Bowser (SSB4): Difference between revisions

Bowser is ranked 24th out of 55 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the C tier. This is a significant improvement over his bottom-tier placement in ''Brawl'', where he was ranked 33rd out of 38, and is the first time in the series that Bowser has not been ranked as a bottom-tier character, thus resulting in his best placement in the series yet. Many of Bowser's previous weaknesses have been remedied: he is much more mobile,<ref name="Upgraded">[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQD1yJinzeQ Wii U & Nintendo 3DS Developer Direct - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U @E3 2013]</ref> has much greater range, and has noticeably improved combo and grab games. Aside from his new benefits, he retains his excellent endurance, overall high damage output, and very strong KOing options. Lastly, the implementation of [[rage]] supplements his already outstanding power.

However, Bowser retains an extremely poor defensive game, despite the addition of universal [[armor]] in [[Tough Guy]] and it is considered among the worst in ''SSB4''; Bowser's only effective [[out of shield]] option is [[Whirling Fortress]], and both his [[roll]]s and [[sidestep]]s are short-distanced and grant a minimal amount of intangibility frames. His large size and status as a super heavyweight also make him extremely susceptible to combos, which is further compounded by his lack of effective combo breakers. Although Bowser retains [[Fire Breath]] as a projectile, his large size nevertheless makes him vulnerable to [[camp]]ing. Bowser's recovery is also unimpressive, as Whirling Fortress' general linearity and predictability make him vulnerable to [[gimp]]ing.  

[[File:Bowser SSB4 Pivot Grab.gif|300px|right|thumbnail|Bowser's pivot grab is infamous for its range.]]

Unlike in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'', Bowser boasts a respectable level of speed to go alongside his renowned power.<ref name="Upgraded"/> While he retains slow [[Walk|walking speed]] and [[air acceleration]] and the slowest [[jumpsquat]], and while his [[air speed]] and [[falling speed]] are much lower relative to the cast compared to ''Brawl'', his [[Dash|dashing speed]] and [[double jump]]'s height have both been significantly increased, and he also retains high [[gravity]]. This grants him mobility that is average overall, yet fairly balanced compared to most other heavy characters. As the [[Weight|heaviest]] character in the game, Bowser has the best horizontal endurance of them all, although due to his slow falling speed, his vertical endurance is not the best, but rather the third best, being surpassed only by his fellow super heavies {{SSB4|King Dedede}} and {{SSB4|Donkey Kong}}.

However, Bowser has some glaring flaws. One of his biggest problems is air-to-ground transitioning. All of his aerials have at least 20 frames of landing lag, with his back and down aerials having 40 frames each. As none of his aerials have favorable [[autocancel]] windows, returning to the ground is very difficult for him, or even impossible without [[Air dodge|air dodging]] and/or fast-falling, due to his slow aerial mobility. As a result, Bowser is quite vulnerable to combos and heavily susceptible to [[juggling]], making it easy for opponents to rack up damage on him, further worsened by his large size. His down aerial is his only move that can help mitigate these issues, but its aforementioned landing lag and [[stall-then-fall]] status can make it quite unreliable most of the time. His moveset, while fast compared to most heavyweights, is slow when compared to the rest of the cast, limiting his combo starters to only up throw and [[jab cancel]]ed neutral attack, and making it difficult for him to keep up with faster opponents, such as {{SSB4|Sonic}}. This also compounds another noticeable problem: his ability to escape pressure. Due to his slow [[roll]]s and [[sidestep]], with the former also being short-distanced, Bowser's only real method of dealing with pressure is Whirling Fortress, which can be [[punish]]ed if executed too late. Some of his moves are also inevitable KOs if used off-stage, namely his two stall-then-falls, down aerial and Bowser Bomb, as well as Flying Slam. Lastly, despite his recovery being rather long-distanced, it is among the slowest of the cast, making aggressive edgeguarding more than enough to KO Bowser.

