me. He seems to have a strong keepaway game and a deecnt aerial game, but that’s it. It’s really hard to get a KO with him half of the time, and he gets easily combo’d. His kit just felt empty since three of his moves are basically the same, just a missed opportunity on that. He can still be played really well, it will just have to be based on using projectiles a lot and playing more defensively.

Pac-Man:

Aerials feel pretty weak. His nair feels pretty weak since it has little hitstun, but it can still be used well and has little lag. His fair also feels pretty weak since it has no hitstun nor knockback. Uair combos very well with it’s hitstun, very similar to Mario’s uair. Bair is most likely his best move, has good knockback and it’s very fast. His dair is pretty laggy but deals a ton of damage and hitstun. Small hitbox on it though.

His tilts are pretty good. Utilt acts like a headbutt and has good combo potential with it’s hitstun. Ftilt has very small range, and is kind of risky to use at some times. Dtilt has really good range and knockback, probably his best tilt. Dash attack is super good, great hitstun and damage. Jab combo is decent.

Grab is really slow. If you whiff it, you are definitely getting punished for it. His throws seem very awkward, dthrow to fair works most of the time and uthrow is good too.

His smash attacks are great. Fsmash has good range, but it’s somewhat slow. Good damage though. Same thing with usmash. Dsmash has great range and knockback, really good move to use.

His special attacks are fun to use. Neutral b cycles through powerups, and you can store them if you shield. They key is the strongest, and they also act as items once they are thrown. His sideb is really fast, and the range is great too. Downb is great to use in the air, comes out really fast and has good knockback. Upb has two height distances, so his recovery is really good.

Overall, Pac-Man is decent as best. He has a very poor air game, and he suffers on the ground as well. It’s hard to get setups on him, plays more like a hit-and-run sort of thing. I didn’t play him too much, so maybe can prove me wrong but I don’t see him as a standout character.

Pikachu:

Pikachu get’s the best of both worlds. Virtually no landing lag on his moves except for dair, although bair has a tiny bit of lag. Fair is probably his best aerial; great hitstun and damage, and even has a meteor spike if done correctly. Uair is the same as Brawl, set knockback and good hitstun. Nair seems to have more knockback and is a great move to use for edgeguarding. Bair has great hitstun and damage, it drags your opponent down in the air with you so it can be used really well as an edgeguard. Dair seems to have gotten nerfed, more lag as well as less hitstun and knockback.

Pikachu’s tilts are amazing. Utilt can combo into bascially anything with it’s hitstun, great combo starter. Ftilt has really good knockback too. Dtilt has good range, and also has a tripping effect if you hit the very bottom of your opponent’s character model. His jabs are similar to Brawl, and his dash attack seems to have gotten a large damage buff.

Pikachu’s smash attacks have really changed. Usmash no longer has the smash knockback has it did, and it seems to do less damage. Dsmash seems to have also gotten a nerf with it’s range and hitstun. Fsmash has a shorter hitbox now, but it still does a good amount of damage and has good knockback.

Pikachu’s grab is decent. It’s range is still bad and it has a bit of lag if you miss it. Uthrow and dthrow are the best options, very easy to follow up with combos (especially fair).

Special attacks also got a bit of a change. Thundershock has the same amount of hitstun, but there’s just more lag on AND off the ground. Sideb seems to have gotten a buff, it’s range has been increased with very little charging time. Thunder has been changed quite a bit. Thunder doesn’t last as long as it used to, and it’s knockback was also reduced. It’s height was also shortened but it now has a meteor spike at the very top of the hitbox. Recommend using as a edgeguard mixup.

Overall, Pikachu seems to be one of the best I’ve played so far. Great ground speed, superb aerial movement as well as a really easy combo game. Utilt and fair are his greatest moves since they combo so well with anything. Easily see Pikachu being a top character.

Samus:

Aerials got a bit of a change. Nair has a new hitbox and hits from both sides, really good knockback on it. Fair still feels the same, it has good hitstun on it and isgood to combo with. Uair feels unchanged. Dair is really hard to get the spike with now, but it still feels the same otherwise. Bair has a bit more knockback now and is great to use offstage.

Her tilts are good. Her ftilt is pretty fast but not that much hitstun or knockback. Utilt no longer sends the opponent away, but instead puts them down and may possibly have a spike. Dtilt feels unchanged. Her dash attack is the same as Brawl’s and her jab combo isn’t too good to use.

Her grab got slower. There’s more lag at the end of it, but the throws are still good. Dthrow is most likely what you are going to use the most.

Smash attacks are great. Fsmash feels more powerful and has the same range to it as well. Dsmash feels a bit slower, but still has some great knockback and hitstun. Usmash is now easier to get the full damage on, and is a great combo starter as well.

Her special attacks feel good. Her upb is fast and does a lot of damage, and has good knockback at the end of it. Her missiles feel fast and have good hitstun to them as well. Her downb is still good to use for recovery, you just need to be a bit more accurate with it now. Her neutral feels the same as it did in Brawl.

