Smash Corner - Mario, Barely Qualified Plumber
Welcome to the Felix Games section’s brand new addition: Smash Corner! Where we will give you weekly guides on characters from Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, to give you an overview and some useful tips about them. And who better than Nintendo’s golden boy to start off this series, fighter #01 of the roster, Mario.
Nintendo’s mascot made his 1rst appearance as ‘Jumpman’ in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong all the way back in 1981. Ever since, Mario has remained Nintendo’s most important IP and appeared in more than 150 games of many different genres, ranging from platformers, sports and of course fighting games. As one of the original 8 fighters from the first entry in Super Smash Bros. on N64, Mario’s iconic character and playstyle has remained consistent throughout. He is a powerful close range brawler of medium weight and average speed which has plenty of perks.
Mario really excels in hand to hand combat and relies mostly on his fast and reliable normal, tilt and smash attacks to dish out the damage and eventually secure the kill. Living up to his former name of ‘Jumpman’, it is in the air that he truly shines with an almost instant neutral, which you will be using a lot, and a great up-air to juggle opponents with. And of course, Mario’s bread and butter is his forward aerial, which will spike down the poor player hit by it. Another strong move of his kit is his back-throw, which is a powerful kill-throw at higher percentages. In addition, this move will make Mario spin around hitting any nearby opponents, handy if you’re getting attacked from multiple angles!
His special moves are however not to be underestimated as they give him a huge amount of versatility. Mario’s neutral special is his trusty fireball, that will interrupt the opponent, providing the opportunity to chain in attacks or combos, if followed upon quickly. His side special is his cape, very useful if timed right to reflect any projectiles. His down special is the F.L.U.D.D., a charged attack that can blast opponents with water, it’s purpose not to do any damage but simply to push them away as they are trying to recover. And last but definitely not least, Mario’s up special is his Super Jump Punch, which can of course be used as a recovery but also as a kill-move for any opponent overhead.
With all this in mind, a common combo for Mario goes as follows: throw your enemy in the air with an up-throw, -tilt or -smash, jump and hit them with an up-air, repeat the process with a mid-air jump and finish off with an up-special. Depending on the weight and percentage of your opponent, it can lead to a kill. If not, all is not lost; you can always go for the hefty FORWARD AERIAL while they are off stage to send their poor soul down into oblivion. Be sure to shout it when doing so for ultimate disrespect.
All in all, Mario is a mid-high tier character which has a lot of potential. A fighter that is easy to learn, but hard to master, hence a good first character to pick if you are new to Smash and want to try it out.
