Editing Mario (SSBM)

{{disambig2|Mario's appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''|the [[clone]] of Mario, see {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}}; and for the semi-clone of Mario, see {{SSBM|Luigi}}, and for the character in other contexts|Mario}}

|tier = E

Charles Martinet reprises his role as Mario, albeit via recycled voice clips from ''Super Mario 64''.

Mario is ranked 15th out of 26 on the current tier list, placing him in the E tier. This is very similar to his previous ranking in ''Smash 64'', where he is ranked 7th out of 12. It also places him four places lower than his clone {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} at 11th place and two places lower than his younger brother {{SSBM|Luigi}}. Like in ''Smash 64'', Mario acts as a well-rounded character, with average attributes across the board. He has above average comboing ability due to the somewhat low knockback and the angles at which his moves tend to send on, and a very versatile grab game: his powerful back throw can KO most opponents with ease and [[gimp]] some recoveries, while his up and down throws can [[chain-grab]]. Mario also has a solid [[edge-guarding]] game, with a solid projectile in his [[Fireball]], and his [[Cape]] which can easily and efficiently gimp almost every other character's recovery. Mario, however, lacks a reliable finisher, with many moves with aforementioned low knockback with the exception of his forward and down smash. His recovery is also predictable and short, though he can extend it, which leaves him vulnerable to being gimped by characters such as {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}. His mediocre range also leaves him with trouble against characters with disjointed hitboxes such as {{SSBM|Marth}}. Overall, Mario has average matchups in tournament play, with favorable matchups against most lower tiered characters though having disadvantageous matchups against higher tiered characters, especially against those who can either gimp or outrange him.

Mario, however, suffers from some KOing problems. He lacks particularly powerful or reliable finishers; while his forward smash has good range, coupled with a very visible and easy to land sweetspot, his other smashes are rather short ranged. Additionally, while Mario's back throw is strong, it requires grabbing the opponent first; this can be a challenge, due to Mario's poor grab range. Mario's single meteor smash is also rather unwieldy and risky to use.

Overall, Mario could be considered to be a poor-man's Marth. While both characters have great combo ability and a similar recovery, Marth has a much easier time finishing off opponents as well as having longer range in his attacks and his grab range making it much easier for Marth to chain-grab fast-fallers compared to Mario.

As for his nerfs, Mario's damage output has been decreased and his KO power has been considerably decreased as many of his previous KO moves have been greatly weakened making it far more difficult for Mario to KO his opponents. In particular, his new forward aerial, while now capable of meteor smashing and losing its sourspot, is much slower and weaker and has less range. His strongest KO moves (his forward and down smashes) while faster now have sourspots making them more difficult to use effectively. While Mario has a few new options to recover such as his cape and [[wall jump]], his recovery is overall worse (especially when relative to the cast) as his air speed is slower, he falls faster, his fireballs are smaller making them a worse option to wall out opponents while recovering and his [[Super Jump Punch]] travels less distance making him easier to edgeguard.

Overall, Mario is largely a much weaker character as his damage output is lower, his combo game is weaker in some aspects and many of his previous KO moves can no longer KO under 90-120%. In exchange, his attacks are much faster and his grounded movement has been improved especially due to the introduction of wavedashing. Mario remains in a similar spot on Melee's tier list and he overall struggles against higher tiered characters limiting his success in competitive play.  

*{{change|The higher quality of the [[Nintendo GameCube]] console allows for a more detailed appearance of Mario. His physique looks much more similar to its official art, while his red cap and shirt are slightly darker and the seams on his overalls are more accentuated.}} He also has a slightly darker skin tone.

*{{change|Mario gains a new [[victory pose]]: he makes a fire and when the fire disappears, Mario strikes a pose. It replacing his hopping victory pose in ''Smash 64''.}}

*{{buff|Mario [[walk]]s faster (0.3 → 1.1).}}

*{{buff|Mario [[dash]]es faster (44 → 1.5).}}

*{{nerf|Mario's initial dash is slower (54 → 1.5) and covers less distance.}}

*{{nerf|Mario's [[air speed]] is slightly slower (30 → 0.86).}}

*{{change|Mario [[falling speed|falls]] faster (44 → 1.7), improving his vertical endurance but making him easier to combo.}}

*{{change|Mario's [[gravity]] is higher (2.7 → 0.095).}}

**{{nerf|As a result, his jumps are lower.}}

*{{buff|Mario can now [[wall jump]], aiding his recovery.}}

*{{buff|The introduction of [[air dodging]] benefits Mario as he can now [[wavedash]]. His wavedash is overall solid due to his short jumpsquat/average traction; improving his movement options.}}

**{{buff|The animation change gives the move more horizontal range than before.}}

**{{nerf|It deals much less damage (19% → 15%) and knockback (26 (base), 120 (scaling) → 32/97). This greatly hinders its KO potential; no longer being one of the strongest up smashes.}}