Samus felt really good. Her ground was very solid as well as her aerial game. She can KO very fast and easily onstage and off. I couldn’t really find any faults with her, she is really well-rounded. She is a really good character and I can see many people playing her very well. One of my recommendations.

Sheik:

Sheik’s aerials got a bit of a change. Her uair now has a multi-hitbox thing like Samus, but the last hitbox has strong knockback. Her dair acts like ZSS’s dair and immediately spikes down to the ground. It has great damage and even has a spike. Her bair feels the same as Brawl. Her fair got a bit of a nerf; it doesn’t have that great knockback nor hitstun and it also does less damage. Nair has a bit of lag to it but feels normal.

Her tilts are crazy good. Her ftilt can combo into each other numerous times due to the good hitstun, can get great combo %’s off. Her utilt has a small hitbox, but still has a good setup for combos. Same thing applies with her dtilt as well. Her dash attack is insanely good as always and her jab combo is also fairly good.

Grab is really good. Dthrow into fair or uair works 90% of the time. Her bthrow is also good as well, can make for easy edgeguards.

Her smash attacks seem to have gotten a bit of a buff. Her usmash has a bit of a smaller hitbox now, but it still has a tipper on the top. It does some pretty good damage along with knockback. Her fsmash got a change, and now has a better hitbox on the second hit which makes for great damage. Her dsmash seems to be multihit as well and doesn’t have much knockback anymore either.

Sheik’s special attacks feel really good. Her upb got a bit of a nerf with the distance; it has now and the smaller hitbox. Her sideb is really good. You can use it offstage for a quick edgeguard, but the hitbox is kind of small. Her downb works great for recovery, the range on it is insane. The damage and hitstun on it is pretty good as well.

I think Sheik is the best character in the game. She is very well rounded; great combo game, very strong on the ground and even stronger in the air. Even though you can’t chaingrab anymore, she still seems very powerful. Most of my playtime went into her, and I feel like she fares very well against the whole cast. One of my recommendations.

Shulk:

Tilts are very good. Ftilt has a bit of lag but it does good damage and has a lot of knockback. Utilt has no lag to it and is a great combo launcher and combo extender since it has really good knockback. Dtilt has some good damage to it as well and hitstun too, but the hitbox is kind of weird. Dash attack is fairly quick and has good knockback and hitstun. His jab combo is really good since it has good hitstun and has great combo knockup at the end of it.

Aerials seem decent. Uair has good damage but is pretty slow, it has a multi-hitbox as well. Bair comes out quickly and has good hitstun, but it’s also pretty slow. His dair is kind of like Link’s dair, but it doesn’t have any hitstun or knockback to it and feels more like Fox’s dair. His nair feels like Ike’s nair but doesn’t have as much damage or knockback. Fair has a huge amount of range and hitstun, probably his best aerial.

Grab is decent. Decent range and really only able to use dthrow for follow ups.

His smash attacks are really good. Usmash is like Marth’s except it has a farther reach and is way stronger. Dsmash is like Samus’ dsmash but it has way more range and knockback. Fsmash has a weird cooldown lag to the end of it, but it has a good amount of range and damage as well.

Special moves are good. Sideb acts like Kirby’s upb but it has way more damage and hitstun. Upb is very good, two different hitboxes and it has great vertical reach and knockback. Monado arts is very unique. There’s no animation or anything like that when you change arts. The best arts in my opinion are green and yellow. Green gives him more damage, but he’s a bit slower and yellow does the opposite. A lot of experimentation needs to be done with this since 5 different arts makes him very versatile. Downb is a counter-like move, and does quite a bit of damage.

Overall, Shulk is an excellent character. He may not seem original at first, but the Monado arts make him so unique. I can see him being played in many different ways, and he doesn’t suffer too much in the game either. He may seem difficult to play at first, but once you get the hang of things he’s a really solid character.

Villager:

Villager is a VERY unique character. Fair and bair are great for edgeguarding and he has an amazing ground game. Dair and uair has a tiny bit of landing lag, but fair, bair, and nair are all fast. Great aerial movement and combo game as well. Uair and dair have random knockback if I’m not mistaken, so its definitely a toss up to use in combos.

His tilts are super strong. Ftilt has amazing knockback and damage. Dtilt is a good combo launcher, has a decent amount of knockup and hitstun. Utilt is also really good for combo launchers, really good hitbox and knockback. His jab combo is mediocre, but his dash attack is great to use on stage and to use as an edgeguard.

Villager’s smash attacks are good. Fsmash is pretty slow but has good damage and knockback. Usmash is very sneaky, it’s difficult to see and has nice damage. Dsmash is really good, has good range and can combo into fsmash and usmash since it burrows the opponent into the ground.

His grab is weird. The hitbox is decent and there isn’t much lag on a whiffed grab, but it’s awkward to follow up. Dthrow or fthrow is gonna be used as combo starters since they have the least amount of knockback and hitstun.

