User:Yellow/AFD 2023/Mario (SSBM)

Mario in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	C+ (15) (North America) E (15) (Europe)

Mario (マリオ, Mario) returns as the most bog-standard starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee that could ever have been conceived. He was announced at E3 2001. He also has a clone, Dr. Mario, who is a superior character by almost every metric and should be played instead unless you enjoy suffering.

Mario is portrayed by Chris Pratt, albeit via recycled voice clips from Chris Pratt's other movies.

Mario is ranked 15th out of 26 on the current tier list, placing him in the C+ tier. This is very similar to his previous ranking in the original Super Smash Bros. arcade game, where he is ranked 7th out of 12. Overall, he adjusted his placement on the tier list as much as Chris Pratt adjusted his natural voice to portray Mario. He remains a well-rounded character with average attributes across the board: passable comboing ability, okay throws, a serviceable projectile in Fireball, and decent edgeguarding, especially with his Cape, which can "easily and efficiently" gimp opponents who haven't faced Mario since the early 2000's and have no idea that it was part of his moveset. But unlike in the movie industry, being average in everything won't cut it in Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube. Mario simply doesn't have the X-factor needed to stand out in a cast filled with top-tier talent. Most notably, he doesn't have a truly reliable finisher or recovery and has about the same amount of range as his voice actor, leaving him vulnerable to being gimped or zoned out by characters like Marth. He is also outclassed by his clone Dr. Mario and brother Luigi, who actually have solid playerbases and don't induce spectators to fall asleep watching them. Overall, Mario has average matchups in tournament play; he can spend hours stomping low-tiered characters such as Koopa, but competitive players will unfortunately have to spend years of their life even coming up with a plan to beat the actually good characters as him.

Attributes

Mario abusing TAS to recover onto the stage.

If it was your lifelong dream to become Mario in Smash, then we're sorry to disappoint you, unless you wanted to play the most boring character of all time in a game where you can kill your opponents with giant sword swings and electrified knees. In terms of weight, falling speed, air speed, size, and dash speed, Mario fails to stand out at all, being decidedly average in everything. That is, unless you share MagicScrumpy's garbage balancing philosophy where he thought that everyone in Melee should be balanced around Mario... before eventually deciding to ragequit and steal Melee: SD Remix's characters instead. An unforgivable action, of course, but an understandable one, given that even he was driven insane trying to make everyone in Melee as monotonous as Mario.

One of Mario's strengths is unfortunately his rather decent combos; he has plenty of low-lag and low-knockback tilts and aerials that he can string together. While mildly effective, they unfortunately have the dubious distinction of being some of the blandest-looking combos among the entire cast, having absolutely no cool visuals whatsoever besides a flame effect on his forward smash sweetspot that you're probably not going to hit against a real opponent. You could do a Mario combo that no one has ever seen before, and it could be the most technical combo that the character has ever used, and your region's Captain Falcon tryhard will still hype up your local laundromat more than you ever will when he takes your last stock with yet another stomp to knee, leaving you questioning why you decided to pick this game up in the first place.

Mario is also pretty good at edgeguarding, but most of his options, predictably, aren't flashy. Nice projectile in Fireball. Nice lingering neutral aerial. Nice back air. Wonder where we've seen all that before? The one saving grace in Mario's edgeguarding kit is his Cape, which is absolutely hilarious in many different ways. It is hilarious in execution because reversing the direction of your opponent's recovery without even a hitsound and watching them awkwardly and helplessly fall to their doom is peak comedy, and possibly the biggest middle finger you could ever give to a recovering opponent. It is also conceptually hilarious because you would think that Mario would use his cape feather power to actually fly for his recovery and make it not horrible, but he uses it to troll his opponents instead, truly the apex of sportsmanship from Nintendo's mascot and most honorable combatant.

The last of Mario's decidedly above-average traits is his grab game. His down throw is the bane of all Pikachu mains everywhere who thought they were the ones in control of matchup knowledge in your match, being able to execute a chaingrab that is somehow even more of a snoozefest than Sheik's chaingrab into a likely KO. His up throw can also chaingrab Fox, Falco, and Captain Falcon, but good luck actually getting that grab or consistently killing them off it. This is particularly notable because these instances will also be most of your clips in your overedited Mario combo video, so there will be more pressure on you not to screw it up lest you lose 15 precious seconds of ad revenue on your montage.