Bowser benefits greatly from [[Character customization|custom moves]]. Compared to Fire Breath, Fire Shot is slower and has noticeable intervals between each fireball, but has more range and deals consistent damage, which make it better for Bowser's [[neutral game|neutral]] and edgeguarding games. Dash Slam is drastically weaker, but has a lower launch angle and propels Bowser forward, making it easier for him to grab opponents. Dash Slash deals less damage, but deals high knockback, hits throughout most of its animation and maintains the default version's autocanceling, granting Bowser a very reliable move for [[approach]]ing and setting up combos. Both Flying Slam alternatives can also improve his recovery. Lastly, Flying Fortress cannot be used out of shield, but grants twice as much vertical distance at high speed, significantly improving Bowser's vertical recovery.

In ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', Bowser was considered to be an unviable low tier as while he had solid KO power, great endurance, good range, a good Out of Shield game and a solid grab game, due to his effective [[Flying Slam]] command grab and his short grab release animation, he suffered from having very poor frame data, a highly exploitable recovery and his combination of having a huge body, high [[weight]] and high [[gravity]] made him a punching bag for many characters. He overall struggled to approach (especially against projectiles) as he was a huge target without solid enough mobility and he was a very easy target for multiple characters to chain grab, making him struggle against a large portion of the cast.  

As a result, Bowser has been heavily updated in ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', with almost all of his animations being completely or at least slightly revamped from the previous game.<ref name="Upgraded"/> Bowser has seen a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to ''Smash 4'' and while he was not greatly improved in earlier versions of the game, he has seen some rather drastic [[buff]]s as of the latest patch, which greatly help him overall.  

Bowser has seen multiple changes to his attributes which noticeably help him. His running speed has been significantly increased, which along with his new dash attack, makes it easier for him to approach and run away. He has additionally seen a helpful unique attribute known as [[Tough Guy]], which gives him [[armor]] against very low knockback attacks, which allows him to plough through jabs as well as other low knockback attacks, giving him a rather unique advantage. His weight has also been noticeably increased which noticeably improves his endurance even with the removal of [[momentum canceling]] (especially relative to the cast), which is especially helpful considering the introduction to [[rage]], which further boosts Bowser's already strong KO potential when he is at higher percents.

Bowser's recovery has also seen some rather significant improvements. While his [[air speed]] is slower (especially relative to the cast), his air dodge has much less ending lag and his aerial [[Whirling Fortress]] grants much more height which can be increased further with mashing, making it a much better recovery move. The move can also now grab ledges from behind as it is rising and the removal of [[edge hog]]ging also greatly improves its recovery potential and makes it much harder to edgeguard against. Bowser's significantly improved recovery makes it much harder to KO him, further improving his endurance.  

Bowser's most drastic and useful buffs however were made to his up throw. Up throw has less knockback, less ending lag and it launches opponents at a more vertical angle, which have transformed the move from a very underwhelming spacing throw to one of the most devastating combo throws in the game. At lower percents, it can easily lead into an up tilt, a forward aerial, a back aerial or a neutral aerial, with the latter being able to rack up a lot of damage. The most formidable part of the throw though is that at higher percents, it can lead into an up aerial (which comes out much faster than in ''Brawl'') for an early KO. Rage can allow this to lead into KOes even earlier and as stated before, Bowser can very easily build up rage due to him being the heaviest character in the game, making him one of the largest benefiters of the mechanic.  

The changes to gameplay physics and mechanics (as well as the aforementioned changes to hitstun canceling/DI, along with the introduction of rage) also aid aid Bowser. With many projectiles being nerfed, it is much easier for Bowser to approach projectile users, especially with his increased running speed and his faster air dodge (although his is still vulnerable to projectiles due to his large size). The removal of [[chain grab]]bing eliminates the [[zero-to-death]] or otherwise heavily damaging combos that multiple characters possessed against him, greatly improving his endurance against certain characters. The changes to shield mechanics also help his as the increased shield damage multiplier and the increased [[shieldstun]] makes his attacks safer and harder to punish, as well as allowing him to shatter a shield more easily (particularly with [[Bowser Bomb]]).  