His special attacks are his best aspect. Upb is probably the best recovery in the game since it lasts forever and has a really high vertical reach. Sideb has a really great horizontal reach too, and can be used as a good offensive move. It’s damage is based on distance and whether or not Villager is riding it. The tree comes to life pretty quickly and but falls pretty slowly, so it’s very situational. Easy combo with dsmash. It also has a hitbox when sprouting at the top. The pocket is overpowered, it acts as a counter with non-projectiles and can literally grab anything that isn’t attached to a character model.

Villager is definitely going to be a gimmicky character. I can see the potential in a double Villager team, but with a slow ground game and just slow moves in general it’s hard to see if he’s really going to be a good character. He definitely needs to be explored more.

Yoshi:

Yoshi’s aerials got a big buff. Uair has a nice sweetpot that makes it easier to kill at earlier percents, although it doesn’t combo too well anymore. Fair has very little landing lag, and has a spike. Dair still does a good amount of damage and has great hitstun. Bair got a bit of a buff as it has more hitstun and great knockback at the end of it. Nair feels much like his Brawl nair.

His tilts have changed. His dtilt is still like Brawl’s but has a bit more knockback and less damage. Ftilt has new knockback as well at sends the opponent more upwards now. Utilt also has a new animation and is great for comboing and extending combos with its great hitstun. Jab combo has good knockback and his dash attack feels the same as Brawl but with a bit more damage.

Grab is still decent. A lot of lag if it misses and the range is still the same. None of his throws really combo into anything but uthrow is your best chance of starting one.

His smash attacks also got a buff. Usmash has a new animation and comes out quicker, it also has good combo hitstun. Fsmash and usmash feel unchanged and similar to Brawl.

Special attacks got a buff. His upb now sends Yoshi a bit higher now in the air, and eggs also travel a bit farther. Sideb feels faster than it did in Brawl but otherwise is the same. Downb also feels a bit faster and has a bit more knockback as well.

Overall, Yoshi got a huge buff. He is fast on the ground and has good damage, has a great aerial combo game. He lacks defensive options though, characters like Greninja and Sheik can easily take over his weaknesses and cripple him. He still is a great character and he is super fun to play, I couldn’t stop playing him, and most of the people online couldn’t get enough of him either. One of my recommendations.

Game Mechanics:

The game feels very smooth and polished. Faster ground speed that feels somewhat like Melee, but aerial mobility steel feels awkward. Combos in this game are great. There are a lot of auto-cancelled moves that make it easier to follow up combos since it’s so much faster. Soft hitboxes also make it easier to make good combos as well. Definitely an upgrade.

Landing lag is superb. I was really surprised with how fast I was acting out of moves, most of the moves seems to have auto cancels now. Ledge cancelling will be huge in this game, seems really easy to execute. Changed a bit compared to the E3 builds.

Ledge mechanic is odd. Trumping someone feels really awkward as you can be a fair distance away and still trump the ledge. You only get invincibility when you grab the ledge for the first time. Edgeguarding and edgehogging can still be done though, it’ll just take more time to figure how to do it properly and effectively. Maybe it’s because it’s super new to me, but it feels out of place and it could have been done a bit better.

Air dodging is better compared to Brawl. You can throw out moves after an air dodge now, and air dodging doesn’t last as long as it used to. Air dodging onto the stage does have a bit of lag though.

Shields are different. Shields take less hits to break now, sometimes it only takes 3 hits to break one. Rolling is super fast in the game, feels like wavedashing with certain rolls. Uncertain if it will be easy to punish or not with the game’s fast ground speed.

Blastzones are still a problem with the game. Many moves don’t kill at really high percentages. It could be a problem with weak knockback on some moves too, so it wouldn’t hurt to try messing around with the damage ratio once the metagame starts to develop.

Pivot cancelling is HUGE. Not only can you pivot from the start up of your dash, but you can cancel it at ANYTIME. It’s also easier to pull off. Fsmash pivots and ftilt pivots seem really good, and are probably going to be used a lot. Dashing behind your enemy and then doing a raw pivot fsmash is gonna be too good. You can pivot basically any move. Downsmash may be a bit hard since it will throw out a dash attack, but moves like usmash and dtilt all work.

Dashdancing is also in the game. You can dashdance in the game by dashing back and forth really fast, like really fast. You basically dash dance in the spot, so it really isn’t that useful. But its there, its definitely in the game.

Jab lock is in the game, sorta. You can jab lock your enemy 3 times, and then anything after that knocks your enemy into a standing position like a regular reset. Good job Sakurai.

RAR is back.

Wavebouncing is back.

Insta-toss is back.

Quick Attack edge cancels are in the game.

No chain grabbing.

No jab cancelling.

Staling seems to stale more with knockback instead of damage.

So that’s it, everything that i was able to collect during my time with the game. There is obviously more to be found though, so if I ever get my hands on the game again soon I’ll be sure to give out updates. If I missed out on the character you were wanting to hear about, you can tweet at me www.twitter.com/coastward and I’ll happily try to answer your questions. Thanks again to Melee It On Me for hosting my findings and thanks for taking your time to read it!