Mario, however, suffers from serious KOing problems, with a dearth of powerful or reliable finishers outside of his smash attacks. His forward aerial can be meteor canceled in Melee (because isn't instant meteor cancel such a fun mechanic) and has exorbitant ending lag, making it high-risk for low reward. His other moves don't quite hit the mark, either- it's very telling that his best kill setup against floaty characters is down throw to neutral aerial. Most of Mario's KOs will come from routine, boring edgeguards where he clips some poor Fox or gets some random spot dodge to down smash at 150%.

Mario's approaching game is also below-average, contrary to what early 2010's SmashWiki editors would want you to believe. The truth of the matter is that Mario's "average-at-everything" attributes, especially his lackluster range, make it a complete pain to get in on opponents, particularly the higher-tiered characters, and there are no two ways about it. In fact, the previous description on this page read exactly like a high schooler in English class who didn't do any actual research to justify their statement "Mario also has an above average approach" and just made up complete BS when asked to articulate their point of view by talking about bouncing fireballs. One might even come to believe that Chris Pratt himself contributed to this article with how similar his mannerisms were during the Mario movie teaser with Jack Black.

Mario also suffers from a below average recovery due to his refusal to actually use his Cape to fly, but rather only awkwardly stall him in the air for a split second. Super Jump Punch is probably Mario's most awkward- and pathetic-looking move, covering very little distance and being prone to interruption, while Mario Tornado can only grant vertical distance if you are a literal god of button mashing. He can wall jump to improve his recovery on certain stages such as Fountain of Dreams, but the opponent will likely see this coming from a mile away and simply edgehog Mario without a second thought.

Overall, Mario is just ok, I guess. But "okay" doesn't make you a good character in Melee, and "okay" is not what people come to Melee for. While spectators and pro players alike worldwide will bask in the electrifying energy of a supermajor Top 8, embracing the obscenely high level of skill, mindgames, movement, and overall quality of play on display, all leading up to that decisive moment where the last player standing is crowned, Melee Mario and his playerbase of 10 smashers will forevermore continue to bore the world while not even placing consistently in their region.

Changes from Super Smash Bros.

Mario's dream to become a more competitively viable character in Melee faced one critical challenge. And that is, he had to contend against his diabolical enemy, which was not actually anyone else on the cast, but rather the development team of Melee as a whole. He could not have been adjusted by a more perfect combination of buffs and nerfs from the supremely talented Masahiro Sakurai, who ensured that despite all the changes made to Mario, he would still end up with around the same viability and be the most boring, middle-of-the-road character in the entire game. In a way, he and his voice actor share the same fate, because no matter how much fancy makeup and effects Hollywood puts on Chris Pratt, everyone watching knows it's literally just the same him.

Mario's adjustments overall made him a "faster but weaker" character. He gained a solid wavedash from the introduction of air dodging, which helped his grounded movement, and most of his moves have less startup and ending lag. Due to this, and the introduction of Cape to his moveset, Mario's off-stage game now actually resembles some sort of functionality. On the other hand, he lost a significant amount of power, with some of his moves even gaining notable sourspots that make his KOing ability more inconsistent. It certainly didn't help that he gained a new meteor smash that replaced a previous move in the only game where meteor smashes are wildly inconsistent, but I guess they really liked the animation and just didn't bother to fix Mario's after making Dr. Mario's version actually good.

This is all a shame, because Luigi was also in Smash 64 and they gave him almost everything he needed to not only succeed but stand out as a character as a whole. Why they failed to do that with Mario is completely unknown, but given what Sakurai did to his own creation Kirby, one can't help but imagine that the soccer enthusiast just takes some sort of sadistic glee in selectively making characters miserable.

Aesthetics

• 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, and his hair and shoes are a much darker brown color.
• Mario's green alternate costume from Smash 64 is now accessible through normal battles instead of just Team Battles.
• 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.