Bowser has however, received a few nerfs. As mentioned before, Bowser is now much more vulnerable to combos due to the changes to hitstun canceling/DI, which is further exacerbated with the changes to weight dependent throws. Weight dependent throws are now faster on Bowser in spite of his increased weight, which makes it harder for him to DI weight dependent throws and it gives them less ending lag against him, making him more susceptible to combos out of weight dependent throws.  

Bowser's [[grab release]] animation now has 10 extra frames of ending lag to match the rest of the cast. When combined with the general changes to grab releases (particularly aerial grab releases) and the removal of chain grabbing, this completely removes his grab release's utility (although his improved up throw largely compensate for this).  

Bowser's nerfs however, are notably offset by the very useful buffs Bowser has received (particularly to up throw). Overall, Bowser has seen some rather significant buffs, which work excellently with the game's universal changes. Bowser not only has greater endurance, is overall faster and has a much better recovery but he also has greater KO potential and excellent combo potential, due to his greatly improved up throw. This has resulted in him faring much better than he ever did in ''Brawl'' and especially ''Melee''.  

The changes to this one move were enough to push Bowser from low tier to high tier, subsequently improving his results and player base. A consequence this had though is that Bowser became a rather controversial pick. Because his up throw was so much better, Bowser's gameplan suddenly became overcentralised by his grab, as his main goal would be to fish for grabs, up throw and build damage from there (or KO depending on the opponent's percent). This resulted in Bowser's reputation being rather negative, as he was essentially a low tier character, but with one incredibly powerful gimmick (his grab/up throw), which largely carried him, making him a rather one dimensional and predictable character.  

*{{change|Due to the aesthetic used in ''SSB4'', Bowser has a sleeker design, his pupils are smaller and his overall color scheme is significantly more vibrant, much like his appearance in ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario 3D Land}}''.}}  

*{{change|Like other large characters, such as {{SSB4|Donkey Kong}} and {{SSB4|King Dedede}}, Bowser's general size in proportion to the other playable characters is also greater than in previous installments. This improves his [[range]], but makes his hurtbox larger.}}

*{{change|Bowser, now stands upright, which is also reflected in his new walking and dashing animations. This makes him harder to hit horizontally but easier to hit vertically.}}

*{{buff|Like all characters returning from ''Brawl'', Bowser’s [[Fast fall|fast-falling]] speed is faster (1.946 → 2.224). This improves his aerial mobility and leaves him less susceptible to juggling.}}

*{{buff|The removal of [[chain grab]]bing significantly improves Bowser's endurance.}}

**{{change|Bowser has a new neutral attack: his claw swipes have been replace with alternating punches.}}  

**{{buff|The first hit's near hitbox launches opponents slightly higher (83° → 85°), making it connect more reliably into the second hit.}}

**{{nerf|The first hit's far hitbox has been moved closer to Bowser (x offset: 7.3 → 5), while its nearest hitbox has been moved further away from hit (x offset: -8 → -6), reducing its range.}}

*[[Down tilt]]:  

**{{buff|This new animation properly matches its hitboxes' placements, with the move now fully covering Bowser's hand.}}

***{{change|Despite its altered animation and hitbox placements, down tilt still roughly has the same amount of range it had before.}}

**{{buff|Up smash's main hit has increased knockback scaling (80 (sweetspot)/90 (sourspot) → 90/100), improving its KO potential.}}  

**{{buff|The main hit has a longer duration (frames 16-21 → 16-23).}}  

**{{nerf|The landing hit has more startup lag (frame 31 → 37), with up smash's total duration being subsequently increased (FAF 52 → 58).}}  

**{{buff|Down smash has a new first hit that is active right before Bowser starts spinning, giving it less startup lag (frame 14 → 10).}}  