**{{buff|Down smash has less startup (frame 8 → 5) and a shorter total duration (FAF 45 → 38).}}

**{{nerf|The front hit deals less damage (17% → 16%) and knockback (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/75) significantly hindering its KO potential.}}

**{{nerf|The back hit deals much less damage (17% → 10%/12% (back)) and knockback (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 35/75), drastically hindering its KO potential.}}

**{{nerf|It auto-cancels later (frame 27 → 43).}}  

**{{nerf|It deals less damage (16% (clean)/10% (late) → 11%/9%), greatly hindering the clean hit's KO potential.}}  

**{{nerf|It auto-cancels later (frame 12 → 16).}}  

**{{buff|Fireball has less startup (frame 16 → 14) and ending lag (FAF 46 → 44).}}  

**{{nerf|Fireballs are smaller.}}

***{{nerf|These changes combined with Mario's faster falling speed significantly hinders their use as an offensive recovery option.}}

**{{change|As with all returning veterans, Mario now has a side special; a Cape based on the cape feather power-up in [[Super Mario World]]. It can reflect projectiles as well as reverse an opponent's direction if it hits them. It also gives Mario a slight boost when used in the air. This gives Mario an option to deal with projectiles; as well as an additional edgeguarding and recovery option.}}  

**{{buff|Super Jump Punch can now be cancelled with a wall jump near the apex of the move, aiding Mario's recovery if he is near a wall.}}

**{{nerf|Its gains much less distance, worsening its recovery potential.}}

**{{nerf|It has much more startup lag (frame 1 → 8), greatly hindering its utility.}}

***{{nerf|In addition to this, the first hit has altered knockback (70 (base), 1 (set) → 0/40) which as a result, prevents it from causing hitstun.}}

**{{nerf|Due to hitting up to 8 times instead of 14:}}

**{{nerf|There is now a small delay before the last hit, allowing foes to escape the attack more easily.}}  

**{{nerf|Mario's faster falling speed and gravity hinders the move's use as a recovery tool.}}

***{{nerf|Due to these changes, the move is now considered nearly useless outside of recovering, and as a situational vertical launcher.}}

===PAL differences===

Mario was nerfed in the [[PAL]] version of ''Melee'' although due to many characters ranked above him being nerfed, his viability remains similar overall.  

*{{nerf|Mario's air speed was reduced even further (0.86 → 0.83).}}

|neutralname=

(1)Left Jab

(2)Right Cross

(3)Toe Kick

|ftiltname=Plumber Kick

|utiltname= 

|dtiltname= 

|dashname= 

|fsmashname= 

|fsmashdowndmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|17}} (fire), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}} (arm)  

|usmashname=Lead Headbutt

|dsmashname= 

|nairname= 

|fairname=Meteor Knuckle

|bairname= 

|uairname= 

|dairname= 

|grabname=

|pummelname= 

|fthrowname= 

|bthrowname=Airplane Swing

|uthrowname= 

|dthrowname= 

{{Crowd

|char=Mario

|game=Melee

|desc-us=Ma-ri-o!

|desc-jp=Ma-ri-o!

|pitch-us=Group chant

|pitch-jp=Group chant}}

|victory-desc=An orchestrated cover of the iconic "Level Completed" music from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''.

|desc-2=Makes fire explode from his palm and strikes a pose.  

==In [[Competitive play]]==

===[[Character matchups (SSBM)|Matchups]]===

{{SSBMMatchupTable|mario=yes}}

Mario has an above-average matchup spread, as he is not as harshly countered by top tier characters as other mid-tiered characters are. He is countered by two characters ({{SSBM|Marth}} and {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}), soft countered by eight characters, has four even matchups, soft counters three characters, counters seven (including {{SSBM|Pikachu}} and {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, despite them being 6 and 3 places higher, respectively), and hard counters one, {{SSBM|Pichu}}. Mario tends to struggle against characters who can space him easily or edgeguard him, such as {{SSBM|Marth}} and {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, and tends to do well against characters who he can combo or chaingrab (especially {{SSBM|Pichu}}). Overall, Mario has the tools to take on most characters in the cast.

Mario's matchups against two characters who are higher then him, Yoshi and Pikachu, are being called into question due to their increasing dominance in the metagame, while Mario's own metagame has began to stagnate. As it now stands, he loses to Yoshi and only has a slight advantage against Pikachu (due to his chaingrab) in the current metagame instead of cleanly countering them. His matchup with {{SSBM|Young Link}} has also been called into question, with many players claiming the matchup to be even or in Young Link's favor, rather than a counter for Mario. Fox, Falco, Marth, and Sheik remain highly problematic matchups that often impede Mario from advancing in bracket, and he has had few competitive developments that have helped him in those matchups. Since {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} has much stronger matchups all around, including a close to even matchup against Jigglypuff, many competitive players opt to choose him instead of regular Mario, further leading to metagame stagnation.