Attributes

• Mario walks much faster (0.8 (24) → 1.1).
• Mario dashes slightly faster (1.467 (44) → 1.5).
  • However, Mario's initial dash is much slower (1.8 (54) → 1.5) and covers less distance.
• Mario's traction is slightly higher (0.0533 (1.6) → 0.06), making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
• Mario's jumpsquat is longer (3 frames → 4).
• Mario's air speed is slower (1 (30) → 0.86 (NTSC) / 0.83 (PAL)).
• Mario's air acceleration is lower (0.0667 (2) → 0.045), although no longer being the slowest.
• Mario jumps extremely lower (45.33 (1360) → 29), going from the 6th highest out of 12 characters to the 4th lowest out of 26.
  • Mario's short hop is also extremely lower (26.6067 (798.2) → 11.025), improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure, but also hinders his ability to auto-cancel his aerials and performing two aerials in a short hop.
• Mario's gravity is higher (0.08 (2.4) → 0.095).
• Mario falls faster (1.467 (44) → 1.7), improving his vertical endurance but making him easier to combo.
  • However, Mario's fast falling speed is slightly slower (2.333 (70) → 2.3). The difference between his falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower (increase: 59.1% → 39.3%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.
• In the PAL version only, Mario is lighter (100 (1) → 98).
• Mario can now wall jump, aiding his recovery.
• 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.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Both the first and third hits deal more damage (2% (hit 1)/4% (hit 3) → 3%/5%).
  • The first two hits now have set knockback (8 (base), 50 (scaling) → 20 (set)/100), and their angles have been altered (361° (hit 1)/70° (hit 2) → 83°/85° (both)), allowing them to connect more reliably.
  • The first two hits transition into the later hits sooner (frame 10 (hit 1)/8 (hit 2) → 6 (both)).
  • All hits have less ending lag (FAF 18 (hit 1)/20 (hit 2)/26 (hit 3) → 16/19/23).
  • Mario can no longer cancel the first hit into grab.
  • The second hit has a shorter duration (frames 3-5 → 3-4)
  • The third hit has more startup lag (frame 3 → 5).
  • The third hit no longer has anti-rebounding priority.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less startup (frame 8 → 5) and ending lag (FAF 43 → 33).
  • It has a much shorter duration (frames 8-17 → 5-7).
  • It deals less damage (14% (up)/13% (side)/12% (down) → 10%/9%/8%) and has decreased base knockback (10 → 6), significantly hindering its KO potential.
    • Additionally, the down angled variant now has very weak set knockback (1), making it extremely punishable on hit at any percentage.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less startup (frame 5 → 4) and ending lag (FAF 42 → 30).
  • It now launches opponents towards Mario (86° → 96°).
  • It has a shorter duration (frames 5-16 → 4-12).
  • It deals less damage (10% → 8%).
  • It has more base knockback but lower knockback scaling (0 (base), 150 (scaling) → 26/125).
    • This along with its lower ending lag makes it much safer on hit at lower percents.
    • However, this along with its lower damage also hinders its KO potential.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 35).
  • It deals less damage (12% → 8%/9%) and knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/80).
  • It has a shorter duration (frames 5-11 → 5-8).
  • Mario no longer moves forward while using it, giving it much less range.
  • It now launches opponents vertically (361° → 80°). This hinders its spacing potential while not granting it combo potential due to its low power and high ending lag.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less startup (frame 8 → 6) and ending lag (FAF 41 → 38).
  • The late hit has a shorter duration (frames 12-28 → 10-25).
  • It deals less damage (12% (clean), 10% (late) → 9%/7%).
  • It has more base knockback but lower knockback scaling (16 (base), 100 (scaling) → 70/50 (clean), 10/100 → 45/30 (late)), hindering its KO potential.
  • It now launches opponents behind Mario (361° → 110° (clean)/120° (late)).
• Forward smash:
  • Mario has a new forward smash: he leans forward and thrusts his hand in front of him, emitting a small fiery explosion from his palm.
  • It has less startup (frame 16 → 12) and ending lag (FAF 54 → 42); now matching Luigi's version.
  • The fire hitbox deals more damage (18% (up)/17 (side)%/16% (down) → 19%/18%/17%).
    • However, it deals less knockback (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 25/95), hindering its KO potential despite its higher damage.
  • The non fire hitboxes deal less damage (18% (up)/17 (side)%/16% (down) → 15%/(11%/10%)/13%) and knockback (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 25/96).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's animation has been altered with Mario now taking a massive step forward as he leans for the headbutt.
    • The animation change gives the move more horizontal range than before.
    • It also gives the move significantly less ending lag (FAF 60 → 40) than before.
    • However, Mario no longer performs a small jump, reducing its vertical range.
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-15 → 9-11).
  • It grants less intangibility to Mario's head (frames 7-10 → 9-11).
  • It deals much less damage (19% → 15%), knockback (26 (base), 120 (scaling) → 32/97), and launches at a slightly lower angle (85° → 83°). This greatly hinders its KO potential; no longer being one of the strongest up smashes.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has less startup lag (frame 8 → 5) and a shorter total duration (FAF 45 → 38).
  • It has a much shorter duration due to now possessing a front hit and a back hit rather than a constantly active hitbox (frames 8-29 → 5-6 (front), 14 (back)).
    • This also gives the move more ending lag as its total duration was not fully compensated (now having 23 frames of cooldown as opposed to 15).
    • However, this also allows the move to hit twice.
  • The front hit deals less damage (17% → 16%) and knockback (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/75), significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • The back hit deals much less damage (17% → 10%/12%) and knockback (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 35/75), drastically hindering its KO potential.