**{{buff|Neutral aerial has a longer duration (frames 8-13 (clean)/14-23 → 8-29 (hit 1)/14-29 (hit 2)/18-29 (hits 3 & 4).}}  

**{{buff|Back aerial has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 45).}}  

**{{nerf|Back aerial has a smaller hitbox (9u/5u → 7u) which is now static, decreasing its range. The move has gone from being disjointed, to now failing to fully cover Bowser's feet, especially during its first active frame.}}  

**{{nerf|Back aerial no longer has a late hit, shortening its duration (frames 9-11 (clean)/12-16 (late) → 9-11) and reducing its utility.}}  

**{{nerf|Back aerial has more landing lag (35 frames → 40).}}  

**{{buff|Down aerial is now a single hitting [[stall-then-fall]] which compared to the previous final hit, deals more damage (3% → 16%) and has increased base knockback (10 → 30), drastically improving its KO potential.}}  

**{{buff|Down aerial has a larger hitbox (4u/4u → 7u), increasing its range despite only having one hitbox now.}}  

**{{nerf|Due to consisting of one hit instead of nine, down aerial's maximum damage potential is much lower (27% → 18%).}}  

**{{nerf|Standing and dash grab have been moved closer to Bowser (z offset: -18 (standing)/-22 (dash) → z stretch: -14, -15.5), reducing their range.}}  

**{{change|Back throw has a new animation where Bowser performs a one-armed throw, similar to Donkey Kong's back throw.}}  

**{{buff|Edge attack grants much more intangibility (frames 1-4 → 1-19).}}  

**{{buff|Upon grabbing an opponent, Flying Slam now grants Bowser 23 frames of intangibility after he grabs his opponent, making it harder to intercept.}}

***{{nerf|However, the move has more lag before Bowser jumps (22 frames → 25), theoretically making it easier to DI.}}  

**{{buff|Bowser and his opponent have greater initial aerial acceleration when Bowser jumps (0.15 → 0.21 (Bowser), 0.18 → 0.19 (Opponent)). This gives Bowser more control over Flying Slam's trajectory.}}  

***{{buff|Altogether, these changes significantly improve its safety.}}

**{{nerf|Aerial Flying Slam's grab no longer restores Bowser double jump if he performs a double jump near the ground, removing [[Koopa hopping]].}}  

**{{nerf|The grounded version now consistently deals no shield damage (3 (hit 1)/0 (hit 2) → 0 (all hits)).}}  

**{{nerf|The grounded version can no longer slide off edges. While this does make the move safer to use, it also hinders its use as a movement option on platforms and it prevents Bowser from using it to grab the edge and reduce its ending lag.}}  

**{{nerf|The grounded version is now a multi-hit move, rather than a move with two hits, with the first hit being powerful, while the second hit is weaker. The first seven hits are semi-spikes (180°), with set knockback (50/70 (set)/100 (scaling)) and a below average SDI multiplier (0.8×), making the first seven hits much weaker and making the move less reliable overall.}}  

**{{buff|Aerial Whirling Fortress grants much more height (1.85 → 2.3), and mashing the special move button can now further increase its height, significantly improving its recovery potential, despite its increased gravity (0.05 → 0.055).}}  

**{{buff|Fire Shot's base knockback increased: 25 → 35}}  

|dairdesc=Withdraws into his shell, turns upside down, and propels himself downward. A [[stall-then-fall]], it emits a small shockwave on both sides when he lands. It [[meteor smash]]es during the first few frames and deals respectable diagonal knockback during its later frames. Due to its large hitbox, its meteor smashing hitbox can effectively edgeguard when near the edge. Like other stall-then-falls, it will almost certainly cause a [[self-destruct]] if used off-stage.

|uthrowdesc=Throws the opponent slightly upward, withdraws into his shell, and then spins rapidly in order to repeatedly stab them with his shell's spikes. While it is Bowser's least damaging throw (dealing up to 6.5% damage), it is also his best combo starter, as it can combo into up tilt, up smash, neutral aerial, up aerial, forward aerial, back aerial, and even Flying Slam. Its aerial combos are especially effective against fast-fallers, although its Flying Slam combo requires a hard read. The final hit before the throw deals very high knockback to fighters who are caught in the crossfire. On a side note, unlike in ''Brawl'', instead of always dealing fixed knockback, the throw hitbox's knockback now grows stronger as the target's damage increases.

|nsc2desc=Deals more damage and has longer range, but loses range quickly and takes longer to recharge.