:''See also: [[:Category:Mario professionals (SSBM)]]''

*{{Sm|Eggz|USA}} - Defeated [[Hero Sublime]], [[Silent Wolf]], [[Bladewise]], and [[Gimpyfish]]. Has since switched to {{SSBM|Fox}}

*{{Sm|Matt Deezie|USA}} - Former Mario main, best in the world when active.

*{{Sm|PPMD|USA}}

*{{Sm|SchlimmShady|Germany}} - Formerly the best Mario player in Europe prior to switching to Captain Falcon.

*{{Sm|Wobbles|USA}} - Formerly used Mario as a counterpick. Has since retired from competitive play.

*{{Sm|Green Mario|USA}}

*{{Sm|KoopaTroopa895|USA}} Has switched to Marth.

Very early in the ''Melee'' [[metagame]], when few players knew the potential of now-top tier characters, Mario was considered one of the best characters in the game, ranking as high as 5th on the first tier list. This could be attributed to Mario's simple but effective [[combo]] setups, strong attacks, low learning curve, and lack of any outstanding drawbacks due to being well-rounded, as well as his extendable [[recovery]]. As the metagame advanced, however, Mario's average statistics were magnified as the potentials for many other superior characters, such as {{SSBM|Peach}}, {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}, and the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}, were discovered. This caused Mario to slowly slip down the tier list as time progressed, as well as lose significant placing in large tournaments; eventually, {{Sm|Mango}} (under the alias "Scorpion Master") was the only person who placed anywhere significant with him, but even he rarely placed high enough to earn money from playing Mario, cashing in at 25th place at [[Apex 2010]] instead of his usual top 8 placements when using better characters. On the current [[tier list]], he ranks 15th place in the E tier; on the other hand, his clone {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} and semi-clone {{SSBM|Luigi}}, who were once widely considered worse than Mario, have surpassed him in ranking. In today's metagame, some players, such as Shroomed, believe Mario could potentially be better than Doctor Mario, due to his faster aerials, better recovery, and longer reach and disjoint in some of his attacks, such as Forward Smash and Down Smash, and {{Sm|A Rookie}} has represented the character with many strong placements. Otherwise, many people still place him below many characters and the whole metagame of Mario has remained stagnant.

==In [[Solo#1-P_Mode|1-P Mode]]==

===[[Congratulations_screen#Super_Smash_Bros._Melee|Ending Images]]===

==Trophies==

In addition to the normal trophy about Mario as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both [[Adventure Mode|Adventure]] and [[All-Star]] modes respectively with Mario on any difficulty:

 

:''Known worldwide as Mr. Nintendo, Mario uses his incredible jumping ability to thwart the evil Bowser time after time. While he's best known as a hero, Mario has played many roles, including racer, doctor, golfer, and villain. His tastes have changed over 20 years of gaming; he long ago swapped the colors of his shirt and overalls.''

:*''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong Arcade]] 1981

:'''Mario''' [<span style="color:#FF0000">Smash</span>]

:''Mario is a character without any glaring weaknesses and plenty of strong attacks: he's even equipped with a Meteor Smash. He's a straightforward character who'll reflect the actual skills of the player. Mario's Cape will turn other characters in the opposite direction and can also reflect missile weapons.''

:'''Mario''' [<span style="color:#0000FF">Smash</span>]

:''Mass determines how easily a character can be sent flying, as well as a character's physical strength: Mario's mass is the standard upon which other Smash fighters are measured. His Super Jump Punch sends foes skyward in a shower of coins, while the Mario Tornado pulls in nearby foes, spins them silly, and scatters them every which way.''

:*Up & B: Super Jump Punch

:*Down & B: Mario Tornado

Mario Trophy Melee.png|Classic

Mario Trophy (Smash).png|[<span style="color:#FF0000">Smash</span>]

Mario Trophy (Smash 2).png|[<span style="color:#0000FF">Smash</span>]

Mario SSBM art.png|Alternate artwork of Mario.

Mario Landing SSBM.jpg|Mario landing on [[Corneria]].

MarioTornadoMelee.jpg|Performing [[Mario Tornado]] on [[Brinstar]].

Mario SuperJumpPunchSSBM.jpg|Hitting {{SSBM|Ness}} with a [[Super Jump Punch]] on {{SSBM|Kongo Jungle}}.

Ssbmmario4.jpg|Tossing a [[Fireball]] on [[Onett]].

Mario Cape Kirby SSBM.jpg|Flipping {{SSBM|Kirby}} with his [[Cape]] on [[Mute City]].

Mario Forward Smash Image SSBM.jpg|Performing his [[forward smash]].

*Mario's taunt also expands his hitbox size, getting hit during the taunt animation causes Mario to automatically transform to back to his normal size.

*Mario, {{SSBM|Peach}}, {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, {{SSBM|Link}}, {{SSBM|Young Link}}, {{SSBM|Kirby}}, {{SSBM|Falco}}, and {{SSBM|Pikachu}} are the only characters whose portraits on the [[character select screen]] match their [[character artwork|official artwork]].