Aerial attacks

• Due to his lower short hop, Mario can no longer auto-cancel neutral, forward or down aerials in a short hop, nor can he perform two aerials in a short hop.
  • When combined with the weakening of L-canceling and the reduction to shieldstun, this hinders the combo potential, shield pressuring potential and safety of Mario's aerials.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 46).
  • It auto-cancels slightly earlier (frame 37 → 36).
    • However, it no longer auto-cancels as soon as its hitboxes are no longer active.
  • It deals less damage (14% (clean)/11% (late) → 12%/8%) without full compensation on its base knockback (15 (clean)/0 (late) → 20/15).
  • It has a shorter duration (frames 3-10 (clean)/11-36 (late) → 3-6/7-32).
  • It has more landing lag (14 frames → 16).
• Forward aerial:
  • Mario has a new forward aerial: an overhanded downward swing with an enlarged fist; officially referred to as "Meteor Knuckle".
  • It is now a meteor smash (361° → 280°).
    • This significantly improves its combo potential against grounded opponents.
    • However when combined with the introduction of meteor cancelling, this significantly hinders its reliability.
  • It has less landing lag (30 frames → 21).
  • It has noticeably increased startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 11-26 → 18-22).
  • It has much more ending lag (FAF 40 → 60).
  • It has a much longer animation (39 frames → 74).
  • It auto-cancels later (frame 27 → 43).
  • It deals less damage (16% → 15%) and knockback (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 30/70), significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • It has less range.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has a new animation where Mario kicks more sideways with his right side facing up, instead of kicking backward face-down. Mario also recovers differently without curling up into a flip.
    • This new animation is much shorter (39 frames → 28), decreasing its ending lag (FAF 40 → 29), as well as the amount of time Mario cannot grab the ledge after using the move.
  • It has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 10-19 → 6-17).
    • When combined with its decreased ending lag, this makes it a more effective tool for edgeguarding and wall of pains.
    • However, the clean hit has a shorter duration (frames 10-13 → 6-8).
  • It auto-cancels slightly earlier (frame 20 → 19).
  • It deals less damage (16% (clean)/10% (late) → 11%/9%), greatly hindering the clean hit's KO potential.
    • The late hit has increased base knockback (0 → 7) although this does not fully compensate for its reduced damage.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 30).
  • It has much less landing lag (40 frames → 15).
  • Its angle has been altered (80° (clean)/70° (late) → 55°).
    • This grants the move edgeguarding potential.
    • However, this significantly hinders its combo and juggling potential removing one of Mario's most powerful combo tools.
  • It deals less damage (12% → 11%) and has decreased knockback scaling (120 → 100).
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration due to no longer having a late hit (frames 2-4 (clean)/5-11 (late) → 4-9). It is no longer the fastest aerial in the game in terms of startup lag.
  • It auto-cancels later (frame 12 → 16).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has a shorter total duration (FAF 39 → 38).
  • It has less landing lag (36 frames → 23).
  • It now has a landing hitbox.
  • Each hit deals less damage (3% → 2%), greatly reducing the move's maximum damage potential (24% → 12%).
  • Due to hitting seven times instead of eight:
    • It has a shorter duration (frames 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29, 31-32 → 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29), increasing its ending lag.
    • It no longer auto-cancels as soon as its hitboxes are no longer active.
  • It is no longer a meteor smash (-70° → 94°), removing its edgeguarding potential and making it connect less reliably.
  • The weakening of L-cancelling combined with the move losing its ability to auto-cancel in a short hop and with it gaining a landing hitbox has significantly hindered down aerial's followup potential.
    • These changes combined with the changes to shieldstun and its lower damage have drastically hindered down aerial's shield pressuring potential; no longer being able to lead into shield break combos.