===Notable players===

<!--If you are planning to add a player you consider to be notable, please provide tournament results and, if possible, wins over notable players in some shape or form. Winning tournaments without notable players present is generally not enough to warrant a spot. Using this criteria, please refrain from adding Nukunuku or Cassius.-->

*{{Sm|KingKong|Canada}} - The best Bowser player in Canada. Placed 7th at [[Smash Intensifies]] and [[Smash INTENSIFIES 2]], and 65th at [[The Big House 6]]. Ranked 11th on the [[Montreal Power Rankings]]. He taken sets off of {{Sm|Holy}}, {{Sm|SuperGirlKels}} and {{Sm|Venom}}.

*{{Sm|Kisha|Japan}} - The best Bowser player in Japan. Placed 17th at [[Umebura S.A.T.]], 9th at [[Single Game Championships: Umebura X Single-Chu]], and 17th at [[Umebura Japan Major 2017]]. He has multiple wins over {{Sm|Ranai}} and a win over {{Sm|Taiheita}}.

*{{Sm|Nairo|USA}} (#2) - The best Bowser player in the world. Placed 4th at [[UGC Smash Open]], 5th at [[2GGT: ZeRo Saga]], 17th at [[GENESIS 4]], and 1st at [[Super Smash Con 2017]].

*{{Sm|Paru|Japan}} - One of the best Bowser players in Japan. Placed 17th at [[Umebura Japan Major 2017]].

*{{Sm|Rizeasu|Japan}} (#68) - A master of diversity. Uses Bowser as a secondary to Marth. Placed 4th at [http://challonge.com/Karisuma10T Karisuma 10] and [[Sumabato 15]], 5th at [http://challonge.com/Hirosuma5T Hirosuma 5], 9th at [[Sumabato 9]] [[Sumabato 12]], [[Karisuma Tokaigi Qualifiers]] and [[Sumabato 17]]. Ranked 20th on the JAPAN Power Rankings.

*{{Sm|Vreyvus|Sweden}} - Placed 33rd at [[B.E.A.S.T 6]] and [[B.E.A.S.T 7]]. Formerly ranked ranked 6th on the [[Swedish Power Rankings]].

Opinions on Bowser's viability have greatly fluctuated through ''SSB4''{{'}}s metagame, but the general opinion is that he has fared much better than in ''Melee'' or ''Brawl''. Around the metagame's early lifespan, due to all of the top spots taken at early ''SSB4'' tournaments (including a Bowser ditto for the Grand Finals in the pre-release San Diego Comic Con {{for3ds}} tournament), Bowser was initially considered the best character in the game. Players took little time to notice the significant buffs he received, and to further compliment this, characters that were excessively challenging for him in ''Brawl'', such as {{SSB4|Marth}}, {{SSB4|Meta Knight}}, {{SSB4|Falco}}, the {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} and most notoriously {{SSB4|King Dedede}}, were either heavily nerfed or, in the case of the Ice Climbers, removed entirely. However, as time went on, perception on Bowser's viability noticeably fell. The first instance of this came about from a significant nerf to vectoring in update 1.0.4, followed by his weaknesses starting to come afloat, which were the same as, and as exploitable as they were in previous installments. He also lacked any noteworthy results at high-level play in a heavy contrast compared to the early lifespan of the metagame, and his perception began declining much like in ''Brawl''.