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Mario now has a pummel, up throw and a down throw, increasing his options out of a grab. He can also chaingrab characters with said throws.
  • Grabs have more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), 11 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).
  • Mario's throws are now weight dependant.
• Forward throw:
  • Mario releases opponents from forward throw earlier (frame 14 → 12) and it has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 28).
  • It deals less damage (12% → 9%) and knockback (80 (base), 70 (scaling) → 60/65).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw's collateral hit has much less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 18-44 → 1-43).
  • Mario releases opponents from back throw slightly earlier (frame 45 → 44).
  • It deals less damage (16% → 12%) and knockback (70 (base), 70 (scaling) → 80/65), making it much weaker.
  • The collateral hit deals less damage (12% → 10%).
  • It has slightly more ending lag (FAF 66 → 67).
  • It has been hindered greatly by the introduction of DI, as opponents now have ample time to correctly DI the throw and survive it for even longer.

Special moves

• Fireball:
  • Fireball has less startup (frame 16 → 14) and ending lag (FAF 46 → 44).
  • Fireballs travel faster.
  • Fireballs can only bounce two times instead of three although it still covers the same amount of distance when used on the ground.
  • Fireballs are smaller.
  • Fireballs have a much shorter maximum duration (frames 16-154 → 14-88).
    • These changes combined with Mario's faster falling speed significantly hinders their use as an offensive recovery option.
  • Fireballs deal less damage (7% → 6%) and have decreased base knockback (10 → 5).
• Cape:
  • 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.
• Super Jump Punch:
  • 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.
  • It deals slightly less damage (16% → 15%).
  • It has more startup lag (frame 2 → 3).
    • Its intangibility also has more startup lag (frame 2 → 3).
  • It has more landing lag (25 frames → 30).
  • Its gains much less distance, worsening its recovery potential.
  • The first hit has increased set knockback (110 → 130).
  • Hits 2-5 have increased set knockback (100 → 110/150).
  • Hits 6-9 no longer have consistent set knockback (100 → 90/120).
  • The final hit has altered knockback (0 (base), 170 (scaling) → 40/140).
• Mario Tornado:
  • Mario Tornado has less ending lag (FAF 87 → 80).
  • Mario travels slightly faster when using it on the ground.
  • The first and final hit deal more damage (1% (both) → 2% (hit 1)/5% (hit 8 ground)/3% (hit 3 air)).
  • The last hit no longer has set knockback (120 (base), 1 (set), 0 (scaling) → 60/0/115 (ground), 70/120 (air)), allowing it to KO at high (albeit unrealistic) percentages.
    • However, this hinders its safety at lower percents.
  • The loop hits have longer durations (1 frame → 2).
  • The first hit's angle has been altered (180°/90° → 140°).
  • The loop hits have decreased base knockback (70 → 40).
  • The 7th hit's angle has been altered (180° → 100°).
  • The final hit's angle has been altered (90° → 80°).
  • It has much more startup lag (frame 1 → 8), greatly hindering its utility.
    • 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.
  • Due to hitting up to 8 times instead of 14:
    • Its maximum damage potential is slightly lower (14% → 13% (ground)/11% (air)).
    • It has a much shorter duration (frames 1-4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43-44 → 8-9, 12-13, 15-16, 18-19, 21-22, 24-25, 27-28, 38-39).
  • The aerial version's final hit can no longer meteor smash opponents, significantly hindering its edgeguarding potential.
  • There is now a small delay before the last hit, allowing foes to escape the attack more easily.
  • Mario's faster falling speed and gravity hinders the move's use as a recovery tool.
    • Due to these changes, the move is now considered nearly useless outside of recovering, and as a situational vertical launcher.

Version history

Mario was nerfed in the PAL version of Melee for some absolutely insane reason that we at SmashWiki cannot even begin to comprehend.

NTSC 1.01

• Fireball no longer increase speed when used off slopes at certain angles.

PAL

• Mario is slightly lighter (100 → 98).
• Mario's air speed was reduced even further (0.86 → 0.83).

Moveset

For a gallery of Mario's hitboxes, see here.

Mario's aerial attacks.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Punches twice, then kicks upward. Originates from Mario's standard combo in Super Mario 64.
			2%
			5%
Forward tilt	↗		10%	Does a back spinning kick with his right leg. It comes out fast and is useful for spacing, but has low knockback. Can be angled.
	→		9%
	↘		8%
Up tilt			8%	Does a spinning uppercut. It's an effective juggler and combo starter at low percentages, and can KO at very high percentages. It is based on the Mega Glove combo in Super Mario RPG.
Down tilt			8% (foot), 9% (leg)	Does a legsweep. The move itself deals very low knockback, and is only useful at high percentages.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 7% (late)	Does a baseball slide, which knocks the opponent behind Mario. Very similar animation to Mario's dashing attack from Super Mario 64.
Forward smash	↗		19% (fire), 15% (arm)	Launches a blast of fire from his palm. Its sweetspot is the fire blast and has transcendental priority, and the sourspot is at Mario's arm. When sweetspotted, it has high knockback,KOing at around 70% when fully charged. Average strength compared to other forward smashes, being the 13th strongest in terms of knockback. Can be angled.
	→		18% (fire), 11% (left arm), 10% (right arm)
	↘		17% (fire), 13% (arm)
Up smash		Lead Headbutt	15%	Headbutts upward. A fast, strong move with more range behind Mario than in front. Mario's head is intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Down smash			16% (front), 10% (back feet), 12% (back legs)	Performs a breakdancing sweep kick. Extremely fast, one of Mario's stronger moves. This is based off Mario's crouching attack from Super Mario 64.
Neutral aerial			12% (clean), 8% (late)	A sex kick. Mario kicks forward. As with other sex kicks, it does weaker damage and knockback after a few frames.
Forward aerial		Meteor Knuckle	15%	Throws an overhanded punch with an enlarged fist. Slow, predictable and has high ending lag, but it is a meteor smash, with no sourspot. Still, it is relatively weak and not very reliable to use for an edgeguard, but can be used to send opponents into his forward smash.
Back aerial			11% (clean), 9% (late)	Does a dropkick. Has low startup, and can be good for spacing and edgeguarding.
Up aerial			11%	Does a bicycle kick. Good move for juggling and comboing, but has low knockback.
Down aerial			2% (hits 1-7 & landing)	Performs a downwards drill kick. Hits multiple times and has a landing hitbox that deals weak knockback. All hits can deal up to ≈12.92% if they connect.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Headbutts opponent. Relatively slow.
Forward throw			9%	Spins around once, and throws his opponent forward with decent knockback.
Back throw		Airplane Swing	12% (throw), 8% (collateral)	Similar to his throw against Bowser in Super Mario 64; spins around three times and throws his opponent backward. Surprisingly high knockback, can hit enemies mid-swing. One of the stronger back throws in the game, with KO potential under 150% near the edge.
Up throw			8%	Throws his opponent upward. Good for leading into an up tilt, or starting combos at higher percentages. Can chaingrab fastfallers.
Down throw			6%	Throws his opponent on the ground. At lower to mid percentages, it can chaingrab characters with moderate falling speeds (such as Pikachu), and at high to very high percentages, it can chaingrab fast-fallers.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and punches behind him, then in front.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Swirls around in a similar fashion to his down smash.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6% (body), 8% (legs)	Does a somersault and then kicks upward onto the stage.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Slowly gets up and kicks forward with one leg.
Neutral special		Fireball	6%	Shoots a fireball as a projectile, which travels forward and loses momentum with each bounce. Because of this, they are best used in the air, and at higher locations. They can be spammed, though with some difficulty, and are a decent way to approach. The move can be more efficient when used in the air, falling to meet the enemy at ground level, while still moving, and negating lag.
Side special		Cape	Ground: 10% (close), 8% (far) Air: 9% (close), 7% (far)	Flicks his Cape from Super Mario World forward, hitting opponents with the reverse effect, as well as being able to reflect projectiles. Very useful for gimping certain recoveries. Slightly aids Mario's horizontal recovery. Has transcendent priority.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	5% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-8), 3% (hit 9)	Does a jumping uppercut diagonally upward, being a multi-hit attack that causes coins to fly out of the opponent. Mainly a recovery move. Additionally, if used while Mario is directly next to a wall and the control stick is flicked backward at the apex of the jump, the move will be cancelled into a wall jump without making Mario helpless, like the move normally does. It is also a great out-of-shield option. Deals up to ≈14% if all hits connect.
Down special		Mario Tornado	2% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-7), 5% (hit 8 ground), 3% (hit 8 air)	Does a multi-hit spinning attack, very similar to the Spin Jump from Super Mario World. The final hit knocks the opponent straight up, and the move can rack up damage, though it has some ending lag. It can be used for recovery by rapidly tapping the B button, though this requires fast reflexes. Has transcendent priority. Deals up to ≈12.01% on the ground and ≈10.19% in the air if all hits connect.