Despite his lowered perception within the community, update [[1.1.3]] brought immense buffs, the most notable of which were to [[Flying Slam]], [[Whirling Fortress]] and his now-infamous up throw. These buffs allowed Bowser to perform considerably better at locals, as his playerbase managed to achieve a few placements at high-level play, largely thanks to players such as {{Sm|LordMix}} and {{Sm|KingKong}}. This ultimately culminated in Bowser being placed at 30th on the first ''4BR'' [[tier list]], resulting in him becoming the second lowest ranking mid-tier character; while a far cry compared to the positive opinions of his viability during the initial release, it was still his best placement in the series at the moment.

However, update [[1.1.4]] nerfed his infamous up throw by weakening its guaranteed KO set-ups, though it brought further buffs to Flying Slam. Update [[1.1.5]] also brought more buffs to his survivability and recovery by increasing his weight and air speed, respectively. Thanks to the recent results of his playerbase, Bowser only dropped slightly to 32nd on the second tier list. As the tiers were expanded for the second tier list, Bowser maintained his status as a mid-tier character despite his placement drop, with the drop being largely attributable to the inclusion of {{SSB4|Corrin}} and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}} into the game between the first and second tier lists.

In the current metagame, many argued that Bowser's tier placement was somewhat low, with {{Sm|ZeRo}} considering Bowser to be a high-tier character, and {{Sm|Nairo}} utilizing Bowser to great effect in a number of upsets. This was later reflected with Bowser's placement of 25th on the third tier list; in addition to becoming both the second highest ranking mid-tier character and surpassing {{SSB4|Donkey Kong}} as the highest ranking super heavyweight, this tier rise was the fourth highest between the second and third tier lists. He then saw a slight rise to 24th on the fourth and current tier list; the expansion of the tiers have resulted on him now becoming a high-tier character, despite losing his status to the best super heavyweight to Donkey Kong once again.

 

==Trophies==

:'''Bowser'''

::{{flag|ntsc}} {{GameIcon|ssb4-3ds}} ''The archenemy of Mario and the reason Peach spends more time kidnapped than in her own castle. His plans aren't always the best, and occasionally he even finds himself on Mario's side. In Smash Bros., he's a serious heavyweight who laughs off weaker attacks. Hit him hard to send him flying!''

 

 

 

{{Trophy games|console1=NES|game1=Super Mario Bros. (10/1985)|console2=N64|game2=Super Mario 64 (09/1996)}}

 

::{{flag|ntsc}} {{GameIcon|ssb4-3ds}} ''Bowser makes good use of his heavy physique with his down special Bowser Bomb, slamming down with his bottom. If he's on the ground, he'll jump into the air before crashing down. Also, he can gain a bit of altitude if you press the special button repeatedly while executing Whirling Fortress, his up special.''

 

::{{flag|ntsc}} {{GameIcon|ssb4-wiiu}} ''Bowser makes good use of his heavy physique with his down special Bowser Bomb, slamming down with his backside. If he's on the ground, he'll jump into the air before crashing down. Also, he can gain a bit of altitude if you press the special button repeatedly while executing his up special Whirling Fortress.''

 

 

{{Trophy games|console1=NES|game1=Super Mario Bros. (10/1985)|console2=N64|game2=Super Mario 64 (09/1996)}}

 

::{{flag|ntsc}} ''Prepare to behold Bowser in all his Koopa glory. This fearsome form first appeared all the way back in Melee. While transformed, Bowser deals extra damage, is better at launching foes, and even gains special effects on some of his attacks. He won't flinch and can't be thrown, but he does still take damage.''

 

::{{flag|pal}} ''The definitive way to prove that Bowser's the king. This fearsome form made its debut all the way back in Melee. While transformed, Bowser deals more damage, launches foes further, and certain attacks have extra effects like freezing opponents. He won't flinch, and he can't be thrown either, but he will still take damage.''

 

BowserTrophy3DS.png|Classic (3DS)

Mega Man Bowser Wii Fit.jpg|Bowser, {{SSB4|Mega Man}} and {{SSB4|Wii Fit Trainer}} on [[Wii Fit]].