Taunt

• Grows to a super size, as if taking a Super Mushroom power-up, before shrinking again. This also increases the size of his hurtbox. The size increase stacks with special matches and actual super mushrooms. It is the second longest taunt in Melee.

Idle pose

• Adjusts his cap.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Ma-Ri-O!	Ma-Ri-O!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

An orchestrated cover of the iconic "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros..

• Winds up for a punch and steps forward while punching in front of the screen, shouting "Here we go!"
• Makes fire explode from his palm and strikes a pose.
• Does a short spin-jump and lands in a strong-man pose, shouting "Here we go!"

In competitive play

Tier placement and history

Very early in the Melee metagame, when few players actually played the game competitively, 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 literally everyone being absolute dogshit at the game. As the metagame advanced, however, people finally realized how ridiculous other characters' tools are and that being mediocre at everything, shockingly, doesn't actually make a character good. This caused Mario to slowly slip down the tier list as time progressed (read: immediately), as well as lose significant placing in large tournaments. Eventually, Mango (under the alias "Scorpion Master") was the only person who placed anywhere significant with him, but despite his good record in low-stakes money matches where his opponents probably threw to some extent to feed the Scorpion Master illusion, he rarely placed high enough to earn money from playing Mario, getting 25th at Apex 2010 despite literally being the best player in the world at the time.

On the current tier list, he ranks 15th place in the C+ tier; on the other hand, his clone Dr. Mario and semi-clone Luigi, who were somehow once considered worse than Mario, have far surpassed him. Despite the tier differences, some players, most notably Shroomed, believe Mario could potentially be better than Dr. Mario. However, none of these claims should be taken seriously because Shroomed is simply jaded from having his Dr. Mario camped out relentlessly by SFAT and the NorCal scene, causing him to view Mario with rose-tinted glasses because his Mario probably never shared the same fate. The harsh reality of the matter is that Mario is so mediocre that good players don't respect him enough to actually camp him in important matches, because it doesn't matter when they can win anyway and also have fun while doing so.

If you're still not convinced, reckon with the fact that while Luigi and Dr. Mario have strong playerbases with frequent rising mid-tier heroes in the top 100, dedicated Mario mains usually instead ragequit the character when they realize that playing Melee Mario is not a productive use of their time. Eat your heart out, Shroomed.

Most historically significant players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the 2019 MPGR, which no actual full-time Mario main would have ever actually reached.

See also: Category:Mario players (SSBM)

•  A Rookie - yikes
•  Green Mario - A notable Mario player in the United States, whose uncreative tag embodies the complete monotony of playing Mario at a competitive level. His tag is so uncreative, in fact, that there is literally a SmashWiki user with the same name. Placed 9th at Tipped Off 4 and 13th at TGMTSBCO.
•  KoopaTroopa895 - A braggadocious Mario player whose tag is a reference to the number of Koopas he stomped in the original Super Mario Bros. arcade game at his local laundromat. Later switched to Marth, making his tag completely nonsensical in the process. Placed 25th at Kings of Cali 4. Has wins over Spark and Nintendude.
•  Mango (#3) - Once "mained" Mario under the tag "Scorpion Master" before realizing he was trolling the wrong game as Scorpion is not a playable character in Melee. Utilized Mario as an occasional counterpick, particularly against Axe.
•  Matt Deezie - Former best Mario main in the world when literally no one played the game (much less Mario in it). Placed top 6 at a few Tournament Go events.
•  SchlimmShady - Another Mario player with an uncreative tag befitting of the character, stealing the moniker wholesale from Eminem. Later made the correct decision to switch to Captain Falcon. Placed 17th at Syndicate 2017 and 25th at B.E.A.S.T 6 and B.E.A.S.T 7.

In 1-P Mode

Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Mario can appear as an ally in team and giant fights (that you would never want), a solo, team, giant, multi, and metal opponent. In Mario's appearances, he either appears on Princess Peach's Castle or Rainbow Cruise. On a team with Bowser, he appears on Battlefield and with Peach, he appears on Mushroom Kingdom II; during the battle against Mario + Bowser on Battlefield, the stage will play the Mario Bros. movie teaser by Chris Pratt and Jack Black.

Adventure Mode

Mario is one of only two characters who can appear twice in Adventure Mode, alongside his brother Luigi, because a character as bland as Melee Mario needs every little bit of help standing out.

In the game's Adventure Mode, Mario gets carried by Peach against the player in the second part of the first stage, taking place on Princess Peach's Castle. If the player finished the previous segment, Mushroom Kingdom, with the remaining time registering 2 in the seconds digit, his younger brother Luigi will take his place in a cutscene that will trigger right before this battle, which has Luigi stomping on Mario's head to get to the top of the castle, just like how he stomped over Mario on his way to a higher placement on the tier list.

Later on, in the second half of Stage 11, Metal Mario will fight the player's character on the Battlefield stage, where he functions as simply a Mario permanently under the influence of the Metal Box item, a buff that he probably would have needed on his base character to compete meaningfully anywhere in Melee. If the player unlocked Luigi, Metal Mario will be joined by Metal Luigi, and they both team up on the player, making for a harder fight due to the presence of a better character.

All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Mario and his allies are fought on Rainbow Cruise, because the only way you would lose to an AI Mario with a better character is to SD on an autoscroller.

Event Matches

Mario is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 1: Trouble King: In the most predictable first event match of all time, the player plays as Mario and fights against Bowser on Battlefield.
• Event 10: All-Star Match 1: Mario is the first opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. The player battles him on Yoshi's Island, which will transition to the next stage if when Mario gets defeated. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Peach, and Bowser.
• Event 19: Peach's Peril: Mario must protect Peach from a slightly larger Bowser on Final Destination, even though in Melee, this would very clearly be the other way around. Both Mario and Peach have 1 stock each while Bowser has infinite lives.
• Event 22: Super Mario 128: The player chooses any character and must endure the torture of listening to 128 tiny Marios' KO sound effects on Mushroom Kingdom II.
• Event 25: Gargantuans: A scenario designed as a homage to kaiju movies and their various tropes. On the Fourside stage, with unlimited time, the player plays as a giant-sized Bowser (as "Godzilla") with 1 stock against a giant-sized Donkey Kong (as "King Kong") with 2 stock. A tiny Mario and a tiny Peach are also present in this match, who usually gets KO'd in one hit. It is a wonder how Universal didn't try to sue Nintendo again for making this reference given how weak Kirby was in this game.
• Event 31: Mario Bros. Madness: The player chooses any character and must fight Mario and Luigi in a two-timed match on Mushroom Kingdom. The player must have more points than Luigi (well, Mario too, but that's usually a given) within the two minutes to clear this event.
• Event 38: Super Mario Bros. 2: The player chooses any character and must defeat Mario, Luigi, and Peach in a two-stock match on Mushroom Kingdom II. Both the characters and the stage are a direct throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. 2, an NES sequel to Super Mario Bros. It is a little-known fact that this event match was actually designed to be unwinnable, but they substituted Mario for Toad at the last minute and removed the blatantly overpowered Toad from the game, thus unintentionally making it feasible.

Ending Images

• 

  Classic Mode

• 

  Adventure Mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

In addition to the normal trophy about Mario as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter which both try to downplay his mediocrity in gameplay, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Mario on any difficulty:

Classic Mode trophy

Mario

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 (Arcade 1981)

Adventure Mode SMASH trophy

Mario SMASH

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.

B: Fireball

Smash B: Cape

All-Star Mode SMASH trophy

Mario SMASH

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

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Alternate artwork of Mario.

• 

  Artwork of Mario from the CSS.

• 

  Mario landing on Corneria.

• 

  Performing Mario Tornado on Brinstar.

• 

  Hitting Ness with a Super Jump Punch on Kongo Jungle.

• 

  Tossing a Fireball on Onett.

• 

  Flipping Kirby with his Cape on Mute City.

• 

  Performing his forward smash.

Trivia

• Mario's Up Special attack is the only Up Special move in Melee that allows the player to break out of their freefall.
• A taunting Mario with a Super Mushroom in Giant Melee Mode is the largest possible character size that can be achieved without hacking.
• Mario's taunt is the second longest taunt out of all the characters, the longest one being Young Link's.
• If the Master Hand glitch is used in an event and sets a record, the score is shown on Mario.
• In the PAL Version, Mario's weight was decreased from 100 to 98. This has been carried over into future installments.
• 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, Peach, Yoshi, Young Link, Kirby, Falco, and Pikachu are the only characters whose portraits on the character select screen match their official artwork.
• Mario, Peach, Luigi, Jigglypuff and Dr. Mario are the only fighters with English voice actors in Melee.